Why Every Postpartum Mom Must Start Here — Before Anything Else.
By Coach Mini | Certified Personal Trainer & Nutritionist | Founder, Riv Method
I know what you want to do. You want to jump straight into workouts. You want to feel strong again, lose the baby weight, get back to feeling like yourself. And I completely understand that.
But before you do anything else — before the strength training, before the HIIT, before any of it — you need to fix the basics. And the basics are your core and pelvic floor.
Everything in your body is connected to these two areas. Skip them and you are building on a broken foundation. Fix them first and everything else becomes possible.
What Happens to Your Core and Pelvic Floor After Birth
Whether you had a vaginal birth or a C-section, your core and pelvic floor went through a significant trauma. Your abdominal muscles stretched, your pelvic floor carried the weight of your baby for nine months, and your body is now in recovery mode.
These are not areas you can ignore. They are the foundation of every movement your body makes — lifting, walking, running, carrying your baby, getting up from the floor. When your core and pelvic floor are weak, everything else is compromised.
And here is something most moms don’t know until it’s too late:
What Is Diastasis Recti — and Why It Matters
Diastasis recti is the separation of the abdominal muscles that happens during pregnancy. Many moms have it postpartum and don’t even know.
Here is the part that surprises most people: you can lose all the weight and still have a dome-shaped, protruding tummy if diastasis recti is not addressed.
That “mummy tummy” that won’t go away despite diet and exercise? For many moms it is not fat. It is unaddressed diastasis recti. And doing the wrong exercises — like crunches, sit-ups, or heavy lifting before you are ready — can make it worse.
Coach Mini’s approach: When a client comes to me with diastasis recti, I ask her to note the names of every exercise she is currently doing. We audit her routine completely. Then we rebuild — starting with the right foundation. Fixing diastasis recti properly can take one to two years depending on severity. Patience is not optional — it is required.
What Happens When You Skip This Step
I see this constantly. A mom jumps straight into strength training or high intensity workouts without addressing her core and pelvic floor first. And what happens?
→ Her form is compromised — because her foundation is weak, her body compensates with poor movement patterns that lead to injury
→ She may leak when she runs, jumps, or lifts — a sign of pelvic floor dysfunction
→ Her diastasis recti gets worse — not better
→ She gets lean but her core stays weak and her tummy still protrudes
→ She plateaus and can’t understand why her body isn’t responding
Fix the foundation first. Everything else will work better because of it.
The Exercises I Recommend — Start Here
These are the exercises I give every postpartum client before anything else. They are safe, effective, and can be done at home in 15 minutes:
→ Dead Bug: Lying on your back, arms and legs extended, slowly lower opposite arm and leg while keeping your core engaged. This rebuilds deep core stability safely.
→ Pelvic Tilt: Lying on your back with knees bent, gently flatten your lower back against the floor by tightening your abs. Simple but powerful for reconnecting with your core.
→ Glute Bridges: Lying on your back, feet flat on the floor, lift your hips toward the ceiling. This strengthens the glutes and pelvic floor simultaneously.
→ Bird Dog: On hands and knees, extend opposite arm and leg while keeping your back flat and core tight. Excellent for core stability and coordination.
How to Structure This in Your Week
My recommendation for every postpartum mom:
→ Do core and pelvic floor exercises at least 5 days a week
→ Keep each session to 15 minutes — short and consistent beats long and occasional
→ Always do these exercises BEFORE your other workouts so you are not fatigued
→ Once you add strength training, keep the core and pelvic floor work as your warm-up
→ Be patient — results take time and that is completely normal
I still do pelvic floor work 5 times a week. It never stops being important.
Want a Core and Pelvic Floor Plan Built for You?
DM START on Instagram to begin postpartum coaching, or DM FUEL for your personalized nutrition plan.
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