Your Fitness During and After Pregnancy

Pregnancy Fitness after the Baby is Born
Your new bundle of joy has finally arrived after nine long months of waiting. You will have a lot on your plate with the newborn, your recovery, and trying to get back to that pre-pregnancy body, so what sort of post-partum fitness routine should you look to? 

Ease into Fitness

Remember that you just had your baby, so you need to give yourself some time to rest and recuperate before jumping into a full blow fitness routine!  You’ll also need time to adjust to your daily life with a newborn, and get a schedule set for you and your child.  While you are resting and adjusting, this is a good time to develop your fitness plan. This is also a good time to work out your nutritional plan if you are having a hard time adjusting from indulging in all those pregnancy cravings back to the good for you diet you need to get those pounds off!

Fitness Routines with Baby
Many mothers have a hard time getting into fitness routinesbecause they do not know what they should do with the baby while they are exercising. When your baby is really small, you can take advantage of one of the many nap times, and work out while the child sleeps. As your child ages, you can include them in your fitness routine so that you get playtime with baby, along with the other benefits of exercise.

What to Do
Here’s part of an example exercise routine you can follow that has been designed by a personal trainer for his wife after she gave birth to their child. 

Day One

• Leg Extensions: 2 sets of 40.  Lie on your back with your legs bent, and extend them straight.
• Leg Curls: 2 sets of 40. While you stand against a wall on a phone book or something for height, Bend leg to your butt and extend it all the way, with foot flexed. Don’t lean against the wall!
• Adductors: 2 sets of 40. Lie on your back with your legs straight and together.  Open your legs and straddle them.  Straddle just enough to feel burning in your inner thigh.
• Abductors: 2 sets of 20. Lie on your side with both legs together and slightly bent.  Lift top leg up enough to feel burning on outer thigh and repeat with other side.
• Calves: 2 sets of 40. Stand with feet together, and stand as high as you can on your tip toes without letting your ankles collapse.
• Crunches: 50.

 Day Two:  Easy Day!

• Crunches:  Do 2 sets of 20. 
• Crunches with Leg Lifts: Do 2 sets of 20.  Leave legs slightly less than bent.  With each crunch, lift one leg, and alternate legs with crunches.
• Reverse Crunches: Do 2 sets of 15.  Crunch lifting your knees to your chest and butt off the floor.
• Crunches with Torso Action: Do 2 sets of 10.  Crunches with one leg crossed over the other and reaching to opposite side (i.e. left elbow to right knee)

Of course you are not limited to this routine or these exercises. Do what you enjoy, and what you can. Talk to your doctor if you need help developing a safe, healthy routine.