How many of you are worried about getting your body back after baby? If you nodded your head yes, you’re not alone! We hear this from women all the time and want to give you some excellent advice to help you navigate the unchartered waters of postpartum.
Annie Tinker, Knocked-Up Fitness® and Wellness Prenatal coach, certified Birth Doula and mom of a 2-year old, answers your questions about how to get your body back after baby.
1. When is it ok for women to resume physical activity after baby?
Most women are told they can resume physical activity after their 6-week postpartum check-up. While this can be true, I highly recommend listening to your body. If you feel like your body is ready for some activity, start SLOWLY! I recommend beginning with some breath work to begin lightly activating your pelvic floor. This can also be a great stress reliever!
2. How can women overcome this “go hard or go home” mentality?
Many women feel they need to punish themselves postpartum because they “let themselves go” during pregnancy or feel this intense pressure to look a certain way soon after baby. This mentality is dangerous because doing too much too soon can cause your body to start bleeding again or make any incontinence and/or Diastasis Recti worse. Instead, focus on listening to your body and slowing incorporating your Core Rehab workouts into your daily routine. I also recommend using visualization to focus on what your body should feel like verse what you want it to look like.
3. What are some tips for women to slowly get back into their workouts?
These three videos These 3 videos are super important to watch right away:
- Posture Video
- Walking Tips
- Picking Up Tutorial
All of these videos can be found in your Knocked-Up Fitness® and Wellness Membership and can be a complete game-changer during your postpartum recovery. Your posture while walking, feeding your baby and picking up your new bundle of joy can impact your postpartum recovery. To help ease any aches + pains and support your body postpartum, I recommend doing some organic movements that feel good on your body. Some movements I love are pelvic tilts, cat cows and hip rolls if your body feels ready. You can also feed your baby on a birth ball to help create more strength + stability, all while working on proper posture.
4. What role does nutrition, sleep and hormones play in postpartum recovery?
HUGE ROLE! Nutrients are super important because they can impact your milk supply and mood. Make sure you are fueling your body with organic high-quality foods. I also cannot stress enough the importance of getting good quality sleep. While this may be difficult because you are only sleeping in 2-3 hour stretches, try making the most out of those hours. Use a face mask, shut your phone off and create an environment where you can get a few hours of quality sleep.
Hormone shifts are going to happen, but getting good quality sleep and fueling your body properly can help you ride the wave much easier!
5. How do people prepare themselves mentally for postpartum?
Preparing yourself mentally for how you’re going to feel after baby is crucial. I recommend setting aside time each day or week to learn about the postpartum hormone shifts and then using visualization to help you prepare. Visualize how you’re going to feel when you are stressed and sleep-deprived and then come up with a plan on how you can best handle those situations. The more you can mentally prepare yourself, the more relaxed and calmer you are going to be.
6. Looking back at your postpartum journey, what tips can you give women who are about to embark on the same?
The first piece of advice I would give is to slow down. Looking back, I wish I would have had a simpler birth plan because it would have allowed me to relax more and not put so much pressure on myself.
Second, I would incorporate breath work first and then Core Rehab into my daily routine. As you get further in your postpartum journey, you can always add walking to your Core Rehab assignments, but I don’t recommend anything more strenuous because you could end up doing more harm than good.
Lastly, give yourself as much time as you need postpartum to simply do nothing other than focus on rest, taking care of your baby and savoring every moment in those first weeks/months postpartum. You have plenty of time to work on getting your body back after baby so focus on taking care of you and enjoying those amazing baby snuggles.
For more information, visit www.knocked-upfitness.com or email us your questions at Erica@ericaziel.com.
