Pregnancy Exercises That Won’t Deflate Your Spirit
During pregnancy, as the belly grows, finding comfortable ways to exercise can be quite a balancing act! One tool my patients love is the birthing ball. So let’s roll into some fun exercises that will keep your routine comfortable and safe for later stages of pregnancy.
**Before beginning any exercise program including the one below talk to your medical provider to ensure you can do so safely
I’ll break down the exercises into a mobility section and a strength section. If you are cleared to exercise then give these a try and see what you think!
Mobility
Pelvic Tilts
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Sitting on ball, keeping shoulders relaxed, let your pelvis tilt forward and backwards slowly
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Try to use the low back/pelvis to do the movement vs rounding your shoulders
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Can perform 10-20 reps in each direction
Pelvic Clocks/Figure 8s
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Sitting on ball, keeping shoulders, relaxed, let your pelvis tilt forward/back/side to side
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Go in a slow and controlled circle or figure 8’s
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Try to let the movement come from the pelvis not just rolling the ball on the floor
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Can perform 10-20 reps in each direction
Child’s pose
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Kneeling on floor or bed, let your arms and/or head rest on the stability ball
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Gently sit back onto your heels (can place a pillow between bottom and heels if you’d like) and hold this position while you breathe. Try not to let your back arch or dip while holding this.
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You can do with knees in, knees out, or both depending on how far along you are in pregnancy and what is comfortable
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Can hold here 30-60 seconds
Strength
Marching
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Sitting on stability ball, stack ribs over pelvis
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Inhale then on the exhale gently engage your lower abs by drawing the hip bones towards one another or gently drawing belly in towards spine
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During the exhale as you hold the ab contraction try marching and keeping your balance, make sure not to hold your breath
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10-15 reps on each leg x 2 sets
Leg extensions
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Sitting on stability ball, stack ribs over pelvis
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Inhale then on the exhale gently engage your lower abs by drawing the hip bones towards one another or gently drawing belly in towards spine
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During the exhale as you hold the ab contraction try extending each leg and keeping your balance, make sure not to hold your breath
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10-15 reps on each leg x 2 sets
Banded trunk rotation
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Sitting on stability ball, stack ribs over pelvis
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Inhale then on the exhale gently engage your lower abs by drawing the hip bones towards one another or gently drawing belly in towards spine
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During the exhale as you hold the ab contraction and use a resistance band to rotate away from its attachment keeping arms straight, don’t hold your breath
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10-15 reps on each side x 2 sets
Ball/pillow squeezes
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Sitting on stability ball, stack ribs over pelvis
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Inhale then on the exhale gently engage your lower abs by drawing the hip bones towards one another or gently drawing belly in towards spine
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Hold that ab contraction as you continue to exhale and squeeze the ball with both knees – can add a kegel here too if cleared by medical provider to do so
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10-15 reps x 2 sets
Squats
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Place ball behind you on the wall for extra stability as you gradually squat down and back up
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Only go as far as you can comfortably and pain-free
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10-15 reps x 2 sets
I hope you find some of these helpful. As always if you are having any pain during or after these exercises discontinue and seek additional help from a pelvic floor physical therapist.
If you’d like a strength/mobility program tailored specifically to you and your stage of pregnancy give us a call, we’d love to help.
Lastly, don’t forget to stop by and see us at the Bumps and Balance Workshop at Wildfire Yoga Studio on Oct 20th from 1-3pm, event details can be found here: https://wildfireyogaky.com/events-workshops/
Written by: Kelsey Karnes PT, DPT
