How Do You Strengthen Your Core Postpartum?

The best way to strengthen your core postpartum is to take a progressive, personalized approach to postpartum core training, ensuring you’re not overloading the healing tissues and gradually building strength, while also addressing concerns like diastasis recti or pelvic floor issues.

After having a baby, your abs might feel like mush, and moms are often shocked at how weak they feel, especially if you’ve exercised during pregnancy. This is common, but the good news is that if you allow time for healing, address any functional concerns, and follow a step-by-step core training progression, your core could become stronger than it was before pregnancy.

In this article, we’ll explore the foundational elements of postpartum core training, such as how long it takes and where to begin.

Start with the Deep Core

No matter what you did before or during pregnancy, all moms will benefit from reconnecting with their deep core by coordinating breathing with muscle contraction. This initial step involves the diaphragm and transverse abdominis. If you think of your core as a cylinder or canister, the diaphragm (your breathing muscle) is the ceiling. During pregnancy, the diaphragm often shifts upward due to your growing belly, which can alter your breathing. Most moms know the diaphragm is connected to your respiratory system, but may not realize that it should move in coordination with your deepest core muscle, the transverse abdominis. During postpartum core training, you can use breathing to help activate your transverse abdominis and improve core function by coordinating your breathing with your movements. 

Your transverse abdominis acts like a corset wrapping around your trunk, and will provide the stability you need to carry, rock, hold, and lift your new baby. This function of your core is essential to reduce your risk of back pain, address any pelvic floor conditions, and lay the foundation for future fitness goals.

How Do You Activate Your Transverse Abdominis?

Coordinating the movement of your diaphragm with your abdominal muscles may take practice. Eventually, the synergy between breathing and muscle activation should become a habit that you don’t have to think too much about, and you’ll instinctively exhale on exertion (during lifts, picking up something heavy, etc.). However, as you’re rebuilding core strength after having a baby (even if it’s years postpartum and you’re just returning to exercise), you’ll want to focus on your belly expanding as you inhale. When you breathe out, this is when you can gently engage the transverse abdominis, drawing it in toward your spine. Note that your belly should visually move in as you exhale; don’t make the mistake of sucking your belly in as you’re sucking in air. After working with hundreds of moms, I’ve realized this may seem simple, but it can take weeks to get it right. But trust me, this is an important first step.

Do you have to wait until you’re cleared for exercise at your six-week postpartum appointment? Nope. In fact, the 2025 postpartum exercise guidelines suggest starting movement earlier than that if you’re up to it. For some moms, you’ll be able to start breath work during the first few days after giving birth.

Here is one way to practice:

Breathe with Hands on Your Abdomen: Either standing or lying on your back, place your hands on your lower abdomen, with your finger tips on each hand facing each other, and the tips just touching but not interlacing. As you inhale, notice your finger tips separate further from each other. As you breathe out, notice your finger tips touch, or perhaps overlap with stronger contractions of your transverse abdominis. Slowly take breaths in and out, making sure that your chest isn’t heaving upward on your inhales.

How Long Does it Take to Strengthen Your Core Postpartum?

A 2021 study found that both the thickness and the ability of your deep core muscle to contract are impacted postpartum. The study showed that there was some increase in muscle thickness after 1 month, but that it could take more than six months to recover after delivery. Additionally, it took at least four months for contractile function to improve.

What does this mean for you?

You might not feel activation or very strong contractions during the fourth trimester, but as long as you keep at it, you’ll make progress and start to feel stronger.

Before training other muscles like your obliques with twisting movements or your “six pack abs” with sit-ups, ensure you’ve established foundational strength in your transverse abdominis.

Give yourself some grace. Your body physiologically needs time. Be consistent and be patient.

Don’t assume you’re too advanced for these basics. Pregnancy leads to real changes in these muscles, and all moms need to re-establish strength and function in their deep core, starting with coordinating breath and activation.

Wrapping it Up

This article was meant to give you a brief introduction to postpartum core training, and help you understand it’s normal for you to feel disconnected from your abs, because the strength and thickness take time. Hopefully, you also have a clear understanding that breath work to activate the transverse abdominis is your first step.

