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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!

‎A new member recently posted in our private member forum: “I’m a mother of 2 with my second pregnancy ending in a c-section as a result of my diastisis that went unnoticed (the midwife at the delivery was appalled that no one had addressed the problem, yet had little advice to offer me afterwards). Having a diastisis of at least an 8 at the widest (and I’m a petite person), many professionals that I saw wanted to steer me towards surgery, perhaps, or pass me off to some one else. In the months following delivery, I finally became educated as to how to deal with this issue, and was amazed at the lack of knowledge in this area exhibited by those I saw. Having just joined Fit2B Studio last week, I wanted to let everyone know how much I appreciate all the thoughts/comments being posted.” – Fit2B in Maine, Samantha

When I shared her comment on our main facebook fan page, a friend of mine, Donna in Washington, added another thought: “This makes me wonder about a few things. I’ve had 4 pregnancies, 3 beautiful boys. My last 2 pregnancies I was on bedrest (6 weeks and more than 20+ weeks). The doctor believes that my pregnancies will continue to be tougher on my body. Do you think if I got my tummy repaired by tummy team that this would change?”

Several who have healed their bellies under the care of Kelly Dean, Founder of The Tummy Team, commented that they believed Donna could definitely benefit from healing her abs. My answer to Donna took a more “spiritual” angle that I now want to share with you because I sometimes struggle to find words to sum up my belief that our Creator never meant for women to suffer with the hopeless darkness of diastasis recti. And we see that proof in our how bodies are designed. Here’s what I wrote…

“YES, I do think that healing your core will dramatically affect your future pregnancies. When there is a large diastasis, the abs simply cannot do their job correctly, and the effect on how the baby is carried, how the baby is positioned for birth, how well you can push, how your bladder is pushed on, and perhaps even how the placenta is held in place (my own unresearched theory) are all factors that come into play. Yet the core is heal-able! We don’t have to settle for those problems. Our loving Creator designed us to carry many children, and I don’t believe that “Eve’s curse” damns us to suffering forever AFTER birth. We are created to heal! It’s our fallen world’s patterns and positions that perpetuate cycles of unhealth and unhealing. When we look at the intelligent design of how our bones are supposed to align and naturally engage our bodies without CRAZY workouts, you see the hope. That’s why my site’s stuff is so alignment-based and focused on loving, functional movements.”

If you’re a member, you really need to try our new “Align it Flat” routine which is not about flattening your spine but about getting a flatter tummy just by positioning your body in the proper load-bearing stance so that your belly isn’t bulging out with effort all the time. If you’re pregnant right now, you need to read my article entitled, Three Exercises for a Strong Birth.

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!

Whether you get an epidural or not, birthing a baby takes strength and power. If you think you’re going to experience a few contractions that will just hurt a little bit, and then you’ll get an epidural and lie there until the doctor or midwife says to push… or if you think that you’ll “try” to go natural and you might “try” squatting… or even if you are planning a c-section… well, labor and delivery and recovery – no matter what type of birth you are hoping for – will take the MOST stamina and endurance ever required of you!

Founder of Fit2B Studio, Bethany Learn, in labor with her son. She has just climbed out of the tub, and she is STANDING during a gnarly contraction! Her sister is giving counter-pressure.

If you go natural, you’ll need to be physically prepared to change positions, sitting, standing, squatting, kneeling on all fours to work with your body and baby as the rushes move your baby through the birth canal. If you have a c-section, your abdominals will be cut through, and the stronger they are before that surgery, the faster of a recovery you’ll make. If you have an epidural, you still need to practice perfect pushing … and it’s NOT like pushing out a big poo!

(the BLUE words are links that will take you to some amazing articles on our site and others, so click ‘em!)

Knowing how to push right, having the strength to be in the position that is most comfortable for you during contractions, being connected to your abdominals so your core can work for you and not against you – ALL of that is KEY to a successful strong birth! Here are three exercises you can work on NOW for a better birthing experience.

