More than 20kg. This is the amount of extra weight I put on during my last pregnancy. I don’t know the exact number because I refused to step on the scale once I surpassed +20. For someone who was quite fit before getting pregnant, I was naturally impatient to start exercise after delivery.
At the same time, I learnt my lesson from the big weight loss mistakes I made after my first pregnancy. So, I knew that I need to take it slow, be patient with myself and start exercise gradually to allow for my body and mind to heal.
If you recently had a baby (congratulations, mama!) and you wonder when to start exercise after normal delivery, I am sharing the week by week plan that worked for me for a healthy and gradual recovery.
Disclaimer: I had a healthy and uneventful pregnancy and delivery. I hope it was the same for you. But in either case, please, clear any exercise routines with your doctor first.
Weeks 1-3: walking every singe day
For the first few weeks after delivery, I would put my son in the stroller (or the carrier after he was 3kg) and walk every single day. I kept this habit for the months to come even after I added other exercises to my routine.
- I found that walking was as good for my physical health as it was for my mental well-being. My son was crying a lot and nursing around the clock. It made me feel anxious, alone and isolated. Getting some fresh air and sunshine and seeing other people (even if they were just random strangers in the park) was very important for keeping my sanity.
- For the walks to be efficient in terms of getting slowly back in shape, I would walk at a brisk pace for at least 40 minutes each day
Weeks 4-5: pelvic floor strengthening
If you plan to have other children or just to laugh and sneeze without having to change your underwear, strengthening the pelvic floor muscles is a must.
3 sets of 20 glute bridges per day, at least 5 days a week is more than plenty. But if you are looking for more variety and additional motivation, there are some great social media accounts with helpful exercises that cover this as well as the next point: Ourfitfamilylife, Pregnancy and Postpartum TV.
Weeks 6-8: Deep core activation to heal Diastasis Recti
If you are like me, your biggest problem is probably getting rid of hanging belly after pregnancy. I share more details on how I got flat stomach after baby in this article. But if we focus on exercise only, the important thing is to work on the deep core muscles that are responsible for our posture as well as keeping everything in our mid-area in its place.
Now time for some real talk: if you focus on healing Diastasis recti via deep core activation, you will see great results. But you will need to keep up with the exercises for months, if not years, for those results to last. We need to accept the fact that there was another human being in that area for 9 months and this moved all of our organs around, stretched our skin and even separated our muscles (aka Diastasis recti). So naturally the core will take more effort than any other area to maintain.
While I was able to see abs emerge around month seven postpartum, if I go more than 3-4 days without doing my core exercises, I start looking pregnant again.
Weeks 9-12: follow along light weight videos at home
Once I gave all of my attention to the pelvic floor and core muscles for a few solid weeks, I felt ready to start training the rest of my body. I really liked the Nourish, Move, Love channel . She has great energy and videos for every stage of the postpartum fitness journey.
Weeks 12 onwards: gradually returning to the gym
By the time I went back to the gym, I was ready to do my normal strength training workout program 5 days a week (glutes, back + biceps, legs, chest + triceps and shoulders). But I started with very light weights and kept rebuilding my strength from there.
What about cardio?
Do you notice anything strange? I did not do ANY cardio. With the exception of some 5 minute warm ups before workout and my walks. If you like cardio and it helps you release stress, by all means go for it. But if you don’t like it, don’t feel the need to force yourself because you read that cardio is the only way to lose weight after pregnancy.
Paying special attention to your pelvic floor and core muscles recovery combined with gradual introduction of strength training exercises for every muscle group will have the healthiest and most visible results in the months to follow normal delivery.
