New Mom Walk/Run Program
Congratulations! You had a baby, and you want to get back to running, the smart way,
without injuring yourself. We're here to help you do just that.
We recommend to gradually build up your walking time over the first 6 weeks after
giving birth.
You can generally start walking 1-2 weeks after a non-complicated vaginal delivery, and
3-4 weeks or longer after a C-section or more complicated birth (go with what your
doctor advises!!). It’s just good to start off slowly walking around the block and see how
your body feels for 10-20 minutes. Too much exercise initially can increase bleeding,
strain your body and wipe you out.
Usually by your 6 week check up with your physician or midwife they clear you to
exercise more vigorously. But even though you are cleared to start exercising, build up
from where your fitness level is at that time.
You don’t want to start running for 30 minutes straight right away. Make sure your
abdominals and legs are strong enough and start a walk run program. Check out our
“Return to running” check list on page 2. Once you're ready, there are many ways to start
a walk/ run program.
You want to gradually build up your fitness level and give your body time to adapt your
joints and ligaments to the stress of 4-6x your body weight going through your legs every
time you take a step.
Build up to continuous jogging over 8 weeks to give your body the best chance for
success. The goal is no joint pain or injury as you increase your fitness level to run
continuously.
Once you can walk fast for 30 minutes, we recommend that you add 1 minute of jogging
for every 4 minutes of walking. Then each week, decrease your walking time and
increase your jogging time.
Stop progressing yourself whenever your body starts to get painful or if you feel that your
body is getting strained rather than stronger. You may need to spread out the
progressions over more weeks to let your body adapt.
There are no failures in going slower! Only a stronger foundation will be laid by taking
the time to increase at the rate your body needs. Definitely see a women’s health Physical
Therapist if you have any urinary incontinence when you run or exercise and you haven’t
been able to improve your urine leakage by doing our Deep Core exercises. [See the
Deep Core series exercise progressions here.]
After you have built up to 30 minutes fast walking over a few weeks, then you can start a
walk/run program.
Train no more than every other day to give your body a recovery day or two off, for a
total of 3-4 days a week. Each day will take around 40 minutes including the warm up
and cool down.
Remember if you are pushing a stroller, it will add a significant load to your body. You
will need even stronger abdominal muscles and perhaps a slower progression of
increasing your running time.
Here’s an outline of progressions over 8 weeks:
Week
Warm Up
Week 1
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 2
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 3
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 4
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 5
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 6
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 7
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 8
5 minute walk to
warm up
Week 9+
5 minute walk to
warm up
Run/Walk Aerobic
Workout
Run 1 min
Walk 4 min
Repeat up to 30
min
Run 1 min
Walk 2.5 min
Repeat up to 30
min
Run 1 min
Walk 1 min
Repeat up to 30
min
Run 2.5 min
Walk 1 min
Repeat up to 30
min
Run 5 min
Walk 1 min
Repeat up to 30
min
Run 7 min
Walk 1 min
Repeat up to 30
min
Run 10 min
Walk 1 min
Repeat up to 30
min
Run 15 min
Walk 1 min
Repeat up to 30-ish
min
Run continuously
for 30 min
Congratulations!!!
Cool Down
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace
Walk 3 min to cool
down at slower
pace