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This site is a modest and family-friendly site that specializes in a little known issue called diastasis recti that can make the two sides of your abs feel as if they’re in separate zip codes. It’s an injury to the core that leads to other “hush-hush” issues that are often considered immodest to even mention. But, sweet ladies, it’s time to mention them… but I’m already blushing just with this little paragraph {because I know what’s coming} so I’ve asked Lara Catone, an expert in the area of intimacy and pelvic floor as they relate to diastasis to write this post for me. There are no pictures, no explicit language, just straightforward talk about the things no one wants to talk about. There is no judgement, just healing available if you need it. 

Lara writes… As a yoga teacher, doula and somatic sexologist I help women process their births and the subsequent changes in their bodies and relationships. I often say that I help women put their bodies back together after birth. My area of specialty and great passion is the core which includes the muscles of the abdominals, low back, pelvic floor and diaphragm. Most women come to me initially for weakness and the change of appearance in their abdominals due to diastasis recti. They want to lose their mummy tummy! In our first meeting it quickly unfolds that diastasis is affecting numerous areas of their lives including, and often especially, intimacy.

Diastasis recti is a common condition seen in postpartum women where connective
tissue in the abdominal muscles, the linea alba, thins and spreads out causing the
abdominal muscles to separate. This separation in the rectus abdominis can cause a
bulging tummy, umbilical hernia, back pain, postural problems and pelvic floor
weakness. Women who have diastasis recti describe an overall feeling of
disconnection from their center.

CHECK YOUR BELLY FOR A DIASTASIS BY CLICKING HERE!

Our core, is our very center–as the name implies–and when the core is out of alignment
or weak it can throw us off in a multitude of ways. As a yoga teacher and somatic
sexologist I look at the physical, emotional and energetic components that come into
play for women who have diastasis. Each of these different layers can interfere with
intimacy.

New parenthood in and of itself is an adjustment for couples. The lack of sleep, the
newness of the bond they find with their baby, the demands of taking care of that baby
24/7, financial stress and hormonal changes are all well known ingredients in
extinguishing the romantic fire for both men and women. Here, I would like to explore
specifically how diastasis might add strain to your love life through each layer; physical,
emotional and energetic.

Physical - Women who have diastasis are often in pain or discomfort. Their backs and
shoulders ache, they may have pelvic pain. There can be a feeling of discomfort in the
abdomen itself. It doesn’t matter how you slice it, pain is not sexy.

Women with diastasis also have a feeling that their bodies don’t work the same way and
that they don’t have the same amount of strength and feeling of togetherness, or full
body integrity that they were previously used to. Their bellies can be bulging and
bloated. A common phrase I hear is, “This doesn’t feel like my body.”

Lastly in the physical realm, diastasis can contribute to pelvic floor weakness which can
lead to incontinence and organ prolapse (when organs like the bladder or uterus fall out
of place and start to hang into the vagina).

Emotional - We know that negative body image is an issue that almost universally
impacts every American woman at some point in her life. The postpartum period is
certainly no different and can be a real challenge for women’s self esteem. In fact,
muscles carry, or hold, emotions and certain muscles are associated with specific

emotions. The emotion most connected with the rectus abdominis (the abdominal
muscles that separate with a diastasis) is self esteem.

Women feel so much pressure to obtain a certain, unobtainable body image that
pervades all areas of our culture where real pregnant and postpartum bodies are not
recognized. When women are feeling ashamed of their bodies because of how they
look or feel, they don’t want them to be seen and they often don’t feel like they deserve
to be loved, honored and cherished with their imperfections.

Energetic - Just like emotions, the body also has energetic qualities that have been
part of ancient eastern philosophy for centuries and are now being recognized by
modern science. In yogic philosophy the sexual center is in the core. The area below
the navel that holds our womb and organs of reproduction also holds the energy of
creativity, wealth, fertility, sensuality and sexuality.

When a woman is not feeling physically or emotionally connected to her core, she is
unplugged from her libido. She is missing out on the magic of her desire, passion and
sensuality.

The good news is that there are specific exercises to heal diastasis and there is also a
process of self acceptance and self love that can heal the emotional wounds. Through
reconnecting to the core physically, emotionally and energetically women can start to
feel full again and get their mojo back.

Read what Bethany wrote for Lara’s site! Click!

As a woman who has never given birth, I am humbled by the stories that so many
women have shared with me about their births and postpartum recovery experiences. I
feel blessed to hold space for the processing of these great rites of passage and to
support women on this journey. {I love how she’s so open about her own history}

Lara Catone is an emerging leader in the field of sexual wellness.  As a yoga teacher
and somatic sexologist with a specialty in women’s health, her mission is to empower
radiant health and pleasure.  In 2011 she began development of the Restore Your Core
program that includes nonsurgical approaches to diastasis recti (abdominal separation)
and pelvic pain and dysfunction.  Lara trains fitness, birth and medical professionals in
her progressive approach to core health.  She has a thriving private practice in Venice,
CA and teaches workshops and retreats worldwide.  If you need further insight and help with your own intimate issues, Lara recently expanded her global
community through the launch of an online studio with live webcam classes. 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. No moneys were exchanged for the writing of this post. It is in the interests of Fit2B Studio, LLC to provide thought provoking and authoritative articles regarding our fitness niche, but the opinions and beliefs stated in this article are those of the guest writer and may not reflect all the views and beliefs of the owners and founders of Fit2B Studio. Please direct any questions about this post to the author’s website. Thank you!

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

Okay, I get a bit giggly at my own cheesiness whenever I can work my last name – which is “Learn” – into a blog post. And now that I’ve got that tidbit out of my exhausted brain, I can tell you some of the AWESOME things I learned while on a roadtrip with Kelly Dean of The Tummy Team to Medford, OR to audit her accredited course “The Importance of Core Strength in the Prenatal and Postnatal Client”… This is going to be rambly because – hello! – I’m still on the roadtrip while writing this, and I’m going on 3 hours of sleep and way too much caffeine. Don’t hate.