Squatting

I squatted at various times during both of my natural hospital labors. It was part of my very long type-written birth plan, and the doula-trained nurses were ready for me! With my daughter, I used a squatting bar. With my son, I had one arm around my husband’s neck and one around my best friend’s neck while I squatted. My husband later said he was worried about me tearing his head completely off as I roared our son into the world.

How relieved I was to scoop my boy up into my arms! See my bestie and my hubby holding me in a sitting position? See the squatting bar?

Don’t assume you know how to squat just because you’ve watered a forest floor at some point in your life. It would be awful to come out of delivery with no tears “down there” but the start of a tear in your knee cartilage! Good squatting form is something to practice and build strength for PRIOR to pregnancy and during your pregnancy. It takes muscle, endurance and a little know-how so you don’t wreck your knees while giving birth.

• The Goddess Pose from yoga - This is great if you can center your knees over your feet. Your knees and feet should both be aligned WIDE, just outside your hip line. If your knees are wider than your feet, then you are asking for cartilage damage. Find and practice this BEFORE labor so you sink into it naturally when the urge comes. Again, don’t assume that getting an epidural means you won’t be doing squats. Many friends of mine who got epidurals were still placed in squatting positions by their nurses when baby wouldn’t come down.
• Ball on Wall – lean against a ball against a wall while doing regular squats, so that your body is upright and you don’t increase your diastasis by leaning forward too much (good to lean forward during birth and while “spinning babies”…not good to lean forward a lot during exercise while pregnancy. READ: no planks, mamas!). Be sure you can see your toes peeking out from under your knees. Squeeze your glutes on the way up. Tighten your core on the way down. If you feel any knee discomfort, adjust your stance.

Transverse Tightening

Take a deep breath and let your belly expand with air. Now exhale and pull your navel inward toward your spine. This “vacuum” or “sucking in” motion utilizes your corset muscle, formally known as your transverse abdominus (TVA). During pregnancy, your TVA gets very stretched out, as do the rest of your ab muscles, causing a natural diastasis recti (split in your six-pack). Your diastasis will close MUCH faster if you find your transverse, work it, connect to it, use it during labor, and start using it again right after birth. Tightening your transverse is more important than crunches and planks, because this is your flattening muscle that assists the uterus in pushing during labor.

Your TVA is also the muscle you want to focus on while binding your belly after birth! Many moms will see their pooch after baby comes and “feel fat” and immediately think crunches and/or planks are the answer. That is so far from the truth, and if you have a trainer who thinks that a postnatal body should do crunches or planks, sack ‘em because they aren’t up the current research! Before and after birth, your TVA is your best friend for getting your hot body back! Check out these articles on avoiding crunches and the role of your transverse abdominus.

• This article by the Colic Calm Journal has some great info about TVA, crunches and diastasis, but I disagree with not laughing during pregnancy! Also, she talks about how front carriers make diastasis worse (my Ergo helped mine!)
• This is a research abstract that studied “The Effects of an Exercise Program on Diastasis Recti Abdominis in Pregnant Women” as published in the Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy Volume 29, No 1 Spring, 2005 
• The MuTu system in the UK has some amazing info on this condition as well! She has a stellar 12-week program for moms who are ready to heal their diastasis and start implementing fitness as well!

Side Bridge

Okay, this is one of my favorite exercises of all time. I was able to do it clear to the end of both of my pregnancies, and it’s a great alternative to the plank or crunches. It won’t make your diastasis worse, and it works your triceps, shoulders, medial glutes, obliques and more muscles than my fingers can type right now! What’s more, the side bridge has so many modifications that you’ll never get bored. We feature many side bridge (sometimes called the side plank) styles and alternatives all over in our Maternity Mix workouts! Our new mama members just love them! Do them on your elbow and knees, or on your elbow and feet, or on your hand and knees, or on your hand and feet, or add side leg motions, or hold a dumbbell and …. you see? Who needs crunches????

