Pregnancy can be an equally exciting and confusing time in an athlete’s life, especially if you’re a fan of high-intensity exercise and heavy weights. There’s plenty of encouragement (and even pressure) to have an Instagram-worthy #fitpregnancy filled with HIIT workouts and fully-loaded barbells. Yet, there are just as many voices, including some medical professionals, who will caution you to “take it easy.”
For an active person who wants to stay in shape without incurring any unnecessary risks, navigating those 40-ish weeks between conception and birth can be intimidating. So, we checked in with experts to get their practical advice on training when expecting to help you carry on with confidence—and maintain an active lifestyle.
First of All, Stay Active
Between morning sickness and fatigue, there may be days when you need to skip the gym in favor of the couch—and that’s always okay, if that’s what feels best for you that day. But, barring serious medical issues, pregnant people should continue to exercise throughout their pregnancies.
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The America College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends accumulating 150 minutes of moderate physical activity over the course of a week. Tanya Tringali, certified nurse-midwife, pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach, and host of The Mother Wit podcast, explains that while physical inactivity during pregnancy is an independent risk factor for excessive weight gain (which can lead to a host of complications, including gestational diabetes), most pregnant people don’t meet the guidelines for exercise.
“I think people intuitively get pregnant and think, ‘I’m supposed to stop everything and be careful,’ and that’s actually not true,” she says. “We want people to stay active and then, as their body starts to change and they start to feel certain symptoms or see changes in their body or compensations where they’re not able to maintain form or tension, then we want to say, okay, what do I need to change to stay active?’” In some cases, those changes might mean modifying or swapping out a movement. In other cases, it may be advisable to slow down, lighten the resistance, or take a break altogether. This guide can help you decipher which scenario fits your experience.
Prenatal Workout Options
It’s important to know that most pregnant athletes can continue with their regular workouts, with a few caveats. For example, if you’re into hot yoga, play contact sports, scuba dive, or sky dive, or if you tend to partake in activities that increase your risk of a serious fall, like downhill skiing or horseback riding, you might want to skip those workouts when you become pregnant. But, generally speaking, you can continue with your preferred form of exercise as long as it continues to feel good.
If your typical routine no longer works for your pregnant body, you may want to explore other forms of exercise. For individuals seeking a less-intense workout, Tringali recommends yoga, specifically prenatal yoga. “I love it when people go to actual prenatal yoga classes because they really focus on things that feel particularly good for the pregnant body,” she says.
Swimming and its promise of weightlessness is also a popular option, but Tringali cautions that it’s not the “silver bullet” everyone thinks it is. First, there’s the accessibility issue; not everyone has access to water. “Some people feel like their center of gravity is so off that floating gets really weird,” she says. “And some people feel pain with the kicking motions. Asymmetrical leg movements can sometimes irritate the pubic symphysis (a joint in the pelvis).” So, if swimming appeals to you, definitely try it out, but know you’re not alone if it’s not the right form of activity for you.
For athletes craving cardio, Tringali often points them toward the rowing machine. “Rowing is amazing because now we’re getting rid of impact, and most [pregnant] people eventually don’t like impact anymore,” Tringali says. “Your belly will get in the way at some point, but you can change the position of your feet and widen your knees.” Some runners may prefer to switch to rowing during their pregnancy as a low-impact option, while others might prefer an alternative like cycling.
This is all not to say you can’t run throughout your pregnancy—if it feels good for you, keep it going. But if low-impact cardio workouts feel better, try different options to see which one feels best, then make that a part of your regular routine.
What “Listen to Your Body” Actually Means
For many pregnant athletes, knowing when to switch things up is often the biggest challenge. “Listen to your body,” a favorite platitude of doctors and fitness pros alike, can be particularly baffling, if not meaningless, to someone with a constantly changing and increasingly unfamiliar physical form. Not to mention that most athletes have learned how to “tune out” feelings of discomfort for the sake of a faster time or new PR.
Jennifer Hunter-Marshall, Crossfit Level 4 Coach and co-founder of CrossFit Garden City who has special certifications in training female and pregnant athletes, dealt with this go-getter mindset during her own pregnancy. “Because I was a competitive athlete, I would push through things,” she says. “There’s a tendency to overlook something like a nagging pain or pressure. You think, ‘Oh, it will go away.’” But, pregnancy is the time to pay attention to that kind of feedback, she says, as the goal is to maintain, not necessarily improve, your fitness levels.
Hunter-Marshall works with her pregnant clients to understand their baseline for a workout and recognize the body’s cues that say stop and reassess. Some of those stop signs to look out for include:
→Feeling dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, or overheated. If the weather is super steamy, you’re better off exercising in a climate-controlled space.
→Breathlessness. An outdated guideline used heart rate to measure effort and stated that pregnant people should keep theirs below 140 beats per minute, but that has since changed. Instead, Tringali suggests using the talk test: While you’re exercising, you should be able to talk. It should sound like you’re exercising, but you can get words out. As the CDC states, think of your intensity being at a level in which you’re able to talk but not sing during the activity.
→Pain anywhere in the body, including the arms and legs. “Pain can happen in your limbs when your core is misbehaving,” says Tringali.
→Pelvic pressure. According to Tringali, this often feels like a dull heaviness in the pelvic area or the sensation of a tampon falling out of the vagina, and it means that you’re not properly engaging your core muscles and pelvic floor.
→Urinary incontinence. If a movement is making you pee, stop.
→“Coning” or “doming” of the abdomen. This tends to happen latter in pregnancy during heavy lifting, overhead movements, sit-ups, crunches, twisting movements, planks, and pull-ups, and may contribute to diastasis recti, a separation of the abdominal muscles. These moves can be fine early in pregnancy but are good to skip when you start to compensate with the coning or doming.
