Postural Changes After Baby
Considerations for the Postpartum Body
For more than 10 years we’ve have had the pleasure of working with thousands of amazing people as they navigate the ins and outs of exercising after baby.
Many of the people we see at our classes are unsure of how to exercise again in their new postpartum bodies. We’re here to help make that transition easier.
So, we’ve come up with a few things you might want to consider as you work to re-integrate regular exercise into your life, whether you had your baby 6 weeks ago or a number of years ago.
Be Patient
This is our first and maybe most important tip! Your body has gone through tremendous changes and it takes time to recover from 9 months of pregnancy, followed by labour and delivery. Hint: This can often be longer than the 6 week benchmark many of us use as a guideline, if you’ve had a cesarean or a more complicated vaginal birth.
Remember, it took about 40 weeks to grow your baby so give yourself the time and grace to heal your body and recover your strength. Expecting to exercise or train your body in the same manner you did before you became pregnant is crazy! Your body is different, and it always will be. Heading back to higher impact or more intense activities right after your six week check up can lead to injuries (due to instability in your joints and ligaments) and often won't result in the same results.
Train for strength and function
Consider exercising to improve your strength and function. This often means re-learning breathing mechanics, how to effectively recruit the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles then gradually adding in progression to your exercises. Adjusting to the demands of parenting and caring for little people is hard work and is why we encourage you to start back slowly. Try not to over commit to “exercising” everyday, but instead look for opportunities to move more during the day (walking, dancing with baby, playing on the floor, etc). You will be more successful in your movement goals if you set smaller, realistic and achievable goals. Consistency is more important than ever in this case, so it’s best to incorporate the things that you love and that are easy. Slow and steady wins the race. Avoid rapid weight loss and fad diets. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Core and Pelvic Floor Strength (or weakness!)
Watch for warning signs of poor core and pelvic floor strength. Leaking urine (even just a little bit - that’s not normal!), urgency issues, chronic pelvic or low back pain, heaviness in your pelvis or straining/bulging of the abdomen are all symptoms indicating a weak core. Don't ignore these symptoms, instead talk with me or connect with one of our local pelvic floor therapists and work towards improving core strength.
Postural Changes and Alignment
We also encourage you to address postural changes and work to improve your alignment. As your body adapts to pregnancy and postpartum, your skeletal system is heavily taxed. Nearly everyone who has been pregnant and had a baby will have some amount of rounded shoulders, tucked tailbone, weak glutes and overly forward head and neck. Becoming aware of your personal tendencies and working to adjust your body’s positioning will increase comfort and reduce pain.
Here is a short list of some of the most common habits we observe in our classes:
tucking butt under
thrusting ribs forward
sucking in tummy
gripping butt cheeks
chest breathing/belly breathing without allowing the diaphragm to move
It’s not unusual for us say to the people we coach: “You can’t change what you aren’t aware of”. As you start to pay more attention to your habits you can work towards improving them. And when you do, we promise, it’s worth it in the long run!
Do you have questions about exercising during pregnancy or after baby? Drop me a line and ask away! We’re always happy to share with you.
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