QuestionQUESTION: Hi Helen,
I am 16 months post-partum and have a 3-finger width diastasis and protruding belly that makes me look about 5 months pregnant, since I am very slim. I have been doing your program for 6 weeks, starting with the gentle first moves for 3 weeks, and then gradually adding exercises from the bounce back fast workout. I can definitely feel a difference in the strength of my abdominal wall, but there has been no change in the shape or size of the protrusion. I perform the exercises in front of a mirror to ensure that my stomach does not bulge when I'm doing the exercises, and have also performed them with my trainer who says I am doing them correctly. I really expected to see some change by now, as I do them every day. How long should I expect it to take to see some real flattening of my belly? I need my body back! Thanks,
Melanie
ANSWER: Most women see a change in the shape of their abdomens quickly. Make sure that you do not have daily habits that might be impeding your progress. You need to stand, lift and carry, and go through other daily activities with a neutral/vertical pelvis.
All women experience a tipping of the pelvis during pregnancy and after childbirth the pelvis needs to be realigned. If you maintain the tipped alignment, then the abdominal muscles are held in a stretched position, and this interferes with muscle shortening. In addition, when the pelvis is tipped, it's easy to drop you body weight down, and then viscera tends to fall/be pushed down and out and into the abdominal wall, causing roundness. This also stresses the mid line.
Lots of women unintentionally push their abs outward during lifting and carry their babies too. Make sure you are not doing this.
You can also add on manual splinting of the Rectus Abdominis with the fingers, and push the mid line closed, as you do the exercises. Some women really like splinting and it works well for some, others not so much. But if you do decided to splint, make sure that you constantly tighten your TvA and try to pull your abdomen away from your fingers. Splinting does not make up for TvA strength.
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QUESTION: Hi Helen, I do try to keep my bikini triangle flat as much as I can remember during the day, but it really later in the day that it becomes difficult. By evening time, I find it very diffult to stop my pelvis from tipping forward. My stomach also sticks out a lot after I eat, making it difficult to align properly. does this happen to others or is it just me? Thanks for your advice.
Melanie
AnswerEvery new mom faces this issue. Your pelvis has tipped in response to the weight of your tummy when you were pregnant, to keep you from falling over. So your body has "learned" this as a neuro-muscular pattern or habit. Keep focusing on your posture and it will get better as you retrain your body into a new and better postural habit. Most women find this harder to do at the end of the day because of fatigue, and drop their body weight down and sag into the bones. And when this is done with a tipped pelvis, the abdomen protrudes.
Right now your abdominal muscles are still too long, and can really bulge outward if faced with internal abdominal pressure. Align from you pelvis, build a neutral spine on top of that, then tighten your TvA. If you try to start with your abs, you won't achieve the goal. When you get stronger and your muscles shorten, it will become easier and more natural for you to maintain good posture.
