Cochrane Mama Pre- & Postnatal Fitness - Articles

When Can I Exercise After Having a Baby? A Guide to Returning to Exercise Postpartum

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 02:16:00 +0000

Ready to move again after having your baby — but not sure when or where to start? Postpartum recovery looks different for every woman. Returning to exercise isn’t about rushing back to your old routine; it’s about rebuilding strength, reconnecting with your body and progressing at a pace that works for you.

When Can I Exercise After Having a Baby?

After having a baby, one of the most common questions is:

“When can I start exercising again?”

The answer isn't simply 6 weeks.

Recovery depends on your pregnancy, type of birth, healing, symptoms, previous fitness level and any medical or surgical complications.

ACOG states that after a healthy pregnancy and uncomplicated vaginal birth, some women may be able to begin gentle physical activity within days of delivery, or when they feel ready. Following a C-section or complications, the timing should be discussed with your healthcare provider.

So instead of thinking about one magic date, think about gradual progression.

Start with the foundations

Early postpartum movement doesn't need to look like a workout.

Depending on your recovery, it may begin with gentle walking, breathing, pelvic floor awareness and comfortable everyday movement.

As you recover, exercise can gradually progress toward:

mobility → pelvic floor & core connection → strength → cardiovascular fitness → higher-impact exercise

Your body has been through pregnancy and birth. Giving it time to rebuild isn't “starting over.”

What about your pelvic floor?

Your pelvic floor deserves attention when returning to exercise.

Pregnancy and birth can affect pelvic floor function, but postpartum training shouldn't simply mean doing hundreds of Kegels. Think about awareness, breathing, contraction, relaxation, coordination and eventually strength.

The 2025 Canadian postpartum physical-activity guideline found that postpartum physical activity was associated with several health benefits, including lower odds of urinary incontinence and depression.

The 6-week check isn't a finish line

Being medically cleared after birth doesn't necessarily mean your body is immediately ready for running, jumping or heavy lifting.

Higher-impact activities place greater demands on your muscles, joints, core and pelvic floor. Returning to them should be progressive rather than rushed. Research and expert consensus around postpartum running similarly emphasizes individualized, gradual progression rather than relying on time alone.

Pay attention to how your body responds as the challenge increases.

Listen to symptoms—not just the calendar

Symptoms such as persistent pain, bladder or bowel leakage, pelvic heaviness or bulging, or difficulty with bladder/bowel function deserve attention rather than simply being accepted as “normal after having a baby.”

ACOG also recommends addressing continence and physical recovery as part of postpartum care, with referral when appropriate.

If something doesn't feel right, speak with your healthcare provider or an appropriately qualified pelvic health professional.

Ready to Return to Exercise?

If you're ready to rebuild strength and gradually return to exercise, Cochrane Mama's Postnatal Fitness & Pelvic Floor Recovery program combines movement, strength, breathing and pelvic floor awareness to help you build a strong foundation for exercise.
Classes are available in Cochrane, Alberta.

The takeaway

Your postpartum journey doesn't have an expiration date.

Whether your baby is 6 weeks, 6 months or several years old, you can work on rebuilding strength, improving your fitness and understanding your body.

The goal isn't to “bounce back.”

It's to build forward — gradually, confidently and with a body that feels ready for what you're asking it to do. ♡

Sources & Further Reading

ACOG — Exercise After Pregnancy

2025 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour & Sleep Throughout the First Year Postpartum

British Journal of Sports Medicine — Postpartum Return-to-Running Consensus Statement

Pelvic Floor Exercises During Pregnancy: What You Should Know

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Pregnancy changes your body — and your pelvic floor is no exception. As your baby grows, your pelvic floor adapts to increasing pressure, changes in posture, breathing and movement.

So, should you train your pelvic floor during pregnancy?

Yes — but pelvic floor training is about much more than Kegels.

Why train your pelvic floor during pregnancy?

Your pelvic floor helps support your pelvic organs, contributes to bladder and bowel control, and works together with your core and breathing system.

Research supports pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy, particularly for helping prevent urinary leakage. A Cochrane review found that women who began pregnancy without urinary leakage and performed antenatal pelvic floor muscle training were less likely to experience urinary incontinence later in pregnancy. Cochrane review

It's more than Kegels

A healthy pelvic floor doesn't just need to squeeze. It needs to be able to:

Contract • Relax • Coordinate • Respond to pressure

NICE describes pelvic floor muscle training as exercise that can improve strength, endurance, power and relaxation. NICE pelvic floor recommendations

That means constantly tightening your pelvic floor isn't necessarily better.

