No More Mummy Tummy

For the 2nd in her Guest Blogging series, Mummy Tummy Begone guru Wendy Powell provides us with some mummy tummy solutions that will have all of us saying “No More Mummy Tummy!”  Thank you Wendy…we love you!

Good morning Mums! Are you ready for phase 2?? Of course you have all been zipping up your split abdominal muscles 30 times a day since we last spoke…

BTW if that sentence sounds utterly absurd, please check out last week’s guest post about diastasis recti – the vital first stage of diagnosing & dealing with your mummy tummy!

This week I’m going to introduce you to the deep muscles of your tummy. Yes. You have muscles in your tummy, & waist, & lower back…. There’s even a couple in your pelvic floor which you may have temporarily lost touch with They all just need to be woken up!

You’ve probably heard of your ‘core’. You may have dabbled in Pilates (or at least stood in a class wondering what everyone else was feeling – because you couldn’t feel anything at all…). Well THE most important exercises you can do are those that strengthen your CORE. Basically your core is your middle: front, sides, back & underneath. It is the group of deep muscles that provide stabilization for your spine. If they are not activated & strong, then your spine, pelvis & joints are placed under a lot of stress – leading to a saggy tummy & back problems or pain.

When your core is weak, then your ‘outer’ muscles (such as the large glute muscles on your backside), step in, trying to stabilize your pelvis & lower back. This causes tightness & instability. When your pelvic floor (the ‘underneath’ part of your core) is weak, the deeper muscles weaken & lengthen, & your lower back curve begins to increase (ie bad posture ie saggy tummy again).

The first core muscle you’re going to meet is the Transverse Abdominus (I’m going to call it TVA from now on) – the deepest, innermost layer of all abdominal muscles. It stretches around your mid section like a corset. If the TVA muscle does not engage properly, acting as a girdle around your waist to stabilize your spine & pelvis, you are at much higher risk of back pain or injury. (Oh, & a saggy mummy tummy… )

When you bend down to pick up your child or a basket of washing, if you’re not using your TVA, then the segments of your spine tighten, but the stabilizer (TVA) does not, leaving the spine to work on its own. The muscles of the spine cannot provide enough muscular strength… & your back ‘goes’.

Core muscle No. 2 is multifidus – lying deep in your spine & spanning three joints to provide essential stabilization. You’ll make that work by using TVA properly.

Last & by no means least, is an old friend that may need a nudge to get re-acquainted… your pelvic floor muscles...

Incidentally, this is all linked to the gap in the outermost layer at the front (the diastasis recti we covered last week), because all these muscles are connected to one another.

So as well as all the above reasons to strengthen your core, anything that brings TVA IN, will bring rectus abdominus (the one with the gap) TOGETHER.

FINDING & ENGAGING TRANSVERSE ABDOMINUS

To start identifying & ‘engaging’ TVA, you need to ‘belly breathe‘(also known as ‘abdominal breathing’ if you do yoga or can remember any of those antenatal classes). Sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor & place your hands on your belly. Breathe in, fill your lungs & let your belly expand. Then exhale, emptying your lungs, whilst drawing your belly button right back towards your spine. Keep your shoulders down & your neck relaxed.

Remember to exhale as you draw your abdomen inwards, & inhale as you allow your tummy to expand & your lungs to fill. Don’t raise & lower your chest (it’s all in the belly), don’t hunch your shoulders, & don’t hold your breath.

The muscle moving your abdomen in & out, the wall of muscle you can feel (even if there’s fat on top – it’s muscle underneath!) is your TVA.

We’re now going to invite your pelvic floor (PF) to join the party. Your pelvic floor muscles act as a muscular ’sling’ which supports your internal organs (it literally holds them in preventing prolapse), provides bladder & sphincter control & gives you better orgasms. So it’s pretty important . Many, many mums are all too familiar with ’stress incontinence’: a slight leak (or worse) when coughing, sneezing, jumping, trying to run for a bus or laughing.

