--- title: "Returning to Running Postnatally" id: "2220" type: "post" slug: "returning-to-running-postnatally" published_at: "2022-11-16T05:39:38+00:00" modified_at: "2026-08-18T09:05:31+00:00" url: "https://www.allforone.com.au/returning-to-running-postnatally/" markdown_url: "https://www.allforone.com.au/returning-to-running-postnatally.md" excerpt: "Postnatal · Women’s Health Physiotherapy When your body’s ready to run again, and how to know for sure. Runners want to run. It’s your me-time, your fresh air, your fastest route back to feeling like yourself, and after months of..." taxonomy_category: - "Physiotherapy" --- Postnatal · Women’s Health PhysiotherapyWhen your body’s ready to run again, and how to know for sure. Runners want to run. It’s your me-time, your fresh air, your fastest route back to feeling like yourself, and after months of pregnancy and a newborn’s schedule, nobody has missed it more than you. So here’s the honest guide to running after childbirth: what the research says about when, what to do in the meantime, and how to return stronger than you left. 01## Your body is still healing well past the six-week check. Return-to-running guidelines published in the *British Journal of Sports Medicine* in 2019 recommend not returning to running until at least 12 weeks postpartum, and there’s good biology behind the number. The six-week check confirms you’re medically well; it was never a finish line for healing. Research shows pelvic tissue recovery takes between four and six months (Shek et al. 2010, Stær-Jensen et al. 2015), and soft tissue is only around 50 to 75 percent healed at six weeks. Think of it the way sport does. Nobody sends an athlete back to football or netball after an ACL injury until they’ve progressed through rehabilitation and proven they’re match ready. Pregnancy and birth ask at least as much of a body as a season-ending injury does, and your return deserves the same respect: staged, strengthened, and tested, not guessed. 02## The first 12 weeks: what you can do. Plenty, and all of it counts toward the comeback. ### Book a postnatal assessment A women’s health physiotherapist will assess your movement, strength, abdominal wall and pelvic floor, including any caesarean or perineal scars, and build the plan that gets you back to your goals. If your baby is around the six-week mark, this is exactly what your [6 week postnatal check](https://www.allforone.com.au/treatment/6-week-postnatal-check/) covers. ### Walk early and build gradually Walking can start as soon as it’s comfortable after birth. Begin when you feel up to it and let the distance grow week by week. ### Rebuild your pelvic floor and deep core Guided by your physio, because no one size fits all. Early on, the aim is regaining awareness, learning to activate and fully relax these muscles again; reduced sensation in this area is completely normal at first and improves with practice. ### Start low-impact strength work Bodyweight first, weights when you’re ready, with technique guidance so nothing strains an abdominal separation. This is where [Mums and Bubs](https://www.allforone.com.au/classes/mums-and-bubs/) classes fit, physio-run, from six weeks postpartum, baby beside you. This progression optimises recovery whatever kind of birth you had, while reducing the risk of setbacks. And within it, remember: every recovery runs at its own pace, which is why the assessment beats the calendar. 03## Ready to run? Prove it, don’t guess it. The BJSM guidelines set out specific strength, endurance and control milestones to reach before starting a graduated program like the Couch to 5km app, and this is exactly what our dedicated [Return to Running](https://www.allforone.com.au/treatment/postnatal-physiotherapy/) program tests. Your physio screens your pelvic floor readiness, strength and impact control against the guidelines, prescribes whatever needs topping up, and stages you back to the footpath with the load watched the whole way. And because measurement beats guesswork, we can now put numbers on it: [VALD strength testing](https://www.allforone.com.au/treatment/strength-testing/) measures your leg strength, left-right symmetry and impact readiness with the same force-plate technology used in elite sport, so “ready” becomes a result, not a feeling. Every stride of running loads your pelvic floor with several times your body weight; going back with proven readiness is how the comeback sticks. ## The footpath will wait. Not long, though. Book a postnatal assessment or a Return to Running assessment with our women’s health physios at Yarraville, Hampton East or Kensington. Bring your goals and your baby; both are welcome. [Book an appointment](https://www.allforone.com.au/book-appointment/#womens-health) [Call us](tel:0383199945) 04## Common questions. ### When can I start running after having a baby? Guidelines published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine recommend waiting at least 12 weeks postpartum, and then returning via a graduated program once you’ve met strength and pelvic floor readiness milestones. The right timing is individual, which is what a return-to-running assessment determines. ### Why 12 weeks when my 6-week check was fine? The six-week check confirms medical recovery, but tissue healing continues well beyond it: research shows pelvic tissue takes four to six months to recover, and soft tissue is only 50 to 75 percent healed at six weeks. Running’s repeated impact needs more healing and more strength than six weeks allows. ### What can I do before 12 weeks? Walking from whenever it’s comfortable, physio-guided pelvic floor and deep core work, and low-impact strength training progressing from bodyweight. A postnatal assessment sets the plan; Mums and Bubs classes are built for exactly this stage. ### What if I leak when I run? Leaking with running is common and treatable, and it’s a sign your pelvic floor needs assessment and training before more impact, not a reason to give up running. A women’s health physio can usually change this story significantly. ### Does this apply after a caesarean? Yes. The 12-week guideline and staged return apply to all births; a caesarean adds abdominal healing to the picture, which your assessment takes into account. ### Where can I get a return to running assessment in Melbourne? All for One’s women’s health physios run postnatal and Return to Running assessments at Yarraville, Hampton East and Kensington, with VALD strength testing available for objective readiness measures. No referral needed, HICAPS on the spot.