Post Pregnancy Exercise
Prior
to beginning any
post pregnancy exercise
program it is important to obtain clearance from your
family doctor. A cesarean birth, episiotomy, a difficult birth or
other complications may require you to wait 12 weeks before beginning a
workout
regime.
Many
physical changes
that occur during pregnancy persist for 4-6 weeks
after delivery so exercise intensity should resume very gradually.
Consideration needs to be given to the stresses placed on the pelvic
floor when choosing a post partum exercise program. After a normal
vaginal delivery, non ballistic exercises can be commenced as soon as
comfortable, with special attention placed on the pelvic floor and
abdominal muscles. Activities that place an increased gravitational
load on the pelvic floor such as running or high impact aerobics should
be delayed until you receive clearance from your attending
physician.
Post Partum Exercise Ball Exercises
Exercises
here are
gentle on the
abdominals to start. Your pelvic floor and abdominal muscles have been
over-stretched and are therefore very weak.
Exercises must
- Isolate and strengthen the deep abdominal muscles
- Retrain the stretched pelvic floor muscles with kegels and gentle ball exercises
- Stretch or strengthen the multifidus muscles
- Re-educate the stabilizing musculature
It is very important that you are able to recruit the stabilizing musclulature prior to attempting anything more advanced.
Click on each exercise for a full description:
