So you have had a baby and you have no clue what to do about getting back into fitness. First off please read my blog “What is Postpartum?”. That way you understand the timeline! We have to recover and listen to our bodies first. Then once we are back to fitness to whatever level that is for you. We always start with breath!
The best warm up, newly postpartum especially, but really anytime in my opinion is belly breathing. You start with big breaths down “into” your belly. Then work on a stability breath while you lay on the ground. Then start adding some functional movements with that stability breath to really awaken your core. If your core is awake then you will feel better with whatever movements that you are doing that day.
For the 9-10 months, I would highly suggest removing and avoiding extreme flexion movements like sit-ups, v-ups, planks, toes to bar, hollow holds. These movements will create extra stress on your core and will delay the recovery of your DRA (diastasis rectus abdominis/separated abs). We want to be sure to let our core fully recover before going back to these movements.
Jumping should be avoided for at least 6 months. This is because your pelvic floor is also recovering from being pregnant for 9-10 months and birth, even if you had a cesarean (c-section). If we jump too soon or too much, we will most likely experience incontinence and will also delay the recovery of our pelvic floor. We want to be sure with all the breath work and functional movements that we are strengthening the pelvic floor before we start jumping.
We also want to avoid wearing wrist straps, lifting belts, and lifting shoes for about 6 to 9 months postpartum. This way we are working on creating a strong foundation without the help of these items. Wrist straps can make us believe we are ready to lift heavier weight than we think we can overhead. We still have the hormone relaxin in our bodies, especially if we are breastfeeding, so that means our ligaments are still a little “loose”. A lifting belt does not help us create and hold our stability breath through movements. So that is what we want to work on instead of wearing a belt every time we lift weight. Same theory goes for lifting shoes!
Last but not least, we want to stick with strict movements and avoid kipping movements for about 6 months or so. This can be a bit dependent on where you were before you got pregnant. We want to create that strong foundation and work on getting stronger while being super intentional in the way we move! It’s all about moving well. That way we can feel stronger than we did before we even got pregnant! This is really great especially if you plan to get pregnant again.
I hope these tips will help you through your postpartum journey! As always if you have any questions just reach out to me on my contact page.
Sweet Mama Fitness 