20 Minute Pregnancy Safe Second Trimester Prenatal Workout

Reap the benefits of staying fit while pregnant with this second trimester prenatal workout! This pregnancy=safe workout focuses on strength training to help reduce pregnancy pains and prepare for postpartum. It’s a twenty-minute, total-body prenatal workout that can be done in both the first and second trimesters. 

While some people shy away from prenatal fitness, it does come with some great perks:

• Fitness is a great stress reliever
• Exercising correctly while pregnant can help reduce pregnancy-associated pain
• Staying active during pregnancy helps prepare your body for the workout that is labor
• Staying fit while pregnant allows your body to recover better post-baby.

I worked out consistently all through my all of my pregnancies and I definitely wouldn’t change it. If you’re still on the fence, check out the massive benefits of staying fit while pregnant.

However, one thing to note is that “fit” looks different for everyone! There is no perfect way to exercise while pregnant as each and every pregnancy is unique. So place the focus on saying active and targeting the muscles directly responsible for reducing aches and pains while pregnant and early postpartum.

What To Focus On When Working Out While Pregnant

Staying strong while pregnant doesn’t have to be intense or take a lot of time. Long gone are the days when you can hit the gym for ninety minutes. Instead, the focus should be on preparing the body for labor and recovery. Focus on:

• keep the glutes both strong and mobile (here are my favorite pregnancy hip exercises)
• work on strengthening the back of the body, specifically the upper back muscles to help counter postural changes
• strengthen the arms- you’ll be doing a lot of carrying soon!
• engage the core muscles. Though they are stretching, they can still engage and doing so will help a lot postpartum

Second Trimester Prenatal Workout

This second trimester prenatal workout does just that. It’s circuit-based, meaning all the exercises are back to back, but you can move through them at your own pace.

The repetitions are not too high in volume that you’ll be gasping but they will challenge your body.

Equipment For The Second Trimester Prenatal Workout

This prenatal workout calls for TRX Suspension straps. These straps are easily one of my favorite pieces of home workout gear. They’re ideal for prenatal workouts because they use your own bodyweight against you but you’re in control.

They’re also low-impact and based on your position, you can make the exercise easier or harder. Great to scale day by day!

Lastly, they’re wonderful fr beginners for these exact reasons also. Check out this beginner TRX workout with an abs finisher!

Second Trimester Prenatal Workout

This pregnancy-safe workout focuses on improving the back of body muscles to help prevent back pain with better posture as well as combat the ever-growing belly. It also targets the shoulders and arms to prep for carrying a baby all day. It is a nice balance of upper and lower exercises and helps keep the entire body working as one. Plus, it’s fast- which is perfect while pregnant!

A1. Trx Low Row x10

A2. Trx Yfly x10

A3. Squat Step Outs x30s

A4. Trx Chest Press x10

A5. Trx High Row x10

A6. Hip Thrust x15

Perform all exercises in order for the prescribed number of repetitions. At the end of the last exercise, rest until fully recovered and repeat for a total of 2-3 sets.

Need more suppoert? More visuals? Just MORE? Hit up the workout page and check out the follow-along pregnancy workouts!

Check out the video below for a visual as to how to perform these pregnancy-safe exercises.

How To Modify The Prenatal Workout

This pregnancy workout is extremely basic- which means there are lots of ways to modify it! If you don’t have TRX suspension straps, use resistance bands instead for the exercises. They’re still low-impact but still provide external resistance.

A few things to remember when working out while pregnant:

• each day is different, adjust the prenatal workout based on how you feel that day
• drink lots of water during the workout and make sure you have something to eat beforehand
• take all the rest you need- this isn’t a sprint
• focus on engaging the muscles and not just going through the motions, this makes all the difference

Don’t Forget To Pin This Second Trimester Prenatal Workout

Working Out While Pregnant 

Pregnancy fitness is still very misunderstood and often overwhelming! If you need some guidance, below are a lot of resources I’ve put together over the past five years. Keep in mind also that I share a lot of pregnancy safe, follow-along prenatal workouts on my YouTube channel. These prenatal workouts are low impact, require minimal equipment, and give you a great visual and the tips you need on how to perform the exercises correctly.

• Tips to consider when staying fit in the second trimester
• Tips for staying active in the third trimester
• Pregnancy-safe exercises
• Alleviating postpartum back pain
• Why you should see a pelvic floor physio

Do you have a pregnancy-related question? Drop it below! We all need more SUPPORT when we’re pregnant so I’m happy to help xx