9 Pregnancy-Safe Workouts for Your Core — Tone, Strengthen, and Prepare for Birth

 

As a pregnant mom, you’ve been told to exercise. It’s good for you, and it’s good for your baby.

But you’ve also been told not to exercise too hard. You don’t want to put pressure on your abdomen or increase the risk of diastasis recti.

Where’s the middle ground? How do you find exercises that prepare you for the challenges ahead without damaging your pregnant body?

The answer isn’t what you think.

At Studio Bloom, we take a different approach to pregnancy-safe workouts. We believe exercise shouldn’t exist just to keep your weight stable or to support your favorite outdoor activities (although both of those are powerful benefits).

Pregnancy exercises should protect your body from pregnancy-related injuries (like pelvic floor dysfunction and diastasis recti) and strengthen your body for the challenges ahead.

Pregnancy-safe workouts shouldn’t just maintain the body you’ve worked hard for. They should set you up for injury prevention, faster labor, and quicker postpartum recovery.

Let’s dive into workouts that aren’t just pregnancy safe but are pregnancy empowering.

What Should You Expect from Pregnancy-Safe Workouts?

At Studio Bloom, we don’t love the term “pregnancy-safe workouts.”

Finding a workout that’s just “safe” is really underestimating the power of exercise and intentional movement.

As a pregnant mom, you deserve to continue your favorite activities without fear of pregnancy-related injuries. You deserve intentional movement and instructor-led cues that prepare you for the delivery room.

A “safe” pregnancy exercise is the bare minimum. What you’re really looking for is an exercise program that’s intentional, empowering, protective, and doesn’t underestimate what you’re capable of.

If you’re considering a pregnancy-safe workout, you should expect to…

• Bring awareness to your core and pelvic floor. You’ll use this awareness during labor and delivery.

• Build strength and flexibility. Strength training is a wonderful way to prepare your body for pregnancy and motherhood, but it’s not the only way. Pregnancy-safe workouts should focus on strength, flexibility, and relaxation of the pelvic floor.

• Strengthen the tissue between your ab muscles. Your six-pack abs are held in place by the linea alba. This is the stretchy connective tissue that can be injured due to diastasis recti. By strengthening this tissue, you can lower your chances of pregnancy injury.

• Reach your fitness goals. As a pregnant mom, you have permission to pursue strength training, rock climbing, competitive biking, and other nontraditional activities. There’s no reason to stop doing what you love. You just need to find a way to do them protectively.

• Establish protective techniques. Diaphragmatic breathing, core engagement, and pelvic floor lengthening are all protective techniques you can use during an exercise. Learn how to engage these techniques to support your pregnant body behind the scenes.

• Never underestimate your ability. Pregnancy isn’t delicate. It’s one of the most powerful things your body can do. Don’t let common narratives underestimate your strength.

• Use effective cueing. If a pregnancy-safe workout isn’t helping you connect to your pelvic floor or engage your core, it’s not doing you any good. Instead, find instructors who help you engage, lift, and lengthen effectively — training your body for the unique movements you’ll need during delivery.

• Engage positive self-talk. Carrying, birthing, and nurturing a baby is easily one of the most miraculous things the human body can accomplish. You deserve to celebrate the positive aspects of labor with empowering messages and intentional self-talk.

9 Pregnancy-Safe Workouts for Any Skill Level

When it comes to pregnancy exercise, you don’t have to choose between safe and challenging. You can have both. Here are ten of our favorite pregnancy-safe workouts, ranked from easy to hard.

Pregnancy-Safe Workouts — For Beginners

You don’t have to be an exercise expert to support yourself and your baby through pregnancy. If you’re not sure where to start, we just want to welcome you to this space and let you know that simply beginning is worth celebrating.

These beginner-friendly pregnancy-safe workouts are easy to start from your home and should build you up to more challenging exercises.

1. Belly Pumping

This is a signature move taught by Studio Bloom that helps you strengthen and lengthen the muscles in your core. You’ll breathe through your belly (not your chest) and feel as the muscles lengthen and then engage. While belly pumping isn’t a challenging exercise, it’s a foundational move that’s crucial to getting the results you want.

