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.
- 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.
- Squats on squats on squats. Not only do these strengthen your legs, but also your butt, back and abdomen.
- 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.
- 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.
- Cat Cow. This is a great stretch for lengthening the spine and abdominal muscles.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.**
Nice stretches! I found that when I was pregnant, I really needed to stretch a lot.
Great workouts and stretches. Great info for future moms that want to stay active and flexible.
These are great! A tiny part of me is excited for the days when I won't get hassled for doing modifications because I'm pregnant 😉
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.
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!
Awesome stretches! Stretching felt especially great when I was pregnant.
we basically do all of this in pure barre, haha. it's a great workout for all – took a class w/my 7 months pregnant friend a couple of weeks ago!
These are great for the first trimester, wish I had this when I was pregnant!
These are great stretches. I didn't workout a lot when I was pregnant for some reason. These are great for even the non pregnant as well!
These look good for even if you aren't pregnant. Pregnancy is many years in my past LOL, so I'd be using these just for good stretching.
Great stretches.. and you look amazing! 🙂
Looks like a great workout! I love doing alternating arm and leg for core/lower back strength.
How many of each workout do we do?