Getting Your Body Back After Pregnancy: How Long Does it Take?

The 3 Postnatal Phases

When it comes to getting your body back after pregnancy, you can expect your body to go through three postnatal phases.

• Phase 1 is typically 14 days.
• Phase 2 varies, but on average, 12 weeks is reasonable, with 16-24 weeks being where I found most moms have the solid Ab, Pelvic floor, and Core recovery needed to prepare them for Phase 3.
• Phase 3, when done effectively and efficiently, takes about 12 weeks.

Let’s walk through a few key points of your 3 Postnatal Phases and the FOCUS in each phase that will help you to Get Your Body Back efficiently and effectively. Your result will be an even stronger and fitter you!

Getting Your Body Back After Pregnancy Postnatal Phase 1

What’s going on

Immediately after giving birth, your hormones kick into high gear- again…

After you deliver your baby, your amazing body is set up to shift hormones again instantaneously. This time to help transition you from labor and delivery to Postnatal Phase 1.

Feel prepared!

Pregnancy isn’t the only time hormones are shifting and swinging. The changes and shifts that happen postnatally aren’t talked about nearly enough. Many moms feel unprepared for the postnatal changes once they are upon them. This is unnecessary. There are 3 postnatal phases you’ll move through and actions you can take to feel more confident when it comes to supporting your body in each.

I used to spend as much time sharing postnatal information with my pregnant moms as I did Pregnancy information. It is calming to know that the shifts that go on after delivery are really important and have a purpose; just as all the changes during pregnancy, they are there to protect and provide you and your baby.

Knowing what is going on and what to FOCUS on is tremendously helpful. So keep in mind that-

Your postnatal hormonal swings are designed to protect and provide for you and your baby.

…Oxytocin goes up immediately after delivery, and within 3 hours of delivery, Progesterone and Estrogen drop 90%

Your hormones are protecting you:

Throughout pregnancy, your hormones protect you. During delivery, they orchestrate the miraculous shifts to help your baby arrive. Immediately after delivery, they are there for you again; your oxytocin levels increase significantly. Then, within hours post-delivery, your body’s hormones, Progesterone and Estrogen, will plummet.

These hormonal shifts are in play to protect you and provide for your baby. Here is just one example of their importance. Post delivery, the hormone Oxytocin directs your uterus (which is a muscle) to continue to contract, clamping down so it’ll:

• Help expel the placenta, slough off the uterine lining, and continue to
• Compress the bleeding blood vessels in the area where the placenta was attached, as well as
• Help your uterus shrink back down to the size of a large upside-down pear.

First-time moms hardly feel anything. Moms having their second, third, or fourth baby are often surprised by how much they feel these contractions. They notice it more because, with each successive baby, the uterus has to do more work to return to its pre-pregnancy size.

In the Getting Your Body Back eBook, I cover a few techniques moms can use to help ease the clamping down discomfort, especially helpful right before the baby latches on if you are breastfeeding, before urinating, or BM (bowel movement). These three are common triggers for the uterus to clamp down.

Oxytocin also helps provide for your baby by:

• helping promote lactation and
• bonding with your baby.

A GREAT question moms used to ask:

And you may be wondering too: What about my other muscles, like my Abs and Pelvic Floor? Do my post-delivery hormones influence them, too?

Yepper!

Three hormones help your Ab and Pelvic Floor Muscles begin their journey back to their pre-pregnancy state.

The Hormones responsible for returning the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles to their pre-pregnancy size are a combination of hormones. The three hormones are:

• Relaxin: REALLY IMPORTANT HORMONE to keep in mind before choosing your postnatal exercises!! -Relaxin can stay in your body for 6-12 months after delivery. This hormone is responsible for softening the ligaments and joints during pregnancy and childbirth, and its lingering can make for more vulnerable joints, and the abdominal muscles are especially impacted!
• Estrogen: This hormone helps to rebuild and strengthen the abdominal muscles after pregnancy.
• Progesterone: This hormone also plays a role in rebuilding and strengthening the abdominal muscles after pregnancy.

These hormones work together to help the abdominal muscles return to their pre-pregnancy size and strength. However, the process takes time! Go too fast, and you might end up with an abdominal separation or a worsening one.

Ab Separation

It’s not uncommon for women to experience diastasis recti (a separation of the abdominal muscles) after pregnancy and not even know it. And TOO often, Ab separations, known or unknown, are made worse by wanting to ‘get their abs back’ by doing crunches and other common AB exercises! During Pregnancy, these are the Ab exercises to do and the one to AVOID!

