Returning to Exercise after Birth
Becoming a mother is a beautiful and transformative experience, but it can also bring significant changes to your body. After giving birth, many women are eager to regain their pre-pregnancy fitness levels and incorporate exercise into their routines. However, it’s crucial to approach postpartum exercise with caution and prioritise your physical and mental well-being. In this blog post, we will provide you with a comprehensive guide on returning to exercise after giving birth, ensuring a safe and effective transition into a postpartum fitness routine.
Over the month of March, we have been sharing many pregnancy-related videos and advice on returning safely to exercise post birth. How soon you are ready to return to exercise depends on you as an individual, your birth experience and your individual circumstances, which is why we always advise a 6-week post birth check up with our Women’s Health focused Physiotherapist. Your 6 week check up can be done both in clinic and via a telehealth appointment, meaning you do not need to leave your house.
Exercise and movement can help you recover safely after childbirth, make you stronger and boost your endorphins (your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters). As a new mum, its normal to feel tired and un-motivated, but there are so many options to get your body moving. A simple way to being incorporating exercise into your day is to simple walk your baby in the pram.
Exercise for new Mums can:
- Promotes weight loss
- Improves your cardiovascular fitness
- Restores muscle strength
- Boosts your energy levels
- Improves your mood
- Relieves stress
- Helps prevent post-natal depression (aka baby blues)
Body Changes Post Birth
When you feel ready to begin exercise and have consulted with a professional, its extremely important to not overdo it. Many mums feel great post birth, however, your body has gone through huge changes and needs the appropriate time to recover.
Listen to Your Body and pay close attention to your body’s signals and adjust your exercise routine accordingly. If you experience pain, dizziness, or excessive fatigue, it’s essential to scale back or modify your activities. Remember, every woman’s postpartum journey is unique, so it’s vital to honor your body’s needs and limitations.
Everyone has a different birth experience, however many mums witness physical problems including back pain, Hip and pelvis pain, and leaky bladder, which can be made worse from vigorous exercise.
Postpartum abdominal separation is a common condition following labour. They will generally go back to normal after birth but sometimes require additional care from our Womens Health focused Physiotherapist.
Your Pelvic Floor has undergone changes especially if you birthed a large baby or you pushed for a long period of time. These can become weakened and through professionally prescribed exercises can be re-strengthened.
Safe Exercises for mums
1. Pram walking
Cardio Fitness
Daily walking is a great way to get moving and build up your cardiovascular fitness. This is an exercise which can be done with your baby in the pram, which also provides resistance to help tone your upper body.
Where to start? Begin with 20 minutes of brisk walking and increase the length of your walk gradually until you can walk briskly for 40-60 minutes.
2. Bridge (with Pelvic Tilt)
Abdominals, glutes, and lower back
Regaining your core strength is vital post-birth. This is particularly important for mothers who had their abdominal muscles separate during pregnancy ( ‘diastasis recti’).
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and your back in a neutral position
- Take a deep breath in and raise your hips off the floor until your hips, knees and shoulders are aligned.
- Squeeze your buttocks and tighten your abdominals.
- Exhale and return to the starting position.
- Repeat 10 times.
3. Pelvic floor exercises (Kegels)
Pelvic Floor
The very familiar term to any pregnant woman, Kegels. Continuing these exercises during the postpartum period can help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. How to correctly perform a pelvic floor exercise:
- Tighten your pelvic floor muscles (the ones used to stop the flow of urination).
- Hold for 10 seconds.
- Repeat throughout the day.
4. Wall squats
Legs and Glutes
Lean your back against a wall and walk your feet out in front of you, so you slide down the wall, until your knees are at a 90° angle to your body. Hold the position, keeping your abdominals contracted, for 20–60 seconds.
5. Push-ups
Arms and chest
Our babies grow very quickly, so now is a great time to build on our upper body strength.
- Get into the all-fours position, knees bent with your toes tucked under.
- Place your hands slightly wider than the width of your shoulders.
- As you inhale, bend your arms, pushing your elbows out to the side, as you lower your chest.
- Exhale and push your body back up.
- Repeat 10 times.
Other exercises that are safe after pregnancy include:
- Swimming and aqua aerobics
- yoga
- Pilates
- low-impact aerobics
- light weight training
- cycling
For at least 3 months, try to avoid heavy weights, sit ups and high-intensity aerobic activity such as running and tennis.
If you require any further assistance during this important time as a new mum, please contact our Women’s Health Physiotherapist on 1300 876 340 or email info@thephysiomovement.com.au
