Ab workout after c section?

I really like the Pregnancy and Postpartum channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIakpj3Xn5NBfRH9mfoG43w

I started with these exercise videos after my last birth (not a C-section). There are modifications and adaptations for common postpartum situations like diastasis recti and C-section recovery (as long as you've been cleared for exercise by your doctor or midwife). Traditional ab workouts can often worsen ab separation so I would be cautious with that if it's an issue for you.

One thing that I think is worth mentioning: your stomach might not "go back to how it was," depending on how you define that. For some women, they get lucky genetically and don't deal with stretch marks or much visible scarring and their skin shrinks back pretty easily. For many of us, though, we will never look *exactly* as we did before we got pregnant. We can be at a healthy weight (even the same or less than pre-pregnancy), we can have a strong core, but there might be a softness that lingers or marks that never entirely fade. It can take time to adjust psychologically to that, as much as what it means to become a mother.

The common advice I've received from my midwives is "nine months on, nine months off." That goes for most physical changes but frequently many of the emotional ones too. By nine months postpartum you can reasonably expect to have settled into your new normal, so don't be alarmed if at 4 months postpartum it's not how you think it should be yet. Your hormones may not have entirely settled back into their pre-pregnancy state yet (especially if you're breastfeeding and in lactational amenhorrea, which for some women will remain until well past a year.)

Nobody likes to hear it, but patience is really the name of the game here. So start slow and take care of yourself!

JanelleG0122 wrote: »

...and that's okay because in my eyes my son is 😁

Wait until he’s 12 😂.

Kiiiiiidding. It’s a joke (maybe).

watts6151 wrote: »

Speakeasy76 wrote: »

I'll be blunt, as someone whose had 2 c-sections it will be difficult if not impossible to get the stomach you had before the c-section. The "pouch" that remains after a c-section may never go away. At 44, I'm in the best shape I've ever been and at the lowest weight I've been as an adult. That stomach pooch is still there, almost 10 years after my youngest was born. I was fortunate that somehow I didn't get stretch marks on my stomach, although have them on my boobs and hips.

Having said all that, I think it's really important to make sure you hit those transverse abs from a functional standpoint, even just to prevent problems down the line. There is a post about doing a "stomach vacuum" (or you could probably find it on YouTube), and since I've been doing those regularly I've definitely seen a change in the "pooch" as well as my posture.

My wife was in the best shape of her life 20 weeks
After her emergency C section for prem twins.
Perfectly flat stomach, guess it depends on genetics and their personal trainer

Great for her, but there are more chances than not that that will not happen to women, and as women we need to quit pushing the narrative that women's bodies can "snap back" 6 months after having a baby. Also, I assume you're a man without reproductive organs and not someone who specializes in women's reproductive health or bodies(although possibly not). So, I can't really take your assessment of what happens to woman's body after a c-section too seriously. It's a lot more than "genetics and a personal trainer." I wouldn't even go to a regular personal trainer after a c-section if I wanted to shoot for flat abs, but more likely a physical therapist who is trained in rehabilitating the core after pregnancy and c-sections.