3 Things You Should Be Aware Of In Early Postpartum

It drives me insane that more women aren’t given the guidance or information needed to navigate the gym confidently during pregnancy and postpartum.

So today I wanted to share 3 different things you should know, or have awareness of, that will help you in your strongest postpartum recovery!

I go into depth on each of these in my  Mother FIGRs Insiders  membership, but here are the main topics you should know about:

1) The Connection Breath

You may also hear this called “belly breathing,” “diaphragmatic breathing,” or “breathing exercises.” Or any variation of the term.

Here’s how you do it:

On the inhale, breathe 360 degrees into your belly and lats, while relaxing your pelvic floor. On the exhale, lift the pelvic floor slightly and engage the core. Think about bringing the “ab” muscles together in the middle.

In short, we do this postpartum (and during pregnancy) to help reestablish a mental connection between our brain + core + pelvic floor. We also are working to regain control and function of our deep core system. This helps us stabilize and move during every day tasks and during exercise.

As a Mother FIGRs Insider, I give you video instruction and go deep into the connection breath so you can feel confident you’re doing things right!

2) The Pelvic Floor

Some quick things to know:

• It’s a group of muscles that can be trained to both relax and contract, just like any other muscle.
• Most of the time, pelvic floor symptoms arise from too tight of a pelvic floor instead of too weak of a pelvic floor.
• There are specific exercises, and ways to breath through normal gym exercises, to help with both relaxing and contracting this muscle group!

The pelvic floor gets taxed throughout your entire pregnancy and during labor/birth, so it’s something that you definitely need to have knowledge of and focus on during your recovery!

3) The Deep Core System

You can think of the deep core system as if it were a pop can. It’s made up of 4 parts:

• The diaphragm (the lid)
• The transverse abdominis (the cylinder of the can)
• The multifidus (stabilizing muscles in the back)
• The pelvic floor (the bottom of the can)

When you hear “deep core muscles,” that is most likely referring to the transverse abdominis (or TA). When you hear “deep core system,” that most likely is referring to all 4 parts mentioned above.

This system gets taxed by your growing belly throughout pregnancy and during birth, so it is the primary responsibility of your early recovery to get this system to function as it once was!

Wrapping it up

These three components – the connection breath, pelvic floor, and deep core system- are the building blocks of your postpartum recovery.

In my membership , and in the  FIGR:Postpartum  program, you’ll get all the details and guidance you need to apply these properly and effectively to your own postpartum body!

I got you,

Katelyn