Although the pressure on women to bounce back after giving birth can be extremely overwhelming and downright unachievable, many moms find that their sense of self and body image is greatly restored by a return to exercise and the movement modalities and workout styles they used to love. When you’ve been cleared by your doctor and finally have the energy to return to exercise, it can feel intimidating to know where to start. What is safe? What are some realistic goals? How do I make exercise and health fit into the landscape of my life as a new mother? From one busy mom to another, here are some tips to help you regain your rhythm and balance while taking care of a baby and taking care of you!
First, don’t be afraid to start small. Being cleared by your doctor is priority number one. But just because your doc gives you the “thumbs up” doesn’t mean you should return to exercise with ferocity. Your body just went through some wild changes, and it will require a season of rebuilding and repair. Go gently into exercise. Focus on small goals. Walking is a fantastic place to start. How far can you walk at a time? Can you begin to build cardio stamina while you push a stroller? Going for daily walks with baby will bring your step count up and stress down as you both enjoy some outside time. Another area of focus should be on your core. After pregnancy and birth, your core is decimated and often unstable. It just stretched for 9 months and then either helped you push out a baby or was slashed end to end during a C-Section – talk about intense! Deep core breathing, vacuums, and work with a pelvic floor therapist are great ways to ensure that your core is in stable, working order. After all, the core supports the entire body, so make sure you’re strengthening those abdominals to facilitate the proper function of the hips and spine after 9 months of stress! If walking and deep breathing seem like underwhelming goals, that’s okay! Bite sized goals will keep you motivated and create a good base for larger habits to come. After the birth of my children, I usually give myself 3 months of simply walking and repairing my core before I even think of lifting a weight. Slow and steady is the name of the game, because it’s always better to do too little and move slower at first than too much and regret it because of injuries later.
You’re ready to jump into a workout plan, but how will you find the time? The answer is, you won’t! You’ll have to work hard to make time, and it might feel like you need a magic wand to create it from thin air. If you can wake up before the kids to get a workout in alone, I admire you jealously! For the rest of us, we need to find ways to incorporate the little ones into our rhythm. Luckily, babies and young kids are often great exercise companions, although some creativity might be required to keep them entertained. Here are some of the ways I’ve established a home exercise routine with babies or young kids as my audience: I’ve set up baby to watch me from a bouncer, pack’n’play, swing, or other containment apparatus. They love the music and watch with curiosity as mom moves around through a workout. I’ve hung outdoor swings from my basement rafters and pushed my kids between sets. I’ve converted a corner of my basement gym to a toy zone to keep them occupied but close by. I’ve even plopped them in front of a TV (gasp!) or tablet (gasp!) – anything to keep them happy for a workout sized block of time. It has always been crucial to me as a mom to get exercise in – I’m a happier, better, more present mother. So I have a “do what it takes” attitude when it comes to working out with kids around, and that’s okay! If you plan to go to a gym, seek out one with childcare. I’ve even had success asking permission for my kids to accompany me out on the gym floor as long as they’re contained in a car seat or stroller.
There’s no roadmap for becoming a mom, but there are plenty of great coaches who can provide you with a roadmap for returning to exercise. Hiring a coach to help you with a nutrition and workout plan can remove the guesswork and be one less thing you need to ask of your tired brain. Seek out a coach who has experience helping women or new moms. If you’re very newly postpartum, someone with postpartum expertise is recommended. If you’re breastfeeding, ensure that your coach is experienced in helping nursing mothers. As a coach of many new moms and women myself, I know that sometimes the barrier to beginning an exercise program is that you simply can’t put one more ounce of energy into planning a workout schedule or exercise routine. The market for good personal trainers is robust, and you can easily access affordable help. The return on your investment in a personal trainer is that you’ll achieve your goals faster, in a safer manner, and without needing to provide much in the way of brain power. Find a coach who will customize every aspect of your program for you and who you resonate with on a personal level. A great trainer/client relationship can last through many seasons of life and maximize your goals.
It’s likely that returning to exercise will coincide with a renewed focus on nutrition. No matter what your particular nutrition preference or philosophy, getting in meals is harder than ever, and you may find yourself drinking cold coffee and eating leftover Goldfish on more days than you would like to admit. Shifting hormones mean a shifting metabolism, and all of a sudden you can’t get a solid grip on your physique. Meal prepping is the answer to the chaos and crucial for this period of life! Pre-cook proteins like ground beef or turkey, grilled chicken, tofu, or steak, and add it to whatever veggies you have on hand. Meals don’t have to be complicated, but they should be protein rich and filling. Take a multivitamin like Core Nutritionals MULTI to fill in the gaps. Turn to protein shakes like Core Nutritionals ISO to add to your morning coffee for an extra protein boost. Greens powders are also a great way to add vitamins and nutrients when you can’t get in a nutritious meal. (Core Nutritional GREENS in the grape flavor is how I start every morning!) Meals may not be gourmet or even interesting in this period of life – that’s okay! Be intentional about the foods you consume, increase protein, and don’t be afraid to supplement when needed. If you’re breastfeeding, fats and whole foods are your friend. Nursing or not, don’t assume now is the time to slash calories and eat less. Make sure you’re providing your body the fuel it needs! Between recovering from childbirth, breastfeeding, caring for a baby, new stressors, and a distinct lack of sleep, your body needs good nutrition and an extra padding of calories with which to function. You’re caring for a baby, but don’t forget about you. Just like putting an oxygen mask on yourself before you should put one on others in an airplane, you need to ensure that you’re fueled and healthy to ensure the same for your babies and children. So eat well, mama!
The final component to your return to exercise is recovery. To say “get more sleep!” would be laughable. I already know you’re getting as much as you can. And, “sleep when baby sleeps”?!
That’s simply the worst advice of all time. So here is my advice for recovery during a period of time when recovery seems impossible: listen to your body and maximize where you can. Both of my children didn’t start sleeping through the night until they were 18 months old. That’s a long time (boardering on torture!) to be without continuous sleep. It was important that, when I was able to sleep, I got to sleep fast and slept deeply. I often turned to Core Nutritionals ZZZ to help me relax, reduce the dread I felt before a disrupted bedtime, and keep me asleep for as long as I could be. On days when sleep is bad, pull back! There is no need to push yourself when the body is asking you for rest. Listen to those sore muscles, or drooping eyelids, or your pounding head. Take a walk instead of hitting the weights hard. Take a nap instead of hitting the cardio. Sleep can make or break your goals, and when your night times feel more cruel than comforting, it’s okay to listen to your body and reduce stress where you can, even if that comes in the form of a skipped workout.
The season after the birth of a new baby is difficult, but returning to exercise, prioritizing your health, and feeling like yourself again does not have to be. With intentionality, creativity, and forming good habits, you’ll be on the road to that elusive “bounce back”! But, really, there is no bounce back, just progressing forward. You have a whole new body that’s accomplished this whole new, awesome thing: bringing a new human into the world! Give yourself grace, time, and patience. Take baby steps and don’t stop when it gets hard. And know there are many, many women out there, myself included, making it happen, getting fit, raising babies, and cheering you on! From this mom to you – you CAN do it!
Jordan Musser 