After having a baby, many women are excited to get back to their pre-baby workout routine. There are various postpartum core exercises out there. But, it is important to find the one that fits your specific needs. Whether it’s yoga, running, weight-lifting, or a barre class, we want to teach you the number one exercise you should do after having a baby BEFORE you start any other activity.
Regardless of whether you have a C-section or vaginal delivery, this is the single most important postpartum core workout to master before you start working out.
Importance of Strengthening Your Core Postpartum
Rebuilding core strength after pregnancy is crucial for new moms. The body goes through many significant hormonal and physical changes during pregnancy. As the core muscles extend, stretch, and weaken during pregnancy, postpartum women might experience issues such as diastasis recti, back pain, and posture changes. Therefore, regaining strength and improving core stability with targeted exercises in postpartum period is an important part of recovery.
Is It Safe to Do Postpartum Core Exercises After Giving Birth?
Yes, there are various safe and effective postpartum core exercises. However, it is important to get proper guidance to find the right exercises that fit your needs and perform them correctly. For example, it is generally recommended to avoid crunches or spine flexions in early postpartum period especially if you are dealing with ab separation or other core and pelvic floor issues. It’s best not to rush postpartum core work and consult your physician or a physical therapist to help you gain strength and stability safely with the correct ab exercises tailored to your postpartum recovery needs.
When to Start Postpartum Core Exercises?
Everybody has a different postpartum journey and the timing to start exercising can vary based on factors such as delivery type, complications, and your overall fitness level. Although most moms can start doing light core activation exercises like breathing exercises shortly after vaginal delivery, it is generally recommended to wait at least 6-8 weeks postpartum (potentially longer after a cesarean section) or until your physician clears you.
Postpartum Abdominal Exercises: Engage Your Transverse Abdominis!
The deepest layer of your abdominal muscles is called the Transverse Abdominis (TrA). This muscle group is important because it stabilizes your pelvis and lower back, plays a role in decreasing incontinence, and helps stabilize and close a diastasis recti (the separation of the rectus abdominis muscle also known as six-pack ab muscles and linea alba – connective tissue).
There can be a lot of different ways to use your other muscles to compensate during this exercise, so if you feel like you are compensating, it’s important to have your transverse abdominis strength evaluated by a professional.
To learn how to engage your transverse abdominis, check out the video below featuring Hina and Elayne showing postpartum abdominal exercises to safely strengthen your TrA muscles or read the steps below:
How to Engage Your Transverse Abdominis Safely Postpartum:
- Lie on your back and get into good pelvic alignment. To do that, place one hand on your pubic bone and the other hand on your sternum. Make sure your pelvic bone and sternum are flat, meaning they aren’t tilted too far forward or back. Adjust by tilting your pelvis backward or forward to get it flat and parallel to the floor. Once you have neutral alignment in your pelvis, remove your hands and keep that posture.
- Place your hands an inch above and an inch in from the two pelvic bones you feel on your pelvis. With this placement, you will be on the area of your Transverse Abdominis.
- Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out and make a “shhhh” sound as you exhale. When you do, you should feel a tensioning underneath your fingers that feels similar to saran wrap going over a bowl—that means you’ve engaged your Transverse Abdominis. If you feel a bulging and it doesn’t feel like saran wrap, it means you’re compensating with other muscles in your abdomen.
- After you find your Transverse Abdominis muscles, repeat and when you feel that tensioning, stop and try to maintain the contraction for about 10 seconds as you breathe normally in and out. You want to work your way up to doing it 10 times and holding it for 10 seconds. You can do this 2-3 times per day.
- After you get comfortable doing this laying down, you can try it in different positions, such as sitting, standing, or on all fours.
- Once you’ve mastered this action, incorporate it into all your other core workouts for postpartum. Before you do any type of movement, you want to engage your transverse abdominis to adequately support and protect your core.
What to Avoid When Doing Postpartum Core Exercise?
Your core changes during pregnancy and postpartum core strengthening exercises can be life changing for your healing process. Here are some common mistakes to avoid in your postpartum fitness routine:
- Do not rush: take your time to start ab work after giving birth to avoid injury
- Use proper form and caution: make sure to perform the exercises in the correct form and with caution
- Not activating deep core muscles with targeted exercises and only working the superficial abs
- Not checking for diastasis recti before starting postpartum exercises
- Ignoring pelvic floor muscles: make sure to do proper pelvic floor exercises if you are experiencing any weakness or dysfunction
Unsure if you’re doing it right?
Contact the experienced postpartum physical therapists at Rebalance Physical Therapy. Our team of experienced physical therapists can help you learn to engage your transverse abdominis and provide safe progressions with correct postpartum core exercises as you return to physical activity. We can also help with other postpartum conditions or pelvic floor dysfunctions to help you get back to feeling like yourself.
