Expert advice
You should understand that it is impossible to instantly lose weight after giving birth, and no amount of fitness will help with this. The process requires a significant amount of time, since pregnancy is a serious stress for the body. The recovery period usually takes about a year of hard work.
- Increase the load gradually.
Don't try to get back into shape in a few weeks. Start with walks in the fresh air and gradually increase your training program by introducing new, more complex exercises. Don't forget that the most ordinary walk with a stroller can be comparable in difficulty to race walking.
It is important to remember that the female body reacts sharply to any factors. That’s why it’s important to take breaks, rest, stop exercising at the first sign of abdominal pain, and don’t be shy about giving up exercises that still seem impossible.
- Do not exercise during lactation.
Doctors recommend that young mothers refrain from exercising during lactation. They argue this precaution by the presence of acid, which is released into milk during active exercise. Acid spoils the product, impairing its taste. However, even without waiting three months after giving birth, you can safely practice Pilates and yoga.
When talking about how to lose weight after childbirth, we cannot ignore the need for constant and regular exercise. Only systematic fitness classes will bear fruit and destroy the accumulated kilograms.
How to exercise properly for a nursing mother
In the first weeks of a child's life, lactation is established, so any increased physical activity must be planned taking this fact into account. Breastfeeding mothers need to think about the following aspects of physical activity:
- Preserving not only breastfeeding, but the shape of the breasts, especially if they have increased significantly in size. You should exercise in a special bra made of natural fabrics, without rough seams and correctly selected in size. During the period of lactation, avoid sudden movements that lead to significant fluctuation of the mammary glands. It is better to postpone jumping until later.
- The workout should begin smoothly, with a warm-up, and it is also important to finish at a calm pace. During this period, it is contraindicated to start classes with a sharp start, so as not to provoke sudden changes in hormonal levels.
- Exercises that moderately increase your heart rate for at least 30 minutes will help you lose weight during this period. This is walking, even jogging, walking up stairs, etc. The main thing is a rhythmic, not too high pulse, access to oxygen and control of your own well-being.
- Caution should be exercised when using types of exercise that promote the production of lactic acid in the muscles. This occurs with strength exercises with weights, high-intensity exercise without stretching and warming up, and with excessive stress without preparation. It is believed that lactic acid changes the taste of milk, and the child may refuse to breastfeed. Therefore, it is recommended to carry out training immediately after feeding, while a new portion of infant food has not yet been developed. Or, after an active workout, you can express a portion of milk and feed the baby with reserves made for future use.
How to remove belly fat after childbirth?
Every woman who has recently given birth to a baby is haunted by the desire to quickly get rid of her belly fat and develop beautiful abs. However, exercises on the peritoneum should be performed with extreme caution, starting exercises only six weeks after birth. If you rush, you can easily cause an increase in intra-abdominal pressure.
In the first stages of training, you should perform extremely simple exercises from yoga and Pilates, which will not only prepare the abs for work, but also strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which also require recovery. An excellent option would be exercises based on bending the torso from a lying position with partial or full lifting of the legs. Also, we must not forget about breathing practices and exercises designed to strengthen the back.
How to hold a child during training and what can be used
The child can be taken in different ways: by the armpits, in a rocking position in your arms, facing you on a pillow, hugged, placed on your chest.
The child himself will act as something like a burden. This can replace, for example, exercises with dumbbells for the arms or, in fact, almost any exercise with dumbbells at home.
From additional equipment you can use rubber expanders (tape, loop), weighting agents with sand. By the way, with expanders you can pump up your back, for example, which is very difficult to work out with a child.
Rehabilitation exercises after childbirth: 14 simple exercises
Carrying a child and his birth, although they are natural physiological processes, do not pass without leaving a trace on the body. After childbirth, the body definitely needs restoration, because increased stress weakens the tone of the abdominal muscles and perineum, and problems with the veins that began during pregnancy can progress. Gymnastics after childbirth is necessary for complete and effective recovery of the body. The sooner it is started, the faster and better the restorative effect will be.
If there were no perineal ruptures or incisions during childbirth, you can start classes very soon, practically the next day after the baby is born, if, of course, your health allows it. If stitches were placed, you need to wait until they heal, this takes about 2 months.
Reasons for being selective about training
The opinion that physical activity can negatively affect lactation has long been questioned by authoritative experts. In fact, the problem is not so much in the exercise itself, but in its intensity and the body’s readiness.
You need to start smoothly, listening to your own feelings. Thus, sudden and thoughtless loads can be perceived by the body as great stress, and the latter, as you know, is not a friend to normal milk production. Therefore, you should not sign up for an intensive program for losing weight at the gym; you can try working out at home for a month or two. For nursing mothers, this option is perfect: lack of time makes itself felt.
Before introducing exercise into your regimen, you should definitely consult a doctor who will assess the degree of recovery of the body. You must always focus on your well-being. Perhaps the latter is the main criterion.
