The answer to that question is a resounding YES!! Even if you had a c-section, most women can complete some of the following exercises safely before the 6-week mark. I believe that most doctors recommend that women wait until 6-weeks post-partum to start an exercise program because they are worried that some women might overdo their exercises and strain their healing bodies. This is completely, 100% true! No one should return to any kind of exercise that involves impact (jogging, running, jumping) or strains the abdominal muscles (planks, sit-ups, crunches, etc) before 6-weeks post-partum, as the body has definitely not had enough time to heal or regain enough control of the pelvic floor, abdominal and gluteal muscles. Often, when people return to exercise too quickly (even if it’s after 6 weeks) they run the risk of bladder or uterine prolapse (slipping or protrusion of the bladder or uterus into the vagina), diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles), sacroiliac and pelvic pain and dysfunction, low back injury, sciatica and other issues. I had my first baby 10 months ago and was in great shape throughout my pregnancy, had a fast labor and a recovery free of complications. I also knew how to do specific exercises and neuromuscular retraining immediately after having my baby, but I really did not feel that my pelvic floor and the rest of my body was ready for any higher level exercise until very recently. I cannot even imagine how a body would feel if it was a complicated pregnancy or delivery, and I’ve only had 1 baby – it gets harder to recover with each additional pregnancy!
So as you can tell, my number one piece of advise after having a baby is to not overdo your exercise program! Walking is one of the absolute BEST things that you can do in general, and it’s a great way to ease back into activity. When I was recovering, I started with very short walks in the hospital (about 5 laps around the L&D ward), then once I got home I walked a couple of blocks – all while I was wearing my abdominal binder. I gradually worked my way up and within a few weeks I was walking a couple of miles without my binder and was feeling my abdominals kicking in. But keep in mind, it’s a very gradual progression and you really need to listen to your body!
The other thing that you can start with about 2 weeks post-partum is lightly engaging your abdominal muscles. I highly suggest using your hands to help guide your abdominal muscles together in the front (imagine the line in the front where your abdominal muscles start to separate and use your hands to squish that area back together). Once you have gently guided your abdominal muscles together in the front, lightly draw in your abdominals by pulling your belly button back towards your spine to perform a small contraction. You can also perform this light contraction while wearing an abdominal binder and therefore wouldn’t need your hands to pull the muscles together.
This exercise can be completed in standing or while laying down. Make sure that you are gently pulling your abdominals in, because too hard of a contraction will put pressure through your pelvic floor, and we do not want to create an environment for pelvic floor prolapse! Many of my patients have tried to return to their regular exercise at 6 weeks and feel incredibly unstable and have back and pelvic pain. Almost everytime, it turns out that they have an inefficient abdominal contraction because they are still fighting a separation of their abdominal muscles (diastasis recti) and once they can manually push together their muscles and approximate them, they are able to perform a good contraction. Often, if they practice this for a week or so, many of them are able to work back into their exercise program with much more stability and continue to recover their core strength!
There are many more great exercises that you can complete before 6 weeks – stay tuned for more in my next posts!
If you have any questions or comments or would like to schedule a session with Dr. Lisa Wilcox to help with regaining your strength, mobility and decreasing pain in the post-partum period, please visit www.SolsticePhysicalTherapy.com or email DrLisa@SolsticePhysicalTherapy.com. You can also call Solstice Physical Therapy at (720) 369-7738.
**Disclaimer: this is not to be considered medical advice. Please see Dr. Lisa Wilcox or another PT for a full evaluation before attempting any of these exercises on your own, or perform at your own risk.
**This is not to be considered medical advice, please contact a physical therapist or other healthcare professional for more information. All content on lisawilcoxpt.com is created for informational purposes only and is not to be taken as medical advice, treatment or diagnosis.
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