Friday, August 15, 2014

How to get back to running after pregnancy


Reading about everyone else's accomplishments might make you feel bad. Even though you know you just gave birth, this won't stop that little voice in the back of your head, that is telling you that you are slacking. 

4. Cross train

It might be easier to do core work outs/strength training/a stationary bike session with the baby sleeping next to you. It will give you that 'I worked out' rush and it helps your running. 

5. Watch that pelvic floor

My PT pointed out that this is a big one. Most new moms seem to forget about this, and end up in pain years after giving birth. By paying attention now, doing your exercises, and not rushing back into running/exercising, you can do everything to prevent this. 

6. Set a reasonable goal

Don't make yourself run a marathon PR months after giving birth. Pick a race that has a high fun factor for you (for me this was running one of the Swiss Alpine Marathon distances - the half marathon with quite some altitude gain- 4 months after having my son), and set yourself a goal of not finishing last. In my case I did not finish last, but was much slower than pre pregnancy, and in pretty much yucky pelvic pain from the half way point on, but I did have a lot of fun and a great experience. 

Do you have any other tips that might be helpful for new moms?

1 comment:

  1. For me, giving birth was the best thing I ever did for running. I was overweight when I conceived and was really diligent to maintain during pregnancy. I lost a ton of weight after delivery and in the subsequent months breastfeeding I got down to "skinniest since high school" weight. I started back slow, but felt better than I did any other time I started running. The important thing, as always, is to listen to your body. If your hips/knees/ankles are still loose work on strengthening them. If you need to start 3x/week instead of 4-5 adjust accordingly. Your body did hard work and it's going to take some time to get back to peak!

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