→Spotting or bleeding, which should be immediately assessed by your medical provider.
Common Exercise Modifications for Pregnant Athletes
Both Tringali and Hunter-Marshall agree that no exercise is categorically off limits for pregnant athletes. However, there may come a point in your pregnancy when certain movements and positions are no longer feasible or just don’t feel good (see above list of symptoms when determining which ones to skip).
Below are some movements that people tend to phase out of their workouts as pregnancy progresses, plus suggestions for modifications on those moves.
Sit-Ups
Besides potentially contributing to diastasis recti, the issue with sit-ups (or any exercise that requires you to lie on your back) is that the weight of the baby can potentially compress a blood vessel that supplies blood to the uterus.
Tringali believes the risks tend to be overblown and that most people can tolerate being on their back for short periods of time. “Anyone who’s going to have a response to being on their back is going to feel it instantly. As soon as it comes on, they’re going to feel either short of breath or a little nauseous, and they're going to roll to their side and say, “Oh, I wanna get out of that position.” So don’t ignore those feelings if you have them.
If sit-ups are uncomfortable, you can try the Palloff press (see below), bird dog, farmer’s carry, or plank. You can also perform moves, like dead bugs, on an incline surface in which your back is higher than your hips.
Pull-Ups
Performing pull-ups and other overhead movements, like push presses and jerks, can put excess pressure on the belly and cause coning or doming of the abdomen. For this reason, Hunter-Marshall often recommends that pregnant athletes substitute moves like bent-over rows for pull-ups, which work similar back muscles.
Box Jumps
Hunter-Marshall explains that box jumps are an example of an exercise for which the risks outweigh the rewards. “Yes, you may be able to jump up on that box, but if you miss and land on your stomach, that’s going to be catastrophic,” she says. She recommends that pregnant athletes swap box jumps for step-ups.
A 5-Move Strength Workout for Pregnant People
As long as your current training plan is working for you (and your doctor’s on board), there’s no reason to change your workouts. But, if you’re looking for some new pregnancy-friendly exercises, try incorporating this quick circuit into your routine.
How to use this list: Perform each exercise below for the number of reps listed. Repeat the full circuit 3 times, resting as needed. You will need a large resistance band and one dumbbell or kettlebell.
1. Pallof Press
Why it works: As the baby grows, it pushes against the abdominal wall, making it increasingly challenging to engage the core muscles during strength training. “The Palloff press is something that people should play with during pregnancy, because it’s actually a really great opportunity to connect your breathing to the activation of your transverse abdominis (a deep core muscle),” Tringali says. Plus, you don’t have to “crunch” the abdominals or lie on your back—two positions that eventually become uncomfortable for most pregnant people.
How to do it: At about chest height, loop one end of a resistance band around a pole, squat rack, or rig. With left side of body facing pole, stand with feet about hip-width apart and grasp opposite end of band with both hands at chest height (make sure you’re far enough away from the pole so that there’s resistance on the band). Engage core and exhale as you slowly push the band directly in front of chest. Use core to resist rotational pull of the band. Hold for a second, then inhale as you slowly return the hands to the chest. Repeat. Do 10 reps. Then switch sides.
2. Goblet Squat
Why it works: Goblet squats build and maintain strength in the glutes, quads, and adductors, which help carry the increasing weight of a growing belly. Also, some people find that squatting throughout pregnancy helps them feel stronger in a birthing position.
How to do it: Hold a kettlebell by the horns or a single heavy dumbbell vertically in front of your chest. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly pointed out. Send hips back and down, bending knees to lower into a squat. Keep chest lifted. Drive feet into ground to stand back up. Repeat, completing 12 reps.
3. Banded Seated Row
Why it works: Keeping the back and shoulders active and strong during pregnancy can help prevent poor posture and back pain. Rowing primarily targets the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius, but you’ll also feel this movement in your shoulders and biceps.
How to do it: Sit on the floor with legs extended in front of you. Holding the ends of a large resistance band in each hand, palms facing each other, loop the middle of the band around arches of feet. Keeping elbows tucked in close to torso, pull hands toward ribcage in a rowing motion, then extend arms straight in front of chest. Repeat. Maintain a flat back; do not slouch or round the shoulders. Do 15 reps.
4. Romanian Deadlift
Why it works: Weakness and imbalances in the gluteal muscles can lead to hip pain during pregnancy (and beyond). Romanian deadlifts target the glutes and hamstrings. And by starting from a standing hold (rather than picking up the weights from the floor), the Romanian deadlifts allows you to hinge only as far as what’s comfortable. You can use a “suitcase” hold (arms at sides, palms facing in) if there’s not space to hold the weights in front of your thighs.
How to do it: Stand with a soft bend in knees, feet hip-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand down in front of you, palms facing you. Hinge at hips by sending butt straight back, back flat, and core engaged, weights staying close to legs. Focus on hinging at the hips, not squatting. When you feel a stretch in the hamstrings, drive through feet and engage glutes to stand back up. Repeat. Do 12 reps.
5. Wall Push-Ups
Why it works: Considering how much lifting, carrying, and holding is involved in caring for a newborn, it’s important to keep the upper body functionally strong throughout pregnancy. Push-ups target the chest, shoulders, and arms, and doing them against a wall lessens the pressure on the core and upper back while offering more stability and belly room. If you want more resistance, try placing your hands on a stable box or chair instead.
How to do it: Stand facing a wall and place hands directly in front of you on the wall, wrists in line with shoulders, hands just wider than shoulder-width apart. Take a step back—the father your feet are from the wall, the harder it will be. Bend at the elbows and lower chest to wall. Keep neck neutral and core engaged. Push back up to plank. Repeat. Do 12 reps.
