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Shape Up with Baby By Shruti Saxena In Parenting Magazine Now that the baby is here, its time to start getting back into shape and aim to fit into that old jeans of yours. But be patient and give yourself at least 9 months. In addition to the ten exercises given below, it’s extremely important to start some sort of cardiovascular workouts like walking, aerobics, cycling or using a cross trainer. The easiest and safest thing to do is start walking - whenever you feel ready, start walking for 20 minutes everyday and built it up to 40 minutes. Feel free to have your baby with you in each of these exercises. Not only do you not feel the guilt of leaving them alone but have a great time as well. 1: Kegals The first step is to start with your Kegal exercises. 2: Deep breathing: Lie down on your back with knees bent and spine neutral. Keep your right hand on your tummy. Take a deep breath, allowing your abdomen to rise up and then breathe out, pushing your abdomen in. Do eight repetitions. 3. Deep breathing with contraction Lie down on your back with knees bent and spine neutral. Keep your right hand on your tummy. Take a deep breath, allowing your abdomen to rise up and then breathe out, pushing your abdomen in. Now hold this contraction for a count of five. Breathe normally during the contraction. Relax and repeat. Do this eight times. You can do up to two sets of 16 repetitions each. Remember to try and not move your pelvis, hips or thighs. 4. Hip Lift Lie on your back with knees bent and spine neutral. Inhale. While slowly exhaling pull the belly button in towards the spine and lift your hips off the floor. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds and then relax. Repeat eight times and progress to two sets of 16 repetitions each. 5. Step one to abdominal crunches: Leg Extensions Lie on your back with knees bent and arms on your side. Inhale, and then slowly exhale. Now while exhaling, slowly slide the right leg out until its parallel to the floor. Then slide the leg back to the bent knee position. Relax the abdomen. Repeat on the other side. Start with eight reps on each side and slowly progress to 16 on each side. 6. Leg Extensions 2 Lie on your back with knees bent and arms on your side. Inhale, and then slowly exhale. Now while exhaling, slowly lift one knee towards the chest and slowly straighten it out so that’s its parallel to the floor but not touching it. Return to the starting position. Relax the abdomen. Repeat on the other side. Start with eight reps on each side and slowly progress to 16 on each side 7. Abdominal crunches Once you are comfortable doing Leg extensions, you can progress to ab crunches. Lie flat on the floor, with knees bent and hands on either side of the abdomen to hold it together. Exhale and push your lower back into the floor while lifting head and shoulders slightly off the floor. (Avoid flexing head on chest). Inhale and relax head and shoulders. Repeat eight times and progress to two sets of 16 reps. After you’ve done this for a week you can start to keep your hands behind your back. 8. Leg extensions 3 Starting with the same position as 6. Bend both knees at 90 degrees from the floor. And slightly bring them in towards the body. Slowly extend one leg out parallel with the floor but not touching it. Bring it back to a 90-degree angle and repeat on the other side. Do eight reps on each side and progress to two sets of 16 repetitions each. 9. Cobra: back extension Lie on your tummy, forehead touching the mat and elbows bent and close to your body. Slowly lift the upper body, extend the elbows, increasing the back extension. Slowly come back to the starting position. Repeat two times and go up to 8 reps. 10: Oblique crunches: Lie on your right side with both knees bent. Bring right elbow in front of your chest and left arm behind the head. Exhale and bend at the waist raising your upper body slightly off the floor for one count. Inhale and return to the starting position. Repeat eight times and then change sides and do eight on the left side as well. All exercises given here can be progressed to two to three sets of 16 repetitions each over a period of 3 months. Concentrate on proper postures, body alignments and keep abdominal muscles contracted. If any exercise makes you feel uncomfortable, avoid doing it - workouts should make you feel happy and light! |
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