How Soon After Giving Birth Can You Exercise?

Postnatal exercise can be quite daunting no matter how fit you were before your pregnancy or even if you tried to keep up by doing some exercise throughout your pregnancy. Don’t be disheartened if you were once a fitness fanatic and now you feel as if you’ve taken 10 steps back. The body is an amazing machine that adapts and is in a state of constant change. First of all, congratulations are due for you as a mother. You’ve done it, you have successfully brought into the world a bundle of joy.

Here at UniquePhysio we recommend waiting 6 weeks, or until your doctor has done all the necessary checks and given you the tick of approval to do exercise. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that during these 6 weeks do nothing. Within these first 6 weeks post-partum we recommend trying to establish normality in your routine and performing an easy aerobic exercise such as short walks.

The next step is where our expertise at UniquePhysio comes into play. Once you have been given the all okay to begin exercise, one of our Physiotherapists or Exercise Physiologist will sit down with you and have a chat in regards to what type of fitness level or specific goals you’d like to achieve. With this information in mind, an assessment will take place to gauge your current fitness levels and a tailored program will be created to help you achieve your goals.

Exercise is great. Not only will it help to increase your fitness it will help improve your body image, make dealing with stress easier and make holding the new bub for longer, easier!

So what does a program usually look like?

Well, with most cases we find that the core musculature (muscles around the belly) have been affected through the process of pregnancy and the pelvic floor muscles. We want to initially work on strengthening these muscles (helps to correct diastasis recti or urinary incontinence) as they are a key component in pretty much all movement and in bladder function! Once these muscles are suitably strengthened, we will then move you onto more functional exercise that is specific to the goals you want to achieve.

Have you just had a pregnancy and want to bounce back to your former self? Or do you just want to make a change in lifestyle and incorporate exercise into your routine? If so, speak to us here at UniquePhysio Bankstown and we will be more than happy to give a helping hand.

We can help you out during all the stages of your pregnancy. Here’s a client testimonial!