Prenatal exercise offers loads of health benefits. But before you lace up your sneakers, make a pit stop at your practitioner's office to get the green light on workouts. You'll almost certainly get it — most practitioners not only permit but encourage expectant moms to stick to their usual workouts for as long as is practical.

With your doctor’s okay and by following a few extra precautions, you can reap the benefits of exercise during pregnancy no matter what your workout habits were like before conceiving. Here are the exercises to avoid when you're expecting, along with tips to exercise safely during pregnancy.

What exercises should I avoid when I'm pregnant?

The official advice of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) reads like a personal trainer's pep talk: Aim for 30 minutes of some sort of physical activity at least five days of the week (or a total of 150 minutes per week), all the way through your pregnancy.

If that sounds daunting, keep in mind that even five mini-workouts sprinkled throughout the day are just as beneficial as 30 minutes straight on the elliptical.

There are plenty of exercises that are great for pregnant women. In fact, most physical activity is perfectly safe during pregnancy. However there are a few exercises you’ll want to avoid.

Exercises to avoid during pregnancy

  • Sports that carry a higher risk of falling or abdominal injury, like gymnastics, downhill skiing, snowboarding, ice-skating, vigorous racket sports (play doubles instead of singles), horseback riding, outdoor cycling, contact sports (such as ice hockey, soccer or basketball), diving, bungee jumping and rollerblading.
  • Sports that involve altitude change. Unless you're living in high altitudes already, avoid any activity that takes you up more than 6,000 feet. On the flip side, scuba diving, which poses a risk of decompression sickness for your baby, is also off-limits, so wait until you're no longer pregnant for your next dive.
  • Exercises that involve lying flat on your back for long periods of time are off-limits after the fourth month, since the weight of your enlarging uterus could compress major blood vessels and restrict circulation to you and your baby. That, in turn, could make you feel nauseous, dizzy and short of breath.
  • Advanced abdominal moves, like full sit-ups or double leg lifts, can pull on the abdomen, so they're best avoided when you're expecting. Try these pregnancy-safe ab exercises instead.
  • Hot yoga or exercise in super hot weather. Any exercise or environment that raises your body temperature more than 1.5 degrees F should be avoided, since it causes blood to be shunted away from your uterus and to your skin as your body attempts to cool off. That means staying out of saunas, steam rooms and hot tubs, too.
  • Back bends, as well as movements that involve deep flexion or extension of joints (like deep knee bends), can increase your risk of injury.
  • Jumping, bouncing and sudden, jerky motions are best avoided (although otherwise aerobic activity is perfectly safe so as long as you’re comfortable and can easily keep your balance).
  • Excessive or bouncy stretching. Since your ligaments are already looser, pregnancy isn’t the time to force a split. If something hurts, stop.
  • Holding your breath is never recommended during pregnancy. Both you and your baby need a constant flow of oxygen.
  • Motionless standing after the first trimester can restrict blood flow, so avoid these types of movements in yoga (like tree, or extended hand to big toe) and tai chi.

Exercises to be cautious about during pregnancy

  • Exercises involving balance can be more difficult (and riskier) as your pregnancy progresses. Having a chair or a wall close by can be helpful.
  • Toe pointing during pregnancy can lead to cramping in the calves. If that's the case for you, flex your feet instead, driving the top of the foot toward the calf.

When you shouldn’t exercise at all during pregnancy

Exercising during pregnancy does the average pregnant mom and her baby good. However certain conditions can make exercise during pregnancy risky. Talk to your doctor about whether you should avoid exercise if you have:

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Always get the green light from your doctor before beginning any exercise program during pregnancy.

If your practitioner has restricted exercise for you during part or all of your pregnancy, ask if there are any workouts you can work in (say, arm-only workouts or stretching) to help you stay in shape, even if you're on modified bed rest.

How to exercise safely during pregnancy

If you're new at exercising, now’s not the time to start training for a marathon — but you can start working out slowly, aiming to reach at least 30 minutes a day.

If you're really ambitious and you've been green-lighted by your practitioner based on your fitness level, it's safe to work out for an hour or even more as long as you listen to your body. Expecting moms tire out sooner, and being tired increases your risk of injury.

While breathing hard during your workouts is perfectly fine when you’re expecting, overexerting yourself can lead to problems like dehydration (a risk factor for preterm birth) or lack of oxygen to your baby if you end up short of breath for long periods. That’s why it’s more important than ever to learn to listen to your body during pregnancy.

So how exactly do you do that? Checking your pulse is actually not one of the ways to tell whether you're overdoing it. Instead, get in sync with how you feel. If an exercise feels good, it's probably okay, while experiencing pain or strain is not. A little sweat is good, while drenching sweat is not. And remember the "talk" test: You should be working hard enough that you feel yourself breathing more heavily, but you should never be so out of breath that you aren't able to talk, sing or whistle while you work.

Experts at ACOG recommend using what’s known as a rate of perceived exertion. Think of a scale that goes up to 20, where at 7 you're walking slowly and at 20 you're working out as hard as you can. Your goal is to keep your exertion rate between 13 and 14 on that scale, or at a somewhat hard rate. 

Signs it’s time to slow down

If you experience any of these symptoms, don’t try to push through it, since doing so can leave you more susceptible to injuries:

  • Excessive fatigue. While a good workout might leave you feeling a bit tired but accomplished, it shouldn’t exhaust you so much that walking to your car in the gym parking lot seems almost impossible.
  • Irritability. Those endorphins should boost your mood — so if you’re feeling more short-tempered than usual after every workout, it might be a sign that it’s time to taper back.
  • Joint or muscle pain. Next-day muscle soreness is one thing: It’s a faint achiness in the muscles you’ve been working on that can usually be lessened by stretching or massage. Look out for acute pain in the joints and muscles that pop up every time you work out, which is usually a sign it's time to take it slower.
  • Trouble sleeping. Some sleep problems are normal during pregnancy, and exercise should help tire your body out just enough to doze off soundly once you hit the pillow. Excessive exercise, on the other hand, can have the opposite effect. If you drastically increase the duration of intense exercise, you might find it’s harder to fall — and stay — asleep.

Your body will signal when it's time to stop by saying, "Hey, I'm tired." Take the hint right away and throw in the towel.

When to call the doctor

If you experience any of these symptoms, stop exercising right away and give your practitioner a call:

  • Unusual pain anywhere (hips, back, pelvis, chest, head and so on)
  • A cramp or stitch that doesn't go away when you stop exercising
  • Regular, painful uterine contractions
  • Chest pain
  • Calf pain or swelling
  • Lightheadedness or dizziness
  • Very rapid heartbeat
  • Severe breathlessness
  • Difficulty walking
  • Loss of muscle control
  • Sudden headache
  • Increased swelling
  • Amniotic fluid leakage
  • Vaginal bleeding
  • A noticeable decrease or absence of fetal movement after week 28 (if things seem a bit slower, a post-workout snack should perk things up — if it doesn’t, or if you have any concerns, get in touch with your doctor)