Is it safe to Post Pregnancy Exercises?
This is what comes to your mind as soon as you read ‘exercises for post pregnancy!’ But it is almost always safe to start doing light exercises like walking and easy yoga poses to lose weight after pregnancy. Yes, for vigorous exercises, you must wait for at least 6-8 weeks or longer based on your doctor’s advice.
What Exercises to do Reduce Tummy Fat after Pregnancy?
Start with walking soon after giving birth to your baby. Gradually move to some simple yoga poses, especially ‘Pranayama’ breathing exercises that not only boost your metabolism and make you stress-free but also reduce your tummy fat.
1. Pranayama to Reduce Tummy Fat after Post Pregnancy
Deep breathing exercises taught in Yoga are excellent ways to regulate your metabolism. When you breathe just the right way, you take in more oxygen. This burns more calories. All your body systems get awakened and you spend more energy, more calories.
Thus, you lose weight. Certain Pranayama exercises work directly upon abdominal areas such as Bhastrika and Kapalbhati Pranayama. Do them and lose belly fat even after pregnancy.
How to do Bhastrika Pranayama?
- Sit on ground or mat in crossed legged position. Be comfortable with a straight spine.
- Close your eyes and place your hands over your crossed legs
- Inhale deeply
- Exhale
- Repeat for 8-10 times
- Now do this faster- inhale deeply and exhale faster
- You will feel like bellow that is used to blow air into a fire.
- Initially do this for 1-2 minutes
- Gradually increase this to 5 minutes. Never do more than this.
2. Kneeling Pelvic Tilt to Post Pregnancy Belly Fat
This is one of the easiest exercises that you can do after pregnancy and target your tummy fat in the most effective manner. It tones your tummy and strengthens your abs, just what you need to reduce that post-delivery-belly!
- Get into a four-point kneeling position. Your lower leg- from knees to toes- touch the ground behind you and your palms rest on the floor just beneath your chest, straight down from your shoulder
- Keep your back relaxed and straight, don’t bend it
- Inhale deeply
- While exhaling, pull your tummy upwards along with your abdominal muscles. Your back gets rounded
- Release your back slowly and drop your tummy while pulling down your lower back
- Repeat 5-10 times
3. Kegel After Pregnancy to reduce Tummy
These are the pelvic floor exercises. As the name suggests, Kegel exercises are done to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic area or the lower abdomen. After pregnancy, pelvic muscles get weakened and Kegel exercises help a lot to tone your abdominal area. Toned tummy obviously isn’t a fat tummy!
- Lie down on your back and bend your legs from knees. Your feet should be flat touching the ground while knees are up and together
- Squeeze your pelvic muscles, tighten them gently and then relax them.
- You may also do this exercise while sitting or standing
- Initially squeeze your pelvic muscles only for 2-5 seconds. Gradually increase the period and take it to 15-20 seconds.
4. Leg Raise to Reduce Tummy
Leg raises or leg lifts are one of the most effective ways to lose fat from the abdominal area. These exercises work to strengthen your weakened belly muscles, more so after pregnancy. You will not only tone the leg muscles but also lose that belly fat, making you fit and fabulous post-pregnancy.
Start with Single Leg Raises
- Lie down on your back on the floor.
- Take your arms behind your head.
- While breathing out, raise your right leg off the floor.
- Hold it midway at about 45 degrees angle for 3-5 seconds initially.
- While breathing in, lower your raised leg.
- Repeat with the left.
- Do 5 times each with both the legs
5. Crisscross Crunch to Reduce Belly Fat
Along with your lower abs, you also need to work out your upper abs so that you get a real flat tummy. Crisscross crunch is one of the best exercises to post pregnancy for this.
- Lie down on back and bent the knees at 90 degrees
- Place your hands behind your head
- Keep elbows wide open
- Lift your head along with right shoulder and bring them towards your left knee while pulling in the knee. Try to touch the right elbow to your left knee
- Now bring the left shoulder to the right knee while pulling in the knee and touch it with the left elbow
- Keep repeating for about 1-2 minutes
6. Pilates and Core Exercises
You can do these post pregnancy exercises to strengthen your core and lose belly fat after 8-12 weeks of giving birth to your baby. If you have had a C-section, wait at least for 12 weeks and then talk to your doctor. Once given clearance, you can do these Pilates and core strengthening exercises to get back your pre-pregnancy body.
Half Roll Back Pilates
- Sit up straight with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground, hip remains distance apart. Keep your bent legs at a comfortable distance away from your body.
- Stretch your arms in front of your shoulders
- Bring your navel in towards your spine while rolling your lower back away from your hips. Initially roll back only that far which is comfortable for you
- Inhale and stay in the position for a while, a couple of seconds
- Come back to the original position while exhaling
- Repeat 3-5 times
Toe Taps
Toe tap exercise is a basic abdominal exercise that works out your abdominal muscles isometrically. Isometric exercise or those types of strength training where the joint angle and muscle length don’t change during contraction. This is a good exercise for new mothers who have had C-section delivery.
- Lie down on your back
- Keep your arms next to your sides. Your palms should touch the floor.
- Bend your knees to stack them over hips at a 90-degree angle. Your thighs should remain perpendicular to the ground while your lower legs are parallel to the floor.
- Now lower your left foot towards the floor and tap your toe on the floor lightly. Immediately pull your leg back to the original position.
- Repeat with your right leg and then again with left leg
- Repeat the exercise for about 10-20 times or as much as you wish to
7. Bridge to Lose post pregnancy belly exercises
This is not only to lose tummy fat but also to strengthen your core. After pregnancy, you badly need to work upon your core as it gets destabilized and has weakened muscles. Bridge exercise will work your hips, glutes, core, and hamstrings apart from helping you to reduce tummy fat.
- Lie down on your back
- Let your arms rest at your sides, palms down
- Bend your knees at 90 degrees, feet remain firm on the floor, close to hips
- Now lift your hips towards the ceiling as high as you are comfortable with, tilt your pelvis and pull your navel towards your spine. Feet remain firm on the floor
- Keep your shoulders touched with the floor
- Stay in the bridge position for few seconds and come back to the original position
- Repeat for 5-10 times or more.
8. Forearm Plank Strengthen Core Post Pregnancy exercises
Planks and side planks are excellent exercises for post pregnancy to do to strengthen your entire core. This also engages your abdomen well. You can get a flat tummy faster when you do planks with other exercises.
- Get into plank position. For this lie down on your stomach and raise your whole body on the support of your toes and forearms. Back remains straight, forearms on the floor, legs extended with toes touching the floor.
- Hold the position for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Keep the hips up and abs tight.
- Lower down the knees to the floor. Rest for 30 seconds
- Repeat and do repetition of 4-5 planks
Doing all the above exercises along with having healthy diet will sure help you reduce tummy fat post pregnancy.
