25-Minute Prenatal Arm Workout: Back and Biceps Workout (Dumbbells)

Hi, I'm Lindsey Baumgren of Nourish Move Love and I'm coming at you today with a prenatal friendly back and bicep workout. Today is all about your two upper body pull muscles. That is the back, the largest muscle in your upper body and your bicep muscle because they often work together in a pulling motion. So that is what we're going to focus on today. It is mostly a strength focused workout, but you'll definitely have the opportunity to raise your heart rate if you choose. And of course, this is all pregnancy friendly. Okay, guys, so you get to take this at your pace. We're to going 100% prenatal friendly. And that is why I have Betty the Box here. We've named her Betty the Box. This is my box. You could grab a chair, you could grab a couch, you could grab a bench at home. Okay, I'm gonna be adding an incline and adding a bent over position so something I can place my hand on for stability as we work one arm at a time. So you're definitely gonna get some core engagement today, but you're gonna wanna have a box or a bench to use to add an incline and to get some stability as you bend over for those rows. Okay, so here's what your workout looks like today. We have two, two circuits for you. Each circuit has about four exercises. There are a couple fun burnout exercises thrown in there as well. You're going to do each exercise for 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest. It's pretty straightforward. We're going to be alternating back, bicep, back bicep. Okay, so we're going to crank it out. We're going to get those two muscles that work together, get a solid upper body sweat in and around 20 to 25 minutes. So let's get ourselves started with a nice warmup. And I should mention all you're going to need are some dumbbells. I have 20, 20 and 15s. If I was at home, I'd maybe even grab my 30 pound dumbbell and really get after that back on those rows. But you have whatever you have and you can use those weights. Okay, so let's go ahead, let's get started. Good body weight warm up. We're gonna start right here. Feet are stacked directly underneath my hips. I'm going to take my hands to the back of my head and I'm going to do a couple good mornings. So I'm going to hinge at the hips and then I'm going to stand tall, warming up the back side of my body, that posterior chain, my core, my glutes, my hamstrings that are going to stabilize me in those bent over positions as I do a bent over row now. Nice. Just hinge forward, warming up that low back as well. Stand tall. As I stand tall, I'm pressing through those heels to stand me up nice and tall, keeping that core engaged the entire time. Let's go for three more. Go for three. Stand tall. Nice work. Go. Two. Stand tall. Last one hinge. Stand tall. Now you're going to grab that box or that bench or that couch. You're just going to step away from it a little bit. You're just going to hang heavy. You could grab a banister on your staircase, whatever you have available to you. Just a nice little low back stretch here. You're just going to sway your hips side to side. Take some pressure off that low back. That can tend to get a little bit tight and stiff as our bellies grow. Awesome. Walk it up standing up nice and tall. Big inhale. Reach up nice and tall. Exhale baby back. Then pull those elbows down towards your hip pockets. Nice. From here, you're going to reach up nice and tall. Hands come to heart. Center. You're going to drop into the bottom of a nice low squat. Here you're just going to pry side to side. That's going to feel really good. Nice. Now you're going to put those hands up overhead if you can. You're going to g your back extensors and stand tall this time. Forward fold. Reach for the toes. Drop the hips. Hands go overhead to engage our core in our back. Stand tall. Two more just like it. Forward fold. Drop the hips. Nice. Hands go overhead. Engage the corn back. Stand tall. You've got one more for me. Nice. Hinge forward. Drop the hips. Arms overhead. Stand tall. That feels really good. Let's drop down to the bottom of that squat one more time. Open up those hips. We'll be using them in a couple squats today as we add on a couple moves and you're gonna drop to a quadruped position. Little cat cow action. So I'm on all fours, shoulders stacked over wrists, hips over knees. Drop the belly, lift the chin and pull that spine nice and tight. Gaze down at your baby as you hug baby nice and tight with your core. Nice work. Do it again. Inhale. Drop the