Post Baby Recovery
Yoga and Pilates Workouts
After having a baby, your world completely changes. Your days are filled with feedings, diaper changes, and comforting your baby. Your nights are sleepless; filled with more feedings and diaper changes. No wonder you cannot imagine exercising during these busy days. While pregnant, your body goes through an unbelievable transformation and once your baby arrives your life goes through a similar unbelievable transformation. Pregnancy stretches and separates your abdominal muscles, loosens the ligaments around your joints, and weakens your pelvic floor muscles. If all of these structures in your body remain stretched, weakened and misaligned after pregnancy, you will have a higher chance of injury or pain in the postpartum period. However, if you strengthen your body properly, your posture will improve, you will look leaner, you will feel more rejuvenated, and your postpartum recovery will be smoother.
Yoga
Yoga is an exercise system that dates more than 5000 years in India and the Far East. The benefits of yoga as a method of healing pregnancy-induced ailments have been documented more in recent years, thus affirming yoga as a healthy exercise choice during and after pregnancy. Mindful body awareness and breath supported movements are two techniques of yoga that teach you to engage the core muscles in the abdomen, postural muscles of the spine, and stabilizing muscles of the joints. Since participants strengthen muscles in functional positions, the postpartum mom can easily transition her yoga practice into her daily activities of caring for her baby. Furthermore, deep abdominal breathing in yoga encourages a mind-body reconnection and aides in toxin removal and oxygen uptake which are essential for burning calories and increasing muscle mass. Finally, the skill of effective meditation restores peace of mind and refreshes a sleep-deprived body, which is key for a new mom.
Pilates
Pilates is a core stabilization exercise that strengthens your body while you are lengthening your muscles which creates a lean and toned body. During pregnancy, your abdominal muscles are stretched to their limit and lack tone. Also, your joints are loosened to help with delivery. It is imperative that these muscles and joints are strengthened and stabilized properly after delivery to support the pelvis and back. Sit-ups are not always effective and safe, as they can strain the neck and back and work only the superficial muscles of the abdomen. Pilates works the deep abdominal layers to stabilize the spine and flatten the belly. Pilates also focuses on stabilizing the muscles surrounding joints of the hips, shoulders and pelvis to create greater muscle coordination and control. Finally, the key principles of relaxation, concentration, control, centering, fluidity, precision, breathing and stamina, which are taught in Pilates, creates a functional exercise connecting the mind and the body to ease the stress of recovering from delivery, while also keeping up with your newborn’s hectic schedule.
Seeking Out a Guide
Postpartum exercise without guidance from a specialist can sabotage effective weight loss, energy conservation, and postural alignment. A healthcare provider, such as a licensed physical therapist (PT), who is certified in teaching yoga or Pilates, can ensure you are safely and effectively developing a postpartum exercise program. These specialists use yoga and Pilates to assist you in reconnecting the nervous system to improve balance, strengthen muscles to tone the abdomen and pelvic floor, stabilize the pelvis to decrease low back pain, teach energy conservation techniques to decrease stress, and improve posture to realign the entire body. Physical therapists who specialize in women’s health can also help you locate and differentiate the deep pelvic floor and abdominal muscles, which are especially important to restore after a C-section and to prevent stress incontinence after multiple vaginal deliveries.