When you’re ready to move beyond the first step, or if you need more guidance on getting started, consider the Core Foundation video course or the comprehensive guide to exercise during motherhood, Active Mom.

Pregnancy Back Pain Explained

It’s estimated that on average 50% of expecting moms suffer from back pain during pregnancy, but some studies show this number as high as 90%. It tends to be highest during the third trimester. This condition might be referred to as pregnancy-related low back pain or pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain. In this article, I want to explain the causes of pregnancy back pain, provide you with suggestions for relief, and encourage you to use core and strength training as a tool to prevent or reduce back pain as you move through each trimester. Many of the moms I work with keep waiting for back pain to kick in, but with proper preparation and awareness, it never does!

What causes back pain during pregnancy?

• Pregnancy Hormones: During pregnancy, a hormone produced by the placenta called relaxin helps your body relax and stretch. This includes muscles and ligaments around the pelvis to prevent pre-termis uterine contractions and allow your baby to pass through the birth canal during delivery. The relaxation of these ligaments in the pelvis may impact the stability of your spine and pelvis, causing pain. 

• Pregnancy Posture: As your uterus and baby grow, your center of gravity shifts, and you develop more of a curve in your lower back as your pelvis tilts forward. This change of posture called lordosis can increase the stress on the spine and cause back pain.

• Pregnancy Weight Gain: The additional weight gained during pregnancy puts more strain on the muscles and joints, which can result in discomfort, especially at the end of a long day.

Can you prevent back pain during pregnancy?

Based on my personal experience working with moms, it’s a definite yes! Although we can’t control your hormones, we can use strength training and mobility exercises to help your body adapt to the anatomical changes during pregnancy, improve posture, and handle the additional weight/stress. Research shows that core stabilizing exercises can help reduce the risk of lower back pain. During pregnancy your “six-pack abs” called the rectus abdominis lengthen as your belly grows, however, those muscles are not your primary stabilizers. Muscles like your multifidus and transverse abdominis, as well as your glutes, play a major role in core stability, and they can still be strengthened during pregnancy! 

By building body awareness and strengthening key muscle groups, many moms find great relief and even avoid back pain altogether. Keep in mind that your ability to do certain exercises will change as you move through pregnancy so this is not a one size fits all list.

Strengthen

• Transverse abdominis: these muscles act as a corset around your waist. You can activate and strengthen them with exercises like plank variations (wall, shoulder taps, up-downs, etc.), Pilates moves (hundred, side lying leg kick, corkscrew, etc.), or one of my favorites when going against gravity isn’t advised is pallof variations (press, shuffle, etc.)

• Multifidus: This muscle runs along your spine. Exercises like a side hip lift, side plank, bird dog, and bridge march are great ways to activate and strengthen those spinal stabilizers.

• Glutes: This is an oversimplified explanation, but glutes support the stability of your spine and pelvis. Many moms I work with tend to be quad-dominant (front thigh muscle) when doing exercises like lunges and squats. During pregnancy, if your body is constantly being front-loaded and your back and core muscles are being overworked, it is essential to have the assistance of muscles in the back of your body like your glutes. Research tells us that glute exercises combined with back stabilizing exercises are more effective than back stabilizing exercises alone in decreasing back pain. Because the glutes move the hips in different directions and include three different muscles, it’s important to use a variety of exercises. Some of my favorites include side leg lifts using a pilates ball under the hip/rib area to stabilize the pelvis, hip thrusts, seated abduction, and Romanian deadlifts.

Mobilize

It may seem counterintuitive to talk about relaxin AND the need to work on mobility during pregnancy, but as your body changes you’ll need to keep joints mobile and muscles flexible. If you’re experiencing back discomfort, stretches like cat/cow, wagging the tail, pelvic tilts on a stability/yoga ball, and a side stretch can feel good. 

You’ll also want to focus on joints and muscles that aren’t directly involved in the pain area. Because your spine is segmented, tightness and immobility above and below your lower back can impact your level of discomfort, specifically immobility in your thoracic spine (mid back) and hips. 