Kelly Dean & Myself at her continuing education course

Kelly has been mentoring me for two years, and this was not our first road trip together. I love her dearly, and we talked the WHOLE time, and I got a ladybug in my pants and had to take them off to fish it out while she drove us at 65 down I-5, and I was privileged to spend 8 hours with some midwives, doulas, maya massagers, gyrotonix instructor, labor/delivery nurse… It was bliss to watch them take in this vital information on helping their lady clients find healthier flatter tummies through an understanding of diastasis and core anatomy. Plus I learned a ton!

One of the many great qualities of Kelly as a teacher is that she puts herself on the table and lets us feel her core! Where is the wordpress setting that lets me make this not be sideways?

I’m telling you, if you ever get a chance to take a road trip with a licensed physical therapist who specializes in your favorite topic, do it!!!!! I got to drive her prius and buy her coffee and – call me a Kelly groupie – but I was just there to soak it all in, let her teach me and watch her teach others. Sheeee issssss incrediblllllllllleeee!!!!

Kelly demonstrates how to check for a diastasis in a 30 week client… fun to feel the baby kick us!

This is how I write when I’m not trying to teach or make a certain point… and when I’m just really excited and when I’m low on sleep -slash- high on coffee (don’t worry, I’ve also been drinking lots of water) So here are random things I’m learning while I’m sitting here listening to her on my big, bouncy birth ball… Did I mention I slept overnight in a birth center? I really wanted to sneak a long, hot bath in one of those ginormous birth tubs at midnight last night, but I didn’t… sigh. ANYWAY, MOVING ON!

• Muscle responds quicker than connective tissue. The muscle rebuilding is going to make you feel better whether you have a small or large separation.
• SI problems, pelvic floor problems, and sitting a lot are co-related to a wider diastasis at the bottom above the pubic bones.
• If you have tight chest muscles (from nursing babies or too many pushups/planks) then when you stand up, and your ribs flare because your pecs attach to your ribs, then that will pull your diastasis wider at the top.
• If we challenge a weak muscle to the point where it fails and recruits another muscle to do its job, then we’ve taught that weak muscle to give up and pass the buck to another muscle. If we challenge a weak muscle to the point of fatigue and STOP before it gives up and passes the buck to a stronger muscle, then we’ve truly put our nervous system on notice that we want THAT muscle to do ITS JOB not wimp out.
• No muscle in the body needs to be fully engaged and tense all the time. (please no comments about how our brain is our biggest muscle) but we get stuck in modes of movement that force certain muscle to always be “on” and never relax which also creates dysfunction.
• There is much debate about whether a diastasis is a separation or a stretching or a weakness, and the terminology and hyperbole confuses the issue which is that people are INJURED and have trenches (my choice of wording for this sentence) in a muscular area that should NOT have a trench in it!!!! Can we just stop arguing as experts, and all bring our stuff to the table and respect that [most of us] are genuinely wanting to help our clients get better? Kelly is really good at not arguing the jargon, so this is MY own observation, not something I learned at this workshop.
• For some people, mental sanity is more important than their physical health. Kelly and I both feel strongly that if someone loves to run, but it’s tearing them apart, we’re going to help them run in the safest way possible because we recognize that it feeds their soul. We just want it to be an educated choice and have the information of what it’s doing to their body and why it’s contributing to their pain and health issues.
• Midwives in workshop reporting that their pilates instructor, bike riding, kickboxing clients have the hardest time RELAXING and letting baby out thus ending up with c-sections because they are so TIGHT from being good at activating their transverse but terrible at dissociating their TvA from the PC mucle. “It’s like you’re squeezing the toothpaste down but the cap is still on!” LOL!
• If it takes 21 days to learn a new skill or habit WITHOUT stress, pain or small interruptions of the two-legged, begging, drooling variety… then how can we expect a mom in labor to suddenly find and activate her god-given girdle muscle to assist her uterus in pushing out baby…
• The pelvic floor has both fast-twitch (sneeze!) muscles and slow-twitch (constant gardener) muscles, and we need both of those fiber types to be strong but not short/tight for us. A true kegel is a lift (targets slow-twitch) and hold (fast-twitch) but we ALSO need to learn how to LET THAT MUSCLE GO
• Final thought: Nope, no more for now. My brain is fried, and what happens in Medford, stays in Medford!

Oh my goodness, I could keep writing and writing and writing… This was 8 hours of amazing information, some new, some old, some a rethinking of what I already know, some very mind-blowing to me. And this is a workshop with a woman I talk to ALL the time. I feel like I can always keep “learn”ing … can’t we all? Goodbye, Wise Women & Trillium Waterbirth Center! Thanks for hosting us!

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

Our abdominal tummy muscles have to work harder in certain positions than others, and if you don’t know how to “turn on” your transverse abs, those moments may be contributing to your belly getting bigger, not smaller. The job of your abs isn’t crunches and situps, although they work together to do those things if needed; their job is to stabilize your body, help you balance, and – most importantly – to support your spine which houses your nervous system. Truly the work of our core happens inside our core, and we need our deepest core abdominal muscle – the transverse abdominus (TvA) – to be “there for us” when we need it.

