CLIENT A: This client is in her early 30s and is now 34 WEEKS pregnant. She had started out at 28 weeks with a diastasis of 5 fingerwidths in the middle, 4 three inches above the belly button, and 3 1/2 three inches below the belly button. She had since brought things in to a VERY decent 3 in three middle, 2 3/4 on top and 2 three inches below the belly button. THEN – and this is what ALWAYS seems to get my clients – she MOVED. All the lifting boxes…and making sure to bring the transverse in BEFORE lifting the boxes, and also NOT lifting the boxes that you can’t keep your transverse in….which means the box is TOO heavy for the current strength of the tranverse. At this point there is a couple choices (before moving) – strengthen your transverse BIG TIME so you CAN help to move the invariably heavy boxes, or leave the heavier boxes to someone else. Well, my cute client told me the day before I was to come for our session that she CRAMMED
Beautiful After the Belly
Diastasis Recti, Hernias, C-section and Ab Scarring, Belly Button, Pelvic Floor
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My favorite energy bar…at Trader Joes, of course!
So I simply must share my favorite energy bar
I never EVER look at FAT, CALORIES, SUGAR when looking at a product. I look exclusively at the ingredients. Just looking at a surface value of the above tells you SQUAT!
As for energy bars in general, there are so many good ones out there, but this one is fantastic. It has NO:
white sugar, salt, corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, synthetic sweeteners, genetically modified foods.
which I think is a HUGE plus. Most of them have tons of crap in – especially when it comes to the “sweetener department.” But this one just has a little honey.
And of course I LOVE that there is chocolate. What can I say – I am a choco-holic! They are a little on the pricey side…IMO. When I go to Trader Joes, I can get them for $2.50. AND I have never found a coupon for them, says the frugal part of my brain. HOWEVER, I have learned that sometimes you have to pay more for the healthiest foods, unfortunately. I have also found I don’t gain weight with them. I pay close attention to how my body behaves with foods. I don’t go hog WILD either, but one a day here and there (when I feel like forking the cash) seems GREAT. I SO look forward to having them!
My After: BW
After 3 babies, and a 3 fingerwidth diastasis all the way down:
The latest results on closing the diastasis recti!!
So the bad news is I don’t have any pics this round, just stats. The good news is the stats are pretty darn great! However I am posting my own “after” for the first time. Scroll down to see!
CLIENT A: I have a pregnant client in her 30s right now that at 28 weeks first pregnancy measured 5 fingerwidths in the middle, 4 1/2 on the top, and 3 on the bottom. You can imagine what that would have been POSTPARTUM as her bellly continued to expand, especially if that was combined with jacknifing in and out of bed, and incorrect abs. Lucky for her, she started rehabbing her diastasis mid pregnancy.
TWO AND A HALF WEEKS LATER: At 30 1/2 weeks (her belly growing), she measured 3 in the middle, 2 3/4 at the top and 2 fingerwidths at the bottom. For an expanding belly, these are EXCELLENT results! They would be fantastic WITHOUT the belly expanding in the equation! What did she do? Seated Tuplers while relaxing the pelvic floor, elevators, pelvic tilts primarily.
CLIENT B: I have a client with 3 young kids, she is in her late 20s/early 30s. She has a excellent fitness background – runs 15 miles a day no problem, does yoga, and is a very healthy eater. However, she noticed her midsection still did not look right. She was right – she was 7 1/4 fingerwidths in the middle of her diastasis, 7 at the top, and 4 at the bottom. A surgeon would have looked at this case and recommended surgery right away.
