Exercising when postnatal does not have to be scary.

I am going to be totally honest here; I had no idea about exercise following child birth before I became a PT.

I mean you don’t do you? No one talks about these things.

We are surrounded by influencers “bouncing” back or smiling away whilst exercising with their kiddie. But no one actually tells you what to expect or how to go about exercising having grown and evacuated a bowling ball out of your nether regions.

I had c-sections with all 3 of my boys; I distinctly remember after Elliot being told by my surgeon afterwards no sex for 4 weeks and no swimming for 6 weeks. I mean, COME ON!! Seriously?!

I think sex and swimming were the last things on my mind!

The lack of support and information anything post 1 week about my body was and still is shocking.

I sat there thinking when the surgeon was talking, what about telling me that I will be postnatal until 6 months AFTER my breast last had milk in them?

How about explaining that the hormone relaxin produced in pregnancy and then produced for milk production continues to keep my body soft subtle? This is why my ligaments continued to hurt, knees ache, carpal tunnel played up, or back constantly killed?

Following birth my body had the elasticity of an elastic band from the 1980s living in the loft wrapped around some old books!

Needless to say that having given birth to Oscar 12 years ago I hopped on a trampoline 6 weeks to the day of my c-section – badddd idea!!

No one wants to laugh, cough and piss themselves all in one go! 

You have just grown, carried and birthed a baby. This may not be your first baby either. The body expands to allow the growth of a baby, your entire body grows changes shape, everything hurts, everything moves. It is 9 long, long months and let’s not get started on the actual giving birth! 

The body is an incredible thing, but it also deserves respect to repair and recover carefully.

Sadly for my last 2 children I did not have my distastes recti checked, this is more commonly known as the stomach gap. It is your abdominals that have opened up to house a baby coming back together to protect your internal organs. It links down onto your pelvis and has more control and involvement in your internal health than being there as a pretty 6 packs! 

Without sounding dramatic, the mistakes you make with exercise in those early months could effect you for years and years to come.

Due to the pressure your pelvic floor has endured from carrying a baby it will not recover overnight.

Remember that hormone relaxin still pumping around? Well imagine that over stretched elastic band again that’s been effected by relaxin. This band is your pelvic floor trying to hold up your internal organs and if you go jumping or running too soon… I don’t need to tell you what this internal pressure this will do. No one wants a leaky bladder or prolapse.

You can exercise post birth and I strongly advocate it!

Exercising during the postnatal period from 6 weeks is not only safe* but highly beneficial for both physical and mental well-being. But it has to be gone about careful.
*this is assuming you have been given the all clear and have no ongoing issues. This is an individual thing.

I speak both professionally and from experience when I say that engaging in postnatal exercise can help restore strength and tone, promote healthy weight loss, and improve overall fitness levels.

Exercise can also aid in postpartum recovery, enhancing cardiovascular health and boosting energy levels. Sometimes when you've had a shit night’s sleep, exercising is the last thing you fancy but it can help.

I think the most frustrating thing I see is other fitness instructors and exercise programmes promoting exercise for new mums without a scooby doo on postnatal exercise. Not to call any one out but Joe Wicks years ago telling mums to star jump without giving a postnatal side-line advice really narked me.

Sometimes exercise can be a stronger medicine and cure than any pill.

In our classes we adapt everything to suit you, my instructor and I make sure we know our clients inside and out from a health perspective.

You certainly can star jump, but let’s remove the impact from them, lets take it down a level, lets hold the boobs to prevent further stretching of the breast tissue, lets be careful of the knees and back.

It can be frustrating returning to exercise or for that matter starting from scratch; but you will thank yourself. You can build up slowly and build a really strong core and foundation.

At MummaBfit we will help guide you through your return to exercise, we'll ensure your technique is spot on and help prevent you from causing any unnecessary damage to your recovering body.

We'll also make you a banging cup of tea & introduce you to some awesome people!!

Our postnatal exercise classes are held in Basingstoke, Farnham and Ash. WE have the pleasure of working with lots of new mum from 6 weeks onwards. Watching out mums grow stronger and more confident as the kiddies grow themselves is the best thing ever! 

Come join us for a free taster week! We welcome all new mums from 6 weeks postnatal.