This Free Pregnancy Workout Plan gives you 3 short at-home exercise videos every week by trimester that are perfect for beginners!
***Before beginning any exercise program, make sure you have approval from your health provider.***
All of the videos in this plan are completely free on YouTube and done by BodyFit by Amy, who I fell in love with during these pregnancy workouts!
If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know that I’ve lost 100 pounds and that I am all about finding small changes to lose weight in a healthy and realistic way.
I am far from perfect (no rock-hard abs or bulging biceps here).
I don’t particularly love exercise (strength training in particular).
And I am all about living in the “gray area” to find healthy choices that work for you exactly where you are, no matter what your schedule, energy level, and life situation look like.
And you will see all of those things reflected in this workout plan!
I really loved these workouts for a few reasons:
- They were short (between 10 and 30 minutes).
- They were doable (even when I was feeling sick or tired).
- Amy is pregnant in her videos, so you know she gets it!
- She talks very specifically about how the moves will help you in your pregnancy and she integrates things like Kegels and makes sure to avoid any problem exercises (like she won’t have you do anything laying on your back in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters).
- She gives lots of suggestions for modifications, so if you are having a tougher pregnancy day, you can take it down a notch.
Exercise During Pregnancy
There are all kinds of benefits of exercise during pregnancy like fewer complications during pregnancy and delivery, better sleep, improved mood, less constipation, and so much more.
One of the things Amy mentions often in her workout videos is that the main goal of exercising in pregnancy is just to keep moving, so I made that my main goal, as well.
There were a lot of days I certainly didn’t feel like exercising, but something is always better than nothing.
General Recommendations:
The CDC recommends, as long as there are no complications, that pregnant women do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week.
As I said, I’m all about one small change at a time, so if you haven’t been exercising at all, start small. Maybe you want to do one workout a week or start with a 10-minute walk each day.
Any movement helps!
How to Use This Pregnancy Workout Plan
When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I needed a workout plan ASAP. Without a plan, I find all kinds of excuses to not to exercise!
Even though I’ve exercised for years (that was a big part of my 100-pound weight loss journey!), I was pretty clueless about the specific exercise modifications needed for pregnancy, which is why I did a little bit of research and found someone who really knows what they are talking about to guide me through the strength training portion.
Following Amy’s workouts took a lot of the thinking, planning, and guesswork out of the equation for me, which was lovely.
Step #1 – Bookmark This Page
**I highly recommend bookmarking this page on your tablet/computer.
That’s exactly what I did when I went through the plan! I used my laptop and just clicked once to come to this page, then scrolled down to my current pregnancy week and clicked on the workout.
Fast, easy, and convenient!
You can also pull up YouTube on your smart TV. I did that a few times, but the YouTube app on our TV is pretty slow, so it took me forever to just pull up the right workout.
Step 2 – Schedule Three Workouts A Week
The exact days you workout really don’t matter. I highly recommend you pick days/times when you are most likely to be consistent!
I did my workouts on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings after my walk and before breakfast because that’s where it fit best in my schedule. (And, if I don’t do them first thing in the morning, I’m far more likely to skip them!)
I really like variety, so I tried not to repeat each workout very many times. I was also trying to combine a regular mix of workouts that targeted different areas of the body. Feel free to move them around however you’d like!
Step 3 – Add In Regular Movement
In addition to the 3 workouts I listed for each week, I also walked regularly. I went on a 2.5-mile walk 4-6 mornings a week and another 20-minute walk on those afternoons.
I highly encourage you to add regular walking into your pregnancy workout plan, too.
Even a daily walk around the block would be beneficial! Any movement helps, however you can fit it into your day (I’m all about getting healthier one small change at a time!)
I absolutely believe those walks helped to ease my aches and pains, especially later on in my pregnancy! Even when I didn’t feel like walking (like on the dark, snowy, 10-degree Colorado winter mornings), I always felt better afterward.
I just listened to my body and took it slower on some days.
What Do You Do If You Skip A Workout?
I get it!
During my pregnancy, I dealt with the typical pregnancy sickness and fatigue, I had major insomnia, we moved, I traveled out of town, I was with family over Christmas, I had multiple busy launch weeks with my business, and, of course, there were days when I just didn’t want to!
The great thing about these workouts is that they are all short and you can do them just about anywhere. Some of these, I even did in a hotel room!
Like I said earlier, I am far from perfect. Sometimes I skipped workouts altogether (week 35 of my pregnancy, I didn’t do any of them!).
Most of the time that I skipped a workout, I was able to plan it in later in the week.
The most important part about skipping a workout is just getting back on track and not giving up on them altogether (it is soooo much easier to break a habit like this than it is to build it!).
Equipment Needed
One of my favorite parts of these workouts is that they barely require any equipment at all. All of these are simple at-home workouts. Don’t think you need a fancy home gym to do any of these!
The workouts below use:
- hand weights – I used 5-pound hand weights for each workout, though I think Amy said she used 8-pound weights in one video and 5-pounds in the rest.
- a yoga mat – I only used a yoga mat when I was working out on our hardwood floor. The rest of the time, I exercised in a carpeted room and that was plenty of padding!
- a stability ball – This is optional and only used in one workout, but it’s one of my favorite workouts of the whole set!
- a chair – Amy recommends a chair for added stability in a few of the workouts.
- water bottle – Amy is awesome at building in water breaks to help you stay hydrated.
She has other pregnancy workouts that use additional equipment that I didn’t have (like a TRX suspension system). I just skipped those and didn’t include them in my plan so if you do own more equipment, feel free to add those extra workouts in!
Trimester 1 Prenatal Workouts
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Trimester 2 Prenatal Workouts
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18
Week 19
Week 20
Week 21
Week 22
Week 23
Week 24
Week 25
Week 26
Week 27
Trimester 3 Prenatal Workouts
Week 28
Week 29
Week 30
Week 31
Week 32
Week 33
Week 34
Week 35
Week 36
Week 37
Week 38
Week 39
Week 40
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