Walk / bike / row / swim / run 

25-30 minutes easy to moderate pace

OR

10-15 minutes of intervals of 30 sec moderate pace, 30 second recovery

A good active recovery day is really important to facilitate strength training, and it's especially important when pregnant! Pregnancy is a time of gradual deload (yes, deload - NOT maintenance!); as your body grows and changes, you are essentially forced into accepting that a monumental life shift is happening and you won't be able to do things exactly the way you are used to doing them. 

This was a big mental hurdle for me during my first pregnancy. I was determined to "maintain" my strength and "prepare for labor and birth." We hear a lot about the preparation for labor, writing your birth plan, etc. However, all of that is based on the idea that we have any sort of control over labor. Spoiler alert - we do not. And even the most fit athletes will be de-conditioned following baby’s birth and appropriate rest and recovery time postpartum. That’s just how the body heals - not to mention that you just spent 40ish weeks MAKING A HUMAN!

The best we can do is try to control what we can (staying active, eating well, hydrating), and accept the rest (*baby gets to decide when labor gets going, *other medical issues that may arise and necessitate a change of plan, *taking time postpartum to respect the healing process, etc). So - use today to choose your preferred cardio, and go for an easy to moderate pace of steady work. (If you happen to have access to a pool, I’m particularly envious!!) 

OR - if you want more bang for your buck - or just don’t have 30 minutes for a workout today - then consider intervals. I LOVE intervals because it keeps me from getting bored, but also has been shown through recent research to be effective at reducing the risk of gestational diabetes, and potentially gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia in pregnant women (citation below). YEAH! 

So, if you’re choosing the interval option - shoot for 30 to 60 seconds of a moderate - to moderately hard pace (though, again, be sure that you can continue to talk during this interval to ensure baby is getting enough O2!), followed by 30-60 seconds of a slow recovery pace. 

Research:

Zavorsky, G.S., Longo, L.D. Exercise Guidelines in Pregnancy. Sports Med 41, 345–360 (2011). https://doi.org/10.2165/11583930-000000000-00000