Once you have been cleared to exercise after your postpartum check up it can be overwhelming to know how to begin exercising safely again. Remember that your body has just gone through 9 months of pregnancy, plus labor and delivery, or a c-section. Not to mention the current sleep deprivation. And if you are breastfeeding, your body has lots of pregnancy hormones still coursing through your it. You will need to start your postpartum workout slowly and gently and expect your fitness levels to be lower than at the end of your pregnancy. Please listen to your body as you approach the following sequence. This whole postnatal workout can be done slowly, with smaller ranges of motion than depicted in the images, and even just a few reps will build strength.
What’s different about a postnatal workout sequence?
During pregnancy and delivery, whether vaginal or cesarean, the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles take a big toll. The goal of this postnatal workout sequence is to help rebuild strength throughout the whole body, while focusing on stability, breathing, and support through the pelvis and abs.
What should I watch out for when beginning to exercise postpartum?
If you feel any straining in your abdominals, pelvic floor, or lower back try reducing the intensity or range of the movement. Focus on exhaling while doing the hardest part of the movement.
Begin your postpartum workout:
Start with 10 reps or 10 second holds and build up to doing all the exercises 30 times, or holding for one minute.
Belly breathing: Inhale letting your belly gently inflate like a balloon. Exhale and let your belly gently deflate.Pelvic tucks: Inhale letting your belly gently inflate like a balloon. Exhale and press your belly towards the floorBridge: Exhale and press your belly towards the floor, then lift your hips. Keep a small pelvic tuck at the top of the bridge.Hands and knees belly breathing. Breathe into your belly and exhale, engaging your abdominals, all while maintaining a neutral back.CatCow
As you exhale, pull your belly to your spine and round your back. As you inhale arch your back and look up to the ceiling.
Bird dog: Reach opposite arm and leg out while maintaining stability through your back and hips.Modified side plank: Resting on your forearm and knees, exhale and lift your hips up off the floor. Clamshells: Resting on your side, open and close your top leg while keeping your heels together. Lean forward to deepen the intensity in the glutes.
Rotator cuff: Holding a band in both hands, open the band out to the sides while keeping your elbows close to your body.
Sideways band walks: With a band around your ankles, walk sideways.
BONUS: Put these two exercises together once you are comfortable with them
Wall plank: Build up to doing planks by first placing your hands or elbows on the wall. Walk your feet away from the wall until you feel your abdominals engaging.Heel raises: Holding onto a wall, rise up and down on your toes. Wall squats: With your back against the wall, walk your feet forward and sit as if you are sitting in a chair. Make sure your knees do not go past your toes. Go only as deep as you feel comfortable.Supported lunges: Build up to doing lunges by holding onto a chair or countertop.Standing rows: Attach a band to a door handle and pull the handles of the band. Imagine you are trying to squeeze something in between your shoulder blades. Try one arm at a time.Standing chest press: With the band still attached to the door, face away from the door and pull the handles forward to strengthen your arms, chest, and abdominals.Standing tricep extensions: Standing with your knees bent, and body leaning slightly forward while maintaining a neutral back, straighten and bend your arms to strengthen your triceps.
I’d like some guidance from a postnatal trainer
Reach out to Morgana Tessler for a complimentary consultation to discuss any particular issues you may be experiencing postpartum such as diastasis recti, pelvic floor prolapse, lower back pain, or just confusion about how to begin exercising postpartum.
What if i haven’t been cleared for exercise yet?
While you should wait to begin this postnatal workout series until after you have been cleared for exercise, there are safe ways to help your body heal after having a baby.
How can I heal faster from a c-section?
If you had a c-section, you can begin this postpartum workout once you have been cleared for exercise by your ob. Additionally, you can begin loosening up the scar tissue to help your abdominals and pelvic floor heal faster. Here is a great video that shows all the steps.
What if I have diastasis recti?
If you have diastasis recti, you can still do this postpartum workout except for the section on the hands and knees. Learn more about healing your diastasis recti.
