So, I won’t be reviewing week 4 of the Fit2B Beginning track this week. I worked two fourteen hour days last week and two days later we all got a stomach bug. The whole schedule of the week meant that I didn’t exercise much at all. So I’ll be repeating week 4 again. Which is actually recommended at any point in the progression. If you find a particular week too difficult, repeat the previous week or do fewer workouts and spread it out over two weeks.
But I wanted to take the chance this week to talk about Tummy Safe Fitness. This was very much a new concept to me. I had been doing ballet since junior high and modern dance and Pilates since college. I lived and died by crunches to give me better core control, which is central to ballet. I had especially good results with Pilates, which helped me to recover my figure after my first pregnancy. But after my son was born, even though I was less than my pre-pregnancy weight, I didn’t feel right. I felt like I had a squishy loaf of bread dough in the middle of my abdomen. I thought that I just needed to do more Pilates to tone my abs. But nothing seemed to be helping.
Then I learned about diastasis. At first I felt discouraged. I knew that motherhood would mean my body being different forever, but I didn’t think I’d look like I do. But at the same time, Bethany Learn offered me hope that this didn’t have to be permanent. I could look and feel like myself again. I used the Foundational 5 and the Tummy Safe path for two months and then intermittently as I trained for a 5K.
Don’t get discouraged in the beginning. I felt like I wasn’t working out hard enough to be making any real changes, but with a combination of splinting and following the exercise program, I saw a significant reduction in the width of my abdominal separation over the course of two months. That being said, you may need more help. I only have a two finger width separation, shrunk from four. But if yours is larger or deeper than mine, you may want to seriously consider abdominal rehab.
It isn’t just about looks, having an abdominal separation puts you at higher risk for organ damage should you suffer from any serious trauma to your abdomen (think a car accident or hard punch in the stomach). I wanted to heal my abdominal separation in part because I get kicked in the stomach (usually by accident) by one of my kids at least once a week. I wanted to have my body’s natural defense back up and running ASAP.
That being said, I have never personally done abdominal rehab yet, but the other ladies on the Fit2B Studio facebook forum speak very highly of The Tummy Team. I want to see women taking care of themselves, and having healthy, happy bodies.
Hopefully next week I’ll be picking up again with Week 4 of the program. Until then, keep taking those baby steps toward healthy living. To use the running metaphor, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. All your little efforts are not for nothing.
Starting Slow: Fit2B Beginning Week 1
Building a Habit: Fit2B Beginning Week 2
I’m Finally Enjoying Myself: Fit2B Beginning Week 3
Don’t forget you can use the coupon code laundryblog to save 30% off a Fit2B Studio yearly membership. That’s less than $7 a month.
