While having children is a blessing, they don’t always bring with them the greatest of side effects. One of those just so happens to be an enlarged belly. As you progress in your pregnancy, your belly expands in order to cover and support the growing child within. Unlike what is depicted in the movies, your belly doesn’t magically snap back to its former size after birth. You need to work at it. Here are a few tips you can use to get your belly back, after you’ve given birth.
1. Extra Fluid Removal
Besides just added fat, you’re carrying a lot of extra fluid from the pregnancy. You’ll likely notice that you end up going to the bathroom a lot. This is to help remove that excess fluid. You’ll also be sweating a lot more. One way to help remove that excess fluid is to walk or power walk regularly. However, you don’t want to perform too strenuous of activity so soon after giving birth.
Walking and swimming are a good ways to exercise to help sweat out some of the excess fluid in your body.
2. Uterus Shrinkage
It also takes time for your uterus to shrink back to its normal size. This will reduce in size as the excess fluid is removed. After about two months of doing nothing more than light exercise, you should notice that your belly is a bit flatter.
3. Breastfeed
Another way to easily lose some pounds is to breastfeed your new child. While not all women will lose weight by just breastfeeding their children, some can burn anywhere from 400 to 600 calories a day.
Breastfeeding also comes with its own share of benefits for your child. If you want to burn calories easily and ensure your baby is being looked after, then breastfeeding them could be a great option.
Source: Shutterstock.com4. Pelvic Tilts
Most people think that in order to get their tummy back to what it was before, they need to start doing crunches. This isn’t the case. Doing crunches too early can actually make the connective tissue in your abdomen thinner and weaker. That isn’t something you want when the goal is to make your tummy strong and shapely.
Instead, you’ll want to start with pelvic tilts. This helps strengthen the deepest abdominal muscle that you have. The best way to perform the exercise is to wrap a sheet around your tummy, so you can keep your abs compressed. Then lay on your back with your feet on the floor. Your legs should be bent. You’ll then pull your belly button towards your spine while lifting your pelvis up off of the floor. Whilst tightening your buttocks, hold the position for five seconds. Then you can release and start over. You should do five sets of 20 repetitions.
5. Forearm Plank
After about 12 weeks, after you have given birth, you are able to perform more strenuous exercises. One of those should be the forearm plank. This is a great exercise to help strengthen your core and tone your muscles.
Begin by laying on the floor with your forearms supporting you. Then rise up on your toes. At this stage, you’ll want to suck in your belly and keep your buttocks tight. Hold this position for 20 seconds, then release. As you become stronger, you’ll want to hold the position for longer and longer. Try adding 10 seconds to each session.
6. Reverse Crunch
To target every aspect of your abs, you’ll also want to try the reverse crunch. As is often the case, muscles can become used to certain exercises. As a result, it’s more difficult to lose fat and tone muscle in those areas. A reverse crunch is a great alternative to the traditional crunch.
Begin by laying down on your back. Your knees should be bent and your thighs should be perpendicular to the ground. Focusing on your abs, you’ll need to bring your knees towards your chest. Hold this position for two seconds, then repeat the exercise 10 times.
Source: Shutterstock.com7. Scissor Kicks
One extreme way to burn fat off your tummy is to do scissor kicks. You’re sure to feel the burn shortly after performing this exercise.
Once again, you’ll need to lay on your back. Keep your legs straight. Lift both of your legs off of the floor and scissor your legs by lowering one leg while lifting the other, then vice versa. You’ll either want to do 10-20 repetitions or see how many you can do in 45 seconds.
Conclusion
Just because you had a baby, doesn’t mean you need to keep the belly. As long as you’re careful and don’t push yourself too hard too quickly, you can safely trim your tummy back to its original shape and size. Try these exercises out for yourself today.
