From cardio and strength training to yoga and Pilates, find out what is and isn’t safe to do while exercising throughout your pregnancy.
Finding out you’re pregnant comes with a whirlwind of new information — how much caffeine is allowed, what skincare isn’t safe and the off-limit cheeses — but less is said about which exercises are safe during pregnancy, and which should be avoided.
L360 has spoken to three prenatal fitness specialists to uncover the best exercises to support you, the baby, their inevitable exit (whichever way they go) and your recovery — and anything best avoided to escape injury or put your growing little one at risk.
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Exercise in the first trimester
For many people, exercise during early pregnancy is out of the question. The vast majority will be dealing with exhaustion, caused by the sudden increase of both hormones and the physical workload of growing both the baby and placenta. And for some, this is combined with nausea and vomiting.
“It’s important to listen to your body and rest when you need to,” says Emily Martin, exercise physiologist and strength and conditioning coach at Pure Sports Medicine, “but any activity is better than none. Even just a brisk walk outside can improve your overall health and wellbeing.”
If you’re lucky enough to be up for more than that (even if it’s just on the odd occasion), personal trainer Aimee Victoria Long advises that gentle movement is key.
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“Walking, mobility work and Pilates or barre-style sessions focused on pelvic stability and posture are ideal,” she says.
Emily agrees, adding: “It’s important to complete pelvic floor exercises through the entire pregnancy, to strengthen the muscles that support the bowel, bladder and uterus, and to prepare for childbirth.”
Workouts to avoid during the first trimester
During your first trimester you shouldn’t start any new exercise — even prenatal yoga or Pilates classes require you to be in the second trimester. Hollie Grant, prenatal and postnatal expert and founder of The Bump Plan, also warns: “It’s not advisable to get too hot during pregnancy, so you may wish to avoid exercise such as Bikram yoga.”
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Exercise in the second trimester
At some point during the second trimester (often not as soon as you’d like!), energy levels will start increasing closer to normal levels, enabling many women to resume or start exercising.
“It’s a great time to focus on strength training that supports posture and prepares the body for carrying additional weight,” says Aimee. “Emphasis should be placed on glute, back and core strength.”
Emily adds that weight training can also “prepare your body for labour and helps to improve recovery post-birth”.
If you’re not already familiar with strength training, make sure you get professional guidance and keep weights low — this doesn’t mean hiring a personal trainer, staff in your local gym should be trained to help guide you through machines and movements.
Hollie recommends focusing on your core from the second trimester onwards. She explains: “Most people develop diastasis rectus abdominis — a completely normal and functional separation of our rectus abdominis muscle (our six-pack abs).
“Therefore, we want to try to allow these natural changes to take place, while keeping the core strong. I advise women to turn their attention to their transversus abdominis muscle, which acts as a corset around the core, and their pelvic floor.”
Exercises include cat cow, glute bridges, bird dog (which will need modification as your bump grows), tabletop knee lifts, dead bug heel taps — make sure you know how to engage your deep core and watch out for your stomach ‘coning’ upwards in the middle, as this is a sign of pressure on the muscles, which will worsen the separation rather than support it.
From strength training to your pelvic floor and deep core, prenatal Pilates will cover most of these areas, while prenatal yoga will focus less on strength training, but more on your pelvic floor, deep core, getting baby into a good position and birth preparation.
And for cardio, Hollie says it’s “safe for the remainder of pregnancy, but we would advise you work at a moderate intensity for these” — remember, you need to avoid raising your body temperature too high for the duration of your pregnancy.
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The best exercises for your third trimester
As you pass the 28-week mark of your pregnancy, Hollie advises: “Start to focus on the muscles that will be needed during labour and for recovery — no matter how you birth your baby.”
A few areas to focus on would be glute engagement “to help support the pelvis as it deals with the weight of a growing uterus”, says Hollie, along with hip mobility work, “which can help mobilise the pelvis and allow optimal foetal positioning”, and the continuation of pelvic floor exercises.
During the third trimester, focusing on relaxation can be helpful for a vaginal birth, for staying calm during a caesarean section and for postnatal recovery. Hollie says: “Some women find the breath and relaxation work of yoga or Pilates really welcoming during the third trimester, whereas other women will be happy to continue with more cardiovascular-based work.”
Aimee agrees on the shift to focusing on relaxation, adding: “Exercise should become more restorative, focusing on breathwork, mobility, pelvic floor connection and preparing both body and mind for labour.”
Both warn to look out for coning of the stomach to avoid exacerbating diastasis recti, and to make sure you’re making any necessary adjustments to exercise to account for your bump and any discomfort, such as pelvic pain (which is fairly common during later pregnancy).
Ultimately, whether you decide to focus on strength training, cardio, relaxation or invest in prenatal classes, Hollie says: “Exercise really is such an individual choice, as what feels good to one person will be different to another. The most important thing is that you’re enjoying what you do and you feel better for doing it.”
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Exercises to avoid during the second and third trimester
There’s a fair few specific movements that are best avoided, particularly in the second and third trimester. According to Emily, these are:
- Planks: these increase intra-abdominal pressure, which places stress on the baby.
- Overexertion: listen to your body.
- Inversions: short spine/long spine on a reformer Pilates machine, for example.
- End range flexibility (stretching to the maximum): due to the hormone, relaxin, circulating through your body, this increases laxity of the joints and makes it easier to injure yourself stretching.
- Contact sports.
- Exercises that involve lying on your back for prolonged periods: this reduces blood flow to you and your baby.
- Sit-ups or crunches: these cause too much pressure through the abdomen.
- Lying on your front.
“Across all stages, listening to your body is key,” says Aimee. “Movement should feel supportive, not depleting.”
Feature image credit: Freepik
