Postpartum Core Strengthening: When to Progress After Pregnancy

Question
After my twins were born, I had about a two-finger wide separation.  I purchased your book "Exercise After Pregnancy" and have been doing the first of exercises for several weeks.  How do I know when I am ready to move on to the next chapter, and then on to the third?  Also, how will I know when my transverse abdominal muscles are ready to go back to "traditional" exercises like crunches?  I do not want to make my separation any worse than it is.  I used to have a six pack, and now by the end of the day I look pregnant if I don't constantly flex and "suck it in."
Thanks!

Answer
It takes about three weeks of concentrated work for the TvA to get strong enough to provide enough internal control for the second series of exercises. When you do the side lying Belly Lacing exercise, if you can dramatically change the shape of your abdomen, then your TvA is strong enough to progress to the Knitting Back Together chapter.

By this time, you should also be able to do a deep Hollow Pelvic Tilt, and feel that you abdominals are working intensely in this move.

When you transition to the next exercises, make sure that you can maintain the deep scooped out position of your tummy, and that your abdomen NEVER pushes outward. When this happens, it means that the TvA is no longer functioning as a stabilizer. If this occurs in your body, shorten your range of motion to find out where you have control and can maintain proper positioning.

This is especially important when repairing diastasis, as these types of movements stretch the mid line and if done habitually, will prevent closure.

Because you say "by the end of the day I look pregnant" this means that you still have abdominal laxity, meaning your abdominal musculature is still elongated. Moms of twins generally have more stretched out abs than moms of singletons. This means your road back will be a little longer, but is definitely doable!

As to your mid line tissue, the effects of pregnancy hormones can last anywhere from 6 to 9 months postpartum. You can check this by the depth of your mid line. Directly after pregnancy, it's easy to push the finger tips in fairly deeply along the mid line. But as the tissue becomes denser and more elastic, then you will feel the gap becoming more and more shallow.

I advise you to wait until your mid line tissue is very strong and dense before moving into exercises like crunches without manual splinting.