Avoid for the whole pregnancy
- Contact and collision sports — kabaddi, football, basketball, martial arts. Abdominal trauma is the concern.
- Activities with a fall risk — horse riding, cycling on roads, skating, trekking on uneven ground, and gymnastics.
- Scuba diving — decompression risk to the baby. Snorkelling is fine.
- Hot yoga and hot Pilates — raising core temperature above 39°C is associated with fetal risk, particularly in early pregnancy.
- Exertion above 2,500 metres if you are not acclimatised.
- Breath holding and Valsalva straining — including kapalbhati, bhastrika and heavy lifting with a held breath. It spikes intra-abdominal pressure and reduces blood flow to the baby.
- Full inversions — headstand, shoulder stand, unsupported handstand.
First trimester: mostly about intensity
There is no need to stop being active, but this is not the trimester to start a demanding new programme or chase personal bests. Keep core temperature down, hydrate, and drop intensity on the days nausea and fatigue are heavy. High-intensity interval training should be reduced rather than continued at pre-pregnancy intensity.
From around 16 weeks: change positions
- No exercising flat on your back. The uterus compresses the vena cava, which reduces blood return and can make you dizzy. Substitute: incline the torso, or work side-lying and seated.
- No lying face down. Prone planks, cobra and locust are out. Substitute: hands-and-knees or standing versions.
- Stop traditional abdominal work — crunches, sit-ups, leg raises and full planks strain the linea alba and worsen abdominal separation. Substitute: side planks from the knee, bird-dog, and pelvic floor work with breath.
- No deep abdominal twists. Substitute: open twists from the shoulders only.
Third trimester: protect joints and balance
- No jumping, bounding or running if you have any pelvic floor symptoms or pelvic girdle pain.
- No single-leg balance without support — use a wall or chair for every standing balance.
- No heavy lifting overhead or from the floor. Reduce load, keep the weight close, breathe out on effort.
- No wide, deep stretching. Relaxin peaks now and it is very easy to overstretch a joint without feeling it until the next day. Stretch to mild sensation only, never to the end of range.
- Avoid long static standing — it increases swelling and back ache. Break it up with walking.
Conditions that change the rules entirely
If you have placenta praevia, a short or incompetent cervix, a history of preterm labour, pre-eclampsia, poorly controlled gestational diabetes, significant anaemia, or you are carrying twins, do not follow a general guide. Ask your obstetrician what intensity and which positions are safe for your specific situation, and revisit the answer each trimester.
The universal stop signals
Bleeding, fluid leakage, regular contractions, chest pain, calf pain or swelling, headache, visual change, dizziness or reduced fetal movement. Stop the session and call your doctor rather than finishing the set.