Pregnancy Series: 2nd Trimester

Woohoo! You’ve made it into your second trimester!

Trimester 2 is where people talk about getting their energy back – what a relief! The first trimester is filled with the newness of pregnancy (all the excitement!) but can be overshadowed by the symptoms you are feeling. Hopefully, you are feeling the relief.

If you have enough energy, you may want to tackle an exercise routine again. Here are a few exercises that will help keep you strong with your growing bump.

Our Physical Therapist, Tana Trotter, has 3 of her favorite exercises she did in her second trimester. These exercises help your body adapt as your center of gravity changes and some of the “typical” pregnancy aches and pains start.

Banded side steps

Focus on only moving your hips. You don’t want to be moving your trunk or other parts of your leg as you step to the  side. Try not to lean in the opposite direction to keep your balance. You want to be working your hip!

Things to watch for:

If you are feeling this in the thighs and not your butt, go back to trimester 1’s clamshell exercise to work on glute activation before progressing to this exercise.

Wall Posterior Pelvic Tilt

 

Your focus here is to use your core while making sure your shoulders stay pressed against the wall. It is a little movement! (Looking at the pictures, you will see that the only movement is coming from the core – there is just that space in your back!)

Think of sliding your tailbone up and down the wall.

Seated Figure 4 stretch

 

Last exercise is to stretch those hips. Sit with one ankle crossed over your knee and lean into your crossed leg until you feel a nice stretch in your hip!

To increase the stretch, lean forward. Don’t push down on your knee.

Remember, it is always a good idea to talk to your doctor about exercising. Pregnancy doesn’t have to mean pain either! See a PT if you are experiencing regular or consistent pain.