When to start exercising postpartum
Postpartum Exercises for a Better Recovery | Birth Doula
hey mama is we are on part 4 of our
four-part video series talking all about
postpartum recovery in this video we are
talking all about fitness if this is
your first time to my channel don't
forget to hit that subscribe button in
the bell next to it so you don't miss
any of my other videos I am Bridget and
I'm a doula and I love helping moms love
their birth so if you're anything like
me you might have some questions about
what kind of exercises you should be
doing during this healing recovery
postpartum period that are going to help
with the healing process but aren't
going to put too much strain on your
recovery and body so in this video I'm
going to be talking about simple
exercises that you can be doing to start
your fitness journey postpartum so one
of the best things that you can start
off doing for your physical health is
just start walking it's not only good
for your physical health but also for
your mental and emotional health just to
be able to get out of your house enjoy
nature enjoy people watching enjoy
walking to your favorite coffee shop or
just enjoying that fresh air so getting
out and moving your body is going to be
super important during those first few
weeks in terms of just overall health
but more on the physical side walking is
super good for your body because it's
going to help prevent your body creating
any blood clots
so what walking does this really helps
blood circulation reach all your limbs
which is super important especially for
a woman who's had a cesarean birth and
just helping blood flow go to all of her
body so walking should be your go-to
exercise as you start this little
fitness journey during that postpartum
recovery period so the next big thing is
core strengthening and it's super
important to focus on this after we've
had a baby because for nine long months
our core has been kind of taking a
beating because you know our abdominal
muscles have been stretching as our
belly has been stretching and we've had
a lot of weight centered in our core and
so it's really important that we are
taking good care of our core after birth
during that postpartum recovery period
so the big muscles that are carrying all
the weight of baby and supporting
you know the weight of baby the amniotic
fluid the placenta the uterus all of
that are the transverse abdominus and
they're horizontal abdominal muscles
that go from hip to hip and just stretch
all the way around the torso so since
all throughout birth you're transverse
abdominus have been stretching and
they've been you know using all of their
strength to support your growing baby
it's really important that we focus on
strengthening those muscles after birth
during that postpartum recovery period
and the reason why I'm talking so much
about the transverse abdominis is
because the normal crunch that we do or
the setup that we do isn't engaging
those muscles as well as those muscles
it should not really be used during this
very first postpartum recovery period
just because it does put a lot of strain
on those abdominal muscles that have
been taking a beating for the last nine
months and so we want to kind of avoid
those traditional sit-ups or crunches
that we think of when we talk about core
strengthening so let's talk about some
core strengthening exercises that you
can be doing these exercises are really
focused exercises they should not make
you feel you know like you're working
out insanely hard remember these are
exercises you can be doing during your
recovery process as always before you
start doing any kind of exercise you
need to make sure that you are cleared
by your doctor and that usually happens
within the four to six week range so
again make sure you check in with your
doctor to make sure that these exercises
are safe for you so the first exercise
that I want to share with you is the
transverse abdominis bracing and
basically what that is is really
activating your core through breathing
so I'm going to show you guys how to do
this
so this bracing that I am showing you it
really looks like deep diaphragmatic
breathing and what that's going to do is
really engage and help strengthen your
core you're going to want to lay down on
a flat surface and you're going to want
to take a
deep but relaxed breath as you are
expanding your uterus as you've expanded
your uterus as you exhale you're going
to want to flex your pelvis inward so
that your lower back is completely on
the ground and there isn't a gap in your
lower back and you're going to want to
exhale and hold at the end of your
exhale for four to six seconds and then
release into that deep relaxed inhale
throughout your diaphragm and your
uterus
once you have exhaled and you are
holding your breath for those four to
five seconds make sure that you are
keeping that core and you're in that
pelvic region nice and tight almost like
you're doing a Kegel through that
exercise the next one is the transverse
abdominis side-lying bracing and what
you're going to do is do the same
technique as the lying down but instead
you're going to do it on one of your
sides and what that's going to help you
do is that's going to help you engage
and strengthen one side more and then
once you flip over it's going to help
you engage that other side so it's just
a little bit more of a workout for those
different sides the next exercise that
you can do with this core strengthening
is the bent knee side drop what you're
going to do for this exercise you're
going to lay on your back and you're
going to bend your knees so your knees
are looking up at the ceiling again we
want to really engage that core because
that's what we are focusing on
strengthening and so you're going to
tilt your pelvis inward and draw your
belly button almost like there's a
string attached to your spine so you're
drawing your belly button down to the
ground down towards your spine to really
activate that core as well as that
pelvic floor make sure that there is not
a gap in your lower back and the ground
if you can stick your arm through that
area then you are not activating your
core well enough you need to make sure
that your back is flat on the ground
once your core is activated you can draw
one of your knees to the ground slowly
and then bring it back up while the
other knee remains stationary once the
other knee has made it back up to the
top you can switch legs let that one
drop while the other stays stationary
and slowly bring it back up and repeat
that several times the last exercise
that I have for you in core
strengthening is a bent knee single drop
toe touch what you're going to do for
this exercise is to once again get on
your back and you're going to want to
raise your legs up in an inverted
tabletop position so again for this
exercise we want to make sure we are
really engaging our core and so that
means making sure that our pelvis is
tilted inward our belly button is going
to our spine like there's a string
attached to it going closer to the
ground and we want to make sure that
that gap between our lower back and the
floor does not exist that our back is
nice and flat against the floor once
your core is engaged and your legs are
