‘Fitmum’ Exercises While Breastfeeding Baby Two Weeks After Giving Birth
Personal Trainer Sharny Kieser ups the ‘multi-tasking’ anti [Photo: Instagram @sharnyandjulius]
There’s a new breastfeeding buzzword on the block…breastercising! Two weeks after giving birth most mums are in the midst of the newborn fog and feel lucky if they manage to make it out of their pyjamas before dinner, but not Sharny Kieser. The 35-year-old personal trainer sent the twitterati into meltdown earlier this week after she was pictured exercising while breastfeeding her two-week-old son, Magnus.
Snapped by her husband, Julius, the mum of six, (yes you read that right, SIX!) shared the photo on Facebook with the hashtag #breastercising. ‘I caught Sharny multitasking today. In public,’ he wrote.
‘I don’t get the whole breastfeeding in public problem,’ he continued. ‘It’s not disgusting at all. If anything it can be awkward when making eye contact. And of course we’re going to look, it’s a (straight) male instinct. We will try everything not to, but for a brief split second our eyes trick us and look down.’
Sharna kept up her exercise regime with her fifth and sixth child [Photo: Instagram @sharnyandjulius]
Unsurprisingly, the picture and accompanying quote sparked a huge social media debate. Critics warned that exercising so soon after birth was dangerous, with some going so far as to label her actions ‘disgusting’. Others came down on the side of Team Sharny, praising her efforts for both bonding with her baby and looking after herself.
‘A lot of people think it’s gross or strange or that I should be bonding with Magnus,’ Sharny, from Queensland, told Daily Mail Australia.
'But I feed six times a day, I’m not exercising every time and when I do I’m also watching the kids ride around on their scooters and play outside.’
'It’s not like I’m running or leg pressing or doing weights, I’m doing squats and lunges as they are the easiest things to do while feeding…then at night we sit quietly and feed.’
Sharna during one of her ‘fit pregnancies’ [Photo: Instagram @sharnyandjulius]
It’s not the first time Sharny has courted controversy. She exercised throughout both this and her fifth pregnancy describing them as ‘fit pregnancies’ – where women stay active and do what they were doing before they were pregnant but just listening to their bodies. This new found fitspo came after she gained weight during her first four pregnancies, which she describes as her ‘fat pregnancies’.
‘After the previous four pregnancies I was overweight and I had this “enough is enough” moment,’ Ms Kieser told Daily Mail Australia in July, 2015.
'I looked at myself in the mirror and was like “oh my God who has eaten Sharny” - I felt like this fat old woman and that’s how I saw myself… it was all in my head but I just felt miserable.’
Busy mum of six! Sharny with five of her six children [Photo: Instagram @sharnyandjulius]
But just how healthy is pushing your body so soon after giving birth? The NHS website advises that if you had a straight forward birth you can start gentle exercising as soon as you feel ok to do so. These gentle exercises can include walking, stretching and pelvic floor exercises.
If you’re at all unsure it may be a good idea to wait until after your six-week postnatal check before you start to high impact exercise again. If you exercised regularly before giving birth and you feel fit and well, you might be able to start earlier.
Talk to your midwife, health visitor or GP. If your birth was complicated (for example, you had a caesarean section), your recovery time will be longer, so talk to your health visitor or GP before starting anything too strenuous.
Do you think ‘breastercising’ is a good idea? Let us know @YahooStyleUK.
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