My third-trimester workouts have shifted quite a bit from the beginning of this trimester! Balancing the need for daily intentional movement to manage SI joint discomfort and also fatigue has been a challenge!
Towards the second half of my third trimester, I still exercise several times a week, focusing on strength and conditioning training.
I’ve added an emphasis on mobility, pelvic opening exercises, and pelvic floor relaxation as we near our due date!
Starting at week 37, I will be shifting my programming towards more labor preparation, but here is my week 32-36 workout routine approach!
4 Focuses in my late 3rd Trimester Workouts
Daily movement has benefited me throughout my pregnancy and even more so in this final trimester! We are from one week to six weeks to meeting our baby girl, so who knows how much time we have left for workouts!
Four things that I am focusing on in my workouts to support my prenatal comfort, strength, and also a preparation for birth include:
- Decreasing overall volume and loading to accommodate for fatigue levels
- Pelvic stability-focused exercises on supporting SI joint comfort
- Thoracic and pelvic mobility to support comfort and preparation for birth
- Releasing uterine ligaments and posterior pelvic floor tension to support my baby’s positioning for birth.
I’ve been doing our 40-week prenatal strength program throughout my entire pregnancy! This program syncs to your current week of pregnancy so that you can start anytime, including in the third trimester!
If you prefer to watch a video as you work out simultaneously, our prenatal fitness on-demand program is also available for each trimester!
1) Decreasing volume and loading to accommodate for decreased energy in the third trimester!
I have felt more fatigued as the weeks have progressed in my third trimester, so to honor that I have been decreasing my overall loading and volume in my workouts.
My weights are closer to 50-60% of pre-pregnancy weights, and I am choosing more supportive positions for my main lifts.
For upper body movements, I choose to incline my upper body with rows or transition to a seated position with overhead press and rows.
For the lower body, my weights are lowered, and I will be transitioning from the barbell to handheld weights starting week 37 to shift my mindset to birth.
2) Pelvic stability-focused exercises on supporting SI joint comfort
During all three of my pregnancies, right SI joint pain has been an issue of mine.
Fortunately, I’ve figured out ways to manage it and find relief from the SI joint pain.
However, pain relief requires me to be consistent with my strength exercises! If I take too many days off, I struggle to move due to SI joint pain.
For my workouts, I am focusing on muscular imbalances that I have personally (right glute med and left adductor).
Plus incorporate a lot of posterior oblique and lateral sling work to stabilize across my SI joint.
We break down how to approach managing pelvic girdle pain and find relief from prenatal discomfort in our pelvic girdle pain webinar and our pelvic stability program!
The squat row is one of my favorite posterior oblique sling exercises in the third trimester because it provides more support with a bilateral stance and incorporates stability across the SI joint!
3) Thoracic and pelvic mobility to support comfort and preparation for birth
My focus on mobility has really increased this trimester, as well! I am focusing primarily on thoracic and pelvic mobility.
Your thoracic spine mobility can influence your pelvic position and mobility, which could affect how you can open your pelvis during birth!
An example of one of my favorite thoracic mobility exercises focuses on side body opening.
For pelvic mobility, I favor more of an anterior pelvic tilt with a right stance. So this means I tend to let my belly hang forward with more of an arch in my low back, and I put more weight on my right leg.
These postural tendencies make my hip flexors, quads, and lats tighter, but it’s more emphasized on the left side!
This is my favorite pelvic mobility exercise during this trimester to release the uneven pull on my pelvis!
The mobility exercises in our prenatal program focus on a full body approach because we likely need a little bit of everything!
4) Releasing uterine ligaments and posterior pelvic floor tension to support my baby's positioning for birth.
The final focus of my third-trimester workouts is to incorporate movements that support releasing tension in my uterine ligaments and posterior pelvic floor to support my baby’s position for birth!
I started to do this circuit about 2-3 times a week starting in the third trimester!
3rd Trimester Workouts: Shifting to Labor Preparation
As my third trimester has progressed, I have found that I am more fatigued. But, due to pelvic girdle pain, I NEED to continue to move each day.
I will shift my focus to birth starting week 37, but still feeling good overall at this point in my pregnancy!