Hey there! This week’s newsletter is all about returning to workouts after birth, whether you are itching to get back to movement or it feels impossible to even think about right now.

We get a lot of questions like:

• When is it safe to return to workouts?
• Do I have to wait for the all clear, or can I start before then?
• How do I even know if I am ready for certain movements?

​

The most commonly accepted standard is returning to workouts after your provider gives approval at your postpartum 4 to 6 week checkup. But what if you are feeling good sooner? What if you stayed active throughout pregnancy? And what does returning to fitness actually look like in those early weeks?

The 4-to-6-week postpartum checkup tends to line up with the tissue healing timeline, when it is appropriate to begin progressively loading the body with more structured exercise. Before about 21 to 28 days postpartum, tissue is still in an immature stage of healing. It is beginning to rebuild, but it is not quite ready for increased loading yet.

​

Here is a simplified look at tissue healing after birth:

From birth through about days 5 to 10, the body is in the inflammation phase. There may be swelling and increased blood flow to support healing. During this time, rest and gentle compression are especially important.

From that point until about days 21 to 28, the body moves into the proliferation phase. Tissue is rebuilding, but it is thinner and more disorganized. If we load the tissue too much during this phase, it can stay disorganized and potentially prolong the overall healing timeline and return to sport. During this phase, gentle mobility, breathing, light core work, and some walking can be helpful, but the focus should still be on rest with lighter loading.

After this, we move into the maturation phase, starting around days 21 to 28. Tissue becomes more organized and dense, and blood flow continues to increase to support oxygen delivery. This is when progressive loading can be incredibly beneficial. This is the phase our postpartum fitness programs are built around, and it is also how you might structure your own return to exercise.

What this means is that even if you exercised throughout pregnancy and had great conditioning, it is still important to wait about 3 to 4 weeks before returning to structured exercise. Once you are past that first month, you may find that you can progress a bit faster through progressive overload, but giving your body that initial healing time really matters.

And yes, this can be hard. Often after the first week, you start to feel significantly better than you did right after birth, which can make it tempting to push things sooner. This is not about being told what you can or cannot do, but about respecting tissue healing timelines so you can support your body long term.

That said, this does not mean you need to do absolutely nothing while you wait for the all clear. You can absolutely begin diaphragmatic breathing to reconnect with your core and pelvic floor, gentle mobility, and even some bodyweight movements. The key is waiting to truly load and challenge the tissue until you are in the maturation phase of healing.

You can grab our free Early Postpartum Recovery Program, which is what Roxanne is doing right now to support her early healing. It walks you through gentle movements you can safely do now to support recovery without overdoing it.

If you are past the early postpartum phase, check out our Postpartum Return to Fitness Programs. These focus on progressive overload and gradual strength building so you can feel strong and capable in your body again.

And if you are beyond six months postpartum and ready for more challenge, our Beyond Postpartum Strength subscription is a great option. This is the program I personally used to help balance my pelvis and pelvic floor while continuing to build strength, even as I returned to big goals like running a marathon and half marathon with very little training.

If you have different experiences or thoughts on returning to exercise postpartum, feel free to reply to this email. I always love hearing from you.

New on YouTube

We just dropped a new YouTube workout: Advanced Core Workout with a Pilates Ball.

This workout is part of our free Advanced Core Workout Series and is designed to challenge your core, coordination, and pelvic stability in a progressive, intentional way. It is a great option if you are feeling ready to increase the challenge in your core training and want something that goes beyond basic exercises.

You can watch the workout here:

​

You can also grab the full Advanced Core Workout Guide, which includes follow along videos and a structured approach to progressing your core strength safely and effectively.

Stay Strong in Pregnancy and Motherhood!

MamasteFit is one of the only fitness training facilities in the country that exclusively works with in-person prenatal and postnatal fitness clients—and also provides hands-on birth support. Our prenatal and postpartum fitness programs aren’t random “safe” modifications pulled from the internet; they’re designed specifically for this stage of life, tested and refined with our in-person clients, and approved by our in-house pelvic floor physical therapists.

Our prenatal programs were created to keep you strong and pain-free throughout pregnancy with specialty exercises to help you prepare for birth with pelvic opening, pelvic floor, and birth prep movements.

Our postpartum programs were carefully designed with our in-person fitness clients and pelvic floor PTs to ensure there is a smooth transition from rehab and recovery to fitness. Many PTs recommend our programs for both pregnancy and postpartum because of how seamless they integrate with someone's 1-1 PT!