belly. Exhale. Pull that belly nice and tight as you gaze at the belly. Two more just like it. Nice. Look up. Drop the belly and think about pulling those shoulders apart. As you look down at your baby one more time for me. Drop the belly, lift the chin. And final time right there. Rounding out now, find a nice neutral spine. We're gonna want to keep a nice flat back, neutral spine throughout this workout. So now you know what that feels like. We're gonna go into classic bird dog, probably the number one pregnancy exercise. But I promise we're gonna add some fun twists to bird dog today. So I'm gonna take my right hand reaches out, left leg goes back. You're gonna tap and, and reach. Tap and reach. Go here for 8. You got it. 7. Warming up the back and cord. Nice. Right here. Final five, you're gonna hold it long. Four. Nice work. Nice work. Three and two and last one, just hold and squeeze for eight. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Drop it down. Hips are gonna stay high. Hands are gonna walk out. Nice big long body stretch opening up through the lats. Those big V shaped muscles that fan across your back. Nice big inhale, big exhale. Just let those elbows drop towards the ground. Nice. Bring it back to that quadruped position. Bird dog, other side. Right here. Left arm reaches long, right foot kicks back. You're gonna tap the knee and reach it long right here for eight. You got it. Seven. Nice work. Six, you're gonna hold it long in five. Nice. Four and three and four. Two. Last one. Hold it here for eight. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Awesome job. Child's pose this time. Big toes to touch. Sit the hips back. Just going to rock forward. Sit it back, rock forward, sit it back nicely again to take some pressure off that low back. Nice. Go for two more. Open up those hips, sit it back. Last one. Right there. You're going to bring yourself up to a standing position. I like to find a nice little bear crawl hold, walk my hands back and stand up nice and tall. Great way to get up without putting any additional stress on the pelvic floor. Right here. Final move. You can take those arms, hinge over, reach Y. 45 to the side. Straight out. 45 to the side. Right here. Straight out. 45. Two more and we're done with this warmup. We're going to jump into this workout. Last one, reach it. Straight out. Reached 45 and the side. Nice. Nice and warm. Flap those wings out. We are going to jump into our first circuit. You have four moves. We go back, bicep, back, bicep. One little fun burnout thrown in the mix in there. Go ahead, grab a quick sip of water. Grab your heaviest weight. You're Going to start with a single arm row. I'm going to grab my 20. Okay. If I was at home again, maybe I'd reach for that 30. You take that dumbbell in your right hand. I'm going to find my bench. It is a tripod row, so I'm going to be right here. Soft bend in my knees, hinged over. Using this bench for support to help support my core. As I perform a single arm row on just that right arm. I'm going to pull back to the hip, let it go down. Okay. I'm going to do that for about 40 seconds. Now, if that is still too much pressure for your back, you can always come. I'll show you this side. You can always come onto that bench. This is an awkward angle. I'll go right here. Now come onto your bench and add the knee and give a little bit more support so you can put your knee on the bench too. I'm going to go for that tripod position. I have that dumbbell in my right hand. Soft bend in the knees. I'm going to be hinged over right here. And I'm going to row, using this bench to support my core but not deactivating core. Still turns on. 40 seconds of rows. We go in three, two. Let's go, let's go. So I'm pulling up. Let it go down. Nice pulling. Think about pulling from that elbow. Pulling elbow to. To hip. Right here. Elbow to hip. You got it. Row. Nice work. Squeeze that back. Shoulder blade is pulled back and down. Nice work. Single arm. Focusing on just one arm at a time should allow you to go a little bit heavier. Allow you to keep that core turned on. You got it. Single arm row right here. We're gonna go on to biceps. Let's go. 10 seconds. That weight should start to feel heavy. Yes, you can. Right here. Row for five. Nice. Final four. Three, two and one. Awesome job. You can set the weight down. Shake it out. I'm going to stick with this 20 pounder and try and go heavy as well for the bicep since we're focusing mostly on strength today. Single arm curl on the right. So I'm going to perform one bicep