up in an inverted tabletop position
which are going to do is just slowly and
gently bring one leg down while the
other one stays stationary at the top
and tap your toe lightly against the
ground and then slowly bring it back up
once that leg has reached the top then
you can drop the other leg down slowly
and gently to tap your toe against the
floor and bring it back up during this
exercise it is a good idea to put your
hands on your tummy and as you are
dropping your leg one at a time if you
feel like your tummy is coning or if
there is almost like a little loaf of
bread in your abdominal area that means
that you are not engaging your core it
probably means that there's a gap
between the floor and your lower back so
you need to correct that so that your
core is nice and strong and engaged
before you continue doing your leg drops
so because our abdominal muscles have
been through so much during our
pregnancy having core strengthening
exercises during this postpartum
recovery period is super important a lot
of moms during pregnancy develop die
that's recti which is just abdominal
separation and you can tell because
there's usually like a line to her belly
button where it shows a separation of
her abs and these exercises that I've
shared with you can help repair that but
you have to make sure that you are doing
them correctly because if you're not
it's only going to make this condition
worse but apart from these exercises
you're definitely going to want to seek
out professional help if you think that
you have diastasis recti and how to help
yourself heal and repair from it
so along with your abdominal muscles the
big muscle that's taken a lot of the
hits is your pelvic floor and that's
something you've heard probably since
the beginning of your pregnancy and your
pet your pelvic floor is like a hammock
shaped muscle that just sits in your
pelvis and it keeps your bladder it
keeps your bowels it keeps your uterus
all where it's supposed to be so it's
really holding up a lot of your insides
and so it's really important that you
have a strong pelvic floor when you have
a weak pelvic floor and you're going to
experience peeing when you don't want to
right a lot of moms express that they
have this incontinence right where they
pee where they when they laugh or when
they Kaufer sneeze and so that is common
in a lot of moms during postpartum
recovery and even after but it doesn't
mean that it should be happening because
that usually only happens when you have
a weak pelvic floor so exercises that
I'm about to share with you are going to
help strengthen that pelvic floor so the
number one exercise that comes to mind
for most women when I talk about pelvic
floor are kegels and so the kegels are a
good way to help strengthen your pelvic
floor if you're not sure how to do them
or what that even is if you are sitting
on the toilet going pee just use the
muscle to make you stop going pee to
stop the flow of urine and that is
basically doing a Kegel and so imagine
doing that and then you can do that
sitting down you don't have to be on the
toilet you don't have to be peeing but
imagine
doing that and using that muscle and
basically you just flex it for about 10
seconds more if you can then release
then tighten them again and that's
basically doing a Kegel the next one in
helping strengthen your pelvic floor is
doing your activated breathing or the
bracing like I showed you for those
abdominal exercises so that
diaphragmatic that deep breathing that
bracing exercise that I showed you just
really engages your core and remember
how I talked about how you tilt your
pelvis inward that's also activating
your pelvic floor and so that's really
going to help strengthen that pelvic
floor that maybe has gotten a little bit
weak during your pregnancy the third
exercise that's really going to help
strengthen your pelvic floor is one that
I always did in middle school in high
school in gym class and I never thought
I would need it but wall sits is a great
exercise to really engage your pelvic
floor and to help strengthen it after
you've given birth after you've been
pregnant and you are in that postpartum
recovery period so I'm just you know sit
against the wall like you are sitting in
a chair an invisible chair you want to
flex your pelvis again so that you have
your back flat against the wall and
that's really going to help engage that
pelvic floor and strengthen it so the
last one that I want to share with you
is good posture and I know it's not one
that we think about usually when we're
talking about fitness and exercise and
all that but it's something we should
really be aware of all the time because
it's something we are doing all of the
time whether we are sitting standing
cooking watching TV walking around
whatever it is we should be aware of our
posture you know I was talking about how
during pregnancy our ABS have been
stretched and strained and now we have
to retrain them how to come back
together and tighten together in a big
way to do that is just you're having
good posture so sitting up straight
having your your core engaged as you are
sitting having your shoulders back but
relaxed and having that good posture is
really going to help retrain your your
transverse abdominis that I was talking
about before to tighten and connect
better with the fascia
that is in your abdominal area so having
good posture is a really big one that we
often overlook but it's definitely
important so those were all exercises to
do during your postpartum recovery but
here are some ones that you're going to
want to avoid the first ones are
crunches or sit-ups or you know getting
from that lying down position to that
sitting up position on your own and
those are ones that we're going to want
to avoid other ones are running jumping
at first lifting heavy weights things
that are really going to overexert you
start slow mama you have just you know
completed a marathon really getting a
baby from your womb into this world and
onto your chest and in your arms and
into your home and hearts so all that to
say take it slow there is no need to you
know bounce back right away you have
evolved into a different self and an
improved self you know there is no
reason that you need to go back to your
old old self with that being said a lot
of changes come around that six to
twelve month mark after baby is born so
if you aren't seeing results right away
just keep putting away at those
exercises because they are going to help
your body heal and they are going to
help your body mend and recover and as
you keep doing it and as you are able to
increase what you are able to do
physically in that fitness area you will
start seeing results so really be
focusing on your physical health with
eating with exercising but also on that
bond with your baby and your growing
family and your mental and emotional
health those are what are more important
right now than maybe losing weight and
getting back to what you were so all
that to say mama you are beautiful the
way that you are but I hope that these
tips really helped you kind of kickstart
that recovery process and your fitness
journey
that concludes our four-part series
thanks for watching and I will see you
next time
