The post baby body – how soon is safe?
We recently saw Victoria Beckham revealing her new size 0 ‘post-baby’ body at New York Fashion Week, just two months after giving birth to her fourth child! These images of celebrities snapping back from pregnancy to the ultimate perfect body just result in new mums putting themselves under huge amounts of pressure to get themselves back into shape at lightning speed post-baby.
It takes nine months to make a baby and for most women it will take a similar timeframe to get back in shape after their baby is born. When you have just had a baby it’s not the time for extreme dieting and strict gruelling exercise programmes. This is the worst thing a woman can do and is the perfect recipe for feeling exhausted, discouraged and injured too! Substantially reducing your calorie intake whilst breastfeeding will mean you can’t produce quality milk and so it’s the baby who ends up suffering.
Laura Riley, a spokeswoman for the America College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, explains that celebrities ‘have resources that the rest of us don’t have after our baby is born’ such as chefs, personal trainers and nannies, and many celebrities do their share of crazy diets too.
Exercise…
Whilst dieting is off limits, the right type of exercise is highly recommended postnataly, and, as well as the obvious benefits, it can help increase energy levels and reduce the risks of postnatal depression. The easiest and safest exercise to embark on postnataly is walking, so get yourself and your baby out into that fresh air! Pushing your pram or buggy can be a great workout. Make sure you walk tall whilst doing so. Draw in your abdominals and aim to keep your hips close to the handles so you really use your legs.
If you’re looking for company, there are many local organised groups so that you can walk and talk at the same time!
Sit ups or not…?
Your ‘six pack’ muscle will lengthen during pregnancy and it’s very common for this to also separate. This is because the force of the uterus pushing out against the abdominal wall and the hormone relaxin softens the connective tissue. You may notice the separation as a doming of your abdomen when trying to sit up from lying by lifting your trunk forwards and upwards against gravity or when coughing etc.
Resuming sit ups too soon after having a baby is not advisable as this can place too much pressure on your abdominals and can result in the separation worsening. Strengthening your muscles in their lengthened position will also reduce the likelihood of achieving that flat stomach. Postnatal Pilates and yoga classes which focus on improving your core strength are ideal.
For more information on optimising your recovery post baby and returning to exercise safely take a look at our Post Natal Pilates classes.
https://central-health.com/classes/pregnancyandpostnatalclasses.html
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