Exercising after pregnancy
Being a mother is hard work and to be able to perform the profession, you need to be fit and strong. Exercise is one good way to be able to achieve just that. Regular physical activity will boost up your self esteem, relieve stress and boost energy. Generally, after giving birth in a normal method, you can get back exercising just within days after the baby was born, given that you do just light exercises for that. However, it is better to listen to your doctor’s advice regarding this matter so you will not have any problems. If you exercises daily during your pregnancy and you feel fit and well, you might just be able to start working out earlier. But if you had a caesarean delivery, it is understood that you will recover longer and talking to your doctor before doing anything strenuous is a great idea.
You might wonder what you should be aware of things before exercising. Well, your lower back and your core muscles in the abdomen are weaker than they used to. Also, the ligaments and joints in your body are supple and more pliable compared to you before being pregnant so you are prone to injury with just stretching and twisting.
You can do some exercises days after giving birth like exercising your pelvic floor muscle. Since pregnancy and giving birth strains this muscle so much which can lead to stress incontinence – the one where you cannot control your urine to leak when sneezing or laughing. Pelvic floor exercises strengthen these muscles which can help stop incontinence and also improves sex too!
You can also do some other simple exercises too like squatting instead of stooping when you pick things from the floor. If you squat rather than stoop in picking up things, you bend your knees and your back straight. This strengthens the thigh muscles and also lessens the risks of damaging your back. When your bleeding has stopped, you can try swimming as an exercise. Swimming is a great exercise for you because when you are in the water, your body relaxes and works out at the same time.
After your post natal check at six weeks, you can then join a regular exercise class, advisably those programs that are intended for postnatal women and if you enrolled in an exercise that is not intended for women like you, inform your instructor that you just recently had a baby.