1. laying down 2. sitting up 3. standing up 4. squatting down 5. on hands and knees 6. lifting things … I’m already boring myself! Gah! So I asked my members to pitch in more specific times they find it useful to activate their transverse abdominus (TvA or TA). And their answers are below, but FIRST… Here at Fit2B Studio, a portion of our members participate in a private member forum where I post mini challenges. I say things like, “Mini Challenge: stand with ribs over your hips.” And then they all work on that for a few days. Recently, I posted the following about tightening the transverse:

NEW! Mini Challenge: Make these two words part of your everyday talk to yourself and to your family… “Tummy Tight!” I’ll say it to my kids when they’re playing wheelbarrow or crawling around. I’ll say it to myself when I’m going up/down the stairs. I’ll say it to my man when he’s picking up something heavy. I’ve hollered it at guys on our construction crew as they lean to nail something in an awkward position… And the other day, my husband yelled it at me when I was driving and took a turn too fast and sharp, and he had to hang on to the grabby-thingy above his window! LOL! He was like “Boy, I think I just felt my disaster-sees get worse.” He can’t pronounce diastasis right, so that’s his word for it. I think it fits. Diastasis are disasters, so we are thankful they are fixable right? P.S. Keeping your tummy tight ALL the time is NOT the goal. The goal is to be able to instantly tighten your transverse in a split second when you need it to support your core and spine and be able to hold it for as long as you need it and still be able to breathe. And then I asked them to pitch in their ideas, and wow did they respond!

7. Lifting DD (darling daughter) onto the potty 8. into her high chair 9. into the sled 10. into the tub 11. lifting a full crock pot 12. vacuuming (this is one where I can actually feel the muscles engaging properly at least) 13. getting into and out of bed when the mattress is on the floor ***Fit2B in Virginia, Nicole S.

14. bending over to load/unload dishwasher 15. shaving legs 16. picking up toys 17. scrubbing the tub 18. loading/unloading groceries 19. setting up or taking down a Pack ‘n Play 20. giving piggy back rides! ***Fit2B in Washington, Amy U.

HOLD THE PHONE! I feel like I need to clarify that none of these ladies is talking about “sucking in” where your ribs flare as you inhale or bracing like someone is punching you. They know better than that thanks to THIS VIDEO that you can watch… SO HOW DO YOU DO IT??? You can activate your transverse by pulling your navel inward. That’s all. You can also switch on your deepest ab muscles by aligning yourself correctly, and some fitness pros are convinced that if you squat right, or sit right, your abs will naturally engage correctly. They believe that alignment is the key to proper muscle activation, and that if everyone would just put themselves in the proper position before squatting, picking up the dog, pushing a grocery cart, etc., then your core will automatically “turn on”… And as a fellow lover of alignment and an admitted Katy Stalker, I agree, but we don’t always have to time to align before chasing a naked toddler hellbent on running into the street PLUS learning good alignment (let alone teaching it) can take months, if not, years!

Many women I talk to are so tired and torn apart that their bodies and muscle memory have literally forgotten how to sit and stand correctly, let alone squat with good form. It stands to reason that if your abs are damaged with a 3 to 9 finger-width diastasis that has split you down the middle, or if you’ve had surgery that sliced through your muscles and nerves like both my kids already have, then your core won’t engage correctly because it’s injured! The women who listed these 52 instances have targeted those times as struggle points along their own journey of healing, and I relate to each one! I remember wondering why my abs would bulge without my permission when I was merely turning my steering wheel in the car. I remember wondering why my belly just hung down every time I leaned forward. Now I know. I’ve know for 2 years now, but why didn’t I know sooner? Why with all my education and certifications wasn’t I taught this… Well, that’s part of another article you can read here…

Again, for the trolls worried about my semantics – and please remember I’m talking to my crowd in layman’s terms – I’m NOT talking about sucking in or bracing… but isn’t the rest of the fitness industry? If  had  nickel for every time I heard the word suck or tuck in a group fitness class… Oy! Sucking in also encourages the Valsalva maneuver where the breath gets held and blood pressure rises (rather counter productive, eh?) To clarify one more thing, I’m not recommending to anyone that you work on walking around with your belly button hollowed out all the time; it’s simply not logical and can create a Valsalvic increase in blood pressure, and that type of constant pressure can generate, um, interesting situations and noises… I mean, do you know what queefing is? I’ll let Katy ‘splain that one

Okay, now I feel like we can finish the rest of the 52 times to tighten your tummy muscles… So let’s resume

21. picking baby up from bed 20. putting baby into bed 22. picking up the house 23. picking up laundry 24. loading and unloading the washer 25. loading and unloading the dryer (especially if at an angle) ***Fit2B in Nebraska, Mary C.

26. getting in to/out of the car 27. dealing with cabinets 28. dealing with refrigerators 29. on playgrounds ***Fit2B in Oregon, Susie M.

30. Leaning over to check FB or write an email because you are not going to be there long enough to sit at the computer … then 10 minutes later you’re still on the computer! ***Fit2B in Missouri, Diana N.

31. standing from my desk 32. sitting on the edge of the tub while reading a book to my kiddo while she practices using the potty ***Fit2B in Texas, Christine L.

33. When you are laying on the floor and your 4 and 2 year old boys decide to dog pile you with their knees. ***Fit2B in Washington, Heather W.

34. when laying on my side to feed my bub 35. crawling around on the floor with hims 36. Getting him in and out of the car 37. Rocking my son to sleep 38. Walking around holding him 39. Hanging out the washing ***Fit2B in Australia, Katie M.K.

40. Bending over to pick up toys on the floor 41. Anytime I’m lifting my kids (all. day. long) 42. On the john [toilet] 43. Putting on socks 44. Leaning to wipe the table 45. Reaching into the oven 46. Crawling on the floor with kids 47. Rolling over in bed 48. When I’m driving 49. Pushing a grocery cart 50. Cleaning out the oven (not that I do this often, but I did it today) 51. Moving furniture (again, just did it today) 52. Carrying my kids on my hip (what’s left of my hips…my preggo belly is taking over!)… I think sometimes there are activities (like moving a dresser) when it’s really obvious that I need to tighten my core, but there are many times throughout the day that I just realize I’m getting “noodly” and need to improve my posture by aligning and doing a few belly breaths to get my core to wake up. ***Fit2B in Nebraska, Bethann W.

