Maintaining a fit body while you’re pregnant requires dedication. Keeping your body healthy and strong, or even improving your fitness, is important both for you and for your growing baby. One of my favorite places to find pregnancy workout videos is on YouTube, a quick click for prenatal workouts that you can access anytime.
Scanning through thousands of prenatal fitness videos to find your favorites is daunting, so I’ve done the hard part for you! These three YouTube exercise videos for pregnant women are what I use and recommend. One of them I’ve used throughout all three of my pregnancies for quick toning and a mini-endorphin attitude boost. My favorite prenatal workout on YouTube is a new find and celebrity favorite that I’d recommend to any active, expectant mom.
Without further adieu, here are the best YouTube pregnancy workouts for busy moms!
[Tweet “Prenatal fitness isn’t optional, just ask your baby!”]
I’ll start with my favorite daily pregnancy workout routine by celebrity trainer, Tracy Anderson. I wish I’d found this video series when I was pregnant with my first child, or even in the beginning of this pregnancy. I started at six months and so far have really enjoyed each month’s workout. Definitely my top recommendation for those who are in shape or active before pregnancy.
The Pregnancy Project by Tracy Anderson
Tracy Anderson is one of the hottest celebrity trainers out there with clientele including Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakira, and Christy Turlington. The Pregnancy Project is a series of videos Anderson shot month by month while she was pregnant, each designed especially for each month of your pregnancy. She takes into consideration the challenges that each month brings as your baby grows and targets every muscle group without any dangerous ab moves or cardio bursts. Each video includes serious butt work to keep your fanny firm and tight- I liked that!
It’s a gentle but challenging workout system that fits into your daily routine. Often, when I can’t find the time to finish the 40 minute videos, I’ll do the upper body section in the morning and then finish with the legs and butt routine while my kids take their afternoon naps.
This workout series would probably be difficult for those who never exercised before pregnancy. For moms who were mildly active before pregnancy, it will provide muscle toning and help maintain your strength and flexibility so that your body will bounce back much faster after baby is born.
Perks:
- Fitness equipment only includes 3 lb. dumbbells, a mat, and a kitchen chair.
- Easy to divide the workout video into 2 segments if necessary
- Challenging exercises that won’t make you pant for breath, but DO make your muscles burn fierce!
- Tracy doesn’t talk too much, but explains each move effectively.
10 Minute Solutions Prenatal Pilates
On days when I’m crunched for time or looking to switch up my pregnancy workout routine I do a few exercise videos from this 10-minute series. The very pregnant instructor is warm and likeable, and makes the videos enjoyable, like you’re doing them with a friend.
The routine is based on traditional Pilates with a few variations, such as abdominal exercises propped up on pillows, which gets a little tricky in the third trimester. Prenatal Pilates in ten minutes is the perfect solution for a busy mom!
The program includes 5 videos:
- Standing Pilates
- Core Pilates
- Pilates for Buns and Thighs
- Total Body Pilates
- Pilates for Flexibility
These videos are mildly challenging, and probably safe and effective even for those who never worked out before pregnancy. Of course, it’s always best to listen to your own body and consult a physician before you attempt working out when pregnant, but this pregnancy Pilates series is a great start.
Prenatal Yoga by Tonic
This series of prenatal yoga videos is something I turn to for a gentle, relaxing routine to improve circulation and stretch out my muscles. Many times I’ll do one of these 10-minute videos 30 minutes before bedtime to help me ease into a restful sleep.
Since I’m not a supporter of new age yoga meditation, I choose this series because the instructor doesn’t get into that- she focuses on breathing and stretching out the body to make space for baby. It’s a calm pregnancy yoga workout that anyone could do from the beginning of pregnancy through to the end.
Of course, exercising during pregnancy is just one way to keep healthy. It’s also incredibly important to eat well, fitting in quick, nutritious snacks and making sure to eat breakfast, even if it’s just a chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie. Treat yourself well as your body changes, keeping skin soft and supple with homemade belly balms and creams, and be sure to stock up on herbal pregnancy teas to improve the function and tone of the uterus for birth. It might sound silly, but it those teas made a world of difference for me both to reduce the pain of contractions and to speed up birth with my second child.
