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When it comes to managing your health after childbirth, you want to make sure that you can recover and get back to full strength. However, even when you’re feeling closer to your old self, you might notice some changes in your body. In particular, you might have noticed you’re not as flexible and don’t have quite the same range of mobility. However, there are ways to get this mobility back, so don’t worry.
Exercising your pelvic floor
If you have found that you had any pelvic instability during your pregnancy or you are still experiencing bouts of incontinence, then you don’t want to go out running a marathon just yet. Instead, you should look at exercises that can help recover pelvic floor weaknesses. Pelvic floor exercises, such as those shown at continence.org.au can help you get some confidence back. When your bouts of incontinence start to go away, then you look back into doing aerobic exercises.
Keep the impact low for a while
Even if you’re not immediately dealing with issues like incontinence, you should try to keep the impact low while you’re getting used to your post-pregnancy body. Your joints can be a little sensitive after having a baby, so you should look at exercises such as swimming or using cross-trainers that get your body moving, but don’t cause sharp impacts to hit your knees or your other joints. Make sure that you’re investing in some joint care, too, such as using cold or heat packs to deal with the inflammation that can come after an exercise.
Keep stretching
The additional weight you gain during pregnancy can lead you to have a more sedentary life which can, in turn, see you not stretching as much as you did, which can lead to the reduction of your range of motion over time. Exercises like yoga can help, and tai chi from places like taichiforhealthinstitute.org can be even more effective, given that they are safe to the point that they can even be done during pregnancy. Focus on exercises that help you not only get moving, but help you stretch parts of your body to get back to your original range of motion, or even go beyond it.
Start building some muscle
Of course, it’s not all about getting tone or getting flexible. If you want to be active and mobile, then you need to start looking into strength training, as well. You don’t need to immediately start reaching for the weight racks, either. Resistance band exercises as shown at katiedickens.com.au can help you ease into it. Think of your exercise routine for now as being to help you reach your limit, not quite to push beyond them. Do not strain yourself too hard, especially if you’re dealing with muscle weakness.
It takes real work to get your body back to an approximation of what it was before you had your baby. The tips above can help you get a little closer, but you have to put the work in, yourself.
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