Finding ways to stay active can be challenging when you’re pregnant. This isn’t just because you feel heavier and need more rest. The changes in your body affect your ability to exercise. Prenatal yoga is a great way to keep moving, breathing, and staying connected to your changing body.
When a woman is pregnant, her heart beats faster, her blood volume increases, a hormone called relaxin causes ligament laxity, and her balance eventually suffers. The change in hormones doesn’t help either. These developments affect every pregnant person’s ability to exercise, no matter how active they may have been before.
While there are a handful of activities that help pregnant women keep moving and feel better, prenatal yoga is one of the best. Not only will it ensure you’re staying healthy, but it can also help prepare your body for labor and so much more.
There are many benefits to practicing prenatal yoga.
Improves sleep
One thing that can seem impossible during pregnancy is finding the ability to relax and rest. Prenatal yoga is one way to encourage your body to wind down and improve sleep quality.
Lowers pain levels
Prenatal yoga helps tone the muscles in your body. According to Parents, building and maintaining this will help minimize the aches and pains that come with pregnancy. This will also help your body heal after delivery regardless of whether you have a c-section or vaginal delivery.
Helps with labor
That’s right! Prenatal yoga can help ease the process of labor. Part of this comes from the decrease in stress and anxiety that yoga provides. These feelings are normal, especially during childbirth, so having a practice like prenatal yoga under your belt can help control these emotions when the time comes.
There is a range of breathing techniques taught to expecting parents before labor. Yoga is a calming practice that teaches breath regulation and mindful breathing. There is a clear connection here. If you spend the next few months practicing prenatal yoga, you will learn about breathing and how to control it during intense times like labor.
The labor benefits that result from prenatal yoga go beyond that. According to Mayo Clinic, prenatal yoga increases the strength and flexibility of the muscles used in childbirth. Practicing prenatal yoga will improve the endurance of these much-needed muscles.
Promotes the health of your baby
Studies have found a link between yoga and reducing the risk of pregnancy complications. Not only that, but prenatal yoga can help you connect with your baby. As you become more in tune with your body and the life growing within, the connection you have with your baby will grow. Through prenatal yoga, you will receive moments to focus on the baby, which is a true gift.
If you are considering taking up prenatal yoga, be sure to seek instruction from an educated instructor and tell them about your pregnancy. This will help ensure any unique needs you have are met. When done right, the many benefits of practicing prenatal yoga will help as you navigate your pregnancy journey.
Belly binding has been a part of postpartum traditions all over the world for hundreds of years. Unique belly binding techniques can be found in the birth traditions of Africa, Malaysia, Japan, and Latin America.
Many of these traditions use their own unique tying techniques. Such as the knotted bengkung bind from Malaysia, the sarashi wrap from Japan and faja stemming from several different cultures in Latin America. They all however, serve a similar purpose to provide physical and emotional support during the postpartum period.
These wraps are worn during the 40-100 days following birth. In Japan this is called ‘ansei’ and it prescribes 100 days of rest and pampering for a new mother to focus on herself and her baby. A cuerentena is a 40 day period of rest and recovery in many Latin American countries. The period of binding the belly after the baby is born and is sometimes combined with abdominal massage with herbs and oils and a simple, nourishing diet like in the traditions originating from the African diaspora and Latin America.
This practice is widespread in cultures around the world because it is so effective in providing postpartum support. Many women across cultures describe feeling grounded and emotionally supported by the practice, as well as soothing anxiety and grief. Belly binds also support hips and lower back and can provide postural support while lifting and feeding babies. They provide support internally as well, encouraging organs to shift back to prepregnancy position and allow for water and air built up during pregnancy to release. This can reduce bloating and discomfort in the days and weeks after birth. Connective tissue in between the abdominal muscles tends to widen and thin when growing babies, causing diastasis recti. The belly binding practice encourages the gap between the abdominals to close.
