OH! Magazine - Australian Version March 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 27

( Women’s Health )
perform the exercises. Start light and
then gradually progress the repetitions,
before you increase the weight. If you
find yourself straining, holding your
breath or you are unable to maintain a
pelvic floor lift, then decrease your load
and progress gradually.

Abdominal curls
Although getting back into ab curls is
tempting,

waiting

until

your

core

abdominals are strong enough to provide
underlying support is the key to success
here. After gentle core retraining and

upright, unloaded oblique work, you
would next consider supine oblique curls
and then finally progress to regular
(supine) abdominal curls.
Note: Progress only when you are able to
maintain core recruitment during the
exercise in question. And before adding
ab curls to your repertoire, make sure any
separation is fully resolved, whereby you
are able to maintain core activation
throughout each curl. This may well be
six weeks post-delivery, or even up around
12 weeks post-caesarean.
The most important thing when returning

to exercise is to be patient, listen to your
body and enjoy this precious time with
your new baby. Be kind to yourself, know
you will get there, and that this point of
recovery is a very short time in the big
picture.

In summary...
• Listen to your body.
• Prioritise your recovery, core and
pelvic floor.
• Include rest and relaxation and part
of your overall wellbeing plan.
• Enjoy a healthy diet full of lean
protein, fresh vegetables and salads.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Get out and about: fresh air is great
for your body and your soul.
• Wear comfortable clothing and good,
underwire-free, breast support.
• Where possible feed before you
exercise.
• Rest up if you feel exhausted or
unwell and never exercise in the
presence of fever.
• Be kind to yourself and be patient.

How much is too much?
Listen to your body. As a guide, you can
determine you are at the right level using
the following:
You should be able to talk throughout
your workout.
Your movement should be consistently
smooth and controlled throughout.
Holding your breath, straining, shaking or
tensing other muscles (such as shrugging
your shoulders) are all signs that you are
overdoing it, so ease off and progress
slowly.
Approximately two thirds of new
mums have a rectus diastasis (i.e.,
separation at somewhere along the
midline of the outer abdominals).
Loading up the abs with ab curls,
hovers, planks, oblique curls and
the like, will exacerbate the recovery
leading to increased risk of back
pain, incontinence and other
concerns. It is wise to wait until you
have good core control and any
separation has resolved to 2 fingers
width or less before trying ab curls.

( OH! MAGAZINE ) ISSUE 8

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