Post pregnancy exercise

Congratulations on your new arrival!

Arms

Use your baby to work the upper body! Complete the following moves, 10 reps of each exercise, starting with 1 set and gradually build up to 3.

Shoulder Press
Standing with your feet him width apart, knees slightly bent, grab hold of your baby and taken them from your chest to above your head. Don’t let your back arch at any point.

Chest Press
Standing as above but this time take your baby out in front of you and then back in to your chest

Press Ups kissing your baby!
Start on your knees and gradually build up to raising your knees – this takes time! Ensure your core is engaged throughout as you lower your body towards the floor in a press up position

Tricep Chest Press
Lying on your back, knees bend, core engaged. Hold your baby to your chest, with the elbows close to the rib. Lift your baby straight up above your chest and then bring back down.

Core

Before doing these exercises it is really important to check you don’t have diastasis recti – if you do feel free to contact me and I can give you some alternative exercises.

Basic Crunch
Slowly raising your head and shoulders off of the floor.

Heel Slides
Engaging your core, pushing your lower back into the floor, slowly glide one heel out along the floor at a time.

Alternating Leg Lifts
Take this one really slowly ensuring the core stays activated throughout.

Plank
Options… Start off with both knees on the floor, if this feels fine progress to knees up and then try it on your hands. 10 seconds, 3 sets, then build up to 3 sets of 30 seconds.

Side Planks
10 seconds to start, ensure your elbow is directly under your shoulder and your waist is lifted high off of the ground.

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Active wear for four trimesters, what more could a mamma ask for

Look after your beautiful #mombod: shop supportive post pregnancy exercise clothes 🤰 🤱

Follow this exercise video to safely activate and strengthen your core and pelvic floor muscles!

Active wear for four trimesters, what more could a mamma ask for

Look after your beautiful #mombod: shop supportive post pregnancy exercise clothes 🤰 🤱

Your after pregnancy belly can be a bit of a shock! Use these post pregnancy tummy workouts to tone up for your fabulous post baby body!

Now you’ve had your baby the chances are that you’ll look down at your tum and wonder why it’s still there! Whilst some women are back in their jeans within days and have no problem losing their pregnancy weight most of us find that post-baby jelly-belly a bit of a shock!

So how to get rid of your pregnancy tummy?

The first thing to think about is how your tummy has responded to pregnancy and birth and don’t be too hard on yourself if your maternity leggings are still the most comfortable clothes in your wardrobe!

Firstly, you should check for any abdominal separation and always start with simple core exercises after pregnancy. Around a third of women experience some separation of the abdominal muscles during and after pregnancy (the technical term is ‘diastasisrecti’, which sounds scarier than it is). This is obvious when you think of how much your tummy needs to expand to accommodate your little babe.

You will be able to feel whether you have this separation, or not, with your fingers. When you have had your baby, lie on your back, with your feet on the floor, knees bent and head and shoulders lifted. Feel above and below your belly button to see if you can find a gully between your tummy muscles. You should avoid sit-up type exercises until this gap has closed to less than two fingers width, until then you can focus on strengthening your core. Start gently and build up.

Focus on getting your core strength back and losing any excess fat you may be carrying. A healthy diet is crucial too, especially if you want to lose baby weight. Remember that whilst you might want to focus on your post pregnancy tummy it’s much better to try and get your whole body fit and toned as this will give you much more body confidence and ultimately much better results.

Build up your exercise routine slowly and include a mix of cardio (lots of brisk walking will be perfect!); toning exercises for your whole body and, most importantly, work the deep ‘core’ muscles (your TVA) to strengthen and tone your tummy and back (these ‘partner’ muscles need to work together). Once your tummy is stronger you can tone the surface abdominals.

The TVA (transversus abdominis) is your deepest abdominal muscle and the body’s ‘internal corset’. You can activate it simply by breathing in deeply and letting your chest expand, then as you exhale, pulling in your tummy all the way around and holding it in for a couple of seconds, then releasing. Gaining control over your TVA and working it as often as possible is key to having a flat tum after you have had your baby. Do as many daily ab squeezes as possible – aim for 50-100 times a day at least, especially as you can do this anywhere at any time, no-one will even notice!

Good abdominal exercises for soon after the birth include the ‘Pelvic tilt and head lift’ combination: 

1. Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, hands on your temples.
2. Breathe in deeply and as you exhale draw in your belly button as you lift your head and shoulders. As you draw your tummy in, tilt your pelvis upwards. Release and lower.
3. Remember to make sure you lift only your head and shoulders – this is all about pulling in your core muscles.

If it feels too difficult leave out the pelvic tilt until you’re ready.

Or ‘Superman’ (we prefer to call this SuperWoman!)

1. Kneel on all fours, hands beneath your shoulders, knees hip width apart and back and neck straight. Pull you tummy in and lift one leg out straight behind and the opposite arm straight in front.
2. Try and keep everything in a straight line before repeating on the other side. Build up the repetitions until you can do 10-15 on each side.
3. Once you can manage this comfortably try holding the pose for 10 seconds on each side, building up to two sets.

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Safely start reintroducing cardio back in to your workouts after having your baby!

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists states ‘Women need to return to pre-pregnancy exercise levels gradually not resuming high impact activity too soon.’

But chances are, sooner or later you’re going to want to lose the baby weight, tighten up your pregnancy tummy and get back into some sort of post pregnancy exercise routine – especially if you’ve been exercising during your pregnancy and can’t wait to get back into your trainers!

It’s a good idea to start exercising your pelvic floor muscles as soon as possible after the birth – check out our section on pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy and pelvic floor exercises after birth…..but what about post pregnancy cardio?

Cardio exercise first three weeks post natal:

At this stage it’s best to stick to walking but start with 15-20 minutes and aim for around 30 minutes, three times a week.   Baby can come too – wear your baby in a sling or tuck her up in a buggy that will allow you to walk at whatever pace suits you best and give her some fresh air too …it’s a great way to get her off to sleep!  The intensity and pace of your walking will depend on your pre-pregnancy fitness levels and how you feel after the birth – take it easy to begin with but aim to gently build up speed and frequency as your strength improves.

Post-pregnancy exercise weeks 3-6:

How are you feeling?

Pelvic floor exercises, stretching (check out our post pregnancy exercises) and walking are all fine if you feel up to it during the first six weeks but most experts recommend moderation with regard to high impact exercise.

If your pelvic area and girlie bits have recovered cycling is a good low impact post pregnancy cardio activity – but we’d recommend a stationery bike in a gym at this stage.  Take it easy, don’t launch yourself straight back into your spinning class!

Once your lochia discharge has fully ceased you can start swimming again but if you have any pain or discomfort in your pelvic girdle you should avoid the breaststroke leg motion.

Exercises post pregnancy after weeks 6-8

If you’ve had your post partum check up and the all clear from your health professional start re-introducing cardio to your life, building gradually back up to your pre-pregnancy levels of fitness.

Build up the pace and intensity of your exercise as your strength improves.

Joining a buggy fit class is a great way to involve your baby,  meet other new mums and set a pace for your exercise routine.

Remember, listen to your body!   If you had a C-section, stitches or a complicated birth talk to your health professional about when to start exercising.   If you are breast feeding wear a supportive bra and consider feeding your baby before you workout.  You’ll find it helps to wear supportive clothing for your mummy tummy too – FittaMamma maternity leggings will hold you comfortably, especially after a C-section.

Active wear for four trimesters, what more could a mamma ask for

Look after your beautiful #mombod: shop supportive post pregnancy exercise clothes 🤰 🤱