Special exercises in Postnatal Phase 1 should be done to protect you from creating or worsening any abdominal separation created during your pregnancy.

If you only walk away from this information with one valuable thing, please let it be to AVOID crunches at all costs.

Next, you always want to be sure that whatever abdominal exercises you follow postnatally, you are positioned so that both sides of your Abs are contracting equally.

Because your baby isn’t a perfect sphere, the right and left sides of your rectus muscles are often different lengths after you deliver. And any crunches will exacerbate that discrepancy. You will need to work with your body and its hormones in a way that coaxes your abdominal muscles to equally strengthen so they can rebalance.

For this to happen in Phase 1, all your exercise positioning should have your hips and shoulders in contact with the floor or bed. No twisting, no leaning, nothing left unsupported. This specific step of first making sure your hips and shoulders are equally supported helps ensure that both the right and left sides of your rectus abdominis are contracting equally and simultaneously.

Let’s RE-CAP Getting Your Body Back Postnatal Phase 1

During Postnatal Phase 1, it is important to know that you continue to have hormones that impact your body, leading us to the FOCUS of Postnatal Phase 1

FOCUS that will help you Get Your Body Back for a Stronger, Fitter YOU!

During Phase One, work with your hormones. The FOCUS is to support your body’s vulnerable areas your:

• Pelvic Floor, including the lower area of your Colon and Anus.
• Pubic Symphysis (the pubic bone area)
• Abs, especially where separations exist.
• Neck and shoulders
• Upper/Mid/Lower Back

• 
  
  

Use the Right Exercises in the Right Order at the Right Time to help your body’s:

• Lymph System drain
• Promote comfortable Bowel Movements
• Circulatory System move to reduce swelling, promote blood flow, and relieve stiffness and pain.
• Muscles work safely and equally for balanced recovery

The right exercises are those that recognize:

• The ongoing influence hormones have on the body and
• Stay within the proper range of motion.
• Avoid sudden twisting, turning, heavy lifting…
• Use supportive techniques for our Abs and Pelvic Floor while
• exercising the postural muscles equally, using positions that ensure the muscles are 100% supported.

It is also imperative to know how to support your Ab Muscles and Pelvic floor Muscles

Ab Muscles

They need special attention right away. The resistance your little one offered is now gone. You will want to be sure that you use the arm wrap technique to avoid straining them unnecessarily. This goes a long way when it comes to regaining strong abdominal muscles. Every time you get in and out of bed, every time you turn, go to lift the baby, get up and down from the toilet, in and out of the car or off the couch or chair…. be sure to use the proper hold and guide your Abs.

Pelvic floor

Your pelvic floor also needs attention. Whether you delivered vaginally or had a C-section. Supporting your pelvic floor is highly effective in preventing further stretching and providing protection to an already overstressed muscle group. Be sure to position yourself and apply upward pressure, especially for your first bowel movement, using the same technique The Prenatal Exercise System teaches you.

For Postnatal Phase 1 exercises, the Techniques, and Timelines that support your Post-delivery body with illustrations, explanations, step-by-step guides, checklists, and the Postnatal Phase 1 Exercise Routine, grab your copy of the Getting Your Body Back eBook. The Guide every mom-to-be should read BEFORE delivering.

Getting Your Body Back After Pregnancy: Postnatal Phase 2

During Postnatal Phase Two, the FOCUS is on:

• Continuing to support your body’s recovery while slowly introducing more reps to your Phase 1 Exercises.
• The ongoing Body Awareness that your organs, like your uterus, ligaments, and bladder, are still adjusting, means continuing self-care techniques that support them are absolutely essential to Getting Your Body Back!

Continue using Postnatal Phase 1 exercises and begin layering in the first half of the Phase 2 Exercises, which is the First half of The Prenatal Exercise System routine modified for postnatal recovery. This will begin to incorporate and rebalance the muscle groups acting on your spine, offering HUGE relief to the common upper back, neck, and shoulder pain new moms often experience.

