Pregnancy Exercise

ACOG recommends 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity for uncomplicated pregnancies. Exercise reduces gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and excessive weight gain, and supports a smoother labor. Adjust intensity to your trimester and body.

Recommended

• Walking: safest, accessible throughout pregnancy.
• Swimming and water aerobics: joint-friendly; great through late pregnancy.
• Prenatal yoga and Pilates: strengthen pelvic floor; choose pregnancy-specific classes.
• Stationary cycling: balance is preserved.
• Light strength training: lower weight, more reps.
• Kegels: pelvic-floor strength for delivery and postpartum.

Avoid

• Fall- or contact-prone sports: skiing, horseback riding, soccer, basketball, martial arts.
• High-impact jumping or rapid direction changes.
• Crunches and supine core work (after week 16).
• Hot environments: hot yoga, saunas — heat raises neural tube risk.
• High altitude (above 2,500 m).
• Scuba diving.
• Supine exercise after week 16 — vena cava compression.

Intensity

The "talk test" is simplest: you should be able to talk but not sing during exercise. Heart rate naturally rises 10–20 bpm in pregnancy; a fixed cap is less useful than perceived exertion.

By trimester

• First trimester: keep prior routines at reduced intensity. Stop for bleeding, severe nausea, or cramping.
• Second trimester: often the most active stage. Good time to start a prenatal class.
• Third trimester: relaxin loosens joints — switch to lower-impact (walking, swimming).

Stop and call your provider for

• Vaginal bleeding or fluid leak
• Regular uterine contractions
• Severe headache or vision changes
• Chest pain or shortness of breath
• Sudden one-sided leg swelling (clot suspicion)
• Dizziness or fainting

When to clear exercise with your doctor first

• Severe anemia, heart disease, or hypertension
• Cervical incompetence
• Placenta previa or risk of placental abruption
• Preterm labor risk
• Multiple pregnancies (limits may apply)

Related calculators

• Pregnancy weight gain Track cumulative gain against the IOM recommended range by pre-pregnancy BMI
• Due date Calculate pregnancy week and due date from your last period

Related topics

• Early Pregnancy Symptoms The 13 most common signs in the first 1–4 weeks
• Implantation Bleeding Light early-pregnancy spotting — timing, color, vs. a period
• Morning Sickness The most common symptom of weeks 6–12 — timing, severity, and relief
• Pregnancy Foods What to eat, what to avoid, and what to limit
• Pregnancy Weight Gain Recommended range by BMI, weekly targets, gaining too much or too little
• Fetal Movement When you first feel it, how it changes, and how to count kicks