Recovery Progress

Week 8 postpartum: light cardio, and the first direct core work

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

Around two months, load tolerance is usually noticeably better and gentle cardio starts to feel reasonable after a vaginal birth. This is also the point where direct core work — heel slides, bird dog — becomes appropriate in this model, having been deliberately held back until now.

Direct core work is last for a reason: the abdominal wall stretched over nine months, and loading it early is what makes a midline dome or bulge appear.

What is most worth attending to

Watch your midline during any core movement. A ridge or dome means the movement is too much for now, not that you should push harder.

Movement that is generally appropriate at week 8

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
  • 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
  • Light cardio — March in Place + Arm Circles, Seated Arm Reaches

If you had a caesarean

Light cardio generally becomes appropriate after a caesarean around now. Direct core work waits considerably longer — see week twelve.

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