By Sucheta Pal, Award-winning Maternal Fitness Educator & Creator of Mom.Bod.Strong
Let’s get one thing straight — postpartum fitness is not regular fitness with lighter weights or modified planks. It’s a whole different ballgame.
Research shows it can take 6–12 months or longer for the core (which includes the pelvic floor) to regain optimum function after childbirth, depending on factors like birth type, tissue healing, and hormonal balance.
The uterus, abdominal wall, connective tissue, and pelvic floor have all remodelled to support pregnancy and delivery.
Postpartum fitness, therefore, isn’t just a lighter version of regular fitness — it’s rehabilitative and restorative by design.
What every mother deserves to know about Postpartum fitness —
1. The Postpartum Core: Reconnect
In the pre-baby world, “core” usually means abs. But in the postpartum world, the core is your deep foundation — the diaphragm, transverse abdominis, multifidus, and pelvic floor.
During pregnancy, the linea alba (that tissue between your abs) stretches to make space for your baby — this can lead to diastasis recti, or ab separation. Totally normal. But jumping into crunches, planks, or HIIT too soon? That’s like building a skyscraper before laying the foundation.
That’s why the first step should be to gently awaken your deep core system through breath-led movement. And that’s what we do in our program, Mom.Bod.Strong as well.
It’s not about tightening everything. It’s about teaching your muscles to talk to each other again.
2. The Pelvic Floor: The Most Ignored Muscle Group in Fitness
Your pelvic floor literally holds everything together — bladder, uterus, bowel, and overall support. Yet most fitness programs never mention it.
Here’s what’s real:
* 1 in 3 women experience some form of pelvic floor dysfunction in pregnancy or postpartum, from pelvic pain, urinary leakage postpartum, painful sex, to chronic constipation. Many experience pelvic heaviness or pressure due to weak or hypertonic (over-tight) pelvic floors.
So no — endless Kegels aren’t the answer for everyone. Sometimes the pelvic floor needs release and relaxation, not more tension.
Through breathwork, 360° rib expansion, and gentle coordination exercises, we women need to learn to let go (release) and reconnect (activate) — restoring healthy tone, mobility, and strength
It’s not just about regaining pelvic floor strength but also resilience.
3. Hormones and Healing: Your Recovery Timeline Is Not a Race
After birth, relaxin and progesterone remain elevated for several months, keeping joints and ligaments looser. This is your body’s way of saying, “Take it slow. I’m still healing.”
But it also increases the risk of overuse or instability injuries if high-intensity training resumes too early.
Coupled with disrupted sleep, breastfeeding demands, and fluctuating energy levels, recovery must be gradual.
So if you’re scrolling through fitness posts promising “4-week bounce back,” please know: that’s marketing, not physiology.
You can’t rush healing. You can support it through movement and nutrition that’s mindful, progressive, and aligned with where your body is today.
4. Fitness After Birth: It’s Mental, Emotional, and Physical
The postpartum period isn’t just physical. It’s a time of massive emotional and neurological adaptation.
Your energy is unpredictable. Your sleep is almost nil. And your identity is shifting.
So some days, your workout might be deep breathing, gentle mobility, or just walking outside.
And that counts.
Exercise plays a well-documented role in supporting mood regulation, stress reduction, and body confidence, but for new mothers, it must come without the pressure of “bouncing back.
5. The Smart Way Back: Rehab Before Performance
Think of postpartum recovery in three overlapping stages:
1. Reconnect — Breathwork, gentle core and pelvic floor awareness, posture alignment.
2. Rebuild — Gradual strengthening of the deep core and major muscle groups, reintroducing low-impact resistance and stability work.
3. Reintegrate — Returning to dynamic movement, strength training, and higher-intensity workouts as function and control improve.
No guilt. No rush. Just strength built on awareness and respect for what your body has done.
Regular fitness aims to build capacity and performance.
Postpartum fitness serves as a bridge between childbirth and returning to regular fitness by rebuilding connection, foundation, and body function first.
Every mother deserves to move with confidence — not fear, not comparison, and not under pressure to “bounce back.” Postpartum fitness is more than exercise; it’s a form of healing.
About Sucheta Pal:
Sucheta Pal is an award-winning maternal fitness educator, TEDx speaker, and creator of Mom.Bod.Strong — empowering women through science-backed fitness and lifestyle transformation across all stages of motherhood.