Every once in a while (more like every week), someone says something or does something that reminds me why I do this job and why I chose to be a voice for women and moms and educate, educate, educate!!

Last week I was doing an assessment on someone who is 16 weeks pregnant and eager to get on top of the ab “situation” that left her with the baby pooch that she never got rid of from her first pregnancy. She was excited about keeping it under control during this pregnancy and not letting it get worse. Now although she was willing to do some modified abdominal exercises, I find out that there was no other exercise in her daily routine and nothing planned in the future. While I am looking at her health questionnaire, I read that the one and only reason she listed for why she should not exercsise, was her pregnancy. And when I asked her why she would write that down, she answered; “My doctor said that pregnancy was no time to start exercising”. Whaaaaaaaa??????? My head did a double take and I looked at her and asked why? Is she high risk? Is there something she’s not telling me?? No. That’s just what her GP said.

Hmph!! Is what I said. Actually, what I really said was; “pregnancy is NOT an illness!!”. Unless you have a condition that could put you or your baby at risk, there is absolutely NO REASON why you should not exercise for the remainder of your pregnancy!

So then of course I delve into what her first pregnancy was like. Did she exercise? No. Actually, instead she gained too much weight, developed high blood pressure and had such bad edema in her legs and feet by the end, she could barely walk. They had to induce her because they were concerned about her condition. Great. So you want to go through all that “fun” again?? (So glad she listened to her doctor the first time, eh?)

Guess what…it is now considered a risk factor to not exercise during pregnancy. That’s right. You know all the other risk factors i.e. gestational diabetes, high blood pressure (that can lead to preeclampsia), excessive weight gain etc?., Well inactivity is on there too. In hindsight, exercise helps to avoid all those other risk factors I just listed and many many more.

So instead I made a deal with her and a bit of a challenge for herself. Why not try and exercise during this pregnancy and see what happens? Start a regular exercise routine that she could realistically do atleast 3 days per week and walk on others. She just might be surprised on what a healthy pregnancy can feel like.

Oh. And i didn’t forget about the GP. I gave her a nice handout on the facts associated with exercise and pregnancy and benefits vs. risks. I told her to take it to her doctor the next time she sees her (she’s a woman too!) and see what she has to say for herself.

It’s too bad that I have to educate doctors when it comes to health, but again, these are the reminders that I need to keep me going every day.

Think about it, if you want to create a flat tummy, why would you do something that causes your abdominals to come forward? This is partly where pilates has their thinking in the right direction. If you want your abs to go in, then you should be doing movements that encourage your belly button and abdominals to go towards your spine, not away from it.

So that’s part of it, but what else? Well there are definitely other contributing factors to a bulging belly. Diastasis Recti is the obvious but there are other things that can make it look worse.

Hydration. Water intake is essential as it helps to “clean you out”. Dehydration can cause bloating and irrregularity that results in constipation and bigger bellies.

Proper nutrition. Similar to water, eating whole foods in their most natural state that are not filled with lots of fat and fillers, help move waste out of your body. If you eat a hamburger and french fries and find yourself full after several hours, it’s because it takes your digestive system alot longer to break down food that’s not natural and shouldn’t be in your body anyway. This extra “crap”, sits in your tummy and just adds up until it’s eventually passed.

Cortisol. Otherwise known as the “stress hormone” can result in elevated levels when undergoing stressfull situations or lifestyles. Elevated cortisol has been linked to increased abdominal fat storage.

Strength training. Although cardio burns calories while you are doing it, strength training gives you the benefit of actually burning more calories ar rest. AND research has shown that women who lift weights have less abdominal fat compared to those who do cardio exercise alone.

So think of these things the next time you try and crunch your way to (probably an abdominal separation) and abs that wont be flat again unless you remember these rules and train your abs from the inside out.

Diastasis Recti is caused by forward forceful pressure on the rectus abdominis. So…if a big belly with a baby can cause the muscles the separate, couldn’t a beer belly? Well if it looks like a duck and quacks like one…….. But there’s more! Doing abdominal exercises incorrectly can also put too much load on the recti causing the muscles to go their separate ways. Take a look at the image here. Obviously this man never had a baby, so why is there a big space in the middle of his abdominals? Why is his six-pack not together?

It is for this very reason, that I am beginning to see more men come forward. And it’s usually those who have been told that they have a herniated abdomen or they see their insides come out when they are doing crunches. Remember, the role of the rectus abdominis is support for the back and organs. If the muscles aren’t together, don’t go do activities that are going to push your organs to the outside!

Like many sessions, the first few are almost like therapy. Forget about focusing on “working out”. This is an opportunity for moms to connect with another mom and use this hour as best as possible. The client asks alot of questions about motherhood, I answer to the best of my ability and just do alot of listening in general. It’s hard to determine how much is being absorbed or if my opinions make a difference at all as I am also a firm believer that every mom, especially a first timer, has to follow their gut and do what’s best for them.