curl on the right, one knee lift on the left. I'm going to alternate curl and knee lift. We go in three, two. Let's go. One bicep curl, one knee lift. One bicep curl, one knee lift. Nice. One curl. Oh, that's heavy for the curls. One lift. Trying to keep that core turned on. Notice I have my other hand on my Belly so I can actually feel my core activated right here. Nice. One curl, one lift. Working the bicep. We're gonna throw in a little core today too for you. A little weight transfer. We are unilateral creatures. Trans transferring weight from side to side. Fun move right here. You got it. Come on, stay with me. 5, 4, 3, 2 and one more. There we go. Finish it. Awesome job, you guys. From here, I'm going to take this 20 pound weight. I'm going to set it vertically. Okay. So for your dumbbell lets you go like that. That's how you're going to want it. I'm gonna do one burpee. You can step it or jump it from an incline. Okay. Hands are on the bench. One burpee, one back row. One burpee, one back row. We go in three, two. Let's go, let's go. One burpee, one row. Nice. One burpee, one row. Your option is always walk back, walk in, grab that dumbbell row. It's a bent over row. Nice. This is where I could grab that 30 pound weight. Really get into it. You got it. One burpee, one row. This is your chance right here to pick up the energy a little bit. Nice work. Awesome job. I might be pregnant, but I still like to feel athletic. It's a fun, athletic movement right here. You got it. 10 seconds and then you're gonna hold that bent over row. Both hands on the top head of that dumbbell. We're gonna row in 5, 4, 3, 2. Hold it here. Just row 20 seconds. Come on. Burn out that back. Hold that row. Nice. Hinge over position. Soft bend in the knees. Let's go. Squeeze. Come on. You got it. Go. 10, 9, 8. You got this. 7. Stay with it. Come on. Finish right here. Final 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Set that dumbbell down. Stand up. Shake it out. One final move in circuit number one. And then we're gonna repeat those moves. Okay, right here we're going to raise that heart rate. Keep it a little bit higher. One dumbbell squat curl. Squat curl. I'm going to hold one 20 pound dumbbell horizontally. You could grab two lighter weights. Okay. And give me hammer curls. Do what works best for you. Squat curl in three, two. Let's go. 40 seconds. I'm going to add a heel tap as I stand up. Little side to side action today. Nice work again. Going to raise my heart rate a little bit. We know during pregnancy that heart rate gets a lot higher a lot faster. Told my husband squats are now my cardio Right. Squats are now my cardio. Come on. You got it. Last move of circuit number one, then we repeat it. Stay with it. Stay with it. You're doing so good. Nice work, guys. Right here. Come on. 10 seconds. 10 seconds and you get that 20 second rest. Stay with it. Last five, four, three, two and one. Nice work. Dumbbell down. Shake it out. We're going to repeat those exact same moves, starting with the single arm tripod row on the left. Hinged over left arm is going to row. That's where we go. Quick sip of water if you need it. Single arm row on the left in three. Let's go. Set it up. Two. Let's go. Row. Nice. Get that nice stretch at the bottom. Let that weight pull that arm down. Want that nice little stretch at the bottom. Pull it up. Nice. Pull. Squeeze. Pulling back towards that hip, keeping that core turned on. You got it Right here. One row at a time. Nice work. This is your chance to go. Nice, heavy. Come on. Back and biceps, make them work. 10 seconds, guys. 10 seconds. You got it. Stay with it. Final five, four, three, two. Give me one more row because you can. Nice. Set that weight down. Gonna go single arm bicep curl on the left, march on the right. One curl, one march. I'm gonna go £20. Nice and heavy here. Go heavy on those biceps, right? You get to go a little bit lighter. As the workout continues, we're really going to fatigue them. Here we go. Three, two, let's go. One curl, one knee lift. I'm going to put that other arm out for counterbalance this time instead of having it on my core. Keep that core nice and active. You got it. One curl, one knee lift. One curl, one knee lift. Nice. Really get into those strength gains, you guys. Right here. Strength training is the name of the game during pregnancy, right? Come on. Keep building muscle mass. That's what we want. 10 seconds. It's going to really assist us with that postpartum recovery to keep that muscle mass. Let's go. Last