How can Pilates help me after I have had my baby?
By Massage Therapist, Pilates Instructor & pre/post-Natal Pilates Instructor, Katie Harders
You have had your baby; you have been at home adjusting to this new life and you’re feeling ready to get back into some fitness.
But where do you start with your fitness journey so you know you will be safe? and who can you trust with your new body?
We are here to help you navigate this next step of gaining some fitness with this new and different body you now have. Your goals can be as simple as “I want to feel stronger walking with the pram”, or do you want to get back to cross fit or return to long distance running? or maybe you simply want to connect with other mums going through the same thing as you are, so you don’t feel so isolated?
Small group Pilates aimed at the post-natal journey can be a steppingstone to help you to achieve these goals, and I can personally help you with this.
However, there are a few precautions that you will need to tick off before you start Pilates:
- You need to be 6 weeks post natural birth or 10 weeks post C-section. You should have had a check in with your obstetrician or GP. They would have checked all stitches and tears have healed. We always like the all-clear from either of these before you start.
- When you come in, we will check for diastasis recti (abdominal separation) which is very common in pregnancy with one third of women experiencing this. It’s a simple palpation of your abdominals with a cue to activate the appropriate muscles.
After that:
Welcome to the post-natal phases of Pilates!
What Phases do I help you with?
Like any good rehab program you need to be able to ‘walk before you can run’ so let’s go through the phases.
Activation phase:
- 2-6wks gentle walking and pelvic floor exercises- this phase you can do at home once you have learnt the exercises and if you feel comfortable or if you have been to our pre-natal classes we would have gone over what you can start to do.
Laying down solid foundation:
- 6wks to 3 months
- progress to pelvic floor and abdominal activation exercises, into more challenging positions, this will be different for everyone so we will assess this when you return to see where you are at.
- No sit ups allowed!!!
Getting back into the groove:
3 to 6 months post-birth- slowly increase intensity of Pilates exercises
Getting back into what you love:
- 6- 12 months
- You may be feeling back to your new ‘normal’ now, keeping in mind your body will/may be a new version and we will embrace that. In this stage you may have already incorporated some of the sports you wanted to return to after baby or you may be feeling stronger, fitter, and more confident inOf course, I recognise every mum’s post-natal fitness journey will be different, and I believe we offer a non-confronting and fun Pilates class that will support you every step of the way.
You can even bring your little cherubs with you to the class when you join us!For more information about our In-Clinic Natal Pilates classes call us on 07 5500 6470 or join our VIP’s of Gold Coast Physio & Sports Health Facebook Group and ask Katie a question there.
