Exercise Post Birth – Things You Should Know!
Congratulations! You have just had a baby! Now what to do with exercise?!
Many people can be in a hurry to return to exercise post birth, we understand this...
We also have experience in working with women (and ourselves) in jumping in too much too soon. This action can cause long term issues and regrets. But we also want you to be an empowered woman – who can take control and find themselves again in the post birth blur. We also know that exercise can bring that!
The return to exercise depends on many factors.
These include pre-existing fitness, pregnancy, labour and delivery, stress and energy levels of mum, if breastfeeding, general postnatal physical and mental wellbeing of mum and baby.
We encourage women to take their time, listen to their bodies and seek professional support if needed.
What listening to your body might look like post baby.
This can be confusing at times! Here are some general guidelines on how to tune in:
- Any leaking of pee, poo or farts (incontinence).
- Notice doming/coning/peaking up in the midline of the tummy in certain movements (diastasis recti or poor core control).
- Notice or feel heaviness/bulging/dragging down/pushing down/like a tampon falling out in either the vaginal or anal area (prolapse).
- Have pain (whether new or consistent) anywhere in the body, but particularly the pelvic and back region.
- Notice an area around your belly button that protrudes and may/may not have pain associated with it (hernia).
If you are experiencing any of the above, we recommend seeking professional services from people who are trained and specialised in dealing with womens health.
It is very important that your core and pelvic floor is looked after post baby. In fact, every woman, regardless of how old their child is, benefits from core and pelvic floor work! That is why DediKate offers three postpartum workout sessions that are new each week - Postpartum Pilates, Low Impact Workouts and our new Core Connect sessions.
General Timeline for Exercise Post Birth
As mentioned, many factors come into play when returning to exercise. A general guideline for time is below (as followed by the Fitness Australia pre/postnatal guidelines). Please note: The general 6 week doctors clearance for exercise may not be sufficient in some cases. Please advocate for them to check your full body before commencing exercise. And that green light doesn’t mean jumping straight back into what you were doing pre baby! Post birth restrengthening and reconnecting is a marathon (but can be fun!), not a sprint. Go with Postpartum Pilates, Low Impact, Core Connect sessions and/or Pregnancy Sculpt sessions first!
DediKate GLOW
Is our postpartum programme designed to progress you over 8 weeks to help you heal, recover and strengthen your body properly.
DediKate GLOW will have you glowing, while feeling confident with your body's capabilities post birth.
Get your 2 week free trial and sign up to DediKate GLOW today!
Read on to find out more about appropriate exercise at each step of your post birth journey!
0-3 weeks
Gentle walks. Core/deep abdominal training/breathwork/alignment and pelvic floor exercises EG: Core Connect
3-8 weeks
Walking. Core/deep abdominal training/breathwork/alignment and pelvic exercises eg DediKate Core Connect, low impact strength training with light weights. EG: Pregnancy Sculpt. Low impact body weighted movement EG: Low Impact workouts on DediKate or Postpartum Pilates.
8-12 weeks
Similar to 3-8 weeks but increasing weights/intensity (this might mean increase reps/sets/pauses).
12-16 weeks
Similar to 8-12 weeks but increasing weights/intensity (this might mean increase reps/less rest time/sets/pauses) Low impact body weighted movement EG: Low Impact sessions on DediKate or Postpartum Pilates.
Your core strength should be back (or close) to normal if appropriate post-natal core, abdominal and pelvic floor have been performed regularly.
It is preferred that you have very little to no symptoms of pelvic floor weakness and you have good core control before progressing further with cardio and resistance training intensities and load.
From here, you can test your ability in your abdominals and pelvic floor muscle before returning to higher impact/intensity exercise such as in the other fabulous DediKate workouts.
After 16 weeks post-natal
Remember: This is a general guideline!
You can perhaps return to previous activity providing the pelvic floor muscles and core control levels are back to normal. You should not be experiencing ongoing pre or postnatal issues with diastasis recti, pelvic pain, back pain, pelvic or vaginal heaviness or incontinence during or after exercise. If so, we advise slowing down, reducing the intensity/impact or load and seeking professional services as mentioned.
Some Tips for Exercise Post Birth...
- Exhale through the effort of the exercise. NO breath holding. NO bearing down.
- If breast feeding, being aware that the relaxin hormone stays in your body up to 6 months post feeding. This may make your joints and body have more laxiety – be mindful with high impact or fast directional changes in sports.
- Keeping hydrated and fuelled with nutrient dense foods.
- Pelvic floor exercises on their own are ok for some but not for all. Instead, incorporating breath work to reconnect to your core is a great place to start. You will find these in the Core Connect sessions.
- Get clearance from your doctor, physio, women’s health physio or another appropriate specialist before you commence our workouts.
- If you start later on after having a baby, you still must start on our postpartum designed workouts and see a specialist. Your body needs time, but it also needs to strengthen.