FOUR WEEKS LATER: This client returned with fantastic results. Her diastasis decreased to 2 3/4 Shallow (meaning the the bottom was together but opened slightly at the top. ) She measured just a 3 at the top and a 2 at the bottom. This is FANTASTIC progress. Usually when I have someone wider than a 6, they have trouble getting the mind-body connection of the muscle at first. So these results averaged faster than 1 fingerwidth per week per two of the areas. Unfortunately I didn’t suggest she do before and after pics. I really wish I would have!! Her waist went from a 28 to a 27 inches. So there is still left to close, but it is nearly “clinically closed” – meaning 2 fingerwidths or smaller all the way down. But it is easy just to close it the rest of the way. I am guessing her waist will go down another inch to 2 inches when she is finished in a few weeks.
WHAT DID SHE DO? She wore a splint
CLIENT C: I have another client who is in her late 20s. She is a mom of 2 very young kids. She herself is actually VERY slender, very skinny person. She got everything super trim, except for her darn midsection. After reading about diastasis, she thought this is what she might have. She had been so diligent with crunches and typical gym rat obliques. The results for the diligent crunches? She was a 7 on the bottom, 7 in the middle, and a 5 at the top. So that DEFINITELY was what was causing her funky midsection. Any surgeon would have wanted to whisk her away to surgically and artifically fix this problem.
2 WEEKS LATER: She measured a 4 in the middle, a 5 on the bottom, and a 3 1/2 on the top. So she went in about 1 fingerwidth per section of her diastasis per week. FANTASTIC start!! She wore her splint and did the seated tupler “consistently the first week” and “not as consistently the 2nd week.” So imagine how much further she might have progressed had she been diligent the 2nd week. But still great results to begin.
WHAT DID SHE DO? Wore the splint
CLIENT D: This client will be posting pics later and is very excited. She is a mom in her early 30s and has 2 very young kids -both under 3. She spent hours and hours researching what was going on on the internet with her belly. She knew she had a little hernia, and felt that she possibly had a diastasis after all her research. Her last C section was 18 months ago. She measured a 5 in the middle, 4 on the bottom, and 3 on the top.
TWO WEEKS LATER: This client brought in her measurements fantastically. She brought the middle in by 2 fingerwidths to measure now at a 3. Her top measures 2 shallow, and her bottom measures 1 1/2 shallow. Her pants are fitting looser and she can tell a huge difference. Still room to go, but its fun to look to see what is possible by doing these exercises.
WHAT DID SHE DO? She did her 5+ sets of 100 seated tuplers per day, pelvic tilts and wore her Splint night and day “except when she went swimming.”
So to come? PICTURES – SOON! I am exciting to encourage more of my clients to take pictures because they can be so powerful!
Here is my OWN “after” taken just the other night. Just know I was a 32 inch waist after my 3rd baby, and I did 10 sets a day of seated tuplers until I became a 25 inch waist again. I also closed a 3 fingerwidths diastasis in all three places.
My favorite (and NOT so favorite) books on Nutrition. What about you?
After reading The China Study
I thought it would be interesting to note OTHER nutrition books that are worth reading and have a discussion. I would LOVE to hear your comments and suggestions on this one. And since I am going to give my opinion on some of the books, I will probably ruffle some feathers. People tend to be VERY passionate about their favorite nutrition books.
So to start off – THE CHINA STUDY. I found it for the MOST part, very interesting with lots of studies to back up the claims about animal protein, and milk protein being absolutely horrible for the human body, especially when its above 5% of the human diet. HOWEVER, as I have mentioned before, it does not take into account other indigenous populations, like the Eskimos, who ingest 70-80% of their diet on whale blubber and have some of the lowest incidences of high BP and heart disease on earth. APART from that, there are quite a few BLANKET statements meant to fluff up the argument that meat is horrible, and that you can get MOST everything you need from fruits and veggies. He DOES talk about how the soil is depleted, so that makes the above statement much more impossible. He totally DOGS supplements, but a couple chapters later, talks about how NOT eating meat will deplete your B12 stores and that you will need to supplement that. He also does not address ANYTHING else but meat and makes meat the SOLE bad guy. HELLOO-SUGAR should be address a little more than a page or two. From other sources I have read, that is one of the HUGE fall guys for disease, obesity, blood pressure, bacterial infections, etc. Its not ALL about meat! He starts to bring out the benefits of Omega 3s in one of the studies, and then pooh poohed it all in the name of – “The not eating meat must have been what was beneficial” – and not taking into consideration that it could have been BOTH – just BLANKET STATEMENT galore.
