The 5 Best Third Trimester Workouts (With Videos!)
The information out there is slim on what safe third trimester workouts look like. It often seems like the only recommendations for later pregnancy are walking, swimming, and yoga. Now, don’t get me wrong, these are great forms of exercise and totally fine if you enjoy them, but as an avid lifter of weights and generally very active person I always felt put off by that advice. Like I was expected to slow way down or change everything I was enjoying to other things that I truly didn't enjoy in that final phase.
It’s often hard to find quality information on the benefits of weight training in pregnancy, how much or how little to lift, and how to REALLY prepare your body for birth and new motherhood. Which is why I started this business in the first place, because during my second pregnancy I was tired of seeing how little information there was and being told I shouldn’t lift over 15 pounds when I had a 30 pound toddler at home who wanted to be lifted and carried all the time.
The above reasons are also my why’s for creating “Third Trimester Comfort and Calm.” When I set out to create this program I wanted to provide workouts that made people in their third trimester feel safe, confident, and comfortable in their bodies. Workouts that would help them lift their toddlers with ease and give them ways to manage the aches and pains that happen in the third trimester, like pelvic pain, back and hip pain. It grew into a program that also incorporated preparing your mind and body for labor, birth, and new motherhood.
It launches Thanksgiving day, and the people on this list get an extra $20 off of launch price. So, if this sounds like your jam- go sign up!
But for now, let me share with you some exercises that I LOVE for the third trimester, many of which are in the actual program itself.
Goblet Squats In Your Third Trimester Workouts
Can we talk about function for a minute? Let’s just forget that I LOVE squats and think about the actual applications of this exercise.
You have a newborn sleeping on your chest, you want to get up and put them in the bassinet because you’re STARVING. Oh, hi there goblet squat.
Your toddler is sick and the only way they are remotely happy is monkeying right up on your entire torso. You’re tired of carrying them, so you sit down to turn on a show to maybe get the first shower you’ve been able to grab in almost an entire week. Hey again, goblet squat!
This exercise has functional written all over it. So, in preparation for motherhood, the goblet squat is an exercise I think every pregnant person should be doing. Not to mention, it’s also great for your pelvic floor… and you’re probably doing this actual movement in every day life.
So, without further ado, I give you the goblet squat.
2. Suitcase Deadlifts In Your Third Trimester Workouts
Also a super functional exercise and a surprisingly intense core exercise at the same time, the suitcase dead lift is also a fantastic way to prepare for new motherhood. Why? Let’s take a look, shall we?
You go to pick up the car seat from the ground- suitcase deadlift.
You load all the groceries you possibly can into one hand because you have to hold the toddlers hand with the other and you’ll be damned if you’re making another trip to the car- suitcase deadlift.
Basically a million others things you may do throughout the day can also require this movement, but I’m having a bout of pregnancy brain… so there’s that.
But, I think you get my point. It’s an important and amazing exercise. So, go give it a lookie-loo. (That’s literally something I would never say IRL, so I’m sorry for that. Sometimes I get carried away.)
3. Pelvic Floor Drops In Your Third Trimester Workouts
Let’s switch the focus here for a second. Maybe you don’t think this is actually an exercise, but it really is. And a very challenging one, at that.
As the baby and uterus grow, it puts more and more pressure on the pelvic floor. Now you may have just done a kegel with the mere thought of that fact, BUT let’s hold on for a second on the over-kegeling. When muscles are under stress or strain, a pretty natural response is for them to actually tense up and tighten. It’s also very common for many of the issues that pregnant and postpartum people deal with to be due to tight or over-active pelvic floors.
If you spend all day clenching your fist then go to use your hand, it isn’t going to work as well, is it? It’s not all about strength. We also need to learn how to relax the pelvic floor.
And not only that, but if you’re planning a vaginal birth it’s important for the pelvic floor to RELAX to let a baby out of there. So, check out the pelvic floor drop which is a really great way to learn how to relax the pelvic floor.
4. Adductor Rock Backs In Your Third Trimester Workouts
This one just feels damn good. If you’re experiencing pelvic pain or lots of tightness in the pelvic floor, this is also a really great movement to help stretch the inner thigh muscles- which play with the pelvic floor muscles in sometimes not very nice ways.
The rocking is also great for loosening up the back muscles and can help open up the hips as well. Go give it a try!
5. Enjoy Your Third Trimester Workouts
The most important exercise is the one you ENJOY doing, IMO. Of course, there are some things that I may recommend scaling back on, some things you may want to eliminate (for now) due to symptoms or pain, and some things that need adjustment in the third trimester. One of my main goals for clients is to keep them doing what they love for as long as possible and then moving into a version of what they love doing in the third trimester that keeps them active in a way that feels good for their bodies and minds. Adjusting intensity and weight in higher level activities like Crossfit, running, spinning (my personal fave), and other things is an important part of the third trimester and something I work with as well.
However, most of the people I talk to just want to feel safe exercising in the third trimester. They want to be able to lift their kid(s) with less pain or a bit easier. They want to feel more comfortable in a trimester that is notorious for discomfort. They want to prepare their bodies and minds for birth and motherhood. Which is exactly why I created The Empowered Pregnancy Project.
For more information on when the next enrollment period is for TEPP, follow me on Instagram.