Like Postnatal Phase 1, Postnatal Phase 2 is FOCUSED first and foremost on continuing to respect your body’s ongoing hormonal influence and making sure the exercises you do position you in a way that makes sure your muscle-skeletal system is promoting equal work and is also helping to counter the unequal stressors your new daily repetitive motions are creating. For instance:

• Neck, Upper, and mid-back aching and pain from holding your infant and looking down, and having breasts that are larger and engorged.
• Shoulder discomfort from carrying car seats in and out. (I encourage avoiding this as much as possible)
• Armpit discomfort that can happen when the lymphatic system is working to rebalance.

Phase 2 FOCUS will continue to increase your body’s

• Lymphatic Circulation,
• Muscle Skeletal strength in a balanced posture way, and
• Begin to layer on Your Core Stabilizers by bringing the Training Your Diaphragm back in you used throughout your Pregnancy.
• Once the uterus is down around 8 weeks it’ll be time to work up to doing the entire Prenatal Routine again with Postnatal Adaptations the KEY to continue efficiently and effectively getting your body back.

👉🏼Reminder: Phase 2 is typically 12 weeks, with 16-24 weeks being the timeframe where most moms achieve the solid Abdominal, Pelvic floor, and Core recovery needed to prepare them for Phase 3.

Getting Your Body Back After Pregnancy: Postnatal Phase 3

In the home stretch. This is where the deep and superficial posture muscles get the real challenge.

You are now ready with the equalized muscle/skeletal foundation to transition into The Postnatal Exercise System. The 20 Minute Exercise System that gets you exponential, measurable results!

A very exciting time. You are getting the rhythm of your little one and are ready physically to take advantage of the Postnatal phase 1 and 2 exercises and techniques you’ve implemented. Now is the really cool part where you begin to experience measurable results of a stronger, fitter body each 20 out of 28 days!

Re-Cap

Immediately after giving birth, your hormones flux dramatically- again…These postnatal hormonal swings are designed to protect and provide for you and your baby.

Getting Your Body Back Postnatal Phase 1

FOCUS that will help you Get Your Body Back for a Stronger, Fitter YOU!

Support your body’s vulnerable areas. Your:

• Pelvic Floor, including the lower area of your Colon and Anus.
• Pubic Symphysis (the pubic bone area)
• Abs, especially where separations exist.
• Neck and shoulders
• Upper/Mid/Lower Back

And use the Right Exercises in the Right Order at the Right Time to help your body’s:

• Lymph System drain
• Promote comfortable Bowel Movements
• Circulatory System move to reduce swelling, promote blood flow, and relieve stiffness and pain.
• Muscles work safely and equally for balanced recovery

Be vigilant when it comes to your Abs and Pelvic Floor

Support, support, support.

The right exercises are those that work with:

• The ongoing influence hormones have on your body and
• Stay within the proper range of motion.
• Avoid sudden twisting, turning, heavy lifting…
• Use supportive techniques for your Abs and Pelvic Floor while
• Exercise your postural muscles equally using positions that ensure your muscles are 100% supported.

Phase 2 FOCUS: continue to increase your body’s

• Lymphatic Circulation,
• Muscle Skeletal strength in a balanced posture way, and
• Begin to layer on Your Core Stabilizers by bringing the Training Your Diaphragm back in you used throughout your Pregnancy.
• Once the uterus is down around 8 weeks it’ll be time to work up to doing the entire Prenatal Routine again with Postnatal Adaptations the KEY to continue efficiently and effectively getting your body back.

Postnatal Phase 3: You are ready!

You are now ready with the equalized muscle/skeletal foundation to transition into The Postnatal Exercise System. The 20 Minute Exercise System that gets you exponential, measurable results!

You’ll be adding your superficial muscles (your bigger muscles on top. The ones that you see, like your arms, legs, top layer of your abs, buttocks, and thighs).

All the while continuing to provide your posture muscles with a real challenge, combating the oh-so-dreaded neck hump that moms have the tendency to develop. Woohoo! You’ll not only Get Your Body Back, you’ll become the stronger, fitter version of you! 🎉

Postnatal Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 all have their purpose. Remember how often I repeat during the Masterclass: Train These 3 Muscle Groups for a Pain-Free Pregnancy, that “Your body is made to have babies” well, your body is also made to recover beautifully.

Working with your body during each of the three postnatal phases is your key to Getting Your Body Back. It’s even more likely you’ll be a stronger, fitter you than ever before! Some moms share their experiences here.

Have a Question? Let me know what’s on your mind👇🏼 here.

eBook: The Expectant Mom’s Guide – Supporting Your Body Right after Delivery, including the Phase 1 Routine you do right in bed!