2. Supine Marches

Laying down on your back, you’ll bend your knees and plant your feet flat on the floor. Lift and wrap your core, then bring both your knees up, facing out in front of you. You’ll gently lower one leg to the ground, imitating a “march.” Then, switch legs as you continue the movement.

3. Alternating Curtsey Lunges

Start in a standing position with your hips squared and your feet flat on the floor. You’ll gently bend your knees as if doing a squat, then push one leg diagonally behind you. This leg should reach the floor, and you’ll squat or “curtsey,” bending your knees. This move can improve balance and build endurance for better pregnancy and labor.

Pregnancy-Safe Workouts — For Intermediates

These pregnancy-safe ab workouts are ideal for someone who knows how to exercise but doesn’t necessarily have an extreme activity to maintain. Moderate pregnancy-safe exercises should make you sweat and prepare you for birth with endurance training.

1. Dumbbell Deadlifts

These exercises aren’t as scary as their name. You’ll want to choose comfortable weights for each hand. Stand up tall while holding your weights naturally at your sides. Gently bend your knees and hinge at your waste, letting your hands fall naturally (almost to the floor). Keeping your back flat, hinge again and stand up straight. This exercise builds endurance, which is helpful for birth prep. You can also use diaphragmatic breathing and other Studio Bloom techniques to protect and strengthen your core.

2. Spinal Balance

You’ll start from a tabletop position with your palms and knees on the floor. Make sure your knees are shoulder-length apart and your shoulders are squared. Then, you’ll lift your right arm and left leg at the same time, stretching them out in front (or behind) you. Connect with your core and pulse your outstretched leg and arm three times before lowering. Then, switch to the other side. Add a resistance band for a more challenging workout.

3. Full Plank with Shoulder Taps

Yes, it’s possible to do planks safely in pregnancy as long as you maintain active core breath. You’ll want to start where you’re comfortable (maybe that’s a full plank or on your knees) and hold your position. Then, you’ll lift one wrist off the ground and tap it to your opposite shoulder. Continue this movement for a few sets.

Pregnancy-Safe Workouts — For Experts

Advanced pregnancy-safe workouts are ideal for women who exercise regularly. These can help you keep up with your HIIT routine, support a quick return to exercise after birth, and build endurance. There’s no reason to avoid advanced exercises during pregnancy — provided you’re using intentional techniques like core engagement, diaphragmatic breathing, and transabdominal pressure regulation.

1. Box Jumps

Yes, you can do box jumps during pregnancy — especially in the first and second trimester. These can help with endurance, cardio, and stabilize your posture and core. If you’re not able to reach a full jump (or it doesn’t feel supportive), you can modify this exercise by stepping on and off your box. 

2. Clamshells with a Resistance Band

Put a resistance band around your thighs and, from the ground, prop yourself up on your side. For this move, you’ll want to gently open your knees to stretch the resistance band. This is a powerful exercise that works to strengthen your glutes and core at the same time. Remember to lift and wrap your core for safety and strength.

3. Bridge with Leg Extension

Lying on the ground with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, you’ll lift your hips for a standard bridge. Then, take one leg and lift it up in the air (heel pointed toward the ceiling). This will isolate the glute muscles while challenging your core. You’ll want to belly pump during this movement to ensure safety of your stomach muscles.

Pregnancy-Safe Workouts Are the Bare Minimum

If you workout during pregnancy, you know there’s a firm emphasis on “pregnancy-safe” exercise options. The goal is to keep you active and healthy during pregnancy without provoking a pregnancy injury. But injury prevention shouldn’t be our only goal in pregnancy fitness. In fact, it’s a small part of a much bigger picture.

An empowering pregnancy exercise program should…

• Leave you with a stronger core after pregnancy
• Allow you to continue challenging exercises and fitness programs without fear
• Promote faster postpartum healing
• Train you for birth and the pushing phase of labor
• Build up your endurance for late-trimester pregnancy and delivery

… and so much more.

That’s exactly what we focus on here at Studio Bloom. We create exercises that go far beyond the “bare minimum” — with modern science, women-led workouts, and signature techniques that have helped thousands of women experience better pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

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