My Top Tips for looking after your body postnatally when returning to exercise after childbirth.

If you have read any of my previous blogs, especially the one before this about why your core is weak postnatally, then you will completely understand why you need to return to exercise carefully and take good care of your body. 

Your body has expanded and stretched to grow a small human, hormones have played a huge part and regardless of how your body delivered that baby; you have a lot of healing to do. 

So when I was asked the other day for my top tips for any new mum returning to exercise I realised there is a lot I have to say on this subject (big shock) but if I have to narrow it down; here are my top 9 tips...

In the very beginning... 👶🏽

Pelvic Tilts:

Almost as soon as you have feeling returning to your body or feel in a position to do so; lay on your back, knees bent and perform some pelvic tilts. Rock and Roll that pelvis back n forth. Doing this helps lengthen back down the TrA and abdominals. These have stretched and expanded throughout pregnancy, unless advised otherwise by a medical professional, they are harmless but very beneficial for encouraging the abdominals back together, lengthening the spine back into place, pulling the diaphragm down and giving the pelvis a really nice movement without a babies head/bum nestled in it! These can be done indefinitely and are always my go to when my lower back is niggling. 

Breathing:

As I touched upon above you want to encourage the diaphragm to move back down. Baby pushes all our organs up and out of the way, when pregnant the diaphragm cannot lengthen in its usual way and taking a deep breath becomes a thing of the past. As a result we breathe into the chest when pregnant and allow the shoulders to rise. Practice breathing back down into the belly to get the diaphragm working properly again, not allowing the shoulders to rise and to really inflate that chest.

Walking:

You don't need to return to exercise straight away, in fact no one should ever allow or encourage you to exercise before 6 weeks postpartum as a minimum. Your body needs to recover internally. However when you feel ready gentle walking, not a 10k hike, is a really good way to get out, get fresh air and to enjoy showing off bubba. It also helps improve some of the stamina and fitness lost in pregnancy.

When thinking of returning to exercise...

Find a professional:

Seriously, you wouldn't ask a skilled chef to come build a wall or have your toddler fix your electricals (yep extreme analogy there) but the same should be the case with your body. Make sure whoever you return to exercise with really knows the female form both pre and post pregnancy. They should ask you some very specific questions:

• How was your pregnancy and are there any ailments still lingering that they need to be aware of? For example SPD/PGP pain.
• Are you breastfeeding or when did you stop? So they know about the hormone levels within yourself and how it will effect you.
• What sort of delivery you had and any complications and recovery issues on going? This is a massive one, you may still have c-section or episiotomy issues
• They should then ask about your DR (stomach gap) if you have a prolapse, incontinence issues, back pain, wrist problems and then the general health and medical questions all fitness professionals should ask.

Make sure a professional has checked over your diastases recti (stomach gap) as they will be able to advise you where yo u are at with your recovery & what keep in mind with exercise; some fitness professionals like myself will do this but if not speak to your doctor, health visitor or seek out a MOT registered physiotherapist. 

Take it slow:

If you were very fit, active and strong before pregnancy you will find it so frustrating not being at the level you were before you fell pregnant. You may even become hard on yourself and not celebrate the small achievements. Going hard and fast will do nothing but risk injury and possibly cause more disappointment when you do not progress as quickly as you would like too. Take it easy, have the exercise tailored to your level and build up gradually. 

Learn to re- engage and strengthen your core correctly.

This is possibly my number one piece of advice, your core needs to be strong to support you not just in exercise but in every day life. Living with a bad back is hell and something that can be made worse over time. Your core will not become strong from sit ups (absolutely not) or planks, or all those other exercises that crop up when you type "abdominal workout" into google.

A strong core starts with locating and activating you TrA; once you have mastered this and can fire up your core and switch it on, then you can add in exercise knowing your core is supporting you and growing in strength as you exercise yourself. 

Your long term exercise plan...

Relaxin, know your hormone:

Become aware of the hormone relaxin and what it means for you. Relaxin is produced all throughout pregnancy and then afterwards within the breast. It can take 6 months plus to leave your body post breastfeeding (or birth if not Breast feeding) Relaxin has a massive impact on the body; it increased elasticity and reduces collagen and estrogen - these are needed for joint stability. Whilst you may feel physically ready to lift weights, if your body is still over stretchy and elasticated you can cause damage. I ignored my own advice on this & injured my elbow lifting too heavy, too soon.

Long term you need to know where your body is at and still adapt exercise accordingly. 

Build it up slowly:

With the above in mind, still build your workout plan slowly. Even if your body is physically recovered those veteran mums who have been through the first year of parenting will agree me when I say you are bloody exhausted 90% of the time. Parenting is a fully time job, even with a good sleeper the motherload on your shoulders will push you too your limits. Don't add a stressful and demanding exercise schedule onto your plate too. 

I also speak to those who find it hard to accept they cannot do what they did before and feel like a failure when they cannot workout to the level they did before - before you didn't have kiddies my love. So be kind to yourself and build up slow! 

Listen to your body:

You know when you are feeling good, you know when something doesn't feel right and you know when that niggle is not quite right and becoming a pain. Remove the pressure, have fun with exercise and use it as a fantastic tool to make yourself feel good. You will know your new base line, you will know how far you can realistically push and you will know your limits. Autonomy of oneself is powerful. 

💜

I hope this was helpful to you and as always, if I can answer any questions or help you in anyway, please give me a shout!

Vicky x