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But you need to understand that no two pregnancies are ever the same. How fast you get back to exercising will be dependent on your state of affairs. Therefore, make sure to check with your physician before you start exercising again. Here are nine postpartum fitness routine tips to help you get back in shape quickly after having a baby.
Start Your Postpartum Fitness Routine Slowly
Pushing yourself too hard when starting can end up slowing down your postpartum recovery process [1]. But this is not to mean that you should allow yourself to be held hostage in your house for six weeks or more. Taking a short walk around your neighborhood can be considered as an excellent first step on the road to making a full recovery.
Start by taking 5-minute walks and then return to your house to assess how you feel. If you establish that there are no aches, pulls, or unwanted bleeds, take a six-minute walk the next day. Continue making one-minute increases with each passing day.
When making your initial forays into the real world, be sure to leave the baby behind. Do not attempt to carry the baby in a stroller, pushback, or front pack. Carrying the baby may place too much strain on your body.
Once you have been able to walk safely and comfortably for seven days or more, try and start building up from here. You can do this by incorporating upper-body stretches into your walking routine. Alternatively, consider joining a postpartum exercise class.
Wait for the Bleeding to Stop
As soon as you start performing heavy activities, it will be important to pay attention to the signs being communicated by your body [2]. For some women, bleeding that had started to taper down may start becoming heavier. Often, this is an indication that your body requires additional time for it to heal before you can start working out again.
If Breastfeeding, Take It Easy
If breastfeeding your young-one, forget about starting a postpartum fitness routine and let a few weeks pass by. Allowing a couple of weeks to pass by helps ensure that the milk supply has been properly established. You will notice that some weight will automatically come off after the first few days.
The weight will be shed as the body tries to relinquish the fluids it had stored during your pregnancy. As you start becoming more active, the remaining weight will begin to come off by itself.
For nursing mothers, their body needs to receive an extra 500 calories per day. You must, therefore, make sure that you are eating the best foods for breastfeeding.
Evaluate the Pelvic Floor
An evaluation of your pelvic floor is required before you can start a postpartum fitness routine. The assessment will help you know whether it is weak or strong. A weak pelvic floor cannot withstand the intra-abdominal pressure that will be placed on it when you start performing general ABs work, Pilates, and crunches.
A kegel routine is one of the numerous postpartum exercises that you can start to include in your daily workouts. The routine will help you re-familiarize and re-strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.
Repair Diastasis Recti
It is common for women to experience rectus abdominals. This is a separation of the six-pack abdominal muscles. Your physician should be able to check your diastasis for you when you return for your checkup after six weeks.
In case it is found to be too severe, you should consider consulting a physical therapist to establish techniques that can be used to assist in drawing your muscles back together. This, therefore, calls for caution.
You need to be careful when working out to ensure that you will not overdo it and aggravate your body.
Be Mindful of the Wobbly Joints
Relaxin is a hormone found in the female body. This hormone is responsible for the softening of your joints and ligaments during pregnancy and when giving birth.
Medical experts believe that the hormone can stay in your body for up to six months after childbirth. Its presence can contribute to the development of loose pelvis and wobbly and unstable joints [4].
Again, you will need to be mindful to make sure that any postpartum fitness routine you choose does not involve jerky movements.
Try as Many Postpartum Exercises as You Can
You don’t need to attend a scheduled class for you to get back to your general wellness routine. This means that you should never discount walking as a gentle and inspiring cardiovascular exercise [3].
If you do not feel like walking every day, you can always try swimming. Swimming is gentle on your pelvic floor, as well as your joints. It is, therefore, great for strengthening your back muscles as well as your core.
Stay Hydrated at All Times
When you start easing back into your postpartum fitness routine, remember to drink as much water as possible. This is particularly important for breastfeeding mothers. You can place your water bottle in the stroller’s cup holder to act as a gentle reminder that you need to stay hydrated at all times.
Get Some Rest
Although many new mothers are well-versed with the age-old saying” sleep when your young-one is sleeping,” very few of them adhere to the saying. As such, it will be a good idea to try and include a few quiet moments after engaging in your postpartum routine.
The short rest will help you regain your strength and also replenish you. You will have much to offer after resting and restoring your strength. It becomes easier to attend to the needs of all the people looking up to you in your household.
According to Dr. Phillips, it is normal for women to return to the activities that they were performing before pregnancy, provided that they follow the right procedure.
Trying to get back in shape after having a baby? Try these postpartum fitness routine tips and tell us which one has worked for you in the comment section below. All the best.