PEARL OF WISDOM: I tend to eat less meat than I did. I am MUCH more scared of casein, the milk protein, because of it causing 100% incidence of cancer in the rates at 20% and above of the diet. I eat MORE fruits and veggies than I did, if that even possible. AND I try to embrace oats and quinoa more than I did before. But most of all, it solidified for me to eat all things in moderation. AND, it freaked me out about eating store bought peanut butter – I am more motivated to make my own know about the alflatoxin carcinogen found in the nasty nuts used to make peanut butter.
I have mentioned it before, but What Color Is Your Diet?
The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Antidepression Diet and Brain Program
The Omega Rx Zone: The Miracle of the New High-Dose Fish Oil
Say Good-Bye to Illness (3rd Edition)
So this one is more of alternative view of health book, but it literally has changed the way I view health. My kids have both utilized NAET with their health (through a medical practitioner) and it had changed their health so dramatically. So I have to give it props.
Some books I would LIKE TO READ NEXT:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)
I heard about this one from my friend Mary. Here is what she said about it:
It details their family’s decision to try to live a year eating only what they could buy locally or grow themselves.
At first, the concept seemed fairly radical to me – it definitely was different from the way that I structured our family’s eating, shopping and menus. I had never given a serious thought before to how far my food had traveled to reach me. One of the statistics that Steven Hopp presents is that most of the items on the shelf at a supermarket traveled farther to get there than your family will travel on vacation this year. Once you add up all of those gasoline guzzling groceries, think about how much gasoline we are expending just to eat. The goal is to wring out as much oil from our food chain as possible.
I had already been trying for several years to eat in a healthy way – unprocessed food, organic when possible, and hormone free dairy and meat. After reading the Kingsolver’s book, we started taking a good look at our culinary lives, and how disconnected we were from our food chain, and the farmers who grow the food we eat. I started going to our farmer’s market every week, and buying and eating locally grown, in season produce. The amazing part is how cheap it is, and how much better than anything we can get at the grocery store! We buy our honey at our famer’s market, too, raw and unprocessed.
The next one on my list is Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health–in Just Weeks!
BUT MOST OF ALL – I would love to hear from YOU!!! What books have you read that have changed the way you view food, or think of food???????????? I would LOVE to hear!!!
My Favorite, and some not so favorite Nutrition Books
What Abs Should I do When I’m Pregnant? Can I do Any? Maternal Fitness..
So this area of fitness has always been shrouded in uncertainty. Some people have been told “not to do ANY abs” and some people do abs regardless and keep their workouts very similar to before they were pregnant.
So what is the answer?
Lets talk about what is NOT the answer first. DO. NOT. DO. CRUNCHES. OR. SIT. UPS!!
As the uterus protrudes, it creates a forward forceful pressure that splits the recti in UP TO 98% of women creating a diastasis recti. If there are any movements which THEN create a forward forceful motion – like crunches, it is TOO MUCH for the muscles and they most likely will split.
So what else not to do while pregnant? Pilates 100, Teaser, V sit, Rolling like a ball, Jacknifing up or down, side to side obliques, twisting motions (they SHEAR the diastasis).
AND I think its VERY helpful to get Maternal Fitness: Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy, an Easier Labor, and a Quick Recovery
because it will go over ALL the exercises you SHOULD do. Among them
SEATED TUPLERS and HEADIFTS.
in terms of abdominals.
