When to Start Exercising After Giving Birth: A Safe Guide for New Moms
Exercise after giving birth can be so intimidating, whether it is your first or fifth pregnancy, every birth experience is so different! I'm writing this to remind you to take the pressure of yourself and trust the process. There can be so many thoughts swirling around in our postpartum brains when it comes to exercise (and the hormones don’t help) but the best thing we can do is take a deep breath and let those thoughts pass and focus on the basics. The very first thing you can do and all you really need to do in the beginning is to breathe. When you hear that you can introduce “gentle core exercises” this is what we mean! Simply connecting back to your core through breath is core work. You can start this whenever YOU feel ready. For some, it's the day after giving birth and for others it's after they’ve been given the all clear from their OB at 6 or 8 weeks PP. There is no perfect or exact time to start, but as soon as you feel ready start to introduce some diaphragmatic breathing into your days. The breathwork is the foundation of it all. As you start to feel more comfortable with that breath you build on that first by training it in different positions, side lying, all fours, seated then progress by pairing that breath into various movements, i.e. deadbug, bird dog, a modified side plank and from there squat to box, split squats, overhead press and so on. If youre reading this and youre like ok clair this sounds great but lets remember this is my postpartum brain processing this- I need a step by step guide please!l Here you go:
*pair each day with 3-5 stretches/mobility from my postpartum stretch guide, you can find that here. Complete 2-3 rounds of each breathing exercise below // for video follow my YouTube channel
Week 1 (start as soon as you feel ready):
Day 1: seated 360 breathing
Day 2: side lying 360 breathing
Day 3: 90/90 breathing
Day 4: on your back, knees up heel slides
Day 5: on all fours
Week 2:
Day 1: 360 breathing bird dog variations
Day 2: 360 breathing deadbug variations
Day 3: 360 breathing side plank variations
Day 4: 360 breathing bear plank variations
Day 5: 360 breathing pallof variations
Week 3:
Day 1: breathing + squats / overhead press
Day 2: breathing + glute bridge, hip thrust / chest press
Day 3: breathing + deadlift variations / rows
This is just a rough idea of where and how you can start with little pressure, simple and short movements that go a long way in your postpartum recovery and getting back into the strength training you have been craving. I know a big thing is also, how/ when can I even fit this stuff in? Again, low pressure- don’t think too hard on it. I provide 5 days for those first 2 weeks, you can do 3 days, you can stretch week 1 out over 2 or 3 weeks- there are no hard rules. If you're someone who knows you like to set that time aside for yourself and not try and tackle it while you're with the baby- use nap times, or recruit your partner or a family member to watch the baby for 15 minutes so you can accomplish one of these days. Otherwise, in those early weeks get them done while you're on the floor with the baby giving them tummy time. Even if you know they’ll only last 3-5 minutes- prioritize the breath work and some light stretches and that is plenty. Keep the expectations low and remind yourself this will not last forever- you will get back to those set workouts where it's just you and your mat and your weights- these 3-5 minutes are making an impact and setting the foundations more than you realize.
If you feel like this article spoke to you in some way and this approach sounds like something you’d benefit from, you can purchase my 6 week postpartum guides here (on sale!) or e-mail me and we can just chat- clairvangorp@fitsustain.com.