Bethany having fun doing side planks with Chris' boys on the set of "Robot Yoga"

You have the strength to carry a child on the inside, and you’ll have the strength to carry that child on the outside if you keep your body AND your mind strong. Your body was CREATED to give birth, to bring forth life, to nurture life. You’ll know what to do in each moment of birth and beyond, but will you listen to yourself?

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!

Just like having an injured shoulder changes how you lift weights with your arms, the same is true for your abs, and a very common injury known as diastasis merits major changes in your core routine. However, I can’t begin to number how many personal trainers, group fitness personnel, and dance instructors whom I have personally spoken to that don’t know what a diastasis is, how to train around it, or how to check for it. What is even more terrifying is the complacency I see among certified trainers and instructors who think they have already arrived and know everything there is to know about the core. If you are a trainer or instructor of any sort within the fitness, therapeutic, dance, aerobics, strength training or athletic communities, consider this your call to action: Find out how to check for diastasis and learn some alternative exercises for those who have it.

This is an awesome, catchy, new campaign slogan being put out by one of the leading ab rehab experts, and I hope you saw the LIVE Press Briefing that aired on ustream at 10 a.m. on December 5th, 2011. If not, here is a quick video we filmed about how to check your belly yourself. Diastasis Recti has been tied to stress incontinence (peeing your pants when you laugh, jump, sneeze, or cough), chronic lower back pain, bowel troubles, the infamous mummy tummy pooch that we are starting to see in men (beer belly), and more!  Please, please watch this for your own health!

If you do have a diastasis, which is a split in the outermost abdominal muscles, or if your clients have one, you need to avoid forward forceful flexion of those muscles which causes them to split more, at least until the connective tissue has healed, and you need to strengthen your transverse abdominus (god-given girdle). Removing the injurious activities and re-cinching the underlying muscles will ensure that the injury does not recur. Not too sure? Think you’ve got a pretty strong core, and you don’t need this? Try the simple test in this video…

Those videos were filmed at Fit2B Studio with guest expert, Kelly Dean of The Tummy Team. Our founder, Bethany Learn, has trained with Kelly and worked with her to offer a line of tummy-safe workouts on this site. Bethany experienced the damage and strain of diastasis herself after thinking she was buff enough to ignore the warnings against crunches during pregnancy. After three pregnancies and not being able to get her core totally back the way she wanted it, Bethany went beyond the basic training she had received through her AFAA certification and her degree from OSU, and sought to understand the missing link. Read her story of core transformation by clicking here!

If you are currently working with a personal trainer, take time to inform him or her of this important public service announcement. I would not be surprised if every trainer out there has at least a small diastasis, because of how much direct core work that most trainers and instructors do, thinking that it will make their abs stronger. Many are taught how to check for diastasis at a full crunch flex, but we don’t live our lives in a full crunch, walking around all hunched over! We live our lives with our abs relaxed, so the above “how to check for diastasis” video shows a more accurate way to check. Guys can get it, too! Watch this video!

If you as a personal trainer are not interested in hearing what I or your clients are telling you about diastasis and how it tragically affects a woman’s ability to fully recover from pregnancy and a man’s ability to recover from surgery, hernias and more…If you can’t design a workout minus crunches or planks, please make a change today. Learn how to check people’s bellies; it’s no more invasive that a caliper body fat pinch test. Learn how to work the core without crunches and prone positions. It will bring MORE clients to your door, not fewer. Contact me if you are taking the n0-crunch pledge so I can add you to a growing list of tummy-safe providers worldwide. This is not about brand and business, this is about people…helping people! Stay tuned for an upcoming blog with lots of great non-crunchy core exercises. I only want to help get the word out.

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!