What other tips do you have for maintaining a strong, healthy body for pregnancy and delivery? Share below or post them on my Facebook page. This pregnant mama needs all the pregnancy knowledge she can get!
Click here to find my favorite online workouts for non-pregnant moms!
some of them may also be good for people whom, like me, are not in shape 😀
Good to know. youtube is always changing.
I walked and walked and walked some more during my pregnancies to keep in shape and feeling good! It helped alot as I healed afterwards!
Cathy
You’re right, walking is excellent for pregnant mamas. I actually took a really long walk right before my son was born. Fastest birth yet! Let’s hope #3 even beats his record 🙂
Exercise during pregnancy is important. I once had a pregnant woman in a yoga class I was in and she kept up with everything that we were doing.
That’s great! I went to the gym when pregnant with my first until 8 months, when my membership expired (good timing!) I liked keeping fit with the other people there. I think it ignites my competitive edge and makes me work harder. Only negative thing was that the trainers weren’t used to having pregnant women there and must’ve been poorly educated about safety because they were always interfering and trying to pretty much make me do nothing more than walk on the treadmill.
I am long past that age but I was on bedrest through my pregnancies anyway. Looks interesting!
I am absolutely guilty of saying, “I’m pregnant, I don’t need to work out!” OOPS!
I couldn’t not exercise during pregnancy because I can’t imagine ever being able to work off all those extra egg rolls I crave 😉
These are some great tips for staying in shape for pregnant women!
I wanted to exercise during my pregnancies, but I spent the first trimester feeling awful, and the remainder of the pregnancies just wanting to sleep. 🙂
Melanie, you’re certainly not alone. I struggled with tiredness too, but just as when I’m not pregnant, I always find that invigorating exercise energizes me more than wears me out. Thanks so much for stopping by.
This is beautiful!!
Thanks so much! Love sharing fun finds on YouTube that I actually watch and use.
This is awesome! With my first pregnancy I just did the workouts in the What to Expect book, but they were more of just stretches and I wasn’t in super good shape when it was time for childbirth. With my daughter, I did some videos on Youtube, but they weren’t specifically pregnancy ones! Thanks for putting together this awesome resource. I’m definitely coming back when I’m pregnant again!
You know, I must’ve completely forgotten that the What to Expect book even had workouts in there. I read most of it during my 1st pregnancy but decided it wasn’t for me because they talk about all the things that could go wrong each month. Freaked me out! So happy to hear you’ve found some new resources for your prenatal workouts next pregnancy. BTW, excited to hear that you’re looking forward to having another little one. I’m sure you’re an awesome mom, Chelsea!
Congrats on your newest blessing & thank you for this post! I’m 31 weeks with our first & have slacked on the workout videos the last few months. I did enjoy a few pregnancy cardio ones, my prenatal Holy Yoga dvd & zumba! We adopted a 7 month old puppy about a month ago, so my current exercises include lots of walks, games of fetch & squats lol 🙂 She’s keeping me fit!
Heather, congratulations! Definitely keep up the walking and squats. My legs this time around are definitely not as strong as with the 1st two births because I’ve slacked a little in the squatting dept. Enjoy your puppy and be sure to stay active. It makes loads of difference both during pregnancy and for getting your body back afterward.
I hiked, walked and gardened with my first child and felt fairly healthy. My second I tried some prenatal exercises and felt much better the whole pregnancy. I am pregnant again (5 weeks) and tried Tracy Anderson’s first month workout and you were right about the burn. I feel tired but really good. I betting I sleep better than I have since finding out I was pregnant 2 weeks ago. Thanks for these great suggestions.
Lorie, you’ll be off to a great start if you stick with these Tracy videos and do a little walking or light cardio. I so wish I’d discovered them earlier! Month 6 workout is my fave. P.S. I bought her postpartum video and it is pretty impressive, especially the abs section, though admittedly I did enjoy the pregnancy videos more.