3 Standing Ab Exercises for Postpartum Core Strength

When you’re recovering from pregnancy and birth, even basic movements can feel unfamiliar—like your body isn’t quite your own yet.

You may not feel ready to lie flat on your back. Getting down on the floor (or back up again) might be more stressful than helpful. Maybe you’re holding a baby most of the day or trying to sneak in recovery exercises between naps and feedings.

If that’s you, know this: you can begin reconnecting to your core without ever lying down.

Standing ab exercises are a gentle, functional, and accessible way to support postpartum core healing—especially when you’re easing back into movement and looking for exercises that work with your daily life.

They’re not better or worse than mat work—they’re simply another option. And for many women, that makes all the difference in actually getting started.

Why Postpartum Core Recovery Is Different

The postpartum core isn’t just weaker—it’s reorganized.

During pregnancy, your core system adapts to growing a baby:

• The transverse abdominis (TVA) stretches
  
  
• The rectus abdominis separates (diastasis recti)
  
  
• Your pelvic floor manages intense pressure
  
  
• Your posture shifts to accommodate weight distribution
  
  
• Your breathing patterns adapt to fit a baby under your diaphragm
  
  

After birth, those systems don’t automatically reset.

To truly recover, you need to rebuild:

• Core-pelvic floor coordination
  
  
• Intra-abdominal pressure management
  
  
• Posture and alignment
  
  
• Breath mechanics that support your core—not stress it
  
  

That’s where gentle, intentional movement—like the kind we teach in the Natal app—comes in. And standing is a great place to begin.

Benefits of Standing Ab Workouts for Postpartum Core

Standing core rehab work offers a unique set of benefits, especially in the early stages of postpartum recovery:

• More accessible if you’re holding or feeding a baby, or can’t easily get on the floor
  
  
• Real-life functional—it mimics how we actually move throughout the day
  
  
• Supports posture retraining, especially rib and pelvis alignment
  
  
• Can Help Promote breathing mechanics, which drive core function
  
  
• Encourages activation without compression—key for healing diastasis recti
  
  

If you’re not sure where to begin or you’ve felt disconnected from your core, these standing postpartum ab exercises give you a supported, non-intimidating way to start re-engaging your body.

A Quick Note on Pressure Management

Most postpartum symptoms—like doming, leaking, pooching, or back pain—are related to pressure, not weakness.

If your system doesn’t know how to regulate intra-abdominal pressure, no amount of core “strengthening” will solve the issue.

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That’s why all exercises inside the Early Postpartum Core Program and Ab Rehab start with breath work, posture alignment, and low-intensity activation. They help you retrain the foundation before adding complexity.

And that includes standing movements.

3 Standing Ab Exercises to Support Your Postpartum Core

These movements focus on breath, alignment, and core engagement. They are gentle, functional, and great for rebuilding a connection with your postpartum core. Use them alone or as part of your warm-up or daily recovery routine.

1. Wall-Supported TVA Mini (a.k.a. Quarter Wall Sit Breathing)

Targets: Deep core (TVA), breath mechanics, pressure management

How to do it:

• Stand with your back against the wall, feet a few inches away
  
  
• Slide down into a mini squat (knees bent just slightly)
  
  
• Keep your back, pelvis and ribcage against the wall
  
  
• Inhale into your ribcage and sides
  
  
• Exhale slowly and gently draw your pelvic floor up and belly in and up
  
  
• Hold that light core engagement for 3–5 seconds, then release and repeat.
  
  

Why it helps:

This teaches spinal alignment and deep core activation without straining your abdominals. It also helps bring the ribs down—key for restoring postpartum posture and managing diastasis recti.

2. Standing Wall Angels

Targets: Postural muscles, shoulder mobility, rib alignment

How to do it:

• Stand with your back and pelvis against a wall and feet slightly forward
  
  
• Keep your ribs, pelvis, and spine stacked
  
  
• Bring arms into a goalpost position against the wall
  
  
• Slowly slide your arms up and down, keeping contact with the wall
  
  
• Focus on controlled breath and preventing rib flare
  
  

Why it helps:

Pregnancy often creates rounded shoulders and flared ribs. This exercise retrains your postural muscles and reinforces good rib cage position, which is essential for deep core healing.

3. Standing Core Marches

Targets: Core stability, balance, hip flexor control

How to do it:

• Stand tall with ribs over hips, spine long, optional to hold a chair or wall
  
  
• Inhale and release to prepare
  
  
• Exhale, engage your pelvic floor and TVA to 50% effort
  
  
• Slowly lift one knee to hip height, hold briefly, then lower
  
  
• Alternate sides without letting your pelvis tip or shift
  
  

Why it helps:

This challenges your ability to stabilize the pelvis while moving your limbs, which mimics daily activities like walking or holding your baby while reaching. It builds usable strength and awareness without high intensity.

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How to Incorporate These Standing Deep Core Exercises into Your Postpartum Healing

You can do these standing deep core postpartum recovery movements:

• First thing in the morning
  
  
• After feeding baby
  
  
• During naptime
  
  
• As a warm-up or recovery circuit
  
  
• In front of the sink, mirror, or while waiting for your coffee
  
  

Start with 1–2 rounds of 5–10 reps per move—or just choose 2 or 3 favorites to repeat throughout your day.

*Consistency is more important than intensity.

And the goal isn’t to “get sore”—it’s to rebuild connection between your breath, core, and pelvic floor.

From Standing to Strong: What’s Next?

These standing ab exercises are the perfect way to ease into postpartum recovery—especially if you’re not ready for more traditional workouts or floor-based movements.

They’re gentle. They’re effective. And they’re completely modifiable to your energy, comfort, and schedule.

But when you’re ready to progress, you need a plan.

That’s where the Ab Rehab program inside the Natal app comes in.

What’s Inside Ab Rehab:

• A 12-week science-backed progression
  
  
• Deep core and pelvic floor activation
  
  
• Posture correction and breath retraining
  
  
• Strength circuits that work from the inside out
  
  
• Designed for healing diastasis recti, leaking, pelvic pain, and the stubborn pooch
  
  

And it works. Hundreds of thousands of women have gone through Ab Rehab and rebuilt their strength, confidence, and function—without skipping steps or wasting time on the wrong workouts.

Final Thoughts: Healing Can Happen Upright

If lying down feels like too much—or just isn’t your vibe—know that you can still make progress.

Standing ab workouts are valid, powerful tools for reconnecting with your postpartum core.

This is about giving your body the tools it needs to heal well—not rush the process.

Start where you are. Stand tall. And reconnect with strength that lasts.

Start with Natal’s Early Postpartum Core Program

If you want guided postpartum breath work, pelvic floor connection, and easy-to-follow exercises, our Early Postpartum Core Program is the perfect starting point.

Then progress to Ab Rehab when you’re ready for more.

No pressure. No extremes. Just smart, safe, supported healing.

[CLICK HERE Start your recovery journey inside the Natal App with a free trial pass]

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