Exercise after pregnancy gives you obvious physical benefits, but it also helps you battle postpartum depression, boosts your energy, elevates your mood and reduces stress, according to the Mayo Clinic.

After pregnancy workouts promote post pregnancy weight loss and restore your muscle strength, including the condition of your abdominal muscles. The Post Pregnancy Workout Plan gives you all of these crucial benefits and the option to work out at home on days that you cannot leave your baby.

Post Pregnancy Exercise

The Post Pregnancy Workout Plan includes exercises using your bodyweight, dumbbells, resistance bands and a stability ball to strengthen your entire body. Only one of the three post pregnancy workout routines requires the use of machines. This post baby workout includes using an inner thigh and outer thigh machine, a seated calf raise machine and a stair climber -- all of which are found at any gym.

The other two after pregnancy workouts include bodyweight and free weight post pregnancy exercises such as bodyweight squats, calf raises with a band and 3 way lunges to strengthen your lower body. Exercises like the resistance band shoulder press, band bicep curl and push-ups strengthen your upper body.

Core Exercises

The Post Pregnancy Workout Plan also has exercises to strengthen your core. Giving birth taxes your abdominal muscles, making them weak postpartum. Post pregnancy ab workouts restore lost strength in your abdomen, back and pelvic floor. Exercises included in the Post Pregnancy Workout Plan that target the core include planks, air bicycles, crunches and the side plank hip lifts. Also, dynamic exercises like walking lunges and stability exercises like the ball hamstring curl also challenge your core to strengthen your waist.

Cardio Exercises

In addition to strengthening your muscles, you must also strengthen your cardiovascular system. Cardio exercises like walking and using a stair master machine are recommended by the American Pregnancy Association during pregnancy. These are ideal exercises for a post pregnancy workout too. Power walking and walking on a stair master elevates your heart rate and makes you breathe faster, which means that your heart and lungs are getting a workout. Neither of these exercises are likely to place too much stress on your joints, which may be taxed from carrying the weight of a baby to term.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends a minimum of 150 minutes per week of cardio for most women, but it is advisable that even healthy women slowly work up to this number. The Post Pregnancy Workout Plan gradually increases your cardio workouts from 10 minutes to 20 minutes to ease you into exercise.

When to Exercise

The Post Pregnancy Workout Plan is an intermediate level program. It is the best post pregnancy workout plan for someone who exercised during pregnancy. If you stayed active while pregnant and you had a vaginal delivery without complications, you may be able to start your post baby workout routine as soon as you feel ready; this may be as soon as a few days after giving birth.

Consult your doctor about the best time to start working out after pregnancy if you had a C-section or delivery complications. Go over your post pregnancy workout routine with your doctor and ask about a post pregnancy diet.