10 Tips for Exercising Post C-Section
By Leah Keller, Founder of Every Mother
During the earliest days and weeks following a C-section, many women are at a loss as to what they can do to safely facilitate healing. We also know that movement is vital to support mental health, which is one of the most important aspects of postpartum recovery. For these reasons, I’m happy to share with you some gentle, therapeutic exercises to enhance C-section recovery during the earliest postpartum weeks and gradually prepare you to embrace more vigorous activity when cleared by your OB to do so. Many of these exercises, and more, are explained in depth in Every Mother’s Gentle Recovery Program now available [learn more about these therapeutic movements here].
Healthy, restorative movement during the first 6 weeks after a caesarean birth
The most important and healing activities to embrace during those early days post-birth include rest, sleep, and replenishment. Your body is recovering from the physiological demands of both pregnancy and birth while establishing milk supply and responding to the 24-hour demands of caring for a newborn. This is not the time to dive into a workout routine – that can and should wait (and I’m writing this as a personal trainer and exercise enthusiast!). When you feel up to incorporating gentle activity (timing varies from person to person), the most appropriate, restorative movements to support healthy postnatal recovery include the following:
Light, brief walks with a friend or partner
This simple activity is wonderfully restorative physically, and walking (especially outdoors) supports emotional, mental and spiritual health. Walking facilitates healthy circulation and tissue recovery, helps reduce swelling, and generally feels good – except for when it doesn’t. Even with something as natural and accessible as walking, listen to your body and don’t rush into too much too soon.
If you experience pain, discomfort or bleeding, stop and contact your doctor. Rest is still your top priority. Begin with brief walks (a few minutes is plenty at first) within the hospital corridor or inside your home, and then rest. Avoid standing for prolonged periods, and keep walking brief, light and occasional.
When you feel stronger and more energetic, you can venture outside for perhaps a 10-20 minute walk. Bring the baby in a stroller or carrier, or better yet bring your partner or a friend and let him or her carry the baby in a carrier. Fresh air and the movement of walking is soothing to infants, and they will often sleep better after (or during) a walk outside.
Gentle Kegels
These exercises bring healthy circulation to the pelvic floor and initiate the recovery of muscle control, strength and healthy function. Try performing a gentle Kegel while in a comfortable position – you might be lying on your side in fetal position, on your back with knees bent, reclining with support or possibly sitting upright (although this is a more challenging position at first because it requires greater effort to resist gravity).
Envision your pelvic floor as a hammock of muscle, and try gently lifting and squeezing the center of the hammock in an upward direction towards your spine as you exhale. Make this a slow, controlled muscle contraction. After each squeeze, fully relax and release the pelvic floor as you inhale.
Envision a gentle lowering and opening of the pelvic floor as you soften your core and take a full, diaphragmatic breath. Repeat the pattern of engaging the pelvic floor in an upward squeeze while exhaling, followed by relaxing and softening the pelvic floor as you take another full breath.
In the early postpartum days, just a few cycles of engagement/relaxation are sufficient. As you feel stronger and more connected to your deep core muscles, you might perform 1-2 minutes of these slow, controlled Kegels. Remember to fully relax the pelvic floor after each contraction.
Of course listen to your body, and stop if you experience bleeding, discomfort, pelvic pressure, or if it simply doesn’t feel right. Note: if you have a history or current diagnosis of a hypertonic (overly tight) pelvic floor, schedule a consultation with a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor rehabilitation before incorporating Kegel exercises into your personal recovery plan.
Core Compressions
These exercises target the transverse abdominis, your natural corset, and deepest abdominal muscle, to restore core strength, muscle balance, and function. Core Compressions protect your back and help close any abdominal separation (diastasis recti) that occurred during pregnancy as your belly stretched to make room for your growing baby.
What is a Core Compression? In a nutshell, a Core Compression involves performing a Kegel as described above, while simultaneously engaging your abdominal muscles up and in toward the spine. Remember “E on E” – always exhale on engagement. Exhale as you lift and squeeze both your abs and your pelvic floor toward the spine. Then take a breath as you soften and relax the muscles.
Repeat, keeping the muscle action slow and controlled. It’s important to breathe as directed, and never hold your breath. As you get stronger, you will be able to perform Core Compressions in more efficient sets, and in a variety of body positions.
For complete video coaching and step-by-step guidance, including a library of variations and tips to get the most out of these profoundly healing exercises, check out the Surgical Recovery path in our OB-approved Reclaim program with daily prescriptions tailored to support physical recovery during those earliest weeks.
Once postpartum bleeding has subsided and you are safe to get out of bed, you may begin to incorporate light, restorative movement like gentle stretches that simply feel good and relieve some of the postural stresses of caring for a newborn. During those early postpartum days, celebrate each little moment you manage to set aside for your healing as an act of self-love, a moment to pause and breathe as you marvel at the wonder and gift of this new life and your own powerful, resilient body.
Leah Keller is a certified personal trainer and the creator of EMbody Program (formerly The Dia Method), an online fitness system designed to support women in all stages of motherhood. Endorsed by medical and birth professionals worldwide, Leah’s EMbody Program empowers women to exercise safely during pregnancy, labor with confidence, and restore core strength and total body fitness after birth – no matter how long it’s been. Over the last two decades, Leah has helped thousands of women — ranging from first time mothers to 80 year old grandmothers — resolve their diastasis recti.
The EMbody Program grew out of Leah’s private training practice in New York City in 2013 when the approach was medically validated by a pilot study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical School. Within 12 weeks, all 63 women in the study achieved full resolution of their diastasis recti.
Leah is now collaborating with researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery, Weill Cornell, and Harvard Medical School to conduct a prospective clinical trial to gather additional data on the health benefits of the EMbody core strengthening program.
