After having your baby, have you thought to yourself, “How will I ever get back to my previous level of fitness?” Or, “Where do I do even start?” when it comes to beginning or returning to running?
I can help with this! Keep reading!
Your body goes through many changes during pregnancy and delivery. As your belly grows during pregnancy, your posture changes and results in an increased curvature in the low back and a forward tip of the pelvis. Your growing belly also stretches out your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, resulting in poor core strength as well as potential urine leakage with activity post-pregnancy. Your ligaments throughout your body are also extra stretchy during pregnancy and while nursing due to an increase in a hormone called Relaxin. This results in extra mobility in your joints and requires your muscles to work even harder to control movement of the joints during activity. Lastly, there is increased mobility of the joints in your pelvis resulting from preparation for and passage of your baby through the birth canal. This can cause pain with activities that involve time spent with all of your weight on one leg, such as running.
So after all of these changes following pregnancy, how do you get back to running?!
The key is to start slow! Running is a high impact activity so for some women, it is best to wait until around 3 months post-pregnancy before running so that you can give yourself enough time to heal and get stronger! Not all women will need this long and some women may need longer--each woman is unique in their postpartum journey
At 6 weeks postpartum, most women will be cleared by their medical professional to begin exercising again. The next 6 weeks after this are a great time for you to focus on getting your core, glute, and pelvic floor muscles stronger so that you are less prone to injury or leaks when you start running again!
Good exercises to do during this time include:
- Pelvic floor exercises (Kegels)
- Squats
- Bridges
- Clamshells
- Calf raises
- Walking
Once you feel that you are ready for your first post-pregnancy run, test yourself! You should be able to do the following activities without pain, incontinence, or the feeling of vaginal heaviness:
1. Walk for 30 minutes
2. Stand on one leg for 10 seconds (check both sides)
3. Perform 10 single leg squats on each side
4. Jog in place for 1 minute
5. Hop in place 10 times on each leg
When you start to return to running, consider following the plan below. If your goal is to run even more than the 5k that this plan is designed for, try not to increase your distance or time by more than 10% per week to avoid overtraining.
Week 1
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 1 min run/1 min walk x 10
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 2 min run/4 min walk x 5
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 2 min run/4 min walk x 5
Week 2
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 3 min run/ 3 min walk x 4
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 3 min run/ 3 min walk x 4
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 min run/3 min walk x 3
Week 3
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 7 min run/2 min walk x 3
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 8 min run/2 min walk x 3
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 min run/2 min walk x 3
Week 4
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 8 min run/2 min walk x 3
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 10 min run/2 min walk x 2
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 min run/2 min walk x 3
Week 5
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 9 min run/1 min walk x 3
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 12 min run/2 min walk x 2
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 min run/2 min walk x 3
Week 6
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 15 min run/1min walk x 2
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 8 min run/2 min walk x 3
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5k
Don’t forget to treat yourself to new sports bras, especially if you are breastfeeding, to make sure that you have good breast support. Also, if you are still breastfeeding, it’ll be more comfortable for you to run if you have fed your baby or pumped recently. Finally, double-check that your shoes still fit well for you because your feet can change significantly during pregnancy.
Don’t hesitate in reaching out to me with any questions that you might have!
Email: emily@rxdpt.com
Phone: (989)318-3839
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