by Rebekah Taylor, Senior Physiotherapist – Womens & Men’s Health Trained (Palmyra, Mon-Tues)
As a women’s health physiotherapist, new mums often tell me of feeling both physically weaker and intimidated by the thought of getting back into strength training.
The reality is, pregnancy is hard work! Your body spends nine months growing a baby, adapting to huge physical changes and, for many women, dealing with exhaustion, nausea and a disrupted routine. It’s no surprise that your strength takes a hit along the way.
The good news is that losing strength during pregnancy is normal, and it can be rebuilt.
Why do we lose strength during pregnancy?
There are a few reasons this happens, one of the primary ones being the changes to your posture as bub grows. Your centre of gravity shifts forward, and your body adapts to accommodate your growing belly, which lengthens the muscles through your back. As the months go on, these lengthened muscles grow weaker.
Fatigue is obviously another factor. Even thinking about the exhaustion I felt—particularly when pregnant with my second child—makes me feel like a nap! Pregnancy tiredness is real, and for some women, just getting through the day is enough of an achievement. It’s understandable that exercise drops during this time, even for women who were super active before becoming pregnant.
Then there’s morning sickness. If you’ve ever spent weeks or months feeling nauseous, you’ll be nodding along as I say exercise can easily become the last thing on your mind. But, it’s also true that reduced activity over a long period does lead to some loss of strength and fitness.
Fear plays a role too, with many pregnant women who come into the clinic expressing trepidation over how to exercise safely. While some modifications are necessary in pregnancy, movement is generally an important part of maintaining strength and function.
Why returning to strength training after pregnancy matters
After birth, many women are keen to get moving again but aren’t quite sure where to start. Strength training isn’t just about getting back into your pre-pregnancy clothes or returning to the gym. It’s about helping your body cope with the physical demands of motherhood.
Strong muscles support better posture, which can help reduce neck pain, upper back pain and lower back pain. This becomes especially important when you’re spending hours feeding, carrying, rocking and lifting your baby.
And the lifting doesn’t stop anytime soon! Babies quickly become toddlers who, all too quickly, become children. Your body needs strength to keep up with all the lifting that comes with the job.
Strength training is also important for long-term health. As women move into perimenopause and menopause, hormonal changes can affect bone density. Strength training helps place healthy stress through the bones, which plays an important role in maintaining bone health and reducing the risk of osteoporosis later in life.
The biggest challenge? Getting started
For many mums, the hardest part isn’t the exercise itself – it’s taking that first step. If you’ve spent several months or more doing very little exercise, you’ve probably fallen out of the habit. Add a newborn baby into the mix and finding time to prioritise yourself can feel almost impossible.
The reality is that motherhood rarely provides perfect conditions for exercise. So getting started with something manageable – even ten minutes on the living floor is better than nothing!
When is the body ready?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Your return to exercise will depend on things like your pregnancy, birth experience, exercise history and whether you’ve experienced any pelvic floor, abdominal or musculoskeletal concerns.
(This is where a postnatal assessment with a women’s health physiotherapist like myself can be useful, as we are training in exercise prescription)/
Assuming you’ve had a good recovery and there are no underlying conditions, some strength-based exercise can be introduced around 12-16 weeks postpartum, particularly after completing postnatal checks, and if you’re beginning to restore core and pelvic floor function. (Here’s a recent post I wrote about pelvic health, if you’d like some broader context).
Start small and keep it simple
One of the biggest misconceptions about returning to strength training after having a baby is that you need to jump straight back into structured gym sessions. Rest assured, this isn’t the case.
In fact, your baby is often a pretty good starting weight. By the time many women are ready to return to exercise, their baby may already weigh 4–5 kilograms. Resistance bands are another great option. They’re affordable, easy to use at home and surprisingly effective for rebuilding strength. Most importantly, focus on doing what you can rather than what you think you should be doing.
- Five squats while holding your baby is better than no squats.
- A 10-minute workout is better than waiting for the perfect hour that never arrives.
Some weeks you’ll exercise regularly, others you’ll barely find a spare moment – that’s normal, and it’s also okay.
Be patient with yourself
The first year after having a baby is a time of constant change. Disrupted sleep, shifting routines and often little time that truly belongs to you. So if exercise feels harder than it used to, that’s because it probably is!
Start small, be consistent where you can and remember that rebuilding strength is a process, not a race.
If you’re unsure where to start, a women’s health physiotherapist can help guide your return to exercise and create a plan that’s appropriate for your body, your recovery and your goals.
I’m always happy to talk through your options in the clinic, you can book online or call Palmyra on (08) 9312 3062 to grab a session. (I work Monday and Tuesday).