It’s these ancient practices that inspired the diastasis splint products on the market today. These products like the Tupler splint are made of elastic, spandex, and velcro rather than using a binding method with a long piece of cloth, however they serve the same purpose to support the back and hug the abdominals.
Though restorative yoga poses often feel like “nothing”, it is the opportunity for release and relaxation that make these poses so powerful. By letting go of tension and releasing into restorative postures you’re strengthening your stress response. The practice of repeatedly calming the body and returning to a resting state activates our parasympathetic nervous system. This can improve our over-all ability to return back to baseline through day to day ups and downs.
Down regulating actions like relaxing the muscles and breathing deeply stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system allowing for more efficient and comfortable digestion. Certain postures can encourage general mobility and circulation in the GI tract.
Check out Morgana’s yoga for digestion series. Great to do after a big meal or to incorporate into your daily practice for digestive health.
Get better sleep
There is a wide spectrum of sleep disturbances, from snoring to insomnia. Even an occasional yoga practice has been shown to help people get a better nights sleep. Some scientists suggest this could have to do with mindfulness, a major component of a yoga practice, and the connection between states of mindfulness and increased melatonin levels. Another study done in 2014 showed that a gentle yoga practice improved sleep for pregnant women. For more information on yoga’s role in better more restful sleep check out this article from Sleep Foundation.
Prop Substitutions
As you dive into your restorative yoga practice, you may find many poses suggesting the use of props. Bolsters, blocks, straps and blankets are great if you have them on hand. However most props can be substituted for items you may already have around the house. Here are some suggestions:
Yoga Block: A large book with thin blanket on top can be placed under hips or shoulders
Strap: A long towel, scarf, or belt made of a soft material can be used as long as the exercise does not require the strap to be fastened.
Bolster: Pillows (or a stack of them), couch cushions, blanket or towel rolled length-wise can all work in place of a bolster.
Blanket:
Experiment! Try stacking and layering your props to achieve the desired effect. Remember that your comfort is the top priority in restorative poses, sometimes it will take a few tries to find the right position!
Some more resources to get your restorative yoga practice started:
Always check with your doctor or midwife before starting any movement postpartum. Most women will get the green light on beginning with these gentle exercises.
Postpartum exercise, healing from pregnancy and delivery
As a prenatal/postnatal personal trainer I was well aware that it takes time for a woman’s body to heal after giving birth. And yet, somehow with my own body I was surprised after my daughter was born to find that my belly felt like a squishy, spongy pillow. Not to mention that I still looked very pregnant. I can not emphasize enough how important it is to give yourself the time, space, and kindness that your body and mind need to heal. I struggled with the pressure to return to my postpartum body as quickly as possible, but I now cringe when I hear women talk about needing to “bounce back”. Your body just grew and birthed a human being. Can the goal instead be to heal and recover from pregnancy and childbirth?
1. Walking postpartum
Start going for short gentle walks as soon as you are up for it. According to Mayo Clinic “If you had an uncomplicated pregnancy and vaginal delivery, it’s generally safe to begin exercising a few days after giving birth or as soon as you feel ready. If you had a C-section, extensive vaginal repair or a complicated birth, talk to your health care provider about when to start an exercise program.” Begin by taking walks at a pace that feels comfortable for you starting with 5-10 minutes and building up to 30 minutes a day. I also found this reduced fussiness in my baby if I took her out in the stroller.
2. Belly breathing
Belly breathing is an effective way to reduce stress and anxiety, as well gently restore health in the abdominals and pelvic floor. This video from Yoga Tune Up demonstrates and explains how to practice belly breathing. It is easiest to learn laying down and can be done in bed or on the floor. Once you’re comfortable breathing on your back, try doing it while seated or standing. I often practiced it while sitting up feeding my baby.
3. Pelvic tucks
Pelvic tucks are a safe way to start strengthening your core and pelvic floor postpartum. Building on the belly breathing (see video above), begin by laying on your back, with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Inhale, expanding your belly with air, as you exhale draw your belly button in and up, while gently pressing your lower back towards the floor. Inhale and return to a relaxed position. Repeat 10x.
