Lose Your Pregnancy Weight
Safe post-pregnancy exercises
The most important thing is to get back into fitness gradually. Start by investing in a good sports bra. While it's safe to exercise when nursing, you should avoid exercises that make your breasts feel sore – it also helps to work out after feeding your baby when your breasts are less full.
You also need to adapt your fitness regimen to the changes your body went through during pregnancy, says Grace. If you're experiencing incontinence or pain following an episiotomy, pelvic floor exercises will help and you can begin doing them right away. But you should ease back into abdominal exercises, especially if your doctor has told you that you have diastasis recti (a separation between the left and right side of the rectus abdominis muscle, which covers the front surface of the belly area). Head lifts are a gentle ab exercise you can safely start with:
- Lie on you back, knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
- Cross your arms across your belly button, using your hands to pull your side ribs in toward the centre of your body.
- Press your lower back into the floor and inhale.
- As you exhale, lift your chin slowly toward your chest while pulling your abs in toward your spine, keeping your shoulders on the ground.
- Inhale and release slowly.
