Being eager to regain your prebaby body can cause you to push yourself too far by performing exercises your body just isn't ready for. If you have undergone a Caesarean section, which involves removing your baby via surgical incision, an exercise that may result in pain is the situp. Situps can help to strengthen your abdominal muscles after pregnancy, but if they result in pain or trauma to your surgical incision, it may be best to hold off.
Talk to Your Doctor
Although many women can resume exercising a few days to weeks after vaginal birth, recovery after a C-section is different. Your physician will likely recommend waiting between six and eight weeks before resuming exercise of any kind. You should always obtain your physician's approval before resuming exercise to ensure your surgical incision, abdominal muscles and pelvic organs have had sufficient time to recover. Even if your doctor gives you the okay for exercise, your body may not be ready for situps.
Symptoms
While muscle-building exercises feel challenging, they should not feel painful. When you perform situps, be aware of symptoms like pain in your abdomen, especially pain that is concentrated at your incision. You may wish to feel down the middle of your belly --- if you notice the muscles feel separated, this can indicate your stomach is not yet ready to resume situps. In addition to simply not having enough time to heal, pain from situps after a C-section can result from scar tissue developing at the C-section site that stretches beyond its current limits. Listening to your body is important: If you experience troublesome pain or symptoms, cease performing situps.
Start Small
If you are experiencing pain when performing your situps, you may need to reduce the intensity at which you are exercising. Start rebuilding your abdominal muscles slowly through isometric exercises. These involve squeezing your stomach muscles together, and holding the squeeze for three to five seconds. Start with 25 repetitions. When you work your way up to 100 repetitions, you may find you can perform modified situps. These involve wrapping a towel or shirt around your stomach, then lifting your head and shoulders off the ground. The towel acts as a splint to knit your stomach muscles together.
Considerations
Remember that situps are not the only exercise that can help you strengthen your abdominal muscles following giving birth. Exercises such as kickboxing or yoga can strengthen your core muscles without putting excess strain on your body after C-section delivery. By focusing on other exercises that help your entire body, you can lose post-baby weight without pain.
