Post-Partum Training · South Tampa
Post-Partum Training, at the Pace Your Body Sets.
Your body has just done something enormous. If getting back in shape is on the list, it belongs there. No deadline attached.
What changed
Your Body Did Not Simply Get Bigger and Then Smaller Again.
Pregnancy changes structure, not only size. Each change decides something about how you train.
The Deep Core
The abdominal wall stretched for nine months, and afterwards the two halves of it can sit further apart than they used to. It is common enough to have a name: diastasis recti.
What that means
Crunches and sit-ups wait. Breathing, bracing and gentle bridging come first.
The Pelvic Floor
It carried the pregnancy and it took the delivery. Whether or not anything feels different, it is the layer the rest of your training sits on top of.
What that means
Kegels are the least glamorous thing here, and the first thing I would give you.
Coming back
Three Stages, and Not One of Them Is a Race.
Everyone arrives somewhere different on this line.
- 01Before you are cleared
Rest, Walk, Breathe.
What this stage is
The first weeks are not a training block. They are recovery, and the work genuinely is rest, water, and getting outside on the days you can face it.
This stage is for · Getting outside, and getting your breath back.
- 02Cleared: reconnect
Rebuild What Carried the Pregnancy.
What this stage is
Quiet work: breathing, bracing, bridging, and getting your posture back after months of leaning around a bump. It is the stage most people skip, and a good part of why so many post-baby plans stall around week four.
This stage is for · Pelvic floor, deep core, posture. Load comes later.
- 03Rebuild
Now We Can Train Properly.
What this stage is
Short blocks, short rests, over before you have had time to dread it. The weight stops being the point: strength, energy, and a car seat up a flight of stairs without thinking about it are what stay.
This stage is for · Strength and conditioning. The weight comes off as a consequence.
A walk with the stroller is not a consolation prize. For the first few weeks, it is the training.
If something aches, turn around and go home. That is not a failed session. It was never a session.
Between sessions
Three You Can Do at Home.
Pick the one that matches where you are.
- 01Beginner
Kegels
Pelvic floor · 3 × 10–20
- 1Sit on a bench or chair, feet shoulder-width apart.
- 2Contract your pelvic muscles, and stand up.
- 3Hold the Kegel, sit back down, then release the muscles.
Make it harder
Stand further away from the bench. Lift one leg a few inches off the ground in front of you and bend your knee as you sit down; keep that leg raised as you stand back up, releasing the Kegel and pressing through your heel. Twelve reps, then switch legs. - 02Intermediate
Hamstring Curl on a Ball
Glutes and hamstrings · 2–3 × 12–20
- 1Lie on the floor, arms out to the sides, knees bent, calves resting on a yoga ball.
- 2Lift your hips, squeeze your abs tight, and roll the ball in towards you.
- 3Push slowly back out, keeping your hips lifted the whole way.
- 03Advanced
Walking Lunges
Legs and glutes · 1–3 × 10–20
- 1Feet together, then take a large step forward, bending both knees to about ninety degrees.
- 2Push through your front heel and come back to standing.
- 3Repeat on the other side.
Make it harder
Hold a light dumbbell in each hand. Five to ten pounds, and no more than that.
Training with me
The Twelve-Week Post-Baby Plan.
- Length
- Twelve weeks
- Frequency
- Three to four a week
- Session length
- Thirty minutes, or sixty
- The work
- Circuits and core
- Included
- Nutritional planning free with the Transformation Package, plus postnatal stretching
Craig Chapin, NASM certified since 2004.
Losing weight safely after a baby goes beyond exercise. The plan is built around the whole picture.
“Craig was wonderful to work with and made our 30 minute sessions fly by.”
Meagen
Her result · Back to pre-pregnancy size in 6 weeks
*Individual results may vary. Testimonials from past clients do not represent a guarantee and are not intended to create an expectation of similar results in future clients.
Your first session
Come In and Tell Me Where You Are.
Tell me how the birth went, what you have been cleared for and what your week looks like.
- Free, with nothing to commit to
- Empire MMA and Fitness, South Tampa
Please note
General fitness information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor, midwife or physical therapist before starting or restarting exercise after giving birth, particularly after a cesarean or a complicated delivery, or if anything hurts.