First trimester workouts you can do at home

While I enjoyed Barrre3 and yoga in my first trimester, I also would often do quick strength training workouts at home.  Today I wanted to share some of my go-to workouts with you so that you could try them out for yourself. These are good standbys for your entire pregnancy- and even great for a new mom looking for a quick workout. You don’t need any equipment for these workouts- just a small room and your own body weight!
While these are safe for any pregnancy or postnatal period, they are especially good for the first trimester because they accomplish some important things.

Goals for the first trimester that these exercises focus on are:

1- strengthen abs to prepare for growth/weight of baby

2- increase cardiovascular capacities before breathlessness becomes a concern in 2nd trimester
On top of these important objectives, I also liked these workouts during my first trimester because they are short and quick. When my fatigue level was high I found mentally I could only commit to a short workout.  Later in my pregnancy this has changed, as I think more about preparing for the muscular endurance needed in labor and the first few months of motherhood.
All of these workouts are scale-able–you can make them easier or harder (check out the notes on the workout to see how to do this).  Also, know it’s entirely possible to build strength during pregnancy, so expect your body to adapt and get stronger the more times you perform these workouts. And, as always, be sure your doctor has cleared you to exercise before working out during your pregnancy.

You can perform just one, or all of these workouts in a given session.  They’ll should be short, intense sessions that will help build a base level of strength for the months of pregnancy ahead.

ISOMETRICS- Workout 1 (scale this workout by adjusting the length of time in each round)
Round 1- perform each exercise for 30 seconds
Round 2- perform each exercise for 1 min
Round 3- perform each exercise for 1:30 seconds

Wall sit
Plank
Lunge hold right leg
Lunge hold left leg

CORE+ CARDIO- Workout 2 (scale this workout by decreasing the amount of reps in each round)
Round 1- perform 10 of each exercise
Round 2- perform 20 of each exercise
Round 3- perform 30 of each exercise

Crunch
Full Sit up
Squat
Squat Jump
Moving plank
Pushup

ENDURANCE- Workout 3 (scale by decreasing the reps)
Do one hundred of each of the following exercises:

Pushup
Squat
Walking lunges
Leg lowers
Dips

What workouts did you enjoy during your first trimester? Were you able to find the energy to get off the couch for short sets of exercises?

-Kathleen

Co-Owner, Oh Baby! Fitness

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