Postpartum Update With An At-Home Core Workout!

I’m almost 2 months postpartum and have begun adding some exercise back into my routine. This pregnancy and birth experience took a toll on my body, physically and mentally. I have had to take it really slow and be careful due to hemorrhaging during birth. If I push too heavy of a shopping cart I begin bleeding again. My abdominal muscles are so weak I feel like they are going to just give out. And after 3 pregnancies and birthing a 10 lbs baby, my pelvic floor is in need of some repair. So I’m taking it lightly. It’s so hard because I want to dive right back into hard workouts but my body is not ready yet. I need to slow it down and build up my core so I can perform harder moves in the future. Skipping this step can lead to injury. I want to share my current stats, exercises, and general nutrition for those who are in the same boat as me. First things first, always consult your physician before performing any exercises.

Stats: When I gave birth, I weighed 167 lbs. That was a 42 lbs weight gain for me. I lost about 17 lbs the first week after birth and haven’t lost a pound since. I’ve been stuck at 140 lbs. I haven’t been super focused on losing weight. I took this time to just relax and enjoy my new sweet baby. I just let my body do what it needed to do to heal itself. I feel its so important to just give your body some rest and respect for all that it just accomplished.

Nutrition: As stated before, I haven’t been super focused on weight loss. I have just been focusing on getting enough water and eating for maintenance. I’ve really just been making sure I don’t gain weight. But now as I begin my program, I will be counting macros and following a flexible dieting approach. My husband is on this journey with me and he is going to be following a plate it method approach. I’ll write a blog post about each one!

Exercise: Currently, I’m doing 20-30 mins of steady state cardio on the treadmill 5 days a week and core/pelvic floor work 3 days a week.

Postpartum Core Workout: 12-15 reps of each move/side. Perform in a circuit format, repeat 3 times with a 60 second rest in between.