Increasing Stamina and Endurance
Women often say, “I already walk a lot just caring for the baby, and I’m very tired. The last thing I want to do if I have some spare time is walk-I just want to sit down and relax or nap!” But walking while caring for the baby is a lot of stop and start movements, never really going very far from one place to another. What is needed is slow, steady, rhythmic movement for a period of five to fifteen minutes uninterrupted. This kind of activity, after you get over the initial tiredness of doing it for the first few times, will actually give you energy and release you from being tired and sluggish.
When to Begin or Resume Aerobic Exercise
This depends on a number of factors, such as how fit you were before giving birth, whether delivery was vaginal or abdominal, whether there were any complications, how much sleep you are getting, and what your emotional reaction is to the birth was.[Some women take, days, weeks, or even months to work through unexpected or unpleasant birth related events. They may feel sad, angry, or depressed. Emotional factors may sometimes prevent women from taking hold of her situation and following through with desired action].
General guidelines are as follows: If a woman exercised regularly for eight to twelve weeks before delivery, she can safely resume moderate aerobic exercise ten to fourteen days after an uncomplicated vaginal delivery, or approximately twenty-one days after a cesarean delivery. If a woman had a high fitness level before pregnancy and exercised regularly all through pregnancy, she will probably find it comfortable to begin short, brisk walks during the first week after a vaginal delivery, or after the second week after a cesarean delivery.
Whatever aerobic activity you choose to begin with, be sure to monitor your pulse; work at about sixty percent of your SHR for the first few weeks. Do not start a level of seventy to seventy-five percent. Remember that you have just had a baby [and if by cesarean, major surgery as well]. Remember also, that you are almost certainly getting less sleep than usual. Start your exercise program at sixty percent and work gradually to seventy-five. If you are new to exercise, take twelve weeks to make this transition. To develop stamina and endurance and to retrain your body to burn fat as fuel, you never need to work at a pulse rate higher than eighty percent of your SHR. The old “no pain, no gain” slogan is not true-pacing, regularly, and persistence are the keys to successful exercise.
The very best guideline for resuming aerobic exercise is to tune into your body. And remember, never exercise to exhaustion. If you find yourself tiring, slow down and stop. End your workout at the point at which you could go another ten minutes. Learn to pace yourself.
This is the time to think about joining [or rejoining] an exercise class. A pregnancy/new mother class is ideal. You have the support, advice, and caring of women in your same life situation. Although you may not do all the exercises in the class during your first weeks of attendance, getting out of the house, forcing your self to be organized, being with other mothers, and being in a formal class can do you wonders, beyond the benefits of the exercises themselves.