Working Out

Objective: To evaluate effects of exercise during pregnancy in asymptomatic singleton pregnancies without prior spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) but with short transvaginal ultrasound cervical length (TVU CL). Study design: This is a secondary analysis of the Italian Pessary Trial for the Italian Preterm Birth Prevention (IPP) Working Group. In the original prospective randomized controlled trial asymptomatic singleton pregnancies without prior SPTB but with TVU CL 25 mm at 18 0/6–23 6/7 weeks were randomized into 1:1 ratio to either cervical pessary or no pessary. During their follow-up visits, women were asked about their activity. For the purpose of this secondary analysis, women were classified in the following groups, using the information obtained in the follow-up visit one month after randomization: 1) Exercise group, defined as women performing exercise !2 days a week for !20 min each day. 2) No exercise group, defined as women performing exercise <2 days a week for !20 min each day. The primary outcome of this secondary analysis was PTB < 37 weeks. Results: 300 women were included in this analysis. 99 (33.0%) were included in the exercise group. 201 (67.0%) were included in the no exercise group. Of the 201 women in the no exercise group, 90 (44.8%) affirmed that they had reduced their activity after the diagnosis of short cervix despite the research staff recommendations, while the other 111 (55.2%) women performed a sedentary life style even before the diagnosis of short cervix. PTB < 37 weeks occurred in 22 women (22.2%) in the exercise group, and 66 women (32.8%) in the no exercise group (aOR 0.65, 95% CI 0.33–1.03). Conclusion: In asymptomatic singleton pregnancies with short cervix, performing exercise !2 days a week for !20 min each day does not increase the risk of PTB but is indeed associated with a non-significant reduction in PTB < 37 weeks by 32%.

The purpose of this article is to understand how frequent female gym-goers work out in different gyms in Amsterdam, how they understand and live their bodies, and what working on their bodies means to them. Based on a qualitative study, data were collected from twelve months of fieldwork with eight women from different nationalities. My findings contribute to the work of Physical Cultural Studies by arguing how gymgoing for these women form a complex and diverse cultural practice through which both personal and bodily experiences, meanings, and subjectivities become dialectically connected to, and negotiated through, broader socio-cultural contingencies, where gender stereotypes are not only reproduced but, at the same time, are also negotiated and subverted. The women in this article help us to understand that they are not necessarily victims of social pressures, nor are they in search of the perfect body since their adherence to training can also re-enact a space of agency and empowerment. Gym-going for them is not necessary liberating nor oppressive. It is related to the social context and to the individual's awareness of their agency in negotiating their actions and perceptions at the gym.

To evaluate effects of exercise during pregnancy in asymptomatic singleton pregnancies without prior spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) but with short transvaginal ultrasound cervical length (TVU CL). This is a secondary analysis of the Italian Pessary Trial for the Italian Preterm Birth Prevention (IPP) Working Group. In the original prospective randomized controlled trial asymptomatic singleton pregnancies without prior SPTB but with TVU CL ≤ 25 mm at 18 0/6-23 6/7 weeks were randomized into 1:1 ratio to either cervical pessary or no pessary. During their follow-up visits, women were asked about their activity. For the purpose of this secondary analysis, women were classified in the following groups, using the information obtained in the follow-up visit one month after randomization: 1) Exercise group, defined as women performing exercise ≥2 days a week for ≥20 min each day. 2) No exercise group, defined as women performing exercise &lt;2 days a week for ≥20 min each day. The primar...