Have you ever heard that if you are breastfeeding you shouldn’t do heavy exercise? Either that it’s bad for your body or that it is bad for your baby because it changes your breastmilk. Well, I’m here to tell you that that is definitely an old wives’ tale.
There are rumors out there that working out will tank your milk supply. Or that it will make your milk taste different to your baby or make your baby colicky. This is not true.
There are key things to remember when working out while breastfeeding though. Breastfeeding alone will burn about an extra 500 calories a day. So, to keep up your muscle recovery and growth and have enough nutrition to fuel your body for exercise, you will need to increase your quality food intake. This is not the time to actively try to cut calories. You can certainly eat clean food, but in order to be able to make it through your workout and recover, you need to eat enough.
Eating enough and drinking enough are also the keys to your milk supply. Working out will not make your milk supply inherently drop or change the composition of your milk. Some people say that you won’t be able to maintain your supply if you workout. This though goes back to nutrition and hydration. No matter what, you need to stay hydrated and eating well in order to have adequate milk, and therefore you have to increase both of these if you are doing intense workouts that burn high amounts of calories. You may notice a temporary drop in milk right after an intense workout, but that’s typically just an indication that you need to up your water intake.
Some people also say that your milk will contain extra lactic acid after intense workouts and can change the taste of your milk or cause your baby to be fussy. This is also an old wives’ tale. And in fact, research is indicating that breastfeeding babies who’s mothers worked out actually show to have an increases compound that may have lifelong protective factors against diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
So, get out there for that run, HIIT workout, or CrossFit session and know that you are setting a great example for your child and maybe even setting them up with their first steps for success when it comes to health.