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Welcoming a new baby to your family is one of the most exciting times in your life. However, trying to work off the baby weight is not quite so exciting! With our essential fitness tips combined with wearing a dual closure girdle for support, you can find an enjoyable way to get in shape and feel fantastic in no time.
Walk As Much As You Can
Walking is an excellent and gentle form of exercise, which slowly gets your heart rate up, improves your cardiovascular fitness, and strengthens muscles. Plus it can also help to improve your mood and decrease stress.
Walking is the perfect exercise for new moms, being relaxing enough to enjoy with a new baby in tow, or you can even bring along a friend for company. Walking is also great for easing back into an exercise program because it’s gentle and low impact, which is precisely what a new mom needs.
A good stroller is a perfect accompaniment to a mom’s walking schedule, making sure your baby has enough protection from the sun and taking the strain off you carrying the baby as you walk.
To walk more, try to avoid taking the car out for every little errand and see if you can walk instead. You can also go to the mall and walk around for a while to get a bit of exercise. Plus, it has the added advantage of window shopping as a distraction!
Get Others to Help You
Every new mom needs the help and support of family and friends to adapt to the change in lifestyle that a new baby brings, and that includes the realm of keeping healthy and fit. There’s nothing wrong with asking a friend or family member to keep an eye on bub while you take some time out to exercise.
Most friends and family members would be happy to spend time with a new baby to play and get to know each other while you exercise to improve your fitness, health, and well-being.
If you’re family and friends live far away or happen to be just as busy as you, there are plenty of other excellent options to get someone to help look after bub while you exercise. Many gyms have child care facilities, where a specialized caregiver can look after your little one while you workout in the gym facilities.
This is a great way to fit in exercise with a new baby, especially because as your fitness increases, you may want to visit the gym more often.
Buy a Treadmill
Of course, being able to stay at home with your baby and do your exercise is the ideal situation, and buying a treadmill makes this a reality. Walking is one of the best activities for a new mom, being both gentle and effective, and having a home treadmill makes it easy to get some walking exercise in, even with a new baby.
Today’s treadmills are efficient, quiet, and powerful, allowing you to get the workout you need without the fuss of having to leave home or lock into a gym contract.
While you might think it could be too expensive or bulky to have a treadmill at home, there is a range of different treadmill options available today to suit any space and budget. The cost of certain treadmills these days is easily less than three months of a gym membership, and most fold into a compact size for easy storage when not in use.
These features make having a home treadmill one of the best and easiest ways for new moms to get fit.
All Exercise is Good
Having a baby takes a certain toll on the body, and initially, strenuous workouts should be avoided after giving birth. As previously mentioned, walking is a good and low impact way to start exercising. Even incorporating walking into daily tasks as a simple, incidental activity is a great start.
In the beginning, it’s good to see any opportunity to move as beneficial, even if it’s just walking down the street to visit a friend or strolling around the local shopping center. There’s no reason to start putting pressure on yourself, and incremental exercise that you can collect throughout the day all adds up.
As your body heals and strength returns, fitness levels can be slowly and gradually increased to provide you with the safest and most comfortable way to ease back into exercise.
How did you get your body back after having a baby?
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
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These are some great tips!
After my last babe, I was itching to get back into shape well before I was cleared by my doc. I found that dance parties while making dinner really helped to feel like I was doing something for my body, that wasn’t too much. Plus it definitely helped to keep the baby occupied a bit longer so I could actually get dinner done!
A Dance party while making dinner sounds like a great idea
Hi,
After the birth of my first child, my doctor told me that exercise is a must to regain my body’s shape. Like you he also told me to walk at least half an hour each day. His other advice was also similar to you. You have mentioned that a new mom should exercise on a treadmill. My physician prescribed me an upright exercise bike which helps me to burn tons of calories. So, your article regarding essential fitness tips for new mothers and my doctor’s advice is much similar.
Were you able to regain your shape after having a baby?