Stop! Before You Start a Postpartum Fitness Plan, Read This.
Hey mama —
I know you want to get right back to your norm, I know you don’t want to feel behind and I know you’re ready to dive into an exercise routine that’ll take you from choosing loose-fitting clothes to feeling hot in your favorite dress or leggings again.
I know exactly what you want and I also know the legitimate risks that come with getting started on the wrong path + plan for you. So, before you start, hear me out. Here are 3 important factors you NEED to consider before you select and implement any fitness plan, as a new mom:
1. WHERE ARE YOU?
Alright, so — where are you on your postpartum timeline? Are you six weeks postpartum? Are you three months postpartum? Are you one year postpartum?
Workout plans look drastically different postpartum depending on whether you're a few weeks out or say, six months out.
There are also key milestones and lifestyle factors that must be accounted for in a mother’s healing timeline: sleep, hormone recovery, the nutritional needs related to healing and/or breastfeeding, and more. And — these milestones are entirely based on your individual physical, mental, and emotional recovery rather than some blanket timeline.
If you select a plan or workout routine that’s more fitting for a woman who is six-nine months postpartum, when you’re just six weeks postpartum, the risk is serious. On that note…
2. SKIPPING RECOVERY IS A BAD MOVE.
I want to normalize the view that pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood is a massive physiological feat that warrants serious rehabilitation.
Think about it like this: when someone has a specific sport or job-related injury they’re told to take time off and they’re sent to physical therapy. Meanwhile, new mothers are given a generic pass at six weeks postpartum to “resume normal activity” and they’re not assessed or treated individually at all
Mothers are conditioned to treat their recovery after childbirth like it’s nothing major. They accept this norm when it’s not anywhere near sufficient given what they’ve just experienced.
Anyway, skipping recovery is a bad move. You need to prioritize recovery and core stabilization exercises before hitting that mommy boot camp or opening up the latest trendy workout app for moms.
Some of these mommy boot camps and mom apps have women (who’re in their first year postpartum) doing burpees, jumps, and other high-impact activities. AH, NO.
Without core stabilization and recovery, a mother that starts any high-impact exercise routine is setting herself up for long-term injury. When you repeatedly injure yourself doing the wrong exercises for you at the moment it becomes near impossible to stay consistent with any workout routine and it sets you up for chronic symptoms like low back pain, bladder issues, neck pain, etc.
In other words, being hardcore about “getting your body back” isn’t going to get you what you want if you have to take 2-3 weeks off your exercise routine every month from your injuries, symptoms, and pain because your core stabilizers aren’t keeping your spine aligned and functional.
The core runs deep, it has several layers, and it’s quite complex to train. The transverse abdominis, obliques, quadratus lumborum, and multifidus all work together to stabilize the spine and protect your low back.
During pregnancy, these muscles adapt by shifting alongside the pelvis to alter your posture to allow for the growing baby. This causes some of your muscles to lengthen and become overstretched while others contract, tighten or become overactive to compensate for the changes.
To recap in basic terms: these important muscles need to be recovered and strengthened before you start engaging in programs that involve running, back squats, jumping, etc.
And listen — when I’m saying you need recovery and core stabilization, I’m not just talking about a diastasis recti program. You need more than that.
3. GET INDIVIDUALLY ASSESSED BY SOMEONE TRAINED TO CARE FOR THE FEMALE BODY BEFORE YOU START WORKING OUT AGAIN.
You might not think of exercise as something complex. Maybe you believe that you just need to burn calories without considering which exercises you need to bring your body into strength, restoration, and balance.
So, which exercises do you need? Which exercises should you avoid? And for how long? How do you know when your core has truly healed and been rehabilitated?
To answer those questions, I’d firmly recommend getting assessed by a practitioner who knows the female body and has experienced the shift into motherhood! Individual health, core, and postural assessments are crucial to understanding what’s going on in YOUR body: your posture, your muscle groups, your core, and beyond.
A mother needs to be individually assessed to determine the status of her pelvis, her head, and her neck before she jumps into a group class or training program.
Take your healing, recovery, and rehabilitation seriously. Be comprehensive. Don’t expect to figure it out on your own. Don’t expect that the endless pins on Pinterest that say “three simple moves to get fit after the baby” will cut it. Seek quality care. Six weeks until normal is a lie. This transition extends far beyond that.
Partner with the women who’ve gone before you, who’ve blazed a trail, who’ve lived, breathed, and studied this transition. Partner with the women who’ve healed, and who are committed to bringing true healing, knowledge, and care to other women who need it.
You deserve care that restores your health, vitality, and strength. You deserve care that connects you to the wisdom of your female body.
— Cynthia
P.S. Not sure where to start or who you need to see? Think you need a chiropractor? A pelvic floor specialist? A trainer who serves mothers? I’d love to help you identify what your body needs and guide you toward the path that’ll help you heal.
Book a Compass Coaching Call and Finally Start Rocking the Fitness Path that’s Right for You in Motherhood, today: here
Honestly, you could:
✔️ Spend months researching health strategies, eating plans, and workout routines for moms on your own, cross-comparing, and getting started only to find you selected a plan that stresses you out and doesn’t work for you.
✔️ Buy another online course about healing and strengthening only to realize it’s not addressing your body and challenges in the way you thought it would.
✔️ Start working with your average trainer who has you doing heavy lifts and high-intensity workouts without a proper assessment, which can lead to injury and other challenges (that you don’t need at the moment).
✔️ Buy that gym membership and try to DIY it
✔️ Default to constantly overriding your cycle and your body’s needs in an attempt to “get your body back”
OR you could hop on a call with me before you make a move, so you can have the confidence that you’re headed in the right direction with a strong awareness of the common mistakes new mothers make when they set out to heal and strengthen after the baby.
The Compass Coaching Call is designed to jump-start you on your healing path. I’ll gather your nutrition, lifestyle, and health information, listen to your unique challenges, and then provide you with solid direction as it applies to your health and fitness needs.
I’m looking forward to it!
Learn more and book your Compass Coaching Call, here
Cynthia Spenla
is a Chek Certified Holistic Lifestyle and Exercise Coach who Specializes in Health and Performance for Women.
She designs fitness programs that centralize both the female hormonal cycle and the complexities of motherhood while supporting her clients to create the sculpted, strong, and attractive bodies they desire without destroying their health, increasing their risk of injury, or disrupting their hormones in the process.
Her prior experience serving women who’ve struggled with eating disorders, exercise addiction, and body image issues, in addition to her transition into motherhood, has helped her adopt an approach that addresses the mental, emotional, physical, and nutritional components of a woman’s life.
Cynthia accompanies the women who’re ready to go off the beaten path — women who’re beginning to recognize that mainstream health + fitness advice isn’t working for them. She lights up an alternative pathway for new mothers — a pathway that leads to restoration, vitality, and healing after the life-altering Rite of Passage that is pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood.
