I want to shout it from the rooftops – Crunches are the mother of horrible things a postpartum women (even if its been decades) can do to her body. Crunches can actually CREATE a separation of the rectus abdominus (the 6 pack muscle).
If anyone indulged two Sunday’s back when Desparate Housewives was on, then you would have seen the exercise BOOTCAMP that the women joined to get looking sleek and fit into model size dresses. Well, let me tell you, ain’t no slimming of the waistline going to happen with the crunches that I saw.
I saw women after women, who granted, are the extras – but still – bulging out their bellies. AAAAHHHHHHH! Its a DISASTER! Watch these crunches carefully and you will see through all their layers of clothing – the entire section of their abdominals were bulging out forward FORCEFULLY. (A couple swear words in the video FYI)
If those women did not HAVE a diastasis (split in their rectus abdominus a.k.a. “mummy tummy”) then they WILL after shooting that scene and doing crunches like that!
It is SOOOOOOO painful to watch. When you do abdominals, do HEADLIFTS instead (shoulders stay GLUED to the floor) and save your abdomals from a most certain fate!
So, I’d love to hear about what good ab exercises we should do. Pretty please?
The two best abs you can do:
Seated, bring your transverse (innermost abdominal muscle extending from your bottom 6 ribs to the top of your pelvis and it goes around your entire midsection like a corset)muscle all the way back to the spine (5th floor)and squeeze out the back (6th floor) 100 times in a row. You MUST count out loud and sniff to breathe shallowly. Do between 3 and 10 sets a day. In the beginning you must keep your hands over your belly from the ribs to the pelvis to make sure the entire transvere muscle is going all the way back. This is the FASTEST way also to close a diastises. Do it in a seated position.
The 2nd exercise to do is the HEADLIFT I wrote about. Lie on your back with legs bent, bring transverse to the 5th floor, bring the small of the back onto the floor, and while still holding your transverse to 5th,pull a scarf or splint around your waist to approximate your muscles,then tuck your chin and lift of your head. Take a belly breath and repeat. These take the place of all crunches. If you are not strong enough to do a headlift you will know because you will feel forward forceful movement of the transverse muscle. This is the other fastest thing you can do to bring the diastisis together.
Thanks, Bonnie, for the exercises. I think I understand, but I’m not sure. Can you explain a little more what you mean by 5th floor and 6th floor? My singing breathing extends all the way to the pelvic floor, so this sounds familiar, but I want to make sure I’m doing it right.
I know it’s asking a TON, so don’t feel like you have to do it, but if you have a video recorder, could you demonstrate how to do these exercises and post it? No pressure, though!
I just finished a yoga abdominal workout, but after reading your post, I realized that I had been bulging my muscles, and I stopped and did what you specified. I think I’ve had a diastasis since my first baby (and she’s almost 10 1/2). I have been carrying a lot of belly fat, too, but since I’ve been working so hard to get rid of it, I’d really like some great muscles underneath all that!