10 Postpartum Exercises to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor and Restore Core Function

“10 Postpartum Exercises to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor and Restore Core Function”

There is a lot of mixed and dangerous messaging around postnatal care and exercise. From ‘bouncing back’ to returning to a routine and your pre-baby exercise regime. 

We need to recognise that your body has just done something incredible – grow an actual human. The significance of how your body has changed shouldn’t be dismissed or underestimated. With that in mind, ‘going back to normal’ just isn’t going to cut it, and that isn’t a bad thing!

One of the best things you can invest in, is a full postnatal check from a specialist physio or osteopath. If you are local to me, Herts Osteopathy are wonderful (and can even see your baby too!)

Embracing the way in which your body has changed and understanding how you can support it to heal and recover is so incredibly important. Learning the right postpartum exercises can mean that you come back from the postnatal period stronger than ever. 

But you need to do it in the right way! 

Practical Postpartum Exercises To Help Your Pelvic Floor & Core

1. 
   

   Ball Squeeze

• Lying on your back with your knees bent up and your feet in parallel
• Place a squashy ball or cushion in between the tops of your legs, up towards your pubic bone
• Inhale to relax
• As you exhale, gently squeeze into the ball and feel your pelvic floor and abdominals connect. Make sure they flatten under your hands rather than pushing outwards.
• Inhale to consciously release
• Repeat about 10 times. 

2. Bridge 

• Lying on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor, find a neutral spine
• Take a few breaths to sink into the floor
• As you breathe out, use your abdominal muscles to gently flatten your lower back into the floor 
• Slowly press into your feet to peel away your spine from the floor, pulling your heels towards your bottom as you lift up so the back of your legs really activate. 
• Inhale as you reach the top of the bridge 
• Exhale and slowly bring yourself back down again
• Repeat up to 10 times.

Tip: You can introduce a single-leg bridge by lifting one leg off the ground to work one side more than the other

3. Single Leg Slides

• Lying in neutral with your feet about a fist width apart
• Exhale to connect to your abdominals – make sure they are flattening and not pushing outwards – then slide one leg along the floor
• Inhale when it is straight
• Exhale to connect to your abdominals then slide the leg back towards you

4. Side Lying Bent Knee Lift

• Lying on your side, rest your head on your underneath arm
• Keep your knees bent 
• Lift your top leg up, exhaling as you lift 
• Slower lower your leg to the starting position, inhaling as you lower 
• Repeat 10 times and then swap over to complete on the other side

Tip: You can introduce a ball in between your thighs, and instead, inhale and you left and exhale and squeeze as you lower your leg. 

5. Side Lying Straight Leg Circle

• Lying on your side, extend your leg and circle it clockwise 10 times
• With the leg still extended, complete 10 anti-clockwise circles 
• Swap over to complete on the other side

Tip: Keep your pelvis stable so your leg is simply moving from your hip but you aren’t moving anything else. 

6. 
   

   Cat 

• On all fours, place your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. 
• Exhale and draw your pubic bone to your belly button
• Round your spine 
• Breathe in and release into a flat back 

Tip: You can add a small ball between your thighs to increase the pelvic floor connection you feel.

7. Hovering 

• On all fours, place your hands under your shoulder and knees under your hips
• Breathe out, lift and hover one knee off the floor
• Breathe in to lower it down again 
• Repeat 10 times and swap over to complete on the other side

8. 
   

   All 4s Bent Knee Lift

• On all fours, place your hands under your shoulder and knees under your hips and tuck your toes under 
• Exhale and press the floor away, feel your abdominals connect
• If you feel well connected and in control of your abdominals, you could repeat above then lift both knees up off the floor
• Inhale to release and come back down

Tip: If it feel like your abdominals are pushing out and your pelvic floor is bearing down then you might not be quite ready for this exercise. 

9. Squats

• Position your feet slightly wider than your sit bones in parallel 
• Inhale as you squat 
• Exhale to push up again 

Tip: Make sure the thigh bones don’t roll in and ensure you get a ‘hinge’ in the hips as opposed to just tucking on your pelvis

10. Lunges 

• Take one leg forward and the other one back
• Check your pelvis is correctly aligned
• Inhale as you go down
• Exhale and connect to your pelvic floor as you push back up again
• Complete 10 reps and then switch over to the other leg and repeat

Tip: Focus on pushing from the glutes and keep an eye out on the alignment of your pelvis, closeness of your thighs and position of your knees. 

One thing I’ve learnt throughout my career is there is no one size fits all approach. If you are interested in improving your pelvic floor health with exercise, you may be interested in my Centred Mums Collective monthly membership or, for specific postpartum exercises, my Postnatal Pilates classes in St Albans.