Losing the excess weight that you gained during pregnancy may be the last thing in your mind after giving birth. After all, it’s hard to think of yourself now that you have a baby to take care of. This kind of thinking is a misconception. Your health is as important as your baby’s. There is no possible excuse for you not to take care of your own body.
Experts say that doing a little bit of exercise everyday is actually one of the best things that you can do to your body during post pregnancy. It helps your body lose those unnecessary fats that you gained while carrying a baby in your body.
Light Exercise
If you think your body is ready, you can start with light exercises such as stretching and walking. It is important to note that undergoing a hardcore form of exercise right after your pregnancy can do more harm than good to your health. You are not allowed to carry heavy things yet as carrying too much weight can cause lochia, a vaginal bleeding after giving birth. Hence, weight lifting is not an option.
Stretching will help the release of tension from the different parts of your body as well as prepare your muscles for more active exercises. On the other hand, walking will help lift your mood and restore the energy that you may have lost. Taking a walk in the early mornings is highly recommended; it should be at least 10 minutes a day.
Continue the stretching and walking exercise until you get comfortable doing it. Then, you can increase your speed or your time to 30 minutes a day. A good pace to burn fat is walking a mile for 15 minutes. Doing a 30-minute walk allows you to cover one mile back and forth.
Aerobic Exercise
You need to do 2 types of exercise in order to effectively lose weight: muscle strengthening and aerobic. Aerobic exercise refers to those activities that will leave you out of breath. Some examples of this type of exercise are running, swimming, cycling, hiking, and many more. It is an effective way of losing those excess fats. Other benefits of aerobic exercise are as follows:
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decreases the risk of heart problems
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controls blood sugar level
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enhances cardiovascular conditioning
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helps lungs function well
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helps retain normal blood pressure
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increases the number of good cholesterol
Aside from those mainstream aerobic exercises, you can also try other workout sessions or iFitness Programs of the same level. Just make sure to consult your doctor first to avoid any complication.
Core Muscle Exercise
Doing cardio exercise alone does not guarantee firm and toned body. This is why a core muscle exercise is important. If you want to have that toned body back after your pregnancy, you have to do some curl-ups, side balance crunch, abdominal crunch, modified plank, etc.
Core muscle exercises should be done three times a week. According to Lori Incledon, author of “Strength Training for Women”, 48 hours interval between abdominal workouts is recommended.
