The lessons you want to learn now as a new mom so you can easily achieve your postpartum fitness goals faster.
Going through postpartum recovery four times has taught me a lot about postpartum fitness. Firsthand experience is sometimes even better than educational experience.
I am a physical therapist and graduated from the #1 ranked school for physical therapy in the US, but where I gained the most knowledge on postpartum recovery and fitness was with each of my four babies.
My body changed and adapted differently with each one, yes, but through the difference I learned so much, and I hope to teach you some of my biggest lessons learned when it comes to postpartum fitness.
1. Don’t rush your first postpartum workout.
Don’t rush your first postpartum workout. Initially I thought I needed to go back to the way I used to do my ab workouts because that’s what I had been doing for years.
I did the sit-ups and crunches and planks and all of the above, so initially I thought that’s the only way to do it.
I was so wrong.
I had to really think back to my trainings in physical therapy school about slow progression, targeting the inner core muscles and healing.
Healing is so important, and healing can be improved with exercise but also with rest.
Knowing what to do and when is so important.
I’m thankful to have my physical therapy training to help guide me. But for you as a new mom, I want you to think about rest and very little exercise when you first get started with your initial postpartum ab workout. Start here with this postpartum workout and use this as a guide to your first ab workout during postpartum recovery.
2. Lower your expectations of what a workout routine should look like
You won’t have a workout routine set in place for several months, and maybe even a year, after having a baby.
Schedules, routines, planners and all things organization really go out the window when you just have a baby.
And yes, the fitness world is designed around workout planners and calendars because it helps to set good healthy habits and puts our workouts on autopilot after the habits are formed.
But creating healthy habits early during postpartum is very unlikely, and understanding this and accepting this now is going to save you a major headache and stress later.
The early stages of a baby’s life are so unpredictable that we as moms can’t create a routine around it. It’s practically impossible.
Until your baby sleeps and eats on a regular basis, your workouts and your routine won’t be regular either.
So your goal is to teach your baby to sleep and eat well early on in your baby’s life so that your life can become more normal.
That is what’s most important in order to accomplish the ultimate mommy workout routine.
3. Stop focusing on weight gain and weight loss
Don’t focus on weight gain and weight loss; instead, focus on the muscle gain and strength progress.
We are so focused as pregnant women on how much weight we gain with each doctor’s check-up.
Did we gain too much or too little?
It’s like a game, a game that’s hard to beat. But the game doesn’t stop after we have our baby, the game continues and the weight loss is an even harder game to win.
Let’s not try to win that game quite yet, but focus on something completely different.
Focus on gaining muscle and improving strength.
Ultimately that’s what’s most important when it comes to your body image and recovery.
I know I hopped on the scale a bunch of times the first week after giving birth, and I continued to do it several weeks and months into postpartum recovery. Not the best idea.
What I want to encourage you to do is focus on improving your muscle tone and overall body strength, feel your body for changes to your skin and muscles and see what you can find.
Do you find new muscles forming, do you feel your skin tightening up again? Do this instead of hopping on the scale for the first 1-3 months. You’ll be more motivated and less discouraged.
4. Having the perfect nursing sports bra can make all the difference
Find a great sports bra that you can wear during your workouts and also wear to instantly breastfeed.
Yeah, you might be sweaty and your baby won’t want to latch on, but if you just quickly wipe down your body to rid yourself of the sweat using these natural body wipes, then your baby will nurse in the middle of your workout.
Changing from nursing bra to sports bra throughout the day is a pain and will eventually deter you from working out at all.
That happened to me.
I didn’t own a nursing sports bra, so I would change my bra constantly throughout the day which was quite a nuisance.
Ultimately, I ended up avoiding working out at all in the early stages of postpartum recovery because my baby was nursing around the clock.
I could barely find a time to work out. But if I had a nursing sports bra, I would have definitely exercised more often knowing I could quickly just feed my baby without having to change my clothes.
Photo Credit: Kindred Bravely – Sublime® Hands-Free Pumping & Nursing Sports Bra
If you are looking for a supportive nursing sports bra that is easy to use when you’re ready to quickly feed your baby, check out Kindred Bravely’s Sublime® Hands-Free Pumping & Nursing Sports Bra.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
**It is important to always consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program and get medical clearance. Always warm up thoroughly and stretch after all workouts. LiveCoreStrong.com and Jena Bradley will be not be responsible or liable for any injury sustained while exercising at home, gym or elsewhere. Perform exercises at your own risk.
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