You’ve had your precious wee baby. You’ve survived the first weeks or months, and you’re starting to think about getting back to some of the things you did before your baby arrived.
For fitness enthusiasts, “when can I start running again?” is one of the first questions we get asked.
It’s not that you want to rush back, and you certainly want to do it safely. But you are desperate for that feeling of freedom and energy you get after a good run. And you feel like a return to running postpartum is just one of the significant moments that say, “yes, I'm returning to normal”.
The problem with giving a general timeline for return to running is that it doesn’t address the underlying question; “when is it safe for me to return to running?”.
Because everyone’s bodies, birth, and recovery are different, there's a wide range of time frames we could give.
What's suitable for the athlete who ran until 30 weeks pregnant and has a child that sleeps through the night will be very different from the mother who had to stop running when six weeks pregnant due to morning sickness and now has a reflux baby who never sleeps.
There are a few key factors that will affect your timeline to hitting the pavement again.
Your running history
The mum who's run since she was a teenager and stayed fit and active throughout her pregnancy is well conditioned for an earlier return to running.
If you only ever went for an occasional run before getting pregnant and have been mostly inactive during and after pregnancy, you will require a much longer and dedicated conditioning program to safely return to running.
Your delivery and recovery
You only need to visit a mum’s group to hear how different everyone’s birth story is. It goes without saying that if you've had a traumatic delivery with injury to the pelvic floor, you'll need a longer recovery time than someone who had a less traumatic delivery.
Your current sleep patterns
One of the greatest challenges of being a new mum is balancing your needs with the needs of your baby. If you previously used running for mental health, then exercise may be essential for managing the daily stress of motherhood.
However, sometimes we have to accept that how this looks may be different to before baby. If you're getting limited sleep, then while high-energy exercise might give you an initial endorphin high, over time that additional physical stress will come at a cost.
If you're short on sleep, consider switching high-intensity or longer exercise sessions with a short walk and a nap. And try to remember: this phase will pass!
Your exercise and “rehab” post-pregnancy
Sometimes people believe that because pregnancy and birth are “natural”, the recovery process will also happen naturally. A professional athlete would not expect to return to full training after a down-period without a significant reconditioning phase, and neither should you.
New mums need to give themselves patience and commitment to restoring their strength and form before resuming the activities they loved before pregnancy.
If you are a new or not-so-new mum who wants to start rebuilding your fitness and confidence, we recommend finding a health and exercise professional who understands the physical and mental challenges of being a mum.
And understand that you will need to begin with reconditioning exercises like strength or Pilates training before attempting high-intensity exercise like running; it'll make you better in the long run (pun intended)!
If you'd like to get started ASAP, our Freedom On Demand service has dedicated postpartum exercise playlists, running playlists, and more.
