I’m now well into my 2nd trimester and finally showing at 23 weeks. If you are new here, welcome! I’m expecting a baby boy in March 2020.
Workout Safety While Pregnant
I’m almost done with my ACE Oh Baby! Prenatal and Postpartum Fitness Certification and have learned all about perinatal fitness from the first trimester all the way through postpartum.*
*Although it is recommended that you continue to workout while pregnant and studies show that it has lots of amazing benefits, always be sure to get approval from your doctor before starting a workout routine while pregnant.
Most exercises are safe during pregnancy, in particular: walking, swimming, cycling, strength training (with modifications) and aerobics (especially low impact or water-based) with the exception of contact sports, activities with a high risk of falling (skiing, surfing, etc), scuba diving, sky diving and Hot Yoga or Hot Pilates. (1)
Always use your judgment when working out, if something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it or modify. You should still be able to hold a conversation while performing any exercise during pregnancy.
After the first trimester, avoid exercises on your back, avoid exercise in hot/humid weather, avoid twisting and limit your crunches.
(1) ACE Oh Baby! Fitness
Now that I’m carrying more weight on me, I’ve been running less and adding in more strength workouts like this Full Body Prenatal Strength Workout that I’m sharing today.
Prenatal Full Body Strength Workout:
Equipment Needed:
A set of medium dumbbells
Warm-up:
Although I don’t provide one here, always be sure to properly warm-up beforehand. It’s best to start with an 8-10 minute dynamic workout like walking or jogging to really warm-up the body and joints. During pregnancy there is a decrease in fluid production in our joints, which can limit up and down movement, taking the fluid longer to warm up and lubricate the joints. so it’s important that we allow more time for our bodies to warm-up to provide a natural cushion between the joints. If walking or jogging isn’t accessible, I love doing some cat-cow stretching, marching in place, and some light jumping jacks or steps to the side.
Although it’s not recommended that we do a lot of ab work while pregnant, especially no crunches, it’s important to keep your abs engaged wherever possible while exercising by pulling the baby up and in, this simply means that you will want to engage your transverse abdominis during each of the exercises which is our deepest and largest ab muscle and so important to strengthen while pregnant to help support our lower backs and keep us safe while working out.
Perform two rounds of each circuit:
Circuit 1: Legs
- Weighted squats x10
- Alternating lunge back with bicep curl x10
- Lateral lunge to the right x10 then to the left x10
- Sumo squat with single dumbbell overhead press x10
Circuit 2: Arms
- Rows x10
- Bicep curls, wide then narrow x10
- Tricep dips (single or double dumbbell) x10
- Plank to push-up x10
Circuit 3: Abs
- Bird Dog, right side x10, then left side x10 (modify by bringing hand and knee down)
- Side plank pulse (weight optional) right side x10 then left side x10
- Alternating toe taps x10
- Reverse plank hold x20 seconds
Here is a workout video with each move:
Did you try this workout?! If so, tell me what you thought below!
Top: adidas Originals Women’s Trefoil Tank Top | Sports Bra: KORA Seamless Collection* . *15% off with code: FITGREEN15| Sneakers:adidas Women’s Cloudfoam Pure Running Shoe
Xoxo
Marisa
