5 Signs You're Doing Too Much Too Soon Postpartum

You got the green light at your six-week checkup. Your doctor said you're cleared for exercise. So naturally, you laced up your sneakers, queued up your favorite workout, and jumped right back into your old routine.

Fast forward a few days and something feels off. Maybe it's a heaviness you can't quite explain. Maybe it's pain that wasn't there before. Maybe it's exhaustion that goes beyond normal new-mama tired.



If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. And more importantly, you're not broken. You might just be doing too much too soon.

At ABC Fit Collective, we've worked with hundreds of mamas navigating postpartum recovery, and this is one of the most common patterns we see. A mama gets cleared for exercise, assumes that means her body is fully healed, and dives back into fitness at a level her body isn't ready for. The result? Setbacks that could have been avoided with a more gradual approach.

Here's the truth that nobody tells you: being "cleared" for exercise doesn't mean your body is back to its pre-pregnancy state. It means your initial healing is complete enough that gentle movement is safe. There's a big difference between those two things.

So how do you know if you're pushing too hard? Let's talk about the five signs that your body is asking you to slow down.

The Pressure to "Get Back to It"

Before we dive into the signs, let's acknowledge something important: the pressure to return to exercise quickly after having a baby is intense. Between bounce back culture, well-meaning friends asking about your fitness routine, and your own desire to feel like yourself again, it's completely understandable why so many mamas rush back into workouts.



And honestly? The desire to move your body after months of pregnancy isn't a bad thing. Movement can be incredibly healing postpartum. It can boost your mood, give you energy, and help you feel more connected to your body during a season when everything feels unfamiliar.

The problem isn't wanting to exercise. The problem is that most fitness programs and even many healthcare providers don't give mamas adequate guidance on what postpartum exercise should actually look like. You get a generic "you're cleared" and then you're left to figure out the rest on your own.

So you do what makes sense. You go back to what you were doing before. The workouts you loved. The intensity you're used to. The exercises that used to feel easy.

But your body isn't the same body it was before pregnancy. Your core and pelvic floor have been through significant changes. Your joints are still affected by relaxin, the hormone that loosened your ligaments during pregnancy. Your abdominal muscles may have separated. And if you had a C-section, you're also healing from major abdominal surgery.

Doing too much too soon doesn't just slow your recovery. It can create new problems that take much longer to fix. Pelvic floor dysfunction, worsening diastasis recti, chronic pain, and injury are all possible consequences of pushing too hard before your body is ready.

The good news? Your body will tell you when something isn't right. You just have to know what to listen for.

Time to Take Action: 5 Signs You Need to Slow Down

1. You're experiencing leaking during or after exercise

Let's start with the sign that many mamas brush off as "normal" but absolutely isn't: urinary leakage during exercise. Whether it's a few drops when you jump or a more significant leak when you sneeze, cough, or lift something heavy, this is your pelvic floor telling you it's not ready for the demand you're placing on it.

Here's what we want you to understand: leaking is common postpartum, but common doesn't mean normal or acceptable. It's a symptom that something in your pelvic floor system isn't functioning optimally, and continuing to exercise through it without addressing the root cause can make things worse.

If you're experiencing leaking, it's time to scale back the intensity of your workouts and focus on rebuilding your pelvic floor foundation. This might mean working with a pelvic floor physical therapist, which we highly recommend for all postpartum mamas. It also means choosing exercises that don't create excessive downward pressure on your pelvic floor until you've rebuilt that strength.

Our Core Restore program in the Virtual Gym is designed with exactly this in mind. It focuses on breath work, core connection, and gentle strengthening that supports pelvic floor recovery rather than overwhelming it.

2. You're noticing a bulge or doming in your abdomen during exercises

When you do a crunch, plank, or even just sit up from lying down, take a look at your belly. Do you see a ridge or dome shape forming down the center of your abdomen? This is called coning or doming, and it's a visible sign that your deep core system isn't managing pressure effectively.

Doming often indicates diastasis recti, the separation of the abdominal muscles that's extremely common after pregnancy. While some degree of separation is normal and often resolves on its own, continuing to do exercises that cause doming can prevent healing or even make the separation worse.

If you're seeing this, it doesn't mean you can't exercise. It means you need to modify your approach. Avoid exercises that create that doming effect, which often includes traditional crunches, sit-ups, planks, and any movement where you can't maintain tension across your midline. Focus instead on exercises that help retrain your deep core muscles to work together properly.