These help immensely with BACK PAIN during pregnancy. Because the RECTI’S (outermost abdominal muscles) function is back support, when they are split, the back support is compromised. When I am pregnant – I always have to do a set before bed so I can sleep without back pain. There are also other abdominals – CORRECT OBLIQUES and ELEVATORS that the book talks about that are fantastic.
There are also scores of other exercises there that are fantastic.
Also a newer video which is great is Maternal Fitness Prenatal Pilates
This one actually tells you the safe pilates to do while pregnant, but especially to keep those recti together. There are so many pitfalls with pilates for pregnant women because quite a few of the exercises have forceful forward movement of the abdominals – so BE CAREFUL!!
On a personal note, when I am teaching classes and training women, they get ANGRY that no one told them what to do and what NOT to do while pregnant. They are mad that they had to needlessly deal with a diastasis, that can be closed even in the NINTH month of pregnancy. OH YES!!!! One of my clients was a three fingerwidth diastasis at 7 1/2 months pregnant – took my class, and totally closed it by her 9th Month.
SO WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO? Well, perfect recti for PUSHING! Closed Recti are very importnant for effective pushing , as well as a strong transverse.
NO HERNIA!!! The connectie tissue between the recti won’t get a hole or tear with closed recti, which is a hernia (the organs pushing through the connective tissue).
PREPREGNANCY MIDSECTION BACK QUICKER! Those women with a diastasis usually feel like they look 3 to 5 months pregnant, EVEN IF they are very in shape, and skinny. It is literally the LAST PUZZLE PIECE for a restored pre pregnancy midsection.
PLUS NO BACK PAIN, as mentioned.
So, I realize I have left pregnant women out of the equation of this blog – and so I wanted to address that. You have SO MUCH MORE advantage in doing the TUPLER TECHNIQUE while pregnant !!!!
PICTURES! FINALLY – SOME BEFORE AND AFTER – diastasis/TUPLER TECHNIQUE PICS!!
Many of you have asked me to post pictures of people – before and after – with diastasis rehab and the tupler technique. I have been slow to acquiesce because I don’t feel comfortable meeting a client and asking them if I can take pictures of an area they are very sensative about. So I generally post stats – and several stats I have posted are very impressive, if I do say so myself. The women I work with have had OUTSTANDING results.
However, those of you that are thinking about surgery to correct your abdominals LIKE the fact that a surgeon can show you some warm fuzzy pictures of pre and post surgery – tens of thousands of dollars between pictures, not to mention hours and hours of pain, and potential infection in between the warm fuzzy – pre and post surgery pictures.
One of my clients mentioned to me after her 3rd visit – that she had taken pictures of herself, as well as some video footage. I asked permission to post these, and she has kindly agreed.
Here is a brief history – which I will replace with her own words once she emails me with her story. In a nutshell. D.P. (we will call her) comes from a dancing background. She danced with various dance companies in her past. After pregnancy, she was left with severely split recti. She was told immediatly by her OB GYN after the birth that she would need surgery to correct it, but that it would be very painful. She was also told that because of the nature of her split – the netting needed to basically paste and sew to the muscles would have a high risk of getting infected. She saw two SURGEONS who gave her the same scenarios. The first pictures you can see the organs are protruding out the abdominal walls – there are no muscles holding them in, so client felt like her belly looked several months pregnant, when she was not.
I began to work with D.P. 8 weeks ago. Her total background was unbeknownst to me until our 3rd session. We went through the normal session – measuring her diastasis (5 fingerwidths on top, 6 in the middle, and 4 on the bottom), going over the exercises – seated tuplers, elevators, pelvic tilts, kegels, headlifts (our version of the crunch which does NOT bulge out the recti) and showed which exercises not to do (CRUNCHES, JACKNIVES, etc). WAIST MEASURES 32 3/4 INCHES.
We met a 2nd time – 2 weeks later, going over the advanced variations and isolating different parts of the diastasis, along with obliques, and postural correction stretches and exercises. Her diastasis was a 2 deep on top, 4 deep in the middle, and a 3 deep on the bottom.
