My journey after baby # 3

Closing the GAP

After reading   this post  who knew how this would turn out.
But then, in this post, I was proving to redeem myself in closing my diastasis to a 2 or 3 , then keeping it at bay during pregnancy, story here and showing less in my third pregnancy than my first!

Soooo... here is the REST of the story:

Day 1: about 30 minutes atfter giving birth to Kinley, my doula
 and I watched as my abdomen deflated and indented in above the uterus but we could see the lower abdomen stayed solid.  I started splinting my abdominal muscles later that day with an old stretched out splint.  It didn't give much support, but I felt something was better than nothing as my abdominals were in an unsupported stretched out state.

Day 2: 24 hours after giving birth, I was doing the Tupler Contractions exercises and felt I was actually getting good abdominal activation.  The muscle memory was doing its thing and finally was all the way connecting.

 I read in one of my pieces o midwife literature about how lying on your stomach can help your uterus contract.  I didn't need someone to tell me twice.  I took a couple of naps that day on my belly and it felt so indulging and amazing, a treat after being VERY pregnant the last few months.

Note: All diastasis measurements were taken as fingerwidths wide.   Connective tissue condition is sometimes noted - deep being the worst - which means you can feel abdominal organs, tissue, pulsing ect

Day 4: I took measurements at home:
Diastasis:                                                       Waist measurements

• Top:  5 (fingerwidths wide)                
• Middle: 7                                            33 inches around waist at the belly button
• Bottom: 5

Day 8

• Top: 2 shallow                                     30 (just under the ribs)  
• Middle:  6 med/shallow                        31.25
• Bottom: 5 shallow                                34

2 weeks post baby #3   2-5-4

Day 13

• Top: 2 shallow                                     30 (just under the ribs)  
• Middle:  5 med/shallow                        31.25
• Bottom: 4 shallow                                33.5

Day 18

• Top: 2  very shallow                             29 (just under the ribs)  
• Middle:  5 med/shallow                        29.25
• Bottom: 4 shallow                               32

Da y23

• Top: 2  very shallow                             28.5 (just under the ribs)  
• Middle:  4.5 med/shallow                     29.25
• Bottom:  very shallow                           31.5

Week 5 - day 35

• Top: 2  very shallow                             28 
• Middle:  4.5 med/shallow                     28.5
• Bottom:  very shallow                           31.5

 Week 12

• Top: closed                                          27.5 (just under the ribs)  
• Middle:  2 shallow                                27.5
• Bottom:  1 shallow                               30

Week 16

• Top: closed                                          27  (just under the ribs)  
• Mid: width of belly button shallow       26.5                    
• Bottom:  .75 supershallow                     30

 Through this process I didn't really lose weight.  Initially I did, by giving birth and then losing extra water weight ect.  But then I just stayed right in the same poundage for those 4 months.  I was just expecting those extra 8 pounds to just come off with nursing and eating well.

Well, I had to cut out snacking at night and sweet things ( I was only eating slightly sweetened with honey ect anyway, but it too had to go) it was not fun.  I slowly lost those pounds, but I still have to be careful about what I eat, but it is good to feel comfortable in your old clothes again.

So... In conclusion, I started my pregnancy with a diastasis width of 5 (due to doing push-ups and planks with relaxin in my body).   Three weeks later, I decreased it to a 2.  At the end of my pregnancy I was about a 7, but not more than medium or shallow depth.

I did 10 sets of 100 seated Tupler contractions a day(many of those double-splinted), did not jack-knife in/out of bed, wore a therapuetic Tupler abdominal splint.  As a result this pregnancy, I was smaller around the middle than my last pregnancy, and I was able to close my diastasias sooner and Reclaim my abdominals!

LOVE the results this technique will give you if you commit to the program. I DON't find it fair that my husband did NO abwork during this time :)   That's okay, I am just glad that there is something I can do to to regain my core strength and shape post baby (s).

But guess what!  You DON'T have to have just had a baby to lose that tummy.  In fact it probably is easier to close when relaxin is not in your body.  So barely post baby, or 40 years post baby, get started today!
Get the video, take a class, fit this technique into your life-style, GET RESULTS!

Signing off - to go spy on my baby while she sleeps soundly - LOve that!
   

NEW Baltimore workshop dates!!!  A June workshop and an August workshop.
Check under the  workshop page for details!

