During the expectation of a child, the woman’s body undergoes significant changes, and not all of them subsequently lead to an improvement in the overall appearance. Indeed: enhanced secretion of special “pregnancy hormones” can turn sluggish and brittle hair into a delightfully lush mane, make a dull and painful complexion radiant, give a special spirituality to the look. But at the same time, the skin on the stomach, chest and arms loses its former elasticity, stretch marks appear, the abdominal muscles are stretched and decrepit, leading to sagging abdomen ... How can you remove the stomach after giving birth to a nursing mother? Exercise will help restore muscle tone, but any exercise should be approached with caution. Why? There are two reasons for this.
Secret dangers
The first obstacle to a slim figure immediately after childbirth is the need to preserve breastfeeding for as long as possible. With intensive sports, the amount of breast milk can decrease dramatically, and in some cases, the precious liquid completely burns out. The second danger is diastasis of the rectus abdominis muscles. This is the name for the divergence of the abdominal muscles, in which heavy physical activity is extremely harmful and can even lead to spinal injuries. Only a qualified doctor can determine the presence of diastasis and adequately assess its degree and potential risks.
Nevertheless, not every young mother with a child can afford to go to the doctors without emergency, especially if there is no one to look after the baby and you have to take it with you everywhere. As a result, many women turn a blind eye to danger, find on the Internet a random set of exercises for the abdomen after childbirth, and get down to business, ignoring muscle pain (which, by the way, may indicate a pathological process, rather than success in loading).
What to do if the stomach does not want to leave, even with a diet, and you want to quickly get back into shape? Start sports with the simplest and most gentle exercises that will not damage the rectus abdominis and allow you to see the much-desired aspen waist in the mirror again.
"Bridge"
Not all workouts are suitable for removing the belly after giving birth to a nursing mother. Exercises of the "bridge" type are a pleasant exception: they do not lead to a decrease in the volume of breast milk and do not harm even with severe diastasis.
- Step 1. Lie on your back, bend your knees, rest your feet on the floor and extend your arms along the body. Take a deep breath and draw in your stomach.
- Step 2. On exhalation, slowly raise the pelvis so that the upper body forms one straight line from the knees to the shoulders. Hold this position for two seconds: take another deep breath, then exhale and slowly lower yourself to the floor.
Modified Hundred Exercise
Many exercises for the abdomen after childbirth are modifications of well-known workouts. The proposed version of the "hundreds" is greatly simplified and is recommended as an initial exercise for women who have recently given birth:
- Step 1. The starting position is similar to that in the above exercise: lying on your back, knees bent, arms outstretched along the spine, palms and feet lying on the floor. Take a deep breath and pull the abdominal muscles tightly.
- Step 2. On the exhale, slowly tear off the head and neck from the floor, take your hands away from the body. Do not forget to keep the abdominal muscles in constant tension. Hold in this position for a couple of seconds, then take a new deep breath and as you exhale, slowly lower yourself to the floor.
Leg breeding
The most famous exercises for abdominal muscles after childbirth include such a popular element as the breeding of arms or legs. Fitness enthusiasts usually add similar training to their program with dumbbells or special weights, however, at the initial stage of postpartum recovery it is highly recommended not to use shells and equipment. Any of the exercises of this type can be performed without additional weight. For those who are interested, an effective modification of leg breeding is proposed.
- Step 1. Lie on your back, put your feet on the floor, bending your knees. Raise your legs separately so that the ankles are at right angles to the floor. Place one palm on your stomach and the other on the floor for extra emphasis.
- Step 2. Tighten the abs muscles and, with a slow, smooth movement, spread the raised legs to the sides until you feel an increase in tension in the muscles. Bring your legs together in the same way.
Pelvic tilt
Some exercises for a flat stomach after childbirth include the use of fitball. You will need a regular large gymnastic ball without a massage effect. The pelvic tilt will be more effective when you are training with the ball, but if you do not have a fitball, this exercise can be done without it.
Lie on your back, bend your knees and rest your feet on the floor or gymnastic ball. Tighten the abdominal muscles and tilt the pelvis back, squeezing the lower body to the floor. Hold this position for five seconds, then repeat the exercise.
"Boat" (yoga)
You may already be fond of yoga. In this case, boldly proceed to your favorite postures and asanas, training relaxation and proper breathing. If you are not confident in your skills, try to start with a simple exercise aimed at lifting the abdomen after pregnancy.
