Stay Fit During Pregnancy With These Lower Body Exercises

Exercise during pregnancy has numerous benefits, from relieving stress and lifting your mood to preventing aches and pains and setting yourself up for an easier birth. Working out regularly during pregnancy will keep you looking good, and help you recover more quickly after you have your baby.

Some pregnant women worry about exercising, and think they may hurt their baby if they work out. Unless you suffer from a pregnancy complication that requires you to be on bed rest, or unless your doctor advises you against specific types of exercise, you can be sure that working out is safe.

Perhaps you're unsure where to begin. The seven prenatal exercise videos we're sharing in this article are a good start. They all focus on the lower body — the legs, glutes (butt) and lower back. Weight gain during pregnancy is inevitable and healthy, but you'll bounce back more easily if you maintain strong muscles in the areas that you are probably most worried about. Your legs and butt will look great after pregnancy if you work on them regularly. the whole time you're expecting.

Strong legs are a huge asset for pregnant women, something that becomes increasingly obvious as the baby, placenta and amniotic fluid get heavier. But what are many expectant moms most worried about? The butt is, without a doubt, a top concern. Will your butt get saggy after you give birth, or will you be unable to shed the weight you seem to have put on in that area after you have had your baby?

This exercise targets your glutes. It will make your butt look great! You can use all kinds of things to support your body instead of the contraception shown in the video, like a chair or the wall. Do make sure that you keep the leg that is not engaged in the exercise slightly bent, as shown.

Fat thighs are another dreaded pregnancy side effect. A preemptive strike is the best way to deal with them, and this exercise will help you. You'll need a fitness ball and a chair to perform this simple but effective inner thigh exercise. At the risk of stating the obvious, I'll say that your results will be better if you perform more of these inner-thigh exercises. I'm not just talking about doing more repetitions in one session, but also about starting early on in your pregnancy, before you even show.

The next video shows a fairly complicated exercise that will strengthen your whole lower body. Exercises like these are tricky to describe, but the video shows it very nicely. Those pregnant women who want to make the exercise a little harder can add light dumbbells. Whether you choose to use them or not, this really is a good exercise that will make you feel your muscles work! Once you have reached your third trimester, your baby will act as “dumbbells” for the purpose of this exercise — your little one will weigh you down in a spot very close to where you would hold weights.

How Pregnant Women Can Give Their Lower Body A Great Workout

Getting down on your arms and a knee while moving one leg up and down seems simple enough, but it take a lot of stamina to get to ten repetitions with each leg. Are you able to do it? Build up slowly if you get tired, doing a few more repetitions each day. You'll soon feel your whole lower body getting a lot stronger. The exercise is also soothing for the back, as long as you ensure your spine is straight.

Side line leg lifts are an excellent addition to your prenatal workout routine if you would like to maintain or build strong legs and glutes. This exercise has you lying on your side, propping your upper body up with one arm and supporting it with the other. You then lift one leg up and down, but make sure to keep your leg straight!

You can do as many repetitions as you feel comfortable with on one side; ten is typically a good goal. When you are done, don't forget to switch sides so that both halves of your body get an equal workout. Side line leg lifts are suitable throughout the nine months of pregnancy, but pregnant women should always listen closely to their body and stop exercising if they feel any discomfort.

If you want to give your legs and glutes a great workout, there is really no way to avoid squats. Keep your abdominal muscles tight as you perform these squats, and avoid moving your knees past your toes. Did you know that squats help your pelvis to open, and encourage your baby to move into the right (head-down) position in the last few weeks of pregnancy? Those are great reasons to stick at them.

Squats may be a great way to exercise your lower body, but they become rather tricky to perform in the later stages of pregnancy. Many pregnant women, especially those in their last weeks of pregnancy, are intimidated by doing squats (or even attempting to tie their shoelaces!).

This cool variation of squats uses a fitness ball. Using the fitness ball will make it easier for expectant moms to come back out of the squat, but you will still get a great workout. The squats help sculpt your lower body, and are also beneficial for your back. All you have to do is squat, and then push back up. Your fitness ball will do all the rest.