Edited by Alessandro De Vettor
Even today there are many women worried that pregnancy could compromise their physical form, cause irreparable aesthetic damage, and, if sporting, that may prevent them from returning to pre-birth performance and athletic levels. These concerns are completely legitimate and more than understandable, but it is possible to immediately reassure all those concerned. A correct pre-birth physical activity is not only able to make the event less traumatic, but also improves post-partum recovery abilities.
The thing to absolutely NOT do is to launch immediately after the pregnancy in improbable programs of intense training, perhaps associated with more or less drastic diets. All the more so if you do not have previous sports experience. It would seem an obvious reminder, however many women approach the gym or gymnastics for the first time in the post-natal period to "get back in shape", they arrive absolutely unprepared and undergo an intensity of training that would be heavy for a advanced athlete.
Physical activity and nutrition can be set, but modulating them in accordance with the physiological and hormonal changes to which the woman's body has been subjected in the long gestation phase and which continue in the postpartum period. Details and further precautions are necessary if the woman is breastfeeding, so as not to interfere with this delicate and very important post-natal phase.
The proposed training program can be done either in the gym or comfortably at home. It is in fact designed precisely for the first few months after giving birth where it is not always easy to organize to attend a gym. In this case it will be sufficient to obtain simple modular handlebars, which can be purchased at any center specializing in sports items.
Before starting, an important premise. As mentioned, during the gestation period the woman's organism has had to adapt to the growth of the child through real transformations of the body that affect the macroscopic aspects of muscle and bone. Therefore we cannot think of finding the physical appearance we had before pregnancy in the immediate post. In its re-adaptation process the body can take up to a year, but this does not mean that the best shape is not recoverable. An example of this is body weight. The recovery of "healthy weight" is one of the aspects that usually worries most. You can definitely fit in the right weight, but you will need to wait for the physiologically necessary time. If in fact immediately after birth the weight is drastically reduced as there is no longer the weight of the child, of the placenta, of the amniotic fluid and of the membranes, the further weight loss will result in the reduction of the uterus which occurs on average in the following 5-6 weeks.
Having said that, let us now consider some issues related to the post-natal period, which are completely normal, but which require due attention before putting the work program into practice:
CAESAREAN SECTION
In the case of a caesarean section, you cannot train for six weeks, the minimum period necessary for the wound to heal. Meanwhile it is good to try to stand up as much as possible to help the body recover faster. During this time vaginal blood loss may also occur. If this happens there is no reason to be alarmed. They are considered completely normal because the blood of the placenta and of the uterus is collected in this area. There is no reason to fall during this waiting period! On the contrary, unlike women who have given birth naturally, those subjected to cesarean will normally have less pain in the pelvic area in the periods following birth. During the waiting period any abdominal exercise is absolutely contraindicated. In addition to standing, however, you can also immediately start simple exercises to reactivate the blood circulation, with all the benefits of the case, and some exercises for the pelvic muscles. Table 1 below shows a descriptive diagram:
Table 1. Exercises in Caesarean section
| FOR CIRCULATION | Spread supine on the bed with the legs extended, lift one leg and make a rotation of the ankle first hourly then anticlockwise about 10 times on each side, bring the leg down and raise the other and repeat the exercise again |
PELVIC MUSCLES | Stretch on your back on the floor with your knees bent, spread your feet slightly (they remain in contact with the ground), stick your pelvis to the floor, contract and raise your buttocks by raising the pelvic area by about 10-15 cm from the ground, maintain the position for 10 seconds and release returning to the initial position. Then repeat the exercise 10 times. |
