Congratulations Mama, you’ve had a baby! So your bundle of joy is here safe and sound, and now you want to lose that bundle of jelly from around your waistline. Good news! We’ve got the hot tips to not only get you back to your pre-pregnancy body, but looking and feeling even better than ever.
There are a few variables that need to be considered when getting back into exercise after you’ve given birth. Firstly is the birthing process. If you had a completely natural, vaginal birth with no complications, you may be able to start exercising within a week of giving birth. If however it was a vaginal delivery with excessive pulling and tearing or any other bodily complications, it is highly recommended that you do not start any exercise before your stitches have completely healed. As a general rule of thumb, you should allow yourself at least 6 weeks. A cesarean birth results in a lot of muscular and tissue damage that needs time to heal as well as healing of the incision itself, so a recommended remedial period of 8 weeks is advised.
Secondly, you need to consider what your fitness or activity levels were before falling pregnant, and during the pregnancy. Obviously if you weren’t active before hand and remained relatively inactive during the pregnancy, jumping head first into a full blown exercise regime is not recommended; you will need to take it slow. Likewise, if you were fit before falling pregnant, however became quite sedentary during the pregnancy you will need to ease your way back into it. Nine months is long a time and while our bodies have a fantastic muscle and strength memory, initially you will need regain some of that old fitness before attempting to work out in the same way you used to. If you were fit prior and remained active throughout your pregnancy, pending on your birthing process, you have given your body a great start and should be able to enjoy exercising as soon as you feel comfortable.
The last thing that needs to be accounted for before you start exercising is whether or not you have developed diastisis recti, a stretching and sometimes tearing of the midline of the abdominal muscles. If you have suffered from diastisis* and attempt abdominal exercises too soon, you run the risk of actually preventing them from properly rejoining and can create further complications for yourself and so it is recommended that you do not attempt ab work until you have less than a two finger gap in your abdominal wall.
(* The extent of diastisis should be checked three days postpartum by lying on your back with knees bent. Place your fingers just below your belly button, pointing down toward your feet. Breath in and as you breath out, lift your head up. Feel for the separation below your fingertips; if it's greater than three fingers, make exercise modifications until the diastisis is two fingers or less)
It is advised that you always check with your Doctor before starting any exercise program to get the green light to GO GO GO! Always start slow, even if you are fit as you don’t know how your new body, with all it s new hormones and stresses will cope with exercise. If at any point you feel dizzy or nauseas, stop immediately and never exercise to the point of exhaustion. Around 20 mins, 3 times a week is a good staring goal and as you begin to feel fitter and more comfortable, you can increase the length, frequency and intensity.
For those of you who may have to wait to start exercising, concentrate on nutrition and getting yourself into a good routine. I do not recommend by any means than any new mother should diet, especially if breastfeeding, but you can make sure you are putting all the good things in. Jam pack your diet full of fruit and vegetables, whole grains and good sources of protein. Smoothies are a great way to get a combined dose of fruit, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, Omega 3’s and if you add a serve of delicious My Whey protein powder, you’ve got your protein needs covered too. Check out our recipes page for some awesome smoothie combinations.
PS - Check out www.mywhey.net.au for more great tips, recipes, articles etc. xx
No comments:
Post a Comment