Returning to exercise after birth

When can you start exercising after giving birth?

Gentle activity such as walking can generally start within a few days of giving birth, or as soon as you feel comfortable¹. After a caesarean, a difficult birth or complications, it may take a little longer to feel ready¹.

Pelvic floor exercises are the usual first step. If you learned them in pregnancy, you can resume them straight after birth¹. There is more on when to begin in the questions below.

Your timing is individual. It depends on how active you were before pregnancy, your pregnancy and any complications, how your baby was born, and how your recovery is going². So go by how you feel from day to day rather than a fixed timetable.

Some women can return to symptom-free activity before 6 weeks after birth, while others are more prone to injury³. That is why low-impact activity should build up gradually and be watched before anything high-impact³.

Running is a separate, later step, covered below.

How do you build back up safely after birth?

Build up gradually. After a period of relative rest, the usual advice is to start with walking and add strength training, slowly increasing how long and how hard you go³. How long the rest period lasts is specific to each person's pregnancy, birth and recovery³.

The WHO advises starting with small amounts of activity and gradually increasing how often, how hard and how long you go⁴. It also says some activity is better than none⁴.

Walking is a good place to start. It needs only comfortable shoes, it is free, and you can do it almost anywhere¹.

Keep up your pelvic floor exercises alongside. Pelvic floor training in the first year after birth tends to reduce leaking urine⁶.

The general guideline is this. During pregnancy, and after birth once ready, women with no medical reason not to should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, with a variety of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities; gentle stretching may also help. Women who were regularly active, including at vigorous intensity, before pregnancy can carry on. After giving birth it's normal and right to take a break, especially in the first weeks: rest, recovery and adjusting to life with a new baby matter too, and activity can build up gradually from there.

If you were inactive for a long time before or during pregnancy, our guide Starting again after time off may help.

When is it OK to run or do high-impact exercise again after birth?

For most people, not before 12 weeks. Health-service advice is not to return to running or impact sports until at least 12 weeks after birth, and this is a rough guideline, not a target: some women will need to wait longer². Another service advises sticking to low-impact exercise for the first 3 months, then returning to running or other high-impact exercise between 3 and 6 months at the earliest⁵.

Expert guidance allows an earlier, individual timeline: after a minimum of 3 weeks' rest and recovery, a gradual return to running can be considered, and returning before 12 weeks is possible⁸. The best date isn't clear yet, so readiness matters more than the calendar.

A sensible check is whether you can walk for 30 minutes without pelvic health or other muscle or joint symptoms. Experts recommend this before being assessed for run readiness³.

• Build up in stages. One hospital leaflet suggests pelvic floor and gentle core exercises first, then low impact, then high impact, over 12 weeks⁹.
• Keep up strength work and pelvic floor exercises while you build up.
• Start small if you try running. Change only one thing at a time, such as time or pace, and avoid big jumps in how much you run³.
• Treat 12 weeks as the earliest sensible point for most people, not a deadline. It is fine to wait longer.

If you are starting from low activity, build up walking and strength first, and get advice if you're unsure.

When to check with a health professional

If you're starting exercise after a long break, it's always a good idea to see your doctor first.

For an injury or a health condition, see a health professional, such as your doctor or a physio.

Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure (or pain spreading to the arm, neck, jaw or back, especially with sweating or feeling sick), severe breathlessness, fainting or collapse, signs of a stroke, a serious injury, or someone who isn't safe.

After birth, bleeding from the vagina, a bad headache or changes in vision, or pain or swelling in a calf need the midwife, doctor or maternity unit straight away, even if they seem mild. Heavy bleeding is also an emergency, so call the same number.

Exercise after birth should not hurt. For a sore muscle or joint, ease off, and see a doctor, midwife or pelvic health physiotherapist if it persists or gets worse. Pelvic or back symptoms are common after birth but are not normal⁷. If they appear when you are active, ease off. If they appear when you run, stop running and ask your doctor for advice and a referral to a pelvic health physiotherapist.

Unusual tiredness is not something to push through, so get it checked by a doctor.