4. Neck and shoulder exercises for new parents
A vital part of postpartum care is shoulder and neck stretches to relieve tension from feeding, holding, and caring for your baby. No matter how you are feeding your baby, caring for a little one involves a lot of awkward positions, holding, picking up, and putting down, which can result in neck and shoulder tension. This sequence typically helps reduce aches and pains caused by feeding and caring for your baby and can be done as needed or every day to prevent tension.
5. Icing and elevation for postpartum healing
In the same way you would be advised to elevate and ice after an injury or surgery in your knee, the same advice can be given following a vaginal or c-section delivery. Padsicles are a great way to ice your vagina postpartum. There are also DIY padsicles. Try to spend some time every day laying down to help elevate your pelvis and abdomen.
Additional resources for postpartum healing and recovery
For guidance on how to exercise after you’ve been cleared for exercise from your doctor or midwife, reach out to Morgana Tessler for a complimentary consultation to check for diastasis recti, and discuss a postnatal workout plan that is safe, effective, and enjoyable for you.
As we age we lose up to 13% of our dopamine receptors. Exercise can prevent this decline. An article for the The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley outlines how exercise can reshape our brain’s reward systems to circulate more dopamine and have more available dopamine receptors. Meaning, moving our bodies can make us more sensitive to joy. A regular physical practice of any kind can help to combat depression and increase motivation in all aspects of your life.
2. Exercise boosts the immune system.
Restorative movement like yoga and pilates can be a powerful tool in reducing stress and strengthening your bodies natural defenses. Breath work conditions our respiratory system, stretching and strengthening cleanses and tones our vital organs. To read more about how exercise is an excellent tool in boosting our immune system check out our January blog post Boost your immune system with yoga and food.
3. Exercise improves learning and memory.
Exercise builds more than physical strength and balance. This article discusses recent studies that have been done investigating the hormone Irisin, which is released during physical activity, and its connection to improved cognitive function. Exercise not only conditions our bodies, but also our brains.
Engaging in physical challenges (big and small) allows us to access neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity helps us learn and adapt to stress and challenges far beyond our workout. For more information about why exercise is a great tool for building cognitive function check out the podcast below.
There is no better time to bolster your immune system! Immunity can be cultivated through many different parts of your life. This post is meant to provide some quick inspiration of immune boosting techniques you can incorporate easily into your week.
Moving for Immunity
There are many factors contributing to our immune health. Managing stress is a major contributor. Restorative movement like yoga and Pilates can be a powerful tool in reducing stress and strengthening your body’s natural defenses. This article gives a concise explanation of how a movement practice like yoga can benefit ones circulation, muscles and joints and overall immune health through postures breathing exercises.
If you’re interested in incorporating yoga and Pilates into your weekly movement practice I’d like to invite you to join me to my online Yoga and Pilates class every Sunday at 10 AM (est). For more information click the button below
Supplements like Vitamin D and zinc aid the adaptive capacity of the immune system. Many foods contain these vitamins and others which can boost our immunity. Foods like citrus, dark green brassicas like broccoli and kale, ginger and garlic can be great tools in building your immune system.
Research has found that beta glucan is another edible immune booster. Foods containing beta-glucans activate your immune system and better prepare your body to combat invaders and adapt to a changing environment
Beta-glucans can be found in a variety of foods. Whole grains like oats, barley, and whole wheat flour, seaweed, culinary mushrooms like Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms, and medicinal mushrooms like Turkey Tail and Reishi.
Lemon Ginger Tea
Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Thinly slice lemon and ginger, steep 5-10 minutes.
Strain and pour into your mug, add honey if you’d like!
