How soon can I start running again after having a baby?

Your body will have been through so much over the past 9 months so enjoy these rare precious moments when your baby is born.

Your body will have been through so much over the past 9 months so enjoy these rare precious moments when your baby is born.

It is important to avoid setting a timeframe as this will add unnecessary pressure to you. It is almost impossible to set a goal before the birth as no one can tell you how you will feel afterwards.

As cliché as it sounds “Listen to your body” and always follow any medical advice given to you.  The hormone relaxin, which relaxes ligaments in preparation for birth, continues to be released for 5-6 months after the birth of your child. If you are breastfeeding then your hormonal cycle will not return to normal until after you finish. Listen to your body and follow medical advice.

Great…but what does this mean for me?

The timeframe will vary for everyone depending on their level of activity during pregnancy, condition, general health and the birth itself. We would advise anyone to wait at least 6 weeks before returning to running or after your 6-8 week check-up. We would extend this timeframe to 11-12 weeks following a C-Section.

How to actually start running?

You may have been able to run for a 30 minutes before your baby was born but things have changed!

1. To start with you may want to consider having a check up with a local Osteopath to check for any issues or concerns with regards to your bodies alignment.
2. Ensure you are keeping up your pelvic floor exercises. You may want to think about other forms of strengthening and conditioning core exercise such as Pilates, which you can also do with your baby.
3. We suggest building up slowly and carefully by starting with a walk. You can event take baby with you, which is great to working those arms too.
4. When you feel comfortable and ready, run for a few minutes and walk for a few minutes. Continue this pattern for approximately 20 minutes.
5. Gradually over the following weeks, start extending the length of time you run for so that you are walking less.

It is important this is a gradual transition and avoid running for consecutive days to start with.

If you are in doubt or want to check anything it is important that you do so. This is important time with you and your new born and you do not want anything to get in the way of that.