1. You can use foam rolling to increase mobility in your upper and mid-back. 

2. Try the figure four stretch, hamstring stretches, and a kneeling hip flexor stretch to target the hip area.

A note on lifestyle modifications

Although we’ve focused on the exercise component of reducing your risk of pregnancy back pain, lifestyle modifications can also help prevent discomfort. 

• Ensure you have a supportive bra to support your growing breasts. Supportive shoes are also important, especially if your feet begin to flatten. 

• When you’re sitting, use a lumbar support and try to keep your feet flat on the floor, with knees at hip height. When standing, aim to keep your ribcage stacked over your hips, while also aligning your ears over your shoulders. 

• You’ve heard the term “lift with your legs” to avoid injuring your back. Most people think of squatting in order to do this. However, when you’re pregnant, a squat may not always be comfortable, in which case you can hinge at your hips mimicking the deadlift. This will call on your glutes and hamstrings to support your back.

To close this article, the main takeaway is that although back pain is common, many pregnant moms can prevent it by staying consistent with exercise and being aware of daily life factors. As we continue to learn more about prenatal exercise, specifically strength and core training, I hope the notion that pregnancy has to be miserable begins to fade. Happy training!

If you’re looking for a few more core tips, check out this free download which provides you with 5 strategies for core training during pregnancy.

If you already are experiencing back pain or leaking, consider this FREE 5-day course to gain a better understanding of how to reduce your risk for pain and incontinence.

Moms, Stretching Isn't Going to Fix Your Back Pain

When your back feels tight or even painful, the first thing you probably say is “I need to stretch more”. And although stretching and back mobility is one component to back health, it will never be the best or only remedy. Stretching lengthens muscles…in the moment, but it rarely is enough for spasms, and definitely isn’t enough for chronic or recurring pain. Most often, the cause of back pain for moms is feeding posture, carrying, and lifting their baby, weak core. This pain may appear in pregnancy and continue postpartum, or not show up until after the fourth trimester as your baby grows. To truly address your pain, you have to address the cause. The moms I work with have significantly less back pain than most because we focus on range of motion (mobility) of joints like hips, knees, and ankles, we strengthen the muscles involved in mom posture (rounding shoulders), and we strength train for mom movements (lifting, bending).

Here are four muscle groups you can focus on as you begin to address your back pain:

Glutes

Your glutes are important for hip extension and they help with core stability. During the early postpartum period, strong glutes can support your weaker core muscles as you work to rebuild ab strength and function. During pregnancy, your glutes can step up and assist your lower back muscles when they fatigue trying to adapt to the anatomical changes that occur each trimester.

Hamstrings

The hamstrings are responsible for hip extension and knee flexion. They play a crucial role in bending down to pick things up. When they are strong they can share the load with your back muscles to prevent overuse, which reduces your risk for pain. Use your hamstrings to hinge rather than rounding your spine when lifting your baby out of the crib, your back will thank you.

Core muscles

This is probably the most obvious group of muscles when you think of preventing lower back pain. However, you have many core muscles, and not only do you need to keep them strong, but you have to make sure they coordinate and work well together. This is especially important for moms considering your rectus abdominis muscles, diaphragm, and pelvic floor muscles are heavily impacted by pregnancy. But, don’t feel hopeless, I’ve helped hundreds of moms learn how to strengthen their core during and after pregnancy. Research shows back pain is common, but not inevitable with the right core training program.

Upper back muscles

Yes, your upper back muscles can impact your lower back muscles. Muscles like your rhomboids, trapezius, and rear deltoids, help maintain posture and prevent rounding of your shoulders. Moms tend to develop rounded shoulders due to extra frontal weight during pregnancy, and feeding posture postpartum. Strengthening the upper back will keep your body in better alignment reducing your risk for low back pain.

So even though nearly 80% of moms suffer from low back pain, that doesn’t have to be your story. If you recognize that reducing your risk for pain is more than just stretching, and involves joint mobility and muscle strengthening, then you’ll fall into that 20% of moms who can stay active during pregnancy, and take care of their child comfortably. You got this!