Postnatal Return to Training: A Sensible Path Back to Lifting
Most women can return to strength training after having a baby, but the route back is staged rather than a single date on the calendar. Gentle walking and pelvic floor exercises can usually start in the first days or weeks. Structured training with light weights normally begins once your midwife, GP or physiotherapist is happy, often around or after the six-to-eight-week postnatal check, and later after a caesarean. From there, load builds over months, not weeks, and the best guide is how your pelvic floor, abdomen and scar respond, not how fit you feel. Below is the order I follow with clients, what to check at each stage, and the signs that mean you should hold back.
Start with clearance, not a plan
Before anything more than walking and pelvic floor work, you need a green light from the people looking after you. That is usually the six-to-eight-week check with your GP. It is worth knowing that this appointment covers your general recovery and will not always include a detailed pelvic floor or abdominal assessment. If you want to return to lifting or running, ask specifically, or ask for a referral to a women’s health (pelvic health) physiotherapist. Many people find that a single appointment with one is the most useful thing they do in the first year.
Check with your GP before starting, or stop and get advice, if you have:
- Leaking urine or wind when you cough, laugh, lift or jump.
- A feeling of heaviness, dragging or a bulge in the vagina.
- Pain in the pelvis, the pubic bone or the caesarean scar.
- A visible ridge or doming along the middle of your abdomen when you sit up.
- Bleeding that gets heavier or returns after it had stopped.
- A complicated birth, a significant tear, or ongoing back pain.
None of these rules out training. They mean the plan should be shaped with professional input, and that a trainer should not be the first person you see.
The NHS guide to keeping fit with a baby covers the early weeks, and the UK Chief Medical Officers’ guidance for women after childbirth recommends building gradually towards 150 minutes of moderate activity a week alongside strength work.
The stages, in order
The timings below are typical for an uncomplicated vaginal birth. After a caesarean, or a more complicated delivery, expect each stage to take longer. Move on when the current stage feels easy and symptom-free, not because a date has passed.
| Stage | Typical timing | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Reconnect | First days to 6 weeks | Walking, pelvic floor exercises, breathing, gentle posture work. |
| 2. Foundations | After clearance, roughly weeks 6 to 12 | Bodyweight and light-weight strength: squats to a box, bridges, rows, carries with light weights. |
| 3. Build | Roughly months 3 to 6 | Progressive loading of the main lifts, single-leg work, longer carries. |
| 4. Return to impact | Usually not before 3 months, often later | Hopping and jogging tests, then a graded return to running or jumping. |
The three-month marker for running and jumping is drawn from widely used UK return-to-running guidance for postnatal women, which advises against high-impact exercise before then even when you feel ready. Strength comes back well before your tissues are ready for repeated landing.
Stage 2 in practice: the first sessions
This is where most people either start too cautiously and lose interest or start too hard and have a setback. A first strength session after clearance might look like this:
- Breathing and pelvic floor (5 minutes). Breathe in and let the ribs and belly widen; breathe out and gently lift the pelvic floor. This exhale-and-lift pattern is the one you use on every lift.
- Box squat (2 to 3 sets of 8 to 10). Sit to a bench, stand up while breathing out.
- Glute bridge (2 to 3 sets of 10). Slow, with a pause at the top.
- Seated cable row or band row (2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12). Feeding and carrying a baby pulls the shoulders forward; the upper back needs work.
- Suitcase carry (3 x 20 to 30 metres each side). A light dumbbell in one hand, standing tall. It is the most baby-specific exercise there is.
- Side-lying or kneeling side plank (2 x 15 to 20 seconds each side). In place of crunches or full planks for now.
Leave out sit-ups, crunches and full front planks early on. They raise pressure inside the abdomen, and if they cause the midline to dome or bulge, they are not the right tool yet. Our post on core training without crunches covers alternatives that work well at this stage.
How to judge whether you are ready to progress
Effort is not the main signal postnatally. Symptoms are. During and in the 24 hours after a session, watch for:
- Any leaking, heaviness or dragging during or after training.
- Doming or bulging along the midline when you lift or brace.
- Pelvic, back or scar pain that is worse the next day.
- Increased bleeding.
If none of these appear and a session felt comfortable, add one thing the following week: a little weight, a set, or a slightly harder variation. If one does appear, drop back to the previous level for a week or two. If it persists, see your GP or a pelvic health physiotherapist. Symptoms are information, not failure.
Things that change the timeline
Caesarean birth
A caesarean is major abdominal surgery. Walking and pelvic floor work still help early on, but most women are advised to avoid heavier lifting and strenuous exercise until well after the six-week point, guided by their GP or surgical team. The scar and the deeper layers heal at different rates; it can feel fine on the surface before it is ready for load.
Breastfeeding
Exercise does not usually affect milk supply. It is often more comfortable to feed before training, wear a supportive bra and drink enough fluids. Sleep loss and hunger affect energy more than people expect, so judge the session by how you feel on the day.
Sleep
Broken nights are a training variable. On a bad week, keep the session but cut the volume by a third. Consistency over months matters far more than any single workout. Our post on strength training for women starting out covers the long-term principles once you are past this phase.
Where a private studio helps
Many new mothers tell me the hardest part is not the exercise but the setting: a busy gym, a class where everyone is jumping, or the feeling of being watched while relearning movements that used to be easy. The basement studio at The Highgate House is booked to you alone for the session, which removes most of that. It is not a medical service. I work alongside your GP or physiotherapist’s advice, not instead of it. If you have been cleared to train and want a careful, progressive plan, private 1-1 personal training is set up for exactly this kind of steady rebuild.
Questions we get asked
When can I start lifting weights after giving birth?
Light strength work usually begins after your postnatal check, once your GP or physiotherapist is happy, and later after a caesarean. Heavier loads build over the following months.
Can I train with diastasis recti?
Often yes, with the right exercises and guidance. A pelvic health physiotherapist can assess the gap and the tension through the midline and tell you what to prioritise.
Is it too late to start a year or more after birth?
No. The same stages apply, just faster if you have no symptoms. Our post on training around family life covers fitting it in.
Can I bring my baby to sessions?
Please ask when you email us so we can discuss what works for your session. Details of how our personal training runs are on the service page.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
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