Introduction
Bringing a child into the world is the most beautiful and intense experience in the world for a woman. Women who do sports are therefore faced with a challenge. As a rule, a longer break is called for, and even after giving birth, it is not possible to immediately resume the usual sport. For women, the main focus after giving birth is often the regression of the abdomen. The signs of pregnancy should disappear as quickly as possible and the abdomen should look nice and firm.
When can I start with abdominal muscle training?
After birth, there are usually six weeks in which the “bonding” between mother and child takes place. In this phase, strenuous training should be avoided. Here, rehabilitative and above all regenerative activities are in the foreground.
Easy walks, on the other hand, are not a problem and are rather recommended. Afterwards, a recovery course should be started, in which the first exercises for the abdomen already appear. However, only the outer areas of the abdominal muscles should be trained first to avoid rectus diastasis.
If training of the straight abdominal muscles is started too early, the straight abdominal muscles may shift and a gap may form in the muscle layer. As a general rule, the midwife and doctor should always be consulted before starting to exercise. This is especially important when training the abdominal muscles.
Two months after the birth you can usually start with light abdominal exercises. These exercises do not necessarily have to have a direct strength character, but may initially only involve coordination and control of the muscles. The intensity should be very low in the beginning and should be increased only slowly.
If you set the load on the abdominal muscles too high, you risk injuries and other health problems. Besides the exercises for the abdomen, exercises for the back and the pelvic floor should not be left out. Training the entire trunk is therefore recommended.
In the beginning, only the lateral abdominal muscles should be trained. An exercise for this begins in the supine position with bent legs. The feet stand on the floor, the head rests calmly on a pillow, one hand rests on the floor at the side and the other hand is on the stomach.
In this position you now breathe in slowly. When breathing out, shoulders and head are slowly lifted off the floor and the hand that was previously on the stomach goes to the opposite knee and touches it. Now the tension is released and the head and shoulders are placed back on the floor.
This exercise should only be practiced so intensively that every woman feels comfortable. Six to eight repetitions are sufficient at the beginning. Both sides should be trained equally to avoid imbalance directly.
As soon as the doctor gives the “OK”, the straight abdominal muscles can also be trained again. A coordination exercise is recommended at the beginning. The starting position is lying on the back, arms and legs are stretched out and the head is in extension of the spine.
The exercise begins by actively pulling the navel towards the spine or towards the floor. It is very important that the muscles are not inhaled, but pulled inwards. Some people will find this exercise more difficult than others.
However, it is a wonderful exercise to train the control of the muscles. This allows the abdomen to be trained much more effectively in later strength training. After a further consultation with the doctor and/or midwife you can then return to normal abdominal training. Sit-ups, forearm support and seat scales are exercises that are easy to perform and strengthen and shape the muscles.
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