When Can You Start Exercising After Giving Birth

When can I exercise postpartum? 

 Postpartum exercise is a big umbrella topic  and there’s a lot of pieces that fit under it; so relating to this postpartum exercise, the one question i get asked 99% of the time:

“When can I start exercising after I have a baby OR when can I start exercising postpartum”

Both of those are essentially the same question same and it’s going to depend on how you feel, how your pregnancy went & how your birth & delivery went as well as a vaginal or ceserean birth. There is ONE postpartum exercise you can start immedietly after having a baby regardless of  c-section or a vaginal delivery.

That exercise is diaphragmatic breathing  I linked a gerat blog post above that goes into more detail but by doing this exercise, it will allow you to connect back to your core, repatterning proper patterns in your body as well as  increasing the blood flow which increases & promotes  healing. This also  supports your digestive system putting your intestines back in place which did move aside to accommodate for growth of baby. (our bodies are amazing yea?!)

WHAT EXERCISES SHOULD YOU NOT DO? 

What exercises should you not do, another very common question. What happens is the majority of women get the all clear from their OB at that 6 week mark to go back to regularly scheduled programming. But what they don’t get is that clear plan of action. AFter you have a baby you feel different, your body reacts differently & you feel weaker, so how do you just start?

My answer to moms is

1. Have you done restorative exercises for your body?

2. What is your goal?

With that in mind, you want to avoid high impact exercises, and flexion until you have restored your core & pelvic floor. You also need to understand how to control your intra-abdominal pressure. Once you understand this you will know your body & understand how to advance moves when your body is ready. 

 You don’t want to be doing push-ups, mountain climbers or anything that’s going to put a lot of pressure on your core. 

CAN I DO SITUPS?

Sit-ups are one of those moves that moms believe once they start doing sit-ups they’re going to get their abs back after baby.

This goes along with what was discussed in the question above. Healing after baby starts from the inside out and sit ups are not an inside out move.  1. Start with your breathing, understand your tva and then understand how to control your core pressure before you start doing sit-ups. There’s a lot of stuff that needs to come before sit-ups. So best answer, no don’t do sit ups until you can regulate your inner core pressure. 

TUNE IN TO YOUTUBE TO LISTEN TO KAITLIN

ARE SQUATS OK AFTER BABY?:

Yes, squats are okay after baby because it is a functional move you do in everyday life. You squat to pick up your baby, to use the toilet, to pick up the careseat etc.  You squat to use the bathroom, when you’re walking upstairs or if you’re bending down to pick up your baby or the car seat or the laundry basket.

So I think its determined that we squat many times a day whether we realizing it or not. The problem is, many of us do not squat correctly! Especially after baby is born our hips and glutes are much weaker & our pelvis is out of alignment. As you progress to squats be sure to keep a neutral pelvis, engage your entire core4 and your pelvic floor properly.  MORE INFO HERE. 

HOW DO I TIGHTEN MY STOMACH AFTER BABY?

I’m going to answer this because it is a question so many of you have! This all depends where you are in your postpartum journey & much healing has taken place in your core. (( I also want to make a quick note that bellies are not supposed to be flat! )) However feeling strong in your core is inportant and it all starts with: 

1. connecting to your breath
2. Completing a core rehab program
3. getting your nutrition in line and making your gut health a priority.

Our bodies are really amazing and when we work them the way they are meant to be utlized amazing things happen! The hard part with postpartum core rehab is so much of it happens inside, it goes unseen & it is harder to gage progress at first because you can’t see it, its a feeling. 

WHAT EXERCISES ARE BEST FOR POSTPARTUM?

If you are still reading this, I think you know the answer to this from reading what has already been discussed. When you are ready to get back to fitness after baby  the best exercises are:

1. Postpartum core rehab
2. Walking
3. Everything functional movements, focusing on form
4. Everybody is different so learn to love yours & provide it with that it needs.

Other important muscle groups that are important to work postpartum are:

• hip flexors
• inner thighs
• glutes 

Walking is great way to relieve stress get the fresh air be out in nature. Avoiding heavy weights and starting with your body weight is a great place to start & you will see so much progress if you stay consistent with it. 

IN CONCLUSION: 

I hope these answers to commonly asked questions helped you today sweet friend! Congrats on your baby & be sure to take that time to recover before jumping into any fitness routine.