Postpartum recovery training exercises

Kegel exercises, abdominal breathing, glute bridges, all the programs that ask you to do abdominal crunches, aerobics, and high-intensity training at the beginning can be skipped directly.

Speaking of which, I encountered a very unfortunate case a while ago. A mother in the community had just had her vaginal discharge for more than 30 days. She came across a blogger's "14-day belly tightening tutorial" and followed it by doing 200 crunches every day. Within a week, she started leaking urine. When she went to the hospital to check her pelvic floor muscle strength, she dropped to level 2. She was fine during the review. Many people always think that postpartum recovery should be rushed, but in fact it is really more important to go slowly than to go fast.

There are actually different opinions on the way to exert force on Kegels. Some schools recommend that the perineum should be contracted together, while others emphasize that only the deep muscles of the pelvic floor should be exerted, leaving the surface layer alone. We ordinary novices do not need to worry about the details. First, find the feeling of exerting force when stopping in the middle of holding in urine. Don't pinch your buttocks, don't draw in your belly, and don't hold your breath. It's enough to do these three things. At first, you practice while lying down. Once you become proficient, you can do it secretly while fishing at work, queuing up to buy milk tea, or even while breastfeeding without anyone noticing. As for the frequency, don’t believe the idea of ​​doing 500 exercises a day. Most of the rehabilitation doctors I have contacted recommend 3-4 groups a day, 10-15 times each, and hold each contraction for 3-5 seconds before relaxing. If you practice too much, you will easily develop pelvic floor muscle hypertonicity, which will make even urination painful, and the gain is not worth the candle.

Abdominal breathing is the only movement that can be done without waiting for a reexamination. Once the anesthetic has worn off, you can practice it lying down. I had a tear in my vagina at the time, so I didn’t dare to move. I just lay down and did whatever I had to do. I put my hands on my belly. When I inhaled, I slowly expanded my belly. Try not to move my chest. When I exhaled, I blew out the air. I felt my navel stick to the direction of the spine. This action may seem inconspicuous, but it actually helps you wake up the transversus abdominis muscles that have been stretched by the fetus for ten months. I did it for three days in a row, and my bulging belly became much softer, and even postpartum gas became much smoother. By the way, if you have rectus abdominis separation, you can gently push the rectus abdominis muscles on both sides toward the middle with your hands when doing this action. The effect will be better. This is also a technique used by many rehabilitation practitioners.

Glute bridge is my personal most recommended entry-level and advanced movement. Once you have mastered Kegels and abdominal breathing, you can add it about 2 months after giving birth. Lie on the yoga mat, bend your knees and put your feet on the ground, and slowly lift your hips until your shoulders, hips, and knees are in a straight line. Don't raise it too high and arch your waist too high, which will injure your lumbar spine. When you lift it to the highest point, pinch your buttocks, hold it for 2 seconds, and then slowly lower it. This action not only exercises the buttocks, but also activates the core and pelvic floor muscles at the same time. It is much safer than blindly practicing abdominal curls. By the way, there is also a controversial point here. Many physical therapists in Europe and the United States believe that as long as the separation of the rectus abdominis is no more than 2 fingers, you can do low-intensity abdominal crunches. However, most domestic obstetricians and obstetricians will recommend that you try to avoid any trunk bending movements before the separation is completely closed. My personal suggestion is that if you don’t have a hard “little bag” bulging out in the middle of your belly when doing abdominal crunches, then you can do it in small amounts. If the bulge is obvious, don’t touch it. After all, it is more troublesome to recover from an injured rectus abdominis muscle.

As for when everyone is concerned about when to do aerobics, the American ACOG guidelines say that mothers who give birth without tears or side incisions can walk slowly one week after delivery. However, many domestic pelvic floor rehabilitation doctors will recommend waiting at least 42 days for a review before going out, especially if there are side incisions or tears. Walking too early can easily pull the wound. Some mothers ask if they can run and jump. I have seen mothers who were marathon enthusiasts before pregnancy and resumed running 5 kilometers 3 months after delivery. There were no problems at all. However, ordinary mothers are still recommended to wait at least half a year after delivery for the pelvic floor muscle strength to recover to level 3 or above before engaging in running and jumping exercises. Otherwise, the risk of urinary leakage and prolapse is really high.

In fact, postpartum recovery really doesn’t have that many fancy moves. The core is to do it steadily. Don’t compare your progress with others. If you can do 10 Kegels today, and if you can hold on for 1 second longer tomorrow, it’s all progress. If you are really unsure about your situation, spend a few hundred dollars to go to the hospital to have your pelvic floor muscles and rectus abdominis evaluated. Listening to the doctor’s advice is much more useful than watching a hundred short videos about “recovering your pre-pregnancy body in 7 days.” After all, your body is your own, and it really doesn’t matter if you go slower.