Exercises After Pregnancy: How to Get Started

Doing exercise after delivery recovery is a great way to boost your energy and strengthen your abdominal muscles. It is one of the best things you can do for yourself after pregnancy.

Depending on your circumstances and how active you were during the pregnancy, you can start your postpartum workouts as soon as possible.

If you had no complications during pregnancy and you delivered safely, you may begin your exercises a few days after the delivery when you feel ready.

However, if you had a complicated pregnancy or a C-section, you should talk to your health care specialist about when is the right time to begin exercising.

Keep in mind that your body undergoes a lot of changes after pregnancy. Thus you should exercise carefully at your own pace.

This article presents four essential tips to get started with exercises after pregnancy. Check it out!

1. Take the Postpartum Exercises Slow

After delivery, active women are always eager to know when they can begin their postpartum workouts.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reveals that women who had a normal virginal delivery can start light workouts after a few days provided they don’t feel any pain.

Light exercises include going for short walks, Kegels, and diaphragm breathing.

If you start exercising and you experience pain or bleeding, you should stop and give yourself some time to recover properly.

2. Strengthen Your Core Pelvic Floor

Evaluate your pelvic floor muscles and see if they are weak. While no pregnancy is similar to the other, most women will have a weak pelvic floor after delivery.

Focus on strengthening your pelvic floor by doing pelvic floor exercises (Kegels). You can also use devices such as kegel weights to help you regain more vaginal muscle.

Most women also experience a condition known as Diastasis Recti, which is the separation of the abdominal muscles.

Though Diastasis Recti will heal on its own, it may take a long time to heal. However, you can find the right exercises to accelerate your healing process.

If you are not sure if you have it, here is what to do:

Lie down with your knees bent and lift your head a little bit. Use your fingers to feel the space between your ab muscles. If the separation fits two fingers or more, you probably have diastasis recti.

If your diastasis is severe, you need to seek guidance from a physical therapist.

3. Pay Much Attention to Your Body

However good and simple your delivery was, you need to pay attention to your body to ensure that you recover fully from this intense event.

Watch your joints and ligaments as pregnancy hormones may have affected them. Taking short walks can help you regain stable joints after delivery.

Drink more water to prevent dehydration, especially if you are breastfeeding your baby.

4. Try Various Postpartum Exercises

As you continue with the gentle walks and Kegels, here are four simple and safe postpartum workouts to include in your program:

• Pelvic Tilts

Doing some pelvic tilts a few times every day will help you restore your core and strengthen your abdominal muscles.

You may try doing 10 to 20 repetitions a day, and remember that perfect form matters a lot.

• Water Aerobics

Water aerobics will help you gain cardiovascular endurance and strength. They are excellent postnatal workouts as they do not insert unnecessary pressure on your joints. One of my favorite things about water aerobics is that you can exercise with your baby in the water. If you are outdoor you should look into sun protective swimwear for kids.

• Lightweight Training

Gentle weight training will help you tone up your muscles. As you regain strength after birth, try some gentle weight training and slowly add as you progress.

The use of sandbags is a modern way to exercise without having to go for gym. For those who want to try sandbags, here are some great options.

• Happy Baby Yoga Pose

This is a gentle yoga that helps your pelvic muscles to relax and gently stretch without causing pain.

Keep in mind that not all yoga poses are appropriate after pregnancy.

 

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