Once you're feeling up to more energetic activity, you can participate in a number of other great forms of postpartum exercise. Some of these include brisk walking, swimming, biking, yoga, and Pilates. And if you have clearance from your care practitioner, you may even be able to resume your prepregnancy exercise routine.

Brisk Walking

Walking is a great exercise for postpartum moms. It's easy, it's low impact, it's adaptable to your energy and fitness level, it's free, and you can do it with your baby in a front- or backpack, sling, or stroller. Walking improves your circulation, can get a sluggish digestive system moving, and can be a wonderful way to relieve stress, get fresh air, clear your head, and improve your mood. Often, even the fussiest babies will calm down as soon as you step outside, so many new moms take to going for long walks just to keep the baby happy.

The trick to turning a gentle stroll into a workout is picking up the pace. When you first start walking, choose a pace that's brisk but doesn't tire you out right away. As you build up your endurance and pass the six-week postpartum point, though, cranking your speed up a few notches will burn more calories. Warm up first with five minutes or so of slow walking, marching in place, or lunges. Once you can walk for twenty minutes or longer without tiring out, you can increase your speed so that you're walking a mile in fifteen minutes.

Experts suggest exercising three to five times a week for thirty minutes or more, but any amount of exercise is better than no exercise; even a daily ten- or fifteen-minute walk will deliver health results and can improve your outlook. When it's raining or snowing outside, try the local mall or see if your community center has an indoor track.

Swimming

Swimming is another great low-impact exercise that burns calories, increases stamina, and gets the heart and lungs functioning more efficiently. Since you won't be able to use tampons during the postpartum period, you'll probably have to wait until your lochia has stopped before you can begin or resume swimming. Heading to the pool isn't quite as mom- and baby-friendly as walking — unless you have your own pool, you'll have to work around the schedule at your community pool, athletic club, or YMCA, and you'll probably have to wait until your partner is available to watch the baby or use some kind of child care. Many gyms and YMCAs offer child care, but most won't let you start using it until your baby is at least six weeks old.

Biking

Riding a bike is gentle on the knees and other joints, and if you have a bike trailer or baby seat, you can take your little one along. It may be awhile before your perineum is able to handle a bike seat, however — sitting on a bike could cause or exacerbate soreness and swelling if you don't wait until you're completely healed.

Yoga

Yoga is a gentle way to get your body moving again, relieve some of the stress of new motherhood, gain more energy, and regain strength and flexibility. You may also find that yoga provides a way to tap into the calmness that might be hiding beneath a surface of frazzled nerves and spit-up!

Yoga classes designed specifically for new mothers are becoming more and more popular. Most allow you to bring your baby with you and will incorporate him into the practice, allowing you to come and go as necessary to feed, change, or comfort him. Postpartum yoga classes usually focus on gently re-aligning the postpartum body, particularly by strengthening the abdominal and pelvic muscles after childbirth. A mom-baby yoga class can also provide you with a ready-made community of new mothers, and you won't have to worry about finding a babysitter.

Serious yoginis may be frustrated by the slower pace and beginning level of some postpartum yoga classes, as well as the fact that mom-and-baby classes are full of interruptions! If you have been practicing yoga for some time, you may be more satisfied in a more advanced class. Still, even if the postpartum class is a little less challenging than you'd like, you may find that you enjoy the opportunity to chat with other moms. If you decide to take a regular class that's not specifically for postpartum women, be sure you let the instructor know that you've recently had a baby — she may suggest that you skip or modify certain poses.

Pilates

Pilates focuses on strengthening your abdominal and back muscles, what's known as your “core.” This makes it particularly well suited to rebuilding abdominal, back, and pelvic-floor muscles that have been left saggy or strained from pregnancy. Pilates instructors emphasize good posture and give extremely detailed instructions, helping you fine-tune your form throughout the process.

Since Pilates exercises are so specific, taking a class through your local health club or YMCA may be the best option. There are also books and DVDs that lay out postpartum Pilates programs you can do at home. If you take a class that's not specifically geared toward postpartum women, be sure to let the instructor know you've had a baby so she can show you how to do the exercises without injuring your abdominal muscles.

Your Usual Routine

If your prebaby workout routine included off-road biking, dancing, kickboxing, running, martial arts, horseback riding, or other vigorous exercise, your doctor or midwife will probably give you the go-ahead to start up again by your sixth week postpartum (maybe a little longer if you had a c-section). Sometimes athletes have a hard time adjusting to their recovering body's limitations, and you may feel frustrated that you can't do as much as you were able to before. Try to remember that it will take a little while for your body to return to the condition it was in before, but as you get stronger and your baby gets older, you'll gradually be able to incorporate your sport back into your life more and more.