Bouncing Back After Baby

Getting your pre-baby body back in shape

By Jamey Bradbury

  • The Restore Your {Post-Baby} Core class, offered at Studio One Pilates, helps new moms get their pre-baby body back through breathing techniques and powerful isometric exercises designed to restore deep core tone. The Restore Your {Post-Baby} Core class, offered at Studio One Pilates, helps new moms get their pre-baby body back through breathing techniques and powerful isometric exercises designed to restore deep core tone.
  • Stroller Strides is a stroller-based fitness program designed for moms with little ones. Each 60-minute, total body workout incorporates power walking, strength, toning, songs and activities. Stroller Strides is a stroller-based fitness program designed for moms with little ones. Each 60-minute, total body workout incorporates power walking, strength, toning, songs and activities.
     

Nine months of baby weight isn’t going to come off in two weeks, no matter what an infomercial promises. But there are effective – and safe – ways to get back in shape. Just ask our experts.

Too soon, too fast

Lots of new moms, especially those who were active before pregnancy, want to hit the ground running. But exercising too soon after delivery can hamper the healing of abdominal muscles or cause injury, exhaustion or stress fractures.

Experts agree that moms can ease into exercising after their six-week checkup; those who’ve had a C-section may need to wait longer. Either way, get clearance from your doctor before you begin.

“Moms concerned about quickly achieving their pre-pregnancy weight sometimes curtail their calorie intake too much, which affects their breast milk,” says Pam Webb, a parent educator at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. When restricting calories, she advises choosing a diet that’s been approved for breastfeeding moms.

First steps

Once you’ve got the go-ahead, it’s all about listening to your body, says Kelly Kilheffer of Fit4Mom Anchorage. “Start small to build up your strength. Go for walks, try some pelvic tilts. Early on, it’s really about using any window of time you get to do a few squats or walk in place.” At about three months post-pregnancy, she says, you’ll be ready to try something more challenging – a walk-jog, or some postnatal yoga.

No matter what you choose, staying hydrated will be important, especially if you’re breastfeeding. Drink plenty of water, and get the support you need – literally.

“Many women need to wear extra support if they’re doing running or jumping exercises,” says Colleen Mueller, a Providence parent educator with a certificate in postpartum exercise. She suggests getting a quality sports bra or, if necessary, wearing two bras.

The hormone relaxin, which loosens your body’s joints and muscles in preparation for delivery, is still present in your body for up to five months (more if you breastfeed) after pregnancy. “It puts you at risk for injury,” says Fit4Mom’s Krystal Gard. “Take some time to learn what your flexibility is like, and work with your new body.”

Focus areas

“You can’t spot reduce fat,” warns Ana Kokaurova of Studio One Pilates. “Doing a bunch of sit-ups or crunches, those abs are going to get bigger, not toned.”

Though Kokaurova and her co-teacher, physical therapist Melissa Sundberg, advocate whole-body awareness, there are some key areas moms can focus on as they get back in shape:

Transversus abdominis – Located underneath your “six-pack” muscles, the trans abs form a corset of muscles that help stabilize your spine and help “pull in” your abs. “Learning how to activate the trans abs during all exercise is good for your back and also has those aesthetic benefits women are looking for,” Kokaurova explains.

• Pelvic floor – Back pain, instability, urine leakage, difficulty enjoying sex: all are common post-pregnancy complaints, and all can be traced back to a weak pelvic floor, the muscles and ligaments that support the bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum. Strengthening the pelvic floor, according to Sundberg, is key not only to post-pregnancy health but to preventing pain later in life.

• Back and chest – “When you’re breastfeeding,” says Mueller, “you tend to hunch forward, so it’s important to do exercises that open your chest and strengthen your back.”All together now

“In class, we talk about our goals. I think it’s good for other moms to hear each other’s concerns and problems,” says Sundberg of the “Restore Your (Post-Baby) Core” class she and Kokaurova teach. From postnatal Pilates to mommy-and-me cardio, taking a class can keep you motivated, while knowledgeable teachers will help ensure you do the right exercises the right way.

But it’s not all about you, says Kilheffer. In Fit4Mom’s Stroller Strides class, new mothers sing to their babies and push strollers as they do interval workouts. “It’s not just getting thin or hitting a number on the scale,” Kilheffer adds. “It’s showing our kids what it’s like to exercise and live a healthy life, now and into the future.”