I’ve always tried to be 100% honest with all of you on my feelings towards my body postpartum and otherwise. I know I’m not the only one that struggles with this, so why not share my feelings with the world? Sometimes those feelings are celebrating the successes I’ve made with eating healthy, completing an exercise program and sharing some killer before & after photos and sometimes I need to share that my body just isn’t where it use dot be– now is certainly the latter. After having Mckenna in November, I’ve struggled to get back to my pre-pregnancy form.
Believe me, I’m all about celebrating my stretch marks I earned through a difficult pregnancy and I’m all about celebrating the fact that my body was finally able to give us our second baby after a rough go-round with secondary infertility. But even after celebrating my “flaws” it’s still difficult to look in the mirror and be 100% happy with the body I’m looking at. And I’m sure so many of you are nodding your head in agreement. I was just talking with a good friend recently about my struggles to loose “the pooch” even after working out and eating healthy and she brought up the term “diastasis recti” which is a fancy way of saying that your abdominal muscles have separated, a common occurrence in pregnancy. And then I was lucky enough to be introduced to Natalie Hodson’s Abs, Core & Pelvic Floor Program.
The Abs, Core & Pelvic Floor program is revolutionary for mom’s postpartum dealing with diastase recti, pelvic floor problems, back pain, and problems with incontinence. Before I began, I read through the e-book they provide and from the standpoint of a registered nurse it all just makes sense. Our anatomy changes with pregnancy and if we’re going to get back into shape after baby, we need to do so in a way that makes sense with those changes. So much of what we think is helpful can actually be very harmful and can actually make diastasis recti worse!
What NOT To Do:
1. Crunches
2. Sit-ups
3. Planks
Reasoning: These exercises increase the intrabdominal pressure and can actually further weaken the tissue in the abdomen causing damage to muscles instead of improving strength.
What To Do Instead:
1. Contracting & Activating the Muscles in Your Core: This is completed by tightening the muscles in your abdomen, holding, resting, and repeating. You can even do this on your way to work in the morning or while stuck at a traffic light, but it’s best to start this by laying on the floor.
And if I’m just being honest, it’s not fun to pee when ya sneeze. This program can help with that as well!
I’ve completed 7 days, so far, of this program and I have to say I already feel better and am starting to see and feel more strength in my core. I took a little hiatus while we traveled to South Carolina (more on that later), but am really looking forward to getting back into it now that we’re home and settled. I love that Abs, Core & Pelvic Floor Program also includes videos that show you step-by-step how to do the exercises and they have 4 videos, one for each week in the program. Having some variety with the videos is great, in my opinion, because it helps keep me interested. I get a little bored with the same thing for days on end!
I’ll be sure to share when I’ve completed the program as well so I can let you guys know how it went. So far, though, so very good! If you decide to do the Abs, Core & Pelvic Floor Program PLEASE let me know! I’d love to go through the program with some other mamas as well!
Do you have problems with diastasis recti or pelvic floor problems?
Would you be interested in trying a program like this?
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Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com