Sit on the floor with your knees bent. Tighten your abs and slightly tilt your torso back while lifting your feet off the floor. Lift your feet until the lower legs form a line parallel to the floor. The back should be straight, hips - at an angle of ninety degrees. Stretch your arms forward so that you are comfortable holding your balance in this position. Keep this position for at least thirty seconds.
Dolphin Strap
Static exercises to restore the abdomen after childbirth are widely known. First of all, we are talking, of course, about the bar and its many varieties. Attention of young mothers is offered an effective bar "dolphin", which will require a gym ball.
Take the starting position for the bar, resting your elbows on the fitball and stretching your legs. Tighten your abs and hips, straighten your back and hold this position for at least thirty seconds. This position can be considered a standard, classic bar, however, to increase the difficulty, experts recommend using a fitball that gives instability to the whole pose.
Side bar
Lie on your side, leaning on an elbow that is in line with the shoulder. Squeeze your hips and feet together, make sure you are in balance, and lift your hips off the floor until your body resembles a straight line. Hold the position for at least thirty seconds. Repeat on the other side while lying on the other side. When you have mastered such exercises for tightening the abdomen after childbirth, add ten to twelve leg lifts from the starting position to the side bar. This small improvement will allow you to train your cortex and thigh muscles better, and will also improve your ability to maintain balance.
Still too complicated?
If you have difficulty performing the above exercises, it is possible that physical training left much to be desired even before the birth of the baby. It’s not worth it to strain yourself to restore harmony - especially if you are breastfeeding. Leave the more difficult workouts for later and move on to the simplest:
- Abdominal breathing. Similar exercises for the abdomen after childbirth consist in deeply feeling the movements of the abdominal muscles during breathing. Allow the muscles to contract and expand as much as possible in each breath. Do not forget that you need to breathe as deep as possible.
- Press tension. Start from the starting position: lying on the floor. Tighten the abs, contracting the muscles of the entire cortex, as if getting ready to hit the stomach. From this position, perform various movements, for example, raising one or both hands above your head or stretching your legs. Remember that the back should lie completely on the floor.
Level up
Exercises for tightening the abdomen after childbirth are not easy, but over time, you will certainly feel that it has become much easier to perform them. This means that you already need to increase the level of training so that the muscles do not get used to the same load and continue to get stronger. There are many types of twisting and other exercises aimed at getting rid of excess fat in the abdomen and are ideal for those who already have some "experience" in fitness.
Twisting Colbert
This workout was recommended by fitness instructor Petra Kolber, who created a whole range of exercises available in the form of ten-minute video files.
- Step 1. Lie on your back, raise your legs, bend your knees at an angle of 90 degrees. The ankles should be parallel to the floor.
- Step 2. Keep your hands behind your head (while your elbows should be strictly looking in different directions, not up) and twist, lifting your shoulders off the floor.
- Step 3. Extend your legs diagonally, cross your ankles and extend your arms over your head. While holding this position, eight times with your feet, alternately move the “scissors”. Return to starting position. Do eight repetitions.
Modified Jumping
What exercises after childbirth (for the abdomen, legs and buttocks at the same time) are recommended by specialists? This is, without a doubt, jumping at point-blank range. They can be modified as you like - depending on the purpose of the training, the degree of physical preparation of the athlete and the required dynamics of the load. The proposed option is suitable for beginner athletes, women with minimal training and young mothers whose body has not yet fully recovered after the birth of a child.
- Step 1. The starting position is as for a squat, but you need to lean forward a little and rest your palms on the floor.
- Step 2. Quickly move your legs alternately (“step”) back to be in the push-up position. Without pausing, move your legs one at a time to the starting position.
- Step 3. Complete 1-3 sets of 5-10 reps.
If you want to increase the difficulty of the exercise in order to remove the abdomen after childbirth as soon as possible, perform dynamic jumps with your feet back and forth instead of more gentle "steps".
Push ups
Push-ups train the muscles of the arms, shoulders, chest and abs at the same time.
- Step 1. Take a starting position, resting on the floor with your palms and toes. The distance between the palms should be slightly greater than the width of the shoulders.
- Step 2. Bend your elbows and lower your chest until there are about a couple of centimeters between it and the floor.
- Step 3. Straighten your arms and rise to the starting position.
- Step 4. Complete 1-3 sets of 10-20 repetitions.
Leg Pullups
At first glance, such exercises for losing belly after birth seem quite sparing, but they very effectively strengthen the abdominal muscles stretched during pregnancy.
