Exercises & Positions to Avoid While Pregnant

Strength Training

• You don't have to give up dumbbells during pregnancy, but there are a few precautions you should take to strength train safely. In the second and third trimester, avoid exercises such as crunches which require you to lie on your back. While it is safe for a pregnant mother to perform abdominal exercises, the supine position can restrict blood flow to the uterus and cut off your baby's oxygen supply. The American Pregnancy Association also recommends avoiding exercises which require you to lift weights above your head or which might strain your lower back (See Reference 2 & 5). Consider taking a yoga or pilates class designed for pregnant women.

Contact Sports

• Although your little one is surrounded by amniotic fluid -- a uterine shock absorber -- rough bumps to the abdomen can still hurt the baby and compromise your pregnancy. As a general rule, pregnant women should avoid all contact sports including football, soccer, hockey, lacrosse and boxing. Additionally, do not participate in activities with a significant risk of falling such as horseback riding, ice skating, skiing, rollerblading and rock climbing (See Reference 2).

Rough Terrain

• During pregnancy, your body produces a hormone called relaxin that allows your pelvis to stretch for a vaginal delivery. In addition to softening the cervix and relaxing the muscles of the uterus, relaxin has a global effect -- all your joints, ligaments and muscles are looser during pregnancy. You may feel a little unbalanced and wobbly, and you are much more prone to musculoskeletal injury (See Reference 1). Consequently, the American Pregnancy Association recommends avoiding exercise on rough or uneven terrain where you might incur twists, sprains or other injuries (See Reference 2).

Water Sports and High Altitude Exercise

• Scuba diving is not recommended during pregnancy. In order for a scuba diver to return to the surface safely, she must decompress or eliminate dissolved gasses from her body. Unborn babies lack the ability to equilibrize pressure and may suffer birth defects as a consequence.

  Your baby may have similar gas exchange problems if you exercise at a high altitude, low oxygen environment. Altitudes over 7,500 feet are considered unsafe for pregnant women according to the American Pregnancy Association (See Reference 4).

Considerations

• If you didn't exercise prior to pregnancy, it's not too late to start. However, you should begin slowly and listen to your body. Although there are no heart rate restrictions for pregnancy, you should be able to carry on a normal conversation while you exercise. If you can't talk easily, you are putting yourself at risk for vaginal bleeding, contractions and other complications according to the Mayo Clinic website (See Reference 6). Get your physician's go-ahead to begin an exercise program particularly if you have a history of miscarriage.