Safe Pregnancy Exercise Checklist

It is recommended that you obtain OB/midwife clearance before starting an exercise program during pregnancy. The following guidelines are general and presume you have already received clearance from your provider.

Before training

  • Gain clearance from your OB/midwife especially if you were not training/exercising before pregnancy

  • Generally continuing with exercise in type, duration and intensity that is similar to what you were performing prior to exercise can be continued if you presently have the available energy and ability to recover.

  • For beginners, start by learning basic movement patterns and developing proficiency rather than focusing on heavy load right away: push/pull/press/hinge/squat

  • Consider your total energy expenditure —sleep, work, caregiving, walking, travel, nausea, nutrition/hydration, pain, and fatigue—not only trying to strictly adhere to a program.

During exercise

  • Resistance training, aerobic activity and plyometric activity are not inherently unsafe, but the entry point must take into account the individual’s training history and current pregnancy symptoms.

  • For those that can push harder because they have been training at higher intensities, you do not necessarily have to bring the intensity down JUST BECAUSE of the pregnancy. You may consider bringing the intensity down if you are feeling more fatigued, ill, and under recovered. The goal is not to blindly match your pre-pregnancy intensity.

  • Use the equipment and exercise style that works: barbells, dumbbells, machines, bodyweight, and bands. If you can safely access it and manage it, you can use it.

  • If you are feeling dizzy/lightheaded— stop and let the symptoms subside. If modification need to be made to your breathing patterns, incorporate as needed

Monitor capacity & Modify accordingly

  • Watch for pelvic heaviness, pelvic-girdle pain, urine leakage, belly-button pain, and painful stretching or pulling along the linea alba. These can suggest that current demands exceed capacity

  • When during the activity do symptoms appear? Can the activity be modified beneath the threshold of symptoms?

Get additional support

  • Seek assessment from an obstetric clinician and/or pelvic health PT for persistent or worsening pain, heaviness, leakage, or uncertainty about training modifications.