Exercise After Pregnancy and After a C-Section: When and How to Start

How soon after a normal delivery can you start exercising?

After a straightforward vaginal birth you can start gentle exercise as soon as you feel up to it: the NHS names walking, gentle stretches and pelvic floor exercises, and says to get advice at your 6-week postnatal check before anything high-impact such as aerobics or running. The 2019 UK return-to-running guideline by Goom, Donnelly and Brockwell agrees that the 6-week check is too long to wait before starting low-intensity walking, pelvic floor and abdominal muscle exercises.

"Gradually" has a measurable meaning. The 2025 Canadian postpartum guideline, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests starting with light activity such as gentle walking and pelvic floor training, and moving up to moderate exercise only once any stitches have healed and your bleeding (lochia) does not increase after a session. It recommends reaching moderate activity within the first 12 weeks for the benefit to mental health, building towards at least 120 minutes a week over four or more days. Ligaments stay more supple for a few months, so the NHS warns against stretching or twisting too far.

How soon after a C-section can you exercise?

After a caesarean, walking starts almost at once and everything else waits. The NHS recovery guidance says you may not be able to exercise, drive or carry anything heavier than your baby straight away, that this "may not be for 6 weeks or so", and to restart only when it feels comfortable, while staying mobile with a gentle daily walk to reduce the risk of blood clots. So the first six weeks after a C-section are walking, pelvic floor work and breathing, not a workout.

The reason to go slower is tissue. The 2019 guideline cites research showing the abdominal fascia has regained only 51 to 59% of its tensile strength six weeks after a caesarean, and 73 to 93% at six to seven months. The 2025 Canadian guideline lists a caesarean with symptoms that worsen with moderate to vigorous activity, such as incision pain, as a reason to check with your doctor before continuing. In coaching terms: nothing that loads the midline (planks, crunches, heavy lifts, jumping) until the 6 to 8 week check has cleared you, then a slow build with the scar as the signal.

When should you stop and see a doctor?

This guide is coaching guidance for after your doctor has cleared you. MakeMyFitness coaches are fitness coaches, not doctors, dietitians or physiotherapists, and nothing here diagnoses a condition or replaces your postnatal check. Pelvic floor symptoms belong with a women's health physiotherapist first; see personal trainer vs physiotherapist and our medical disclaimer.

What should you start with in the first weeks?

Three things, whichever way you gave birth: walking, pelvic floor exercises and gentle breathing that reconnects you with your deep abdominal muscles. The NHS calls walking "great exercise" after birth and suggests pushing the pram briskly. The 2025 Canadian guideline gives daily pelvic floor muscle training a strong recommendation on high-certainty evidence for reducing the risk of urinary incontinence, ideally taught by a pelvic floor physiotherapist.

Pelvic floor exercises after birth: the NHS method

1. Find the muscles: imagine stopping yourself passing urine and wind at the same time. Do not pull your stomach in or hold your breath.
2. Squeeze and hold for 2 seconds, then relax fully. Repeat 10 times.
3. Add 10 quick squeezes, tightening and letting go at once.
4. Over the following weeks, build the hold from 2 seconds towards 10 seconds, breathing normally.
5. Do a set at least three times a day, as the NHS advises. The NHS says it can take a few months of daily practice before you notice a difference.

Gentle core breathing

Lie on your back or sit tall. Breathe in and let your belly expand; as you breathe out, let your pelvic floor lift and your lower belly draw gently towards your spine, without bracing hard or doming the midline. Ten slow breaths, a few times a day. It does not close a muscle gap; it teaches you to manage abdominal pressure before adding load, the aim of early abdominal work in the 2019 guideline.

What is diastasis recti and how do you check for it?

Diastasis recti is the separation of the two muscles that run down the middle of your stomach, pushed apart by the growing womb. It is common: a 2016 study of 300 first-time mothers in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Sperstad and colleagues) found a gap of two or more finger-widths in 60% of women at 6 weeks after birth, 45% at 6 months and 33% at 12 months. The NHS says it usually goes back to normal by the time your baby is 8 weeks old, and to contact your GP if the gap is still obvious then.

The NHS self-check

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
2. Raise your shoulders slightly off the floor and look down at your tummy.
3. With your fingertips, feel between the edges of the muscles, above and below your belly button.
4. Count how many fingers fit into the gap. Check regularly, as the NHS suggests, to see that it is gradually getting smaller.

While the gap is there, the NHS says to avoid sit-ups, planks and high-impact exercise to start with, and to avoid straining on the toilet and heavy lifting. A coach watches for a ridge or dip along your midline (doming) during an exercise; the 2019 guideline treats that as a sign the abdominal wall is not yet managing the load, so the move is regressed. Exercise does not "fix" a diastasis; the 2016 study found no clear risk factors and no difference in back or pelvic pain at 12 months between women with and without a gap. A coach picks exercises you can control and refers you to a physiotherapist if the gap is wide, painful or not changing.

A week-by-week return to exercise after birth

The stages below put the NHS, Canadian and UK guidance into one timeline. Dates are a floor, not a target: move on only when the previous stage is symptom-free.

1. 1

   Weeks 0 to 2: move, rest, pelvic floor

   Vaginal birth: short walks as you feel able, pelvic floor squeezes and core breathing several times a day. C-section: walk a little every day from the first days to reduce clot risk (NHS), carry your baby but nothing heavier, keep the wound clean and dry. Nothing beyond walking and breathing for either group.

