6 Great Glute Exercises To Do During Pregnancy

Keeping the glutes strong and stable in pregnancy can be VERY HELPFUL for warding off achy hips and low backs, supporting your belly to your bladder, and setting you up for a more comfortable (physical) postpartum recovery.

When looking to target these muscles groups safely and effectively during pregnancy, these are some of the best exercises you can choose.

The glutes are made up of 3 main muscle groups (glute maximus, glute medius, and glute minimus), as well as many other supporting muscles that act on the pelvis. They are all important for helping to stabilize your pelvis, spine, and entire body through all the immense changes that the body sees during pregnancy.

Exercises To Do in Any Trimester of Pregnancy

The 6 exercises below are ones regularly seen in the prenatal strength training workouts from our To Pregnancy & Beyond program.

These exercises can work for many different bodies and phases of pregnancy.

If you’re feeling comfortable in these positions, you can do them at any stage of pregnancy. Alternatively, if you find you get dizzy, lightheaded, have or your breathing is impaired, please avoid them.

In well-rounded and intentionally thought out pregnancy training plans, you want to train the glutes from different planes and angles, meaning: with as much variety as possible! 

For example, great glute exercises during pregnancy would challenge you with:

– The legs side-by-side 

– The feet staggered, or with the effort coming more from one leg than the other 

– The pelvis moving into external and internal rotation 

– Bending, flexing, extending, rotating and resisting rotation

These 6 prenatal glute exercises I am going to coach you through include all of the above!

When To Do These Exercises

There are a few ways you can complete these exercises:

1). You can do all of these exercises together in one big circuit, as a stand-alone workout, for 3-4 sets.

2). You can choose 2-3 of these exercises to do at the end of your normal workout for 1-3 sets for some added glute work.

3). You can choose 1 of these exercises to do each day, for 3-4 sets total, to keep aches and pains at bay.

Get Your Pregnancy Glute Building On

Here are 6 glute focused exercises I recommend for prenatal strength building.

1). Bodyweight Squat with Band

Bodyweight Squat with Band

Cues and Notes:

1. Do 10-20 reps
2. Inhale to squat down, exhale to stand up (or however your breathing feels best, most comfortable, and most supportive for your core and pelvic floor)
3. Feel the tension from the band making your glutes work harder on the UP and the DOWN of the squat

2). Suitcase Deadlift

Suitcase Deadlifts

Cues and Notes:

1. Do 10 reps on each side
2. Inhale to hinge back, exhale to stand up (or however your breathing feels best, most comfortable, and most supportive for your core and pelvic floor)
3. Reach the bum back waaaay far behind you + lift the bum up towards the ceiling. You really want to LOAD and LENGTHEN the glutes!
4. You case use weights or practice bodyweight only

3). Split Stance Chop:

Split Stance Chop

Cues and Notes:

1. Do 8 reps each side
2. Exhale to rotate, inhale to return back to centre (or however your breathing feels best, most comfortable, and most supportive for your core and pelvic floor)
3. Stay rooted over your front leg and support with the back leg
4. Rotate across the front leg, pulling the band towards the outside hip

4). Staggered Stance Pallof Press

Staggered Stance Pallof Press

Cues and Notes:

1. Do 8 reps each side
2. Exhale to press the band out, inhale to bring the band back to the chest (or however your breathing feels best, most comfortable, and most supportive for your core and pelvic floor)
3. Slight bend of the knees: stay rooted over the front leg, back leg supporting
4. Press directly out in front of the chest, until the arms are straight

5). Supported Deep Squat With Internal Rotation

Supported Deep Squat With Internal Rotation

Cues and Notes:

1. Do 5-6 reps each side
2. Breathe however feels best, most comfortable, and most supportive for your core and pelvic floor
3. Sit down into a deep squat and hold onto something sturdy with the upper body
4. Stay in the squat and alternate one knee bending inwards to the centre, then back outwards to the starting position 

6). Feet Elevated Long Level Glute Bridge

Feet Elevated Long Lever Glute Bridge

Cues and Notes:

1. Do 10-12 reps
2. Take a longer stance than you would a regular glute bridge, lift the feet up onto a sturdy surface
3. Press the feet into the sturdy surface and lift the hips up, lower down with control
4. You might feel less comfortable in this exercise the further into pregnancy you get, compared to the other exercises. If so, avoid it!

Jess

Ps. For even more pregnancy and postpartum workouts, exercise demos, and real-life musings, join my private email list here.