Abdominal Exercises During Pregnancy

With the right abdominal exercises during pregnancy, you can keep your core strong and return to your pre-baby body that much faster.

Many women often fear doing ab exercises while being pregnant because of the fact that they believe this could harm their developing baby. It's definitely true that as you get to the very end points of your pregnancy you will want to lay off ab exercises as at that point it could put your full grown baby at risk.

Earlier on, performing the right mix of abdominal exercises during pregnancy can help to keep your core muscles stronger, making child birth that much easier and also helping you have a far easier time returning back to your pre-baby body after you go through delivery.

You should always consult with your doctor first before performing any variation of ab exercise, but after you get the go ahead, the following are some of the important tips to keep in mind.

Focus On Pelvic Tilts

The very first of the exercises that you consider performing is pelvic tilts. These tend to be a superior option than some of the crunches because as your belly starts to expand you're going to find that these place far less stress on that growing stomach region.

Pelvic tilts can either be performed in a standing or lying position, as all you'll do is focus on bringing up the hips while flattening the lower back.

Hold each tilt for a count of ten before relaxing and aim to do these three times per day for best results.

Don't Forget Kegel Exercises

Another of the top abdominal exercises during pregnancy that will work the pelvic floor are kegels. Many women know the importance of doing these after they go through the process of childbirth to tighten up the below area, but don't overlook the importance of them during pregnancy as well.

As you do the kegel exercise also think of contracting the abs inwards as this will cause tension to build up throughout the entire abdominal core.

This is one exercise to perform during the first trimester and shortly into the second, before you back off to allow the rest of the pregnancy to take place.

Avoid Full Crunches

The one thing that you do want to note to avoid is full crunches. Half crunches are going to be well tolerated by most women, but avoid any movement that has you crunching all the way up to the knees.

This can place a little too much stress on the stomach region and especially once you do start to notice a larger baby bump present, it will get quite uncomfortable to perform anyway.

Instead, opt for half crunches and hold the position at the mid-way point for an extra second or two to get more from this movement.

Done properly, these can be a very effective exercise for fully challenging the abdominal area.

Use Balancing Movements To Stimulate The Abs

Finally, the last way that you can challenge the muscles without doing any direct abdominal exercises during pregnancy is to incorporate in some balance oriented movements.

This could be shifting over your shoulder presses, chest presses, bicep curls, as well as lateral raises so that you perform them while sitting on an exercise ball.

This unstable surface is going to have the abs contracting every second of the movement in order to keep you balanced on top of the ball.

The great thing here is that by doing this, you avoid crunching altogether so you'll find you're completely at ease with these, but yet you're still getting that great core workout that you desire.

Performing Your Abdominal
Exercises During Pregnancy

So there you have the top ab exercises for pregnant women. To include these into your full workout routine, aim to perform them every other day (apart from the tilts which can be done daily) and aim for 12-15 reps per exercise.

If you notice any pain or discomfort when performing them, remember to stop immediately and rest. If you continue on and the pain comes back, you'll want to consult with your doctor before doing any further exercise to ensure your safety and avoid complications.

While it is good to keep up your exercise routine, it's vital that you also listen to your body during this time and the signals that it's sending you.

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