Most women would rather not get on a Horizon treadmill or elliptical machine too soon after they give birth to their children, and about 6-8 weeks after giving birth, this is the right choice for women, according to most doctors.
Most physicians recommend that new moms do not resume any type of vigorous physical activity for about 6-8 weeks after they have a new baby, and that is really only for women who were used to exercising vigorously before getting pregnant and during the first few months of pregnancy.
Doctors advise against women who have never exercised vigorously to start exercising very hard right after having a baby (the six to eight weeks still applies though), because putting too much stress with no muscle memory or endurance memory in the muscles and the body can really put a lot of stress on the bones and muscles, which are a tad more fragile after moms give birth.
As far as moderate activity though, most doctors give the green light for women to participate in moderate aerobic and muscle toning activity during pregnancy and shortly after pregnancy. There are even some yoga DVD’s that are geared toward women who have recently given birth, both during and after pregnancy, and some are geared to gently stretch the muscles, while some are more for getting your body back into fighting shape after the baby arrives.
It’s important to not just stop all physical activity during pregnancy, especially if you are a woman who is used to being active. The body will get too used to this, and it will just help in the unlucky part of pregnancy, which is packing on more weight that can often be difficult to shed after the baby is born. However, some women who have high risk pregnancies have no choice but to take it easy.
It’s important to ask your doctor about your individual situation, and what he or she is comfortable with recommending to you with your personal acitivity levels and what type of home exercise equipment would be ok to use, and at what levels you can use it at safely. No one wants to get out of the habit of getting physical activity in, and it may even contribute to post partem depression if you stop all activity and are used to moving around a lot.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2007 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Fitness Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.