But every once in awhile, I get a comment, email or phone call that warms my heart. It confirms what I have believed in my gut for such a long time, that I am providing a very much needed service to so many women who not only want to get back into shape, but need a non-biased shoulder to lean on.

Here’s what my client wrote:

“Hi Sam. It’s Nicole and I know it has been a while since you heard from me. It has been about a year since I first met you and we started our training. Anyway I am back in Jamaica now but I wanted to tell you “Thank You”, so much for not just the training that you gave me but the talks that we had, you will probably never know but you made a big difference in my postpatrum state. You are ome of the more honest Mum’s I know and I truly appreciate that. Thanks so much for that and of course helping me to get back into shape.

Miss u very much.

Take care

Nicole”

So what’s wrong with burpies and intense training? Nothing….except it’s NOT for someone who just had a baby. The part I didn’t tell you about; she was only four months postpartum, sleep deprived and still had relaxin running through her body. She also had never done a burpie in her life and did very little strength training even before pregnancy. So the result? She is sooooo lucky she didn’t get injured and the trainer is even luckier that she didn’t get a bad rep.

It’s very frustrating because we have to remember that labor and delivery is by far, THE BIGGEST WORK OUT of your life, so with that, you need to allow time to recover safely. I know it sucks to look down at your body and want the old you back, but you also have to be realistic of what you are asking your body to do. If you were not an athlete before baby, please don’t start your next workout like one. Exercise is supposed to give you strength and energy and help with your postpartum period, not create injury, pain and complete exhaustion.

Unless you are a moderate to advanced exerciser who continued to train during your pregnancy, please start slow so your body can adapt to this new way of life. It can take up to 2 years post baby before your insides are back to where they used to be so think of that when you are pushing yourself too hard. There is a reason why it hurts and feels impossible when you start exercising again after baby.

What exercises should you avoid if you have an abdominal separation? Well if a Diastasis is caused by a forward forcefull pressure on your rectus abdominis, any movement that puts your abs in that position, should be avoided. For example, crunches, pilates 100’s, obliques (they are a double wammy), planks etc.

The main function of the rectus is flexion and extension of your spine. Second to that, it acts like a wall to support your organs from your ribs to your hips. If the two sides of the rectus are separated, what sort of support system do you have? It also makes sense that you would be suffering back pain as well, eh?

But don’t fret, taking away these exercises does not mean you will never have strong abs again; you just have to modify them. With a Diastasis, it is a must to work your transverse abdominals every which way you can (except for the plank). Because all of your ab muscles are connected, the motion of one, affects the other. And…because these muscles are stressed the most because we use them all day every day (breathing, laughing, coughing, taking a bowel movement), they are the secret weapon in helping close your separation without stressing the rectus.

Isometric exercises in a seated, standing and side lying position is you first step in closing the gap and getting your abs back.

Well some great news! I just got back from New York and took a pretty intense workshop on Diastasis Recti. Or as many more people know it; when the rectus abdominis splits or seperates during pregnancy. I thought I knew everything there was to know about this condition, but there was definitely more to learn!

For example, did you know that Diastasis Recti is not only limited to pregnant women? That men can also get this condition? Children too! How about the fact that it doesn’t self correct either - most people don’t know they have a seperation, thus making it alot more common than the stats that are available.

So what causes a diastasis? A forward forceful pressure on the weakest point of the linea alba; the belly button. This pressure can come from a growing uterus, a beer belly, pilates 100’s or crunches incorrectly. It’s these continuous movements or stresses that stretch the connective tissue (linea alba) seperating the rectus abdominis right down the midline. Some seperations are bigger than others, but only a small percentage of pregnant women don’t experience a seperation at all. Although most of the information available says a true diastasis has to be a 2 1/2 finger width or more, I ask you, then why do subsequent pregnancies make it worse? This is why women tend to show so much quicker the second time around.

Regardless, if you have a seperation, big or very small, it makes sense to me that you should avoid anything that could exacerbate the problem altogether. Focusing on core stability and isometric exercises in a seated, standing and supine position can not only close your Diastasis, but stop it from recurring. For more info on how you can close your seperation and have a flat tummy again, drop me an email!

It’s a vicious cycle that has to stop or be confronted at some point. While we all know how much self sabotage occurs during the holidays, it’s much easier to ignore and push it aside until the new year when we are “ready” to make changes. But what really makes January anymore special or different from any other time of the year?? Subconciously I guess it’s because if everyone else is doing it, then it’s just easier to tag along. Having said that, it’s also much easier to fall off the wagon along with everyone else too. Statistics don’t lie. The busiest time at the gyms is January when like minded people make a resolution to get healthy. But not too long afterwards the gyms look all too familiar with drop out rates. By March, approximately half of the people who signed up for year long memberships have fallen off the radar but that’s ok - the gyms are still making money!

