How Soon After Birth Can I Exercise?

Exercise postpartum can look and feel entirely different compared to pre-pregnancy

Your body has gone through a lot physically, mentally, and emotionally during pregnancy. Exercise postpartum requires compassion and forgiveness for your physical body. Even light exercises can be too much in certain stages of postpartum recovery.

While you may feel great at two weeks postpartum, we want to remind you that soft tissue structures inside your body are still healing.

Think About an Ankle Sprain

A soft tissue injury, it takes four to twelve weeks for the ligament to heal. In order to support the uterus inside your pelvis and core region, there are three pairs of ligaments: cardinal, pubocervical, uterosacral. Your uterus grows to the size of a watermelon during pregnancy – it’s safe to say that birth would fall in the category of “severe sprain” and a minimum of eight to twelve weeks of intentional healing is necessary before strenuous exercise.

Rest, Recover, and Reflect

You may be fine the first week or doing light exercise. Then, when you push yourself too far, you may reach your current threshold with urinary incontinence or new bleeding or pain anywhere in your pelvis. You may need to go more than 12 weeks without dynamic movement.

It’s also recommended to visit a pelvic floor specialist and put exercise on a pause – which is okay! Dynamic movements in the initial year postpartum may feel like two steps forward and one step back.

To learn more about your pelvic health, please contact us to schedule a consultation! You may also visit our Facebook page to keep up with our latest news and promotions!