WHERE DID
YOUR BOOTY GO AFTER HAVING A BABY?

February 3, 2024

What is this
PANCAKE BOOTY?

If you’ve recently had a baby, between the craziness newborn life requires: feeding, cleaning, burping, holding, sleepless nights, all the things, you probably took a look in the mirror and thought, “where the heck did my booty go?”. Well, there is a reason behind why your booty has seemed to ‘disappear’ postpartum, and here’s why:

1.
SHIFTS IN POSTURE

As your gait transitions from most likely an anterior pelvic tilt (think of sticking out that baby bump so people know you’re pregnant), to all the demands of postpartum such as nursing, feeding, and holding baby with booty tucked under and shoulders shrugged forward (posterior pelvic tilt), it can lead to your pelvis being tucked under resulting in your posterior pelvic floor in a shortened position, weakening your glutes. This is especially true if you are sitting around a lot during later stages of pregnancy and early postpartum.

However, the sedentary lifestyle of a new mama does NOT cause glutes to weaken, but rather the lack of activation the glutes are receiving from sitting all the time results in weak and flat glutes. 

2.
HOLDING PRESSURE & TENSION IN YOUR BOOTY

Have you ever noticed that you’re just standing around and you realize your gripping or squeezing the heck out of your butt? Well mamas do this more than the average person because of their trauma their body, specifically their pelvic floor, has gone through growing and birthing their baby.

Your pelvic floor is directly connected to your hip flexors and glutes, which are generally weak, resulting in tucking your pelvis and gripping your butt from not properly activating your glutes.  This constant state of tension cannot support your body sufficiently, which results in your glutes & pelvic floor getting the grunt of the tension.

3.
TIGHT HIP FLEXORS

Not only do the changes of your gait from pregnancy to postpartum change, but also these changes in conjunction with sitting a ton during the end of your pregnancy and postpartum, will result in tight hip flexors because they are connected to your pelvic floor, low core, and glutes.  Your limited activation of your glutes & lack of gluteus maximus activation during pregnancy results in your booty flattening out.

What Can We Do To
POP that booty back postpartum?

Strengthening / Coordinating core & Glutes

After the trauma our pelvic floor and core have gone through growing and birthing your baby, it's important to rehab and reconnect your low core & pelvic floor, as well as strengthen glutes by progressively increasing the load and intensity of the exercises.

Avoid Clenching Booty

As mamas, we tend to clench or squeeze our booty not purposely both in everyday tasks as well as when doing exercises because of our weak pelvic floor, core, and glutes from growing & birthing a baby. Placing attention on acknowledging this habit and unclenching your butt cheeks daily will help put less pressure forward.

MAINTAIN PROPER ALIGNEMENT

Understanding proper alignment (shoulders stacked over hips, and hips stacked over knees) without tucking pelvis in or sticking booty out (posterior & anterior pelvic tilts) allow our body to be in proper alignment and pressure to be maintained throughout our body rather than forward towards glutes and pelvic floor. Leaning slightly forward can help create availability in glutes.

HIP FLEXOR MOBILITY

Integrating hip flexor mobility exercises into your daily routine will help alleviate tight hip flexors and allow more load with correct alignment and form to take place when strengthening your glutes and performing everyday tasks.

Want to take the guessing out of your workout regimen after giving birth to your babe,
no matter how long it has been?

Join Mama In Progress: Strong As a Mother, where I provide you with tailored workouts based on your postpartum journey and birth method to activate strength and alleviate ailments and discomfort throughout your process of becoming stronger than a mother! 

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