25 Healing Postpartum Workouts to Regain Strength

1. Pelvic Floor Activation Exercises

After childbirth, the pelvic floor muscles often need extra attention. These exercises help strengthen and tone these critical muscles, which support bladder control and core stability. Pelvic floor activation involves gentle contractions and releases that rebuild muscle awareness.Practicing pelvic floor exercises regularly can reduce the risk of incontinence and improve overall core function. You can do these discreetly almost anywhere—whether sitting, lying down, or standing—making them a practical addition to your day. Start slow, focusing on mindful engagement to avoid overstraining these delicate muscles.

2. Diaphragmatic (Deep Belly) Breathing

Breathing might seem simple, but diaphragmatic breathing is a powerful tool for postpartum recovery. This deep belly breathing activates your core muscles and supports abdominal healing while promoting relaxation. By breathing deeply into your diaphragm rather than shallow chest breaths, you encourage blood flow and reduce tension.Integrating diaphragmatic breathing into your daily routine can also alleviate stress—a common postpartum hurdle. This gentle exercise primes your body for more advanced movements and reconnects you with your core’s natural function.

3. Cat-Cow Stretch

The cat-cow stretch is a classic yoga movement that offers gentle spinal mobility and relieves lower back tension. After pregnancy, your spine and hips may feel tight or sore from carrying extra weight and the birthing process.This stretch helps increase flexibility and promotes better posture, crucial for new moms often leaning over to care for their babies. Moving between the “cat” and “cow” positions encourages coordination between your breath and movement, making it a soothing way to start or end your day.

4. Heel Slides

Heel slides are a foundational exercise targeting the lower abdominal muscles without straining the pelvic floor. Lying on your back with knees bent, gently slide one heel away from your body and then back. This simple movement helps engage your deep core muscles and improves hip mobility.Heel slides support healing from diastasis recti and help re-establish coordination between your abdominal muscles and pelvic floor. Regular practice builds endurance, preparing you for more dynamic exercises.

5. Glute Bridges

Glute bridges are fantastic for strengthening your glutes, lower back, and pelvic muscles—all critical for postpartum recovery. Lying on your back, lift your hips while squeezing your glutes, then lower down with control.This movement improves pelvic stability and counters the common postpartum complaint of lower back pain. Plus, strong glutes enhance posture and balance, helping you move comfortably through daily activities with your little one.

6. Modified Wall Push-Ups

Breastfeeding and caring for a newborn can create upper body tension. Modified wall push-ups help build strength in your shoulders, arms, and chest while supporting proper posture.By performing push-ups against a wall, you reduce strain and control intensity, making it perfect for early postpartum. These strengthen muscles needed to hold and carry your baby comfortably, preventing aches and promoting endurance.

7. Seated Marching

When you’re pressed for time but want gentle cardio, seated marching is a perfect choice. This exercise improves circulation and engages core muscles without impact.Sitting tall, lift your knees one at a time in a marching rhythm. It’s an energizing way to stimulate your legs and core, helping to combat postpartum fatigue while being mindful of your healing body.

8. Side-Lying Leg Lifts

Side-lying leg lifts target the outer hips and thighs, which can weaken during pregnancy. This exercise supports pelvic alignment and improves balance.Lying on one side, lift your top leg slowly and with control, then lower it back down. Strengthening these muscles helps with daily mobility and reduces strain on your pelvis and lower back.

9. Standing Side Bends

Standing side bends stretch and tone your obliques—the muscles on the sides of your abdomen. This movement promotes lateral flexibility and core strength.Gently bending to each side while keeping your core engaged helps restore balance and mobility to your torso, which can feel tight postpartum from carrying your baby or breastfeeding.

10. Bird-Dog Exercise

The bird-dog is a wonderful full-body movement that improves balance, coordination, and strengthens your back and core. From all fours, extend opposite arm and leg, hold briefly, then switch sides.This exercise enhances spinal stability and prepares your body for more complex activities, making it a staple in postpartum fitness routines.

