Social media can be an absolute mind f#ck when it comes to most things, especially in the health and fitness space.
In some cases we have influencers returning to exercise relatively quickly after having a baby, with zero experience as a Personal Trainer, this can create quite big views on a post, often with a ‘Go you attitude’ or ‘mum goals’ mentality, on the other hand it will have the more informed crowd concerned for that persons wellbeing.
This creates great reach for the influencer, it means that they will have people commenting on their reels which means they get seen by a lot more people regardless if it is actually quality content or not. The more people that see it the chances are the more people will be fan ‘girl-ling’ or concerned into giving ‘well meaning advice’, and the cycle continues, more comments = more reach no matter how shit it is. Best advice, don't engage.
On the other hand we have fitness coaches that have a big following or client base, but have zero knowledge of what post natal exercise should start with or looks like or many considerations, then posting their amazing return to the gym very very early after having a baby. Because of their level of following they are essentially doing the same as the influencers above. It is reckless and in my opinion shit. A friend sent me a reel of of a coach lifting weights at the gym, trained by her husband 5 days after the birth of their child, it really pissed me off and is one of the reason's I pretty much don't follow idiots like that. The response was also interesting, but so many arguments from both sides of the coin. These were complex weight lifting exercises, while you are more than likely still bleeding pretty heavy. This approach has definite ‘shock factor’ which in some cases I believe that’s what they were after, it creates views, which is $$ for them.
So what 'should we be doing' because one of the biggest questions with almost the least science behind it is 'when can I work out?'
The most important answer is - It depends....on lots of stuff
The old answer was 6 weeks, but that is more for your doctor to clear you for bedroom activities rather than going back to the gym, they have no idea what your workouts were like beforehand, especially if they haven’t looked at your birth records, checked scarring, have you healed? checked Pelvic floor function or actually asked you any questions that do not fall into the domestic violence or post natal depression categories. Should you go back to your old routine as such, well that depends on what you doing during pregnancy? It really depends on your old routine and what your expectations, goals and your birth histories.
The new answer is dependant on the person, level of sleep they are getting, are they even in the mental space where they are even ready to think about doing any form of exercise, even the most basic shit, but in most cases, you should actually start very restorative things before that 6 week mark. Please note that I am not talking about a full on gym workout, but you should getting your brain and muscles talking to each other, by doing very gentle rehab style work, think of it as very very back to the basic’s, not lifting heavy weights and putting pressure on area’s that are trying to heal, but rather support those area’s with their healing process. Running is 12 Weeks post birth, gradually building up from there, and you should have good Glute med activation, be able to stand on one leg for a decent amount of time, no pain in hips and your core connection should be good.
Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) should be started pretty early after birth, getting the neurological system to send signals to this area is important, obviously if you have tearing/stitches you want to wait until you feel comfortable, but generally can be started within days, but you would also be best to chat to a pelvic floor physio during pregnancy to get a good plan for you, you will then have a good idea of how to correctly perform your PFMT, because that is essential in proper recovery.
Another area that we have massive concern with is the tummy, it depends very much on your birth, and how you recover, but think of it this way, if you had a broken ankle, and you got your cast off, you would probably still require some sort of aid for a few weeks while you worked on strengthening it up and the surrounding muscles to be able to walk properly, this will take time, and the same goes for birth, do the rehab, basic boring stuff, get the brain talking to the core and get that connection, and then you will get stronger and better function, and in the end you will have more success with your return to the gym then if you were to just jump straight back to it. You will understand your body so much more the exercises at the gym will be done in such better form, you will end up fitter than ever, and It can also be deflating if you jump straight back into a gym routine and you just feel limited in what you can do. So by getting a good restorative program, then you are more likely to have better control, balance, function, understanding and feeling in that area. For our birth by belly folk, scar massage and touch around that area is important to get the sensation and feeling back in that area.
This is the same for the glutes, and most people don’t realise how important those glutes are for function when walking and running, they are primary for propelling you forward, but in pregnancy they can get a little bit lazy due to some postural changes, we need to look at what’s going on and getting the over compensating muscles to chill out, and bring the glutes back online, before you return to things like running. There are many many other options before deadlifting your bodyweight.
Our bodies are complex and with pregnancy and post natal this is more so, but I mean what the f would I know, I have only been doing it for 10 years, and heard most mums moaning about the same issues, nope I don’t have a science degree, but I can tell you now, the issues are normally involving lower back pain, hips, knees, shoulders, and many of them wishing they were told things earlier, even I wish I had more information when I had kids 11 and 8 years ago, but then I haven’t got 3 million followers to show off my 5 day post birth body……..
Remember most of us have normal bodies, with fat, rolls, niggly bits, instabilities, and challenges, so doing these crazy arse types of workouts right after having a baby will more than likely fuck you up, maybe not right away, but the next few months or even years down track, address the issues first, pregnancy and birth, parenting a newborn creates tightness I can promise you that, just ask my Foundation class this morning after I put them on a roller and they were shocked how sore and tight some of their muscles were. If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me that they wish they knew this or that when pregnant or post birth I would have a hell of a lot more money than I currently do. This is why I started back doing mums and bub's, but I have far more emphasis on education for our mama's and working the area's that I know are our problem area's, but again its really hard to get that information out there when you content with so much crazy shit online.
For an amazing resource read this great guide by Continence NZ, its all things pregnancy and post natal and has been written by 2 very exceptional Pelvic Floor physio's.
So stop wasting your time with some influencer that you probably don't even know, that has more than enough following, help the little guys out and listen to what they have to say, because I promise you they will be the ones you need, ones that want to see you have a long lasting fitness journey post birth and well beyond rather than a quick fix and a future of issues, because trust me, I would have far less issues now if I had the information back then.
Rant over......... But do the overall message is do the boring shit, you can find that and so much more below, also not just for our preggos or post natal's everyone will benefit. EVERYONE
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