Being able to “turn on” your corset-like TvA will take pressure off your damaged recti abs and consciously give your core a bit more stabilization, thus dramatically improving your quality of life, whether or not you do it in the exact perfect position. Want proof? If you don’t think that the ability to QUICK turn on your TvA matters, then Click HERE to read a research abstract showing how delayed transverse abdominus activation affected lower back pain in 80 individuals. Oh, and this one about how the transverse coactivates with the pelvic floor is good, too!

All I’m saying is that, for those of us dealing with traumatized tummies and diastasis, developing the ability to recruit our TvA is the first baby step in a big healing process. But what do you do if… You… Can’t??? What if you try to pull your belly button backward and nothing happens? Nothing at all. Or you hunch your shoulders and squeeze your butt instead? Well, those results are more common than you think, and it’s where some crucial neuromuscular rehab comes into play. My story, and my being here to write this goes back to The Tummy Team to whom I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude for helping me heal. My videos are helpful to a point, but they can’t rehab someone who has totally lost that connection. This is why I’m passionate to connect people with Diastasis Experts in their region so they can find someone to tell them how, show them how, walk them through a core reconnection. Rehab is worth every penny and so valuable, but if you need time to scratch enough money together for that rehabilitation you need, the tips in our blog along with our workout videos will hopefully start educating you and raising your awareness of the right way to flatten your belly during daily life. Please click here to learn more about membership today!

Oh, and I know the title says “129 times” and the picture says “52 times”… that’s because I know the list will keep growing! I hope you’ll comment below with your own ideas of when to tighten the tummy (again, I’m aware that “tighten” isn’t necessarily the proper term and that a tight muscle isn’t the overall goal at the physiological level) THAT SAID, here is the growing list:

53. when leaning over a counter to do makeup or pluck eyebrows 54. When sneezing (also good to put a hand on your tummy) 55. stocking the fire with wood 56. stacking/hauling/chopping wood 57. pushing kids on the swing – transverse flex with each push 58. when balancing to give more steadiness 59. going up and down the stairs – I’ll do a quick core breath, draw my navel in and keep it there on my way up and down, but I don’t hold my breath (we don’t want the valsalva maneuver!)

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

I have revered and respected Julie as the founder of The Tupler Technique® ever since her program helped close the split in my abs that my surrounding fitness communities was ignoring and accepting as “normal.” When I wrote to Julie and asked for a guest post, I never dreamed she’d give me an open ticket. What did I want her to write about? Well, I wanted her to write directly to mommies about her heart for us, of course! Here is the letter and pictures she sent me…

Dear Moms,

“I know you are upset with the way your belly looks and feels. You know something just isn’t right.  I know you feel like screaming if just one more person asks you when you are due!  You may also have started having back problems, your posture is not so good and in general you just don’t feel good about yourself.  You may even be down to your pre-baby weight….but still have your “mummy tummy.”  If I could sit down over coffee with you, I would tell you three things. The real cause of your protruding belly, the effects on your body and how to get rid of it once and for all.

Julie works with a mama to find her core

“You have tried dieting and exercise but nothing seems to work. You may have gone to your doctor or midwife to find out what you can do.  The usual answer (I have heard from many moms) ranges from surgery to crunches! I am sure you have thought that surgery is just too drastic and not realistic with children. If you tried crunches or situps, I am sure you have discovered not only do they not help…they make your belly worse! I would like to support and encourage you in finding the solution. A solution that will change the way you move your body while participating in your life as a mom.

“So let me begin by telling you that you probably have a medical condition that is causing your protruding belly.  It is called a diastasis recti. The word diastasis means separation and recti is the name of the outermost abdominal muscles. So it is a separation of the two outermost muscles. These two muscles are joined by a piece of connective tissue.  In the middle of this connective tissue is your belly button. This is a weak spot in your connective tissue. Continuous force and pressure on this weak spot (ie growing uterus during pregnancy or doing lots of crunches) weakens the connective tissue and separates the muscles. These outermost muscles are your support system for both your back and organs. When the muscles separate it compromises the support system for your back and organs because now they are being supported by a weak piece of connective tissue instead of the muscles if they were together. This then is the cause of your back problems, poor posture, gastrointestinal problems, and your protruding belly (which is really your organs not being supported correctly).

Julie has a real heart for moms of multiples, because their diastasis is often bigger.

“Closing a diastasis is all about healing the connective tissue. So for six weeks you have to be  really kind to your connective tissue and let it heal as you focus on strengthening your inner most abdominal muscle called the transverse muscle. When people are talking about working the “core” they are talking about this muscle.  So while doing my program, I believe it is important not to do any other exercise program other than walking for the first six weeks of the program! In week six of the program, I teach you how to exercise using your strengthened transverse muscle. Healing connective tissue means no intra-abdominal force, pressure or stretching of the connective tissue.

Personal trainers and instructors need to remember that diastasis changes how we train someone.

“I have been treating this condition of diastasis recti  with moms during and after pregnancy for over 20 years.  This condition of diastasis recti is a common condition causing unpleasant side effects. For some reason it is just neglected by the medical community.  Thus why I am writing this blog to give moms an awareness that there IS a program they can do to treat this condition. When teaching pregnant women the Tupler Technique® to help them prepare for labor, I saw that as their bellies got bigger the diastasis was getting smaller.  A physical therapist working with me was astounded that this was happening and suggested that I get research. Columbia University Program in Physical Therapy did the research and supported the fact that the woman who had done the Tupler Technique® program during their pregnancy had a smaller diastasis then the control group of women who had not done the program.

Many Tupler Trained instructors are featured in our Diastasis Directory!

“The Tupler Technique ® is 4 steps and progresses over 18 weeks. It is not an overnight process or a quick fix to heal connective tissue. You must be committed to doing all 4 steps of the program.  However, within the first three weeks you will see the connective tissue starting to heal and lose inches without having lost any weight. You will then be encouraged to continue with the program. I recommend taking before photos from the front and the side.  That way you will see your improvement.   I’d like to end by telling all you moms that if you want to start smiling more……. it is time to change your belly.”

