Try This Short Prenatal Core Workout by Carling Harps

Carling doing elevated bridge pose.

Looking for core-strengthening exercises you can do while you’re pregnant? While pregnancy is not the time to go from zero to 100 in terms of your workout, having core strength is essential. Working on your core strength while pregnant can help support your pelvic organs, alleviate pressure on your back, support your posture, and ward off lower back pain.

Try these prenatal core exercises from Alo Moves instructor Carling Harps designed to strengthen the connection between your pelvic floor and your transverse abdominis. 

(Note: Talk to your doctor before performing any exercise while you are pregnant — and always do what feels right for your body (and skip what doesn’t). If you want to avoid lying on your back in certain poses, try elevating your heart above your navel by propping yourself up with pillows or bolsters.)


 
Carling doing tabletop knee taps.
 

Tabletop Knee Taps

  • Come into Tabletop Pose on your hands and knees. Draw baby up toward your spine, pulling everything together. 

  • Align your wrists underneath your shoulders and knees underneath your hips. (If your wrists are feeling tender, walk your hands farther in front of you.) 

  • Slide your right leg back behind you, opening up the knee joint, and begin to rock forward and back. Recommit to that core lift, drawing up and in (not a crunch, just enough to feel stable and supported). 

  • If you feel like taking it up a notch — inhale to lift your back leg, and exhale to drop your knee back down and tap it to the earth. Continue to lift and tap, then switch sides.


 
Carling doing tabletop knee taps.
 

Kneeling Squats

  • Sit back on your heels with your toes untucked. Press the tops of your feet into the ground. 

  • Grab hold of a block (or maybe a book) and hold the block between your hands. Rather than gripping it with your fingertips, crush it between your hands using your arm strength to engage your upper body. Hold the block out in front of you with strong and straight arms. 

  • Exhale to press into the tops of your feet, activate through your belly, and use the strength of your glutes to propel you and rise up to kneeling. Make sure you’re not pushing your belly out. 

  • Inhale to to lower and sit back down to kneel with control. Strengthen your legs to lift and lower, repeating 10 more times.

 
Carling working on her stabilizers for her SI joint.
 

Stabilizers for SI joint

  • Lie down on your back (or support yourself on some pillows, elevating heart over navel).

  • Bend your knees, stack your knees over your hips, and flex your feet. Feel free to put your heels on a couch or chair. 

  • Take the heels of your hands to the tops of your thighs or knees. You can keep your head and neck down the whole time, otherwise, lift your head and neck. 

  • Inhale, then exhale to pull up and in. Press your hands into your legs and your legs into your hands, reaching your low back toward the ground. Engage for 10 seconds, then release.

 
Carling doing elevated bridge.
 

Elevated Bridge

  • Take a block between your knees and thighs.

  • Root your hands into the earth and press down into your feet. 

  • Use the strength of your glutes, legs, and inner thighs to pull strength up through your pelvic floor and lift your hips.

  • Squeeze the blocks between your legs. Hold for 10 seconds, then repeat three more times.

Practice these exercises and more with Carling Harps’s Prenatal Core and Breathwork class on Alo Moves.

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