Warning: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace proper medical advice that can be supplied by a physician. It is important to remember that before undertaking any exercise program, you should consult your physician.

October 1, 2007

Having a Baby Changes Everything: Post-Pregnancy Exercise

Had a baby? Get movin’!

Exercise can be a lifesaver for one simple reason: it gives you a break from baby. Even if you don’t have a babysitter, nothing puts a kid to sleep like a walk in a Snuggly or a run with a jogging stroller.

But exercise can be even more important for a new mom. Most experience baby blues and, unfortunately, a few experience post-partum depression. For both, exercise is vital to mental health. It actually alters brain chemicals and even releases the body’s natural opiates – endorphins. Even low activity such as walking has been demonstrated to improve mood and lift mild depression.

Kary Odiatu’s moving meditation

The greatest example of the power of exercise comes from fitness champion Kary Odiatu. After the birth of her son Jordan, it was discovered he was a medically fragile child, forever stuck at the developmental stage of a five-month-old. Instead of being able to take him home, Odiatu spent weeks at the hospital.

"The day I went back to the gym was the day I realized I could go on. I had to take care of myself to take care of my family. Exercise for me became moving meditation."

Odiatu competed only eight months after Jordan’s birth and has gone to have another child – Kylie – and run a successful motivational business.

Exercise and weight loss

Aside from the mental benefits of exercise, it is a major contributor to post-pregnancy weight loss. As previously mentioned, Project Viva found that post-pregnancy weight loss happened with women who watched less than two hours of TV a day, ate few trans-fats, and walked at least 30 minutes daily.

A daily 30-minute walk is the least any new mom can do, but if you want a body that wins, it takes a bit more effort. "After having my kids, I liked (and still do like) exercises that use my own body weight," says fitness model Francisca Dennis. "They are extremely effective and can be done anywhere at anytime."

Sit-ups, push-ups, walking lunges, tricep dips, and running were and still are Dennis’ favorite exercises.

Pro figure competitor Dionne Sinclair slowly started back with group exercise classes offered at her gym. "With a class, you get great instruction for one hour and you don’t have to think," she says. "I found I would talk myself off the treadmill or out of the gym if I wasn’t in an organized exercise class. Once I got my confidence back, I would venture back to the weight room and start lifting again."

Sinclair found it would take at least three weeks of group classes before she started back on the free-weights.

Ashtanga yoga and Strip Aerobics classes helped Kary Odiatu regain her figure. She only goes to the gym three nights a week while her husband stays home with the children. Twice a week she does an intense one-hour circuit-training routine using stair-stepping machines and incorporating chin-ups, squats, and push-ups. She finds this short, intense workout is maintaining her physique.

Finding time

Despite the great benefits of exercise, the number-one reason new moms don’t do it is that they think they don’t have time.

Here’s how the three fitness experts found time:

• Take advantage of nap time: Dennis would do exercise to videos while the babies napped. Odiatu has a fast 30-minute at-home routine she uses – she rides her exercise bike, runs up her stairs, jumps rope, and repeats until finished.
  
  
• Buy a jogging stroller: "My jogger stroller has lots of miles on it. And the older kids can bike along," says Dennis.
  
  
• Gym daycare: "It was great to get out to the house, hand the baby over, and have one to two hours for myself at the gym," says Sinclair. "You also get to meet other moms in the same situation and you get to converse with grown-ups."

Conclusion

Don’t expect to leave the hospital and go to the gym the next day. Giving birth is exhausting and the body needs time to heal. But exercise will help you feel great and coupled with healthy foods and turning off the TV, a new mom will be back in her old jeans in no time!

...Alison Aulph
alison@seriousaboutfitness.com

References: Television, Walking, and Diet: Associations with Postpartum Weight Retention. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 32, Issue 4, Pages 305-311 E. Oken, E. Taveras, F. Popoola, J. Rich-Edwards, M. Gillman.

• Go Back