Postpartum Fitness

After having a baby, a woman should focus on her exercises. It all depends, however, on the woman’s desire to look real good because no matter how difficult it is to allow just a little time for your own needs, it is still possible. There are lots of programs to strengthen your muscles and regain your body tone weakened after pregnancy and childbirth. To do that, you don’t have to leave your baby for a few hours and go to a fitness center.

Best Time for Fitness after Pregnancy

Physicians recommend that women start exercising 6-8 weeks after vaginal birth and 9-10 weeks after Cesarean operation. Make sure you start exercising with care as every woman recovers after childbirth differently. Start with simpler exercises that do not cause negative sensations in the weakened body.

Intensive Walking after Childbirth

Gynecologists strongly encourage women to move actively as early as 2 weeks after childbirth. What they mean is not vigorous fitness activities, but intensive walking. You have to push a baby stroller a lot, and it is reasonable to use these hours for brisk walking that would help lose your weight.

Fitness Programs for Women after Childbirth

There are many programs for women after childbirth. For example, you can start yoga two weeks after childbirth, or isometric trainings after a month, or Chinese exercise system Chi Kung after just a few days. Of course, this is for healthy women with no childbirth complications. What’s more, all these exercise systems can relieve the stress after birth that occurs in about 50% of women. In fact, even minor exercises are very beneficial to both mothers and babies. Do not limit yourself with just slimming diet after you had a baby. Active lifestyle is a must to lose unwanted weight you gained during pregnancy and to get back in shape.

Irregular Exercises Are Unhealthy

Dieticians claim that it is better not to start a sport if you don’t mean to take regular exercises because irregular exercises promote obesity. Actually, experts at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have come to that point. They discovered that irregular physical exercises with long intervals resulted in putting on weight faster than if a person wouldn’t do them at all.


 What’s more, researches managed to find out that it would be harder to lose the weight you gained that way. Scientists say you have to be physically active year-round and avoid seasonal pauses to slim effectively. For those who feel they can’t manage that regime, it is better not to start a sport at all. The study shows that those who run hard every day and then quit it gain their weight rapidly. Researches say those runners put on four times their weight before trainings.

Elevator Is Harmful Invention

If it were not for the elevators, people would be much healthier. The fact was discovered by Swedish scientists. They piled up on scientific evidence supporting that stair climbing is great for our health. Researches encourage those with a sedentary lifestyle not to take the elevator at all.


They argue that even such a moderate physical exercise as walking up and down the stairs is able to increase fitness level rapidly.

Their statements come from the results of the study involving 69 people. Volunteers were asked to use the stairs every day. The number of stair flights climbed was being gradually increased from 5 to 23. After 3 months, scientists examined the volunteers to find the improvements in lungs ventilation, blood pressure and the reduction in their weight. So, it’s for you to decide.

High Heel Race

Sidney saw another high heel race with the record number of runners – 265 women. Wearing three-inch high heels, ladies competed on a 80 meter race track. Australian Britney McGlone who is a professional 400 meters hurdle runner finished first to take home AUD 5000 prize fund (USD 4267).


 High heel sprint is no easy thing. Many participants of this odd competition left the race track unhappy and bruised.

 High heel race is a quite popular sport that emerged fairly recently and soon won many hearts across the world. The first race took place in the Netherlands, March, 2007. It gathered about 150 ladies then.

 Stiletto races were also run in Russia and Germany. By the way, Germans were generous with the prize fund. The winner received a 10 000 euros worth coupon for buying clothes, shoes, accessories and, of course, cosmetics.

Watching Sport Is Healthy

It is not only performing physical exercises that does us good, but also watching them. This fact was discovered by physiologists at the University of Chicago. They concluded that watching somebody training helps sharpen the brain.


In their study, scientists compared hockey players, hockey fans and people who are not enthusiastic about hockey. They found that discussing hockey boosted the activity of brain zones responsible for planning and physical actions in hockey players and fans (compared to hockey-indifferent people).

The researches say this observation is unique. New findings suggest that our brain is able to give orders of physical activity to the body even if we aren’t actually exercising. It’s just enough to watch a game on TV or at the stadium.

Physiologists claim that in future these findings could bring about some changes in the training programs for physically active professions. It has to do not only with athletes, but also with militaries, bodyguards, fire fighters and the others.

It Is Easier to Train With the Music on

An interesting fact was recently discovered, which showed that listening to music during a heavy training can increase endurance of your body by 15% and, in addition, it helps enjoy the sport much more. It works even when a person trains on strength training equipment at a very high intensity level. A 20 year study which examined connection between music motivation in sport and work helped establish this fact. The study showed that it is much easier to work out when your favourite tune is on.


The study was initiated by physiologists from Brunel University, the Great Britain. The participants were actively training and could select the type of music, rock or pop music, they wanted to listen to while training. The physicians discovered that music helped enhance muscle relaxation, especially when the person was running or walking.

From the results they received, the physicians concluded that “music” method can be used during rehabilitation therapy as an additional treatment method to help maintain fitness to people with heart and weight problems.
In addition, many people (including me) find it much easier to do regular daily tasks, such as cleaning, cooking, or even working, when the music is on. Enjoyable music can lift your mood so that the task you hate so much can turn into something interesting at least.

Water Aerobics During Pregnancy Eases Childbirth Pain

Most women, even those who dream of having children, are afraid of childbirth. It hurts much, you never know how long it will last and if there will appear complications. My nephew’s birth lasted about 7 hours, my sister-in-law, his mother, says, it was complicated, exhausting and very painful. This is why anything (that, of course, doesn’t harm the baby) that could help ease the pain and make childbirth faster is a dream of every pregnant woman. Here’s something that does help. Brazilian scientists found out that taking water aerobics, or aqua aerobics, classes during pregnancy help significantly ease the childbirth pain as well as speed up the overall process.


Scientists from the University of Campinas (Sao Paulo) held a study which examined future mothers (71 women in total). Half of the participants took 50-minute exercise sessions at the pool three times a week. According to the results, 27% of women who exercised water aerobics required painkillers during childbirth, while this number in the control group was about 65%.
Aqua aerobics and swimming are considered the most suitable types of fitness for the pregnancy period. Water removes pressure from the spine, joints, and ligaments and provides optimal pressure on the pregnant woman’s muscles and cardiovascular system. In addition, pool exercises help relieve stress and learn how to breathe rhythmically.