Post baby fitness q

trashheap

Hi, long time lurker first time poster here!

I'm looking for some advice on the best way to tone up a post baby belly bulge.
So heres what I'm currently doing:
-baby's five months old and I'm breastfeeding so I really only have one to one and a half hours at a time for exercise sessions.
-I do a spinning class once a week(with ten to fifteen mins of ab work at the end)
-I do a step and tone class once a week(half aerobic/half toning)
-For at least four of the other five days I walk bewtween 5 and 10k(fast sweaty pace with big hills)
-I'm also trying to get back into my cycling whenever I have time and babysitter(time restrictions mean I can currently only do 15-20 miles but I'm hoping by the summer I'll be back to doing at least one 60mile cycle a week)
-my diet is generally healthy but I do have the odd indulgence(very sweet tooth!) but 80% of the time I make good choices

So, my question is...to lose my hips and pot belly should I do more aerobic exercise(maybe a second spinning class) or should I concentrate on toning exercises?
Any advice will be taken on board so HELP ME!!

Roper

I helped a girl in your situation not long ago with the same thing and the biggest mistake we made was not going fast enough I think! If you're already spinning and doing aerobics then you're probably beyond the "careful now" stage. The body is incredibly hard wearing and is more than capable of coming back from things like childbirth stronger and better. The only potential difficulty is with posture, hips and lower back. The girl I worked with needed some corrections from an osteo before beginning any resistance work but if you're not having back or hip difficulty with your current programme then you're probably okay. Your best bet is to increase resistance training. Get some proper supervision and begin using bodyweight exercises like squats, lunges and push ups, take it slow and before you know it you'll be *ahem* firmer... there... (trying to be PC, not my style!) Of course this will all depend on whether it was a natural birth or C section, I don't want to reveal details but I could pm you the specifics.

Don't take my word for it however as I've only limited experience with the specifics of post childbirth training!

trashheap

Hi Roper,
I know what your trying to say re: firmness, ahem! And everything is back to normal there(natural birth)
Although, I do seem to have lost loads of flexibility in my lower back(which has historically always been weak) so my 'neutral' spine is a bit out of whack. I am aware of it and try to pull it back to neutral when I'm exercising. Would an osteo be able to address that?
Could I do all the lunges etc. at home?

Roper

trashheap wrote: »

Hi Roper,
I know what your trying to say re: firmness, ahem! And everything is back to normal there(natural birth)
Although, I do seem to have lost loads of flexibility in my lower back(which has historically always been weak) so my 'neutral' spine is a bit out of whack. I am aware of it and try to pull it back to neutral when I'm exercising. Would an osteo be able to address that?
Could I do all the lunges etc. at home?

I couldn't really say regarding the spine without knowing what the problem really is but I would say that most people have some degree of difficulty regarding the spine/hip area. The best bet is if someone watches your form and checks to see if you're having difficulties keeping good posture.

You can do squats, lunges, push ups in the comfort of your own home!

EileenG

Start with step-ups, which are a very functional exercise, and increase the height of the steps before you start squats, lunges etc if you think their might be a problem.

But at 5 months, you should be fine, and your exercise won't effect your milk. The one study that seemed to show it did was incredibly badly designed and didn't prove anything. They gave breastfed babies milk that had been expressed after exercise to see how much they took. Some babies turned up their nose at the milk in a bottle, which only proves that some breastfed babies don't like bottles, not that they don't like post-exercise milk. In real life, I've never heard of a single case of a baby refusing to nurse after exercise, no matter how sweaty the mother got.

At six months, you should be able to put your Little One in a good babyseat on the back of your bike, and cycle as far as you like.