Sneak peak of my abs after baby number three!  This is at 16 weeks post partum.
I try to eat well and exercise, but what I owe my flat abs is the TUPLER TECHNIQUE, noooo doubt about it.  Come find out how and why in one of my upcoming classes!  Try the video and consult me with trouble shooting, but don't not do nothing if you are not happy with your mid-section.  Take action now!!

SUMMER WORKSHOP!!! 

I will be holding our first Columbia , MD workshop on
Saturdays at
 Supreme Sports    
7080 Deepage Drive
  Columbia, MD 21045   (410) 381-5355
Columbia, MD workshop: Diastasis Rehab Lose Your Mummy Tummy®

Class 1:  Sat  June 9th 2012 (1:00pm - 3:00pm)
Class 2:  Sat  June 23 2012 (1:00pm - 3:00pm)
Class 3:  Sat  July 14th, 2012 (1:00pm - 3:00pm)

Register:  Email or contact Tami Huber:(708) 466-7237 reclaimyourcore@gmail.com•Advanced registration is required. No day of admission. COST: $150 for entire 6 week workshop (in 3 classes).  Early registration by Jun 1st, R$135      Limited to 20 participants, minimum 6

update: due to low overhead, the workshop price will be reduced this session!  Take advantage!

Cost: $135 , $110 for early Registration (June 1st or before).

CHECK YOUR BELLY BEFORE YOU WRECK YOUR BELLY is back 2 more times before summer!!!

If you want a flat tummy this summer - make sure you check your belly for a diastasis, as conventional abdominal exercises, crunches, planks, pilates v-sits will make it worse!!  Not cool, right?

Come get your belly checked for FREE  at
Supreme Sports Club
7080 Deepage Drive 
 Columbia, MD 21045

Saturday May 12th and Saturday May 19th   1-2pm We will be in the yoga/pilates room RSVP by following this blog, liking Reclaimyourcore on twitter and/or facebook and then comment about it and leave your email, so I can confirm, or email  me at www.reclaimyourcore.blogspot.com Thanks!

I am over 47 , what's wrong with my belly? Is there hope?

This client contacted me after she had been doing the program for about 4 weeks. She had no licensed Tupler Technique providers anywhere near her, but would into Baltimore for work.  She asked if we could meet up, so I could officially check her diastasis and help her on her journey. 

She has 2 children (ages 12 and 14) and is in her mid 40's.

Here is her self told story.

I don’t know where to begin and will try hard not to ramble.

I have been on an approximate 8-year quest to determine what is “wrong” with me, my belly to be specific. I’m 47, 5’4”, 124 lbs. (would love to be 120, ideally), with my husband almost 30 yrs. and my daughters are 14 and almost 13. I work out (circuit training, Pilates, Body Pump) & walk religiously, able to build great looking arms, legs….mid-section always looked distended, like a beach ball. I could not figure out why as I’ve always had a thin athletic build, no reason that I still shouldn’t, right? Modified my diet, did more crunches, etc. to no avail. My belly button looked (actually still does) like it has an eyelid that’s half closed. Also, if I bent or moved the wrong way, it felt like a little fist would pop out from under my right rib and I had to push it back in…freaked me out whenever it happened. I used to joke that one of my organs was popping out (the irony sets in later). Had an umbilical hernia repaired

in May 2010, hoping that that would improve the appearance of the belly button and the beach ball…no luck.

Neither my primary, GYN, personal trainer, nor general surgeon ever suggested a diastasis recti. My guess is because they don’t know about it. I saw a plastic surgeon twice, considering a tummy tuck. He didn’t mention diastasis either. My obsession with my abdomen had literally consumed my every waking moment, I felt I was at the end of my rope, thinking there was nothing else for me to research or google, etc. Ultimately, I couldn’t bring myself to spend that kind of money, go thru the recovery process (no patience to be down that long), or have the unsightly scar from hip to hip.

Fast forward to Oct. 2011. I started seeing a naturopath, taking some supplements, modified the diet some more, got the hormones balanced, feeling pretty good. At my 4^th colonic with her, I was lamenting about my belly (again). She’s also a midwife and friend of my good friend who is a labor & delivery RN. She’s feeling around my belly and mentioned that my muscles felt separated & mushy. Good, I wasn’t the only one who thought so, so maybe I wasn’t crazy after all.

