Postpartum Exercise: The Best Workouts for New Mamas

Now that the baby is out, you may be thinking of entering your fitness journey. Aside from having a balanced diet and a good sleeping schedule, keeping your body moving is also important. Check out which postpartum exercise works for you below!

How soon can you start working out after giving birth? According to experts, you can begin as early as a few days.

The key is to listen to your body and start slowly. You can also ask for the help of your doctor, especially if you have a C-section.

Of course, nobody is expecting you to be able to complete a rigorous workout routine right away. So, we’re here to suggest how you can ease into an active lifestyle after months of carrying your baby.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists emphasised that postpartum exercise has these incredible benefits:

Strengthens and tones abdominal muscles
Boosts energy
It helps prevent postpartum depression
Promotes better sleep
Relieves stress
It enables you to lose the extra weight

5 Postpartum Exercise You Can Try

Here, we will get started with basic exercises. You won’t need any special equipment to follow these.

1. Walking

It’s time to get the stroller ready! Taking your baby out for a morning walk is the most practical postpartum exercise.

Set a schedule, preferably in the morning, where you can have quality time while taking a stroll in your neighbourhood or at a park. All you need is a good 10 to 15 minutes of walking time.

If you can find a path where there is an elevation, it would also be beneficial to your glutes.

You can also take it up a notch and wear a lightweight corset under your clothes during your walks to cinch your waist. We recommend Mama’s Choice Body Shaper Breathable Corset, which is made of a soft, non-abrasive, and breathable material.

2. Pelvic Floor Exercise

This is also known as the Kegel exercise. By now, you should be familiar with this as doctors also advise pregnant women to do this.

Now that you are postpartum, you should continue doing pelvic floor exercises. This will strengthen your muscles in the area and prevent complications like prolapse.

As a reminder, here is how you can do a Kegel exercise:

Tighten your muscles as if you are stopping yourself from peeing
Hold for 10 seconds
Repeat

3. Heel Slides

If your goal is to strengthen your core system, doing heel slides is a great way to do that. You will feel and see the benefits in your abdominal and pelvic areas.

Here is how you can do basic heel slides:

Lie on your back with both of your legs flat
Slide one of your heels towards your butt, allow it to bend
Hold this position for about 6 seconds
Slide your heel back
Slide the other one towards your butt
Repeat steps 2 to 5, alternate between your legs

This should also give you a better posture which is essential in preventing issues such as sagging breasts.

4. Diaphragmatic Breathing

According to Healthline, diaphragmatic breathing is a postpartum exercise you can do immediately after giving birth. Doing so after a few days will help you relax and release stress.

Here is how can perform this exercise:

Relax your body by releasing tension from your head to your toes
Put one hand on your chest and another on your stomach
Take a deep breath through your nose while keeping your chest still
Hold this for 2 to 3 seconds
Exhale slowly

You can do this while you are sitting or lying down.

5. Curl-Ups

Once you have regained your strength, you can start doing curl-ups. This will strengthen your back and abdominal muscles.

Here is how a simpler version of a curl-up that you can follow:

Lie on your back with your hands on the side
Lift your torso for about 90 degrees (It’s okay if you can’t go this far yet.)
Reach for your knees and hold the position for about 3 seconds
Slowly ease yourself to your first position

You may find it hard to lift your torso to the correct angle at first. However, as you progress, you should be able to do this more easily.

Get in shape with Mama’s Choice must-haves!

Aside from exercising, other easy ways can help mamas get into shape–using a waist shaper or corset. Good news! We have both.

Our Highwaist Shaper Pants will instantly flatten your midsection. It’s also seamless, so you can easily hide it underneath your outfit. This will be a fabulous fashion hack as you wait for your workout results to show.

You can also look into our Body Shaper Breathable Corset. You can use it the way you use the shaper pants…but better.

This has a hook and eye closure that you can adjust depending on how tight or loose you need it to be.

This is an effective way to flatten your stomach, improve posture, and reduce back pain. Aside from that, it can also restore the size of the uterus and round ligaments to pre-pregnancy size.

Click here to learn more about these and all of our mama-friendly products. Good luck on your fitness journey!