Focus of the Week: Pelvis – The Floor of Your Core
The focus of this week is primarily on the pelvic floor. This is not something that I tend to have major issues with during pregnancy or otherwise, but I found the practice pushing video to be of some help. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to keep belly breathing during labor because it has become somewhat second nature by now.
I’ll admit that I thought I’d be feeling stronger by now. But I also know that I haven’t been as consistent as I’d like with this program. I’m also very close to the end of my pregnancy, so I’m fighting a bit of a losing battle. My body is going to continue to stretch to accommodate this growing child. I’m hopeful that this work will pay off during my recovery though.
I’m still struggling to consistently maintain good pelvic alignment, especially while sitting. I’m especially at the waddling phase so I’m trying to be very aware of my alignment when I walk. This program is definitely much harder to do while pregnant, at least compared to when I did Core Foundations last year. But as I said earlier, while I’m not seeing huge effects right now, I’m hopeful that I will see the fruits of these efforts later.
Update: Since I originally completed the Prenatal Program with The Tummy Team they have created an entire program just for the pelvic floor. So if you struggle with leaking and other symptoms of pelvic floor weakness, please check it out.
Tummy Team Prenatal Core Week 5: Your Core Strong Birth Plan
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Can you please let me know if the transverse exercises are similar or the same as those for the Tupler Technique? I learned of Kelly Dean through the Tupler website and already have the Tupler program. I am currently pregnant and interested in this program but I just don’t want to buy a program that’s almost the same as Tupler. In case you are unaware of Tupler, it goes something like this: week one do 500 Transverse squeezes (5 sets of 100) spread throughout the day (bringing in belly button to spine from 3rd to 5th floor) with some longer transverse holds (about 5 sets of 30) spread out. Then each week the transverse squeezes increase by about 100 more reps and you end up bringing belly to spine from 5 to 6th. Then on to floor exercises after weeks 6. This is a general summary.
Based on my understanding of Tupler it is similar. (I believe Kelly Dean is Tupler trained). But Kelly focuses a lot more on real life integration rather than just a bunch of exercises. Definitely not as many exercises or reps. I would never have been able to fit that into my life realistically. My impression is that she believes that if you learn to properly integrate your core engagement properly into your life, you won’t need to do the exercises once your core is healed. If you don’t want to do the whole program, a Skype session with Kelly might be helpful. I tend to think of Kelly’s program as a kinder, gentler, more attainable Tupler program, but she definitely puts her own spin on everything.