How to quickly get in shape after childbirth

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

When to start training and what exercises to do so as not to harm your health.

Exercise after childbirth not only helps a woman rebuild her body faster, but it also increases a sense of well-being and boosts her energy levels. Trained women are more likely to be in a good mood, less likely to experience anxiety and depression.

2 weeks after discharge

Tatyana Leonidovna Fedina obstetrician-gynecologist of the highest category

Light gymnastics can be performed two weeks after childbirth. More intense exercise - no earlier than 6-8 weeks after childbirth or surgery. It is recommended to start full-fledged sports after surgery no earlier than 6 months later.

Jessie Mundell, prenatal and postnatal training expert, trainer and kinesiologist, offers three exercises to help restore proper breathing and strengthen your core muscles.

Before doing any exercise, check with your doctor.

Core Breathing

During pregnancy, the woman's diaphragm shifts due to the growing fetus. At a later stage, breathing completely becomes upper: the intercostal muscles work more. Due to the habit of such breathing, the work of the diaphragm is disrupted, which can negatively affect the functioning of the digestive and circulatory systems.

Do breathing exercises to restore proper breathing and strengthen your core muscles - your abdomen, back, pelvic floor, and buttocks.

• Lie on your back, bend your legs and place your feet on the floor.
• Place one hand on your belt and the other on your lower abdomen.
• Take a breath. Hands should feel the belly swell. The pelvic floor muscles relax at this moment.
• As you exhale, you completely push the air out of your abdomen while simultaneously pulling in your pelvic floor muscles.
• Take two sets of 10 breaths each day.

You can also do this exercise while sitting or standing. In any case, the spine should be in a natural position: without stoop and excessive deflection in the lower back.

One knee hip flexor stretch

This exercise develops stability, opens the chest, and helps restore full diaphragmatic breathing.

• Lunge forward and kneel down on one knee. The angle at both knees is 90 degrees.
• Distribute your weight between your two legs or shift a little to the one in the back.
• Tighten your glutes to feel the muscles in the front of your thigh.
• Raise your hand from the side of your knee, which is on the floor, and pull your fingers towards the ceiling.
• Bend over to the side of your front leg.
• Change your leg and repeat the exercise.
• Do two sets of 6-8 reps on each side daily.

Air squats

This exercise will help maintain hip mobility, increase core strength, and synchronize movement with breathing.

• Stand straight with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, your toes turned outward, and your arms folded in front of you.
• Inhale, pull your hips back, as if you want to sit on a chair, and do a squat until your hips are parallel to the floor.
• Sit down firmly in the middle, without leaning on your right or left leg. At the lowest point, the knees should not go beyond the toes of the feet.
• As you exhale, stand up from the squat, contracting your glutes and front of your thighs.
• Do two sets of 10 squats each day.

The following three exercises are from the Physical Therapist Association's Postpartum Recovery brochure. They will help you restore the tone of the muscles of the core, pelvic floor and hips, fight diastasis, pregnant women (divergence of the rectus abdominis muscle), reduce weight and waist circumference. Do them three times a day.

Raising the legs

• Lie on your back, bend your knees, put your feet on the floor, put your hands along your body.
• As you exhale, tighten your pelvic floor muscles, press your lower back to the floor and pull your hip towards you, as if you want to touch your knee to your chest. In this case, there should be no discomfort. Exercise in your natural range of motion.
• Hold the pose for 3-10 seconds, and then return to the starting position and relax.
• Repeat three times for each leg.

Turns of the legs

• Lie on your back, bend your legs, put your feet on the floor.
• Exhale, draw in your stomach, and rotate your joined knees to the right side.
• Return your knees to their original position and relax.
• Exhale, draw in your stomach and repeat on the other side.
• Do the exercise three times in each direction.

Head lifts

• Lie on your back, bend your knees and place your feet on the floor.
• Exhale, contract your pelvic floor muscles, pull in your stomach.
• Lift your head and shoulders off the floor, hold the position for 3 seconds.
• As you inhale, lower your head and shoulders, completely relax.
• Repeat 10 times.

Walking

Walk with your child more often. Just walk, and do not sit on the bench while he sleeps in the stroller. Walking doesn’t burn many calories, but it doesn’t exhaust you either. For an hour of walking at a speed of 4 km / h, you can spend about 200 kcal. If you walk for an hour and a half in the morning and in the evening, a deficit of 600 kcal per day is guaranteed.

If you make this habit, in a month you will be able to lose a kilogram of fat without any diets and for the benefit of the baby.

2 to 6 months postpartum

Now you can diversify your workouts with other exercises.

Aqua aerobics or calm swimming in the pool

After pregnancy, the arch of the foot often changes in women: it becomes flatter and loses shock absorption. As a result, the risk of osteoporosis, bursitis and other joint problems increases.

If you have had knee and back pain during pregnancy, it is advisable to reduce the stress on the joints after childbirth. So stop running and try swimming in the pool instead.

Swimming and water aerobics are shock-free, so you lose calories, improve circulation, and exercise your muscles without harming your joints.

Bodyweight Exercises

Until six months after giving birth, you should not buy a gym membership. Try your own bodyweight exercises instead. In addition to the previous exercises, add the following.

Gluteal bridge

Exercise loads the gluteal muscles and the back of the thighs.

• Lie on your back, bend your knees, place your feet on the floor.
• As you exhale, lift your pelvis as high as possible, tighten your buttocks.
• With a breath, lower yourself to the floor to the starting position.
• Do three sets of 15 reps every day.

Knee push-ups

This exercise will strengthen your arms, shoulders, and chest muscles.

• Get on your knees with your palms under your shoulders.
• Get down, touch the floor with your chest and rise back.
• Tighten your glutes to avoid arching your lower back.
• Do two sets of 15 reps each day.

Lunges

Good exercise for pumping your hips. It will also help you regain your sense of balance.

• Lunge until your knee touches the floor.
• Make sure that the knee does not protrude beyond the toe, and the back remains straight.
• If you feel unstable, place your front leg a little wider and turn your toe inward.
• Return to starting position and lunge with the other leg.
• Do two sets of 10 lunges on each leg.

From 6 months after childbirth

By this time, the body had already recovered enough to try something more serious.

Run

Do jogging workouts three times a week. Run at a "conversational pace" where you can easily maintain a conversation while you are active.

If you have a heart rate monitor, you can use your heart rate (HR) to navigate. A scientific article by Michelle F. Mottola of the University of Western Ontario recommends running at 70–85% of your maximum heart rate. Use these formulas to calculate.

To avoid sudden surges in heart rate, start your workout with a warm-up and end with a cool-down. Your lesson will look like this:

• 5-10 minutes of brisk walking;
• 15 minutes of running at a "conversation pace" or in a suitable heart rate zone;
• 5-10 minutes of walking as a cool-down.

There are several important points:

1. Buy good running shoes to help protect your knees from shock. Choose a shoe with good cushioning and arch support. Read about: this is very important.
2. If you are breastfeeding, do not wear a slimming sports bra. This can lead to milk stagnation. Instead, choose a comfortable bra with good support and wide shoulder straps.
3. Maintain adequate fluid levels in your body. Take water with you and drink, and don't ignore your thirst.

Strength training in the gym

In order not to overdo it and not to harm yourself, be sure to train with an instructor.

The intensity of the training is set by the coach, so the training must be carried out under his control.

Tatiana Fedina

Before choosing a trainer, ask about professional education and experience working with women in the postnatal period.

It is also important for breastfeeding women to maintain a low exercise intensity and monitor hydration. Be sure to take a water bottle with you to your workout and drink as soon as you feel thirsty.