We met a 3rd time – 4 weeks later (during the past 6 weeks, client does 5 sets of 100 seated tuplers daily, and other exercises as directed). Client measured shallow 2 on top, 3 in the middle, and shallow 3 on the bottom. It was at this time D.P. took these photos. A couple days before our 3rd session, her OB looked at her and told her her abdominals “looked pretty good – maybe she DIDN’T need any surgery.” She then told him she was seeing me – and that she was doing exercises to correct the diastasis. Waist measured 30 INCHES.
HIS RESPONSE? “I’VE NEVER HEARD OF THAT!” (classic!)
You will notice the belly button was an “outie”- and is now and “innie” and you will notice the organs protrude FAR LESS, and her belly looks supported. The muscle tone is MUCH better, and the waist is noticably smaller. This is all without any dietary changes – its JUST the exercises.
There is still room to go – approx 3 fingerwidths all the way down – but a MARKED improvement. And her status has gone from IMMINENT SURGERY to NOT NEEDING SURGERY – in 6 weeks.
Sea salt vs. Table salt – what is the difference? Is one better than the other?
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Besides the difference in the manufacturing process, sea salt and table salt differ in the following ways:
Some retailers may sell sea salts that are fine-grained and white in |
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Mummy Tummy friendly GYROTONICS
click HERE to view Naomi Campbells gyrotonics workout
This was featured on Oprah a few days ago. I was VERY impressed that most of these – at least the ones I saw her doing were for the most part mummy tummy friendly. The one where her legs are in a 90 degree angle, I would raise the feet closer to the head for that one, small of the back on the ground, but otherwise great.
I love workouts that lengthen the body AND and are “mummy tummy” friendly. SO many workouts I see are NOT mummy tummy friendly, meaning they make the diastasis larger or CREATE one by the forward forceful movement of the abdominals.
WHAT IS GYROTONICS:
Derived from words for “circle” and “stretch,” Gyrotonic works your body in a decidedly nonlinear way through a fusion of expressive-looking circular movements. Combining elements of dance, yoga, swimming, t’ai chi and gymnastics, it’s a liberating experience — a way to exercise outside the lines.
“There’s something about the 360-degree orientation that wakes up the spirit,” says Janet Rupp, a four-year Gyrotonic student at White Cloud studio in Boulder, Colo., who shifted to Gyrotonic from Pilates and hiking at age 58.
“It’s playful and fluid,” Rupp adds. “We tend to take ourselves so seriously. This adds lightness to life.”
“Gyrotonic brings that circular motion,” he says. “It’s unique in that you’re using your muscles throughout their range.”
“Gyrotonic increases the functional capacity of the entire organism,” says Matt Aversa, vice president and COO of the Gyrotonic International Headquarters. “Even if you’re just playing ping-pong, it helps.”
HOW IS GYROTONICS DIFFERENT THAN PILATES OR YOGA?
Gyrotonic is “more expansive” than yoga, says Gyrotonic Master Trainer Alice Diamond, who opened her Boulder, Colo., studio after studying personally with Horvath. “There’s more balance between strength and openness,” she says, “and more emphasis on rotation and spiraling movements.”
Aversa says Gyrotonic also differs from yoga and Pilates because there’s “no end point in the movements.” Pilates is more linear; yoga is more static; and Gyrotonic is both circular and fluid. In fact, Gyrotonic can actually accelerate advancement in your yoga practice, says Aversa, allowing you to get into difficult positions more easily.
Aversa also points out one way that Gyrotonic is different from toning or weight-training work: “In Gyrotonic we use resistance to open the body — to leverage rather than to build mass.”
More info on GYROTONICS HERE
Has anyone out there tried Gyrontonics? Did you love it? Did you do machines or non-machine gyrotonics?
Also, if you watch the link above to the video – I thought the jumproping was a great tip to thin that part of the face!
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