Returning to exercise post pregnancy
Getting back into exercise, or starting exercise, post pregnancy can feel daunting. I know!
Benefits of Exercise
Losing weight and getting fitter is incidental. The true benefit of exercise is that it gives new Mums more energy and improves your mental health. After a workout we seem to walk around with a spring in our step and our head held higher. You feel GOOD about yourself. You feel like you achieved something for the day!
The physical health benefits is to strengthen and tone muscles, it helps you recover from labour.
How your body changes
It doesn’t matter how easy or hard your pregnancy and labour was, your body has gone through major changes.
Pregnancy hormones can affect your joints and ligaments 6 months post partum, this put you at higher risk of injury.
Labour and birth can cause back pain and a range of bowel issues, including constipation and haemorrhoids. Your pelvic floor can be weakened resulting in incontinence. Your abdominal muscles may also have separated during the pregnancy, and while they often go back to normal after the birth, sometimes they don’t.
Regular exercise helps to strengthen your pelvic floor. But if you go too hard too soon, you can do more damage and increase your chance of prolapse (when your uterus drops down). Lifting heavy weights and undertaking high intensity exercises can be dangerous. You need to be following the “modified” move in all our high intensity classes, to ensure you are enjoying the benefits of exercise, but not putting yourself at any risk.
So when can I start exercising?
In the same way that every pregnancy and labour is different, the answer to this question is different for every person.
Returning after a vaginal birth
Pelvic floor exercises and safe abdominal exercises can start a few days post birth, but listen to your body! Start slowly and build up. After your 6 week post natal check up you go back to the gym or fitness classes. But again, ease into it and allow 3-4 months before returning to your pre natal fitness regimes.
Returning after a caesarean birth
While you need at least 6 weeks after the major surgery to heal, plvic floor exervises can start right away as can safe abdominal exercises. After 6-8 weeks you can start walking and building up the tempo. But again, wait at least 3-4 months before returning to your pre natal fitness regimes and listen to your body!
How The Tribe can help
When it’s safe for you to start exercising, bring bubs along! In the same way my kid will be with me most the time, so should yours. Joining us for a workout is no different to sitting at a cafe with a mums group, both may go bad :). One of the best parts of my job is all the cuddles I get to keep bubs content while you workout. We also have a range of toys and play mats out for the kids, and are within eye shot of the playground, tennis courts and oval.
In all our high intensity classes, start with the modified moves and work your way up. These moves are designed to be less impact, and less jumping. In the circuit class, start with light weights and gradually increase them.
