When can I exercise again after having a baby?

I get asked all the time, “when is it safe to get back to exercise after having a baby”, or “I feel fine so I’m going to go running to lose the baby weight” or ‘I’ve had my 6 week check, am I okay to get going?”

There are also the mums that have googled post natal exercise, been bombarded with conflicting advice, and so have never been sure what to do, and now their babies are 5 and 9 years old!

The honest answer is that there is no right time! There is no set of magic exercises that make it ‘safe’ and everyone’s experience is diffferent.  One thing I can say for sure is that the ‘6 week check’ is not the magic ticket to get cracking! Understanding the huge anatomical, physiological and psychological changes your body has been through in the last 9 months and since your baby was born and how it impacts on how you feel about getting back to moving your body is HUGE!

A great place to start is understanding what your ‘core’ is and what role your pelvic floor plays in that...

If you think of your ‘core’ being a canister made up by 4 best friends (in simple terms) - back muscles, diaphragm, tummy muscles, pelvic floor- and all four have to play nicely together to have good function....

So imagine the stress that has been placed on all parts during pregnancy and then depending on your labour and birth- one part of your canister may have had major surgery (think c section) or you birthed vaginally and any trauma that occurred (think labour, pushing, tears, cut etc) ...it’s going to have a huge impact on your core and pelvic floor function. Everything you do impacts on your ‘core’- going from sitting to standing, picking up those awkward heavy car seats, bending forward to change nappies/pick up clingy toddlers...everything! 

So where do do you start?

Don’t underestimate the time it takes for recovery from pregnancy and birth and please allow yourself the time to build slow and strong foundations. A favourite saying is “you cannot fire a cannon from a canoe”....ie, don’t go straight back to running/boot camp/lift heavy stuff when you’ve just had your core compromised; your posture is causing you pain; you’re recovering from tears or cuts or csections; you’re getting a grand total of about 4 hours broken sleep and you’re doing your best to keep at least one small human alive! You get me?

Getting reconnected with your body and building up from there is the best thing you could do for yourself and your body, which lets face it, needs to see you through at least another 50 odd years?!

If you’d like to find out more about how to do this, or have any questions, please get in touch.