During pregnancy, your body changes to accommodate for a new growing life. As your baby grows, it’s completely normal for your skin to change, and sometimes you are left with loose skin after delivery. It’s natural that you want to start working out again after giving birth but it’s important to be kind to yourself – your body gave you a beautiful gift. That being said, you shouldn’t feel pressured to exercise before your body is up to it.
In this article, I cover 8 different tips to tighten loose skin after pregnancy, so you have a few exercises at your disposal when you feel ready to work out postpartum. So, let’s get started. Allowing your body the time it needs to heal is imperative to your overall health and wellbeing after giving birth. Rest is a huge part of recovery! It is generally recommended that you wait a minimum of 6 weeks before starting to exercise again after giving birth, but you will need to take your own birth and doctor’s advice into account. Below are some tips you can try to help tighten loose skin after pregnancy.
Tips to Tighten Loose Skin After Pregnancy
Work cardio into your everyday life and routine
Cardio is a great way to tone your muscles and burn fat, and regular exercise can help prevent or minimize loose skin following pregnancy. The great thing about cardio is that there are so many different options that range from low to high impact depending on what you feel comfortable doing.
From walking to swimming to jogging, there is bound to be an option that makes you feel great and gets you excited about being active again after giving birth. That being said, before beginning a new workout routine, make sure that it is safe to do so by asking your doctor.
It is especially important that you wait until six weeks before attempting high-impact exercise, but your doctor might recommend that you get out and walk when you feel comfortable and ready to do so.
Eat healthy proteins and fats
Eating a healthy, balanced diet can help to promote elasticity and tighten loose skin after pregnancy. Good nutrition plays a big role in skin health, so you’ll want to make sure that you’re eating a healthy diet including plenty of fruits, vegetables, fats, and lean protein.
The vitamins and minerals in a well-balanced diet will contribute to the elasticity and health of your skin. This elasticity can help your skin return to normal after you have your baby. Lean protein such as fish and seafood, chicken, and turkey supplies your body with vitamin D, which contributes to your skin’s ability to stretch.
If you are unsure about nutrition and which exercises are best for you following pregnancy, you may benefit from getting yourself a personal trainer that can help you focus your training and nutrition around postpartum fitness.
Strength training
When you are strong enough after birth, a great tip to tighten loose skin after pregnancy is to focus on strength training. Strength exercises, such as situps and pushups are great for strengthening and tightening your core. Alongside this, you can take a variety of workout classes such as yoga, pilates, and barre classes that can work to help tighten your core, glute, and hip muscles. That being said, if you’re working with a personal trainer or are taking a class, make sure that you let the instructor know that you have recently given birth. This will allow them to inform you of any exercises to avoid or adapt to ensure that you are not straining yourself. You will also need to take your birth and recovery into consideration. This is because recovering from a cesarean can take significantly longer, and if there were complications with the birth, you might need to wait longer before you’re up to strength training.
The key here is to be patient. Allowing yourself to heal mentally and physically should be your priority, as your well-being and recovery are crucial following birth. Make sure that when it comes to strength training that you are checking in with your doctor and getting their approval before doing any intense exercises.
Your doctor will be able to take your birth into account and offer you advice in terms of how intense the activity can be before you slowly begin to increase your exercise from low-impact to high.
Stay hydrated
This one might sound simple but staying hydrated can play a huge role when it comes to tightening loose skin.
This primarily comes down to the fact that tightening loose skin after pregnancy is all about promoting and maintaining elasticity. So, why is drinking water so important? Skin elasticity depends largely on staying hydrated. Alongside this, staying hydrated actually helps your body to burn calories and reduces water retention in your abdomen.
Altogether, then, these factors can make the appearance of loose skin less noticeable. That being said, you need to make sure that you’re drinking enough water throughout the day.
Breastfeed your baby
Breastfeeding benefits both you and your baby. Not only does breastfeeding help your baby grow and develop with all of the right nutrients that they need, but it can also help to tighten loose skin after pregnancy. Breastfeeding helps protect your baby, contains antibodies, which means that babies who are breastfed have passive immunity for longer.
When you breastfeed, you might find that you’re hungrier, as your body uses a large portion of the calories you consume every day to produce breastmilk. As a result, your body stores fewer calories as fat and may even dip into your existing body fat to keep your milk production up.
This makes breastfeeding a great way to tighten loose skin, as it often means that you can lose weight faster and tighten loose skin after pregnancy just by feeding your baby!
Try skin-firming products regularly
There are an array of skin-firming products on the market that are specifically designed to increase the collagen and elastin in your skin. These products can be used in conjunction with regular exercise, as the natural ingredients in these products work together to supercharge rejuvenation and recovery. Apply by massaging the firming gel/lotion into your body, in areas such as your stomach, hips, thighs, and legs twice a day. In the meantime, here are some nice tummy control legging options I found.
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Exfoliate your skin
Exfoliating is great for removing dead cells from the surface of the skin, encouraging new skin growth which is tighter.
Exfoliating also helps to improve blood circulation to the surface layers of your skin, which increases skin regeneration and promotes elasticity.
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You can also try dry-brushing loose skin before you shower when your skin is firmer. However, you’ll need to be gentle to avoid damaging the skin you’re trying to heal.
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Lose weight gradually
After being pregnant for 9 months or so, you might be eager to lose the weight you’ve gained as quickly as possible. However, this has implications for your health, and also your skin, too. Losing weight too quickly can make the problem of loose skin even worse. If you lose weight too fast, you will lose both fat and muscle.
Losing muscle makes it harder for your body to maintain a tight, toned shape. Less muscle also reduces your metabolism and makes it more difficult to lose weight in the long run. Bearing this in mind, then, you will want to ensure that you are losing weight gradually.
Whether you incorporate cardio into your everyday routine or strength training, make sure that you aim to lose weight in a steady, sustainable way. Here are some nice supporting leggings for postpartum too.
In Summary
Pregnancy changes your body in many ways. The main thing to remember is that it has provided you with the greatest miracle there is: a baby! As your tummy grows, the skin needs to expand to make room for your bundle of joy. After giving birth, many women may have loose skin on their stomach, and it’s not uncommon for it to look different. We are constantly evolving and changing in our everyday lives, and the same applies to pregnancy.
You can’t expect to go through such a life-changing event without picking up a few marks along the way, so try not to feel disheartened. Have patience with your body as it heals and enjoy your beautiful baby!