I got home after that appt. and was relaying the experience to my friend, the L&D nurse. Within minutes, she had googled diastasis recti. I heard trumpets from the heavens! For the next 2 days, I was searching everything I could find on this, read that umbilical hernia’s are a result of a diastasis, the abs actually are separated, and (holy cow), it probably was an organ popping out from under my rib when I bent/moved the wrong way! I discovered the Tupler Technique, ordered the program, and am about to start Week 4 tomorrow, 3/7.

I cannot tell you the sheer joy that I felt after reading up on this condition; a few of the before photos that I saw looked exactly like me! I actually cried tears of joy, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. Then, I cried sad & mad tears because I had spent 8 yrs. of my life thinking I was not able to get in shape, crazy, or just plain vain; I just couldn’t buy into the notion that this puffy belly was something I had to deal with because I was a woman, a mom,

over 45, blah, blah, blah.

This condition/remedy is/will be life-changing for me, it’s so awesome.

When we met up, we checked her diastasis, sure enough, she still had a muscle separation. We looked at how she was doing the exercises. I helped her with tweaking her technique and showed her different ways to get more muscle activation and muscle approximation with the exercises. We worked on isolating and activating the lower abdominals,

with splinting and with her technique on the headlifts.

She has continued to progress, losing 1 more inch in her lower waist. And all this progress is in just six weeks. I am confident she will keep progressing as she continues with the tupler technique 4 step program:

1) the basic exercises: elevator, contractions, headlifts

2) wearing the splint ALL the time

3) holding the transverse "in" on all the work that you do

4) getting in/out of bed correctly

She has graced us with some awesome before/after pics along her journey

Healing a hernia without surgery

Is it possible to heal a hernia without surgery?  That is what I am challenging and expecting some of my recent clients to do!

This is one of my clients who is a personal trainer and trains men and women and gets awesome results with her clients, is very fit, and a mom of 3 children age 4 and under.  She had a hernia above the belly button 4cm wide and 3 cm tall.  One week after training with me, doing the exercises and avoiding any sit-up type movements and avoiding most exercises on all 4's, she made quite a bit of progress on  that hernia and quite a visual difference in her abdominals!  Her hernia, barely measurable, was 3 cm tall, 3.5 cm wide and much l

                                              before                               after 1 week
notice the difference inher belly button, it went from a "protruding hernia" look to an innie!

                                             Before                                   After

Notic the protrusion above the belly button which is barely there in the after picture!

Before: her diasiasis wasTop: 3, Middle: 2.75, Bottom: 1.75  Waist: 31.5,    33,      32.75

After 1 week:                T:     2, M:        2.5,   B             .75  Waist: 30.5,    31,      32.5

That's a 2 inche loss from around the middle at the belly button in one week, yes, one week, and 1 inch from  just under the ribs.  Not bad!

I can't wait to see the rest of her progress as well!

Treating Hernia's with the Tupler Technique

A few of my recent clients have hernia's, so I will post their progress. I had a client this summer (she had 3 children, last two were 18 mos old twins) who had a small umbilical hernia and after the first time she trained with me, reported her hernia went in and stayed in within two days of completing her exercises and wearing her splint. I regret not taking before and after pictures.

I have a current client who has done the program for six weeks. She had a hernia as well, and now the opening at her belly button is closed except 1/2 or 1/4 of a finger tip area. Her organs were completely easy to palpate above and especially below the umbilicus and now, only muscle is felt with light palpation.

Another current client, who did the exercises for 1 week and was able to decrease the diameter vertically and horizontally by 1/3, depth by roughly 1/2, and the appearance of the hernia completely changed. You could visually see it when she lied on her back, but now you cannot. she is a personal trainer and had to alter her way of training, cutting out any exercises in which she could not keep her transverse "in" at the 5th floor (belly button to her spine) and did 5 or more sets of Tupler contractions a day last week.

I currently have another client, who was scheduled for surgery last week, and was going to see me afterwards to strengthen her core. I suggested she try the Tupler Technique first, before going under the knife and having a whole new set of issues to deal with. Even if she is not able to heal her hernia, she would know how to use her core correctly and avoid undoing the surgery. I will keep you posted with her results!! She lives two hours away, so I am skyping her inbetween visits here, and will see her again in a few weeks.