exercising after pregnancy

qwertytlk

Hi, im 40 + 9 so my mind has been turning to exercising after the birth and i was just wondering when it is safe to start exercising to loose the pregnancy weight? I say 'safe' because i have heard all sorts of conflicting stories about how long you should wait and im not talking about in the event of having a section here...just normal vaginal birth. Also someone told me that the reason some women end up with a sagging pouch of skin on their tummy after pregnancy is because they have exercised too early or done too much too soon after the birth, i.e heavy lifting. Is this true or is the sagging skin just down to genetics or something, rather than it being something that is caused by us or is avoidable?? Thanks:D

How Strange

I think to can start exercising as soon as you feel ready if you have an uncomplicated vaginal birth. The best advice I got was to do nothing but nurse for the first 3 weeks. I pretty much did, although it was winter so it's a lot easier to stay at home in your pjs. I went for a short (15 min) walk at 3 weeks. I couldn't have done anything more exertive than walking before 8-9 weeks as I was so tired.

Regarding the pouchy tummy thing I read somewhere recently that's caused
by the band of stomach muscles being stretched during pregnancy and not
going back in place and women not doing the appropriate exercises to strengthen them. I'm doing pilates
at the moment and have been since
10 weeks. The instructor checked my
tummy and I had a gap of 3 fingers
between my muscles. They are slowly
getting stronger but it could take up to
9 months for some women.

It's important to find out if you have this gap as stomach exercises such as crunches and sit ups would make it worse. I still can't do any ab work.

qwertytlk

ooohh thhats interesting... who do i get to check that for me?? some kind of fitness instructor or something? iv been lucky with my weight all my life, eat what i like pretty much all the time and have never been bigger than a size 10. I havent really put on much pregnancy weight, its all bump so its basically my tummy shrinking back that im wondering about.

Squiggler

How Strange, I had a serious separation when pregnant, and it still hasn't closed (making crunches and my usual stomach muscle strengthening exercises no-go) so interested to see your comment. Did your instructor recommend any exercises for getting it to close, or is it just something you have to wait on?

How Strange

I do lots of mat based exercises which involve engaging the core and pelvic floor muscles without lifting shoulders so leg raised exercises.

It's a physio rehabilitation type pilates rather than endurance or fitness. Any good pilates instructor will be able to check your muscles now and show you what exercises to do. If you've done Pilates before could go to a drop in class and get your stomach checked and then see what exercises he/she recomends otherwise a beginners course would be a good idea.

Moonbeam

It depends how you feel but from about a week old, I had the girls out for walks.
Decide after baby is here!

qwertytlk

How strange, i wassup online yesterday looking at some post pregnancy exercising info and actually came across some info on the muscle gap thing you mentioned. The site even had an explanation and video showing how to check the gap so i did it and mine seems to be in the normal range or one to two inches so im ok to do ab work, crunches etc. Thanks for letting me know bout that though

cbyrd

You'll be given a list of exercises when you leave the hospital, gentle exercise for the first 6 weeks and then after the gp check they'll usually give you the all clear for more strenuous exercise. Be careful of your back and your ligaments they're still very soft and very prone to injury for the first year believe it or not :eek: as i discovered the hard way last year and i'm still not fully healed (tore ankle ligaments when running)
Walking and swimming are the best but don't take on too much. Remember your body has just been through a major trauma and will need time to heal. And with a newborn getting you up a few times in the night you may not feel like to much in the first few weeks.