There's no doubt about it- carrying that baby (and later the leftover baby weight) in your belly takes a toll on your posture. Our center of gravity shifts forward to make room for a growing baby which can lead to increased curves in our lower and upper backs, forward tilting of our hip bones and even a slight jutting forward of our head and neck. To make matters worse, mommies (myself included) tend to spend a lot of time hunched over doing things like feeding baby, taking baby in and out of the car seat, crib, or swing, taking things in and out of the dryer and dishwasher, and (ahem) catching up with old friends on Facebook! Our muscles can strengthen to support our mom-posture and if we don't do anything to rebalance ourselves we can become stuck with this poor posture for life!
If you know me, you know this is one of my big things, and I'm reminding myself as much as I'm reminding you: Stand up nice and tall, shoulders back and down, and abs in tight!
Additionally, fitness expert Lisa Druxman, in her book "Lean Mommy", recommends the following stretches and exercises to help reestablish good healthy posture:
1. Stretch the muscles in the chest (clasp hands together behind your back and pull away from your body until you feel the stretch in your chest).
2. Strengthen the opposing muscles in your upper back with a tubing row or a tubing lat pull down.
So stand up tall, roll those shoulders back and down and pull those abs in tight- and come on out and workout with some new friends at a Stroller Strides class near you!
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