Tight tummies while I still can!

Well as of five minutes ago I have gone PUBLIC...

We are having a baby! Again! Very excited!
Honestly I don't know what this will to our blog.  Some weeks I may not be able to keep up, to be honest. I was pretty darn sick with the other two! That hasn't been bad yet so...crossing my fingers.  And usually it doesn't do great things to my eating habits either.  Something about permanent nausea and strange all day cravings, not exactly a great diet plan but we will see!

So I have a funny pregnancy story from my first pregnancy with that adorable gap toothed girl holding the one!
I was demonstrating a stretch on a ball to a patient at about 7 months pregnant and it was late in the evening and we were the only people in the clinic.

I attempted to sit up and get off the ball to let the patient do the stretch.  Yeah nothing happened.  What happened to my abdominals? I was stuck on the ball and my patient had to help me up.  My patient with a rotator cuff injury. Awesome.  Not my finest moment.

(this is a good chest/pectoral stretch FYI!)

So 7 months pregnant your abs aren't working at optimal strength and that is OK.  But I had a lot of trouble with an unstable pelvis during that pregnancy I wished I had worked a little harder pre-baby on that strong core.  And in between kids I have worked a little more diligently so that I won't be quite so unstable with subsequent pregnancies. 

One of the MOST important abdominal muscles is the...

Transverse Abdominus (TA): The most important layer of the abdominals because it is the deepest layer. Find your hip bones on both sides of your abs, roll your fingers in, and cough. You will feel a muscle touch your fingers as you cough, now contract this muscle without coughing. Notice you are holding your breath. The goal is to contract the transverse, while inhaling and exhaling. You can do it!!! The transverse if vital to developing a strong core because as it contracts, it supports your low back, decreasing the strain while bending, twisting, and lifting.

I suggest working your abdominals 3 days a week. Remember that breathing is an important component as you complete each repetition.

One of my favorite exercises is this:

 

Lower Abdominal Strengthening Level I

Lie on your back and work on finding the contraction of that TA. Put your hands on your lower abdomen if the feedback helps you. Raise one knee up toward your chest. You will feel the TA kick in if you hadn't found it already. Hold steady and lift the second knee up toward your chest.

 

If when you lifted the second knee your low back arched off the floor or your stomach poofed up or both your TA did not hold.  Slowly lower one knee at a time, completely relax your stomach and start again.  You should be able to maintain your back flat against the floor, a steady tightening of your stomach (no popping out) while you raise and lower your legs and not holding your breath. Repeat 8-10 times.

 

 

Lower Trunk Rotation

With knees up at 90 deg and a good TA contraction, now bring your knees over to one side and then the other slowly.  Stay within a small range to start so you can maintain a good contraction of your abdominals.  As you master this ex you may move in a bigger arc. 

 

Of course in school we always said the core is more than your abs it is the "Butt and Gut" so we can't neglect the backside.

 

My two favorites are:

 

Bridging

Lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, lift your hips and butt off the ground.  Hold 5 sec and lower down. Repeat 10-20x.

 

Hip Extension

 

Lying on your stomach lift your leg from the hip using the butt muscle.  Make sure you keep the hip down on the ground and do not roll off.  Hold 5 sec and lower down.  Repeat 10x on both sides.

 

So there is a quick overview of my favorites. I better get them in now since it won't be long where they won't be working so well.  I can make my husband do them too since we know he needs a good core workout!

 Happy core strengthening everyone!