Bodybuilding and fitness blog

The main purpose of doing special exercises after the birth of a child is your well-being. A well feeling woman will be a good mother to her baby. In addition to the burdensome exercises that were recommended above, there is a number of exercises that strengthen the muscles which were affected during pregnancy and childbirth.

Do not hurry to regain the previous shape. (In any case this cannot be done quickly.) A number of trainers of the post-partum physical education do not recommended doing special exercises during the first two weeks, except for the exercises on the pelvic muscles. They believe that the muscles of the abdominal wall during the first 2 weeks are naturally contracting; they work to contract, even when you think you’re not doing anything. A simple walking and habitual duties provide the necessary start loading.

Here we offer some special exercises for the postpartum period, which will suit most women. Gradually increase the load, leading up to a tenfold performance of each exercise twice a day.

ATTENTION! Before starting the exercises in any program, consult your doctor when you can start and with what intensity. You may have special circumstances (cesarean section for instance) which require to perform additional exercise or renounce a number of them.

EXERCISE TO CORRECT BODY POSTURE

Aim: To get rid of such a posture when the back leans back and the abdomen pushes forward, that was acquired during pregnancy under the weight of the child and the contents of the uterus.

Performing: Get back to the wall, heels 10 cm from the wall. Lean against the wall by a part of the back sucking inside the abdominal muscles and retracting the gluteal muscles. Flatten the breast so that the upper part of the back was flat and touched the wall. Now go away from the wall and try to keep this posture all through the day.

EXERCISE FOR PELVIC MUSCLES

Aim: To restore the tone of the vaginal muscles that is necessary for normal sexual act and prevent the outflow of urine when you cough. (The muscles and tissues surrounding the vagina and urethra, that are called the pelvic muscles, were weakened as a result of the hormonal changes during the pregnancy and stretching during the childbirth.)

Performing: the exercise to strengthen the pelvic muscles can be performed in almost any position. Begin to perform it lying face down or on your back, depending on what is more comfortable. Do it standing, on hunkers, sitting against a wall with your legs crossed. You train the muscles that control urination and work during the sexual intercourse. Toughen your vaginal muscles and hold them in such a state for 5 seconds. Toughen and release these muscles 50 times a day, every time you think of them.

EXERCISES WITH PELVIC TILT

Aim: To strengthen the abdominal muscles and the lower back and improve the posture. The tilt of the pelvis reduces the bending in the lower back and strengthens the muscles of the lower back, which suffered heavy loads and were stretched under the influence of the weight of the abdomen.

Performing: Lie on your back in the starting position with knees being bent together, your feet stand flat on the floor. (You can put a flat pillow under your head, but it is not necessary.) Slowly take a deep breath, let the abdomen rise and as you exhale strongly suck in the stomach and push a part of your back flat against the floor surface.

EXERCISE FOR ABDOMINAL PRELUM

Aim: To strengthen the abdominal muscles.

Performing: Can be performed in a standing position, with crossed legs, in all four positions. Take a deep breath, then exhale slowly with simultaneous retraction of the abdominal muscles, hold the muscle in the tightened condition within a few seconds after a full exhalation. (Remember that your back should be straight and not sag.) Perform this exercise several times a day.

HEAD LIFTING

Aim: To strengthen the abdominal muscles and improve the posture by correcting the shape of the back.

Performing: Lie on your back with your knees bent (starting position). You can perform the lifting of the head simultaneously with the tilt of the pelvis. Put one or both hands on the stomach in order to keep your spine flat against the floor and to avoid the surge of the abdominal muscles. (If, during pregnancy and childbirth your abdominal muscles were very stretched, keep them by two hands during the first week of the exercises.) Take a deep breath and during the exhale slowly lift your head. Then slowly lower your head during the inhale. Every day, lift your head a little higher. Your eyes should be looking at the ceiling. In this case, the chin will not touch the chest and the muscles will not overstrain due to the too steep bend. Since the tone of the abdominal muscles will gradually improve over 1-2 months you can remove your hands from the belly and lift them towards the ceiling. Move from lifting your head to lifting the shoulders off the floor and, finally, move into a sitting position.

TIGHTENING KNEES TO THE CHEST

Aim: To strengthen the muscles of the lower back and hips.

Performing: Lie on your back, in a position as to tilt the pelvis, slowly tighten one knee toward your chest, take it with your hands and gently tighten toward your chest. Hold for 5 seconds in the up position, then release the knee and return your leg to the starting position. Do this for 10 times for each leg. Again, lift the knee toward your chest, but this time, holding it against the chest, stretch the other leg. For a few seconds remain in this position then return to the starting position. Repeat this for 10 times for each leg. Finally, move to the tightening of both knees at once: slowly raise one knee toward the chest, then the second. Tighten both knees tightly to the chest with your hands. Keep your knees in this position for 5 seconds, then release and slowly lower your legs in turn. Repeat for 10 times.

LEG LIFTING

Aim: To strengthen the abdominal muscles, lower back and hips.

Performing: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Lift one leg up toward the chest, then outstretch it over your head as much as you can, the other leg remains to be bent. You can try to lift and lower one leg, holding the second in the outstretched position.

Why are we going to the gym? Of course, for health, beauty and physical strength. However, to achieve this, one needs not only a simple desire but a financial resource. To become beautiful and strong and remain healthy, you need to know certain axioms of training – a kind of safety in the gym. And not just know of its existence, but completely follow it.

It is in the gym and nowhere else where the commandment “your health is in your hands” is so to the point. In fact, the rules are very simple and easy to learn. It is much more difficult, as shown in practice, to remember them every minute of your workout. But this should be done for not to change the chair of a simulator for a hospital bed.

Irina Masloboeva, the doctor at the American Medical Centre, the fitness club GOLD’S GYM in Moscow, speaks about the basic rules of conduct in the gym and building your own workout:

- The instructor will never let a novice at his first attempt to work with a barbell and dumbbells – the so-called free weights. With all their outward simplicity, they require very serious skills, since it is necessary to control the range of motion, posture, speed and many other factors by yourself. In the gyms at the expense of constructive solutions all this is done automatically. I also strongly advise to never neglect the warm-ups. One should never immediately begin to do strength exercises, without stretching the muscles, preparing the heart and joints – that is, without adjusting the body to work. The workout should take not less than 20 minutes and consist of two parts. The first part is for cardio: run on the track, walk on the stepper and spin the bike pedals. The second part is for stretching the muscles, which will directly precede the strength work. Most of the injuries are happening because people start to load the muscles being not warmed up. And this is especially true for the already trained people, who work in the gym with heavy weights. They surely know of the necessity to workout but sometimes overlook it. As a result they tear their muscles and ligaments being the extremely unpleasant and painful injuries, fraught with most serious consequences for health in future. During the stretch, I would like to draw attention to a few muscle groups that require special care.

The muscles of the back of the thigh. Be sure to properly warm them up prior to the strength training. Especially if you have any problems with the spine. Otherwise, during the exercise, connected with bends, the increased load will be distributed on the spine, resulting in injury.

Be sure to warm the chest muscles. Otherwise, various presses and pulls can end in a damage of the shoulder joints.

If you are going to the aerobics, warm the calf muscles. The same is true if you want to play football, tennis and generally do any moving sports. In this case the stretching of the calf muscle should be done in two stages: when your knee is straight and when it is bent. This is the only way you can fully prepare this group of muscles to the loads.