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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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As soon as two weeks after giving birth you can start taking walks, as long as it's not power walking. Just be sure to emphasize good posture. De Simone notes that women tend to hunch over strollers and roll their shoulders forward when feeding a baby. The posture pull can help counter "the hunch," but also think about standing up straight when walking.

Even those who weren't fit before they became pregnant can do the easy exercises listed above, but if they do choose to begin an exercise program to get in shape, Leisa Hart says the traditional waiting time is six weeks for a vaginal birth and eight weeks for a C-section. Hart, a mother of two toddlers who is well-known for her Buns of Steel and Fit Mama exercise video series, says a gradual approach is best. Start slowly and work up to a full workout.

"The key is to be patient," says Hart. "Many women become so anxious to get that weight off immediately they get in too big of a hurry. What you need to keep in mind is that the No. 1 priority is to keep healthy and to be a really good mom to that baby. If they're worried too much about losing weight or getting in shape, they can pass that stress on to the baby. Just enjoy this time."

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