Follow my blog with Bloglovin Exercising whilst breastfeeding

Firstly I am not a trained fitness or post partum expert, and this post is based on the research that I have done and my personal experience. 
I worked out regularly before and during my pregnancy and I was keen to get straight back into after I had my baby. After a rather traumatic assisted birth, which involved an episiotomy and forceps delivery I found that I was unable to sit down comfortably for a week let alone even go for a walk. Thankfully by two weeks after Rafe was born I was finally feeling well enough to embark on some gentle exercise. 
 
One thing that was of a massive concern to me was whether exercising would effect my milk supply as I was exclusively breastfeeding. I did some research online and found a lot of conflicting information. Some websites said that exercise was fine and even beneficial whilst breastfeeding, then another told of a study completed in 1992 which told how a mothers milk is high in lactic acid immediately after exercise and therefore the baby would probably reject it.
I decided to start working out gently and then build my workouts up while monitoring Rafe's feeding and see what happened. I am currently avoiding really high intensity activities such as running and jumping, mainly because I do not find this comfortable on my boobs while I am breastfeeding. In addition I do not want to be wearing a constrictive sports bra at the moment as wearing a bra that is too tight while breastfeeding can lead to blocked milk ducts and painful infections.
In order to ensure I get enough cardio into my workouts I choose to train with kettlebells. Many of the exercises that you do with kettlebells such as kettlebell swings get the heart rate up without any jumping.

I also ensure that I am eating enough and eating high protein foods so that my muscles can repair after exercise and I still produce enough milk. Apparently breastfeeding can burn up to 500 calories per day (and my baby definitely has a massive appetite!) so when I exercise I take this into account aswell as the calories that I would have burnt off during my workout. I also supplement my diet with a vegan protein shake, see my earlier post on my post partum diet, to ensure I am getting enough calories and protein. Staying hydrated is also essential while breastfeeding even if you aren't exercising, but if you are sweating during a workout then you need to drink even more to ensure this is replaced.
I now workout at least five days a week for between half an hour and an hour, my milk supplies have not been affected by this and Rafe has never refused a feed when he is hungry...but then he is a greedy baby!

Benefits of post partum exercise and exercising whilst nursing;

1. Exercises such as strength training can help to improve the mothers bone mass, something which can decrease when breastfeeding.
2. Mentally exercise is a natural anti-depressant. That weeks after having a baby can be an incredibly emotional and overwhelming time and it's easy to get stressed or feel very down. Exercise releases endorphins in the brain and can help you feel so much better. 
3. Weight management. People say that breastfeeding helps you lose weight and at the start I would say this is true. BUT it also gave me a bigger appetite and I was happily thinking I could eat more and still lose weight. This didn't happen and after the initial loss the number on the scale started creeping up again. Breastfeeding alone is not going to get rid of all the baby weight, it may be a good start and it will help the uterus contract back to it's normal size so that your stomach looks flatter quicker but to really tone up exercise will be essential.

Obviously everybody is different and this is just my personal experience. I would recommend anyone embarking on a postnatal exercise routine checks in with their doctor first and listens to their body and takes things slowly.

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