After having a baby, fitness and physical activity might be the furthest thing from your mind.
Which is understandable now that you have a tiny human to look after, and an enormous amount of physical and mental recovery to do after giving birth.
But when you do feel ready to start thinking about fitness again – and it is so important to make sure that you are ready – it can be daunting to know where to start.
But there are a few key areas that you should be focusing on when you decide to put your kit back on for the first time. Jemimah Williams-Rumble, an instructor at FLEX Chelsea has pulled together her key tips for kickstarting postnatal recovery.
The principles are all taken from the studio’s new Hot Mama classes, which are designed to get new mothers back to feeling their best.
So, if you are feeling mentally ready to start working out again – at home or in the gym – Jemimah’s four tips are a really good place to start:
Core is more than just abs
Focus on the connection between your breath, pelvic floor and core.
We often think of your core as just your abs, but it is so much more than that, with your pelvic floor forming the base of this group of muscles.
To really feel this connection use this deep breathing exercise:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet up close to your bum, hip-width apart. Try to keep your lower back pressing into the floor for the entire time to really activate the transverse abdominal muscle (the deepest layer of your abdominal wall).
- Place your hands on your hips so that your thumbs and index finger make a little triangle.
- Begin to take long, deep breaths, counting 3 to 4 seconds for each. As you exhale, imagine your hip bones are trying to reach towards the hips by tilting the pelvis towards the ceiling, feeling the lower back press down into the floor and the upper legs slightly raising off the floor. You should be able to see the triangle that you made with your fingers more clearly.
- As you exhale, try to lift the pelvic floor, imagining lifting through the middle of the muscles. Imagine your pelvic floor is a lift and you’re taking it right to the penthouse of the building.
- As you inhale, return to your starting position by rolling the pelvis back down and letting the pelvic floor relax. Sticking with the lift image – when you feel like you’ve got to the ground floor, consciously relax again to take it to the basement.
Focus on upper spine mobility
Make mobility in your thoracic (upper) spine a priority – you’ve been carrying the bump around for months, which naturally will pull your chest a little tighter and stop you from being able to rotate much in the upper spine.
Try to spend a little time each day adding in some thoracic mobility to ease any aches and pains between the shoulders and chest.
A really amazing thoracic mobility exercise to try is this:
- Start on all fours, with knees together and heels wide to support the lower back. Place your right hand on the back of your neck so that the arm forms a triangle.
- As you exhale, twist the right elbow up to the sky and allow the eyeliner to follow, keeping the left shoulder over the left hand.
- Inhale, and try to tuck the right elbow as close to the left elbow as possible.
- Repeat 6-12 reps of this on each side.
Don’t run before you can walk
If you’re eager to get back to running post-pregnancy, take it slow!
Try to incorporate some strength training, with single-leg movements such as lunges and single-leg deadlifts to build leg and core strength.
Incorporating movements like this into your training will help you develop the strength needed to get into running again, and also avoid any issues in the hips and unnecessary injury that could have you out for a lot longer.
Most importantly, be kind to yourself
You’ve just grown a person, and now you have to take care of them.
If you’re navigating motherhood for the first time, finding time to workout can be really difficult, but everyone is in the same boat.
Don’t compare yourself to other mums you know, or to the mums you see in the media – everyone has their own journey and timeline, so why would post-natal fitness be any different?
So, if you can’t quite finish that workout because baby is being needy, don’t worry – that part of the workout you did will benefit you more than not starting it.
Enjoy this time, and maybe get a quick stretch in at nap time.
Do you have a story to share? We want to hear from you.
Get in touch: metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.
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