After your pregnancy, one of the main things that might be on your mind is starting a healthy lifestyle or getting back to your healthy lifestyle. Part of a healthy lifestyle is being physically active. Of course once you’ve had your baby, you’ll be extremely busy taking care of all of the things that a new mother has to do, but that doesn’t mean you should let your physical fitness fall by the wayside.
Before starting a new fitness routine, or picking back up where you left off before baby was born, it is very important to always check with your healthcare provider to make sure it’s ok for you to do so. We also recommend checking in with a pelvic floor physiotherapist to make sure your body has fully recovered from birth before taking up any fitness activities.
One activity that has steadily been gaining in popularity is running. There are running clinics offered at local running rooms designed especially for new runners, some are even for women only, which can help you learn to run correctly. Abdominal muscles can weaken following pregnancy and can affect the pelvic bones. This can change the way that people run and lead to back, buttock and thigh pains as well as injuries, so why not learn how to do it properly.
Want to strike it out on your own? A gentle way to ease into running for beginners would be to aim to alternate running for one minute and walking for one minute for 20-30 minutes. Once you find that easy, add on one minute of running to your intervals (so you would be running two minutes then walking for one minute for 20-30 minutes) and once that gets easy continue to add on one minute of running to your intervals while only walking one minute in between for 20-30 minutes. Once you’ve reached 10 minutes of running with one minute of walking for 20-30 minutes you should be ready to run your first 5km road race.
Ready to lace up your shoes and want to bring baby with you? Make sure you are using a jogging stroller. What is a jogging stroller? A jogging stroller has 3 wheels instead of 4, making it easier to maneuver when you’re running or walking. A jogging stroller usually has much bigger wheels than a normal stroller and good suspension so that when you’re running with it, your baby doesn’t feel all the bumps and you can push it more easily. How old should baby be to ride in a jogging stroller? Usually your baby is ready for the jogging stroller when they can support their own head and as long as you’re not running on rough roads, causing your baby to shake in the stroller. Some strollers come with a car seats or you can purchase a car seat adapter for extra until your baby is big enough to ride in the stroller.
Another popular option is stroller workouts. Stroller workouts are a great way to get out of the house, get active, bond with baby and meet other new moms (Fit Mom Ottawa and Fitness With Jules are two of our favourites), an added bonus to the stroller workout classes is that you get to bring baby with you. You can expect everything from running and walking intervals to circuit type workouts when you attend these classes. The friendly and knowledgeable instructors are moms too and they know just how to encourage you to do that extra rep or walk that little bit further.
How soon after delivery can you start exercising?
Your doctor or midwife may want you to wait until your six-week postpartum checkup to see how you’re doing first, and make an appointment with a pelvic floor physiotherapist to make sure you have healed enough to participate in fitness programs. Usually, if you exercised throughout your pregnancy and had a vaginal delivery without any complications, you can safely do light exercise like walking, modified push-ups, and stretching – within days of giving birth. Start slowly with a low-impact aerobic activity such as walking. As you regain strength, you can increase the length or number of walks. If you had a c-section, check with your doctor or midwife first and expect to wait until you recover from your operation before beginning an exercise program. An incision from a c-section takes at least several weeks to heal, and it may be some time after that before you feel like working out. However, walking at an easy pace is encouraged because it promotes healing and helps prevent blood clots and other complications. If you weren’t active during your pregnancy, or tapered off your fitness routine as the weeks went on, check with your doctor or midwife before you begin exercising. In any case, remember that your joints and ligaments will still be loose for about three to five months, so watch your step to avoid falling.
Will exercise affect my ability to breastfeed?
Not usually, although breastfeeding is different for everyone. Normally it won’t have an affect as long as you drink plenty of extra water. Even vigorous exercise won’t significantly affect the amount or composition of your breast milk, but you’ll want to avoid exercises that make your breasts sore or tender. You can help prevent this by wearing a supportive sports bra while working out, and trying to nurse your baby before you exercise so your breasts won’t feel uncomfortably full.
Are there any physical signs that I might be trying to do too much too soon?
Too much physical activity during the first few weeks after delivery (vaginally or by c-section) can cause your vaginal discharge, to become redder and to flow more heavily, this is one signal to slow down. Call your doctor or midwife if vaginal bleeding restarts after you thought it had stopped or if you experience any pain when you exercise, and if exercise makes you feel exhausted instead of invigorated, that’s also a sign that you probably should take it easier.
Exercise is good for you, but don’t overdo it for the first few months after giving birth. Your body needs time to heal, and you need time to adjust to your new role – and bond with your baby.
As a new mom how do you get the motivation to get fit and healthy? The answer is to make being active a top priority. This means making sure that physical activity has a permanent spot on your to-do list every day. You have to make it a priority, whether it’s getting up and putting your work-out clothes on ahead of time so you know that’s what you’re going to do today, or taking baby with you for your workouts so that Mommy can get a work-out while the baby gets some fresh air and a change of scenery. It’s important to make it happen, because otherwise it’s too easy to to let the day get away from you. Besides, workouts release endorphins, a “feel good” chemical, and who doesn’t want to feel good? When your children grow up in a household where mom and dad make fitness and healthy living a priority they will make it a priority too.
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