Kicking Off: Postpartum Journey to Fitness with Flex Studio

“Getting back to shape was one of the biggest things for me, because I hated feeling weak.” Divya of The Veggie Wifey begins her postpartum journey in partnership with Flex Studio Hong Kong – read her review of her first day!

So it’s been two months since I’ve given birth and the recovery has been difficult to say the least. I still don’t feel like myself and it’s definitely been a journey. I can’t lie, the first few weeks when I looked at myself in the mirror I was like, “what happened?” You know? It’s something that we don’t talk about much, and I thought I would come here and share this platform to give you guys — whoever is on their journey to motherhood or who will plan in the future — a little bit of a window into what recovery is after you give birth.

Getting back to shape was one of the biggest things for me, because I hated feeling weak. Before I was pregnant, I used to go running three to four times a week. Running was like my meditation, and after I had my miscarriage I stopped all forms of intense cardio. It was a huge identity loss for me, because when you love doing something so much and you stop doing it — like cut it out cold turkey — it’s a huge shock to your system as well… you can’t find a new release, so you have all that energy stuck inside of you. That can sometimes turn into severe anxiety.

I have partnered with Flex Studio to help me through my recovery, because even though my OB gave me the green light to workout again, I went for an assessment with Nicole of Flex today and found out that everything is still not aligned! Your lower abdomen disconnects somehow from your upper abdomen, and your pelvic floor is all over the place and your lower back is severely tight. 

Also Read: Just Gave Birth? Losing Weight Should Be The Last Thing On Your Mind

So there’s a lot to reconnect after you give birth. It’s a lot more complicated than you think. I was super naive to think that I could go running again, do my normal six or seven kilometre run, 45 minutes, intense… yeah that’s not happening anytime soon. And it’s not because it’s me, it’s every woman who goes through pregnancy. 

It takes such a long time to recover because your body has just gone through so much trauma, right? And even if you don’t see it, even if you don’t feel it, sometimes when you go through with these assessments, they can help you understand through even simple breathing exercises how disconnected your nervous system is from your muscles, and with this disconnection, you will be working other muscles on overdrive.

To be continued… Check out Divya’s coverage of her postpartum journey here. Learn more about Flex Studio’s Pre and Post Natal programme on flexhk.com/pre-post-natal