Being pregnant and having babies ruins our waistlines…Getting older ruins our waistlines…Eating too much ruins our waistlines…Or does it? These framed photos on the wall of my favorite local antique shop caught my eye. They’re from a bygone era that didn’t have photo shop, but perhaps they were still re-touched or re-drawn a bit? Well, I posted the picture on  my personal facebook wall with a comment that said, “These old dames had healthy TVA’s… No crunches back then.”

Just watch any old black and white movie, and you'll see how tiny their waists were back then!

Of course, my beloved FB friends instantly chimed in with some funny and some serious replies which I love! One said, “…healthy bodies don’t usually look like these drawings or the girls in magazines. Real women with healthy bodies usually have a little more girth and–you know what?–it’s sexier anyway!” And one posted this picture on her wall and tagged me in it, saying, “For Bethany: happy, active women from a bygone era.”

The poster said, "Note that despite their well formed figures non of them appear to have a "gut" so to speak, and they all have a bit of a waist as well…

These women are happy and moving and enjoying life. I doubt they did any pilates or yoga – let alone crunches – and they do have a waistline, something that has virtually disappeared from the middles of modern women. I’m all for embracing who we are, but I shudder at what the lack of core control — which is directly related to the shape and state of our bellies — does to the rest of us. A weak transverse abdominus (TVA) is physically linked, not just to a distended and pregnant-looking belly, but also to bowel problems, incontinence (peeing pants), lower back pain, and even sexual disfunction. I just don’t think we are supposed to accept THAT part of being human when we can DO something about it.

These women have let their middles go! They are not just overweight, but they also have weak cores.

What’s amazing is that it is the women who do NOT do crunches or  direct core work who have the strongest and smallest midsections. I’m not saying they don’t exercise, though. Research is pointing to how crunches bulge the belly (try one and see what your tummy does). crunches are a waist of time (get it?) because they do more harm than good, and who has time for trying to tone one muscle at a time. These tribal women have excellent cores, and I’d bet they’ve never done a single crunch. Belly dancing really is good for your baby belly, by the way.

See the hourglass figures? That is a sign of a fairly healthy core.

Unfortunately, I see more and more women AND men who are skinny or even buff all over, but they have these mysterious pregnant pooches. I, even I, used to wonder why: were they just storing extra fat around their organs? Were they bloated? Were their muscles torn? It’s the last one. Their TVA is torn.

This woman is not pregnant, so what is going on with her belly?

It’s been stressed from pregnancy, overstretching, sitting at a desk too much, leaning forward all the time, or even sliced during surgery. The connective tissue that is supposed to be holding them together in the middle has thinned out and separated into a diastasis. Here’s a fun one, guess which Twilight wolf has a diastasis?

Just look at the vertical line in the abs of each wolf. Jacob's looks alright, but the linea alba of the middle man has a wider split in it. Not good.

Okay, stop drooling over the Twilight boys. This is supposed to be a wholesome blog for moms, so some of you will have to forgive me for that last one; I just couldn’t resist. I’d love to talk with that guy about his abs, though

My workouts that are marked as “TS for tummy safe” are all safe for guys and gals who have experienced abdominal trauma including surgery, extreme sports, pulled muscles, umbilical hernia, diastasis, irritable bowel syndrome, c-section, or just dunlap disease. Dunlap disease is where your belly done lapped over yer belt

Okay I’m done now…

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!

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!

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!

You think you’re strong? Maybe you are. You might have well-defined six-pack abs and be able to complete 100 push-ups without a single break. You also might be able to do endless Yoga poses and run marathons three times a year. But if you don’t know what your transverse abdominus is and how to strengthen it, you might not be as strong as you think.

Watch this quick video and take the test. It looks easy, but it might not be. I’ve been a certified group fitness instructor for 14 years. I’m strong. I failed the test. I am now doing diastasis rehab with The Tummy Team. This is not a sales pitch for them, though. It’s enlightenment for you. So test your transverse. I dare you. And stay tuned for upcoming workouts on our site that specifically target this typically weak area.

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!