Now that you’re pregnant (congrats, btw!) you probably want to know how you can continue staying fit and healthy. After all, research shows that exercise during pregnancy has many benefits for both mother and baby.
Well, I have good news! You don’t have to give up your fitness routine because you’re pregnant, you just have to make some strategic modifications.
In this article, I’m going to teach you what exercises to avoid and what areas to focus on that will set you up for a healthy pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery.
Let’s start with what type of exercise that’s best avoided during pregnancy.
Avoid High Impact Exercise
High-impact exercise includes things like, running, jumping, and all other types of plyometrics.
I know the runners of the world are booing at their computers upon reading this. But not to worry, I’m used to this response. As a prenatal personal trainer, I’ve had to be the bearer of bad news to many women who are addicted to their daily runs.
But the bottom line is:
High-impact exercise can exacerbate the amount of stress put on your pelvic floor while you’re carrying your growing child.
So, if you haven’t considered swapping out your regular boot camp class, now is the time to start. There are plenty of safer and arguably more effective ways to get your exercise during pregnancy and I’m going to share them with you. Just keep reading!
Avoid Conventional Abdominal Exercises
Hear me out! Not all abdominal exercises are unsafe during pregnancy but many are (think sit-ups and crunches). While you’re pregnant, it’s best to avoid putting unnecessary forward pressure on your abdominal wall.
Exercises like dead bugs, heel slides, and heel drops, are safe alternatives to conventional ab exercises as long as you don’t witness any abdominal doming during your movements. A personal trainer who specializes in prenatal fitness can help assess which abdominal exercises are working best for your body.
So How About Some Prenatal Fitness Dos…
Do Focus on Strength Training
I like to think that everyone had dismissed the old 1950s rhetoric that told us not to lift anything heavier than a feather during pregnancy. However, I’m still surprised by the occasional client who’s deathly afraid to touch a set of dumbbells.
So, I’ll say it loud and clear:
You ARE ALLOWED to pick up heavy things while you’re pregnant!
It’s probably not the best time to start powerlifting, but unless you’ve been diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy, you (and your baby) can reap the same rewards of strength training that any non-pregnant person can. In fact, I’ve trained many women who’ve reached the peak of their strength during their pregnancy.
Do Focus on Your Deep Core Muscles
Ever heard of the transverse abdominis? Most people haven’t because it’s not a vanity muscle like your obliques or your rectus abdominis. In other words, it’s not one of the muscles you can visibly see in a fitness model’s photo shoot.
This is a shame because your transverse abdominis is arguably the most important muscle in the abdominal set. It works to support your spine, your lower back, your pelvic floor, and even your growing baby.
In addition to the dead bugs and heel drops that I mentioned earlier, some other great exercises you can do to strengthen your transverse abdominis during pregnancy are the paloff press, wood chops, bird dogs, and a quadruped plank.
Do Get After Them Glutes!
In my expert opinion, the glutes should be an area of focus in any training program. There are so many benefits to training your glutes and especially during pregnancy.
Why? Because your lower back is somewhat vulnerable during pregnancy due to raised levels of the relaxin hormone and carrying an imbalanced amount of weight in at the front of your body (i.e. your baby). Thus, a strong set of glutes will help protect your low back.
To ensure you’re incorporating glute strength into your routine, here are some of my favorite pregnancy-friendly glute exercises: bridges, side-lying clams, donkey kicks, and of course, good old-fashioned squats!
