Congratulations
on the arrival of your baby! Whether
it's your first or your third, having a baby is a miracle worthy of
celebration. But after 9 months worth of hormones, weight gain, mood swings,
highs, lows, stretch marks, swollen ankles, and getting puffed just walking to
the corner store you are probably more than ready to GET YOUR PRE BABY BODY
BACK!
So where do you start? regardless of what kind of birth you had
you can start doing your pelvic floor exercises almost straight away. This is
really very simple, first try engaging your pelvic floor and core muscles in
either a seated position or lying on your back with knees bent. Take a deep
breath in and as you exhale slowly, squeeze and lift your pelvic floor ( this
is the same action you would do if you were trying to stop peeing mid-flow! )
then gently pull your belly button in and up. Make sure you are not holding
your breath and maintain the squeeze for 10 second. Repeat for 10 reps.
You may not feel as though this is doing much at first but be patient, you will soon start to feel a lot
stronger - this should not cause any pain or damage any stitches you may have,
it will in fact help the healing process.
Once you have mastered the pelvic squeezes in these positions try doing the
same sitting on a swiss ball, and add pelvic tilts to your routine.
To do a pelvic tilt, lie on your back with your knees bent up
and feet on the ground. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale squeeze your
core ( as above ) and tilt your pelvis so that your lower back presses into the
ground and your pubic bone draws in towards your belly button. On the inhale
let your pelvis arch the opposite way, lifting your lower back off the ground
gently. Repeat for 10 reps.
These simple exercises are just the beginning! they will act as
the foundation for rebuilding your core strength and give you a base from which
you can start practising more advanced exercises. Please note that if you have
had a c-section your recovery will be slightly longer, perform the above
exercises only if there is a complete absence of pain.
As soon as you are feeling up to it, start going for short
walks. Start with 10 mins and gradually build up to 20-30mins a day. Even this
small amount of exercise helps to boost your mood and endorphin levels, as it
is not unusual to experience a bout of baby blues once the adrenalin has worn
off! there is also evidence to show that exercising can alleviate symptoms of post natal depression.
It is important that you listen to your body and do not push
yourself if you’re not feeling 100%, your body has been on a roller coaster
ride and will need rest! One hormone that will still be coursing around your
body after birth is relaxin. Relaxin in produced by the placenta and is used to
help your ligaments to stretch to accommodate pregnancy and birth. This will
make your joints highly mobile, so be careful with sudden or jerky movements.
Something else to take into consideration when embarking on your
post natal exercise regime is that if you are breast feeding you will be
burning more calories than usual. This means you need to make sure you are
eating healthily and regularly as well as staying hydrated.
Once you have been given the all clear from your doctor at
your 6 week check up, there is nothing to stop you squatting, lunging,
planking, pushing, sweating, pressing and huffing your way back into your
favourite pair of jeans! although until you have fully regained your pelvic and
core strength, avoid running and jumping movements - not only can this cause
embarrassing leaking but it can also derail the progress you have already made
Congratulations
on the arrival of your baby!
whether it's your first or your third, having a baby is a miracle worthy of
celebration. But after 9 months worth of hormones, weight gain, mood swings,
highs, lows, stretch marks, swollen ankles, and getting puffed just walking to
the corner store you are probably more than ready to GET YOUR PRE BABY BODY
BACK!
So where do you start? Regardless of what kind of birth you had
you can start doing your pelvic floor exercises almost straight away. This is
really very simple; first try engaging your pelvic floor and core muscles in
either a seated position or lying on your back with knees bent. Take a deep
breath in and as you exhale slowly, squeeze and lift your pelvic floor ( this
is the same action you would do if you were trying to stop peeing mid-flow! )
then gently pull your belly button in and up. Make sure you are not holding
your breath and maintain the squeeze for 10 second. Repeat for 10 reps.
You may not feel as though this is doing much at first but be patient, you will soon start to feel a lot
stronger - this should not cause any pain or damage any stitches you may have,
it will in fact help the healing process.
Once you have mastered the pelvic squeezes in these positions try doing the
same sitting on a swiss ball, and add pelvic tilts to your routine.
To do a pelvic tilt, lie on your back with your knees bent up
and feet on the ground. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale squeeze your
core ( as above ) and tilt your pelvis so that your lower back presses into the
ground and your pubic bone draws in towards your belly button. On the inhale
let your pelvis arch the opposite way, lifting your lower back off the ground
gently. Repeat for 10 reps.
These simple exercises are just the beginning! they will act as
the foundation for rebuilding your core strength and give you a base from which
you can start practising more advanced exercises. Please note that if you have
had a c-section your recovery will be slightly longer, perform the above exercises
only if there is a complete absence of pain.
As soon as you are feeling up to it, start going for short
walks. Start with 10 mins and gradually build up to 20-30mins a day. Even this
small amount of exercise helps to boost your mood and endorphin levels, as it
is not unusual to experience a bout of baby blues once the adrenalin has worn
off! there is also evidence to show that exercising can alleviate symptoms of post natal depression.
It is important that you listen to your body and do not push
yourself if your not feeling 100%, your body has been on a roller coaster ride
and will need rest! One hormone that will still be coursing around your body
after birth is relaxin. Relaxin in produced by the placenta and is used to help
your ligaments to stretch to accommodate pregnancy and birth. This will make
your joints highly mobile, so be careful with sudden or jerky movements.
Something else to take into consideration when embarking on your
post natal exercise regime is that if you are breast feeding you will be
burning more calories than usual. This means you need to make sure you are
eating healthily and regularly as well as staying hydrated.
Once you have been given the all clear from your doctor at your 6 week check up,
there is nothing to stop you squatting, lunging, planking, pushing, sweating,
pressing and huffing your way back into your favourite pair of jeans! although
until you have fully regained your pelvic and core strength, avoid running and
jumping movements - not only can this cause embarrassing leaking but it can
also derail the progress you have already made.
References:
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