Safe Postpartum Exercises and Workouts

Neck Stretches

Breastfeeding andbaby holdingcan really make your neck stiff. Be sure to relax your neck a few times each day.

1. 轻轻滴脖子向前,让体重of your head pull your neck and stretch it, holding for 5 to 10 seconds.
2. Lift your head and drop your right ear to your right shoulder, again taking care to be gentle in your movements. Let it rest there for 5 to 10 seconds.
3. Repeat on the left side.
4. Once again returning to center, carefully relax your head backward, gazing upward and holding for 5 to 10 seconds.

Upper Body Exercises

Certified personal trainer and mother of four Heather Black suggests the following routine to work the upper body. You can do all these exercises standing or sitting (on a chair or an exercise ball):

• Bicep curls: Start with your arms at your sides, fully extended with palms facing forward, holding a light weight in each hand. Raise your hands until your elbow is bent to 90 degrees, keeping your wrists straight. Lower and repeat.
• Shoulder presses: Start with arms bent so your hands are near your shoulders, palms facing out, with a weight in each hand. Extend your arms up to vertical, then slowly lower and repeat.
• 侧举: Hold your weights at your sides, palms facing in toward your body. Lift your arms up and out to the side, stopping when they are extended straight out from your shoulders in a T-shape. Lower and repeat.
• Overhead tricep extensions: Use one weight. Hold it over your head with both hands (your arms will be extended straight up). Keeping your elbows pointing forward, bend your arms and lower the weight behind your head. Then extend the arms to raise the weight back up and repeat.
• Bent-over dumbbell rows: Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing the body. Bend over at about a 45-degree angle, keeping your back straight. Lift weights up until your arms are at or just below shoulder height. Slowly lower and repeat, staying bent over for the whole set.

Do 12 to 15 reps of each exercise using light dumbbells. Perform three to five rounds as a circuit, once or twice a week.

Core Exercises

Although many postpartum women are especially focused on their abdomen after birth (it underwent some amazing changes to grow a baby), it's not a good idea to jump right into many of the traditional abdominal exercises like sit-ups, planks, and crunches.

In order to prevent the condition from becoming permanent, it's important to be intentional with your abdominal training, says trainer Heather Black. Many core exercises can actually exacerbate the condition, causing the center of your abdomen to “cone” or form into dome shape.

Black recommends these restorative strengthening exercises, along with the curl-up progression (detailed in the next section), for the core and pelvic floor after birth. Aim to spend 5 to 15 minutes per day on these exercises.

Deep Belly Breathing

Your breathing is likely to feel different for the first few days after giving birth as your organs return to their former positions. Deep breathing can help in your physical and emotional recovery from childbirth.

Place your hands low on your abdomen and practice slowly breathing in until you can feel your hands move. Then, slowly exhale. Repeat 5 to 8 times.

Abdominal Bracing

Begin on your back in a relaxed, neutral spine position. Gently contract your abdominal muscles (imagine you’re about to get punched in the stomach and you need to tense your muscles for protection).

Decrease the space between your rib cage and hip bones. Visualize trying to glue your entire spine to the ground. Hold for several seconds while continuing to breathe normally. Relax, then repeat 10 times.

Kneeling Pelvic Tilts

Start on hands and knees. Take a deep breath in while relaxing the abdomen. As you exhale, brace your core (as above).

At the same time, squeeze your glutes and tuck your pelvis in, trying to decrease the space between your rib cage and hip bones. Release, then repeat 10 times.

这个练习还有助于拉伸背部肌肉s, which are often achy and tight after pregnancy.

Kegels

Pregnancy and childbirth can weaken the muscles of the pelvic floor.Kegelsstrengthen these muscles.

Curl-Up Progression

Instead of jumping right into sit-ups, Black recommends using the following progression to safely regain core and pelvic floor strength:

Head Lifts

Lie on your back with your arms by your sides, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Take a deep breath in and relax your belly.

As you exhale, slowly lift your head and neck. Hold this position for a second or two. Inhale as you slowly lower your head back down to the floor.

Shoulder Lifts

When you can easily perform 10 head lifts, progress to shoulder lifts. Start in the same position.

As you exhale, raise your head and shoulders off the floor while reaching your hands toward your knees. If this strains your neck, gently place your hands behind your head (but don’t pull on your neck).

Hold this position for a second or two and then lower your head and shoulders back down to the ground.

Curl-Ups

When shoulder lifts become too easy, move to curl-ups. From the same starting position, lift your head and torso until you’re about halfway between your knees and the ground.

Reach toward your knees and hold this position for three to five seconds. Slowly lower yourself back to the floor and repeat for 10 reps.

Lower Body Exercises

Just as before and during pregnancy, you don't want to neglect your lower body. Trainer Heather Black suggests the following exercises to work the legs and lower body:

• Squats: For a basic squat, stand with feet about hip- or shoulder-width apart. Bend the knees and slowly squat down, sending hips back while torso stays straight. Keep your head up and extend your arms for balance, if needed. When you return to standing, keep a slight bend in your knees.
• Forward lunges: Stand with legs slightly apart. Step forward and lower until the front knee is almost at a 90-degree angle. Keep your torso straight and engage your core as you step, bend, and return to the start position.
• Romanian deadlifts: Stand with legs hip-width apart, holding dumbbells or a barbell at your thighs. Keeping your shoulders back, hinge forward from the hips, lowering the weight along your legs. Stop when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. To come back up, press hips forward to engage your hamstrings and glutes as you return to standing.
• Reverse lunges: Instead of stepping forward, step back into your lunge position. Hold onto a chair if you have trouble balancing.
• Glute bridges: Start by lying on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Contract your abs and glutes (butt muscles) as you lift your hips up, creating a straight line from your knees to your upper back/shoulders. Hold for a breath and then slowly return to the ground and repeat.

Do 10 to 20 reps of each exercise, holding dumbbells (although most exercises can be performed without them if needed). Perform three to five rounds as a circuit, once or twice per week.