A guide to prenatal and postpartum workout programs

I tested and tried MANY workout programs to find the best ones for moms.

When I was pregnant with my toddler three years ago, I did not know what my pelvic floor was, I had no idea how to do breathing techniques to benefit my core, and I didn’t sign up for any prenatal workout programs.

I’ve always enjoyed working out, especially intense cardio workouts so I just continued those with modifications to make them pregnancy safe. I then had a relatively quick and easy labor so I thought everything was going fine until I started trying to workout again at six weeks postpartum and everything felt off.

Attempting to fit in that quick Peloton ride during naptime.

I attempted to muddle through some postpartum core classes I found online and I walked miles each day with Annie sleeping in the stroller, but when I attempted to run or get back on the Peloton, nothing felt normal.

Most of my exercise on maternity leave looked like this.

Many weeks [and thousands of dollars not covered by insurance] of pelvic floor therapy later, I learned about all the things I should have been doing during my pregnancy with my pelvic floor.

Going into pregnancy #2, I was determined to not make the same mistakes again and committed to finding workout regimes and programs that would emphasize pelvic floor health and lower intensity workouts. I tried many, many programs, but ultimately found a few that worked the best for me.

After trying numerous programs and classes, I determined the five things that were most important for me in a program were:

1. The classes had to be videos of instructors, not self guided programs.

2. There needed to be a focus on the pelvic floor and core breathing.

3. I wanted a schedule of what to do each day and not have any classes repeat in the schedule.

4. I wanted programs that combined strength training with pilates. I wasn’t as focused on cardio this pregnancy.

5. I didn’t mind paying for them if it fit all the other qualifications.

Because I always go a little above and beyond, I ended up falling in love with three different programs and I rotate classes from each one, but you could easily just select one of these programs and be fine. I just like the variety.

My favorite prenatal workout programs are:

I am a Megan Roup and Sculpt Society super fan. I’ve done Sculpt Society for years and was excited to fully commit to their prenatal program this pregnancy. Sculpt is essentially a modified pilates practice that adds in more fast-paced dance cardio style moves as well. It is all low impact, but you do feel strong after each class and the classes are fast-paced enough that you never get bored.

The prenatal program is very impressive. They have unique classes for every single week of pregnancy and a schedule you can follow for each week. Additionally, Megan has a series of classes specifically focused on pelvic floor that you can take each week. The postpartum program isn’t as robust, but still has numerous classes and I like that they are designed to start as soon as you get home from the hospital with light pelvic floor work for the first six weeks before ramping up.

Price - $19.99 a month or $180 annually (They also have a Black Friday sale every year where you can get their annual membership at a reduced price.)

While I love Sculpt Society classes, they don’t have many classes focused on strength training so I was excited to stumble upon Good for the Swole. Becky is a pre/postnatal fitness specialist and a mom of five (!) kids. She is one of the many personal trainers turned Instagram influencers who now have their own app and workout program.

When you sign up for the program, you complete a short survey and then the app assigns you weekly workouts (generally five or six a week) that are all around 20 - 30 minutes long. Most of the prenatal classes are focused on strength training (think weights between 10-20 pounds) and core and pelvic floor work. Becky’s classes don’t have the production value as Sculpt Society and the app isn’t as engaging, but the classes are great and Becky really emphasizes how to do each move safely and correctly during pregnancy. There are also postpartum classes and plans when you get to that stage.

Price - $19.99 a month or $200 annually

Finally, I recently discovered Every Mother as I entered my third trimester and went looking for classes that emphasized the pelvic floor and birth prep. I love their program and only wish I had found it earlier on in my pregnancy. Every Mother doesn’t have a detailed schedule like Sculpt Society for each week of pregnancy, but they have various programs for each stage of pregnancy or postpartum. I am currently in the third trimester program which is made up of six weeks of classes that you can then repeat or spread out. Each day has a pelvic floor sequence that is around ten minutes long that just focuses on pelvic floor breathing and stretches. Then there is a pilates, yoga, or cardio class for each day that is around 20 minutes long.

Every Mother’s videos, especially the pelvic floor classes, are so soothing that they almost feel like meditation. Additionally, they have daily short videos explaining various pregnancy health aspects like how to get up from a chair correctly and pushing techniques for birth which I find all very helpful. They also have lots of postpartum classes and programs designed for specific issues like incontinence.

Price — $24.99 a month

Other options:

Programs without videos — Each of these prenatal workout programs have apps that walk you through each workout individually instead of through one video per class. So you follow each exercise prompt self-guided and do the number of reps and then move onto the next one. I don’t like this method as it is too much staring at your phone, but I tested all of them and the content is still good if you don’t mind this method.

• Mae Hughes — Mae is a Pelvic Floor PT who created a workout program for moms. Each week of pregnancy has a lower body, upper body and pelvic floor class from Mae. Warning - it’s pretty expensive. Her entire prenatal program will cost you $399. You can get some of her content for free on her Instagram.

• Expecting and Empowered — Two sisters from Canada who have a robust prenatal workout program. The classes repeat every two weeks so there is so repetition which I didn’t love. I am intrigued by their return to run program for postpartum moms. ($19.99 a month)

• Moves app ($20 monthly) and the Sweat app ($24.99 monthly) — both very popular workout programs for non-pregnancy related workouts that also happen to have prenatal programs.

Prenatal programs with videos that I tried, but didn’t love —

• Belle Method — Felt the most similar to Sculpt Society with its emphasis on pilates classes, but it doesn’t have the number of classes as Sculpt. They do offer live classes if that is something you are interested in. (pricing ranges dramatically depending on what program you buy)

• Bloom Method — I liked the Bloom Method classes which are focused on pilates and light strength training. But they don’t offer a schedule for you to follow and I didn’t have the patience to browse their library. ($29.99 per month)

• Peloton — Peloton has lots of prenatal classes for yoga and strength training, but there is no structure or schedule to what you should follow so I found it overwhelming.

Free YouTube programs — There are MANY trainers hosting free classes on YouTube focused on prenatal exercise. These were the ones that I saw mentioned most often and the ones that I tried.

• Baby Fit by Amy

• Fit by Laurie

• Pregnancy and Postpartum TV

• Nourish Move Love — I love the Nourish Move Love classes for when I am not pregnant as they are VERY hard strength training workout classes. The pregnancy classes are good, but they don’t have original classes for each week and I didn’t want to repeat classes.

What is your favorite pre or postnatal workout program? Any that I missed in my testing?

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