This Pregnancy Workout From Anna Victoria Will Keep You Strong For Birth and Baby

Published on April 11, 2023 at 4:25 PM

Anna Victoria

Fitness icon and Fit Body app creator Anna Victoria is pregnant with her second baby, and though this pregnancy is different from her first in a lot of ways, one thing is the same: she's still working out. She's been doing pregnancy workouts from the Grow + Glow program on her app, which is designed to be a pregnancy-safe, low-impact strength-training plan — and she's shared a similar workout here so you can try it for yourself.

Victoria, a NASM-certified trainer, put together this total-body pregnancy workout exclusively for POPSUGAR. It builds strength all over so you can stay strong for the rest of your pregnancy and the new-parent journey to come.

"These moves are great for a full-body prenatal workout because they're not only pregnancy safe, but they also focus on strengthening all of the main muscle groups, especially the posterior chain," she tells POPSUGAR. The posterior chain is the group of muscles that run along the backside of your body, including your hamstrings, glutes, and back. "Strengthening your posterior chain is incredibly important when pregnant since you have a growing belly on the front side of your body, so you want a strong back side of your body to support that beautiful belly! Not to mention, you will need a strong posterior chain to support picking up and holding baby once they're here."

This pregnancy workout is safe for the first, second, and third trimesters, Victoria says, but if you're expecting, it's always a good idea to talk to your doctor about what's safe for you personally in terms of prenatal workouts. Listen to your body closely, too. If you feel discomfort during any exercise, stop. Provided you chat with your doctor first, moderate-intensity exercise during pregnancy is safe and even recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

If you are ready to work out and want to build a strong body for your baby (and yourself!), go ahead and try this pregnancy workout from Victoria below.

Full-Body Pregnancy Workout From Anna Victoria

Equipment needed: A set of medium-weight dumbbells, between five to 12 pounds. (See our guide for more tips on how to choose the right weight.)

How it works: Make sure you do a dynamic warmup before the workout and a cooldown stretch afterward. This workout is made up of four supersets, which means you'll alternate two exercises until you're done with that section before moving on to the next superset. For example, in Superset 1, you'll do a set of squat presses, then a round of squat pulses, and repeat these exercises three times total. Then you'll move on to Superset 2. There's no rest built into this workout, but feel free to rest as needed in between moves and supersets.

Superset 1: Squat Press + Squat Pulse — Repeat 3x
Superset 2: Romanian Deadlift and Shoulder Press + Knee Push-Up — Repeat 3x
Superset 3: Bicep Curl Lunge + Modified Jumping Jack — Repeat 3x
Superset 4: Squat and Bent-Over Row + Modified Burpee — Repeat 3x

Superset 1, Exercise 1: Squat Press

Start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, racked over your shoulders.
Hinge at your hips and bend your keeps to lower into a squat, keeping your chest up.
Once your thighs are parallel to the ground (or you're as low as is comfortable), pause for a second, then press into both feet to stand.
Immediately press the dumbbells overhead, stacking your hands directly over your shoulders.
Lower the dumbbells to your shoulders to return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Do 12 reps.

Superset 1, Exercise 2: Squat Pulse

Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, hands clasped in front of your chest.
Hinge at your hips and bend your knees to lower into a squat, keeping your chest tall. Pause at the bottom of your squat, with your thighs parallel to the floor or as low as is comfortable.
Pulse your hips up a few inches, pause, then lower back to the bottom of your squat. That's one rep.
Do 15 reps. Do three rounds total, alternating with Exercise 1 in this superset.

Superset 2, Exercise 1: Romanian Deadlift and Shoulder Press

Start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart and holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your hips, palms facing your body.
With your knees softly bent, hinge at your hips to lower the dumbbells along the front of your legs to about shin height, or wherever you start to feel a stretch in the back of your legs.
Keeping your back straight, lift your torso to return to standing, keeping the dumbbells close to the front of your body.
Curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders, open your elbows to a goal-post position (elbows bent at 90 degrees pointing out to the sides), then press the weights overhead so your hands are stacked directly above your shoulders.
Slowly reverse the movement to lower the dumbbells in front of your hips and return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Do 10 reps.

Superset 2, Exercise 2: Knee Push-Up

Start on your hands and knees on the floor. Walk your hands forward until you're in a knee plank position, hands directly under your shoulders and body forming a straight line from shoulders to knees. Lift your feet off the floor, crossing at your ankles. (If that's not comfortable, leave your toes on the floor.) This is your starting position.
Inhale and bend your elbows out to the sides so they're at about a 45-degree angle from your body, lowering your chest toward the floor.
Pause when your elbows are bent at about 90 degrees, then exhale and push your chest away from the floor to return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Do eight reps. Do three rounds total, alternating with Exercise 1 in this superset.

Superset 3, Exercise 1: Reverse Lunge With Bicep Curl

Start standing with your feet together and holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides.
Inhale and step your right foot backward, bending both knees to lower into a lunge until your front thigh is about parallel to the floor (or as low as is comfortable for you) and your back knee is hovering just off the floor. At the same time, curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders, rotating your wrists to face your body.
Press into your front foot to step your rear foot forward to stand, lowering the dumbbells down to your sides to return to start. That's one rep.
Do 10 reps, then repeat on the opposite side.

Superset 3, Exercise 2: Modified Jumping Jack

Start standing with your feet together and your hands by your sides. Bend your knees to lower into a half squat, keeping your chest tall. This is your starting position.
Swing your hands out to the sides and overhead, standing up and stepping your left leg out to the side.
Lower your hands, step your left foot in, and bend your knees to return to the starting position.
That's one rep. Do 20 reps, alternating sides. Do three rounds total, alternating with Exercise 1 in this superset.

Superset 4, Exercise 1: Squat With Bent-Over Row

Start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your hips, palms facing in toward each other.
With your knees softly bent, hinge at your hips to lower the dumbbells along the front of your legs to about shin height, or wherever you start to feel a stretch in the back of your legs.
Keeping your back straight, row your elbows up toward the ceiling, pulling the weights up to the sides of your ribs.
Lower the weights toward the floor, then lift your torso to stand.
Curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders, then hinge at your hips to lower into a squat.
Press through the center of both feet to stand, and lower the dumbbells in front of your hips to return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Do 10 reps.

Superset 4, Exercise 2: Modified Burpee

Start standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Crouch down to place your hands on the mat about shoulder-with apart in front of your feet.
One foot at a time, step your feet back to move into a plank position.
Step one foot forward and then the other to return to the crouch position, then stand up and reach your arms overhead. That's one rep.
Do 10 reps, alternating which leg you step back with first. Do three rounds total, alternating with Exercise 1 in this superset.