Julie Tupler, RN, Diastasis Rehab

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

I used to be one of them: a trainer and group fitness instructor who bragged about how sore I could make my clients. Then I had an epiphany: What if I could make people stronger without hurting them? It was all about delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) back then – back before I had kids, before I had knee surgery, before I was diagnosed with a compressed disc, before I realized how much I was hurting - It was about deliberately and systematically creating micro-tears in muscle tissue for the sake of stimulating hypertrophy (bigger muscle). The more sore you were, the stronger you would be, right? No pain, no gain!

… but what if your soreness is a developing injury, and you ignore it? This showed up on FIVE fitness pages I follow in one morning on facebook.

If you don’t believe that trainers don’t want to HURT you, here are a few quotes I’ve recently pulled off various personal trainer fan pages that I keep tabs on.

• “[jane doe] had a special one on one POD with me today She is going to hurt tomorrow. Good work everyone!” 
• “Sometimes you do have to hurt people to help them, not injure or train them incorrectly, but pain and hard work are transforming both physically and mentally.” (I’m so glad he clarified not to injure them, just put them in pain!)
• A client repeating what her trainer said… “He thought that warming up well and foam rolling after were the best ways to manage muscle soreness, but that if you work hard, you’ll be sore, so deal.” 

Hurting is good work? Just “deal” with soreness? What if pain transforms me in the WRONG direction? I now see three HUGE problems with the pain-method of training: First, it assumes the client has a life they can afford to hobble through in pain. Second, it assumes the client wants BIGGER muscles as well as stronger muscles. Third, it assumes the client is already strong enough to withstand micro-tears in their muscles. Of course, we do our due diligence as trainers and clubs with basic Personal Activity Readiness Questionnaires (PAR-Q’s) but – let’s be honest – that’s just to protect our hind-ends from law suits. Once we don’t see any glaring health issues, we plunk the new client into our “tried and true” routines with perhaps a few minor modifications.

Two things: First, this woman is completely intimidating and unrealistic. Second, this is terrible advice! If you feel pain, you need to STOP!!! Oh, and this move is NOT diastasis-safe!

What about moms? Those women who just carried 20+ pounds of baby, placenta and amniotic fluid under their abs for ten months (a.k.a. those who rely on personal trainers and instructors to have the most accurate and up to date info on core training because they need the most help) will be HARMED more than HELPED by traditional ab exercises. But if they tell a proud, self-assured trainer or group fitness instructor that they need something different, they will get a blank look (true story), a defensive retort about who knows more (true story) or – worse! – a request for the participant to find literature to back herself up (true story) … Shouldn’t the professional go do their own research? For once? Because of the injuries I suffered while trying to “keep up” with the latest and greatest in the fitness industry, I am now passionate about working with a segment of the population who has been injured by fitness trainers and instructors who are undereducated and have run a little too far with the pain principle. There is a myth out there that if we keep people in proper alignment, they won’t get hurt. I have focused on maintaining perfect alignment in everything – wait, don’t crunches take us out of alignment? – I do for years, but that didn’t keep me from pushing too hard and getting injured! And I shudder to think of where the people are who I trained so severely 10 years ago!

When we teach people that “pain is just weakness leaving the body,” we teach them to ignore possible injury. When we teach people to “push through the pain,” we could be pushing them toward an injury. There is totally a place to “feel the burn.” However, with so many Americans already being injured with things we can’t see on the surface like diastasis, slight meniscus weakness or tearing, scar tissue from surgery, and poor nutrition when they come to us for help, shouldn’t our focus be on healing and recovery?  Too many programs and trainers fail to follow the principle of progression and allow people to start small, to listen to their body’s limits, to stay safe…. and people are getting hurt! I have come up with a whole site full of workouts that WILL NOT hurt people. They are safe. They are effective. They are fun. They are relaxing. They let the client progress in baby steps, gain confidence without hurting themselves more. Try three of my SAFE workouts today?

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

Please welcome Wendy Powell, MuTu System Founder and member of Fit2B Studio. Wendy is a fellow crunch-free advocate, and  - while Fit2B Studio offers ongoing TummySafe™ Fitness – Wendy’s 12-week program will help you put your core back together even YEARS after babies. 

I am so delighted to be asked by Bethany to write a guest post here! We had already found each other online as ‘kindred spirits’, sharing our passion to help women (Moms to be precise!) to look & feel better. It’s a simple enough sounding mission statement, but to me it sums up what Moms don’t get from the mainstream exercise & diet industry. I believe that the vast majority of workouts & diets aimed at moms, or articles about celebrities & their amazing weight loss… do us a disservice. The exercise & diet industry don’t get that we’ve got no time. That we’re exhausted because kids don’t always sleep when we’d like them to. They don’t get that we’ve lost a little bit of our Mojo as well as our waistline & so need support & motivation, as well as instruction. They forget we have fussy kids to feed as well as well as make spirulina smoothies. They have no clue what pregnancy, childbirth & mothering has really done to our bodies, let alone how to restore & strengthen it. So we pick up a magazine looking for inspiration & it yells ‘Do Yoga!’ ‘No, Pilates is all that will get you a flat stomach!’ ‘Go to Boot Camp!’ ‘Get a ripped body – do a thousand crunches’. Stuff like that. So now we can add total confusion & feeling more than a little inadequate to all the aforementioned… That’s why I created MuTu System.

I have been training pregnant women & moms for a decade, & as well as knowing all the technical stuff I’m supposed to know, & quite a bit more I just wanted to know, I had 2 kids in the middle. Wake up call!! Birth Plan Schmirth Plan. I was airlifted in a helicopter with paramedics, had a series of highly icky postpartum procedures & lost pints & pints of blood. And everything but the helicopter… happened both times. That lavender oil burner didn’t get a look in. MuTu System does get what birth does to us, physically & emotionally. It gets how long it takes to put us back together. Very importantly, it knows how to, with an specialist expertise in diastasis recti, pelvic floor restoration, postural realignment & functional core strength. I also know, firsthand & from the hundreds of women I have worked with, that we can put ourselves back together.

