How Soon After Giving Birth Can You Exercise?

This question is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string! Generally six to eight weeks after giving birth is often recommended.

However, women have varying recovery times and specific conditions. It’s important to receive professional and competent advice based on a full assessment of your physical condition taking into account things like birth and delivery method, any associated trauma or changes to muscle and pelvic floor function, plus factors such as fatigue and energy levels etc. before attempting to get back to your past exercise routine.

For example, jogging and core strengthening might be too much because your body might not have healed completely. But in other cases these activities may be fine. There have been cases where mums felt an unusual pelvic pain while exercising (and some even felt that their entire pelvis is loose). It can be alarming because that type of pain might not have been experienced before plus you’re also thinking of potential complications.

How to get back to exercising

Physical exercise is essential to getting and staying healthy. Although mums are busy and overwhelmed with having a baby, they still want to exercise to improve their cardiovascular fitness and boost their energy levels (and reduce symptoms of postpartum depression).

To help you feel safe, it’s important to have a progressive exercise prescription so that you prevent injuring yourself.

This is also to ensure you’re doing the right types and series of exercises that will get you back to your optimal physical condition as soon as possible. For example, Doctors (including obstetricians and gynaecologists) usually recommend their patients to physiotherapists for such exercise prescription.

With the physiotherapists’ expertise in musculoskeletal conditions and women’s health, they could design a personalised postpartum exercise program according to the mum’s specific goals and health conditions.

You can contact us via the Facebook Messenger chat bubble if you require more information about postpartum exercise. We can help you get back to your optimal condition in the most professional and safest way possible.

Our women’s health physio – Jess – is passionate about helping new mums and specialises in advising on return to exercise (whether it’s running, heavy lifting or regular walking) and doing so in a away that is safe and prevents or treats incontinence or prolapse issues if they are present.