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Home › Articles › Fitness › Gentle Postpartum Fitness

Gentle Postpartum Fitness

You Can Start Right Away

By Kelly Burgess

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The Kegel exercise is one that doula and childbirth educator Jan Mallak wishes every girl was taught about when she reached puberty. "When I give my mother-daughter classes, I give the girls and their mothers a handout on Kegel exercises," says Mallak. "If we could get every female to get into the habit of doing them on a regular basis, their pelvic floor muscles would be in excellent shape for birthing and would recover much more quickly."

Even if you didn't do your Kegels before having a baby, you can start them right afterwards, as soon as 24 hours after giving birth. To do a Kegel properly, just tighten the same muscles you would use to hold back your urine. Try to focus on relaxing all your other muscles. Hold for a count of 4 and release. As they get easier, hold for a longer count. As a bonus, Kegels will also help you avoid postnatal incontinence and pelvic prolapse.

Posture Pull
These strengthen the mid and upper back muscles and improve posture, which is important after the beating your back has taken trying to balance the additional load of pregnancy. It's as simple as squeezing shoulder blades together, holding for a count of 5 seconds, and then releasing.

Heel Slides
Start these a week or so after giving birth. They strengthen abdominals and decrease lower back strain. Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Tighten abdominal muscles as you slide one leg along on the floor and do a couple of tight ankle circles.

Pelvic Tilt You can start doing these with the heel slides. They strengthen abdominals, improve posture and ease lower back strain. Lie on your back, with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Raise your hips off the floor starting with your tailbone and slowly lifting one vertebra at a time until only your waist is resting on the floor. Hold for 5 seconds. Slowly return to starting position. Begin with 8 and work your way up to as many as 24.

Walking

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