2. 2

   Weeks 2 to 6: walk further, add gentle movement

   Vaginal birth: lengthen walks towards 20 to 30 minutes, add gentle stretches, sit-to-stands and glute bridges if nothing leaks or aches. C-section: walks lengthen only as the scar allows; still nothing heavier than your baby, no abdominal exercise beyond breathing, and talk to your midwife or GP before anything strenuous (NHS).

3. 3

   Weeks 6 to 12: after the postnatal check, start a routine

   Vaginal birth: once cleared, do the no-equipment routine below two or three times a week, walk briskly most days and work towards 120 minutes a week of moderate activity. Recheck your diastasis at 8 weeks. C-section: the same routine, started later if the scar is tender, with incision pain as the stop signal. No planks, crunches, jumping or heavy lifting while a gap or any pelvic symptom is present.

4. 4

   Months 3 to 6: load, impact and the gym

   Vaginal birth: progress to dumbbells or the gym, and attempt running only once past 3 months and through the readiness tests below. C-section: gym and loaded training from 3 months with the trunk loaded last; the fascia is still regaining strength until six to seven months, so progress over weeks, not sessions, and drop back a stage if the scar aches.

When can you start running or go to the gym after a C-section?

The 2019 UK return-to-running guideline says running is not advisable before 3 months after birth, whichever way you delivered: a low-impact program for the first 3 months, then a return to running between 3 and 6 months at the earliest. It also recommends every mother be offered a pelvic health assessment with a specialist physiotherapist from 6 weeks. Before running or jumping, you should manage the following without pain, heaviness, dragging or leaking.

The gym follows the same logic with less impact. From 3 months, start with lifts you can brace well (goblet squats, hip hinges, rows, presses) at light loads, two or three days a week, and leave heavy carries and overhead work until the trunk manages everything else without doming or heaviness; see our strength training and mobility and flexibility pages. For running, the guideline suggests a walk-run build such as Couch to 5K.

How do you reduce belly fat after a C-section?

Slowly, and partly it is not fat. The soft belly after birth is the womb shrinking back, stretched skin, the muscle gap and some fat laid down in pregnancy. The gap often narrows by 8 weeks (NHS), and no exercise removes fat from one spot: fat loss is a modest calorie deficit plus walking and strength work, at the 0.5 to 1 kg a week the NHS advises adults to aim for, and slower is normal on broken sleep. Use the TDEE calculator for a maintenance figure, our fat loss page for the deficit, and belly fat training for why spot reduction fails.

If you are breastfeeding, do not cut calories hard. The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) say a lactating woman needs an additional 600 kcal and 13.6 g of protein a day in the first six months, and 520 kcal and 10.6 g in the next six. The NHS says a breastfeeding mother at a healthy weight needs no special diet, and that one who is overweight can lose weight with a balanced diet and moderate exercise such as a 30-minute brisk walk each day, which "will not affect the quality or quantity of your breast milk". Anyone promising a flat stomach four weeks after a C-section is selling something; our walking for weight loss guide is a realistic start.

Can you exercise while breastfeeding?

Yes. The NHS and the 2019 return-to-running guideline both say moderate exercise does not reduce the quantity or quality of breast milk, and the guideline adds that moderate to vigorous exercise during lactation does not affect milk composition or infant growth. Its practical advice: time feeds so that your breasts are not uncomfortably full before a session, drink enough water, and wear a supportive sports bra. It also notes that breastfeeding may affect joint laxity for up to three months after weaning, so a coach keeps stretching moderate and progresses impact carefully.

Postnatal exercise at home: a no-equipment routine for weeks 6 to 12

Do this only after your 6 to 8 week check has cleared you, two or three times a week, in about 20 minutes. Stop any exercise that causes doming along your midline, leaking, heaviness or pain at the scar, and breathe out on the effort of every repetition.

1. 1

   Walk and breathe (5 minutes)

   A brisk walk, then 10 core breaths lying on your back with knees bent.

2. 2

   Glute bridge (2 sets of 10)

   Lying on your back, knees bent, breathe out and lift your hips into a straight line from knees to shoulders. Lower slowly, ribs down.

3. 3

   Chair squat (2 sets of 10)

   Sit back until you touch the seat, then stand without using your hands. Progress by slowing the descent.

4. 4

   Heel slides (2 sets of 8 each leg)

   Lying on your back, breathe out and slide one heel away until the leg is straight, pelvis still, then draw it back.

5. 5

   Wall push-up (2 sets of 10)

   Hands on a wall at shoulder height, body in one line, bend the elbows and press back. Move the feet further away as it gets easier.

6. 6

   Bird dog (2 sets of 6 each side)

   On hands and knees, breathe out and reach one arm forward and the opposite leg back without arching the lower back. If your wrists or scar complain, do heel slides instead.

7. 7

   Side-lying leg lift (2 sets of 10 each side)

   Hips stacked, lift the top leg to hip height and lower slowly. Finish with 10 pelvic floor squeezes.

From week 12, if everything is symptom-free, add a band or light dumbbells and move to our home workout plan for beginners. If training alone with a baby in the room keeps slipping, see online personal training for women.

How MakeMyFitness coaching fits after pregnancy

MakeMyFitness is live one-to-one fitness coaching on video across India, ₹899 a session at home or ₹799 at your gym, and after a baby it suits a mother who has been cleared by her doctor or physiotherapist and wants someone to watch her form, keep the load honest and rebuild one stage at a time. Our lead coach, Kumar Abhishek, is a male fitness coach certified by K11, not a physiotherapist; he does not assess the pelvic floor or treat diastasis. Sessions are 45 minutes, 6 AM to 8 PM every day, and can be moved with notice.