Push Up Progressions during pregnancy

You may be wondering If push ups are a safe exercise to do during pregnancy - the answer is YES! But you may want to modify if you begin to see coning or doming around your belly button. This can cause too much intra-abdominal pressure on the rectus abdominis (6-pack muscles) which can lead to diastasis recti (a thinning and widening of the linea alba which is the connective tissue that binds your abdominal muscles together).

TRIMESTER 1: If you train regularly, know how to safely engage your core and are not seeing any abdominal separation, you are safe to continue doing regular push ups during the first trimester.

TRIMESTERS 2&3: As baby, bump and uterus grow, you may begin to see some abdominal separation during core exercises (which, by the way is totally normal). At this point, you’ll want to modify those pushups (check out my IG reel!) to a bench position or to a wall, and practice diaphragmatic breathing and engagement of the pelvic floor (big squeeze and exhale before you head into those push ups!)

I’ve definitely lost some upper body strength over the past 22 weeks, however, if you know me you know I love a push up, so I wanted to be able to continue perform them safely without compromising my core. Over at the EPP, we make sure to provide you and baby with safe and effective workouts in order to keep your core as strong as it can be throughout pregnancy and beyond!

Want more prenatal workout tips? Check out the Empower Pregnancy Plan below which is bursting with information, AND tailored to your exact stage and week of pregnancy!