Exercise Modifications Throughout Pregnancy

Posted byashleepedlowPosted inUncategorized

Now that you’re pregnant you may need to consider some adaptations and modifications to your exercise at some point throughout the course of your pregnancy. This doesn’t mean that you will need to stop exercising altogether…however some exercises may become uncomfortable or need to be adapted as your little one grows. Today we’re going to talk about a few common exercises that you may want to start to adapt as you progress through your pregnancy.

One thing to note here: I’m not actually going to give you a guideline as to when you should start to adapt because each and every one of you will be different. Although, generally you will see guidelines out there I want you to know that just because you have entered your second trimester doesn’t immediately been you have to change something. Instead I’m going to share with you the things you may start to notice and if you are noticing these things they it may be time to begin to adapt.

The Squat

As your belly grows your squat will likely need to adapt to a wider stance. This will vary from one person to the next, but you will notice that your belly starts to get in the way as you drop into your squat. Widen your stance will give you the opportunity to maintain your range of motion without the belly getting in the way. This will move you from a regular squat into a sumo squat stance.

Regular Squat: Begin standing tall and reach your hips back like you have a chair behind you. You can complete your squats with or without weight. The amount of resistance you are using will likely change over the course of your pregnancy which is completely normal. Keep your chest up when your squatting and drive through the heels to return to standing position .
Sumo Squat: If you find that your belly is starting to get in the way take your stance a little bit wider into a sumo stance. This will give you some extra room for your growing belly and still allow you to maintain range of motion in your squat.

As you progress even further into your pregnancy you may find that you desire a bench or a box behind you for your squats for a bit of additional support. You may or may not reach this point but I wanted to include this option if you find you are wanting the additional support.

Box Squat: Later in your pregnancy you may find yourself wanting some additional support with your squatting movement. If you want some additional support try using the box squat. You can use a bench, chair, couch, whatever you have access to. When performing the box squat try not to rest down on whatever you are reaching back for rather use it as a target to tap down onto.

Romanian Deadlift

Just like with the squat movement you will likely need to take your deadlift into a wider stance as your belly grows. As with the squat make the adjustment when you feel that you need to. This is usually when you feel that your belly is limiting your range of motion (or how far you can go). Listen to your body and follow it’s lead. You may also need to decrease weight as your pregnancy progresses.

Romanian Deadlift: Start standing tall and keep your back fairly flat as you hinge forward at the hips into your Romanian deadlift. Use enough weight to challenge yourself but still allow yourself to maintain good form.
Sumo Stance Romanian Deadlift: As your belly grows just like with the squat you will want to take your feet wider apart. You can turn your toes out slightly in the sumo stance position with this Romanian deadlift variation. Aim to maintain your neutral spine with this variation as you move through this range of motion.

Hip Thruster

The hip thruster is a movement that will often become uncomfortable at some point and time in your pregnancy. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t adapt it to be more pregnancy friendly. Taking the Hip Thruster to a standing position can make the movement more comfortable, especially as you progress in your pregnancy and your belly becomes larger. Using the band will also allow you to place the band around your thighs instead of hips which will be more comfortable throughout pregnancy.

Hip Thruster: Begin with your upper back on a bench or the edge of a couch. Lift through the hips maintaining neutral spine and squeeze the glutes at the top. If you are using weight for your hip thruster you may find that you need to move the weight lower towards your thighs than for it to remain on your hips. This is completely fine if you are still performing hip thrusters but find added weight is too much in the pelvic/belly area.
Standing Banded Hip Thruster: As the traditional hip thrust position becomes uncomfortable you can move to a banded standing (or kneeling) hip thrust. The band allows you to add resistance but keep it out of the way of the belly.

Chest Press

The chest press is an exercise that can have a few different variations depending on how you are feeling throughout your pregnancy. I have included a couple options on your back as well as an incline option. Give the different options a try and choose what is most comfortable. Early in pregnancy you may be okay to perform a traditional chest press, but may want to decrease the weight slightly. You may find that as you progress it’s more comfortable for you to bring your feet up to the bench (or you can also perform a floor press here as well) instead of leaving your feet on the floor.

Chest Press: The traditional chest press will likely work for most people in the early pregnancy days. With your feet flat on the floor keep the weight over your chest and keep your elbows from flaring out.
Chest Press with Feet Elevated: As your belly grows you will likely want to elevate your feet from the floor to the bench (if you are doing a floor press you won’t need to worry about this). This will help pull some of the pressure off your back as your belly grows.

As long as you don’t experience any lightheadedness, nausea or dizziness while laying on your back you can continue to do so throughout pregnancy. If you do have these experiences give the incline chest press a try or swap the exercise to take it to a standing or seated option (depending on what equipment you have access to).

Incline Chest Press: If you are experiencing negative symptoms being on your back you can take your chest press to a slight incline. This will help to relieve the pressure on your inferior vena cava and should help to relieve your symptoms if you are experiencing them. Even if you aren’t experiencing symptoms do you may find this option more comfortable in which case feel free to use it.

Rows

Rows and variations are a super important exercise for everyone and they are especially important during pregnancy to help improve posture. As you progress in your pregnancy the bent over row variation may become less comfortable and you may find yourself wanting a bit more support. A single arm supported row can be a super easy and effective way to give yourself a bit of extra support while still allowing you to strengthen those important muscles in your back.

Bent Over Row: Begin by bending forward at the hips with your arms in front of you. Pull your elbows back squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top. As your pregnancy progresses you may need to widen your stance slightly to accommodate for growing belly. Or you can also take the supported option below.
Single Arm Row: The single arm row is supported on a bench or other elevated surface. Pulling the elbow back squeeze the shoulder blades together. You may find this option suits you better as your pregnancy progresses by giving you some extra support. If the bent over option isn’t as comfortable try swapping this option in.

Core Exercises

Core exercises are often the most common thing that we are required to modify during pregnancy. Typically we want to start to modify core exercises when we start to notice doming or coning down the midline of the belly. This results from a reduced ability to manage pressure in our intrabdominal cavity. This is completely normal during pregnancy as these muscles stretch out and can become less effective. It is also completely normal for this to occur at very different times for different women. If you start to notice the coning or doming try resetting the exercise you are doing focusing on core activation. If you continue to experience coning it may be time to set that exercise aside and try something different. I’ve included the plank here as it is one of the most commonly used core exercises across the board and also one that will often require modification at some point in your pregnancy. Transitioning a plank to a bear crawl position can be a great option to help you still train your core but help you manage pressure in your core a bit better. If you start having issues with this position then you can always move to things like the Pallof Press (and it’s many variations as well as other standing core exercises).

Plank & Bear Crawl: The plank is a full extension core exercise that is fantastic but can place unnecessary strain on your core if you aren’t managing your intrabdominal pressure well. Transitioning your plank to a bear crawl option can help to relieve some pressure and help you control your pressure better.
Pallof Press (and variations): If you are no longer able to manage intrabdominal pressure and prevent doming or coming then swapping to Pallof Press variations can be beneficial. Begin standing tall with a band (or cable) positioned at your chest. Press straight out away from your body and then return to the start position.

Modifications are an important part of progressing through pregnancy, but just because an exercise you’ve always down isn’t comfortable or working for you anymore doesn’t mean that you have to give it up completely. My favourite thing to tell clients is that everything can be modified to suit you. Sometimes we have to get creative but it can always be done. Looking for other modifications that you didn’t find here? Feel free to reach out and let me know what your looking for and I would be more than happy to help guide you in the right direction.

Leave a comment