How to Get the Benefits of Swimming While Pregnant

Swimming is an ideal activity during pregnancy and can provide some much-needed relief. Here's a sample pregnancy pool workout you can try.

Woman swimming
Elinor Carucci/Trunk Archive

Wondering if swimming while pregnant is a good idea? Well, unless your doctor has told you otherwise, swimming during pregnancy is not only perfectly safe but has plenty of benefits as well.

Being in the water feels good when you're pregnant and there are physiological reasons why. Water reduces the usual stress on your musculoskeletal system and supports the weight of the fetus, taking a load off your lower back. Water also makes it easier for the heart to pump blood, reduces pregnancy-related swelling (edema), and reduces pressure on your bladder.

Even as it soothes you, the pool environment still allows for a total-body, low-impact workout. Water provides natural resistance against your muscles, which offers a strength-training benefit similar to lifting light weights—without the strain of using weights.

Moreover, health experts like those at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommend swimming during pregnancy. Learn more about the benefits of swimming during pregnancy. Then, if you're feeling up to it, give our pregnancy water workout a try.

The Benefits of Swimming While Pregnant

For Antigone Cook, the Oregon-based fitness instructor who designed the prenatal exercise program that follows, water workouts turned out to be the most comfortable way to exercise when she was pregnant.

"I didn't have any back problems, and I had a lot less swelling in my feet and ankles than other women," she says. Cook believes that her water routine even helped make her labor easier. And research supports her belief: A 2019 study found that people who swam regularly throughout their pregnancies had shorter durations of labor than those who did not.

Like Cook, many pregnant people find swimming to be a vigorous workout that they can continue all the way up to delivery—and into their postpartum life. The water is also a good place to concentrate on psychological fitness.

In her book, The KeyEnergy! Pregnancy Workbook, Cook suggests that you approach delivery as you would an athletic event—by physically and mentally training for it.

"For the first child especially, many [people] tend to be very frightened and don't know what's going to happen," she says. To help prepare for delivery, Cook suggests creating positive visualizations during your water exercise programs to get even more out of your time in the water. (Of course, simply relaxing or enjoying being physically active is enough too!)

How to Approach This Pregnancy Pool Workout

Anyone looking to try a pregnancy workout in the pool can put Cook's program into action. Her pregnancy pool workout is divided into three distinct phases: shallow water, deep water, and swimming. You can mix and match portions of each workout, stick with just one, or incorporate some of the moves into whatever exercise program works best for you. It's a very flexible regimen that works for every fitness level and stage of pregnancy.

The shallow-water workout is designed for pregnant people who did not exercise regularly before pregnancy or for more advanced exercisers on their off days. The deep-water exercises are somewhat more challenging but are aided by the use of a buoyancy belt. The swimming workout is the most advanced part of the exercise program.

Let your comfort rule: If swimming feels good, do it; if it doesn't, stick with the deep- or shallow-water programs. Keep your intensity level moderate (Think 3 to 5 on an exertion scale of 10). You should be able to carry on a conversation while exercising.

Cook sees this workout as a time to spend appreciating your body as it changes and giving yourself positive strokes, so to speak. Luxuriate in the buoyant, cooling environment of the pool, and have fun as you improve your fitness. Soon enough you'll be sharing your world with someone else; make this your time.

The Ultimate Pregnancy Pool Workout

You can incorporate all three components of this water workout—shallow-water moves, deep-water moves, and swimming—into your weekly routine by doing parts of each or focusing on one set of exercises. If you're an advanced exerciser, you can combine all three workouts into a 1-hour program, three to four times per week. As your pregnancy progresses, adapt your routine to what feels good to you.

If you haven't been exercising, start slowly in whichever program you choose. Stay at a low intensity until you feel stronger, then exercise at varying levels of intensity during the week, or add an additional workout session for a greater challenge.

Use a pool with a comfortable temperature: 85–87 degrees is perfect; below 83 degrees is considered cool.

The warm up

Begin with at least five minutes of shallow-water walking. As you walk, limber up with shoulder shrugs, ankle and hip circles, head rolls, arm reaches, and knee lifts. (If you prefer, you can tread water in the deep end or hold on to the edge of the pool and kick.)

As you do each exercise, focus on your breathing, expanding your belly slightly as you inhale and tightening your abdominals as you exhale (you can also do a Kegel at the same time if you wish).

Shallow-water moves

Stand in chest-deep water to do these moves. Consider wearing water shoes or aqua socks to keep from slipping on the bottom of the pool. If you're doing only this workout, spend 20–30 minutes on the routine, three to six days per week. Because of the water's buoyancy, you may be able to continue water walking or running through your entire pregnancy. Do the exercises in the order listed without stopping.