Think about your biceps: you wouldn't keep them contracted all day to make them stronger. Your pelvic floor also needs to know when to work and when to let go.

Breathing matters too

Your pelvic floor and diaphragm work together.

As you breathe in, your diaphragm moves downward and your pelvic floor normally lengthens slightly. As you breathe out, both naturally recoil upward.

Learning this connection can help you coordinate your pelvic floor during exercise and everyday movements such as lifting, coughing, sneezing and squatting.

What should pregnancy pelvic floor training include?

Rather than simply counting Kegels, think about:

Awareness + contraction + relaxation + breathing + coordination + movement

And don't forget the rest of your body. For uncomplicated pregnancies, physical activity—including aerobic and strength-conditioning exercise—is generally encouraged, with appropriate modifications as pregnancy progresses. ACOG pregnancy exercise guidance

If you experience pelvic pain, heaviness or bulging, significant leakage, or other concerning symptoms, speak with your healthcare provider or an appropriately qualified pelvic health professional.

The takeaway

Pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy aren't about creating the strongest squeeze possible.

They're about learning how your pelvic floor works with your breathing, core and movement — and teaching it to both activate and relax when needed.

Pregnancy is a great time not only to train your pelvic floor, but to understand it. ♡

Sources & Further Reading

Cochrane — Pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy and after birth

NICE — Pelvic floor dysfunction recommendations

ACOG — Exercise during pregnancy and postpartum

Are Kegels Enough? What Your Pelvic Floor Actually Needs.

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:02:00 +0000

Still squeezing and hoping for the best? Kegels can be helpful, but a healthy pelvic floor needs more than strength. Discover how breathing, relaxation, coordination and movement all play a role — and what research says about effective pelvic floor training.

When someone mentions the pelvic floor, what's the first exercise that comes to mind?

Kegels.

Squeeze. Hold. Relax. Repeat.

Kegels can absolutely be part of pelvic floor training. But your pelvic floor has a much bigger job than simply squeezing as hard as possible.

So, are Kegels enough?

The short answer: not necessarily.

First: What Exactly Is a Kegel?

A Kegel is a voluntary contraction of your pelvic floor muscles.

Your pelvic floor forms a muscular support system at the bottom of your pelvis. These muscles contribute to bladder and bowel control, support the pelvic organs and play a role in sexual function.

Learning how to correctly contract these muscles can therefore be very useful.

But here's the important part:

A good pelvic floor needs to do more than contract.

It also needs to relax, coordinate and respond to what the rest of your body is doing.

Stronger Isn't Always the Whole Answer

Imagine walking around all day with your fist clenched.

Would you call that hand strong?

Maybe.

But would it be functioning well?

Probably not.

You need to be able to close your hand and open it again.

Your pelvic floor also needs both contraction and relaxation.

In fact, pelvic floor muscle training isn't defined only as strengthening. Research describes it as training aimed at improving aspects such as strength, endurance, power, relaxation—or combinations of these.

So doing more and more contractions isn't automatically better.

Your Pelvic Floor Needs Coordination

Your pelvic floor doesn't live in isolation.

It has to work while you:

breathe
cough and sneeze
lift your baby or child
squat
walk
exercise
run
jump

That means timing and coordination matter.

You might be able to perform a pelvic floor contraction while lying quietly on your back—but what happens when you pick up a heavy laundry basket?

Or when you sneeze unexpectedly?

Or when you're doing squats?

Ultimately, we want your pelvic floor to respond as part of movement, not only during isolated exercises.

And Then There's Breathing

Your breathing and pelvic floor are connected through changes in pressure and movement within your trunk.

As you breathe in and out, your diaphragm moves and your pelvic floor normally participates in this coordinated movement.

That's one reason I spend time teaching breathing and body awareness in my pelvic floor classes.

Before we start worrying about doing 50 Kegels a day, I want you to understand:

Can you find your pelvic floor?

Can you contract it?

Can you let it go again?

Can you breathe without constantly bracing?

Then we can build from there.

What Does the Research Say?

