Getting back their shape after giving birth, for many women,
seems like something that should happen overnight. After all, many
Hollywood starlets return to their svelter-than-thou looks within
six to eight weeks of delivery, but quickly shedding weight can be
a bad idea, according to local fitness experts, who advise a slow
and steady course of recuperation and weight loss.
Getting back their shape after giving birth, for many women, seems like something that should happen overnight. After all, many Hollywood starlets return to their svelter-than-thou looks within six to eight weeks of delivery, but quickly shedding weight can be a bad idea, according to local fitness experts, who advise a slow and steady course of recuperation and weight loss.
“(New moms) don’t want to jump into an exercise program right after they’ve had a child,” advised Pat Tharp, owner of The Fitness Formula in Morgan Hill. “They shouldn’t really start anything new until four to six weeks after the baby, and then if they’re nursing, they want to be careful.”
Nursing mothers already are depleted of nutrients since many are being passed to the baby via breast milk, said Tharp, and embarking on a new diet or exercise regimen only worsens the problem. Non-nursing mothers should not lose more than two pounds a week, and nursing mothers should lose no more than four to five pounds per month, she said.
Morgan Hill resident Claudia Ponce, 23, lost weight rapidly in the first few weeks after her pregnancy. During pregnancy, she contracted toxemia, a pregnancy-related form of hypertension characterized by rapid weight gain and swelling, and ballooned from 118 pounds at four months to 167 at seven. Her baby had to be delivered prematurely because of the danger posed by her toxemia.
“When it was over, I was really fatigued, really ill,” said Ponce, who had a baby girl five years ago. “I’ve always had a passion for dancing, and I didn’t think I’d be able to do it any more. I was thin, but I had a lot of loose skin. Getting back in shape wasn’t about the physical looking good again, though. I wanted to get back to feeling healthy and energized.”
With an eye on returning to her favorite sport, Ponce contacted what for most people would be an unusual source: her dad.
Ponce’s father, Luis Ponce, is a certified holistic exercise kinesiologist who owns the Gilroy physical therapy center Mind Body Motion and specializes in helping women regain their shape after having babies or abdominal surgery. The key to getting back a pre-baby form, he said, is balance.
“For nine months, they’ve been balancing this large weight in front of them, and their body has created faulty muscle memory because of it,” said Luis. “We look at the positioning of the body to see where the muscles are long and weak, and where they’re taut and strong. The body will always rely on its strengths, but we try to make it as equal as possible.”
Luis combines the basic principals of pilates – stretching and strengthening of the abdominal core – with a focus on simple movements required for everyday use. Workouts center on squatting, lunging, pulling, pushing, bending and twisting: all the movements a new mom needs to keep up with her kids.
Using little more than a wooden pole and an exercise ball, Luis can guide a new mom through slow, posture-based exercises designed to strengthen her abdominal wall.
“Most women complain that they can never get rid of the little pouch they get after pregnancy, but that’s a result of the way they work out,” said Luis. “Most of them go from sit-ups to machines where they sit down. They never exercise their lower abdominals.”
Instead, for moms who head back to the gym, Luis recommended looking for cable-based machines that allow them to stand while doing other activities.
“When you do that, your body is forced to balance itself, and if you position yourself, if you tighten your abdominals by bringing in your belly button, you’ll strengthen them.”
After three months of training, Claudia Ponce felt energized enough to pursue her dream: She auditioned for the San Jose Saber Cats cheerleading team and won a position, beginning her current career as a professional cheerleader. But completing workouts before pregnancy can speed up the rebound process for slightly older moms or women with multiple children.
San Jose resident Iris Catacora, 29, had her first baby March 9, but thanks to her prenatal workouts with Luis Ponce, she said, she’s been quick to shed the 30 pounds the pregnancy packed on.
“My back started hurting during the pregnancy, so we did exercises to help me balance better,” said Catacora. “I’m feeling a lot better. I’ve lost almost all my weight and now we’re working on other things – how to carry the baby, what position to be in when I breast feed her – that are helping me not have the back pain so badly.”
Before beginning any diet or exercise regimen, new moms should consult their physicians to ensure the proposed changes are healthy and safe for them, said Tharp.
“Most of the time it’s fine to return to what you were doing before, but even then you’ll want to go slow,” Tharp said. “If it’s your goal to walk for an hour a day, you might want to start with 10 or 15 minutes instead, and add five minutes a week. Don’t overdo it.”
