Starting To Run At 6 Weeks Postpartum Is Too Soon, No Matter What Your Doctor Says
Picture this: It’s six weeks after giving birth and your doctor just gave you the long-awaited confirmation that you can get back to running. It’s an amazing feeling, right?!
But hear us out. Six weeks postpartum is too soon to start running again. We understand that waiting is tough, but the damage you can do from running too soon can take longer to repair than it takes to just progress slowly.
We’ve worked with a lot of postpartum mothers (and have gone through our own postpartum journeys) and we believe it takes 12 weeks to heal and strengthen your body enough to start running again. Other experts agree with us on this one, too.
Why should I wait 12 weeks to start running again postpartum?
Pregnancy changes your body in many ways. Your baby bump affects your posture, your hormones makes your joints more flexible, and the modifications you make to your physical activity weakens certain muscles groups. All of these factors can create muscular imbalances — even if you stayed active throughout your entire pregnancy.
If you don’t work to correct potential weakness or imbalances, you have a higher risk of experiencing pain and injury. In fact, research shows that postpartum women with weakened and dysfunctional pelvic floors and abdominals are more likely to experience musculoskeletal pain, stress incontinence, and diastasis recti (DR) with running.
Strengthening these muscles and correcting any imbalances is an absolute must before getting back to high-intensity exercises like running.
Postpartum running prep: Weeks 1-6
Your first six weeks postpartum should be spent walking and doing very basic and gentle strength training.
Cardio
Even though running is off the table, cardio isn’t off limits. It’s actually a super important part of preparing your body for running again because it helps increase endurance, strength, and impact tolerance.
You can start walking immediately after giving birth, but you’ll need to start slowly and increase as you heal. Here’s a week-by-week walking program:
Day 1: Walk for 3 minutes. Rest for 2 minutes. Walk for 3 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 2: Walk for 4 minutes. Rest for 2 minutes. Walk for 3 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 3: Walk for 5 minutes. Rest for 1 minute. Walk for 4 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 4: Walk for 5 minutes. Rest for 1 minute. Walk for 5 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 5: Walk for 6 minutes. Rest for 1 minute. Walk for 6 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 6: Walk for 7 minutes. Rest for 1 minute. Walk for 7 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 7: Walk for 8 minutes. Rest for 1 minute. Walk for 8 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 8: Walk for 9 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 9: Walk for 10 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 10: Walk for 11 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 11: Walk for 12 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
Day 12: Walk for 15 minutes. Repeat twice daily.
After day 12, you can start adding in brisk walking intervals of 2-5 minutes or walk for longer periods of 20-30 minutes without breaks. It’s okay if this feels easy — you don’t need to push yourself during this time.
Strength training
Your pelvic floor and core take the hardest beating during pregnancy. They’re also a huge part of proper running mechanics. For the first six weeks, you should focus on breathing and gentle pelvic floor and core restoration exercises to encourage proper healing:
Kegels: Supine (Progression: Kegels: Seated and Kegels: Seated Ski Jump)
Transverse abdominis contractions: Supine (Progression: Transverse abdominis contractions: Quadruped and Transverse abdominis contractions: Marching)
Postpartum running prep: Weeks 7-12
Once you’ve built up that base of strength and endurance, you can dive into more intense cardio, strength, and impact training.
Cardio
After six weeks, you can start adding in more intense forms of low-impact cardio:
Incline walking on treadmill
Swimming
Biking
Elliptical
Strength training
Once you hit six weeks, we recommend continuing your pelvic floor and core exercises, but making them more challenging each week:
Pelvic floor. Progress to Kegel: Bird Dog, Kegel: Squat to Stand, and Kegel: Wall Sit.
Core strength. Progress to TA contraction: Bridge, TA contraction: Head Lifts, TA contraction: Double Leg Fallout.
Six weeks is also a good time to start adding in resistance training. We recommend focusing on these areas to properly prepare for running:
Hip strength. Adequate hip strength helps stabilize our pelvis as we run. A stable pelvis protects our spine and pelvic floor:
Single leg strength. Running is a single leg activity. You need to be able to land and push off of a stable leg. But again, you need to start this slowly so you’re not putting too much pressure on your body before it’s ready:
Ankle strength. Ankle strength is also a big part of pushing off when running:
Impact training
So many people (postpartum or not) underestimate how much pressure high-impact sports like running have on your body. Research has even found that women who engage in high impact sports are more likely to have pelvic floor dysfunction (like urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse).
Luckily, you can actually prepare your body for the pressure of high-impact sports with impact training. When done correctly, impact training starts with lower-impact versions of exercises and slowly progresses to higher-impact exercises.
Here’s an example of the first 3 weeks of the Return to running program for impact training plan:
Week 1:
Plank hops x 12
Elevated running x 12
Bunny hops x 8
Week 2:
Week 3:
Lateral bunny hops x 10
Box jumps x 8
Broad jump x 6
Tip: The closer to parallel your body is to the ground, the lower impact the exercise. Start with exercises close to the ground and slowly work your way to standing upright.
Example:
Plank (parallel to the ground)
Chair plank (45 degree angle to the ground)
Counter elevated running (45 degree angle to the ground)
Bunny hops (upright and small, double-leg jumps)
Broad jumps (upright and larger, double-leg jumps)
Single leg standing jump (upright, single leg jumps)
Final word: Make sure you have a plan
We believe that you should be spending the first six weeks postpartum healing your core and pelvic floor (healing takes time) and the next six weeks kicking it up a notch to prepare your body for high-impact sports. The best way to do this is by following a structured, progressive program.
Structured programs help you progress in an efficient way and prevent injury. Researchers have found that novice runners who follow a structured program with appropriate progression (like a “Couch to 5K” program) are less likely to get injured than runners who create their own program. And even if you ran regularly prior to pregnancy, your body has changed a lot and has different needs now — so a structured program can still be hugely beneficial.
Our tips above are a great place to start, but if you want a program tailored to your exact needs, check out the Expecting and Empowered App — it has customizable return-to-running programs (and more!) that will get you back to running safely in no time, mama.
Sources:
Blyholder L, Chumanov E, Carr K, Heiderscheit B. Exercise behaviors and health conditions of runners after childbirth. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach. 2016;9(1):45-51. doi:10.1177/1941738116673605
Christopher SM, Cook CE, Snodgrass SJ. What are the biopsychosocial risk factors associated with pain in postpartum runners? development of a clinical decision tool. PLOS ONE. 2021;16(8). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0255383
Goom T, Donnelly G, Brockwell E. Returning to running postnatal – guidelines for medical, health and fitness professionals managing this population. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.35256.90880/2
Nygaard IE, Shaw JM. Physical activity and the pelvic floor. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2016;214(2):164-171. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2015.08.067