Practicing Safely Through Pregnancy

The Do’s and Don’ts by Trimester

General Guidelines

Work to maintain fitness. Pregnancy is not the time to be striving for new PRs. Instead, aim for daily activity at a moderate pace. It is much better to have a gentle daily practice than to exert a high intensity practice 2-3 times a week. As a general rule of thumb, you should be able to maintain a conversation throughout your exercise. If you’re out of breath, you’re going to hard.

1st Trimester 0-13

  • No closed twists; open twists are okay

  • No deep backbends

  • No contracted ab work (situps, crunches and the like)

  • Avoid strain to your pelvic area

(my belly is fake, for educational purposes only😁 )

2nd Trimester 14-27 weeks

  • no prone positions; for a short time is okay; less than 1 minute

  • no strong inversions

  • caution around balancing postures

  • caution around intensity

3rd Trimester 28-40

  • Everything from above plus more caution

YOUR BODY IS CHANGING

YOUR BODY IS CHANGING

See how pregnancy drives changes in your body and how that can affect your yoga practice

Cardiovascular

  • increase heart rate & pump volume

  • 40% increase in blood volume

  • adaptive decrease in blood pressure

Respiratory

  • lung volume increases

  • rib cage expanse

  • lung displacement by upward moving abdominal contents + baby

Muscular/Skeletal

  • the hormone relaxin works to loosen connective joint tissue to allow for pelvic expansive through delivery

  • changes in the spinal column (????) Kyphosis and Lordosis, shift in balance

Endocrine

  • Multitude of hormones that cause changes

Neuromuscular

  • elevation of pain threshold and pain perception, especially in the 3rd trimester

Emotional and Spiritual

  • fear, anxiety, body issues