You might have heard about women who get back to their prior workout routine soon after they have delivered. In most cases, this can be considered to be an exception and not a rule. Your body requires enough time to heal regardless of whether you had a cesarean or vaginal delivery. Remember that cesarean delivery takes more time to heal than vaginal delivery. This can be attributed to the fact that various skin layers and tissues were cut before the child got out. So, each of the cut layers will need up to 6 weeks to heal.
However, with vaginal delivery, a different kind of healing is necessary. Most of the women who deliver through the vagina experience what is mostly referred to as vaginal lacerations. This is a scenario where the head of the baby tears the vaginal tissues.
Other Risks of Exercising Too Soon Postpartum
Other risks that are associated with exercising too soon after giving birth include:
- Bleeding
There is always a discharge that emanates from the virus for several days or weeks after giving birth. This discharge is in most instances blood. It’s quite normal for the uterus to be evacuating anything that may have been left after childbirth.
- Increase in the level of infection
Remember that germs are everywhere and you start exercising before you get fully healed, there is a likelihood of getting bacteria and other infections. If you have a small wound, it could get infected and that can be a real source of problems. However, in its mildest form, this can be treated on oral antibiotics.
- Increases the chances of muscle injury
When exercising, there are many possibilities, and one of them is suffering from muscle injury. When you get pregnant, your hips expand and you might wonder how wider they got. A hormone called relaxin is produced which is responsible for that expansion. If you commence your exercises too soon, your muscle ligaments will be put under pressure because they will still be weak because of the presence of too much relaxation. Also, when you exercise very soon, it could lead to diastasis recti and various forms of muscle strains.
- You can enhance back pain risks
As your uterus grows bigger, additional weight is shifted to the front section of the body and this can lead to the tilting of your pelvis to the forward side, a condition that is known as the pelvic tilt. If we can keep things brief here, your low back muscles are often attached to the back section of your pelvis. If you start to exercise too early, the anterior pelvic tilt can be worsened and this can lead to very bad low back pain.
When should you start exercising again?
On average, you can stay for up to 6 weeks before you start workout training, especially if you gave birth through the C-section. But for vaginal delivery, exercising after 2-3 weeks is recommended. Remember that you can benefit immensely from high-quality postpartum doula training, which will set the pace on how you will get back to your exercise regime.
