Postpartum Exercises to Avoid (and What to Do Instead)

The moves people most want back — the crunch, the plank, the run, the heavy lift — are usually the ones that wait longest. That feels backwards, but there is a reason: pregnancy stretched the abdominal wall and the pelvic floor over nine months, and birth, whether vaginal or by caesarean, leaves tissue that heals on its own schedule regardless of how fit you feel.

Nothing below is banned forever. Think of this page as an ordering, not a prohibition: the same moves return weeks later, once the foundations can support them. Our week-by-week workout plan shows the full sequence; this page explains what waits and why.

The short list: what waits, and what to do instead

If you remember nothing else, remember the swaps. Each pair below replaces a high-load move with one that trains the same pattern without loading a recovering wall or floor.

• Sit-ups and crunches — wait. Do heel slides and pelvic tilts instead, breathing out on the effort.
• Full planks and push-ups — wait. Do wall planks and wall slides instead, stopping well before shaking.
• Double leg lifts and scissors — wait. Do single heel slides with a still lower back instead.
• Heavy lifting — limit to nothing heavier than your baby for about six weeks, especially after a caesarean. Roll to your side and push up with your arms rather than sitting straight up.
• Running, jumping and high-impact classes — wait until around twelve weeks at the earliest, and only after the readiness tests below. Walk briskly and build strength first.
• Deep twists, boat pose and downward dog — wait if you have a tummy gap. They load the midline directly.
• Breath-holding and straining — exhale on effort instead. Holding your breath raises pressure on the pelvic floor.
• Anything that domes — whatever the move, if you see a ridge pushing up along the middle of your tummy, it is too much for now. Make it easier or come back in a few weeks.

Why these moves wait

ACOG describes postpartum exercise as a gradual build-up: walking, pelvic floor and breathing can commonly start within days after an uncomplicated vaginal birth, while vigorous exercise waits for clearance. The NHS pairs the same message with specifics — try to avoid sit-ups, planks and high-impact exercise to start with.

With diastasis recti the reasoning is more specific. Research has shifted physiotherapists' attention from the width of the gap to how the tissue behaves under load: in an ultrasound study, an ordinary curl-up narrowed the gap but distorted the connective tissue, while switching on the deep stomach muscle first kept it more stable. Width is not the whole story — a tummy that can hold tension matters as much as one that measures narrower.

After a C-section: the same list, held longer

A caesarean is abdominal surgery as well as a birth: the wall was cut through and repaired in layers. So the avoid list is the same, but almost every step sits later — pelvic floor work commonly waits until around week four rather than week two, loaded strength until around week six, and direct core work until around week twelve.

• Nothing heavier than your baby for about six weeks — which quietly rules out a toddler, a full car seat and a laundry basket.
• Support the scar with a hand or a folded towel when you cough, laugh or stand.
• Get in and out of bed by rolling onto your side and pushing up with your arms, every time.
• Expect running and direct core work to be the last things back. Our C-section exercise guide goes through the full week-by-week timeline.

Running and impact: the readiness tests

Pelvic health physiotherapists commonly point to around twelve weeks as the earliest moment to consider running, and only with symptom-free readiness tests first — not the calendar alone.

• Walk briskly for 30 minutes with no leaking, heaviness, pain or bleeding.
• Hold a pelvic floor contraction for 10 seconds, 10 times, standing.
• Do 10 single-leg squats on each side without leaking or heaviness.
• Hop 10 times on each leg without leaking.
• No doming along the midline during any of it.

Pass all of them and start with walk-run intervals rather than continuous running. Fail any of them — leaking, heaviness, a dragging feeling, prolapse pressure, bleeding or pain — and stop, then see your GP or a pelvic health physiotherapist rather than pushing through. Our running guide covers the full checklist.

Stop signals that apply to every exercise

• Leaking urine during or after the move.
• Heaviness or a dragging feeling in the pelvis, or a vaginal bulge.
• Doming or coning along the middle of the tummy.
• Sharp or worsening pain — in stitches, the scar, the back or the pelvis.
• Bleeding that becomes heavy again, large clots, or an unpleasant smell.
• Dizziness, breathlessness beyond the effort, or feeling faint.

Any of these means stop that move and ask. The NHS says to contact your GP if a tummy gap is still obvious 8 weeks after birth, and Cleveland Clinic notes leaking, heaviness or a gap that will not close all deserve assessment. A pelvic health physiotherapist can measure the gap, watch how your tummy behaves when you move and match exercises to you — something no article can do.

The order that brings them back

Everyone recovers at a different pace, so treat this as a sequence rather than a schedule. After a caesarean, expect each stage to come later.

• Weeks 1 to 2: breathing, short frequent walks, pelvic floor squeezes once comfortable (around week 4 after a caesarean).
• Weeks 2 to 6: pelvic tilts, heel slides, glute bridges and wall slides; start practising the deep squeeze sitting and standing.
• Around week 6: the postnatal check. Ask specifically about your pelvic floor and tummy gap before returning to anything vigorous.
• Weeks 8 to 12: light cardio and harder strength as tolerated, still no direct core loading after a caesarean.
• From around week 12: direct core work and a gradual return to the moves above, checking for doming each time — then walk-run intervals once the readiness tests pass.

How MatraBloom fits in

This ordering is built into the product: breathing from day one, pelvic floor work from week 2 after a vaginal birth and week 4 after a caesarean, loaded strength later, cardio later still, and direct core work last of all. The moves on the avoid list simply do not appear in a session before their week — and a hard night shortens the session rather than cancelling it.

Frequently asked questions

A plan that holds the hard moves back for you

MatraBloom orders every session breathing first, pelvic floor next, strength later and impact last — gated by your week and birth type, so the moves below simply do not appear before you are ready for them.

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