Happily Hughes | Atlanta Fashion & Lifestyle Content Creator

1st Trimester Workouts and Stretches

Ya’ll!  I totally forgot to post this and I’m so sorry.  So many of you have emailed asking for basic exercises and stretches you can do during pregnancy, so here they are!  Above you will see workouts you can do.  
  1. Glute Bridges- these work both your booty AND your back.  If you’ve been pregnant before, you know how important a strong back a booty are. 
  2. Squats on squats on squats.  Not only do these strengthen your legs, but also your butt, back and abdomen. 
  3. Modified side plank.  You will NEVER see me recommending pregnant ladies to do regular planks.  If you have or eventually get diastasis recti, planks make it worse.  These modified side planks, however, don’t put too much stress on the body and help keep those obliques nice and strong. 
  4. Modified push-ups.  I don’t care if you do crossfit every day, modify your push-ups to avoid injury.  
These 4 exercises are the basic building blocks to keeping your body strong for a healthy pregnancy. 

Now let’s keep that body agile as well.  Here are some great stretches for the 1st trimester. 
  1. Cat Cow.  This is a great stretch for lengthening the spine and abdominal muscles. 
  2. Ab Contractions. All you need to do while laying down is focus on brining your abdominal muscles as close to your spine as possible.  Breathe in and contract, exhale and release.  Do this  30x. 
  3. Standing Leg Stretch.  This not only stretches your hamstrings and calves, it also lengthens your spine.  Do this stretch while you still can!  Not recommended after the 1st trimester.
  4. Alternating Arm and Leg Raises.  This both strengthens and lengthens.  Safe to do throughout your pregnancy as long as your doctor oks it! 
**DO NOT start a new workout routine once you become pregnant.  It puts undue stress on a body that’s already working hard enough.  ALWAYS talk to your doctor about your exercise routines to make sure you’re keeping you and baby safe!  These workouts are for the 1st Trimester only.  Ask your doctor if you can continue certain exercises after that 12 week mark.**

13 thoughts on “1st Trimester Workouts and Stretches”

  1. I've found that staying active and stretching a lot while pregnant has helped alleviate a lot of discomfort. I'm hoping to stay as active as I can. Thankfully, my OB is very supportive of me staying active during my pregnancy.

  2. These look great! Women shouldn't be afraid to be active/workout during pregnancy, especially if they were active beforehand. Modifications don't really need to be made until much later in pregnancy or if there is discomfort, but like you said – always good to check in with the doc!

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top