11. Toe Taps

Toe taps are a subtle yet effective exercise focused on engaging the lower abdominal muscles, which often need special care after childbirth. This movement is especially helpful for women dealing with diastasis recti, the common separation of abdominal muscles postpartum. By lying on your back with knees bent and feet lifted slightly off the ground, you gently lower one foot to tap the floor, then return it to the starting position. The key here is to maintain a strong core and avoid arching your lower back, ensuring the transverse abdominis is actively engaged. Toe taps not only strengthen your deep core muscles but also improve neuromuscular control, which is essential for overall stability as you progress through your postpartum recovery.

12. Wall Squats

Wall squats offer a great way to rebuild leg and glute strength while supporting the core and pelvic floor muscles. With your back resting against a wall, slowly slide down into a squat position, keeping your knees aligned over your toes. Hold this position for a few seconds before pushing back up. This exercise is particularly beneficial for postpartum moms because it strengthens the muscles needed for everyday movements like lifting your baby or carrying groceries. Moreover, the wall provides support, reducing strain on your healing body and allowing you to focus on correct form and breathing. Regularly practicing wall squats can also improve your posture, which is often affected by the physical demands of motherhood.

13. Bridge with March

The bridge with march is an advanced variation of the traditional glute bridge, designed to challenge both your strength and coordination. While holding the hips elevated in a bridge position, you alternately lift each knee toward your chest in a slow, controlled marching motion. This added movement demands more engagement from your pelvic floor and core, helping you regain muscular control and stability. It’s an excellent exercise to gradually rebuild endurance while also improving balance and hip mobility. For postpartum women, this move supports functional strength, making everyday tasks like bending and lifting safer and easier.

14. Clamshell Exercise

The clamshell exercise targets the hip abductors and external rotators, muscles that can weaken during pregnancy and childbirth. Lying on your side with your knees bent, you lift the top knee while keeping your feet together, resembling the opening of a clamshell. Strengthening these muscles helps stabilize the pelvis and reduce stress on your lower back and knees. For postpartum recovery, strong hip muscles are essential to support the added physical demands of caring for a newborn. The clamshell is a gentle yet powerful move that improves hip alignment and enhances overall mobility, which contributes to better balance and reduced risk of injury.

15. Pelvic Tilts

Pelvic tilts are simple, soothing movements that mobilize the lower back and pelvis—areas that often feel tight or uncomfortable after childbirth. Lying on your back with knees bent, you gently tilt your pelvis upward, pressing your lower back into the floor, then release back to a neutral position. This exercise helps restore proper alignment and encourages flexibility in the lumbar spine. Pelvic tilts also engage the deep abdominal muscles subtly, promoting core strength without overexertion. For postpartum moms, pelvic tilts can ease discomfort, improve circulation, and lay the foundation for more challenging movements.

16. Knee Folds

Knee folds focus on activating the transverse abdominis, the deep core muscle responsible for supporting the spine and pelvis. While lying on your back with knees bent, slowly lower one knee toward the floor while keeping your back flat and core engaged, then return to the starting position. This movement teaches your core muscles to contract effectively without causing strain, which is critical in healing conditions like diastasis recti. Knee folds are a foundational exercise that helps rebuild core endurance and control. Incorporating knee folds regularly will improve your ability to stabilize your trunk during daily activities.

17. Wall Angels

Wall angels are excellent for improving shoulder mobility and posture, areas that often become tight or rounded due to nursing and carrying your baby. Standing with your back against a wall, keep your arms bent at 90 degrees and slowly move them up and down like making a snow angel, ensuring your arms and back remain in contact with the wall. This movement stretches the chest muscles and strengthens the upper back, helping to relieve tension and improve alignment. Regular practice of wall angels supports better breathing, reduces upper back pain, and promotes a more upright posture, making caregiving tasks more comfortable.

18. Heel Raises

Heel raises target the calves and ankles, strengthening lower leg muscles that contribute to balance and walking endurance. Standing tall, you slowly rise onto your toes, hold briefly, then lower back down with control. This simple movement increases circulation, which is especially beneficial if you spend much of your day standing or walking with your baby. Strong calves also reduce the risk of ankle injuries and help stabilize your gait, which can be affected postpartum. Heel raises are easy to incorporate into your daily routine and provide a quick boost to your lower body strength.