A mothers’ abdominal & pelvic floor muscles stop working as well as they did when she has a baby (however she has it). They stretch & they shift & they kind of forget what to do. But in order to teach them, we have to learn to love them. I have worked with many, many women, & the feeling of ‘cutting off’ from everything *Down There* is very, very common. Down There used to be about fun. And when you’ve just had a baby, it ain’t much fun for a while… sometimes a long while. MuTu System puts YOU back together again. It works on putting your head and your body back in the right place, in order that you can heal & feel like you want to feel. It doesn’t matter how long ago you had your babies.

If you’re a Mom, you need someone who knows what happens to a mom’s body when she has babies. And then after that you need someone who knows how to fit very effective, very efficient, multi tasking exercise & healthy eating into a busy Mom’s life. For the long term, & with a family & a job & a life. Me and Bethany get that, and we are at your service, Ma’am xx Wendy

A closing note from Bethany: Heal and feel like you want to feel… doesn’t that sound lovely? If you have been told to just accept how pregnancy changed your body, or if you’ve been told that your lot in life as a mother is now to sacrifice your health and fitness to spend more time with your kids, just take a moment to ponder those lies. How can you be there for your kids when you are falling apart? Wendy offers a truly amazing rehabilitation program that you can do from the comfort of your own home. It can be integrated with our Tummy Safe Path, or you can come see us after utilizing her program, and we’ll help you continue to progress. And unlike many other trainers out there who still think crunches are the answer, we won’t hurt you again.

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

It is common for women to bind their bellies after giving birth in many cultures around the world, but it is not as common within our luxury-comfort-driven society where we tend to avoid unfashionable and uncomfortable items even if they are good for us. Wrapping the stomach with a splint after giving birth, after losing a lot of weight, or after abdominal surgeries like c-sections or hernia repair can really help the abdominal muscles to pull back together. I got my splint through my physical therapist, Kelly Dean, but you can also order a FitSplint. Carrying your baby with a wrap can also be beneficial. Read this research abstract {click} about how wearing a belt helps the core activate and reduce lower back and leg pain!

The result of NOT supporting the abs during and after pregnancy is a wider diastasis that is harder to heal from because the more your abs separate, the longer it takes to pull them back together. A diastasis occurs when the fascia connective tissue of your abs separates in the middle at the linea alba. Your linea alba is the vertical trench of connective tissue that holds your middle together – the vertical line in a six-pack. During pregnancy, obesity, surgery, or other activities that stress the abdominal wall like gymnastics and swimming, the linea alba can be stretched to cellophane thinness, leading to a pooch that won’t go away no matter how many crunches you do! The sad part is that most people will think this pooch means they are fat, not injured. And YES GUYS GET IT TOO!

A weak transverse abdominus that leads to thin connective tissue in the rectus abdominus (six pack) where it splits apart is indeed an injury called a diastasis (die-ass-tuh-sees), and crunches will only make that pooch worse because they bulge the abs, not flatten them. Just like any other severe connective tissue or tendon injury, a splint and rehab are needed for this injury to the stomach wall. The happy part is that the injury is by no means permanent if you bind your belly and realign your body, but the sooner the better. I’m a believer because  via splinting and six weeks of ab rehab, but that was two years AFTER having my last child. I wish I had done it sooner, because I suffered through several years of blaming my babies for stress incontinence, lower back pain, and my baby belly … And I wasn’t as strong as I could have been. If I had bound my belly and known how to target my transverse abdominus prior to having kids, I would have been that much more of a powerful mom! But my college degree and aerobics certifications literally left out the TVA because they only focused on the six-pack and the obliques. I had to hunt this info down for myself!

Source: figure8maternity.com via Linda on Pinterest

One thing to note is that splinting and binding your belly will only be truly effective if you can strengthen your core muscles at the same time. Think of a splint like a walking cast: Doctors realized that when they put hard casts on people with broken ankles and kept them off their feet, the unloaded bones didn’t heal as fast. If you only splint and don’t remind that broken tissue what it’s meant for, you won’t heal as fast! If you have a really big gap, then you need to splint while learning new alignment and some simple core exercises to really get your core back and flat! We have incorporated diastasis-safe training into nearly all of our workouts, making them “tummy safe” because so many are unsure of where to go after they are done healing. If you believe that you may have a diastasis and not just a bunch of belly fat, please find a licenced ab rehab professional in your area to learn more about how you can heal.

 

So where do you get a good belly splint or binding?  One my members bought a Golds Gym brand wrap from Walmart and then freaked when she read the label:

“Warning: this product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm….”

There are several good abdominal splints on the market that don’t contain cancer-causing agents. I dont’ endorse any ONE particular belly binder because I think it’s important for men and women to have CHOICES in splinting. One splint might not work for everyone due to body shape, alignment and life patterns. So here are three that I have found to be good for most people. If you believe you need to splint, choose the one that resonates best with you.

Here’s the splint that Kelly Dean sells at her place of business (3 & 4 panel style, velcro in front, best for “apple” shaped tummies) … CLICK!

Here is Tupler’s Splint (new design March 15, 2013) (3 arms, velcro in back, still gathering data) … CLICK!

MomBodFitness has two FitSplints for both prenatal and postnatal (silicone layer, velcro in back, 2 arm, best for “pear” shaped tummies) … CLICK!

If you aren’t yet a member, please subscribe to our newsletter to get a free 10-minute “Totally Transverse” routine that you can just click play and watch today!

 It’s not that we want your core to always be “tight.” Rather we want to recommission your deflated core into service again! Binding the belly allows the separated sides of the abdominals to re-approximate closer together to further healing. It’s hard to stich together fabric that is being pulled apart. Kelly Dean of The Tummy Team recommends splinting when a diastasis is 3 finger-widths or wider, and she also made a strong case at her continuing education workshop for splinting to help post-partum depression regardless of presence of diastasis recti.