  1. Shallow–water walking or running: Use a normal stride as you walk or run forward and backward across the pool. For variety, walk on heels or toes, do grapevine steps, or step sideways. Keep moving for five minutes.
  2. Shallow–water jacks: Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms extended sideways to shoulder height. Jump up and bring the soles of your feet together toward the groin. At the same time, press your arms downward. Separate feet to the starting position, moving arms back to shoulder height. Repeat jacks for one minute (about 40–50 reps). Remember to jump straight up and down without arching back or drifting backward. This move strengthens the buttocks, thighs, hips, shoulders, and back.
  3. Opposite elbow to knee: Stand with feet pointing forward, hip-width apart. Bring your right knee up to hip height and cross your left elbow down just past the outside of the knee (as pregnancy progresses, you will not touch the knee). Return to the starting position and repeat with your left knee and right elbow. Alternate for one minute (about 30 reps). When your belly gets large, bring the same-side elbow down to knee lift, incorporating a slight side bend. This move strengthens the abdominals.
  4. Side–to–side lunges: Facing and holding the edge of the pool, place feet on the pool wall as high as you comfortably can, with knees and feet turned out at a 45-degree angle as in a plié (if the pool doesn't have an edge to grasp, place feet at bottom of the wall). Alternately, bend one leg and keep the other straight (lunge position), holding for 20–30 seconds before shifting sides. Do 20 reps (10 to each side). This move strengthens the legs and stretches the inner thighs and groin.

Deep-water moves

Before getting in the water, fasten a buoyancy belt (like an Aquajogger belt) securely around your middle. Then, float in water deep enough that your legs won't touch the pool bottom. You can do these moves through all three trimesters, but near the end of your pregnancy, you'll probably focus more on the upper body and arms because your belly will limit movement.

Do exercises in the order listed without stopping. If you're only doing the deep-water program, you can do this routine three to six times a week. If you're cross-training, do the program two or three times a week. As your pregnancy progresses, the deep-water program may feel more comfortable than any of the others.

  1. Cross–country skiing: Balance yourself in an upright position, legs hanging straight down, arms at your sides with palms facing in. Keeping arms and legs straight, torso erect and centered, and shoulders over hips, "scissor kick" legs (one forward, one back) as arms do the same movement in opposition. Flex your foot up as you stride forward and point your foot as the leg extends back and behind you. Alternate one minute of skiing (about 30–50 reps) with one minute of the jumping jacks in exercise two. This move strengthens the chest, shoulders, buttocks, middle back, and front and rear thighs.
  2. Jumping Jacks: Balance yourself so legs hang straight down and together and arms extend sideways at shoulder height with palms down just below the water line. Separate legs hip-width apart as you press arms down toward legs. As arms return to the starting position, bring legs together. Alternate one minute of jumping jacks (about 30–50 reps) with one minute of skiing in exercise one. This move strengthens the hips, thighs, shoulders, chest, and back.
  3. Run/jog forward and back: "Jog" forward for 20 counts as if on land, then backward for 20 counts. Keep knees up, arms moving in opposition to legs; don't lean. Continue for 8–10 minutes, then extend legs out farther as if "running." Continue for 8–l0 minutes. This move strengthens the quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, and upper arms.
  4. Scissors kicks: Float as if leaning back in a chair, legs straight and arms by sides; scull water with hands to stay balanced. Keep legs about 1 1/2 feet below the surface, toes pointed. Now "scissor cross" legs, opening them to hip-width apart and alternating the top leg in crossing. Do eight scissors kicks with toes pointed, then eight with feet flexed. Strengthens abdominals and inner thighs.

Swimming

Simply swimming is another fantastic way to exercise while pregnant. Aim for 20–30 minutes of lap swimming if you're doing this activity on its own. Or incorporate 5–15 minutes of swimming into the shallow- or deep-water exercise regimes. Add time and speed as your fitness level progresses. Swimming improves cardiovascular fitness.

The cooldown

If the water is warm, complete your cooldown in the pool, stretching your thighs, calves, and back. Hold each stretch for 20–30 seconds. If the water is cold, you may want to move through each stretch without holding it too long, or you can stretch out of the water. Either way, be sure to take the time to gently move your body and elongate your muscles as you cool down.

Was this page helpful?
Sources
Parents uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Therapeutic Aquatic Exercise in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2022.

  2. Effect of regular swimming exercise on the physical composition, strength, and blood lipid of middle-aged women. J Exerc Rehabil. 2015.

  3. The Properties of Water and their Applications for Training. Journal of Human Kinetices. 2014.

  4. Exercise During Pregnancy. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 2022. 

  5. Physical activity during pregnancy and its influence on delivery time: a randomized clinical trial. PeerJ. 2019.

Related Articles