The age-old caution most pregnant women have been inundated with has always been that exercising while pregnant is potentially dangerous and should at all costs be avoided. But times have changed and with a more advanced scientific understanding of pregnancy, the old wives’ tale has been debunked many times. In fact, according to the NHS, exercise is not bad for you or for your baby.
Studies show that active women are less likely to experience problems later on in their pregnancy and labour. Among a myriad of other benefits, regular exercise for pregnant women can help with common discomforts like back and pelvic pain, improve circulation, help with weight control and reduce the risks of complications such as pre-eclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension. Most useful of all, is the boost of energy and strengthening of stamina, which will come as a huge benefit after giving birth.
Strenuous or hardcore fitness regimes are not encouraged, but incorporating safe fitness routines is generally recommended. There are many methods of pre-natal exercises, each with its own benefits and rules. If you find yourself stumped, and overwhelmed, blindly searching through the endless options then look no further because we have compiled the best pregnancy exercise classes in London for you.
Move Your Frame
Founded by sports-enthusiasts and best friends Pip and Joan, Move Your Frame is a space for all, whether you’re an eager athlete or could barely handle the bleep test during PE. Frame’s mantra is all about putting the fun back into fitness. The studio’s Mumhood classes offer both pre and post-natal fitness classes and workshops, including yoga and pilates for expecting mums, and a pre-natal strength classes focused on building muscles.
Where: classes available at Kings Cross, Shoreditch and Hammersmith
Price: starting from £20
Barrecore
Barrecore is one of London’s well-loved fitness studios located in several areas of the city. It offers unique ballet inspired workouts combined with yoga and pilates that promise to leave you sweat-filled and aching, but ultimately stronger. Barrecore offers private maternity modification sessions that allows mum-to-be to adapt to the studio’s classic workouts safely with the help of an instructor. The prenatal modification sessions are tailored for expecting mums but will promise to make your muscles sing.
Where: Chelsea, Chiswick, Hampstead and Islington
Price: starting from £7.33 flexible membership
Bumps and Burpees
Bumps and Burpees offers more than just fitness classes. It’s a community, providing guided online exercise classes for every stage of your journey to motherhood, from pregnancy to post-natal. Classes for pregnant women will take you through the three trimesters with a range of routines focusing on keeping your body strong and ready for the birth. All classes are a mixture of cardio workouts targeting lower and upper body and yoga, pilates and stretching.
Where: online classes available
Price: starting from £35
Barre and Baby
If you’ve ever wanted to take on dance lessons, then don’t let the bump stop you. Pregnancy exercise classes at Barre and Baby combine elements of dance, yoga, pilates, barre and natural movement to strengthen your body for the journey ahead. You can book private classes or if you prefer to show off your jeté, attend group classes online or in person across their various locations in London.
Where: Teddington and Brockley
Price: starting from £9
Triyoga
First opened in 2000, Triyoga has been around for a long time and hailed as one of London’s best yoga and pilates studios. Suited for both beginners and experienced yoga aficionados, the pre-natal classes begin with the second trimester right up to birth, offering enhancing sessions focused on cultivating breath awareness, flexibility and core strength. Triyoga’s sessions aim to better prepare you for a “conscious birth experience.”
Where: Camden, Chelsea, Ealing and Shoreditch.
Price: starting from £49
Ten Health and Fitness
Eight-time winners of theTatler Gym Awards, and with studios spread across the city, Ten Health and Fitness brands itself as one of London’s leading fitness providers. Prenatal classes at Ten focus on core stability, strength and overall fitness. Mums-to-be can safely measure their progress with a prenatal assessment at week 12, which lets them make any necessary modifications.
Where: Chiswick, Notting Hill and Hatton Garden
Price: starting from £38
Maternally Fit
Founded by Women's Health Physiotherapist Sarah Lorentzen in 2005, Maternally Fit’s aerobic classes offer safe exercise routines that are upbeat and enjoyable. You might leave coated in sweat with stinging muscles, but over-time Maternally Fit’s cardio-vascular fitness and strength training will make sure your body is ready for B-day. Each class is tuned at an appropriate level of intensity, the rule of thumb is mums should still be able to hold a conversation during the routine. Classes target core stability and pelvic floor strengthening.
Where: Studios in Clapham, Islington, Wimbledon, Weybridge, Chiswick and Richmond,
Price: starting from £50
The Bump Plan
Join founder and fitness expert Hollie Grant on her own pregnancy and move through a tailored trimester-specific workouts together. The Bump Plan combines pilates with low-impact cardio in sessions that aim to also be a welcoming community space for expecting mothers.
Where: Members only online classes
Price: starting from £20 membership
Yoga Mama
With a class of only six-twelve students, Yoga Mama offers intimately coordinated sessions that put the focus on you. Classes start from week 12 of the pregnancy. Many of the classical yoga and pilates poses are adapted to fit the changes to your body, and a team of women’s health experts including physiotherapists, midwifes and fertility doctor are always present at the site.
Where: Richmond, Putney
Price: starting from £19
Jelly Belly PT
Jelly Belly PT offer experienced specialists to assist you at every stage from pregnancy to delivery and recovery with tailor-made personal training sessions. Located at Push Studios in east Dulwich, the studio’s Pregnancy Fit class works the entire body, with special attention to posture, core and breathing.
Where: Push Studios, East Dulwich.
Price: starting from £75. Drop in £16.50
