As you enter the final weeks of your pregnancy, staying active is key to maintaining strength, reducing discomfort, and preparing your body for the incredible event of childbirth. In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into my third trimester workout routine designed to support pelvic stability, enhance mobility, and prepare your body for birth. Whether you’re 34 weeks along like I am, or you’re approaching your due date, these exercises will help you feel strong, balanced, and ready for what’s to come.
If you’re looking for a tailored fitness program that evolves with you throughout your pregnancy, check out our prenatal fitness programs designed to sync with your current week of pregnancy and provide you with the support you need.
If you want more daily workouts to support a strong pregnancy as you prepare for birth, join our online prenatal fitness programs!
MamasteFit is unique in that we are one of the ONLY prenatal/postnatal training facilities in the United States. We develop our workout programs from our experience of working with in-person pre/postnatal fitness clients and work closely with physical therapists to refine our programming. In addition, we are birth workers, so we combine our experience as perinatal fitness trainers and birth professionals to ensure that our programs actually support your birth preparation and recovery!
Our prenatal fitness programs are offered in several formats:
40-Week Prenatal Strength Program in the Teambuildr App:
- This program is a self-paced workout with shorter demo videos. This is ideal if you like to workout in a gym setting and prefer a traditional workout delivery format.
- This program syncs to your current week of pregnancy, so you can start anytime, with one-time payment or month-to-month payment options.
- This program has a full and mini version, depending on how much time you have to dedicate to workouts!
Prenatal On-Demand Fitness Program:
- If you prefer to follow a video as you workout at the same time, this workout program will be the best option!
- This program syncs to your current trimester, so you can grab the trimesters you need!
- If you already have a workout routine or you only want birth prep-focused workouts, check out this program!
- This program includes full-length workout videos to follow as you workout at the same time.
- If you want prenatal yoga, join our prenatal yoga program! This also syncs to your current trimester.
Starting with Birth Preparation Exercises
Every workout in my third trimester begins with the MamasteFit Birth Prep Circuit, a series of exercises focused on releasing tension, improving pelvic stability, and ensuring that your baby is in an optimal position for birth.
- Forward-Leaning Inversion: This exercise is perfect for releasing the uterine ligaments and creating space in the lower abdomen, helping your baby settle into a better head-down position.
- Back Expansion Breathing Drill: Sitting back as if on an invisible chair, this exercise helps relieve third-trimester shortness of breath by bringing your ribcage down. It also aids in managing heartburn and acid reflux.
- Lat Release: This move stretches the side body, which can become tight during pregnancy, particularly on the right side. This stretch helps release tension and improve mobility, making space for your baby.
- Hip Flexor Release: This move releases the hip flexors that may be pulling the pelvis more forward, making it harder to find a rounded position. For me, my left hip flexor tends to be even tighter than my right, so I’ll spend some extra time on the left side.
- Hip Shifts All Fours and Standing: The circuit finishes with these pelvic floor release exercises that target the posterior pelvic floor and improve pelvic to hip mobility. Hip shifts are incredibly important for glute and pelvic floor function, plus prepping for birth!
These exercises set the stage for a more comfortable workout and contribute to your overall prenatal well-being. They also serve as a gentle reminder that birth preparation is not just about mental readiness but also about preparing your body physically. You can grab the free PDF guide to our birth prep circuit by signing up for our newsletter.
Strength and Stability: The Core of Third Trimester Workouts
As you progress through your pregnancy, strength training continues to play a vital role in maintaining your overall fitness, supporting your changing body, and preparing for the physical demands of childbirth. In the third trimester, strength workouts require thoughtful adjustments to ensure you’re working with your body rather than against it. Let’s dive deeper into how strength training can be optimized in these final weeks.
Embracing Band Work and Bodyweight Movements
During the third trimester, your body undergoes significant changes, including increased joint laxity due to the hormone relaxin and a shift in your center of gravity. These changes mean that some traditional strength exercises might need to be modified to maintain comfort and safety.
Hip Thrusts with Bands
In earlier trimesters, you might have used a barbell for hip thrusts to build lower body strength, particularly targeting the glutes. However, as you approach the end of your pregnancy, the setup for barbell hip thrusts can feel cumbersome, and the weight might not be as comfortable. Switching to a mini band provides a safer alternative that still delivers an effective glute workout.
- Why Bands? Bands offer resistance without adding unnecessary strain on your body. They also allow for greater control over your movements, which is crucial as your belly grows and your body mechanics change.
- How It Helps: Strong glutes are essential for supporting your pelvis and lower back, both during pregnancy and in labor. Hip thrusts with bands help maintain this strength while accommodating the changes in your body.
Single-Leg Deadlift to Hip Shift
This unique movement is a powerhouse exercise that combines stability, strength, and mobility. By engaging your posterior oblique sling—essentially the muscles connecting your opposite shoulder to hip—you’re enhancing pelvic stability, which can alleviate common discomforts like SI joint pain.
- Why This Exercise? The single-leg deadlift with a hip shift challenges your balance and coordination while also providing a deep stretch and release in the pelvic floor. It’s particularly beneficial as you prepare for labor, where pelvic stability and mobility are key.
