Return to Exercise Postpartum.
6-week Checkup
Post-baby, it can be tempting to jump back into your normal exercise routine once you get the “all clear” at your 6-week checkup. But - where to begin? How do you know if you’re truly ready? Unfortunately, the majority of us are left with more questions than answers after the 6-week checkup and absolutely no guidance around how to return to exercise.
Getting the green light to exercise from your birthing provider just means you do not need immediate medical attention. It does NOT mean you are fully healed. Your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles get stretched, weakened and perhaps injured during pregnancy and childbirth. Full healing can take 6-18 months.
Bounce-Back Culture
And to complicate things further - there’s no shortage of societal pressure to “lose the baby weight”. I love to see the media starting to challenge “bounce back” culture, but we are far from healthy standards around body image and productivity expectations for women, let alone mothers. While no one is immune to these pressures, we can acknowledge them and choose differently. I fully support exercise and fitness goals for the postpartum mom - but I also support gradual transitions that allow you to nourish your healing body, not break it down.
Early Postpartum Exercise
The first 3 months postpartum should largely be reserved for rest, breathwork, gentle core exercises and mobility work. If you spend the time to build up your foundational strength, your transition to higher level activities will be astronomically more successful. Loading tissues too quickly or jumping into high impact exercise too soon (like running or HIIT) puts you at a greater risk for developing musculoskeletal injuries, urinary incontinence, prolapse, sexual dysfunctions and pain.
Research suggests the optimal time to return to high impact exercise like running is between 3-6 months postpartum. And this is regardless of how conditioned you were pre-baby or during pregnancy. This is where the guidance of a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist can be extremely helpful - whether you choose to see a local PT, virtual PT (ahem) or follow a structured return to exercise program (we may have one in the works!).
Signs it’s Probably too Soon:
Urinary or fecal leakage with exercise
Pelvic heaviness, pressure or bulging (sensation like “something is falling out” of your vagina)
Pelvic pain, low back pain, hip pain, sciatica
Increased vaginal bleeding
Diastasis recti or abdominal coning/doming
Painful sex
High Impact Exercise Readiness Test:
Once you have worked on your foundational strength and are greater or equal to 3 months postpartum, you can take the High Impact Exercise Readiness Test below that can be applied to activities like running, jumping, cutting, HIIT, and heavy lifting. If you can do the following activities without the symptoms mentioned above, this is a good sign you are ready to ease back into your high impact exercise of choice:
Walking: 30 minutes
Single leg balance: 10 seconds each leg
Single leg hopping: 10 reps each leg
Single leg squat: 10 reps each leg
Jogging in place: 60 seconds
Single leg heel raises: 20 reps each leg
Forward bounding (jump forward off one leg and land on same leg): 10 reps each leg
Seek Support:
Looking for guidance on how to build up your foundational strength? Schedule a video visit with me and I can create a customized exercise program for you to ensure you will reach your fitness goals safely and successfully. You wouldn’t rehabilitate yourself after a knee surgery and you shouldn’t be expected to rehabilitate yourself after childbirth either 🙂
