Well ladies, I’m assuming you are here because you’ve made it! You endured pregnancy, faced birth like a champ, and the hard part is over, right? Maybe not. Many women think that once they’ve had the baby they will wait six weeks to recover, and return to their old workout routine. Other women never had a routine, because they were satisfied with their health and appearance without one. The truth is recovery is more difficult than anyone describes it, and even after six weeks your body will not likely be what it was before. You may feel like a car has hit you, you’re probably up and down throughout the night with a new baby, and you still need to manage your regular daily activities. Even getting dressed in the morning is challenging when you find maternity clothes are too big, and your pre-pregnancy clothes are far too small. I’m here to tell you that you’re all right! I have done this twice now, and have the added benefit of studying Exercise Physiology. The goal here is to pull from what you know, what I know, and what further research shows. Don’t worry I’ll do the leg work when it comes to reading the boring text book information (which I actually enjoy), and will summarize it here. I know how busy you are.
I’m sure you’re all eager to get to work on reclaiming your body, right? I knew it. That will be the focus of this post. The first obvious question most of us ask is “When can I hit the gym?” Traditionally, women have been told to wait 6 weeks before resuming activity, but updated research says otherwise! According to ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal the answer to the question of “when” is “it depends”. Here’s a direct quote from one of their articles, published in 2009:
“It depends on how much the woman had been doing during pregnancy. It depends on the duration and intensity of labor and delivery, or whether a woman needed stitches or underwent a cesarean delivery... Some women may be out running within the first week, others may require several months. This is a time when a woman should closely listen to her body and honestly communicate with her health care provider.”
Did you see that? I made the mistake of trying to jump into running long distances after my first baby was only a few days old. During that delivery I had some serious tearing, and was told my body needed at least 4 weeks to heal. I couldn’t stand the waiting, and decided to push through the pain only to find myself out for surgery within a week. That may be an extreme example, but I learned my lesson. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!
The next big question is “How should I start?” I have the textbook answer to this, literally. I will be referencing a book by the NSCA (sounds official right? It is). The first step to getting started is to analyze your needs and your fitness level. Think of motherhood as a sport.
Do you spend a lot of time carrying a baby on your hip, hauling an increase of laundry up and down stairs, giving piggy-back rides, or even just speed-walking to the park? I for one, have to chase my daughter around the park to make sure she doesn’t try to jump off of play equipment or get hit by a swing. Considering the elements of this “sport” decide what your goals are. Examples may be:
-Lose this baby weight!
-Increase cardiovascular endurance so that I don’t get tired during walks/runs.
-Increase upper arm strength and endurance so I can carry my baby longer as they gain weight.
- Increase speed and power so I can keep my child away from harm quickly as needed. Also, to be awesome at Red Rover on the play ground.
Once you’ve established your needs and goals it is time to test your current ability. The way you test depends on your goals. If you want to be faster time yourself doing a 40-yard dash. If you want to be stronger see how much you can lift now. These tests will give you an idea of where to start, and if you do them throughout your training you can see your progress! For more detail on fitness testing you can visit:
http://www.adultfitnesstest.org/
These tests will also help you set more specific goals, which makes working out more fun! My current goal is to get my 1.5 mile run down a couple minutes I won’t share where I’m at now, because it’s a little embarrassing. This one goal gets me onto that treadmill in the dead of winter again and again.
There you have it ladies, a place to start! Sit down and evaluate your needs. If your Doctor and body say that you’re ready to exercise then test your current ability. Once you’ve done that write down specific goals. Be creative, motherhood is one of the coolest sports ever! If your focus is on weight loss and getting into more clothes try to expand it a little. Remember working out is not a punishment, but a blessing.
Thanks for reading, next time we will review challenges of postpartum exercise, and how to overcome them specifically.
Sources:
Baechle, Thomas R., and Roger W. Earle. Essentials of strength training and conditioning. 3rd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.
Pivarnik, James M, and Lanay Mudd. "Oh Baby! Exercise During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period." ACSM'S Health & Fitness Journal 13.3 (2009): 8-13. Print.
Reimer, Susan. Motherhood is a contact sport: a collection of the writings of Baltimore sun columnist Susan Reimer.. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Sun, 1998. Print.
"The President's Challenge - Adult Fitness Test." The President's Challenge - Adult Fitness Test. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.
