Somewhere between the newborn fog and the longing to feel like yourself again, a question surfaces: when can I actually start exercising after having a baby? The honest answer is more nuanced — and more reassuring — than the internet would have you believe.
The six-week myth
The six-week GP check is often treated as a starting gun, but it is really a green light for gentle, guided movement — not a signal to leap back into your old bootcamp. Every mum, every birth and every recovery is different. Readiness is about how your body feels and functions, not a date on a calendar.
Start gentle, build from the foundation
The first phase is quiet and deliberate: breathing, deep core and pelvic-floor reconnection, posture, and gentle whole-body movement. It may not feel like much, but it is precisely what allows everything that follows — strength, energy, confidence — to be built on solid ground rather than a shaky one.
Training that fits around a newborn
Perhaps the biggest barrier to postnatal fitness is not motivation — it is logistics. That is why training at home or in the park, with your baby napping in the buggy or playing on a mat beside you, changes everything. No childcare to arrange, no commute, no pressure. Just twenty to forty focused minutes that are entirely yours.
More than 'bouncing back'
Forget the language of bouncing back. This is about moving forward — rebuilding a body that feels strong, capable and genuinely yours again, at a pace that honours everything it has just done. Feeling like yourself is not vanity; it is wellbeing.
At-home postnatal training across South West London
I bring specialist postnatal training to mums at home and outdoors across Battersea, Chelsea and Clapham, plus live online sessions across the UK — every programme built entirely around you and your baby's rhythm.