- Client Favorite: Many of our clients love this exercise because it feels both challenging and restorative. The rotation and weight shift involved mimic the natural movements your body will go through during labor, making it a functional preparation tool.
Adjusting Traditional Lifts for Comfort
Even though your body is changing, it doesn’t mean you have to abandon traditional strength exercises. Instead, consider adjusting them to better suit your current needs.
Romanian Deadlifts with Elevation
As you enter the third trimester, maintaining proper form becomes increasingly important, especially when lifting heavier weights. Elevating the barbell slightly (about four inches) can help you maintain a more neutral spine and reduce strain on your lower back.
- Why Elevate? Elevating the bar allows you to lift with a more comfortable range of motion. It reduces the need to bend as far down, which can be challenging with a growing belly.
- The Benefits: Romanian deadlifts target the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back, muscles that are crucial for supporting your posture and reducing lower back pain as your pregnancy progresses.
Reverse Lunges with Band Activation
Reverse lunges are a staple in lower body workouts, but adding a band for activation can help address the natural imbalances that occur during pregnancy.
- Left vs. Right Imbalances: It’s common for one side of your body to be stronger or more stable than the other. In this case, adding a band around the knee of the weaker side (often the left) helps engage the inner thigh and glute, promoting balance and reducing strain.
- Closed Hip Position: As you lower into the lunge, bringing your belly closer to your thigh helps open the hip on the opposite side. This adjustment not only improves hip mobility but also preps your body for the varying positions it may encounter during labor.
All Fours Hip Shift with Miniband
This exercise is an excellent way to finish up your strength routine. By placing a miniband around your knees, you add a level of resistance that encourages deeper activation of the glutes and stabilizing muscles around the hips.
- Focus on Form: Shift your weight over to the elevated hip before performing the hip tilts. This movement helps you engage the right muscles without compromising form.
- Why It Works: Hip shifts are integral for promoting pelvic stability and releasing tension in the pelvic floor. This is particularly important as you prepare for birth, where a stable and mobile pelvis can make the process smoother.
Combining Strength and Birth Preparation
One of the unique aspects of the third trimester is the way your workouts can serve double duty: maintaining strength and directly preparing your body for birth. The exercises mentioned above are not only designed to keep you strong but also to address common areas of discomfort and prepare your body for the big day.
For example, incorporating movements that emphasize internal hip rotation (like in the single-leg deadlift to hip shift) is crucial because this is the position your pelvis naturally takes during childbirth to stabilize your body and create space for the baby to descend. Similarly, focusing on asymmetrical movements (such as reverse lunges with band activation) mimics the asymmetrical positions you might find yourself in during labor, helping you practice and strengthen these movements in advance.
Want to follow along with a similar workout routine? Our prenatal strength workout program is app-based, offering you the flexibility to work out at your own pace in a gym setting. It includes short demo videos for each exercise, making it easy to integrate into your existing fitness routine.
The Importance of Mobility Work
No third trimester workout is complete without mobility exercises. I finish each session with a series of movements designed to stretch and release tension in the hips, pelvis, and thoracic spine.
Hip Mobility Drills: These exercises target the asymmetries in the pelvis that often become more pronounced during pregnancy. By improving hip mobility, you’re not only easing discomfort but also creating the optimal environment for your baby to navigate through during birth.
Thoracic Spine Mobility: Your ribcage position can significantly influence your pelvic position, so full-body mobility work is crucial during pregnancy. These exercises help maintain balance and prepare your body for the physical demands of childbirth.
Conclusion
Overall, I am feeling really strong going into the final weeks of my pregnancy. I am fairly pain-free (some aches and pains here and there) and feel ready for birth! I know a lot of this is thanks to using our prenatal program for my entire pregnancy!
If you’re ready to take your prenatal strength training to the next level, consider joining our prenatal fitness programs. Whether you prefer the flexibility of an app-based program or the guidance of full-length video workouts, we have options that cater to your preferences and trimester needs.
- App-Based Program: Ideal for those who like to work out independently in a gym setting, with exercises that sync to your current week of pregnancy.
- On-Demand Videos: Perfect for those who prefer to follow along with a guided workout, ensuring you’re performing each exercise safely and effectively.
For those already enjoying their own workout routine but interested in adding birth preparation exercises, our Birth Prep Workout Program is available as a standalone option.
Prenatal Support Courses
Learn the science of pregnancy and birth to take the mystery of labor away! Understand why you are feeling what you feel, and learn strategies to confidently move through pregnancy and birth!
- 9h+ of Video
- Support Group
- Close Captioning
- 5 Workouts/Week
- Gym Workouts
- Self-Paced
Instructor
GINA
Workout on-demand with our prenatal fitness workout videos! Each workout is 30-40 minutes to follow along as you exercise at the same time!
- Birth Prep
- All Trimesters
- Mobility Work
Instructor
GINA
Find comfort and relief from pelvic girdle pain throughout your pregnancy and postpartum period! This program incorporates myofascial sling focused exercises to stabilize across the pelvic girdle joints.
- 3 Weeks
- On Demand Workout Videos to Follow