I know a lot of you are unsure of what you need in terms of equipment to workout at home, so I created this blog with my favorite at home workout equipment. All of our lives have changed dramatically and suddenly in the past few weeks. With so many aspects to rearrange and figure out, it’s easy to let exercise fall to the wayside. But I believe that now more than ever we need to prioritize exercise because much of our movements of daily life have been reduced or eliminated, and our stress levels are at an all time high.
There are a lot of exercises you can do at home with just your body weight. So the first piece of workout equipment I would recommend is a good yoga mat. Here is a helpful article about different types of yoga mats so you can find the one that best fits your needs. Additionally, yoga blocks, and a strap are useful items for stretching at home. For help with very tight muscles, try a foam roller. There are a lot of options, but here’s a good all purpose foam roller.
Bands are the cheapest, easiest to store, and most versatile piece of exercise equipment for at home strength training. I recommend two types of exercise bands to create a pretty complete at home workout series. There are circular bands you can put around your legs to create resistance for your hips. These can be used for clamshells or side stepping. They come in a variety of resistances so I recommend getting a package. The long bands with handles can, to a large extent, replace weights which saves a lot of space. You can attach them to doors or pin them under your feet and then pull on the handles for exercises like bicep curls, rows, and overhead presses. Again they come in a variety or resistances, so get a few options.
Adjustable dumbbells are a bigger financial investment, but are definitely a good choice if you prefer to lift weights and don’t want to take up your whole living room with a weight stack. These allow you to recreate a lot of the gym experience as the weights typically range from 5-50 lbs, but only take up the space of one set of weights. This will give you a lot more versatility for your home workout.
For more ideas on building a home workout, I recommend this article from The New York Times Wirecutter.
Bone density is of particular concern to women. Especially postmenopausal women and women who are pregnant or nursing. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information regarding what is safe and effective for healthy strong bones.
With headlines from the New York Times stating that Vitamin D and Calcium Don’t Prevent Bone Fractures and research from the British Medical Journal showing that calcium supplements could increase the risk of myocardial infarction it is becoming clear that the ways to improve bone density are complicated and less well understood then we previously thought. I decided to dig around and see if I could find anything useful. I wanted to know more about supplements, diet, exercise, alcohol, smoking and even stress to see what is known, unknown, or still up in the air in terms of healthy bones.
Eating for bone density
The first thing I looked into was calcium, both in food and supplement form. Here’s a video that digs into some of the studies showing that calcium supplements are not effective in improving bone density. The video also talks about calcium in the diet. It seems that there is not a very compelling argument for eating large amounts of calcium either. But don’t go lower than 500 mg a day or there are clear bone issues. Despite these recent studies, the recommendation is still to eat 1000 mg a day for the general population and 1200 mg for women over 50 or who are pregnant or lactating. With conflicting information, personally, I’m going to err on the side of caution and aim to get close to 1000 mg of calcium a day through a healthy diet. But how to eat that much calcium? And what does that look like in a normal diet? And what if you don’t eat dairy, or don’t want to eat many servings of dairy every day? These were the questions I’ve been digging around trying to find answers for. The National Osteoporosis Foundation provides a list of top calcium rich foods with collard greens and some seafood being surprisingly good sources of calcium. My favorite post on calcium rich foods is from a vegan nutritionist who shows how to combine calcium rich foods in tasty and simple ways to easily reach 1000 mg of calcium a day. I strongly recommend looking at it, even if you include dairy and meat in your diet. One of my favorite combinations from this blog is dried figs and almonds. They are both high in calcium, and it seems almonds have bone health benefits beyond their calcium content.
As I continued digging around in the calcium bone density world I quickly found that as well as calcium, one of the big recommendations is to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and legumes for bone health. We all know we should be eating more from that list anyways, so here’s one more good reason!
While eating healthy foods, I’ve been focusing on the ones that are also high in calcium. Such as broccoli, soymilk, almonds, chia seeds, white beans, and citrus. I would like to take a moment to highlight chia seeds as a particularly helpful food when trying to increase the calcium in your diet. In just two tablespoons of chia seeds you get 160 mg of calcium, plus omega-3’s, zinc, magnesium, iron, and even protein. See below for my favorite chia seed pudding recipe. Vitamin D is seemingly also of great importance when it comes to bone health.
