With all of the celebrities coming out of hospital looking fantastic, it’s no wonder that many mums feel the pressure to get fit right after they’ve had a baby.
The most important thing to think about is looking after your little bundle of joy for the first few weeks. Ideally you shouldn’t start exercising until after your 6 week postnatal health check. Your midwife will be able to answer any of your personal queries but this article will help cover some clever ways you can find time to fit in fitness after giving birth.
Keep a regular routine for yourself and the baby
The first way to find time for your fitness routine is to have regular feed time and nap times for the baby. Most of the time you will want to have a kip on the sofa when baby does, and this is the best when baby is very young, but by a few weeks you should be able to start doing some gentle exercise whilst baby is napping, or have trusted person look after baby for a bit.
Eat properly yourself, don’t be tempted to reach for the energy easy food like chocolate or pastry, these will give you a quick sugar boost but it will all be heading straight for your waistline. Try to plan your meals as well as you do for baby, make up large portions of food and freeze them so you have them on hand when you’re too tired to cook.
Try Pelvic floor exercises
If you did these before pregnancy then continuing to do them after will really help get all your muscles back into place. Lower timmy muscle exercises (but avoid sit ups) will help bring some muscle back into your tummy but only do a few light reps, don’t overexert yourself. Building up bit by bit is the key when it comes to exercising after giving birth. You could also visit here to find out about different core exercises to help that post pregnancy bump.
Go for a walk
Being cooped up inside all day will make you feel very lonely, so dust off your pre-pregnancy trainers, put baby in their buggy and take them out for a brisk walk. The fresh air will do the baby good and you can set a pace you are comfortable with. Start building up to 30 minutes day over 5 days a week, and when you are feeling fitter, you can start aiming to briskly walk a mile in 15 minutes.
Gentle Aerobic
An exercise that gets you a little out of breath will start helping you lose weight. Look at joining a gym class for mums and tots, this will get you out meeting new people and have you feeling better in no time. Postnatal classes will also allow you to bring baby with you so there’s no need to worry about any child care. Combining this with healthy eating options such as selecting wholemeal grains and choosing to have steamed vegetables will help skim calories off your diet as well as making you feel healthier.