Five minutes a day to restore your belly
Rehabilitation exercises after childbirth involve different sets of exercises. Perhaps the most problematic place is the stomach. Stretched abdominal muscles entail a number of inconveniences that you want to eliminate as soon as possible. Mainly this is the absence of the urge to urinate and defecate, which is fraught with various problems and even embarrassment.
Gymnastics for the abdomen also helps in restoring your figure. Moreover, it is very important to do the exercises without limiting yourself to wearing a bandage. The bandage only fixes the muscles, but does not force them to contract, and therefore does not lead to recovery.
To restore your abdominal muscles, just do a couple of very simple exercises, but you need to do them regularly. Such gymnastics will not take longer than 5 minutes, but if performed conscientiously and constantly, it will give a noticeable effect.
Exercise 1. Pull in your stomach
We lie on our backs, bend our legs at the knees, press our feet firmly to the floor, palms on our stomachs.
As you exhale, strongly draw in your stomach and hold this position for 4-5 seconds. Then we take a deep, slow breath and repeat the exercise. You can do 8-10 repetitions in one approach.
Exercise 2. Making a “bridge”
We take the same position as when performing the first exercise. After exhaling, raise the pelvis, straining the buttocks and drawing in the stomach. At the same time, raise your head and press your chin to your chest.
This exercise is not an easy one, so it may be difficult to perform at first. There is nothing wrong with this; over time, the muscles will gain tone and strength, and the number of repetitions can be increased.
A complex approach
There are very few women whose only problem area after childbirth is the stomach. In most cases, the entire body needs to be restored and toned. This means that you need to deal with postpartum problems comprehensively, that is, perform a variety of exercises and use all parts of the body.
If you are breastfeeding, it is better to exercise after feeding. For classes you will need comfortable clothes, a small pillow and a cheerful mood. All movements during gymnastics must be performed smoothly and carefully.
Exercises to prevent the consequences of varicose veins
Exercise 3
We take a lying position, face up. Legs should be bent at the knees, feet should be brought together and pressed firmly to the floor. We stretch our arms along the body, palms turned down. We straighten our legs without separating our knees, and squeeze our toes 10 times with force (as if we were retracting our claws). Then we return the legs to their previous position.
Exercise 4
Without changing the position, we lift one leg up, completely straightening it at the knee, and pull the toe towards us and away from us. Foot movements must be performed 10 times and with a large amplitude. Then we perform the same actions with the other leg.
Abdominal muscle training exercises
Exercise 5
We lie on our backs, bend our knees, spread our feet slightly, and place our hands, palms down, on our stomachs. We take a slow breath, then exhale just as calmly, as if pronouncing the sound “haaaaaa”. As you exhale, draw your stomach in, helping a little with your hands. There is no need to press with your hands, it should be stroking in the direction from the pubis to the navel. The exercise must be repeated 10 times. (Picture from exercise 1)
Exercise 6
Now we lie down on our side. In order not to waste your attention on discomfort and inconvenience, you can place a small pillow under your neck. Apart from the starting position, this exercise is no different from the previous one: we also draw in the stomach as we exhale with the sound “haaaaa” and help with our hands. We do the exercise on each side, performing 10 repetitions.
Exercise 7
We roll over onto our stomach, place a small pillow under our lower abdomen, and support our body on our elbows. We inhale, and as we exhale we move our pelvis forward. As you inhale, return to the original position. The exercise is performed 10-12 times. During the exercise, it is important not to put pressure on the chest so that the chest itself does not become full.
Watch a video about how to restore your belly after childbirth
Exercises to strengthen the muscles of the perineum
Exercise 8
Starting position – sitting or lying down. We try to tense the muscles of the vagina and anus in turn. This exercise requires practice, because every time it seems that the same muscles are contracting. When the separation is clear, you can try to carry out a “wave” of contractions from the anus to the pubis. Relaxing your lips and mouth muscles and controlling your breathing will help you perform this exercise correctly.
This exercise is very reminiscent of the well-known Kegel exercises, which consist precisely in contracting the muscles of the perineum at different rates. Such gymnastics will be useful both before and after childbirth.
Video: Kegel exercises to strengthen the pelvic muscles
Exercise 9
We lie on our sides. The head, shoulders and pelvis form a straight line, legs are bent at the knees. The lower arm should be placed under the head, the upper arm bent and resting on the surface with a fist or palm in the navel area. While in this position, as you exhale, raise your pelvis (support on your upper arm), and as you inhale, lower it. Repeat 8-10 times on both sides.
Exercise 10
We take a lying position, face up, bend our knees, feet rest on the floor, arms lie along the body. As you exhale, pull your socks towards you and try to reach your left foot with your left hand, inhale - we return to the starting position, exhale - repeat the exercise, but now reach with your right hand to your right foot. We do 5-6 repetitions on the right and left sides.