Kegels are often described as stopping yourself from urinating, but are actually more effective if you imagine trying not to fart. I’m serious… if you pull in your sphincter muscles (but don’t squeeze your buttocks), your vaginal muscles will also tighten. Then imagine you’re trying to stop yourself from urinating – try to differentiate & identify front, middle & back. Squeeze & release them from front to back, then back to front. Are we having fun yet? J

Try quick squeezes, as you contract & release the muscles for just a second at a time. Do this 10 times, rest for a couple of seconds, & then do another 10.

Do longer ones. Starting with 5 seconds, repeat 5 times. Take a minute break then do the set again. You can build up to 10 second holds with 10 repetitions.

Do both types & aim to do the whole set 3 times a day (30 a day). These exercises are the differences between post-baby bladder control & wetting yourself. They’re worth it…

Important to remember when doing pelvic floor exercises / kegels:

• Don’t hold your breath. Try counting out loud to make sure you breathe
• When you release, don’t push out or down, just let go
• Make sure other, bigger muscles aren’t doing the work instead – there should be NO contraction in your backside, stomach or inner thigh muscles
• Your pelvis, tummy, shoulders or anything else shouldn’t move – make sure you isolate the important pelvic floor muscles

Time for some multi-tasking now (this I know you can do). These exercises require that you contract TVA IN (belly button to spine, shoulders down) at the same time as drawing UP your pelvic floor… at the same time as breathing OUT, whilst keeping every other muscle in your body relaxed. Got that? You might want to come back to that checklist a few times! Oh, & BREATHE. All muscles are much happier whilst breathing…

HEEL SLIDE: Lie on your back with feet flat on the floor & knees bent. Breathe in, then as you exhale, engage TVA & PF & slide one heel away from you, keeping the heel in contact with the floor. On the next out-breath draw the heel gently back to you. Keep your pelvis perfectly still & stable throughout. Repeat 5 times each leg (alternating legs)

Heel Slide

MINI SUPERMUM

From all fours with your hands directly underneath your shoulders with your elbow slightly bent. Raise your left hand & right knee an inch off the ground Hold this position for 10 seconds & repeat with the right hand & left knee. Again, alternate & keep going for 2 minutes. It’s hard to tell in the pic, but my right knee is off the floor! Make sure to not allow the hamstring to flex the lower legs toward the ceiling & that the pelvis does not load (shift) into the hip that is in contact with the ground.

Mini Super Mum

SUPERMUM

As above, but this time take the opposite arm & leg right up so they are reaching straight out in front & behind you. Hold for 5 seconds, lower & do the other side. Repeat 10 times each side.

Super Mum

These 3 exercises both help you to identify & engage your core, as well as strengthen it. The next one is the ‘Mummy’ of tummy exercises. Do a Plank for a minute & it’s worth a hundred sit-ups. In fact it’s even better than that. Because sit-ups strain your lower back & don’t actually work your core at all. Forget them, never do them again & plank every morning & night instead!

Note: You will not be able to hold this position for more than few seconds at first. Drop to your knees, keeping everything pulled in – if you can feel your tummy working, then its working. Don’t risk back injury by trying to stay there if everything is shaking & your back sags – it can be just as effective from your knees!

THE PLANK

A great core exercise that really works the lower back as well (don’t try a full plank until you have mastered your TVA activation exercises & belly breathing). Lie on your front with your elbows bent to your sides. Tuck your toes under & push up onto your forearms, holding your body in a straight line. Keep TVA & PF activated & don’t forget to breathe! NOTE: breathe steadily but keep TVA activated (belly button to spine) the WHOLE TIME. The reason this exercise is so effective is that your tummy is doing all the work – if you ‘let go’ your back will sag, taking your full body weight & giving you back pain.

Do all these exercises daily & you will start to see a difference in 6 weeks.

Think about the ‘bellybutton to spine’ contraction with everything you do – not just when you’re specifically exercising your abs. When you sneeze, cough, pick up your baby, do any type of exercise, stand up from a crouching position, or turn around.

For a while it will be a very conscious effort, but brain & muscle will get to know each other quite quickly, & it will be a more natural, unconscious contraction after a few weeks.

Tell me how you get on – I am used to demonstrating, correcting & guiding in person, & so if anything is not clear, then please tell me! Any problems let me know. In fact just so I know you’re doing it – let me know!

Next week: We’ve done the muscles underneath. Now for the fat that lies on top…