Splinting does the job of the Transverse Abdominus (TvA or corset muscle) but it isn’t wise to splint without strengthening the TvA, otherwise true healing cannot take place. I like to say that wraps aren’t a sign of weakness. They’re a sign of wisdom. No one would deny a cast to a person with a broken leg and tell him, “Oh just stand right, and keep your leg muscles tight, and it will get better all by itself!” Um, no. your belly is truly broken, and it needs that extra support. When the two sides of your abdominal wall have separated to 3 finger-widths or more, your belly will have a really hard time “getting a grip” again. It’s an injury, and it needs support!

 

 

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

What would you do if you could eliminate all of your current physical or financial or emotional barriers and do ANYTHING? Forget the fact that this is a Tummy Safe™ fitness site, and that you may have a diastasis. Put EVERY injury, every ache, every pain aside for a moment.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to downhill ski, but “It costs too much and I’d look ridiculous, and they probably don’t make bibs in my size!” But again I ask, what athletic feat would you strive to accomplish if you had the strength, the stamina, the patience, the fearlessness, your pre-pregnant body, the drive, the motivation TO DO IT? Here’s what some of our facebook fans had to say:

Blair –>Climb every mountain in the northwest!

Teresa–>Run for miles along the ocean and breathe in the cold misty air

Becky–>Go rock climbing! I have always thought that was so neat. Also, snow boarding!!!

Iyesha–>I’d be hiking up a tremendously tall mountain and running off it with a hanglider!

Dawn–>Triathlon!!!

I talk to a lot of people who say “I can’t.” But in my mind the word “can’t” is a dirty four-letter word that is far worse for you mind and body and soul than F*** or Sh** … My mom would add “damn” to that list because she’s sweet like that. If you have told yourself that YOU CAN’T do something because you are scared or you body is too big, too small, too weak, too fat, then you are lying to yourself and YOU are your own worst barrier to chasing the dreams that your creator has given you. Let me encourage you in this short video, but grab your kleenex first.

fit2b video blog | If you could do ANYTHING? from fit2b.us on Vimeo.

God made this world for us to explore and enjoy. His plan is NOT for you to fall apart as you age but for you to stay strong, healthy and fit. Just because you’ve been pregnant, you don’t have to settle for stress incontinence, diastasis and a weak core. Just because you had knee surgery, you don’t have to settle for never hiking again. Just because your hips are full of osteoporosis, you don’t have sit in a chair the rest of your life. In fact, the opposite is true, and you are DESIGNED to heal!!! So if you could do ANYTHING, what would YOU do? Comment below!

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

Having chiropractic work done on my spine has literally kept me on my feet through all my years of bouncing around as I teach group fitness and play hard. So when I met “Dr. Doug” at a networking event here in Portland, and he offered to guest blog for me, I jumped at the chance because I’m a firm believer in keeping bones in the right spot; because they are where our muscles attach, and if our bones aren’t lined up, then our muscles won’t be lined up! Anyway,  Dr. Doug proves the point with much more eloquence when he writes …

Dr. Doug of City Chiropractic

“As a chiropractor, I recognize the link between function and health, or lack of function and disease. This requires the detection, and subsequent correction, of the vertebral subluxation. A subluxation is defined as a joint that does not have proper movement or position, which results in impaired nervous system function, and subsequently impairs our overall health.

“Dr. James Chestnut, B.Ed., MSc., D.C., in his book Innate Physical Fitness & Spinal Hygiene, developed the term Movement Deficiency Syndrome with the major premise that movement is a required nutrient for physiological and biochemical homeostasis-to be healthy we have to move, anything less is sickness. The subluxation is a segmental movement deficiency syndrome that results in a cascade of unhealthy adaptations. If left misaligned, the condition may become chronic and lead to altered muscle tone, asymmetry, postural strain, pain and possible injury. Adjustment of the spine, then, removes the interference, reverses the problematic cascade of adaptations, and allows the body to function optimally.

“It is no wonder that over the years many high level athletes such as Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Evander Holyfield, have turned to chiropractic to give them a competitive edge. We all need that competitive edge when it comes to maintaining proper function. Whether you’re a professional athlete, a 9-5 corporate athlete, a weekend warrior, or stay-at-home mom, chiropractic will keep you moving and keep you healthy.”

For more information on chiropractic and health visit citychiro.net

Yours in Health,

Doug Davies D.C., C.C.W.P.

City Chiropractic 806 SW Broadway, Suite 350 Portland, OR 97236

503-224-9513

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!

Regardless of your background (surgeries, pregnancies, age, etc.) you CAN obtain flatter, stronger abs. It’s NOT about your six-pack, and it IS all about connecting to a certain core muscle that is often overlooked or ignored by most fitness professionals. When I graduated from Oregon State with a degree in Exercise and Sport Science, I was pretty dang sure that I had been taught everything there was to know about how to get anyone into great shape. Perhaps I knew a lot at the time, but that was back in 2001, and the thing about working in the fitness and wellness industry is that THINGS CHANGE! Real professionals will keep reading and keep researching, and I’m thankful I did just that.

Can you do this without your gut bulging? Can you do it and hold you navel down to the floor. If not, don’t do it!

To be perfectly candid, I was misled and mistaught to believe that bigger is always better, and that if you want a strong core and a thinner belly, you need to build up the six-pack (rectus abdominus) and the obliques with things like crunches, situps & planks. The more, the better, right? WRONG! The pages in my certifying manual for AFAA are now dog-eared where the information on abdominals is clearly misstated, and my college notes have been highlighted with notations leading to research that totally contradicts what I was taught.

Since college, and since subjecting my core to pregnancy and birth, I have learned the secret to a flat stomach and a rock-solid core – a core that lets you jump on the trampoline without peeing your pants, a core that pulls back in after having a baby, a core that is there for you when you need to lift something heavy like a four year old kid, a core that heals completely after abdominal surgery. And that secret is so simple, and it resides in your God-given girdle: your transverse abdominus (TVA).

