I’m really worried about getting muscle tone back in my stomach after I give birth. What exercises should I do after my baby’s born – or is there anything I can do now?
Camilla, London
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Anne-Marie Millard
Exercise guru, personal trainer and author of several fitness workout books
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Ask the fitness expert
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Anne-Marie says…
During pregnancy, your stomach muscles are just doing what nature intended them to do – supporting your growing baby and keeping your lower back muscles as safe as possible from stress and strain. Unfortunately, no-one informed Mother Nature that we would like them to ping back into perfect shape immediately after giving birth, hence the need to give them a bit of a helping hand. In an ideal world, we would have prepared our abdominal corset (tummy muscles, lower back and ‘core stability’ muscles) during the run up to pregnancy, so they reached the peak of performance when all the hard work of baby-carrying begins. But life does tend to get in the way, and not many women enter pregnancy in peak condition. So, the best course of action is two-fold.
Firstly, work the muscle groups involved as best as possible during pregnancy. From the second trimester onwards you’ll have to avoid basic abdominal exercises (ie lying on your back), but ‘cat curls’ (targeting abdominals) and ‘superman’ (strengthening lower back and core muscles) can still be done. Secondly, after the birth (this usually means six weeks later for a ‘normal’ delivery and 12 weeks for a C-section) you can slowly start basic exercises such as pelvic tilts, moving towards sit-ups and waist exercises when you feel capable. By this point, however, you’ll probably be so involved in motherhood that tummy exercises won’t occupy your every thought!
