Recovery Progress

Week 10 postpartum: load tolerance improves, impact still waits

General guidance, not medical advice. Follow your own provider’s clearance. Read our Medical Disclaimer and Editorial Policy.

Strength work generally feels more available now, and progress can come from doing the same movements with more control rather than from finding harder ones.

Running and other repeated impact is usually still early. Postnatal return-to-running guidance commonly points to somewhere between three and six months, with pelvic floor readiness rather than the calendar as the deciding factor.

What is most worth attending to

Control and range before load, and load before impact.

Movement that is generally appropriate at week 10

This is what MatraBloom would draw on to build a session at this point in recovery. It differs by birth type because a caesarean is abdominal surgery, so anything loading the abdominal wall is held back longer.

After a vaginal birth

  • Breathing — Diaphragmatic Breathing, Cool-Down Breathing, Restorative Breathing
  • Gentle mobility — Neck & Shoulder Rolls, Ankle Circles, Heel Slides, Seated Spinal Twist, Standing Calf + Hamstring Stretch, Cat-Cow (Supported), Child’s Pose, Standing Side Stretch
  • Pelvic floor — Gentle Pelvic Tilts, Seated Pelvic Floor Squeeze, Wall Hip Hinge
  • Strength — Wall Slides, Glute Bridges, Standing Leg Lifts, Seated Rows (Towel), Wall Squats, Side-Lying Leg Lifts, Wall Push-Offs, Band Pull-Apart, Seated Band Row, Banded Glute Bridge, Supported Dumbbell Row, Seated Shoulder Press, Goblet Squat
  • Light cardio — March in Place + Arm Circles, Seated Arm Reaches
  • Core — Bird-Dog (Supported), Gentle Core: Heel Slides

After a caesarean

  • Breathing — Diaphragmatic Breathing, Cool-Down Breathing, Restorative Breathing
  • Gentle mobility — Neck & Shoulder Rolls, Ankle Circles, Heel Slides, Seated Spinal Twist, Standing Calf + Hamstring Stretch, Cat-Cow (Supported), Child’s Pose, Standing Side Stretch
  • Pelvic floor — Gentle Pelvic Tilts, Seated Pelvic Floor Squeeze, Wall Hip Hinge
  • Strength — Wall Slides, Glute Bridges, Standing Leg Lifts, Seated Rows (Towel), Wall Squats, Side-Lying Leg Lifts, Wall Push-Offs, Band Pull-Apart, Seated Band Row, Banded Glute Bridge, Supported Dumbbell Row
  • Light cardio — March in Place + Arm Circles, Seated Arm Reaches

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