Exercise In Pregnancy
If you are pregnant, congratulations! What a beautiful season of your life. I promise I can guide you through this blog post to bring you more health during this season. If you are planning or just want to know about it, be welcome.
The first thing I want you to read in this blog post is: pregnancy is not made for resting. It needs MOVEMENT.
I still feel quite flabbergasted when I see someone thinking that just because they are pregnant, they decide they should stop the gym, stop their workouts, classes etc because there is still the belief that it is not healthy for you. WRONG. Rather than waiting for the postpartum period to address physical concerns, proactive movement during pregnancy helps you build a resilient foundation.
Whether you are a crossfitter, a marathon runner, a pilates enthusiast or even someone not into exercise much before the pregnancy, there is a space for everyone and as I always say, there is never a forbidden exercise, there is instead adaptation.
The scientific literature surrounding prenatal fitness has evolved significantly over the last few years. Drawing on the latest 2024–2026 clinical research, this guide breaks down exactly how to move safely through each season of your pregnancy, with a special focus on protecting your pelvic floor and understanding your body's cardiovascular limits.
The 140 BPM Myth: New Guidelines for Heart Safe Zones
For decades, the standard medical advice was to keep your heart rate strictly under 140 beats per minute (bpm) while pregnant. Today, updated 2025 clinical consensus has completely abandoned this arbitrary cap.
During pregnancy, your resting heart rate naturally increases by 10 to 20 bpm to accommodate a 30–50% increase in blood volume. Because your baseline is constantly shifting, standard heart rate zones calculated from pre-pregnancy data are no longer accurate. Instead of focusing on a smartwatch, the latest guidelines emphasize two evidence-based methods for monitoring your safe zone:
The Talk Test: This is now considered the gold standard for prenatal exertion. You should be working hard enough to sweat, but still able to hold a full conversation without gasping for breath. If you cannot speak in full sentences, you are overexerting and should scale back.
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE): Using a standard 6 to 20 scale, aim for a 12 to 14. This translates to an effort that feels "somewhat hard" which means a purposeful, steady rhythm where you are working, but not straining.
Adapting Movement by Trimester
Recent scoping reviews recommend that healthy pregnant women aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. However, how you accumulate those minutes should adapt to the physical realities of each trimester.
First Trimester: Rooting and Resting (Weeks 1–13)
The first trimester is characterized by rapid hormonal shifts that frequently cause deep fatigue and nausea. The goal here is not to hit personal bests, but to establish a gentle baseline.
This is the perfect time to exercise, let me break it down: your bump is still growing, there is not much strain and load on your pelvis and you can get good amount of strength work on your powerhouse (gluts and hamstrings). If you are, unfortunately, dealing with early pregnancy nausea, I suggest gentle mobility and walking (such as yoga).
Focus: Maintain your pre-pregnancy fitness habits, but grant yourself the grace to scale back intensity.
Actionable Advice: If a 30-minute workout feels impossible, break your activity into 10-minute movement snacks (like brisk walking or gentle mobility) throughout the day. Listen to your body and prioritise hydration (lots of water).
Second Trimester: Growing and Strengthening (Weeks 14–27)
Often referred to as the "golden" trimester, energy levels typically rebound, making this an ideal time to build strength to support your growing bump.
Focus: Core stability and posterior chain strength (glutes and back muscles) to counteract the forward shift of your center of gravity. Engage your abs but avoid sit ups and planks, we don’t want any doming in your abdominal wall to prevent diastasis.
Actionable Advice: As your uterus grows heavier, prolonged time lying flat on your back (supine) can compress the vena cava, reducing blood flow to the baby. Modify exercises to be performed side-lying, seated, or standing.
Third Trimester: Yielding and Preparing (Weeks 28–40)
As you approach labor, your body will have higher levels of relaxin, increasing joint laxity. Exercise should shift from building fitness to preparing the pelvis for birth.
Focus: Pelvic mobility, breathwork, relieving tension and I would also say, a good amount of joint controlled work. Pilates based exercise for example and moderate weight lifting is very important to maintain good joint support.