No, your abs do not cross-dress (small joke!) Transverse means this abdominal muscle crosses all the way around your whole middle. It wraps around you and hugs you together! When people think of  ”abs” they usually think of the rippling, bulging six-pack, but that is only one part of a set of three muscles that make up your abdominal wall… and do you really want a BULGING six-pack? Because I have news for you: A bulging belly (outside of pregnancy) is the sign of a weak core, not a strong core! There’s some anatomy for you. Your six-pack is actually the “rectus” and we think of it as being on the outside, and most fit pros would have you believe that it’s job is to pull your ribs toward your pubic bone in that crunching motion. But when in life do you ever have cause to do a repetitive crunching motion? Now, notice how our obliques which run criss-cross applesauce, literally surround the Rectus Abdominus, letting you twist and turn and wiggle your hips! Then, below those other two more commonly known abs, you’ll find your transverse abdominus which is like a corset, circling your entire middle from your spine all the way around to your navel.

Okay, when am I going to tell you how to have a flat stomach? Not until I tell you why you DON’T have a flat stomach! There are two main reasons hinging on hundreds of personal history factors why your stomach doesn’t get flatter no matter how much core work and dieting you’ve done. First, you have likely suffered and subjected yourself to far too much intra-abdominal pressure. Second, your abs are unlike any other muscle in the body because they don’t entirely connect just bone to bone; your abs are joined together by a thick band of connective tissue called the “linea alba” that runs down your middle. Many personal trainers and well educated fitness professionals have been taught how to ISOLATE each muscle in the body in order to focus upon and build up every weak area, but the ABS ARE NOT ISOLATED. The Abs are CONNECTED, conjoined triplets if you will. They are anatomically and physiologically JOINED by the linea alba.

The pilates criss cross is very hard on the linea alba, so avoid it if you have a diastasis.

HERE IT IS: You do not have a flat stomach because your linea alba has been stretched out and thinned and injured by too much intra-abdominal pressure. During pregnancy, a baby causes intra-abdominal pressure (hello, the precious wee one grows in there and pushes out on your abdominal wall!) and that separation is normal and expected, but it’s not supposed to stay that way! Internal organ fat causes internal pressure that pushes out…Bending over a lot and letting the weight of your organs fall against your abdominal wall without pulling in your navel…Sitting at a desk job for hours a day and just “letting it all hang out”…Playing sports or dancing or gymnastics where the ribs flare and the spine extends a lot and stretches the abs out…Surgery where the abs have been sliced through so “the flex” doesn’t even work right anymore….

The Solution: You can get a flat stomach by healing your linea alba via the strengthening of your transverse abdominus. Huh? Layman’s terms please! Go back and look at that anatomy picture and visualize those two red rectus sections pulling apart when the linea alba separates during overstretching and overworking during sports or pregnancy or just the daily grind of a job that has you bent forward a lot so you belly hangs down. Imagine how the core connection gets totally sliced during surgery! The nerves are cut! And when people see that they have a pooch, they’ve been programmed and brainwashed to believe that crunches are the thing to do to get rid of that pooch.

Click for a FREE video that tests your TRUE core strength!

Don’t believe me on the brainwashing thing? Look at the main picture on most abdominal articles: It’s usually a crunch or sit-up! I’m sure you’ve heard someone say to a pouting child, “Be careful, if you make that face too much, it will stick that way.” That is how your abs are. If you carry a baby for 9 months, or your belly is pressured outward by always leaning forward, or your muscles have been surgically sliced so you couldn’t pull your belly in if someone paid you, then you are stuck with it that way: Your transverse is weak and deflated. Your linea alba is stretched and thinned. And all the crunches in the world won’t make it better, because crunches INCREASE abdominal pressure!!! Get on the floor and do a crunch! What does you gut do? Do you want it to stay that way? Every thoroughly trained personal trainerknows that “Form follows function.” Do you want the form of your stomach to follow the function of crunches?

 Click for a video showing you how to check for Diastasis

So what can you do if you think your core is messed up? First, figure out if you have a diastasis (die-ass-tuh-sees) which is what this injury is called. If you have a huge split in your abs, you’ll need to heal it because living with a fat-looking gut and weak abs when you’ve tried your hardest to get rid of it and only made it worse isn’t healthy. Plus, the transverse is tied to your pelvic health, too, and abdominal rehab could very well improve your sex life and bladder issues!!!

Yoga poses increase abdominal pressure but do not directly stress the linea alba, so it is just very important to belly breathe, pulling your abs to your spine with each exhale.

Having a flat stomach is not about a pill or a diet, or a weird vibrating mechanism. It’s about a devotion to your core health and strengthening one of the biggest muscles in your entire body: The Transversalis (another name for it). If you want a bulging belly, keep doing 300 crunches a day. If you want a flat stomach that will truly hold you together and make you “fit to be” climbing mountains and playing with your kids and chasing dreams, then pull your belly-button to your spine through all that you do. If you can’t, go do ab rehab. It’s that simple. This site offers crunch-free workouts that cater to those who suspect or know they have a diastasis.

Sign up for our email newsletter (right) and try our 10-minute “Totally Transverse” workout today!

Why build a whole site around this “notion” if it’s so rare, though? Because it’s NOT rare! Open your eyes to all the moms who aren’t pregnant who still look pregnant! Open your eyes to the super-buff people who have mysterious pot-guts. Open your eyes to the men who look really fit in their legs, arms, back, necks, but NOT their bellies. You call it a beer belly. I call it diastasis recti. Read about the public service campaign to CHECK YOUR BELLY BEFORE YOU WRECK YOUR BELLY!

Thank you for reading the Fit2Blog today! What are your thoughts about what you read? Please leave a reply or a question, and be sure you’re taking advantage of our amazing TummySafe™ workouts!