Of course, many experience all of these emotions (and more) at once. No matter what you’re feeling, having a postpartum workout plan may help you feel better physically and emotionally.

Benefits of Postpartum Exercise

Although it is difficult to make time to work out while caring for a newborn, exercise can be an important part of your recovery.

Exercise can help relieve stress. It can improve your blood circulation. Moving your body is energizing. It may also improve your sleep quality. Exercise may help prevent postpartum depression.

When to Start Postpartum Workouts

It is important to consult your healthcare provider for medical clearance before exercise, especially if you had a c-section or experienced a complication during pregnancy or birth. It’s common for doctors to clear women for normal pre-pregnancy activities, including exercise, at the six-week postpartum check-up. If you want to intensify your workouts prior to this check-up, talk to your doctor first. If postpartum bleeding or pain increases after exercise, you may be over-exerting yourself. In any case, start slow and work gradually up to more exercise. Remember to also drink water to thirst. Also be sure to consume plenty of healthy snacks, especially if you’re nursing (which requires additional calories). If you are breastfeeding, feed your baby or express milk before exercising. This can help you avoid exercising with engorged breasts, which can be uncomfortable.

Best Postpartum Exercises

You’ll want to do basic exercises that strengthen major muscle groups. Start with 10 to 20 minutes a day, and work up to 30 or more minutes of moderate-intensity exercise. If you performed vigorous-intensity exercise before pregnancy, you can return to that after birth, as long as you do so gradually and with guidance from your provider.

Bicep curls: Start with your arms at your sides, fully extended with palms facing forward, holding a light weight in each hand. Raise your hands until your elbow is bent to 90 degrees, keeping your wrists straight. Lower and repeat.Shoulder presses: Start with arms bent so your hands are near your shoulders, palms facing out, with a weight in each hand. Extend your arms up to vertical, then slowly lower and repeat.Lateral raises: Hold your weights at your sides, palms facing in toward your body. Lift your arms up and out to the side, stopping when they are extended straight out from your shoulders in a T-shape. Lower and repeat.Overhead tricep extensions: Use one weight. Hold it over your head with both hands (your arms will be extended straight up). Keeping your elbows pointing forward, bend your arms and lower the weight behind your head. Then extend the arms to raise the weight back up and repeat.Bent-over dumbbell rows: Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing the body. Bend over at about a 45-degree angle, keeping your back straight. Lift weights up until your arms are at or just below shoulder height. Slowly lower and repeat, staying bent over for the whole set.

Do 12 to 15 reps of each exercise using light dumbbells. Perform three to five rounds as a circuit, once or twice a week. In order to prevent the condition from becoming permanent, it’s important to be intentional with your abdominal training, says trainer Heather Black. Many core exercises can actually exacerbate the condition, causing the center of your abdomen to “cone” or form into dome shape.  Black recommends these restorative strengthening exercises, along with the curl-up progression (detailed in the next section), for the core and pelvic floor after birth. Aim to spend 5 to 15 minutes per day on these exercises. 

Deep Belly Breathing

Your breathing is likely to feel different for the first few days after giving birth as your organs return to their former positions. Deep breathing can help in your physical and emotional recovery from childbirth. Place your hands low on your abdomen and practice slowly breathing in until you can feel your hands move. Then, slowly exhale. Repeat 5 to 8 times.

Abdominal Bracing

Begin on your back in a relaxed, neutral spine position. Gently contract your abdominal muscles (imagine you’re about to get punched in the stomach and you need to tense your muscles for protection).  Decrease the space between your rib cage and hip bones. Visualize trying to glue your entire spine to the ground. Hold for several seconds while continuing to breathe normally. Relax, then repeat 10 times.

Kneeling Pelvic Tilts

Start on hands and knees. Take a deep breath in while relaxing the abdomen. As you exhale, brace your core (as above). At the same time, squeeze your glutes and tuck your pelvis in, trying to decrease the space between your rib cage and hip bones. Release, then repeat 10 times.  This exercise also helps stretch lower back muscles, which are often achy and tight after pregnancy. 

Kegels

Pregnancy and childbirth can weaken the muscles of the pelvic floor. Kegels strengthen these muscles. However, not everyone should do Kegels immediately after birth. Talk to your doctor to find out if they are OK for you.

Head Lifts

Lie on your back with your arms by your sides, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Take a deep breath in and relax your belly. As you exhale, slowly lift your head and neck. Hold this position for a second or two. Inhale as you slowly lower your head back down to the floor.

Shoulder Lifts

When you can easily perform 10 head lifts, progress to shoulder lifts. Start in the same position. As you exhale, raise your head and shoulders off the floor while reaching your hands toward your knees. If this strains your neck, gently place your hands behind your head (but don’t pull on your neck). Hold this position for a second or two and then lower your head and shoulders back down to the ground.

Curl-Ups

When shoulder lifts become too easy, move to curl-ups. From the same starting position, lift your head and torso until you’re about halfway between your knees and the ground. Reach toward your knees and hold this position for three to five seconds. Slowly lower yourself back to the floor and repeat for 10 reps. 

Squats: For a basic squat, stand with feet about hip- or shoulder-width apart. Bend the knees and slowly squat down, sending hips back while torso stays straight. Keep your head up and extend your arms for balance, if needed. When you return to standing, keep a slight bend in your knees.Forward lunges: Stand with legs slightly apart. Step forward and lower until the front knee is almost at a 90-degree angle. Keep your torso straight and engage your core as you step, bend, and return to the start position.Romanian deadlifts: Stand with legs hip-width apart, holding dumbbells or a barbell at your thighs. Keeping your shoulders back, hinge forward from the hips, lowering the weight along your legs. Stop when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. To come back up, press hips forward to engage your hamstrings and glutes as you return to standing.Reverse lunges: Instead of stepping forward, step back into your lunge position. Hold onto a chair if you have trouble balancing.Glute bridges: Start by lying on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Contract your abs and glutes (butt muscles) as you lift your hips up, creating a straight line from your knees to your upper back/shoulders. Hold for a breath and then slowly return to the ground and repeat.

Do 10 to 20 reps of each exercise, holding dumbbells (although most exercises can be performed without them if needed). Perform three to five rounds as a circuit, once or twice per week. It may look and feel different from your pre-pregnancy body, but never forget that is because it did an amazing thing: grow and birth your baby. As you recover and settle into parenthood after birth, use exercise to support your strong, healthy body and mind.