QuestionQUESTION: Hello!
I purchased the "Bounce Back Fast" dvd a few weeks ago. I am 8 weeks postpartum and my upper abs are still separated. My lower abs below my belly button are tight and closed. Since my 6 week checkup I have done the dvd workout for separated abs twice (skipping a day between workouts.) There are a few questions I have:
1. How many times should I do the dvd? I am trying to do it every other day.
2. Does sucking in and focusing on pulling my belly button to my spine help me with closing the upper tranverse abdominals?
3. Each morning I go for an hour long walk with my son in a Baby Bjorn. Is this hurting my efforts to close the gap? I try to pull my belly button in towards my spine as much as I can while I walk.
4. The band that was included with my dvd tends to roll while I am splinting my abs. Should I continue to use it like that (is it still effective) or should I use a scarf in a similar way?
5. If I do the dvd every other day (or more if you recommend), when can I expect to see results? I am trying not to obsess and check my abs constantly because I know it isn't an instant fix.
Thank you for such a wonderful, user friendly dvd! Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can offer...I am a very active person and can't wait to get running and lifting again. I am doing my very best to be careful with my recovery, but it is creating anxiety that I have a lot of damage and I need some reassurance!
ANSWER: How wide is your mid line above your belly button?
When/after you walk with your baby in the front pack, does your back hurt, or does your mid line hurt?
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QUESTION: I would say it is 2.5-3 fingers wide from my belly button up. Below it is closed up tight. I don't have any pain with the walking. This morning I ran (very slowly) and it felt okay. I made a concentrated effort to pull my belly button back to my spine.
Another question I have is, my midwife told me to take a big breath in and then pull my belly button back to my spine and to try and do this 30 times. Will this help my upper abdominals?
AnswerYou can try two things.
First is to manually splint your Rectus Abdominis closed, with your hands, especially since the band tends to roll up when you exercise. You can see a demonstration of this on page http://befitmom.com/abdominal_separation.html. The model is pregnant, and her hands are placed lower than what you need, but the basic move is the same. Use this splinting technique on all of the exercises that utilize the belly scoop technique, as well as the three exercises where you wrapped the band around your abdomen.
You can also work just the upper portion of your abs in "Rib Closure." This exercise didn't make the cut of the DVD, but I use it a lot in the class room.
Sit tall, either on the floor or on the edge of a chair. Take the fitness band and wrap it snuggly around your lower rib cage. (Hold the loose ends with each hand, so that the band is crossed in front of your body. Try to keep the band as wide as possible.)
Inhale deeply, then on the exhale, hiss, contracting your Transverse Abdominis as much as you can as you pull your ribs closer together. The band will assist you in narrowing you rib cage. Then pull the band a bit tighter and repeat the breathing and tightening sequence. Make sure that your belly does not pop out during inhalation (like the Belly Lacing exercise.) Women with a high diastasis almost always have very stretched out lower ribs. Normally the rib cage narrows and tapers down, but for some postpartum women the ribs are more cylindrical, or sometimes even flare a bit and this causes the upper part of the mid line to be wider too. So narrowing the lower part of the rib cage helps to close the upper mid line.
