At two weeks postpartum, you can safely do gentle movements like diaphragmatic breathing, pelvic floor exercises, pelvic tilts, and short walks. If you had an uncomplicated vaginal delivery, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says it’s generally safe to begin exercising a few days after birth, so by week two you’re well within that window. If you had a cesarean birth or complications, check with your provider before starting anything beyond light walking.
That said, “exercise” at this stage looks nothing like a pre-pregnancy workout. Your body is still healing, your joints are looser than normal, and your core muscles need to reconnect before they can strengthen. Here’s what’s actually appropriate right now and how to do it.
Why Your Body Needs a Gradual Start
During pregnancy, a hormone called relaxin loosens your ligaments to prepare for delivery. That looseness doesn’t disappear once your baby is born. Research shows that joint laxity in the knees actually peaks at about two weeks postpartum and only begins to decrease around six weeks. Some studies have found that passive knee stability may not fully recover until four months or later. This means your ankles, knees, and hips are more vulnerable to sprains and strains right now than they were during most of your pregnancy.
Your abdominal muscles have also stretched and separated to make room for your baby. This separation, called diastasis recti, is normal and present in the majority of women right after birth. Movements that create strong pressure on the abdominal wall, like crunches, sit-ups, or planks, can widen that gap or slow its natural closing. The exercises below are designed to gently reactivate your deep core without forcing anything.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
This is the foundation for everything else. It reconnects your brain to your deep core muscles and pelvic floor, which have been stretched and weakened over nine months. It also helps manage stress and can feel genuinely calming during an intense period of sleep deprivation.
Lie on your back or prop yourself up on several pillows. Place one hand on your upper belly and the other on your chest. Breathe in slowly through your nose. The hand on your belly should rise gently while the hand on your chest stays still. Then breathe out slowly through your mouth, feeling the belly hand lower back down. Practice for three to five minutes, once or twice a day. Once this feels natural lying down, try it while sitting or standing.
Pelvic Floor Exercises (Kegels)
Kegels help restore strength to the muscles that support your bladder, uterus, and bowel. If you’re experiencing any urinary leaking when you cough or sneeze, these are the single most effective thing you can do about it right now.
Squeeze the muscles you’d use to stop the flow of urine. Your belly, legs, and buttocks should stay relaxed. Hold the squeeze for three seconds, then relax for five to ten seconds. Do 10 repetitions, and aim for three sessions throughout the day. Each week, add one second to the hold until you can sustain a squeeze for 10 seconds. Consistency matters more than intensity here. A regular daily schedule produces better results than occasional longer sessions.
Pelvic Tilts
Pelvic tilts are one of the gentlest ways to begin reactivating your abdominal muscles without putting unsafe pressure on them. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Tighten your belly by drawing your belly button toward your spine, pressing your lower back into the floor. You’ll feel your hips and pelvis rock slightly backward. Hold for a few seconds, then release. Start with 10 repetitions and see how you feel.
If you had a cesarean birth and have been cleared for light movement, approach this one carefully. Any pulling or pain near your incision means you should stop and try again in a few days.
Walking
Walking is the best aerobic exercise available to you right now. The CDC recommends that postpartum women eventually work toward 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week (roughly 30 minutes on five days), but at two weeks out, you don’t need to hit that target. Start with 10 to 15 minutes of easy walking on flat ground, and increase gradually based on how you feel afterward.
Pay attention to your body during and after each walk. If your bleeding (lochia) picks up noticeably, gets heavier than a normal period, or turns bright red again after it had started to fade, that’s a signal you’ve done too much. Dial back the duration or take an extra rest day. The same goes for any new pain or pressure in your pelvis or abdomen.
What to Avoid at Two Weeks
High-effort activities are off the table for the first 12 weeks postpartum. That includes running, jogging, circuit training, team sports, jumping, and heavy lifting. Sit-ups, crunches, and full planks should also wait at least 12 weeks because they place too much direct strain on the abdominal wall before it has had time to close and heal.
If you had a cesarean birth, avoid any movements that stretch your midsection aggressively. Deep twists, backbends, and lifting anything heavier than your baby can strain your incision site. Most providers recommend limiting lifting to around 10 pounds (roughly the weight of your newborn in a car seat) for the first several weeks after surgery.
Even after a straightforward vaginal delivery, your joint laxity makes this a risky time for exercises that demand balance or quick direction changes. About 21% of pregnancy-related injuries involve the ankle and 16% involve the knee, largely because of this hormone-driven looseness. Stick to controlled, stable movements for now.
Signs You Should Stop
Some increase in fatigue is expected. But certain symptoms signal something more serious. Stop exercising and contact your provider if you notice:
- Heavier bleeding that exceeds a normal period or keeps getting worse over time
- Severe pain in your lower belly, which could indicate an infection in the uterus
- Chest pain, coughing, or difficulty breathing, which in rare cases can signal a blood clot in the lungs
- Extreme pain or discomfort that feels disproportionate to the activity you were doing
Mild soreness after reintroducing movement is normal. Sharp, sudden, or worsening pain is not.
A Realistic Daily Routine for Week Two
Putting it all together, a reasonable day of movement at two weeks postpartum might look like this: a few minutes of diaphragmatic breathing in the morning while your baby naps, three short sessions of 10 Kegel repetitions spread throughout the day, a set of 10 pelvic tilts when you have a quiet moment on the floor, and one short walk outside or around the house. The whole thing might add up to 20 or 30 minutes of intentional movement, broken into small pieces.
This can feel underwhelming if you were active before or during pregnancy. But these exercises are doing real structural work. They’re restoring the connection between your brain and your deep stabilizing muscles, rebuilding pelvic floor strength, and preparing your body to safely handle more demanding movement in the weeks ahead. The progression from here is gradual: by four to six weeks, most women with uncomplicated recoveries can begin adding longer walks, gentle stretching, and modified strength exercises, then build toward their pre-pregnancy routine over the following months.