Pelvic floor muscle training is well established as a conservative treatment for urinary incontinence.

A Cochrane review of 31 trials involving 1,817 women found that women with stress urinary incontinence who performed pelvic floor muscle training were more likely to report improvement or cure than women receiving no treatment or inactive treatment.

The review also found improvements in leakage episodes, symptoms and quality of life.

So yes—pelvic floor exercises matter.

But that doesn't mean there is one perfect Kegel routine for every woman.

Research comparing different pelvic floor training approaches has found that we still don't have strong answers about the ideal exercise type, amount or method for everyone.

Your pelvic floor training should have a purpose—not just a number of squeezes to complete.

“But I've Been Doing Kegels for Years!”

I hear versions of this often.

If you've been doing pelvic floor contractions for months or years but still experience symptoms, simply adding another 20 contractions may not be the answer.

You may need to look at:

Technique. Are you actually contracting the intended muscles?

Relaxation. Are you letting the pelvic floor fully release between contractions?

Endurance. Can the muscles maintain an appropriate contraction when needed?

Coordination. Can your pelvic floor work together with breathing and movement?

Progression. Have your exercises actually become more challenging as you've improved?

Function. Can you use what you've learned while lifting, exercising, coughing, running or jumping?

Pelvic floor training should be training, not simply repetition.

What About Pelvic Floor Apps and Devices?

Technology can be useful, especially when it helps someone understand what their pelvic floor is doing.

But you don't necessarily need an expensive device to have effective pelvic floor training.

A 2025 Cochrane review looked at adding feedback or biofeedback devices to pelvic floor muscle training for women with urinary incontinence. It found that adding biofeedback made little or no difference to several important outcomes compared with pelvic floor training alone.

So don't assume that the fanciest gadget automatically means the best training.

Understanding your body and following an appropriate, progressive program still matters.

What Should Pelvic Floor Training Include?

Rather than thinking:

“I need to do more Kegels.”

Try thinking:

“I want my pelvic floor to function well.”

That may involve:

Awareness → Breathing → Contraction → Relaxation → Endurance → Coordination → Movement → Progression

And that's much closer to how I approach pelvic floor education at Cochrane Mama.

The goal isn't to become amazing at Kegels.

The goal is to help your pelvic floor support the things you actually want to do.

Run.

Lift.

Exercise.

Play with your kids.

Laugh.

Sneeze.

Jump.

The Takeaway

Kegels aren't useless.

But Kegels are only one piece of the pelvic floor puzzle.

Your pelvic floor needs strength, but it also needs the ability to relax, coordinate with your breathing and respond appropriately during movement.

So instead of asking:

“How many Kegels should I do?”

A better question may be:

“What does my pelvic floor need to do better?”

And that's where pelvic floor training becomes much more interesting.

Want to Learn More About Your Pelvic Floor?

At Cochrane Mama, my pelvic floor classes focus on helping you understand how your pelvic floor works and how to incorporate breathing, awareness, coordination and progressive exercise into your training.

Pelvic floor training is about more than squeezing. It's about learning how your body works. ♡

Sources & Further Reading

Cochrane: Pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in women

Cochrane: Comparisons of approaches to pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in women

Cochrane: Pelvic floor muscle training with feedback or biofeedback for urinary incontinence in women

Why Do I Pee When I Sneeze, Laugh or Jump?

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Do you leak urine when you sneeze, laugh, run or jump? Learn why bladder leakage happens, how your pelvic floor is involved and what you can do about it.

You sneeze. You laugh a little too hard. You run after your kids.

Or someone suggests getting on the trampoline and your first thought is:

“Wait—I need to pee first.”

Sound familiar?

Leakage when you cough, sneeze, laugh, run or jump is often called stress urinary incontinence.

And here's something important:

It's common. But that doesn't mean you simply have to live with it.

Why does it happen?

When you sneeze, cough, run or jump, pressure inside your abdomen increases.

Your pelvic floor is part of the system that helps support your pelvic organs and maintain bladder and bowel control. It needs to respond to changes in pressure at the right time.

Think of your pelvic floor a little like a trampoline.

A trampoline isn't useful because it's completely rigid. It needs to support weight while also being able to move and respond.

Your pelvic floor is similar.