- Step 1. Lie on the floor, bend your knees, feet - the width of the belt. Pull in your stomach. Heels should rest against the floor.
- Step 2. Keeping the pelvis motionless, inhale, then exhale, using the abs muscles to straighten the left leg (not to the end: the knee should remain slightly bent). Return to starting position.
- Step 3. Alternating legs, perform five repetitions on each side. Gradually bring this number to ten repetitions.
Twisting with a towel
It is possible that among dozens of twisting variations, this particular version will seem to you the most suitable. If sooner or later you are disappointed by the relative ease of the proposed exercise, modified and complicated twisting options will help to tighten the stomach after childbirth.
- Step 1. Lie on your back, bend your knees. Squeeze the opposite ends of a medium-length towel with your hands and sprinkle it on top of the legs. Pull the ends of the towels and squeeze your hips.
- Step 2. Take a deep breath, then exhale and draw in your stomach, lifting your shoulders off the floor. Hold on to this position.
- Step 3. Tighten and relax the abdominal muscles 10 to 12 times, gradually increasing this number to 20 repetitions.
Leg raises
This exercise can be safely called one of the most famous abs workouts.
- Step 1. Lie on the floor, bend your knees and extend your arms along the body. Tighten your abdominal muscles and lift your legs alternately so that your lower legs form a line parallel to the floor.
- Step 2. Squeeze the hips and feet together and straighten the legs, then slowly lower them to the floor, keeping the back motionless. Use the abs muscles to tighten your legs again and bend them at the knees to return to the starting position.
- Step 3. Do 20 repetitions.
Postpartum Abdominal Exercises by Jillian Michaels
Especially for those who want to regain their lost shape and even achieve even more spectacular results, the world-famous fitness instructor Gillian Michaels has developed several video programs with unique in composition and effectiveness training. Direct exercises for the abdomen and sides after childbirth are presented in the author's collection "Weight Loss for Beginners". As the name implies, the proposed workouts are suitable not only for young mothers, but also for those who have never been fond of sports, and (most likely) gained a lot of excess weight. Conventionally, every woman after a difficult process of delivery and restoration of an exhausted body can be called a beginner in sports and weight loss. Gillian Michaels is well aware of how dangerous excessive physical activity is during this period, and personally demonstrates the most simple and gentle exercises for the abdomen after childbirth. The undoubted advantage of her workouts, designed for 30 days, is the balance of the complex and attention to each part of the body. The same loads simultaneously strengthen the muscles of the core, hips, chest, shoulders.
For more advanced users of her video programs, Michaels has developed an intensive course, "Lose Weight in 30 Days." Like the beginner’s program, these video tutorials consist of three levels - the complexity of the workout increases as you progress. Effective exercises for the abdomen after childbirth are replaced by serious pressures with dumbbells.
If you are interested not so much in weight loss as in the local tightening of your sagging tummy and the return of your aspen waist, it is recommended that you read the reviews on the Flat Belly for Six Weeks program. This course lasts only one and a half times longer than the main training of Gillian Michaels, and is aimed strictly at working out the muscles of the press. It also represents HIIT - a high - intensity interval training - and consists of several sets, alternating cardio load and strength exercises. When passing the first level, you can not burden the body with dumbbells, however, with the transition to the second level of the program, you will have to pick up additional weight.
Nutrition issue
According to proponents of a healthy lifestyle, sports make up only twenty percent of success. The remaining eighty are for proper nutrition. Currently, there are several variations of the so-called PP system. Whatever you choose for yourself, do not give up exercise. To remove the stomach after childbirth, you will need to make every possible effort.
The easiest option for proper nutrition is to refuse junk food or to minimize its consumption. Various kinds of sweets, bakery products, semi-finished products, sausages and sausages, sugary sodas, chips, flavored crackers and other “snacks” are considered to be harmful to health and shape. It is advisable to limit the use of fatty meats (pork, lamb) and replace them with beef, veal, rabbit, poultry. Although it is believed that for frying according to the rules of a healthy diet, you need to use vegetable, not butter or margarine, in fact, PP does not accept frying in oil at all. You can cook your favorite pancakes, pancakes and chops, but only in a dry pan with a good non-stick coating. Grill meat well.
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If you are serious about playing sports, you may be interested in sports nutrition. First of all, fitness lovers pay attention to protein. Highly nutritious shakes and protein bars are rich in easily breakable protein - they help strengthen muscles and increase the overall effectiveness of strength training.