19. Seated Side Stretch

The seated side stretch gently elongates the muscles along your sides and improves spinal flexibility. Sitting tall, reach one arm overhead and bend gently to the opposite side, feeling a stretch through your obliques and intercostal muscles. This stretch is valuable for postpartum moms who often experience tightness due to holding and nursing their babies. It also helps open the chest and improve breathing capacity, which supports relaxation and stress relief. Performing seated side stretches regularly promotes mobility, reduces muscle tension, and contributes to overall body awareness during your postpartum journey.

20. Modified Plank Holds

Planks are a powerful core-strengthening exercise, and modified versions make them accessible for postpartum recovery. By performing planks on your knees or against a wall, you reduce the intensity while still engaging the abdominal muscles, shoulders, and back. These holds build endurance and stability in your core without overloading healing tissues. Modified planks prepare your body for more advanced exercises by promoting proper alignment and muscular engagement. They also help correct posture and support the muscles necessary for daily movements like lifting and carrying your baby.

21. Marching Glute Bridge

The marching glute bridge builds on the traditional bridge by adding a coordinated marching movement. Holding the hips elevated, you alternately lift each knee toward your chest. This combination challenges your pelvic floor, glutes, and core muscles simultaneously, enhancing coordination and balance. For postpartum women, this exercise is excellent for restoring strength and stability to the pelvis and lower back. The marching glute bridge supports functional fitness by improving your ability to stabilize during walking, bending, and lifting tasks that motherhood demands daily.

22. Standing Hip Circles

Standing hip circles gently mobilize the hip joints, improving flexibility and pelvic alignment. With your feet hip-width apart, slowly rotate your hips in a circular motion, first clockwise, then counterclockwise. This movement eases stiffness and promotes circulation in the hips, which can become tight from pregnancy and postpartum postural changes. Hip circles prepare the pelvis and lower back for more dynamic activities and contribute to better overall mobility and balance. They’re a simple yet effective way to relieve tension and reconnect with your body after childbirth.

23. Wall Push-Offs

Wall push-offs strengthen your upper body, particularly the arms and chest, in a low-impact, controlled manner. Standing facing a wall, place your hands flat and push your body away, then pull back gently. This exercise builds endurance in muscles critical for carrying and lifting your baby. It also encourages proper shoulder mechanics and posture, helping reduce upper back and neck discomfort. Wall push-offs are convenient to perform anytime and provide a gentle strength boost without the need for equipment.

24. Gentle Spinal Twists

Gentle spinal twists improve rotational mobility and alleviate tension in your back, which can be affected by pregnancy and nursing postures. Sitting or lying comfortably, slowly rotate your torso from side to side within a pain-free range of motion. This stretch promotes flexibility in the spine and massages the surrounding muscles and fascia, encouraging relaxation. Incorporating spinal twists into your routine enhances your ability to move freely and reduces the stiffness that new moms often experience.

25. Child’s Pose Stretch

The child’s pose is a restorative yoga position that gently stretches the lower back, hips, and shoulders while calming the nervous system. Kneeling on the floor, sit back on your heels and extend your arms forward, letting your forehead rest gently on the ground. This pose promotes deep relaxation and relieves postpartum tension. It’s an excellent way to decompress your spine after a busy day of caregiving. Child’s pose encourages mindful breathing, reduces stress, and supports emotional well-being, making it a perfect ending to your postpartum workout routine.

Conclusion

Regaining strength after childbirth is a beautiful journey that requires patience, care, and the right exercises. These 25 healing postpartum workouts offer a gentle yet effective path to rebuild your core, pelvic floor, and overall strength. Remember to listen to your body, progress gradually, and celebrate every small victory. Incorporating these movements into your daily routine can enhance your energy, improve posture, and help you feel like yourself again. Always consult your healthcare provider before beginning any postpartum exercise program, and know that your wellness journey is uniquely yours—embrace it with kindness and confidence!