Girlfriend I can’t tell you how good it feels to move my body again!
little UPdate
So little update – I’m currently 7 weeks postpartum. After enduring both a vaginal birth and emergency c-section and carrying twins for 37 weeks – it’s safe to say my body has been through the ringer. By the end of my pregnancy I was not in a great way. My body was sore, my pelvis was sore, my back, sleeping was hard, moving was hard – I was huge and to be honest – getting over it very quickly.
Don’t get me wrong – I was so bloody grateful that I made it all the way to the planned 37 weeks, so very grateful I was able to run up until 31 weeks, and do Figure Babes until 34 weeks – but by the end I was so ready to meet these babes.
I had planned to go in and have both my babies vaginally – and after having Harper vaginally I knew what I was up for postpartum. However as life goes – it didn’t go to my rough plan – and after Beau’s beautiful vaginal birth – Harlow had other plans – and emergency caesarean it was.
Not only did this mean major surgery – but that recovery and returning to exercise looked a little different.
returning to exercise
I won’t lie -the first 6 weeks of recovering from a c-section has not been fun. On top of all the normal postpartum hormones being all over the place, navigating newborn life again with the addition of a toddler and getting used to the new woman I now was as a mother of 3. The incision site itself is and will be tender for a while. Mobility for the first few weeks is limited, not to mention they’ve cut through all layers of my muscle so therefore any strength I had kept through my pregnancy has now been ripped apart. So for me – doing nothing for at least 4 weeks was tough. Even walking was uncomfortable and I was able to do small short walks. Anything longer than 30 mins and I was in pain for the rest of the day. I had to slow down – something I’m not good at – but it was necessary for my recovery.
GEtting started
At 4 weeks – I started doing some very small upper body and booty workouts. 15 mins – with my resistance bands just to fuel that little fire inside me. As I’ve spoken about time and time again – for me – working out moving my body – is primarily for my mental health. It makes me feel good. – it makes me more patient, more productive and a better mum, friend, and wife. So those small workouts were so good.
At 4 weeks I also attempted a little run which I was cleared by the physio to do – 3km super slow – which felt amazing during – but not 100% after. So I left it.
6 weeks post
Come 6 weeks and I was starting to feel more like myself I increased my workouts slightly and attempted another run – I felt frickin amazing. 4km and I felt like hitting that pavement lit a fire inside. Come next week at 8 weeks postpartum – I will return to taking the Figure Babes with my amazing community and I can’t wait. I will be continuing to be modifying them for me and anyone else who is postpartum but I’m so excited.
lets talk about sex
Something that isn’t talked about postpartum is sex. At the 6 week check it always seems to be one question on every mans lips – can we have sex. Not only physically is it a bit daunting – especially if you’ve had a vaginal birth. Your body is different – after growing a human for 9 months – the new you may not be one filled with confidence just yet. Emotionally you’re different and for most of us women – sex is not at the forefront of our mind. Not because we don’t want to connect with our partner, not because we don’t like it, but our world is completely preoccupied with new little humans. We are sleep deprived and for the majority of us – sex has to be an emotional experience with an emotional connection. The expectation that we should suddenly want to jump back in the sack because the doctor has given you the “all clear” is not realistic for most. Everyone will feel different and each persons relationship will be different. My advice here is to talk to your partner – be vocal about how you’re feeing and when you may feel like taking those steps to having sex. Jumping into sex when you’re not physically and emotionally ready will just be uncomfortable and could lead to you not enjoying it moving forward.
RECOVERY
With postpartum recovery and returning to exercise also needs to come a lot of care and understanding of your own body. Every body will be different as every birth is different. Pelvic floor needs to be looked after, the last thing anyone wants is to make anything worse by jumping into exercise too fast. Prolapse is common for anyone that’s had a vaginal birth, and a hernia is a possibility for anyone that’s had a c-section if you’re not careful. Most women will also have some stage of diarists recti (ab separation) which if not looked after can never recover fully.
The road to returning to full strength is long – but necessary. It’s not a race – and everyone will be at different stages. Take your time – don’t compare yourself to anyone. It took you 9 months to grow your baby (or babies in my case) it’ll take just as long – if not longer for your full fitness to return.
some guidelines
For me- fitness is my job, my life. My body has muscle memory, I understand how it works, and it’s used to working in a certain way for years. For me that means I may be able to do things – others can’t, and do them earlier. In saying that – there are a few rules you should stick to below.
- No ab work until 12 weeks. Deep core breathing, oblique work and pelvic floor engagement is absolutely fine. However nothing that puts pressure on the rectus abdominus (your 6 pack muscles) including crunches, planks, push ups etc.
- No lifting heavy weights straight away. Lifting heavy things puts a lot of pressure on your pelvic floor muscles. While you’re recovering its imperative you build those muscles up first before adding weight to it. For a c-section recovery adding weight too early can end in a herniation as well. So take it easy
- If it hurts STOP. I mean this is the rule with any sort of training anyway – but even more so postpartum.
- No running, jumping, skipping until you can do 10 star jumps without weeing yourself. I’m deadly serious. The risk of prolapse from jumping around too early is high. Do you want to be wearing nappies for the rest of your life? Didn’t think so.
- Do you pelvic floor exercises every day. You can do these anywhere from in the car, in bed, sitting at your desk – on the couch. You can do these from day 1 as well – so start early.
Look after YOU
At your 6 week check with your OB or doctor I highly recommend also seeing women’s health physio so they can assess where you’re at as well. Being told by your doctor you’re cleared to “return to exercise” doesn’t give you a good scope of what’s ok and what’s not. A women’s health physio can give you a more guided and timelines approached so you can feel strong without hurting yourself or doing more damage.
I cannot WAIT to start back Figure Babes next week – but even more exciting is my postpartum workout program will start filming too. I am going to bring you 12 workouts you can do from 6 weeks post Bub – to start you on your fitness journey.
Babe – feeling strong, getting those endorphins flowing is so important as a new Mumma when lack of sleep, crying babies and hormones are wild. Babies need a patient, calm mum and moving your body will help dramatically.
I’m back baby – and I can’t wait to have you along for the ride.