I have decided to periodically post great results that I am seeing lately to let women know that surgery or perpetual frustration does not have to be the answer. There is hope for your abdominals POST PREGNANCY!!
I have one woman in one of my classes who just had her 2nd baby 5 months ago. Shet had a 5 fingerwidth separation of the recti three inches above the belly button, a SEVEN fingerwidth separation of the recti right AT the belly button, and a 4 fingerwidth separation of the recti three inches below the bellybutton. (We always measure the diastasis in these three areas). This case would be considered by many doctors and most plastic surgeons, if not all, to be a prime tummy tuck candidate to artifically bring the recti together.
Well, first thing she did was get a Splint to bring the two halves of her recti in closer approximation. You can get a splint if you are two fingerwidths apart. The larger the gap, the more pronounced the need to splint the recti. She even wore hers to bed, so she would train herself not to jackknife out of bed.
She did 5 to 7 sets of 100 a day of seated tuplers. Since she is a working mom, she would do all her sets on her commute to and from work. She would say, “I’m going to do 2 sets by the time I reach Aurora” and things like that to give her a goal.
By the time the 6th week rolled around, we retested – she was 2 on the top, 3 in the middle, and 3 on the bottom – MARKED improvement.
The 8th (and final) class rolled around. We measured her recti – TOTALLY CLOSED – TOP, MIDDLE, AND BOTTOM. We measured her waist as well – 32.5 inches before, and 30.5 inches after – TWO inches lost. Total time to close a LARGE diastasis and get back her prepregnancy midsection? 8 WEEKS!!
Her husbands comments that last week (who she claimes never notices anything), “You look kinda hot in that tank top.”
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Another girl I trained during a private 3 session course was a very tall, dancer’s body, slender woman. She was frustrated about her tummy not looking right, 6 years after having twins. She had a FOUR fingerwidth gap on the top part of her recti, a FIVE fingerwidth gap in the middle – right at the bellybutton – and a FOUR fingerwidth gap on the bottom. Her waist – 29 1/8 inches. She was also what would be considered by many to be a prime tummy tuck candidate due to the separation of her recti.
She immediately got a Splint to approximate the recti. She did her 5 sets of 100 seated tuplers a day and by the 2nd session (two weeks later) was down to CLOSED recti at the top, 2 fingerwidth split in the middle, and ONE fingerwidth split on the bottom. Her waist size 27 5/8 – down 1 1/2 inches.
She continued to do her 5 sets of 100, get up and down correctly, avoid “crunches”, and wear the splint. We measured her after the 3rd session and she was CLOSED on top, CLOSED in the middle, and CLOSED on the bottom. Total time to close her diastasis and get back her prepregnancy midsection? 6 weeks!
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Do you know of anyone who has a “mummy tummy”? Feel free to spread the word – its VERY HARD information to find. Most practitioners, surgeons and most personal trainers DO NOT KNOW this is out there for their clients and patients! Spread the word and give some hope for those who don’t know that there is an answer to post-pregnancy midsection woes!
Oh Bonnie I am so desperate. I wish you lived nearby again. I’m just getting so frustrated with my big PANSA! I’m exercising and eating less calories yet that belly seems to be getting bigger and bigger. It looks like I’m 4 months preggers! Right now I’m at 150 lbs. wich I would be comfortable with if it wasn’t for this huge belly! HELP ME! I don’t think I remember enough to do this correctly and get results that I can see!
We should definitely meet up- either over here or over there and get together a plan and routine for you. LMK!!
Hi Bonnie! I have a diastasis after the birth of my first child.
I think is about three fingers wide. Sometimes I can´t read it well, maybe I´m lifting my head so high. It was four fingers wide when I started doing the Tupler Technique. I have been doing it four six months and I am not seeing the fabulous results you talk about. Maybe I´m doing something wrong? I have read at first you were doing the exercises incorrectly. Can you explain to me how to do them correctly?
I can´t go to classes because I am from Spain and here there is nothing like this.
Thank you
Hi Nerea,
I would address a couple things for troubleshooting:
Make sure you are bringing back your tranverse ALL the way back to the 5th floor, or belly button ALL the way back to the spine when you do the seated tuplers.
Make sure when you SQUEEZE back to the 6th floor, you are really SQUEEZING back.
You MUST feel this in your back to know if you are doing the exercise correctly. If you don’t feel the exercises in your back, then you are not properly bringing the transverse back to the spine and engaging it.
Make sure another part of your body is not moving – like shoulders or legs
Make sure that the ENTIRE transverse goes back. The entire area of your abdominals from the top of the pelvic to the bottom six ribs. EVERYTHING must go back equally. If the lower abdominals, for example, are not going back like the middle and top of the abs, then you know you are weaker in that part of the abdominals and need to pay special attention into making sure that part of the abominals go back at the same time and distance the other parts do. This was one of my problems. You can actually make the diastasis worse this way because part of the abs in the weaker area tend to come forward forcefully.
BE consistant!! You must to 5 + sets a day to make this work!
YOU MUST WEAR A SPLINT! Because you were a 4, and now possibly a 3 – you REALLY need to purchase a splint or your not going to get the mind body connection of doing these exercises with approximated muscles.
Hope those tips help!
I am from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and am very frustrated with the lack of information out there!
You mentioned that you have a few women from your class that have seen results…have they taken any pictures?!?!?
As you know, seeing is believing…and I have yet to see anyone post a pic of their tummy after doing the Tupler Technique. I think this is why so many women are discouraged & give up on them. Whereas, cosmetic surgeons have pictures to show you the outcome of surgery.
I keep going back & forth btwn either getting a tummy tuck or kicking myself in the butt & do these tupler exercises (I am not very self disciplined).
I think that if there was someone out there who can show an improvement via pics people would actually believe that these exercises work…it would give them hope & inspiration.
I’m still on the fence…right now I’m considering the surgery but not until November…in the meantime I’m hoping that I can commit to the exercises but for the last month I’ve been untrue to myself which is very sad to say the least.
Anyway…if you have any pics I’d appreciate seeing them.
Thanks….Laura DS
I am working on pics with my clients. I have some that are doing pics on their own, as well as video, that have done so on their own.
I would ask – what is the tummy tuck surgery for? Is it for a diastasis, hernia, look of your skin? All three?
Even if you HAVE a tummy tuck, you can BLOW right through your tummy tuck by doing the wrong movements and not keeping the transverse muscle strengthened. You would want to learn the Tupler technique either way.
Keep in mind also, their is a risk..and not just a small one, that with surgery you can get infections, especially if they use the netting.
Most of the clients I work with privately are surgery candidates due to their large opening between their recti, and one by one, those come together, their bellies look smooth and normal again, and their waist line comes in considerably. All this with a MUCH smaller cost, no recovery time, strength that will benefit every movement you do – picking up your kids, boxes, pots, whatever, AND no risk of infection or “blowing through the tummy tuck” which creates big problems.
I hope you stick with it. It is true there is NOT much information out there. The tupler technique and diastasis rehab is in its infancy. Doctors know deplorably little about it, or what to do about it. But it is a disservice to patients to doctors everywhere if they do not learn about it and tell their patients.
Its so easy to refer someone to a surgeon, and its so much money in everyone’s pockets. But its NOT necessary.
GOOD LUCK!!