Like everything else, there is no hard and fast rule to answer this question. The most often I hear, have read and was told myself was that a woman can return to exercise 6 weeks after a normal vaginal birth and 8 weeks after a cesarean birth. But once again, I do not think that applies for everyone.
For most healthy women who exercised during their pregnancy and had no complications, I think 6 weeks is fairly conservative. I know that I would have never been able to wait that long. However, I also know that I needed to let my body heal as I literally just put it through the hardest thing I have ever physically done. The doctor who discharged me (not my regular OBGYN) told me to wait 6 weeks. 6 weeks is also the most common time for a checkup after giving birth so many doctors probably use this time to discuss any issues and if there is none, give women the all clear to resume normal activities.
I kind of laughed on the inside thinking that I would never last that long. When I talked to my OBGYN she told me to start slowly and not do anything that hurts. I gave myself one full week of doing nothing….nothing except feeding every 2 hours, changing endless diapers, not sleeping and learning how to care for a newborn :). After about a week I was at least ready to do something. I started very slowly with just short walks around the neighborhood. I then added some fairly light weights while my son was sleeping. I am fortunate to have a fairly well equipped gym in my house but having just a few sets of dumbbells can let anyone complete a variety of workouts. I distinctively remember trying to do a lunge about 1-2 weeks after giving birth and it felt horrible so I stopped and did not probably do lunges for at least another month.
I continued with walks and working out in my basement for most of the remainder of my maternity leave. Caleb was too young, nor did I want to take him to my gym daycare. As we started to get in a routine, he would generally sleep for 45 minutes mid-morning. This is when I also generally felt my best after having fed him, had coffee etc. I took advantage of this time and tried to workout most days. I continued with walking and weights until I was up for slow jogging and running. I was not working out anywhere near the intensity before but it just felt so great to move without a huge belly in the way! I also used my TRX quite a bit and when my husband was home I tried to sneak in a few yoga classes.
Talking to my clients and friends who had a C-section, their story is obviously very different. A C-section is major surgery and does require more healing time. There is generally a restriction on lifting anything for at least 2 weeks. Some were told to lift nothing above 15lbs for the first 4 weeks and some lift nothing more than the baby for 6 weeks. Paying careful attention to bleeding, any stretching or pain in the incision were other recommendations. One of my clients who has had 4 C-sections was told to do nothing besides sit in bed, rest, recover and nurse the baby for the first 2 weeks. She finally followed this recommendation on her 4th child and felt it was invaluable. She feels that in general there is too much pressure to get back into shape and get back to normal, as again a C-section is major surgery. She started running at 6 weeks post birth with her first three children but admits it did not feel great. She waited 12 weeks on her last child to resume running and felt that her recovery was much better. Again, I cannot speak from any personal experience for a C-section so I would definitely ask your doctor about resuming exercise.
Even if you have an uncomplicated vaginal birth, I would talk to your OB about resuming exercise before 6 weeks as I do think it is at least important to start walking and moving.
When did you moms out there start working out again? What did you do for your exercise? As always, I welcome any comments or questions!