Chia Seed Pudding
This recipe makes a perfect breakfast, snack or dessert. Make up a big bowl and store it in the fridge to use throughout the week.
INGREDIENTS:
4 tablespoons chia seeds
1 cup unsweetened milk of choice, I prefer soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Maple syrup, honey or other sweetener to taste (optional)
Fresh or frozen fruit
Mix the chia seeds, milk, vanilla, and sweetener together and allow to sit overnight or for at least 2 hours. Stir and add fruit.
Chia seed pudding with berries
Exercise for bone health
Then comes the exercise component. Everything from walking, running, dancing, aerobics, weight lifting, and now even yoga, has been shown to help build or maintain healthy bones. Here’s a list from the National Osteoporosis Foundation on exercise for bone health and from Harvard on the importance of weight bearing exercises.
It is often overlooked that exercise has benefits beyond bone density that impact overall fracture rates. Exercise increases strength, coordination, body awareness, and balance. All of these are key factors in preventing bone fractures caused by falls. Which might in-part explain why Yoga has been shown to be helpful in preventing bone fractures. The New York Times recently wrote about a decade long study following over 200 people (mostly women) with osteopenia or osteoporosis who practiced yoga for 12 minutes a day. The result was 0 fractures during that decade, and some improvement in bone density in the spine and femur.
However, there are some things to avoid if you already have osteoporosis, such as deep twists and flexion of the spine (rounding the spine forward). Learn more about the do’s and dont’s for yoga and osteoporosis. Stress is another culprit in bone loss. It is worth noting that the 12 minutes of yoga described above included savasana, the part at the end of a yoga class where you lay on your back, close your eyes, and breath.
Other lifestyle factors that impact bone density
And last, but not least, smoking, not surprisingly, is bad for your bones. The WHO states that an estimated “one in eight hip fractures is attributable to cigarette smoking”. However, the risks seem to decrease for people who quit smoking. Interestingly alcohol seems to have evidence for and against it with moderation being key.
What to do for bone health
In the end it all starts to sound like the usual healthy lifestyle prescription, with an emphasis on a few foods. With so much new research coming out and differing opinions in the medical profession I would recommend regularly checking in with your doctor to make sure that you are on the best program for you. For me personally, I’m going to focus on healthy lifestyle choices as well as lots of walking, yoga, Pilates and weight lifting as exercise for healthy bones. For diet, I’m working on ensuring adequate vitamin D, lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts with an emphasis on calcium rich ones such as kale, beans, almonds, chia seeds, figs, and citrus. Oh, and stress reduction. That’s always the hardest one to remember.
Let me know if you have any questions from all this, I’m happy to send more links!
Chocolate smoothies make me think of visiting my parents in Costa Rica where local cocoa powder is added to everything. So for Valentine’s Day I thought it would be fun to make a chocolate smoothie packed with heart healthy omega 3’s, strawberries, and spinach.
Smoothies are one of the easiest ways to pack in a lot of healthy ingredients in a delicious and convenient way. This chocolate smoothie is one of those examples of something that tastes like it must not be that good for you, but it actually is. Packed with spinach, cocoa powder, chia seeds, hemp hearts, strawberries, soymilk, and bananas it comes out so thick and creamy it almost seems like a chocolate milkshake. Perfect for a quick, yet very filling and delicious breakfast or snack.
Ingredients:
1 cup baby spinach
1 cup frozen strawberries (you can use fresh, but frozen is
better during the off season)
1 cup soymilk
1 large banana or 1.5 medium bananas
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon hemp hearts
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (non-alkaline)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a high speed blender and
blend until smooth and well combined. Sometimes the chia
get stuck on the bottom so scrape them off and re-blend
as needed.
