Are you just waiting to start with your post-pregnancy exercising? Or do you cover your ears and close your eyes?

I’m sure it all depends on how exhausted you are. And on how desperate you are to get back in shape.

If you are thinking about starting to exercise, here are some tips on the when, how, and why.

If you already decided to start working out, you’ll find some good exercises for the post-pregnancy body here.

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Post Pregnancy Exercising Tips

When to start

The general recommendation is to wait to exercise until you stop bleeding after giving birth and do your postpartum checkup. If you had a C-section, you should also wait until the wound has healed.

However, the question is, of course, what you mean with exercising. Taking a walk is an excellent way to get started with post-pregnancy exercise. This you can, of course, do almost immediately – unless your Dr tells you differently. Just walk slowly, stay close to home, and listen carefully to your body initially.

What to do

Do something you really like! As you’ll notice, you won’t have all that much time to work out, so focus on doing things you really enjoy.

Plus, do exercises -slowly and carefully – to start strengthening your abdominal muscles. Not much fun, but much needed. However, don’t do regular situps! Instead, follow the instructions in this video to strengthen your belly muscles in a way adapted for new moms.

How to Flatten Your Tummy After Pregnancy with Top NH Health & Fitness Coach

Walking is a great post-pregnancy exercise, and especially during the first few months, your baby is likely to sleep well in the stroller. Go to a park, bring your favorite music, the diaper bag, put on a good nursing bra, and nursing top (if you breastfeed), and don’t forget to bring some water.

If you need tips for breastfeeding in public, click here.

Another great form of post-pregnancy exercise is yoga. You can either perform post-pregnancy yoga at home or by attending a class or some regular form of yoga once your body has healed.

I attended a post-pregnancy yoga class when our daughter was a newborn. I started already when she was five weeks old. Big mistake! I sat through most of the classes breastfeeding!

Don’t be too ambitious with attending classes early on. You’ve got time! The mothers with slightly older babies, 8-10 weeks old or so, were much better off than me.

If you want a more physical challenge, my personal favorite is Ashtanga yoga. I do it at home, close to my baby, who actually enjoys watching me. Buy a DVD, download some app, or watch Youtube, and get going.

If you have a lot of self-discipline, you can, of course, just put together a few exercises that you can do at home. Belly muscle exercises, tightening the vaginal muscles, push-ups, and stretching your back should be among your exercises.

The benefits

OK, so it doesn’t take Einstein to figure out the benefits of post-pregnancy exercising. But they may still be worth repeating:

  • You get your body back faster through both weight loss and muscle build-up
  • It helps in preventing or reducing back and neck pain, which is really common among new moms
  • It makes you feel less tired
  • It can help you fall asleep easier in the evening (well, I suppose that is not a big problem for most new, exhausted moms…)
  • It may help you become more motivated to eat healthy foods and thereby lose that annoying extra weight faster
  • It may help you if you feel moody
  • It forces you to give yourself some “you time”, which is very easy to forget when you are a new mom.
  • And – did I mention getting your body back faster and being less tired…

How long will it take to get back?

Well, it took nine months to get there, allow at least nine months to get back in shape. And that is if you exercise regularly! If not, it is likely to take even more time.

Breastfeeding and exercising

There is nothing wrong with exercising if you breastfeed. There are, however, two things to think about:

  • You really need a sturdy bra. Your boobs are working hard just to produce and carry all the milk; don’t put extra strain on the tissue by exercising without a good bra.
  • You need to drink a lot of water. Just by breastfeeding, if you do that, you need quite a bit of extra fluid. If you exercise, you’ll need even more. If you neglect to drink water, your milk production may suffer, and you will most definitely suffer from headaches.

Finding the time

When I can’t even find the time to get dressed – how on earth do you expect me to find time for post-pregnancy exercise…???

Good point! Well, for a few general tips on how to release some time for your activities, click here.

When it comes to exercising, the best you can do is probably to focus on the types of exercising that your baby can take part in one way or the other. A stair machine is probably not such a good idea unless you can carry your baby in a sling or baby carrier at the same time.

But walking, doing exercises on the floor next to your baby, or attending a mom-and-baby yoga or aerobics class might work perfectly. Also, using your baby as your free weight when exercising is likely to be fun for your baby. Dance with him, lift him into the air, put him on your stomach for sit-ups, etc. Use your imagination.

Also, don’t expect to be able to use a full hour or even half an hour without interruption. Ten minutes twice a day is also great! 

For some more mom and baby exercising ideas, click here.

Warning signs

Pain. Pain is a very important sign to listen to when you recently gave birth. If something hurts, stop doing it. And if you have back or pelvis pain, talk to your midwife or physical therapist before starting to exercise. There might be special exercises that will help you.

Bleeding. If you do start exercising before your postnatal bleeding stops, pay attention to any increased bleeding. While it may not be a problem, you should consult a doctor for advice if it happens.

Feeling bad. If you start feeling stressed about exercising, take a break! Remember that sleeping and bonding with your baby is much more important than forcing yourself to exercise. While some self-discipline is always good and will pay off later, the first year with your new baby is only now. Enjoy your time as much as you can! If you don’t really feel like initiating some ambitious post-pregnancy exercise program, then don’t.

Let me tell you a secret – you are not alone in cheating a little bit…;-D

Life with a new baby should be made as easy and happy as possible, remember?

How To Get Started

Getting started is probably the most difficult when being a new mom. (Continuing is the second most difficult.) So what to do? Baby steps! Signing up for a course, even online, can be a great way to get going. Or, use an app to simply track steps, exercises, and so on. Otherwise, write down for yourself a few very specific ideas on what to do.

For me, simply writing down this on paper, adding checkboxes for each day, and putting on, e.g., the fridge helps.

Focus on doing something every day, but nothing ambitious!


More Exercising Tips For Mom…

How about you? Do you plan on starting to exercise? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below!

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Mary Helley

    I love that there are more articles now on tips and support for moms after baby. Just concerned that some of the info is not good for new moms. Liked the article, but please be careful of the advice on “sit-ups”, because as a new mom, we shouldn’t be doing just any ol sit-ups, as it can hurt our abdominal recovery. I recovered with the guidance of the Ishio method post pregnancy rehab program, and this was one of the main things for abdominal recovery that was mentioned on being careful about.

    1. Paula Dennholt

      Hi Mary, thank you for your comment! You are completely right – a lot of women should not do sit ups for several months after giving birth. I have adjusted the tips. :-)