It seems there is a lot of pressure on post natal women to return their bodies to its former shape and along the way to somehow achieve a flat toned stomach with washboard abs.. all the while coping with the after affects of all the major changes their body has gone through during the nine months of pregnancy and also take care of all the needs of a new born baby. Easy…Right!!? WRONG.

The misconception is that you need to start all those core, flat stomach exercises to achieve this fabulous toned tummy. This isn’t the case..in fact those exercises could be the cause of even more issues. So the one that features majorly in peoples minds are crunches or bicycle crunches….Here is why to forget the crunches and focus on regaining Lumbopelvic Stability first.

LUMBOPELVIC STABILITY

Stability has nothing to do with strength.. it relates to a group of systems to effectively function together during movement. PASSIVE-Joints/Ligaments ACTIVE-Muscles CONTROL-Nerves coordinate feedback from Passive and active system. These are further categorised into Local and Global stabilisers. The Global stabilisers job is to reduce the pressure put on the Local stabilisers by controlling joint movement. They work at short periods of time (when we move). Their action is direction specific. The Local stabilisers known as inner unit consist of the diaphragm, multifidis, transversus abdominis and pelvic floor muscles. These have attachments directly on to the spine. They are involved in joint support and are not capable of producing any significant joint movement. They stop the spine from buckling.. recruited at very low frequencies they are continuously active.

During pregnancy the active and neural systems are affected. Reduced support from the passive system (Joints/Ligaments) requires the active system (Muscles) to take over.

The deep stabilising postural muscles, Transversus abdominis in particular, who’s job it is to create lumbopelvic stability become mis-recruited during pregnancy. When this happens other muscles have take over this role (otherwise the spine would buckle). The muscles that take over were not designed for this purpose, they were designed to work when we move not to stabilise our body. This then changes the whole muscle recruitment pattern. This change then compromises other functions, in particular balance, breathing, and continence. Relearning correct activation is an important first step and so its more important to dedicate time to this before progressing on any further. This might seem boring and not important but its the key to getting your body functioning correctly and regaining your fitness while not compromising your bodies recovery or adding more complications.

First off crunches will not make your stomach flat. For a post natal women their are far more benefits to regaining lumbopelvic stability than spent doing endless crunches. Crunches increase the intra abdominal pressure on the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, resulting in the abdomen being pushed out and the pelvic floor being pushed down. If the pelvic floor is already dysfunctional then this type of exercise is inappropriate.

It is far better to train the body in functional positions and as the only movement curl ups mimic is getting out of bed there are far more beneficial ways to challenge the muscles in say an upright position to help improve lumbopelvic stability and it also trains the whole body to work as one unit which in turn improves functional fitness.

Posture is so important in recruiting the transversus abdominu (TA)s. Posture in seated, standing, lying and side lying will help recruit the TA. Breathing is another way to help recruit the TA. In my post natal programme we will go through finding neutral spinal alignment in all of those positions as well as working on triggering the TA to activate prior to any movements we do.

Small amounts of cardio are also beneficial but this doesn’t mean jumping like a lunatic around the place. Joints laxity can still be present up to 6 months post natal and up to 3 months after you stop breast feeding. Cardio can be just a affective with non jumping moves. Exercise to music at low intensity paying very careful attention to form with low impact moves can be a great cardio session.

Please always take on board doctors orders before taken part in any exercise programme. What I have wrote here is meant to advise you but please make sure that your post natal check up has cleared you for a fitness programme. Be wary of joining classes which are not intended for post natal clients and be equally aware if you are allowed join one and you are told to ‘Just take it easy’. This is not a good enough instruction for a post natal client.

Give your body time to recover, don’t rush back to trying to get your pre natal body and be aware of the amazing and huge undertaking your body has gone through. Hopefully this was helpful to you. I will be taking one on one PT Post Natal Clients. Babies are welcome too but will not be used in the exercise. We got to keep the little darlings safe and sound and away from any harm. A designated baby area is where they can watch you from and so you can keep an eye on them.

Love Michelle x