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Pregnancy and post-partum fitness (Continued)

Why a Pregnancy and Post-Partum fitness blog?

This is my second blog on pregnancy and post-partum fitness. What an amazing journey it has been! It’s crazy to think it’s taken your body a whole 9 months to grow your baby in your womb and the changes that happen to your body is just mad. Hence I decided to write these pregnancy and post-partum fitness blogs to help mummies get their body back. Having your old body back will give you a huge burst of confidence, which is what we all could do with!

The reason I split this fitness blog into two is because there is so much to discuss and didn’t want you to be overwhelmed with it all being in the one blog. So in this blog I will be discussing fitness from 6 weeks post-partum, it follows directly on from my previous fitness blog.

When I fell pregnant I genuinely believed I would be pregnant for 9 months, have my baby and within a few weeks be back into the gym 4-5 times a week at 6am, like I always have. Never did I ever think it would take so much recovery after having a baby. Also the sleep deprivation! Who wants to be up at 6am after already being up in the night? Not me that’s for sure!

We have been very lucky with having a baby who doesn’t wake up every hour at night causing us to need to sleep all day. However, a new baby is knackering regardless! Not only for the Mummy but also for Daddy!

Needless to say reality kicked right back in after I had my daughter and it was a slow process. However, she is now 5.5 months and I’m feeling so much better in myself. I eased myself back into the gym and running at about 12 weeks, and I’m now running a half marathon in 1 month! I am very pleased with where I am now.

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So, after reading Baby Centre you must consult with your doctor in regards to increasing your exercise if you have had or are experiencing any of the following:

Increasing your exercise after having a baby can cause strain on the body if you are not quite ready for it. So before you do any exercise you must be sure to remember the following:

  • drink plenty of fluids before, during and after exercising
  • give yourself a break if you are overtired or feeling unwell
  • wear a supportive bra and supportive trainers
  • avoid exercising on an empty stomach
  • learn to recognise when you’ve had enough, as it can take a while to build up your strength and stamina after having a baby
  • stop if you feel any pain

What exercise is best at 6 weeks post-partum?

So the best exercises for new mummies are actually Yoga and Pilates. The reason for this is they are not strenuous, they calm the body which also helps you sleep and they strengthen your body. This is everything you need right now in just 2 exercise types.

Cardiovascular exercise is the form of exercise you need to be doing if you would like to burn off some calories to lose weight and tone up. Just try not to do too much to start with. Begin just doing 10-15 minutes 2-3 times a week and build it up from there. Cardiovascular raises your heart rate. It’s an important element in losing weight and toning up. Cardiovascular exercises include running, cycling, walking, and swimming. You may find swimming good to start with as it’s a fantastic exercise to help lose weight whilst also taking pressure off the body. It’s good to get your heart rate up and bring on a sweat however, you should still be able to hold a conversation. If you can’t, you’re doing too much.

If all of this just sounds boring and tedious how about trying to find mums groups that go walking together. That’s still good exercise whilst meeting other mums in a similar situation to yourself. You’ll be chatting away and forget you’re even exercising! Fab way to make new, local friends. A couple of groups are called Pushy Mothers and Buggy Fit.

You may find it really worth your while having a chat with a local personal trainer who can discus exactly what it is that you would like and how you are feeling at the moment. Together you can then put a plan together to suit you and the time you have on a day to day basis to achieve your goals.

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Finally your nutrition! If you want to lose weight, tone up and look all youthful again. You must eat well! I cannot stress enough about how much your diet plays a part in your weight loss goal. You must make sure you are eating the correct foods. However, you must also be eating enough of them. Remember if you are breastfeeding, you are already burning off a load of calories every day. This is something else you could discuss with a personal trainer at your local gym. They can advise you of how much of certain foods you should be eating etc. Check out Active Goals’ blog post on Macros. This blog post explains Macros very well and hopefully you will have a pretty good, basic understanding before chatting to anyone else.

I really hope this blog post about postpartum fitness, which followed on from my previous post has really helped you to understand the reality of having a baby and trying to stay fit. It is something that must be incorporated into your everyday life for ease. You’ve just had a baby, you may not have 2 hours to take out of your day 3-4 times a week to workout. So set yourself a realistic goal.

 

PS – Nursery Store’s blog was recently featured in Feedspot’s top UK parenting blogs. Thanks Feedspot!

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