Walking: One such exercise that will help you resume activity without being too stressful is walking. Warm up your body before starting. Move your arms in circular motion circle your ankles and move your toes upwards etc. Even with walking make sure you go slow and do not go overboard.
Start with routines of 10 minutes, three times a day and then increase it by 5 minutes till you reach a good walking routine. After reaching a good speed, again slow down and bring your heart rate down before stopping.
Swimming: If you were a regular swimmer before pregnancy, and are now wondering when to get back in water, 6 weeks post delivery is a good time to start. Swimming can make you lose 400-500 calories per hour and doesn’t put pressure on your muscles much. But remember to consult your doctor if you had a difficult delivery.
Some of the strokes which are especially good are front crawl, back stroke and side stroke. Breast stroke is useful in strengthening the upper body but take care and be gentle during the kicking movement as your leg tissue and muscles are still weak.
Abdominal breathing: Abdominal breathing helps you during pregnancy and the tense times during delivery, and it again comes to rescue after pregnancy. Deep breathing through the belly will help you strengthen your abdominal muscles and relax you.
-Start with sitting comfortably on the floor place your hands on your abdomen. Inhale and hold your breath till the count of 5. Exhale and hold it till the count of 5. Repeat it 3 times.
Kegel Exercise: This exercise is to get your pelvic muscles back in shape after the birth process. You can do these sitting, lying down or standing.
-All you have to do is, tighten your pelvic muscles as if you are stopping your stream of urine. You have to tighten them for five seconds a time, four to five times in a row. Start by doing 2-3 contractions at first and then stay longer and try more contractions each time.
Mommy and Baby exercises: Here are some of the exercises that you can do along with the baby. These will not only keep you fit but also give you time to bond with the baby.
One step forward and bend- Stand holding your baby near your chest and take a step forward. Bend the knee of the leg that you have moved forward. Now, return to your position. Repeat this exercise about 15 times. This exercise will strengthen your leg muscles.
With the stroller: You can take your baby with you on a stroller and take a brisk walk or use just the stroller to do squats and leg lifts.
Finally, start your exercise regime only when you feel you are up, physically, to deal with it. Also if you feel any of the symptoms like- excessive bleeding, pelvic or abdominal pain, extreme shortness of breath, exhaustion after even mild exercise, muscle soreness that does not go away within a day or 2 days, stop immediately and consult your doctor.
