First Trimester Workouts 

Working out when you’re pregnant is confusing. You’ve probably heard some or all of the following (contradictory) advice.

• Don’t push yourself
• Just walk or do yoga
• Keep your heart rate below 140bpm
• Don’t lift heavy weights
• Don’t jump or run
• Don’t start anything new
• Your workouts don’t have to change at all, just keep going

Oye…so where the heck do you start?

First thing is first. Listen to your body! 

If you’ve been training for awhile, you know the signs your body gives you when you overdo it or something isn’t quite right. Or at least something isn’t quite right for you right now.

Coming off my first trimester (hallelujia!) I’m gonna share what worked for me. Please keep in mind, this is what works for ME. This is not what I am recommended for YOU.

When I am not pregnant my workouts are pretty tough. I love training. No big surprise, right? I lift heavy and when I condition I work hard. This past spring and summer I was doing some energy system work similar to what my husband puts his professional MMA guys through. I loved it even though it was TOUGH.

I love lifting heavy (for me), I love feeling strong and I love pushing my limits… when I feel good.

That all said, during the last few months, first trimester of pregnancy had it’s way with me.

My energy levels sucked. I was tired all of the time. I felt nauseous pretty much all of the time. (Morning sickness is more like all day sickness for most people in case you haven’t heard that one.) I felt hungry all of the time, but then felt sick when I ate. Vegetables tasted like dirt. The thought of cooking chicken made me want to puke. You get the idea. What I was eating wasn’t exactly fueling the lack of energy either. I did what I could, but I also knew it wasn’t the time to stress about calories or macros or even how much protein I was eating.

During the first trimester, I knew I had to focus on resting and feeling better, or at least better enough to suck it up a little and eat healthy and train a bit harder again. Growing a baby is hard work and pregnancy is never a good time to beat yourself up if your diet and training aren’t spot on. No, I don’t think you should go crazy and start eating everything in site, but be a little easy on yourself. You’re dealing with a lot.

So although my diet left a bit to be desired, I kept up on my workouts by making some small changes to my training program.

Here’s what worked for me and kept me exercising through the gnarly first trimester months:

• I shortened my workouts. I usually kept things right around 30 minutes.
• I made a plan, but stayed flexible based on how I was feeling since it changed daily.
• I decreased weight for nearly everything and used higher reps.
• I either lifted or did some conditioning…not both. It was too much for me with how exhausted I felt. Most of the time I trained 5-6 times a week so I still felt like I was getting both done.
• I slept as much as possible. I went to bed as soon as my son did many nights and took naps when he decided to take naps.
• I ate what sounded good, within reason. Protein shakes and overnight oats were both delicious so I stuck with the theory that those both gave me some good energy!

  

• I ate when I first woke up a lot of the time. I usually train on an empty stomach and eat breakfast late morning, but I was waking up hungry so I listened to my body and ate a little something before leaving the house each day.
• I planned my workouts weekly based on when I had time. If I have a plan I tend to stick to it. If I just said “I’ll train sometime” it wouldn’t have happened because the desire was just not there.
• I stopped running and retired the jump rope for now. Neither of these felt good and they didn’t leave me feeling good the next day. That doesn’t mean you can’t run…it’s just not a good fit for me during pregnancy.
• I didn’t worry too much about eliminating any specific exercises besides barbell bridges, which just didn’t seem like a great idea. 😉 Most of those pregnancy-related exercise modifications will happen now, as I start my second trimester. More on that soon.

So there you have the tips that kept me going and got me through my first trimester without feeling like I wasted three months on the couch complaining. The biggest tip I can give you is to create a habit of training consistently prior to getting pregnant. It’s a heck of a lot easier to keep going when you have the habit already created instead of having to rely on willpower!

Here is an example of how I changed a workout to work better for me during the first trimester.

Workout before pregnancy:

Strength

• TGUs
• Deadlift 5, 3, 2
• Overhead Press (2 bells) 1, 2, 3 x3
• Inverted Rows 5×10

Conditioning

• Explosive Sled Push 7×20 yards with :50 rest
• Rope slams :35 on / :35 off
• Sled Push :60 on / :60 off
• Bike 1:45 all out

Modifications I made to this workout during first trimester:

Strength

• TGUs –> still did these, just usually went a bell lighter
• Deadlift 5, 3, 2 –> did not use a belt, switched to either 5×5 with lighter weight or did RDL’s instead for 5×5
• Overhead Press (2 bells) 1, 2, 3 x3 –> used one kettlebell and did L and R instead of double kettlebells
• Inverted Rows 5×10 –> no change!

Conditioning (done on a different day instead of after)

• Sled push 80 yards
• 30 rope slams
• :30 bike

Repeat 4 or 5 times.

So there you have it. As far as the common recommendations I listed in the beginning of this post…

I’m not into jumping or running, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be! I don’t worry much about keeping my heart rate below 140bpm because I can get my heart rate up to that just walking up the stairs. Instead, I listened to my body and stopped before I ever pushed it to the limit. I kept my goal to finish each workout session feeling better than when I started, not more tired. I lifted heavy weights…just not as heavy for me because I literally didn’t have the strength. I didn’t start anything new, but that’s because I didn’t have the energy to even think about doing that. If you’re doing nothing and then you get pregnant I assure you that you can still walk and lift some weights as long as you have a healthy/normal pregnancy and clearance from a doctor. Don’t use pregnancy as a reason to postpone being active unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

Soon I’ll write about my current workouts. The second trimester energy levels are starting to ‘come to mama’ and I’m able to push it a bit harder again. I love it. I’m lifting a bit heavier now and doing tons of pull-ups and kettlebell circuits.

Please note: I am not a doctor. You should get clearance from your doctor before beginning any exercise program. Additionally, what feels “light” or like an “easy workout” for me may be one of the toughest ones you’ve done in a long time so please use caution and use your head.