Post Partum Fitness

By: Laura Casselman, CPT

Congratulations on your new baby! You've made it through the pains of labour and delivery, now it's time to start the war on postpartum pudge. Without doubt you're feeling overwhelmed with the new demands of motherhood and sleep deprivation and somehow, you want to find time to exercise and get back into your pre-baby wardrobe. First things first though, remember that your body has just been through an enormous adjustment and will continue adjusting if you are breast-feeding. Wait until any vaginal bleeding subsides and get your doctors approval before starting any post partum exercise program.

Simple, but helpful exercises are a great place to start your exercise program after your baby's birth. Walking with your baby and stroller is a great way to start back with your exercise program. You may find you fatigue easily, so frequent rest intervals may be helpful. Pelvic Floor (Kegel) exercises are also a great place to start if you are not too sore.

Pelvic Floor (Kegel) Exercises:
Due to delivery, weak pelvic floor muscles may lead to incontinence. In order to repair this problem, you need to locate your pelvic floor muscles. The easiest way to do this is by trying this simple exercise the next time you are urinating. During urination, stop and start the flow of urine. You should try to start and stop the flow completely with no dripping. The muscles used to do this are your pelvic floor muscles. It is not advised to try this exercise first thing in the morning when the bladder is full. Now, having identified your pelvic floor muscles, there is no need to perform this exercise during urination again. However, you can perform your pelvic floor exercises several times during the day. Examples are while sitting comfortably in a chair. Slowly tighten your pelvic floor muscles and hold for 5 seconds and slowly release. Repeat this exercise 3-5 times. You will find these muscles will fatigue easily. Another exercise for the pelvic floor would be the Elevator Kegel Exercise. This is done by imagining the pelvic floor is an elevator ascending and stopping at each floor. The pelvic floor muscles should be pulled up a little more each time until they cannot be pulled tighter. Gradually imagine the elevator descending until the muscles are relaxed again.