When you are keen to start following a healthy eating meal plan once you’ve had a baby you might also be wanting to get back into your pre-pregnancy exercise routine as soon as possible.
But it’s very important to know that your body has just gone through some huge and amazing changes while being pregnant, giving birth and then after birth, and it’s wise to know what your limitations might be.
Give your body time to heal and recover before you start running a marathon.
“Don’t compare yourself to others. If you see friends, family or even celebrity mums in magazines, getting straight back into vigorous exercise after having a baby, it doesn’t mean it’s right for you.”
Nikki Boswell, Women’s & Children’s Fitness Expert has provided the key information to understand and consider before you embark on any exercise during and after pregnancy:
During pregnancy a woman’s body undergoes many changes; there are the obvious physical changes to the abdomen, hips and breasts, and then there are the less obvious changes in hormones, blood volume and cardiac output – all of which have implications for safe and effective exercise during and post pregnancy.
Exercise During Pregnancy
Maintaining physical activity levels during pregnancy is generally recommended, however there are some contradictions to this so it is important that you speak with your health care team about the type and intensity of exercise you do while pregnant and follow their advice accordingly.
If you have been given the all clear to exercise there are some generic rules for exercise while pregnant to follow, such as;
- Keep your heart rate below 75% max HR (calculated before pregnancy) which is approx. 140 beats/min – as an indicator you should be able to talk, but not sing.
- Keep your resistance training intensity between 40-60% 1RM and work with high reps 12-15 (again calculated before pregnancy, you don’t want to do a 1RM test while pregnant).
- Keep yourself well hydrated and wear loose, comfortable clothes to avoid over heating.
- In the second trimester avoid lying flat on your back, but feel free to modify the exercises by lying on your side or on an incline. Exercising from a crawling position (such as when performing a bird-dog) is fine.
- Keep in mind changes in your centre of gravity and avoid exercise that may increase your risk of falls (and obviously don’t play any full contact sports).
- Listen to your body and don’t overdo it, take extra rest as you need and embrace the changes that your body is experiencing. It is unlikely that you will be able to (or should) exercise at the same intensity as you were before pregnancy – and that’s ok.
Post Pregnancy
Whether you’ve just had your first child or you have been pregnant a number of times, it’s really vital to remember that after your baby has arrived it is important to respect the trauma and changes your body has been through. You may feel well and ready to get back onto the running track but your body is still healing internally for weeks after giving birth.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends not exercising within the first 4 – 6 weeks post-partum due to many pregnancy adaptations persisting during this period. Furthermore, as each pregnancy and birth is very different it is extremely important to get advice from a medical team that know you and your pregnancy journey and clearance before resuming any type of exercise.
What exercise & when – and should I be running?
“There’s no hurry to get back into the gym or on the running track.
Your body has taken 9 months to develop and house a beautiful baby. Give it the time it needs to change back to how you were pre-pregnancy.
The last thing you want is to rush into incorrect post-pregnancy exercise and then injuring yourself long term.”
Once you have clearance to resume exercise there are some generic rules that will help ensure you are training safely:
- Start off slow and keep your workouts short (20-30mins); even if you have been exercising throughout your pregnancy your body will need to slowly be reconditioned. Low-impact exercises like walking, swimming and some stretching exercises are a good place to start.
- Your lower back, abdominal muscles and pelvic floor will be weaker and your ligaments and joints will be more supple and pliable due to the residual effects of the hormone relaxin which assists the pelvis to accommodate the baby through the birth canal.
- High intensity exercise such as running, bouncing or other dynamic movements can cause injury and may further weaken your pelvic floor and can cause LONG TERM DAMAGE.
- Wear appropriate clothes; just as during pregnancy be sure to wear cool, comfortable clothing, particularly if you had a caesarean. Be sure you have an appropriate sports bra (get fitted if possible) as your breasts will have likely changed and insufficient support can cause additional stress and strain on your body.
- Don’t compare yourself to others. If you see friends, family or even celebrity mums in magazines, getting straight back into vigorous exercise after having a baby, it doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Ensure you have spoken with your medical professionals and get clearance.
- There’s no hurry to get back into the gym or on the running track. Your body has taken 9 months to develop and house a beautiful baby. Give it the time it needs to change back to how you were pre-pregnancy. The last thing you want is to rush into incorrect post-pregnancy exercise and then injuring yourself long term.
- Start with pelvic floor exercise you DON’T want to have your pelvic floor collapse – called a prolapse – read more about this here and watch the video below for exercises
- Listen to your body; just as during pregnancy it is important for you to listen to your body, rest when you need and sleep when you can. Ignoring your body’s signals can hamper your exercise efforts and increase the risk of injury.
- It is ok to exercise post-pregnancy once you have your medical team’s clearance and once you feel ready. Try The Healthy Mummy Post-Pregnancy Exercise DVD once you have the all clear from your doctors.
Pelvic Floor Exercises – do them TODAY
Performing simple pelvic floor and core exercises three times per day and walking within comfort is all you need to think about at this stage. See Pelvic Floor Exercises here
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Foundations first: your core and pelvic floor
Your pelvic floor and core muscles are like the foundations of a building. Without sound integrity the building will collapse. The pelvic floor is imperative for bladder and bowel control. These muscles also work with the deep abdominal and back (core) muscles to help support and stabilise your spine.
It is no surprise that these muscle groups have been stretched and weakened during pregnancy and delivery. It is important that you attend to the recovery and control of these muscles before progressing your exercise routine and that they are always strong enough to support any exercise you are performing.
Looking after your pelvic floor is an investment in your future.
1 in 3 mothers suffer incontinence. Problems with bladder or bowel control relating to weakened and
stretched Pelvic Floor muscles are not unusual after having a baby, but there is plenty you can do to improve their strength and function and decrease the risk of short or long term incontinence
The right exercises will help your pelvic floor, whilst doing other moves too soon or too much may overload the muscles and make you more vulnerable to incontinence, prolapse or back pain. See pelvic floor exercises here
Decrease the intensity If you notice the following signs indicating that you are overloading your Pelvic floor:
- Straining or Bearing down
- Leakage / loss of control
- Heaviness or pressure
- Loss of awareness / inability to engage the muscles
Tips for a healthy pelvic floor
- Perform quality pelvic floor muscle strengthening exercises three times per day – see here
- Avoid any exercise or activity that strains your pelvic floor
- Include PF in your exercise routine
- Recruit your PF before lifting, exercise and actions such as laughing, sneezing and coughing.
Nikki Boswell, Women’s & Children’s Fitness Expert
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Once you are ready to get back into an exercise routine, consider the easy to follow, exercise plans from the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge – next round is the Under 5 Ingredient Challenge and you can join here
A few key things to note are:
- The Challenge menu is FULLY customisable
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Here are some INCREDIBLE results from mums on the 28 Day Challenge