I hear you lovely mamas!--especially those of you who truly enjoy exercise and want to get back to your high intensity workouts at the gym, in the garage, or with your favorite groups of bootie burning moms. You want to get back to exercise so you can tone the tummy, be strong for carrying that car seat, and get back into those cute clothes you had to put away for 9 months! Exercise is so good for us--stress management, endorphin-boosting, overall health and wellness! HOWEVER, sometimes getting back to the workout you did before pregnancy may not be your best course of action!
Perhaps your abdominal muscles, pelvic floor muscles and breath forgot how to work together because they got stretched so far or a baby was pushing up into your diaphragm and you adapted and compensated during pregnancy. Maybe they need a little loving tutorial and time to get back into the swing of things. If not, you may continue to compensate or use poor form back at Burn Boot Camp and you start having back or hip pain. If your linea alba got stretched a little too far or you are still breast feeding and the body is still loosey goosey at all your joints, you could sprain a joint or set up conditions for a hernia. Perhaps because of your changing body during pregnancy your sense of neutral spinal posture is a little off and you go to squat with a weighted bar and boom, you injure your knee or neck or pee on yourself. I could go on, but hopefully you get the idea. Special care and attention is needed to return to safe exercise after pregnancy.
Exercise is good. Smart and gradual return to exercising after pregnancy is even gooder!
I hear some of you--you like challenge, you have drive, you are a go getter. Instead of thinking about the high intensity workout at Orange Theory as the challenge, think about going slowly and modifying your exercise in this new phase of life as the challenge. Give as much devotion and commitment to taking care of yourself as your return to exercise as you would to train for a half marathon. Everyone is different and so I don't have a one size fits all routine or regimen for returning to exercise. Here's where working with a Pelvic PT or a trainer who specializes in maternal fitness can work with you one-on-one to design and progress you through a safe on-ramp to returning to the exercise you love!
Make personalized, good form, safe-paced intensity exercise be your goal. Your body will thank you!
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