Why wont my mummy tummy go away?

A question I am often asked…how do I lose or avoid a “mummy tummy” or postpartum “pooch” ?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Many women have only 1 goal post-pregnancy to lose baby-weight ! However realigning the joints, spine & pelvis plus reconnecting fascia or connective tissue should be made a priority to prevent muscle imbalances especially in the core.

Posture and Postpartum Pooch

Look closely at the image above – do you see one key thing that a correctly aligned posture improves ?
It’s the core. 👌🏻

That’s right you are going to heal your core more effectively and lose that “mummy tummy” sooner if your posture is aligned …go for shoulders over ribs and head on top of spine. Try my workout below to help you do this and learn all about intrinsic core synergy !

Standing pregnancy and postpartum core workout – avoid Mummy Tummy

Improve your posture and heal your diastasis recti.

Improving your posture and alignment will also help to prevent, heal and reduce your diastasis recti DR or abdominal separation.

Poor posture that is maintained over numerous hours and days, during daily activities can contribute to this condition…be conscious of how you carry your toddler, handbag and how you sit daily at a desk or while feeding your baby.

Your pelvic floor is also the foundation of your core so ensuring this muscle remains toned and functional during pregnancy will help your diastasis heal more effectively and your “mummy tummy” post birth.

Safe and effective exercise during pregnancy plus, good nutrition and avoiding excess weight gain will also be a fantastic foundation to help reduce separation.

Avoiding excessive abdominal separation, will also assist with effective healing post birth and reduce some of the issues associated with DR. Including complaints such as lower back and hip pain, poor posture, hernias, leaking (bladder control issues) and a “mummy tummy” that won’t go away.

If you are not sure what diastatis recti is or how to measure it postpartum (I recommend only from about 15 weeks post birth) – check out this blog post.

In Summary

Avoiding a mummy tummy or postpartum pooch can start with training your core effectively during pregnancy – grab my complimentary core training guide here. Realigning your posture, takes consistent daily attention, not only during a workout but as you move about your daily actions – including breastfeeding. Re-align your shoulders over your hips and tune into how much better that feels, then it will become second nature.

Dive deeper more about the importance of posture and alignment during and after pregnancy here. Plus effectively healing your abdominal separation right here.

Plus don’t forget my Core Training Guide

Want more Bodyfabulous expert advice?
Join my Facebook Community #BFabSquad – post your questions there, I would love to help you on your pregnancy and postnatal journey.

For new moms, getting back to your pre-pregnancy body becomes a top priority, but for an estimated 60 percent of postpartum women, getting a flat tummy is impossible because of a medical condition they may not know they have.

It's called diastasis recti, a medical condition created when the abdominal muscles become separated, creating a gap between the rectus abdominis muscles.

During pregnancy, abdominal wall muscles get stretched due to the physical growth and pressure of the baby inside the pelvis.

This loosens the connective tissues and the space between the right and left abdominal muscles, which normally hold the tummy in, is left much wider than it should be.

"Any woman whose been pregnant, the odds are good that she has experienced some degree of this condition and it tends to get worse with each subsequent pregnancy," said Leah Keller, personal trainer and founder of Every Mother, an online resource for pre and postnatal fitness exercise programs.

As a mom of two, Sarah Bowlby knows what pregnancy can do to a woman's body, but it wasn't until after baby number two when she realized the real toll it took on her once flat tummy.

"I didn't experience it personally until after my second pregnancy and I just kind of thought I'll bounce back like I did the first time, and I didn't," said Bowlby. "Low back pain, just felt weak around my core, I was always feeling bad in my back. I would pick the baby up and I would just never feel strong."

Keller, whose 8 months pregnant herself, says discovering if you have the problem is as easy as a self check.

While on your back, lift your head and neck slightly and use your fingers to press down above and below your belly button.

If one or more of your fingers fit into the gap between your muscles, Keller says it's likely diastasis recti, however, there are exercises to correct it.
Keller says specific core exercises 10 minutes a day can solve the problem.

"The connective tissues will come back together, the muscles improve in tone, the pooch goes away, the waistline shrinks," she said.

"I had lost three inches off my waist in a week so that was really a happy surprise. I couldn't believe that it was actually going to happen," said Bowlby.

Diastasis recti can happen to people who are overweight or those who don’t exercise in the right way, but women who give birth are often most affected.

The biggest body issue for many women is the 'mummy tummy' that just won't go away, no matter how many boot camp sessions, crunches and planks they do.

In more than a decade as a pre/postnatal exercise specialist, I have worked with thousands of women to restore their stomach and pelvic floor, find their lost waistline, and a little bit of lost mojo.

To heal and flatten a tummy that has carried and birthed a baby - however long ago - requires you to build the foundations before any 'shred', 'blast', crunch or plank is going to touch that pooch tummy. It requires understanding and focus first, before strengthening and toning will

A number of factors could be preventing you from achieving flat abs - here's a few likely culprits - and what you should do instead!

1. Crunches or sit-ups will make your stomach bulge and your core weaker.

Why? Because a crunch exerts pressure inside your abdominal cavity that encourages your 'six-pack' muscles to separate (diastasis recti) your core muscles to strain outwards, and your pelvic floor downwards. If your abs bulge outwards during any exercise - then the exercise isn't working.

What works instead? Using your deep core muscles effectively in whole body, weight bearing movements like squats and lifts, means your core does its job correctly, stabilising and bracing your body and in turn building stronger abs. Hardcore ab moves that promise to 'shred' and 'rip' and 'blast'... will flatten a strong, stable optimally functioning core. But if you don't have that to start with, (which most mums don't) they won't help. You need to build the core first.

2. Endless repetitions of ab exercises won't melt away belly fat

Why? Because muscle and fat are two separate types of tissue - one doesn't turn into the other and you can't spot reduce fat by focusing on one area. You may be building strong abdominal muscles - but you won't see them because there is fat on top!

What works instead? Your food choices determine fat loss, not the ab exercise you do. Balancing hormones, reducing stress and exercising smarter will reduce belly fat storage. Eliminate sugar and refined grains as much as possible from your diet. Vegetables should make up the biggest portion on your plate, followed by protein, with the smallest amount being starches. Increase your intake of essential fats, reduce stress and get more sleep. Exercise at high intensity and include resistance exercises like squats, push-ups or pull-ups.

These lifestyle factors will have an infinitely bigger effect on the fat around your tummy than any ab exercise will!

3. Going thorough the motions at Pilates class or sucking in your stomach does not constitute 'working your core'

Why? Because sucking in your stomach simply displaces pressure and mass - it doesn't work your muscles. Excessive pressure inside your abdominal cavity is the root cause of diastasis recti, weak core and pelvic floor muscles, even hernia and prolapse. If your shoulders are hunching or tensing, if your chest thrusts, if your butt tucks under, then your vital core muscles simply aren't working.

What Works Instead?You need to connect with, and train your muscles, before you can strengthen them. Very often after childbirth (and long afterwards) there is a 'disconnect' for women, as the brain sends signals to the deep muscles of the abdomen and pelvis. By focusing on re-connecting through breathing techniques, adjusting your pelvic alignment to relieve pressure, strengthening glutes and working your core as an entire system of muscles to stabilise you, you can re-establish a functioning core.

When you have found and trained your core, then you can strengthen your core!

I created the MuTu® System programs to help women achieve the post-baby stomach and body they're after. It's the step-by-step, need-to-know, approved by pelvic health physiotherapists and created by a specialist and mum who's done it.