This is exactly what our pre and postnatal fitness experts at ABC Fit Collective specialize in. Every workout in our Virtual Gym is designed with core safety in mind, and we offer modifications for mamas who are still working on closing a diastasis gap.

3. You feel pressure or heaviness in your pelvic region

This one can be harder to describe, but if you're experiencing it, you know exactly what we're talking about. It's a sensation of pressure, fullness, or heaviness in your vaginal area, almost like something is falling out or pushing down. It might be worse at the end of the day, after exercise, or after being on your feet for a long time.

This sensation can be a sign of pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when the pelvic floor muscles aren't providing adequate support for the bladder, uterus, or rectum. It's more common than most people realize, and high-impact exercise or heavy lifting before your pelvic floor is ready can contribute to it.

If you're feeling this heaviness, please don't ignore it. Scale back your activity, avoid high-impact movements and heavy lifting, and see a pelvic floor physical therapist for an assessment. Prolapse exists on a spectrum, and early intervention can make a significant difference in outcomes.

In the meantime, low-impact workouts that focus on pelvic floor-friendly movement are your best bet. The Virtual Gym has plenty of options that allow you to keep moving without making symptoms worse.

4. You're experiencing pain during or after workouts

This might seem obvious, but it's worth stating clearly: exercise should not hurt. If you're experiencing pain in your abdomen, pelvis, back, or C-section scar during or after workouts, that's a red flag that something isn't right.

Some discomfort as you rebuild strength is normal. Muscle fatigue, mild soreness the next day, and the general challenge of working hard are all part of the process. But sharp pain, persistent aching, or pain that gets worse over time is different. It's your body's way of saying "this is too much."

Pay particular attention to any pain around a C-section scar. Scar tissue can create adhesions that affect how your core muscles function, and exercising without addressing scar mobility can perpetuate pain and dysfunction. Gentle scar massage and specific exercises to restore mobility in that area can be incredibly helpful.

If you're dealing with pain, take it seriously. Rest, modify your workouts, and consider working with a physical therapist or healthcare provider who specializes in postpartum recovery. Pushing through pain almost always makes things worse in the long run.

5. You're completely exhausted (beyond normal new-mama tired)

Every new mama is tired. Sleep deprivation comes with the territory. But there's a difference between the baseline exhaustion of caring for a newborn and the kind of depletion that comes from overtraining on top of an already demanding situation.

If you're finding that your workouts leave you feeling wiped out for hours afterward, if you're struggling to recover between sessions, if your fatigue is getting worse instead of better, your body might be telling you that the energy demands are too high right now.

Remember that your body is doing a lot. If you're breastfeeding, you're producing food for another human, which requires significant caloric energy. You're likely not sleeping well. You're recovering from pregnancy and birth. Adding intense exercise on top of all that can push your system past what it can handle.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't exercise. Movement can actually help with energy levels when done appropriately. But the key word is appropriately. Shorter workouts, lower intensity, more rest days, and listening to what your body actually needs rather than what you think you "should" be doing.

The Virtual Gym makes this easy with workouts ranging from 5 to 45 minutes. On days when you're running on empty, a gentle 10-minute session might be exactly what you need. Save the longer, more challenging workouts for days when you have more in the tank.

The Bottom Line: Slow Progress Is Still Progress

Mama, we know how frustrating it can be to feel like your body isn't cooperating with your goals. You want to feel strong again. You want to feel like yourself. And slowing down can feel like moving backward.



But here's what we've learned from working with hundreds of postpartum mamas: the ones who take their time in the beginning almost always end up further ahead in the long run. They build a solid foundation. They avoid setbacks. They develop a sustainable relationship with fitness that serves them for years, not just weeks.

Slowing down isn't giving up. It's being smart. It's honoring what your body has been through and giving it what it needs to truly heal. It's playing the long game instead of chasing short-term results that come at a cost.

At ABC Fit Collective, every workout in our Virtual Gym is designed with postpartum safety in mind. Our certified pre and postnatal fitness experts understand the unique needs of mamas at every stage of recovery. We offer modifications, progressions, and programs like Core Restore that help you rebuild your foundation before adding intensity.

Whether you're six weeks postpartum or six years, whether you're experiencing warning signs or just want to make sure you're doing things right, there's a place for you here. No judgment. No pressure. Just safe, effective postnatal fitness designed for real mamas and real bodies.

Ready to take a smarter approach to your postpartum fitness journey? Start your free trial of the ABC Fit Virtual Gym today and discover what it feels like to rebuild your strength the right way.