When supporting your postpartum recovery, there are some simple – but effective – things you should do well before being cleared by your provider.
One of the biggest myth regarding a postpartum return to exercise you cannot do anything resembling physical activity until cleared by your provider at your six-week checkup.
This is not true!
Doing nothing for six weeks, then jumping back into your “normal” exercise routine, is not an appropriate (and not the safest!) way to back to exercise after giving birth.
The good news is you can do a lot before being medically cleared that is safe, effective, and beneficial for your body’s recovery!
Intentional movement – not necessarily a “workout” in conventional terms – will be critical in the first few weeks, and I want to help guide you through each piece of the puzzle.
These movements are help you feel more functional, and energetic, experience less pain and pain, and feeling more like yourself when you feel something but yourself.
Note: the following tips and recommendations are general guidelines. Everyone’s postpartum experience and recovery timeline is different, so always do what’s best for you. Please always consult your doctor with any questions or concerns.
Six recovery moves for your first six weeks postpartum
1. Take a break
Rest may not technically sound like an “exercise” to do postpartum, but it’s one of the most important parts to set you up for a strong and smooth recovery. Rest should be your top priority for the first 1-2 weeks.
Rest means:
- Sleeping as much as possible and not feeling guilty or anxious about leaving tasks undone
- Lying or sitting when you are not sleeping
- Delegate every task possible (cleaning, laundry, cooking, paying bills, shopping, etc.) to any of your support person(s)
- Mental relaxation by doing anything that allows you to relax. Closing emails, meditating, watching a mindless show, reading a book, whatever relaxes you – do it!
Rest is down to only doing your best: sleeping, lying down, eating, showering, breastfeeding (if this is part of your trip), etc. Every other task must be delegated to make rest your priority.
Ideally, rest should be considered most of your day for the first six weeks postpartum, with an hour or more minutes devoted to the following five ingredients in your strongest recovery.
2. Take a walk
Walking is essential to restoring your body’s natural function! It helps improve blood flow, reduce clotting, loosen tight joints and musclesand help rebuild core stability and function.
I recommend starting with daily short five-minute walk starting in the second week, then add five minutes to your walk each week until you can comfortably walk for 30 minutes without symptoms, fatigue, or pain.
As you walk, be careful posture and breathing top of mind for more significant benefits is essential. Keep the rib cage stacked over the hips to reduce rib flare, spread those toes, keep the shoulders down and back, lean back with a neutral spine, and walk through the hips with each step.
Take a deep, big breath, letting that belly expand with each inhalation, and deflate with each exhalation. It will help us reconnect to our core, even doing something as simple as walking.
3. Breathe
The breath described in the act of walking is something called diaphragmatic breathing. You may also hear belly breathing, 360 breathing, connection breathing, or other variations.
Whatever the name, it has the same purpose: to help us rstore and recover our deep core and pelvic floor muscles. Here’s how it works:
- As you inhale, your belly expands as you relax your core and pelvic floor
- On exhalation, your belly moves out as your core engages, and the pelvic floor lifts
We focus on breathing in help manage pressure within our core system (which includes both the deep core and pelvic floor). Because our core and pelvic floor are weakened from stretching throughout pregnancy, we work with the natural pressure of our breath to restore their biological function, stabilizing our bodies for movement.
4. Light mobility and stretching
Our bodies can absorb it tight and strained from everyday motherhood the tasks such as breastfeeding, sitting, and carrying our babies; on top of that, we don’t move like we used to.
It can cause pain and hurt in places like our upper neck, back, hips, etc. Adding 10-15 minutes of intentional stretching and mobility in these areas can help ease these pains and make us feel better.
Some of my favorite stretches and mobility movements for the first six weeks postpartum include:
- Cat/cow
- Wide forward fold
- Child’s pose
- 90/90 hip rotation
- The neck is round
- Side bends
The best part about the stretch and mobility like this is you can do them on the ground with your newborn lying next to you, so they don’t take up too much effort or time in your day.
I recommend finding those 5 to 10 movements target areas that cause discomfort and doing each for at least one minute.
Read next: 5 Effective Tips for Exercising with a Baby at Home
5. Deep core and pelvic movements
Around the same time you add mobility and stretching (which may be weeks 1-3), it will also be beneficial to add deep core and pelvic floor-specific movements to aid your recovery.
In other words, deep core and pelvic floor movements are when you match diaphragmatic breath with intentional movement. You want to start simple, then increase the difficulty as you get comfortable with the breath, core, and pelvic floor working together.
A good place to start is with movements like pelvic tilt, heel slides, knee twists, and glute bridges. Then while you can sync the breathing and move comfortably, we will start struggling through increasing range of motionmoving the feet away from our center, making movements in different positions, etc.
This includes laying marches, bird dogs, dead bugs, glute pumps, and fire hydrants. Your core and pelvic floor have been through a lot throughout your pregnancy and birth, so it’s important to prioritize slow, progressive, and intentional deep core and pelvic floor movements during this recovery phase.
6. Body weight functional movement
After you’ve eased into connection, become comfortable with your short walks, and feel good about your stretching, mobility, deep core, and pelvic floor movements, it’s time to add functional bodyweight movements.
Depending on your recovery circumstances, around the 4-6 week mark is when this is may feel appropriate to add to your routine. This timeline will be longer if you had a cesarean birth.
This includes exercises such as body squats, good mornings, short step-ups, light DB shoulder presses, and others. simulate daily activities.
Final thoughts on movement in the first six weeks
The key here is to realize that they are movement patterns you already do daily: hanging to get your baby out of bed (like a deadlift), sitting and standing up from a chair (like a squat), step-ups (like walking up stairs).
We focus more on form, breath, and structure in each rep.
It shouldn’t feel like a workout but your re-introduction to the main movement can be more. Allow time for each rep, rest if needed, and work on matching your breath with each rep to help manage pressure on the pelvic floor and deep core.