Actionable Advice: According to 2025 clinical reviews, it is perfectly normal and highly recommended to reduce your training volume by up to 50% compared to your pre-pregnancy levels. Swap high-impact activities for swimming, prenatal yoga, or walking - I would (personal opinion here), to continue with moderate to light weight lifting. If working one your
What to Modify or Avoid
I believe that your body is incredibly resilient, and movement should always be a tool for empowerment, never a source of pain. As your pregnancy progresses, tuning in to your body’s subtle cues is essential. Instead of rigid restriction, we focus on safe, functional modifications so you can maintain strength for birth and recovery without rushing the process.
Based on the latest 2024 clinical literature, here is an evidence-based update on how to safely adapt your routine:
Rethinking Supine Positions (Lying on your back): For years, women were given blanket advice to entirely avoid lying flat on their backs after the first trimester due to the risk of the uterus compressing the vena cava and reducing cardiac output. However, current 2024 sports medicine and obstetric updates clarify that this risk is primarily linked to prolonged periods of rest or sleep. Short bouts of supine exercise (3 to 10 minutes) are considered safe for the vast majority of symptom-free women. If you begin to feel dizzy, nauseous, or breathless, listen to your body and simply roll to your side or modify the exercise using an incline bench.
Managing Intra-abdominal Strain: A landmark 2024 randomised trial demonstrated that pregnant women can safely exercise their abdominal and pelvic floor muscles without increasing the severity of diastasis recti (core separation), provided they manage intra-abdominal pressure correctly (Theodorsen et al., 2024). Avoid heavy, uncoordinated lifting that requires breath-holding (the Valsalva maneuver) or causes your abdomen to visibly "cone" or "dome." Always exhale on the exertion to protect your linea alba. If you notice coning, it is a gentle cue to modify your position or reduce the weight, not a reason to stop moving entirely.
Skipping High-Risk Activities: While moderate exercise actively prevents major pregnancy complications, safety remains paramount. Current 2024 ACOG guidelines strongly advise against contact sports, activities with a high fall risk (such as horseback riding or downhill skiing), and hot yoga or hot Pilates. Exercising in high-heat environments can cause dangerous core temperature spikes (hyperthermia), which must be strictly avoided to protect fetal development (ACOG, 2024).
Not on the papers but from the eyes of my clinical experience: I do understand that, when a women is so highly motivated to do sports, and feels confident as well performing them, there are some I would start avoiding in pregnancy. One of them is cycling on the streets: I say that because cars can easily make you loose your balance, so opt for safer means of transportation. Another mention is, an increased amount of high impact (running, cross fit, jumping) can cause a huge strain on your pelvic floor (and also round ligament pain) that, if not closely worked with physiotherapy to know where to draw the limit, you would not know how much damage you could be doing to your pelvic floor.
I always say that there is no need to keep putting your body into more stress just achieve a number, a competition or to prove anything. You are building a little life inside of you. Tend to that, care for yourself and do a lot things that brings you joy. Exercise can be very joyful without a goal or checkpoint.
Tending to the Pelvic Floor Conditioning
Regardless of your trimester, your pelvic floor requires specialised attention. Pelvic floor dysfunction, such as incontinence or pelvic girdle pain, is frequently dismissed as an inevitable part of womanhood.
A robust 2024 trial demonstrated that comprehensive, supported antenatal pelvic floor muscle training significantly reduces the likelihood of experiencing postnatal urinary incontinence (MacArthur et al., 2024). Just like any other muscle group, the pelvic floor responds best to targeted, consistent conditioning rather than casual, infrequent practice.
At Flor, we provide a quiet, safe place where you can learn to connect with your deep core. By integrating evidence-based clinical treatments with a calming wellness environment, we help you rebuild strength and feel empowered in your body.
Book your specialised pelvic health assessment today to discover how we can support you—and remember, your baby is always welcome.
References
MacArthur, C., et al (2024). Midwifery-led antenatal pelvic floor muscle exercise intervention to reduce postnatal urinary incontinence: APPEAL research programme including a feasibility and pilot cluster RCT. Programme Grants for Applied Research, 1–106. https://doi.org/10.3310/tjdh7946
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). (2024). Physical Activity and Exercise During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period. FAQ119.
Theodorsen, N. M., et al. (2024). Pregnant women may exercise both abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy without increasing the diastasis recti abdominis: a randomised trial. Journal of Physiotherapy, 70(2).