Mobility Exercise for Mums

Mums and Mobility Exercises – what you need to know
Mobility exercises can help Mums who are struggling with joint aches and pains as well as sore, stiff muscles. Mobility may just be the secret sauce you are missing from your workouts! It can ease that current tightness you are experiencing and alleviate aches. It may even add a little lightness to your body!

As you navigate motherhood those ongoing, tight muscles will start to impact your daily life and possibly your mood too. It is well known that we will face major risks later on if we don’t take care of our bones and muscles now. Mobility allows the joints and muscles to move better. And it is therefore part of your long-term health investment plan.

What is mobility and how can it help you?
The word ‘mobility’ is defined as the ‘ability to move or walk around freely or the ability to be move from one place to another’. It is the foundation of movement and without it, even the simplest tasks become a struggle.

For new mums, mobility is not just about exercise, it’s about reclaiming control over your body once entering Matrescence.

Mobility is not the same as flexibility or stability. Flexibility is lengthening muscles in passives positions. Whereas stability is more like holding a position such as a plank or standing on one leg.

We need improvements in mobility to be able to move well, be strong and function. We want to embrace the ability to move pain-free through daily activities, improve our posture and prevent injury due to overused muscles.

Mobility helps in everyday tasks that mums do on repeat every day. If moving in and out of bed, doing simple daily tasks like lifting washing baskets pushing vacuums, bending over to get your baby / toddler from the floor, the back breaking lifts in and out of prams or cars, not to mention the tantruming toddler then mobility may just be the start of something to add into your exercise routine.

Mum Specific Mobility
Common body parts that Mums specifically can find tight are necks, shoulders, upper and lower backs. Stiffness is very common in new mums as you adjust to more seated positions feeding, holding baby and constantly locked at the hips with them – yes you just corrected your hip that was out holding baby or toddler didn’t you! More floor time for tummy time and play means up and down, picking up and packing away toys and cleaning up mess and let’s not talk about the lack of sleep or quality of. Less activity and poor posture due to creating these new routines with little ones and its a recipe for lots of aches and pains.

The ability to move pain-free through daily activities. Motherhood is exhausting in itself and when aches or pains start to arise, we can get a little cranky too because it’s affecting how our body can perform but also affecting our mental health too.

Now that you know more about the why of ‘Mobility’ let’s get you working on some of my favourite moves in our second article in this series.

Side note: strength training and rebuilding you from the inside out with an emphasis on pelvic floor education is also recommended. Our amazing MumSafe Trainers specialise in this field and you can click this link to connect with your local Trainer.