Post Natal Fitness

I Want My Pre-Pregnancy Body Back

How should you feel about your post baby body? On social media we’re now used to seeing post partum bodies in all their various forms.

From bloated post-birth bellies to loose skin and stretch marks, there are plenty of women who feel comfortable sharing their new contours and celebrating every change as part and parcel of their journey to motherhood – and fair play to them.

Once pregnancy is over, most new mums are usually keen to ‘get back into shape’ and are eager to come to terms with their new bodies, but it can take months (if not years if there is a fast following second or third pregnancy) before your post partum body settles. The process of getting used to being in your ‘new’ body is an internal and external one and it is one that’s filled with ups and downs and hidden twists as well.

Goals for Post Natal Mums

It’s never too late to start looking after your body after having children

To make you feel like a functioning, normal woman and enhance your general well-being for daily life

Get you to move, perform, and feel better in your new and improved body.

The benefits of exercise for postpartum women

Exercise has the following benefits for postpartum women:
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It helps strengthen and tone abdominal muscles.

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It boosts energy.

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It may be useful in preventing postpartum depression.

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It promotes better sleep.

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It relieves stress.

When Can I Start Exercising after Pregnancy

If you had a healthy pregnancy and a normal vaginal delivery, you should be able to start light activity, such as walking, soon after the baby is born. If you had a cesarean delivery or other complications, it may be longer.

Pelvic Floor Exercises can be started as soon as you feel ready.

Wait until your 6 week GP check up to start more intense exercise..

It is often worth investing in a check up with a specialist Women’s Health Physiotherapist

Aim to stay active for 20–30 minutes a day. When you first start exercising after childbirth, try simple postpartum exercises that help strengthen major muscle groups, including abdominal and back muscles. Gradually add moderate-intensity exercise. Remember, even 10 minutes of exercise benefits your body. If you exercised vigorously before pregnancy or you are a competitive athlete, you can work up to vigorous-intensity activity. Stop exercising if you feel pain.

Walking outside has an added bonus because you can push your baby in a stroller. There are special strollers made for this kind of activity, but using a regular stroller is fine. Another good way to get daily exercise is by joining an exercise class. Working out with a group and socialising with group members can help keep you motivated.

What should I be aware of before exercising?

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Your lower back and core abdominal muscles may be weaker than they used to be.

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Your ligaments and joints are also more supple and pliable in the months after birth, so it’s easier to injure yourself by stretching or twisting too much.

How to Fix the Mummy Tummy

Ah, the dreaded mummy tummy. Not so yummy feeling for lots of ladies and getting rid of it is often the stated goal of post pregnancy workouts. Of course, gaining fat during pregnancy can be a factor of this, but more importantly your Diastasis Recti (DR) may play a role.

DR is covered in my blog Diastasis Recti but to recap it is the resulting separation of the rectus abdominis muscles that often occurs in pregnancy, as the linea alba becomes stretched and remains lax postpartum.

A diastasis is commonly thought to be a two finger or more width separation of the rectus muscle bellies from the midline. The abdominal wall stretches (often, a lot), and so the connective tissue can widen leaving the recti bellies with a gap between them. This is one reason why your postpartum clients may still look 4 months pregnant when their baby is a year old. No one likes to be asked when they’re due when they’re not even pregnant anymore, right?

Step 1: Retraining the Breath

It might seem simple, but you will have to  learn how to breathe again. You may be breathing through the chest and shoulders, which is wreaking havoc on your posture and their ability to stabilise the core, left with one big, rib-flaring, unstable, inefficient core.

You need to feel a gentle softening of their pelvic floor and abdominals on your inhale breath, and a gentle contraction of their pelvic floor and abdominals on their exhale breath. Breathing properly and getting the ribcage aligned in a better position over the pelvis will enable proper abdominal contraction and compression to close the DR.

Step 2: Retraining the Abdominals

There are going to be some jiggly bits and bellies going on, and that’s perfectly normal. Recently postpartum, you will likely feel that you are having a tough time getting a solid abdominal contraction, especially in the lower rectus region. They might feel like there are no abdominal muscles left, or you have a serious case of abdominal amnesia. Those muscles have been overstretched, not functioning at capacity for months, and don’t know how to turn on anymore. Practice makes perfect here.

What abdominal exercises should you do? As mentioned, the diaphragmatic breathing exercises for the core should be in every workout and every day life. These will begin reprogramming the pelvic floor and transverse abdominis in order to gain tension in the linea alba and help close the DR. Low level dead bug exercises, pallof presses, and carry exercises will help you to train their alignment and recruit the deep core muscles.

What abdominal exercises should you avoid?

In the case of DR, you need to steer clear of exercises on all fours, front loaded planks, and any supine crunching or flexion movements. They are only going to put more pressure on that weakened connective tissue and exacerbate the separation.

Be cautious of rotation exercises and any loaded exercise where the core has to stabilize a ton. When going from supine to seated or standing, get into the habit of rolling to your side before coming up instead of jackknifing up and bulging the belly. And, be sure not to use  front loading baby carriers need to go until that DR is closed as to avoid increased pressure on the abdomen.

Step 3: Retraining the Pelvic Floor

“I laughed so hard, tears ran down my leg”. Nothing should ever be that funny.

To avoid seriously embarrassing leakage accidents, get to know the pelvic floor. Imagine the pelvic floor like a dome. It is a group of muscles and soft tissues supporting the region from pubic bone to base of the spine, and connecting the sitz bones that hold the organs in place. The pressure of the fetus, along with labour and delivery can weaken the tone of these muscles. Pelvic floor dysfunction can range from hypotonic muscles not closing the badder sphincter with enough strength, to a uterine prolapse.

Kegels, pelvic floor contractions, should be done daily (for as long as you remember to do them) and incorporated into your sessions. In your movement prep get in the habit of doing 1 or 2 sets of 10 repetitions with your diaphragmatic breathing exercises. You can progress these into your strength work, for example on the upward movement of a squat they draw the pelvic floor up.

Read more about Pelvic Floor Exercise

Please, no jumping jacks. No running, no squat jumps, no box jumps, until that pelvic floor is rock solid (many months postpartum).

 

I have worked with post natal mums for 10 years and can design you a program suitable for your needs and ability level

Call Now 07946 256982

What our women say…

I have been training with Rachel for over a year following the birth of my second child. She has helped me regain my pre-pregnancy fitness and self-confidence. In July I completed my training goal, cycling from London to Paris. In the time I have been training with Rachel I have lost my pregnancy weight!

Rachel is not only an expert in post-pregnancy fitness but a mother herself and sympathetic to the concerns and needs of someone returning to sport after a long break. This can be a really daunting experience but Rachel made me feel confident and we really had fun in the sessions. Rachel’s expertise is not limited to gym training, she gave me advice on core strength and nutrition which really helped with my weight loss. Best of all, I was able to bring my daughter to my training sessions and Rachel was happy to give her a cuddle if she got grumpy.

 

Jo, 2013