five, four, three, two. I'm going to do one more bicep curl because it sounds tough. There we go. Nice work. Take that dumbbell. Set it on the bottom head nice and vertical if you can. One burpee, one bent over row, grabbing just the top head of that dumbbell and rowing. One burpee, one row. Let's do it. Come on. Set it up. Step it or jump it in. Three, two. Let's go. One burpee, one row. One burpee and row. You got it. One rep at A time, guys. Right here. One burpee, one row. Nice work again. Chance to raise the heart rate right here. Take it at your pace. Step it or jump it. We're all at a different place in our pregnancy right now. Some days I show up and I just crush it. Other days, I'm a little bit more tired. I don't know what it is about this third pregnancy, but I've been telling my husband I'm just so much more tired this time. Is it because I have two kids? Because I'm older? Come on. Five seconds. Let's go. Finish. Three, two, and one. Hold that row. Hold that row. 20 seconds, right here. Let's row and row. Burn out the back. Right here. 22nd burnout. Yes, you can. You're in the final. 10, nine, eight. You got it. Seven. Stay with it. Six. Five, four, three, two, one. One. You're out. Set it down. Shake it out. Nice work. Chance to keep that heart rate high. I'm gonna go one dumbbell. Horizontal squat and curl. I'm gonna add that heel tap tapping at the as I stand. Wide at the bottom, narrow at the top. Let's go in three, two. Let's go. Squat and curl. Come on. Finish off. Circuit number one right here. We're gonna go down to the ground to the mat for the majority of circuit number two, right. Continuing to work the back and biceps. You got it? Right here. Come on. Come time. Nice work. You got it. Like I told my husband. Also, I feel like I cannot do what I could do in my first pregnancy. In the third pregnancy, have existing doctor. I had to add Betty the box a lot sooner this time. That's okay. You do your best. Forget the rest. Just keep moving. Right here. Five seconds. Let's go, team. Three, two, and one. Nice work. Heart rate tie. That is circuit one. Quick water break. Grab some water before we jump into circuit number two. Heart rate gets high so fast, right? All right, circuit two, we're gonna stick with that squat curl. I'm gonna give me a squat hold. Curl at the bottom, curl at the top. And then like I said, we're gonna drop down to the mat, so take a nice wider stance. Squat hold, curl at the bottom. Squat stand, curl at the top, Squat hold, curl at the bottom, squat stand, curl at the top. I'm gonna do one dumbbell again. Heavier. You could grab two lighter dumbbells. Do what works for you. 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest. We're gonna transition to kneeling curls. After this, we're gonna go two bicep exercises. Back to back. Get after those biceps right here. In three, two. Let's go. Squat hold, curl at the bottom, stand, curl at the top. Hold, curl at the bottom, stand, curl at the top. Okay. At that bottom, my elbows are inside my inner thighs. Yes. Keep the elbows inside the thighs. Don't let that weight pull you forward. You stay in control of that dumbbell. As I stand tall, I am driving through my heels to get me to that standing position. Let's go. You got 40 seconds right here. I don't know. Is anyone else thinking as they hold that low squat at the bottom, all those squats you're going to do during labor, that's what's coming to mind right here? Come on. You got five seconds. Let's go. Five, four, three, two. Give me one more stand, one more curl. Nice. From here, I'm going to drop down to my £15. I'm going to drop down to a kneeling position. Take my legs out of the equation. Going to take swinging the weights out of the equation. Toes are tucked under to engage the glutes and core. Kneeling half curls halfway up, all the way down. In three, two. Let's go. Take it halfway up, all the way down, halfway up, all the way down. Of course, if this kneeling position is not comfortable for you, take it from a standing position. Okay. I'm doing kneeling because I know sometimes I can use my legs, right? Take the legs out of the equation. We're focusing just on arms today. Back biceps, right here. These half curls. Whoo. They're gonna get mighty spicy, guys. So we're gonna find that. Muscle failure, muscle fatigue. 10 seconds. If it's tough, it should be. Means you're using the right weights. Let's go. Finish. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Whoo. Nice work. I'm gonna drop down to one dumbbell. I'm gonna come to a quadric position. Okay. I'm going to take this dumbbell behind my left hand or near my left hand. I'm going to perform a single arm back fly on the right arm. Single arm fly. Move over just a hair so I don't hit my box. Single arm back fly in three, two. Let's go. Single arm fly. This is where you might need to go to a lighter weight. Ok. It's a challenging move. I'm letting that dumbbell come to a rest each time. Set it down, pick it up and fly. Set it down, pick it up and fly. Do you feel your core turned on? Holy bananas. Is this core and back right here? Halfway, guys. 20 seconds. Holding that quadruped position one. Single arm fly. Let's go. You got this. Whoo. 10 seconds here. 10 seconds. We're gonna go back to bird dog. You know that bird dog we did in the warm up? You're gonna temple it out. You're gonna drop this weight and go to bird dog in three, two, one. Send that. Right arm long, left leg long. Tap it, tap it. 20 seconds. Let's go. Push right here. 20 seconds. Yes, you can. That's it. Tempo, Bird dogs. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Kneeling knee drives right here for 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Set it down, push it back. Shake it out. Same moves. We're going to repeat them, okay? Starting with those kneeling half curls. This time, you're going to start at the halfway point. You're gonna go all the way up, halfway down, all the way up, halfway down. Okay, we're almost there, guys. Come on. Get through these four moves right here. Two more moves after that and you're done. Let's go. Bicep curls. Get them up. Halfway, all the way up, halfway down. In three, two. Let's go, let's go. All the way up, halfway down. Switching directions this time. Come on, right here. 40 seconds to work those arms. You got it. All the way up, halfway down. Come on, let's do it. Close those eyes, grit those teeth. Do whatever you got to do to keep yourself moving. Halfway, halfway. Core stays nice and tight. Toes are tucked under. Glutes are active. Tailbone is tucked under the ribs. 10 seconds here. If it feels heavy. It should. Let's go. Finish it. Final five, four, three, two, and one. Nice. You're gonna come back to that quadruped position this time. You're gonna fly. Single arm fly on the left arm. So I'm gonna take that dumbbell right near my right wrist. I have a nice, stable base with my knees. Toes are again tucked under. Left arm. Single arm fly on the left. Yes. Keep that core nice and active. Here we go. Three, two. Let's go. Single arm fly on the left. You got it. One fly at a time. Come on. Stay with this. Nice work, guys. Right here. You can let that dumbbell come to a dead stop each time. Control it up, control it down. It's really easy to let that weight fall back to the mat. The hard part is controlling that weight back to the mat. This 15 pound is an aggressive choice right here. Come on, you got this. Nice work, guys. Stay with it. Whoo. Back and biceps right here. Come on. You're gonna drop that weight and tempo it out in 10 seconds. Tempo, bird dogs. Left arm long, right leg long. In 4, 3, 2. Set the weight off to the side. Let's go. Left arm long, right leg. Tempo. 20 seconds. Come on. Pull, pull. Bird dogs. Push it. Push it. Right here. Yes. A gaze in front of you. Neck in line with that spine. 10 seconds. Let's go. 10. 9. 8. You got it. 7. Stay with it. 6. 5. 4. 3, 2 and 1. Sit it back. Stretch it out. You can take a nice child's pose if you need to take that pressure off the low back. You got two more moves. 40 seconds of work. 20 seconds of rest. Quick sip of water. Okay? Kneeling, full curl, full curled, the way up, all the way down this time. Okay? That's how we finish it. Kneeling, full curls. And then you're gonna give me quadruped bird dog back rows. That's your last move. Let's finish strong together, guys. Palms are out, full curls all the way up, all the way down. We go in three, two. Let's go. Let's go. All the way up, all the way down, all the way up, all the way down. You got this, guys? Yes, you can. Come on. You're so close to that finish line. Back and biceps right here again. You can always take this to standing if it's not comfortable for your knees. You got it. Come on. Let's go. You're halfway. Finish off these bicep curls halfway. You got it. Stay with me right here. Nice work. Come on. What would it look like If I said 10 more seconds on these bicep curls? Curls. Let's go. Bring it home. Last 5, 4, 3, 2. Give me one more curl, because you can. Nice work. Take those weights right down to the ground. Find that quadruped