A Physical Therapist’s Experience: Postpartum Return to Running
If there is a single word that sums up my entire experience with returning to running after having a baby it would be this: humbling. Because of my background in working with postpartum runners, I knew that I should not go into this with any sort of expectations because there is no one size fits all approach. I had an idea of what I desired the journey to look like but I told myself I would not put any pressure on myself to get back to running before my body (and mind) was ready. So what did it look like for me? Well let’s just say that even with the lowest of expectations, I am still shocked at just how humbling the experience has been.
Month 1
The only thought that I had about running at this point was “I don’t see how I will ever run again.” The physical weakness that I felt in my hips, core, pelvic floor and legs in general was so much greater than I anticipated. I was able to run and lift weights essentially through my entire pregnancy (read more about that here) but even so, I felt surprisingly weak and fragile in those first couple weeks after giving birth.
I had every intention of getting started with some gentle rehab exercises in those early days but I quickly learned that I was lucky to even get a few minutes to practice diaphragmatic breathing before falling asleep. What I learned from that time is something is better than nothing. I really only managed to do a few pelvic tilts and glute bridges here and there. And they were hard! Just feeling the correct muscles engage was such a challenge. But I knew that it would be the foundation of eventually getting back to exercising.
Month 2
Once that first month finished, I started to question a lot of things when it came to getting back to running. I still felt weak. I still had pain. I realized that I should probably let go of the ideal situation in my head of getting back to running by 12 weeks. I remember at 6 weeks postpartum, I had to lunge down to pick up my son and was so unstable; I felt defeated. But I made the intentional choice to mentally course correct and really start to prioritize my recovery.
I slowly reintroduced some body weight strength training which I was surprised actually helped me to feel less sore. I don’t know why I was surprised considering I explain this very thing to new moms getting back to working out: build up muscle to decrease stress from the pelvic floor. Duh!
On top of my strength training, I was also consistently walking around our neighborhood with the stroller. Initially, I could only manage walking for about 10 minutes before I started to feel sore. Another extremely humbling moment when you realize even a short walk may be beyond your capacity. Eventually I progressed to 30 minute walks without discomfort which is one (of many) indicators of when you may be ready to start a run/walk program.
*Check out my blog on “How Soon Can I Run After Having My Baby?”
Month 3
It really wasn’t until this month when I finally started to have less day to day soreness. I could go for a walk without thinking twice and I no longer would be hesitant to do certain exercises in my strength workouts. Though, I was still pretty careful with certain core specific exercises as my diastasis recti was healing. I felt “strong enough” but not fully strong, if that makes sense.
It was the new year and I really started to try and make a plan for returning to run. There was a good bit of fear surrounding the idea that I was not anticipating. The idea of jumping from limb to limb on pavement seemed impossible. I knew I was taking the necessary steps to prepare my body but I just didn’t feel ready, to my surprise.
Once 12 weeks hit (the coveted benchmark for postpartum return to run guidelines), I paused and thought “I’m not ready yet.” Could my body probably handle it? Yes. And usually that answer would’ve been enough for me to lace up my shoes and go but instead, I told myself to wait a little longer. I decided I would focus the next few weeks on developing more strength and confidence in my new body before trying to add running back into the routine.
Month 4
I did my first run/walk at 14.5 weeks postpartum on a random sunny day in February. It felt clunky and tiring and exciting! I kept it simple and made sure not to push too hard for the first run back. Here’s what my progression looked like over the next couple weeks:
Run #1: Walk 4 minutes/Run 1 minute x5
I honestly felt like I’d never run before. My legs felt like bricks and my body couldn’t find the right movement pattern necessary to run smoothly.
Run #2: Walk 3 minutes/Run 2 minutes x4
Progress but still just felt very heavy and uncoordinated. I also really started to realize how weak my hip muscles were on this run.
Run #3: Walk 1 minute/Run 3 minutes x3
Finally got a little bounce in my step and it felt like I was actually running normally.
Run #4: Walk 1 minute/Run 5 minutes x3
Finished questioning how I ever ran for more than 5 minutes straight. This was the first time I noticed just how unconditioned I was in regards to cardiovascular endurance.
Run #5: Walk 1 minute/Run 8 minutes x3
Tiring but I felt so excited to be back to this point!
I plan to do two more days of run 1 mile/walk a minute before starting to string some miles together. While I am not following the exact protocol outlined in the return to run guidelines, I made sure to listen to my body and do what feels right. Working to return to running postpartum is not a one size fits all formula and I am grateful to have my background to inform my decisions in this process.
What’s Next?
My plan is to continue with my strength training and slowly building up mileage/intensity in running. It’s been a couple of years since I truly trained for a race but my goal is to race a 10k this summer. Time to start my career as a mom runner!
Written by: Dr. Morgan Kamau
