Post-Natal Physical Fitness
February 28, 2011 by Sarah Davidson
Filed under Pregnancy
Delivering a healthy baby, complete with ten fingers and ten toes, is cause for excitement. The process isn’t done yet though, now is the next step: post-natal physical fitness. That typical goal of getting back to pre-pregnancy weight can be accomplished rather quickly by developing and practicing a post-natal exercise plan.
Doctors feel that although dieting is fine, a post-natal physical fitness plan will be more effective for improving energy and safeguarding against postpartum depression thanks to the mood-enhancing neurochemicals released while exercising. Mom can ease into an exercise routine within a week or two of a vaginal birth, or within a month with a C-section.
A Good Plan
A good plan starts off slowly because the body has already faced lots of changes and challenges throughout the pregnancy and delivery. Losing the weight in a short period of time is not advisable. On the contrary, a good plan starts slow and slowly intensifies until it reaches the levels done prior to becoming pregnant. Women that included an exercise regime during their nine-months can pretty much follow the same plan but reverse to start with last trimester then working back to what they did at the beginning of the pregnancy.
The new mom can also choose walking which is a low impact activity that will not put undue stress on the body. Walking while bringing along the newborn in a stroller is a great way to go. How easy is that?
Another key focus of the post-natal fitness plan should be to recapture the core muscle strength affected by the pregnancy. This is critically necessary even if an exercise plan was present during the pregnancy. However, it is important to safeguard against injuring the core muscles – especially true after a C-section – and check with your doctor regarding safe choices. Safe and effective core muscles exercise options:
1) Lie on floor on your back; bend knees and place a pillow between them; squeeze the pillow then release. 2) Perform sit-up but raise only the head and shoulders. 3) While lying on the floor with knees in a bent position, compress pelvic floor to pull abdomen down and push lower back against floor.
Precautions
Don’t include exercise such as jogging and aerobics that put stress on joints until 6 to 8 weeks have passed since the birth. For many weeks, the hormone relaxin which the body produced to relax the pelvic joints during childbirth is still present in the body. While present in the system, injury can result as the joints and ligaments are too loose for high-impact exercise.
Lastly, for the first 6 weeks avoid exercises that are done on hands and knees as these can cause an air clot to form where the placenta was located.
Learn how to properly exercise during pregnancy with a pregnancy video workout. Yoga and Pilates can be gentle and relaxing forms of exercise during pregnancy.
