Getting back into exercise postpartum

[Anonymous]

Did you find it was better to ease in, or to jump in? I've started back pretty intensely but am feeling really exhausted. I've read that it's better to ease in but I have a specific weight loss goal for late July - DC will be 6 months. I'm breastfeeding but only getting up once at night. Tips, advice, experiences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you find it was better to ease in, or to jump in? I've started back pretty intensely but am feeling really exhausted. I've read that it's better to ease in but I have a specific weight loss goal for late July - DC will be 6 months. I'm breastfeeding but only getting up once at night. Tips, advice, experiences?

Ease in, girl. Set a daily or weekly goal and if it feels right increase the intensity. Don't start too hard and burn out.

[Anonymous]

You might want to ease up on the specific weight loss goals, because really, what does it matter if you're still 10 lbs or 5 lbs over your "ideal" at that point? It really doesn't. I had lost most of the weight at 5 months out, but I also wasn't able to breast-feed, which I think was a factor in that. (my daughter also wasn't night-feeding after 3 months, which helped too.)

I was a daily exerciser before my pregnancy and I had a normal, non-complicated pregnancy so I continued working out nearly every day during the pregnancy. I never really stopped, so it was easy to ramp it back up again. I was still running until early in my 9th month, and I was able to start (slowly) running again about a month post-partum. Before that I was walking, lifting weights and doing yoga. I had to avoid the arc trainer for maybe 2 months post-partum because it hurt where I'd torn and been stitched up, and I didn't want to do any damage.

Everyone is different. You may have to ease up on yourself a bit. I never lost the last 5 lbs and my clothes don't fit like they did before, despite all the exercise. That's just life.

[Anonymous]

Ease in for sure, and focus on stabilizing muscles. You're at heightened risk of injury because the relaxin is still in your system until after you wean, so your ligaments are loose.

[Anonymous]

I can't remember exactly when I started exercising again since I had a C section both times, but I pretty much was active as soon as I could be, starting with walking, then back to yoga, then Nordic skiing, and now running. I was super cautious at first when I was still BFing because of the whole loose joints thing, and I found my sciatica from pregnancy was reactivated if I did too much. Now it's completely gone though.

A note re: weight loss: I couldn't lose at all till I weaned. I actually gained. Everyone around me had the opposite reaction to nursing which was super frustrating but it was just the hormones. So don't beat yourself up too much if that is the case for you too. I'm back to my old self now, one year postpartum.