position. Shoulders are stacked over the wrist on the weights, okay? Nice stable base with the knees as I row right. Left leg kicks. As I row left. Right leg kicks. Bird dog alternating back rows. Alternate those rows. Alternate the kicks. In three, two. Let's go. Roll right, kick left, row left, kick right. Nice. I'm going a little bit lighter here. 15 pounds. Normally, I use 20 or above for back row, but this requires a lot of core engagement. Transferring that weight from side to side. Keep that core turned on nice and tight. If this doesn't feel good for you, just give me the kneeling rows. Take out the kickback. You got it, guys. Final move, right here. Finish this workout nice and strong. Yes, you can. Let's go. In it together, team. Right here. Last ten. Nine, eight. You got this. Seven. Finish strong. Final five, four. Three, two. We're gonna finish. One more on the left. Even it out. Even it out. There it is. That's it. That is your quick and dirty back and bicep workout. Let's put those dumbbells off to the side, and let's stretch it out. Grab a quick sip of water. So stinking proud of you. I'm gonna turn to the side and go right into child's pose. Okay, Big toes to touch. Knees are nice and wide. Hands reach out away from me. Big inhale here. Big exhale. Just let the belly drop. Let the arms drop. Just relax right here. Nice work breathing into those sit bones. Forehead to the mat. Big inhale again. Big open mouth. Exhale. Awesome job. So proud of you. You absolutely crushed this upper body strength workout. Okay, let's go back up to that quadruped position. We're gonna go cat cow again. Drop the belly and then tuck it. Say hello to baby. Give it a nice squeeze. Say, nice work. We did it together. One more. Drop the belly. Lift the chin. Pull the shoulder blades down and back. And now pull the shoulder blades apart as you stare at baby. Baby. Awesome job, you guys. So stinking proud of you. I'm actually going to come up. One of my favorite ways to stretch the low back. A common pregnancy ache and pain is to come to a nice seated position. And I'm going to find a seated figure four. So I'm going to take the right ankle to the left knee. Sit up nice and tall. Roll the shoulders down and back, and I'm going to think about rolling my shin away from me. So rolling my shin out away from me. Roll your shin away from you. Ooh, you're going to feel this glute stretch right here. Tight hips can often cause the low back. Right? So this is a really good low back stretch as well as a nice hip stretch. Sit up nice and tall. Think about spreading your sit bones apart. Think about rolling your shin away from you. Awesome job. Hold it here for 3, 2, 1. Same thing. Other side. Come to that seated position. Other ankle to other knee. Again. Sit up nice and tall. Think about rolling that shin away from you, pushing it out, and then getting it nice into that hip. A nice good stretch for that low back, too. So proud of you. Way to crush this upper body pull workout. Back and biceps. Absolutely knocked it out of the park, mama. Way to go. We have plenty more prenatal workouts, non prenatal workouts. You get to decide what you're feeling like today. So proud of you. Awesome job. From here, actually let's. Let's roll down. Let's roll down our bench. Okay, from here, another good low back stretch. Roll down. You can use your couch, whatever you have. Legs are bent at 90 degrees. Just gonna let the legs drop over to one side of the body. Nice little spinal rotation again. Great. For that low back, I'm gonna let the legs drop over to the other side of the body. There you go. Let those legs drop side to side. Let's do one more each way. Drop to this side of the body. Nice. Using that gentle incline to support me. And legs drop over to the other side. Awesome job. We'll finish with one final butterfly stretch right here. Go ahead. Bring your soles of your feet to touch. Take your right hand to your left shoe, left hand to your right shoe. Round out through the spine. Tuck the chin. Pull the shoulder blades apart. They spent a lot of time being pulled down during this workout. And now reverse it. Sit forward as you spread the chest muscles apart. Slightly hinging forward, opening up through the hips, the chest. Awesome job, you guys. Way to knockout this 25 minute upper body push workout. Back and biceps, you crushed it. Love to see you for more workouts@nourishmovelove.com and of course, if you like this workout, drop us a subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thank you and have a good day.