By Catherine Duncan
Congratulations to all of you new moms for enduring sleepless nights, soothing fussy babies, changing diapers, and sometimes taking a shower! So you have managed to survive the first couple of weeks (or maybe months for some!), and you are ready to begin exercising again. But where do you start? Here are some basic guidelines to help you.
Before you begin significant exercise, all incisions and/or soft tissue injuries should be healed. This means that women who deliver via c-section generally require a longer recovery before returning to exercise than those who deliver vaginally. Your abdominal muscles remain elongated in the early postpartum period, so they are not as effective at stabilizing your spine and pelvis. Also, keep in mind that even if you were exercising throughout your pregnancy, you need a gradual ramp up postpartum to get back to where you were.
With that in mind, the best place to begin is with your core and hips. Begin with abdominal bracing. Lying on your back, take a few “belly breaths”. Then, as you exhale, actively draw your navel toward your spine, without flattening your back. See if you can hold the “brace” for 10 seconds, or 2 breaths. Next, try crunches. Again, lying on your back, brace abdominals. Keep your chin tucked back into your throat, and bring your rib cage toward your pelvis. If you notice a gap in the wall of your abdominals, or have been diagnosed with a diastasis rectus, then make the following adjustment: using a yoga strap, old neck tie, or folded up bed sheet (my favorite method) wrapped around your waist, pull tightly to support the abdominals, then perform the crunch as described above. See this month’s Core Corner for more details and photos.
Additional core favorites for the postpartum period are bridging, bird dog and side planks. Bridging involves beginning on your back, knees bent. Squeeze your glutes and raise your hips up. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat. For bird dog, position yourself in “quadruped” or on hands and knees. Reach right arm forward, left leg back. Hold, keep pelvis and spine level. Hold for 5-10 seconds and repeat with other side. Side planks may be done with knees bent back behind you or all the way out on your feet. While lying on side, raise hips up, keeping head in alignment with the spine. Hold up to 30 seconds or more, and repeat on opposite side. With all of these exercises, don’t forget your pelvic floor. Engage those kegal muscles with every activity!
Once you have successfully begun recovering your core strength, you may consider beginning endurance and strength training. While it seems slow and tedious initially, you CAN get your body back in shape, and return to those sports you love after becoming a mother! So get to it! Enjoy!
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Catherine Duncan, PT, SCS, ATC has enjoyed treating athletes and runners for 16 years and can be found at Proaxis Therapy in Carrboro. In her free time, she loves playing soccer, running, biking, swimming, and being outdoors with her husband and their two boys.
