During pregnancy and childbirth, the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles undergo a great amount of stretching. In addition, a woman may have gained additional fat during her pregnancy due to a lack of ability to exercise or overeating. To gain back her core strength and flatten her stomach after giving birth, she should first wait 6 weeks before exercising and then gradually build up the intensity of her strength training and cardiovascular workout.
Let Nature Do Its Job
When it is not growing a baby, the average uterus is approximately the size of a thumb. Over the course of a woman's pregnancy, it stretches to the size of her baby. After childbirth, it is the size of a grapefruit, and 6 weeks after childbirth, it will have shrunk to the size of a pear. For the stomach to truly flatten after pregnancy, the uterus has to revert back to its normal size. This occurs more quickly for women who are breastfeeding.
While this can be frustrating for a woman who is used to having a flat stomach, having expectations of an immediate return to normal will cause her undue stress. The situation is out of her control and will resolve itself to a great degree on its own.
Seek Medical Clearance
In addition to the fact that it takes at least 6 weeks for her body to naturally reshape itself after childbirth, a woman who has had a normal vaginal delivery should wait until after her 6-week checkup to begin exercising. This will allow her doctor to ensure that her organs have recovered. At that time, the doctor can check that any splitting of the rectus abdominus muscle (diastasis recti) that may have occurred during pregnancy no longer exists. She should not engage in any kind of intense exercise without a doctor's clearance, nor should she lift anything heavier than her baby.
Women who have had a Cesarean section must wait, on average, 8 weeks and should never begin exercising without a doctor's clearance.
Strength Training
Once she receives clearance, a woman can begin a wide variety of exercises to re-firm the abdominals. These include the basic crunch, bicycle crunch, supine bridge and reverse crunch. As she begins her abdominal rehabilitation, she should exercise until fatigued or until she completes eight repetitions of each exercise---stopping at whichever comes first. After a week, she can work up to 12 repetitions and then eventually up to 20 repetitions once her rehabilitation is complete. Exercises should focus on the rectus abdominus, internal obliques, external obliques and pelvic floor.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular exercise will allow a woman to lose any fat that may have accumulated around her middle due to weight gain. It also has great psychological benefits for new mothers. Physical activity after pregnancy has been shown to decrease postpartum depression. All early cardiovascular exercise should be enjoyable and at a lower intensity than that woman would have engaged in before her pregnancy. Her endurance must be built up gradually to allow her body to fully recover.
References
- "Fitness Theory and Practice"; Peg Jordan, R.N.; 1997
- "Young, Sexy and Healthy"; Elma and Moacir Schnapp, M.D.s; 2007
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