We’ve all heard the magic postpartum number: six weeks. It’s true that six weeks is an important postpartum benchmark. It takes your uterus about this long to return to its regular size after delivery, and c-section scars take around six weeks to heal.

However, I think using this benchmark has caused a lot of confusion about what happens on either side of it. As it turns out, six weeks is not a magic number, exactly. You don’t spend a month and a half doing absolutely nothing, then wake up on day 42 ready to run a marathon. Like every healing process, postpartum recovery offers a gradual return to your life and body, even if things aren’t quite the same as they were before you got pregnant. 

With this gradual return in mind, I want to suggest that while doing too much too soon can cause problems, doing too little for too long won’t set you up for success either. In fact, new moms are already doing so much by caring for their baby, walking around the house, and adjusting to a new rhythm — but we often forget to take care of ourselves along the way. It’s best to purposefully engage muscles and work on breathing mechanics to make those necessary daily activities easier and build strength for your new season of motherhood. 

Do not hear me saying, “start weight training as soon as possible!” Instead, I recommend working with a pelvic floor physical therapist for 12 weeks postpartum if you can and prioritizing simple movements that can help you with pelvic floor recovery and deep core engagement. Exercise during your first six weeks postpartum will look less like a gym workout and more like reconnecting to your breath, pelvic floor, and core muscles. 

As a pelvic floor physical therapist and a mom myself, here are the top 10 exercises I recommend for new postpartum mamas. 

1) 360 Degree Breathing

Before you do anything else, connect with your breath. I know this may sound strange, because we’re all breathing all the time. But your breathing mechanics are altered by all the physiological and postural changes that happen during pregnancy. In fact, rib flare is a common occurrence after pregnancy! When you were pregnant, you probably noticed it was hard to take a full breath, and you might have even felt pain in the back and sides of your ribs. Now, you get to restore proper diaphragmatic breathing, which is going to feel so good for your body. 

Focus on inhaling through the nose and expanding your ribcage 360 degrees. Place your hands on either side of your ribcage and breathe into your hands, focusing on areas that feel the most stiff. Your pelvic floor should gently lengthen when you inhale — and when you exhale, it will lift passively, so don’t contract your pelvic floor as you let the breath go. 

2) 360 Degree Breathing with Pelvic Floor and Deep Core Contraction

Once you’ve mastered 360 degree breathing, it’s time to add in a gentle pelvic floor & deep core contraction. Your pelvic floor and abdominal muscles were stretched to their maximum during pregnancy, and overstretched muscle has a hard time contracting. This gentle breathing exercise helps your muscles remember how to contract properly. 

Place your hands on the inside of your hip bones and inhale through your nose, expanding your ribs 360 degrees. When you exhale, gently contract and lift your pelvic floor. Think about movement “up and in” as you focus on closing all 3 holes and then lifting in. At the same time, imagine bringing your two hip bones together. 

Core contraction starts with a gentle lift of the pelvic floor before working its way up to lower abdominals,  middle abdominals and finally upper abdominals, where your ribs knit together at the top. Be careful to avoid over-contracting or over-gripping your upper abs — we’re focused on your pelvic floor and deep core here. Before you exhale, try gently squeezing a pilates ball between your knees, which helps to engage the pelvic floor!

3) Windshield wipers

This movement feels amazing as it helps you open your pelvis and hips. Only go as far as you feel comfortable, especially if you experienced severe perineal tearing during childbirth. Start by lying flat on your back with feet hip width apart. Allow both knees to fall to one side, then slowly return to midline and repeat on the opposite side. You might need to gently tuck your pelvis  if this bothers your lower back or SI joint. 

4) Open book

This one is incredible for breastfeeding moms, but whether you are breastfeeding or not, you need this exercise. It helps to open the mid back and chest after all of the feeding, carrying, and lifting you’ve been doing. Plus, you need upper back mobility to help your diaphragm and pelvic floor carry the right balance of tension. Everything in your body truly does work together! 

Start on your side with your knees as close to your chest as possible, which locks out your lumbar spine. Open up your top arm and follow it with your head. You should feel this in your chest muscles and upper back. Repeat on the other side!

5) Cat cow – goal post arms

I think cat cow is everyone’s favorite feel-good exercise, but this version adds a twist. Instead of getting on all fours, sit and position your arms like they’re goal posts. This is the perfect post-feeding exercise, whether you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding! 

Inhale, arch and look up. Exhale and round your body from your lumbar (lower) spine all the way to your cervical (upper) spine, bringing forearms together. You’ll feel that stretch in the upper back as you round. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to bring the upper back to life again!

6) Quadruped pelvic tilts

This movement relieves stiffness and tailbone pain postpartum. It’s all about finding length between the sitz bones and pelvic floor, so you’ll want to isolate the movement just to the trunk. Get on all fours and inhale as you arch. Then, exhale as you gently tuck by engaging your deep core. 

7) Quadruped alternating arm lift

This one is great for trunk stability, and it helps you reintegrate your deep core connection with upper limb movement — which is something we don’t even think about, but need every day! Get on all fours and lift one arm in front of you at a time. Keep your trunk still and engaged. You should be able to put a glass of water on your back without spilling!

8) Wall hinge

I hate to say it, but “mom butt” is REAL. This term refers to the flat appearance of your butt postpartum. You didn’t actually lose your glutes, but when you hold your baby with your hips shifted forward and clenched glutes, they can kind of disappear. To combat this, you need to work on finding length in the glutes so they can return to their full range of motion. Focus on finding that length as you inhale and hinge back. Exhale as you return to start, but do not clench your glutes at the top! 

9) Banded squat

You can perform this movement with or without the band. You may want to start band-free and add it as you adjust to daily movement! The band above your knees adds additional glute work. Your glutes and your pelvic floor are BFFs, so working one helps the other!  

You are already squatting so much during the day as you lift and carry your baby, so make sure to practice with good mechanics. The most important cue is to exhale on the effort. “E for exhale, E for effort” if you need help remembering. Inhale as you lower, exhale and engage your deep core as you rise. It’s that simple, but so effective!

10) Single leg heel raise

Your single leg balance gets thrown off during pregnancy, and this exercise helps you get it back! Another little known fact: your pelvic floor has connections to the foot. Contraction of foot and calf muscles can help with pelvic floor contraction! Perform this movement using a countertop or the back of a chair — it helps to keep yourself steady as you regain your balance postpartum. 

Want to feel empowered in your postpartum recovery? 

I want postpartum moms everywhere to experience less pelvic floor dysfunction and more healthy healing! There’s nothing like personal care from an expert, which is why I recommend finding a good pelvic floor physical therapist near you. 

But many women don’t have access or coverage for this service — and others just want to supplement their work in a PT setting with at-home, easy-to-follow movements. That’s why I created an online postpartum rehab program for women recovering from vaginal and cesarean deliveries. It’s called Movement Through Early Postpartum, and I’d love to see you there! 

This program was carefully designed by me, a pelvic floor physical therapist, to help you feel comfortable, confident, and capable in your postpartum recovery. Inside, you’ll find:

• More than 40 educational modules that will help you understand your postpartum body and advocate for what you need
• A 12 week movement plan based on your delivery method that includes these exercises and so, so many more!
• Community support from other moms who are going through this season with you 
• A free app with lifetime access so you can reference this content forever

As you care for your baby so well, I want you to feel confident in taking care of yourself, too.