Best Third Trimester Pregnancy Workouts (2020 Update)

Third trimester pregnancy workouts are very useful to expectant mothers. Women who exercise during pregnancy enjoy a lot of health benefits. A few of these benefits include:

better cardiovascular fitness
healthier blood pressure
improved mood
better control of their weight

According to reports from experts, low- to moderate-intensity activity have been recommended for years.

Furthermore, you can even maintain vigorous activities like jogging, throughout pregnancy with your doctor’s permission. Nevertheless, there are precautions pregnant women must consider to keep both mom and baby healthy.

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Third Trimester Pregnancy Workouts

To begin with, your safety is crucial. Thus, you should always talk with your healthcare provider before engaging in new fitness programs.

Pregnancy, especially later in pregnancy, isn’t a time to start a robust exercise routine. If you are among those who have been inactive, start with the walking exercise routine.

Typically, during the third trimester, you want to avoid activities that require jumping, skipping, bouncing or hopping.

In this section of this article, we’ll tell you about some third trimester pregnancy workouts you can do as an expecting mom.

Here they are:

Walking and Jogging

One of the best forms of workout for a pregnant woman is walking. However, if walking isn’t enough of a cardiovascular challenge for you, try jogging instead.

Again recall that pregnancy is not the time to begin a running routine. If you’ve been able to get to week 27, there’s no reason to stop unless you have certain health issues or discomfort.

Also, a study published by Sports Health examining 110 competitive female distance runners and their habits throughout pregnancy. Out of the 70 percent who chose to keep their running routine, 31 percent continued running even in their third trimesters.

Furthermore, the key here is reducing the training duration and intensity. Seasoned athletes aren’t exempted, they also have to cut their usual efforts in half or more. In other words, if your pace or body doesn’t feel right, endeavor to slow it down or stop to walk instead.

Swimming or Water Aerobics

You can take advantage of aqua sports if you have access to a pool. Lap swimming is an excellent total-body exercise. Thus, it’s one of the best exercises you can add to your third trimester pregnancy workouts.

Also, it can be therapeutic for women who suffer from aches and pains. Water takes the pressure off tired backs and legs and helps to prevent overheating.

Furthermore, remember that exertion, even in cool water, produces sweat. Thus, if you swim for long periods, hydrate as you would if you were doing workouts outside of the pool.

Again, there are a lot of aerobics classes adapted for underwater enjoyment. Carrying out Zumba in the pool gets you dancing with added resistance. Joint and flexibility classes offer you gentle ways to test your range of motion using the water as support.

In addition, Aqua jogging is great for runners who feel uncomfortable with impact in later pregnancy. With this in mind, some gyms are even putting stationary bikes in water.

Pilates, Barre, Yoga, and other Low-Impact Exercises

Low-impact exercises are great for third trimester pregnancy workouts. Yoga, Pilates, Barre, and cycling are very good examples.

These third trimester pregnancy workouts focus on all the major muscle groups. This makes you feel fit and strong for delivery.

Furthermore, try to take classes specifically designed for women who are pregnant. This is because these poses are modified such that they’re safe and more comfortable as your baby grows during their final weeks.

As the bump grows, the core gets weaker and this can cause back pains and sciatica. Pilates is a fantastic way for women to build core stability while they are pregnant. A classic Pilates mat move strengthens the deepest abdominal muscle and the transversus abdominis. This improves overall posture and can be useful when pushing.

According to research, yoga can ease the anxiety and depression that sometimes comes with being pregnant. In a study Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice published, a group of pregnant women who were experiencing depression were assigned to a 20-minute yoga class from weeks 22 through 34 of their pregnancies.

From their findings, the results were positive in all areas of physical and mental well-being. Furthermore, the women had mood improvements, decreases in pain, and a lower incidence of preterm labor and Cesarean delivery.

Bodyweight and Toning Moves

To begin with, heavyweights can be dangerous in the third trimester of your pregnancy, especially if you aren’t used to lifting. However, you can ty bodyweight workouts to help you maintain strength like modified planks, squats, and wall pushups. These ones are okay to add to your third trimester pregnancy workouts.

Furthermore, stay away from crunches and ab work that have you flat on your back. This is because lying on your back for long periods of time can be tricky in the third trimester.

Some health practitioners recommend side-lying work that can help to stabilize your muscles and other areas, including the glutes, inner thighs, hamstrings, and outer hips.

In addition, with weights, they also recommend using light weights when doing arm work. This is because it’s best to build up strength early since babies are heavy. You can try the following exercises with a pair of 2- to 5-pound dumbbells:

basic bicep curls
triceps work
lateral raises

Conclusion

The third trimester of pregnancy is full of all kinds of thoughts, emotions, and even more physical changes.

Furthermore, for those of you who are already used to being fit, even just 20 minutes of exercise every day can deal with many of these symptoms. Thus, giving you a boost of energy, and strengthening your body for delivery in the process.

Additionally, these healthy habits are wonderful to develop now and continue in the postpartum period too.

Finally, engaging in third trimester pregnancy workouts are very helpful to both mother and child. However, it should be done with guidance from your health practitioner so it can be safe. Do not begin to try out new things as this may be very unsafe. Stick with the routine recommended by your health practitioner.