Upper Body Exercises You Can't Say No To

The first exercise requires an elastic exercise band, and works your back muscles. This exercise is safe during the whole nine months of pregnancy, but moms to-be are advised to start it in their first trimester. Remember, your back will need a lot of strength to carry all that weight that will soon be building up in your lower abdominal area.

This exercise looks simple, but you will feel it work if you do enough repetitions. As your pregnancy progresses, you may feel less comfortable standing up for long periods of time. The good news is that this exercise is no less effective if you sit down on a chair. Make sure your back is straight through the exercise, though.

The next exercise works your triceps. Many expectant mothers are apprehensive about using dumbbells during pregnancy, but as long as you choose a weight you are comfortable with, it's perfectly safe. You are going to need strong arm muscles to carry your baby around! This part of your upper-body workout requires at least ten repetitions with each arm.

The upper back stretch is another excellent exercise for your back. This one has you sitting on your yoga mat in a relaxed way. Breathing properly is the key to successfully performing this particular exercise — follow the instructions in the video carefully.

It would be easy to combine the upper back stretch with yoga exercises that use the same starting position, but you can also simply spend some time sitting with crossed legs, and concentrating on your breathing.

The last upper-body exercise we are sharing in this article uses a fitness ball. Here at SteadyHealth, we have produced a huge variety of prenatal exercises videos to help pregnant women stay fit, flexible and strong through their nine months — and beyond. The videos you see within this article focus on the upper body, but you will find many more under the “Pregnancy Exercises” header. A lot of those use an exercise ball, also known as a fitness ball or a yoga ball.

Exercise balls are a great investment for anyone who works out at home regularly, but these nifty fitness tools offer special benefits to pregnant women. Exercise balls are especially great for yoga exercises, which you will also be able to find on SteadyHealth. They are actually wonderful for early labor too, as they'll soothe you and help you through those first contractions.

The other major benefit of fitness balls is that they force you into a proper posture — which many pregnant women neglect, since it becomes more comfortable to lean backward as the uterus grows. That is something to pay special attention to when you perform this exercise. As you lift the dumbbells, make sure you don't lean back to help you lift the weight. Instead, sit up straight. This doesn't just ensure that your muscles get the workout the exercise is designed for, but also that you don't fall off the ball!