Week 9 Post-baby: Picking up my trainers

After 4 weeks of twitchy feet and 8 weeks retraining my core I decided it was time to try out a short run.

Pilates with Priya: Picking up my Trainers post-baby

Now I do not advocate rushing into high intensity exercise too soon post-birth. Here are the reasons I felt I was ready:

  1. I have worked on building my core strength back up and although its not where it was pre-pregnancy, I’m confident it is strong enough.
  2. I was active all throughout pregnancy (step aerobics until 37 weeks) so my body is used to exercise.
  3. I’ve spent several weeks building my cardiovascular exercise up with short workouts and walks.
  4. I still have a diastasis recti, its now 1.5cm but the depth of this has significantly lessened and I can feel the improvement.

So I planned a morning run, got the toddler and baby sorted and hubby at home to look after them. At last minute the toddler decided she was coming too. My first run turned into myself, the buggy and toddler running to the sounds of “What’s that mummy” and “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, what better company could I ask for? I took it gently and managed a little cycle of running for 4 minutes, walking for 1 minute, a total of 15 minutes. Not quite my usual 6km run, but a good start. Here we are pre-run.

Week 9 Post-baby: Picking up my trainers

Later in the week I managed to sneak out for another run, this time with baby and the buggy and managed 4 1/2 minutes running, 1 minute walking. I’m hoping this will improve each time.

I’ve also had a sickly baby this week so other exercise has been teaching my Pilates classes and attending a Pilates class and ballet class for my benefit, no walking or weights but I have lost 1kg (2lbs).

If you are thinking about starting running post-baby here are my tips:

  1. Make sure you have a very good sports bra, especially if you are breastfeeding. I’m wearing a sports bra, support top and a top with a built in support.
  2. Build up to it, so get walking and doing other exercise first.
  3. Ensure your core is strong enough to support the impact or you could do more harm.
  4. Start small. Try running for 1 minute and walking for 1 minute in a little cycle and build it up.
  5. Wear good trainers, they will make all the difference.