But what about you? You are back to where you started and now you are stuck paying monthly installments for a membership you are not likely going to go back to. Realistically, if you are not a gym “person”, there’s a pretty good chance you are not going to be unless something drastic happens; a health scare, an epiphany! or maybe just being fed up with making excuses.

So whatever your goal, resolution or change, do it now! Why wait? I know the holidays are coming up and it’s completely unrealistic to try and “lose weight”, but how about challenging yourself to making different choices? Try and get out for a walk (with or without baby) each morning before your day even begins. Eat at home before you go to that party so you cut down on muching when you get there. Drink water in between alcoholic drinks so you don’t get too tipsey and cut down on a ridiculous amount of empty calories.

If you can get some good habits into place before the new year is even upon us, you will have a foot in the door to making a transition to your goal even easier.

Good luck!

So what about motherhood? Well I don’t know about you, but since I gave birth to my oldest 8 years ago, my body and emotions have been on a roller coaster ride. Motherhood for me, especially the second time around, has been a wonderfully fullfilling but also almost debilitating (or so it seemed at the time) experience. Ever heard of the saying “One is none; two is ten”? That couldn’t be more bang on! Although some people have even gone so far as to say stress can kill you, stress is something that can’t be ignored. After having my own challenges with stress in the past, I have seen too many women over the years suffer while filling perscriptions to keep them going.

This is where exercise should come in instead. However, I realize this is easier said than done for alot of women. But what if I said that high amounts of stress can actually make you gain weight? Or for those of you who do exercise but don’t make other lifestyle changes, stress can actually inhibit you from losing weight. I know, it doesn’t sound fair but really, if life was fair we would all be assigned a full time cook and cleaning lady when we came home from the hospital.

Cortisol is released during stressful situations whether it’s good or bad, but this is not the concern. First of all, Cortisol is needed to decrease muscle inflammation and break down amino acids for protein synthesis after exercise. But it’s the excessive amounts of cortisol that are of concern. Too much cortisol not only can shut down your body’s performance, but it can also cause other health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure and ulcers. Exercise decreases this hormone and increases the happy hormone - seratonin. But you are not going to exercise every day either, are you? Well just know that lack of sleep and poor nutrition has also shown to increase cortisol levels.

So if you are a new mom or an adequately experienced one like myself, let this be a little push in the right direction. Find whatever it is you need to de-stress. You don’t need me to tell you to take time out for yourself because you know it’s true. I just don’t want you to find yourself at the doctor’s before you start making it happen.

One concern is the development of Gestational Diabetes. This condition is diagnosed when women develop high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. During pregnancy, the placenta produces hormones that are needed during pregnancy. Some of these are insulin resistant so this requires the pancreas (which is responsible for making insulin) to work even harder during pregnancy. For some women, however, this is not enough and Gestational Diabetes develops. Women who are at a higher risk for developing Gestational Diabetes are obese, have a family history of Diabetes or have delivered a large baby previously. The risks associated with diabetes and pregnancy can be miscarriage and abnormalities in the early stages or your baby could develop low blood sugar levels, jaundice or be very large which can cause complications with delivery.

After delivery, Gestational diabetes usually clears up because the placenta is removed as are the hormones that were creating the insulin resistance. Although this is common for most women, there is an increased risk of developing gestational diabetes again in subsequent pregnancies and/or Type II diabetes later in life. This is a good reason to continue to exercise and eat well after pregnancy to avoid further health problems and create a good example and lifestyle for your baby.

So what can you do to help or avoid developing this condition? Exercise and proper nutrition. These alone are probably the most important factors in controlling Gestational Diabetes, Type 1 and Type II. Daily exercise will help to keep blood sugar levels normal. If you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes and you are not used to exercising daily, start with 5-10 minutes per day and slowly increase until you reach at least 30 minutes, most days of the week. Proper nutrition is also a must when dealing with diabetes, pregnant or not. Stay away from simple sugars, refined white flour and try and get a copy of a low glycemic food list. These foods will not elevate your blood levels and tend to keep you satiated because they mostly consist of whole grain foods, lean proteins and fruits and vegetables. If you have done all you can and you still cannot keep you blood levels down, you may need insulin injections. Oral medications are not recommended during pregnancy as it is not known what the effects may be on the baby.

So try and keep this in mind whether you are trying to get pregnant or are pregnant now and you are leading an inactive, unhealthy lifestyle. Although excess weight and family history play a role, everyone is at risk due to the hormonal needs during pregnancy. Start today by making a good choice and add a new one each day until a daily habit is created.