What are the best yoga ball pregnancy exercises?

Pregnancy is one of the most intense physical challenges a person can go through, so it's important to take things easy. With that being said, you still want to stay reasonably active.

You may not want to maintain your regular workout routine, but it's important to not forget the importance of exercise. Staying healthy throughout pregnancy isn't easy, but it's very important. After you give birth, you'll have a much easier time getting back into your old routine if you've had an active and healthy pregnancy.

In this guide, we'll go over some of the best yoga ball pregnancy exercises you can do that will keep you in shape without overexerting yourself. Keep reading for more.

Yoga ball pregnancy exercises

Exercise is great for both physical and mental health, but people often wonder if it's safe to exercise during pregnancy, and fortunately, the answer is yes (usually). For most people, there won't be an issue, but you should always check with your doctor first just to be sure. Maintaining a good diet is also vital.

If an exercise is worth doing, it's worth doing right. There are some simple workouts you can do at almost all stages of your pregnancy.

Seated ball march

This exercise targets your pelvic floor, quads, hip flexors, and core (transverse abdominal muscles specifically). It can also help improve your balance and stability.

You want to start by sitting on the exercise ball with your knees at a 90-degree angle and your feet flat on the floor. Keep your back straight; you can lean back slightly if you want to make it a bit more challenging.

Slowly lift your right foot, bringing your knee towards your chest. Hold this for a few seconds, and then lower it again. Do the same with the left foot, then repeat.

Seated adductor contractions

Abductors are your inner thighs, and this will also target your outer glutes and core while promoting hip stability. Like the seated ball march, you want to sit on your ball with your knees at a 90-degree angle. Have your feet about hip-width apart and your back straight.

Place your fists between your thighs so that your pinkies are facing outwards. Squeeze your inner thighs, pressing into your fists while exhaling.

Hold this for three to five seconds, then relax and inhale. Return to your starting position and repeat.

Ball glute bridges

This targets your largest glute muscle, the gluteus maximus, as well as your hips, hamstrings, thighs, and core. It promotes hip and knee stability and is low impact, so shouldn't be too difficult to do throughout your pregnancy.

For this, you want to sit on the floor in front of the exercise ball. Have your knees bent at 90 degrees with your feet on the floor about one or two feet from the ball.

Lean back to rest your upper body on the ball. The area from your mid-back to the top of your shoulders should be in contact with the ball.

Lift your hips upwards while squeezing your glutes. You ideally want to get your quads high enough so that they're parallel with the floor. Slowly lower your hips and stop your glutes one or two inches above the ground, then repeat.

Wall squat with ball

Wall squats will hit your glutes, quads, hamstrings and core. An exercise ball will help you stay stable and allow you to get deeper into the squat.

You want to stand with your back to the wall and your feet a little more than hip-width apart. Put your exercise ball between your back and the wall. You should have it around your mid- to upper-back area with your shoulders pressing into it.

Slowly lower your body into a squat position. As you do this, the ball will roll along your back. You want to get low enough to have a 90-degree bend at the knee.

When doing this, pay attention to your knees. Push them outwards so that they don't cave in. Press through your heels as you stand back up to the starting position, and repeat this movement.

Quadruped shoulder taps

This exercise focuses more on the upper body. It targets your shoulders, traps, arms, chest, back and core. Placing the ball behind your hips will keep you stable making it safe for pregnancy.

You want to be in a kneeling quadruped (tabletop) position in front of the ball with the ball against a wall. Have your hands directly below your shoulders and your hips directly above your knees.

Press your glutes back into the ball. The harder you press, the more it will engage your core. Pull your belly button up and exhale to make sure your back is straight.

You want to perform the shoulder taps while maintaining this position. Touch your left shoulder with your right hand, then your right shoulder with your left hand, and repeat in this manner.

Wall push-ups on a ball

Regular push-ups aren't always possible during pregnancy, so this is a good alternative. It will target the same areas; your chest, triceps, shoulders, back and core.

Stand facing a wall and hold the ball against the wall at chest height. Have your hands on the ball slightly more than shoulder-width apart and your fingers pointing upwards.

Position your feet shoulder-width apart and your body at a 45-degree angle leaning into the wall with your arms extended. Engage your core to keep your body in a straight line. Perform each push-up by bending your elbows and lowering your chest towards the ball.

Stop with your chest a few inches from the ball, and push out until your arms are straight again. Try to keep your elbows close to your body throughout.

Staying healthy throughout pregnancy with the best exercises

Using these yoga ball pregnancy exercises will help keep you healthy and active, but it's not all you can do. Health is a very broad subject, so it's important to understand as many aspects of it as you can.

WRAL News regularly publishes articles relating to health, so we can help you stay up to date with the latest tips and information. Take a look at this guide covering FDA warnings about the use of certain tests during pregnancy.