When I wrote my Postpartum Fitness blog a couple of weeks ago, I had some other questions about getting back to working out post-baby in terms of a) finding the time/energy and creating a schedule and b) how to do it safely in a way that doesn’t do harm to your pelvic floor/core since those areas were likely weakened from pregnancy and labor/delivery. I will share what I did and what works for me, and will also share some of the recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists regarding exercise postpartum.
First off, remember I am not a doctor. You should absolutely talk to your doctor prior to starting any new exercise regimen (pregnant/postpartum or not) and you should wait to be cleared by your doctor at your postpartum visit prior to starting exercise after having a baby. For me, I scheduled a 6 week postpartum visit with my doctor after having Emma. At the hospital before I left they told me it would be fine to go on short walks in that time so that is all I did in the 6 weeks, plus the occasional pelvic floor work which I’ll address in a minute. The walks started off super slow and short, and gradually I was able to go a bit further and walk at a more normal pace. I mean the first walk we went on was either 3 or 4 days postpartum and I was moving at a glacial pace. Labor really takes it out of you (literally and figuratively!).
A lot of mamas asked if I had Diastasis Recti and I did not, but remember that often times you cannot be sure if you have it until even beyond the 6 weeks after birth because the muscles are still working to come back together on their own and that takes time. You will also have swelling and water retention that can make it hard to tell as well. If your doctor doesn’t check you for this then seek out a postnatal certified trainer in your area or physical therapist. It’s just best to know what you are working with prior to starting back up more intense exercise so you don’t end up doing more damage. Your motto while getting back to working out post-baby should be “patience & grace” because you need to give yourself both of those things during this time! Don’t put pressure on yourself to drop a bunch of weight or “get your body back”. Your body is forever changed in the most beautiful way (you will realize this eventually even if you don’t right off the bat. It took me a couple months honestly) but you WILL be able to get your fitness back. So just be patient and take care of yourself and show yourself from grace.
This is me at about 8 weeks postpartum. I haven’t taken a ton of “progress photos” because I’m just not super concerned with my progress in terms of how I look, but more so focusing just on moving in ways that make me happy and feel good.
And this was at 14 weeks. I can feel a huge difference in my core strength in the roughly 6 weeks difference between these photos and feel like I’m getting back to feeling more like “myself” as I’ve healed. Again I wrote all about the journey so far in my postpartum fitness post but just wanted to touch on it briefly here because I didn’t share those earlier pictures in that post and felt it was important to share.
ACOG recommends:
- “Aim to stay active for 20–30 minutes a day. When you first start exercising after childbirth, try simple postpartum exercises that help strengthen major muscle groups, including abdominal and back muscles. Gradually add moderate-intensity exercise. Remember, even 10 minutes of exercise benefits your body. If you exercised vigorously before pregnancy or you are a competitive athlete, you can work up to vigorous-intensity activity. Stop exercising if you feel pain.”
- “After having a baby, you should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week. You can divide the 150 minutes into 30-minute workouts on 5 days of the week or into smaller 10-minute sessions throughout each day. For example, you could go for three 10-minute walks each day.”
- “There also are special exercises (called Kegel exercises) that help tone the muscles of the pelvic floor. Muscle-strengthening activities should be done in addition to your aerobic activity on at least 2 days a week.”
In addition to walking, I did slowly start to incorporate my pelvic floor exercises and core activations from my Pregnancy Fitness Guide to begin strengthening those areas back up. The workouts in that program are great during pregnancy but can be done anytime! Then once I was cleared for exercise I began to do more traditional core work but I was practically starting over again from scratch and that’s to be expected. I also downloaded the Heidi Powell Abs After Baby guide to see if there were any moves I wasn’t doing already. It lays out a more specific schedule of what to do no certain days if that would help you. I am still working on regaining my strength 15+ weeks later. This is normal. Again, patience and grace!
It is really important that you be in tune with your body and listen to what it’s telling you as you get back into exercise. Things are going to feel weak and different for a while. Don’t push yourself during your recovery because that is when you are more likely to injure yourself and make your recovery harder. Slow and steady!
When it comes to getting back on a schedule and finding time/motivation/energy, something that really helped me was just having exercise that I was excited about. I couldn’t run for the latter stages of my pregnancy and so I was SO excited to get back to running. I also set a schedule (I shared it in my postpartum fitness post) because having an idea of what I’m going to do each day takes some of the guesswork out of it and also I find it helps me to avoid the “what do I feel like doing today” mentality. Because then it’s easy to say, “well, I don’t feel like doing anything!”. So having it laid out for me is easier and it’s just like OK I have this today, this tomorrow, etc. I don’t always get to each day but I start out using the schedule as my guide and see how I’m feeling each day! Which brings me to my next point…
Next is having the energy and/or time. Having a new baby is EXHAUSTING to say the least and obviously very demanding. I have been pretty lucky so far with a baby that seems to like sleeping for the most part. We woke up usually just once per night for a feeding in the first about 4-5 weeks, and then she started sleeping through the night. Every now and then we would have a 2x wake up night but it wasn’t the norm. Then just a couple weeks ago at 3 months she started waking up again around 3am and was hungry, but that lasted for about a week. I think it might have been a growth spurt. All this to say, if you are sleeping less then I full understand how it would be much more difficult to have the energy to exercise. I would always put sleep over exercise during this time and do not feel bad about doing so! Your body isn’t really going to function all that well while sleep deprived anyways, so working out probably wouldn’t be the best. It’s okay…patience and grace.
As for finding the time, I work from home so I either wake up early and go out for a run before Craig & Emma wake up OR I do an at-home workout while she’s down for a nap. I always try to get it done before lunchtime because that’s when I find I have the most energy, and she takes longer naps in the morning. In the afternoon I hit a serious wall and it would be much harder to motivate myself to exercise. That’s just me…you will find what works for you!
I hope this post has been helpful, please leave me any questions or comments below and I will do my best to respond and help!
xo,
Bess
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