It needs to be able to:

contract
relax
coordinate with your breathing
respond to pressure
work during movement

That's why pelvic floor health isn't simply about having the strongest possible pelvic floor.

So...do I just need to do more Kegels?

Not necessarily.

This is probably one of the biggest pelvic floor misconceptions.

Pelvic floor training isn't simply:

Squeeze. Hold. Repeat.

Before worrying about how many Kegels you can do, you need to know whether you're actually contracting the correct muscles—and whether you can fully relax them again.

Coordination matters too.

Your pelvic floor has to work while you breathe, lift, squat, cough, run and eventually jump—not only while you're lying on the floor concentrating on a contraction.

This is one reason professional guidance can be helpful. NICE recommends supervised pelvic floor muscle training for at least three months as a first-line treatment for women with stress or mixed urinary incontinence.

How common is leakage during and after pregnancy?

Very.

A large Cochrane review reports that more than one-third of women experience urinary leakage during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, and about one-third experience leakage during the first three months after giving birth.

So if this happens to you, you are far from alone.

But I don't want “it's normal after having babies” to become the end of the conversation.

Common and unavoidable are not the same thing.

Can pelvic floor training actually help?

There's good evidence supporting pelvic floor muscle training, but the details matter.

A Cochrane review looked at 46 trials involving 10,832 women from 21 countries. For pregnant women who weren't already leaking, structured pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy probably reduced the risk of urinary leakage later in pregnancy and slightly reduced the risk three to six months after birth. The evidence was less certain for treating existing leakage in pregnant and postpartum populations.

That's an important distinction.

Research doesn't tell us:

“Everyone should just do more Kegels.”

It tells us pelvic floor training can be valuable, while the type of program, the individual and the reason for training matter.

What if my baby isn't a baby anymore?

Maybe you're six months postpartum.

Maybe your child is six.

Maybe your “baby” is about to graduate high school.

Pelvic floor symptoms don't suddenly become irrelevant because you're no longer postpartum.

If you're still crossing your legs before you sneeze, avoiding the trampoline or worrying about leakage during exercise, it's worth paying attention to.

Having children years ago doesn't mean it's too late to work on your pelvic floor.

Do I have to stop exercising if I leak?

Not automatically.

In fact, physical activity has many benefits during pregnancy and postpartum. For uncomplicated pregnancies, ACOG recommends aerobic and strength-conditioning exercise, and postpartum exercise can be gradually resumed when medically safe based on factors such as delivery and complications.

But your symptoms give you information.

If running, jumping or another activity repeatedly causes leakage, pain, pressure or heaviness, don't just push through it.

You may need to adjust the activity, work on pelvic-floor function and pressure management, or have an individual assessment.

Your pelvic floor is more than a Kegel

This is one of the most important things I teach at Cochrane Mama.

We want your pelvic floor to work with your body, not separately from it.

That means learning about:

breathing + awareness + contraction + relaxation + coordination + movement

And eventually, we want those skills to translate into real life.

Because your pelvic floor doesn't only need to work when you're lying on a mat doing pelvic floor exercises.

It needs to work when you're picking up your child.

When you're exercising.

When you're laughing.

When you're running.

And yes...

when you're jumping on that trampoline.

When should I get additional help?

A fitness or educational pelvic floor class doesn't replace an individualized medical assessment.

If you have persistent or worsening leakage, pelvic pain, heaviness or bulging, difficulty emptying your bladder or bowel, blood in your urine, or symptoms that concern you, speak with an appropriate healthcare professional. A pelvic-health physiotherapist can also assess how your pelvic floor is functioning and whether you're contracting and relaxing it correctly.

The takeaway

Leakage is common, especially during pregnancy and after childbirth.

But “I'm a mom” doesn't have to be your explanation for leaking forever.

Your pelvic floor is part of a coordinated system that can be trained—and pelvic floor training is about much more than squeezing harder.

Learn how it works.
Learn how it moves.
Learn how to use it.

Sneeze. Laugh. Jump. No worries. ♡

Want to learn more?

At Cochrane Mama, I offer pelvic floor education and training in Cochrane, Alberta and online, with a focus on helping women understand their bodies and build strength, coordination and confidence.

Sources & Further Reading

Cochrane — Pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy and after birth
NICE — Pelvic floor muscle training and urinary incontinence
ACOG — Physical Activity and Exercise During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period