First things first, an abdominal separation (AKA Diastasis Recti) is not an indication of failure or that you did something wrong. An abdominal separation during pregnancy is what your body does to accommodate your growing baby(ies) and the changing intra-abdominal pressure in your abdominal cavity. This happens to keep them and YOU safe.
So maybe the first mistake I don’t want you to make, is thinking that your body is broken because you have an abdominal separation.
Here are some other mistakes that I don’t want you to make:
1. Not Having a Treatment Plan
I think it is important to work with a professional, Physiotherapist and/or a Pre and Postnatal Certified Trainer, when it comes to an abdominal separation. Honestly, when it comes to postpartum recovery and fitness in general. Having a treatment plan means that you know there are actionable steps you will be taking to help strengthen your core and heal your abdominal separation. I always start with addressing your ABC’s and building a strong foundation that you can build upon. Locking down your ABC’s takes time, practice, and they are not the “coolest” or most Instagrammable exercises to do, but they are going to have a major impact. They will impact your overall recovery, how quickly, and confidently you can return to doing the movements/workouts/activities that you love the most. Another bonus to having a treatment plan, is having someone else create the plan for you! We don’t want to add to your decision fatigue.
2. Doing Too Much Too Soon
“We can always add more, we can’t always take away”
I say it all the time, but SLOW is FAST when it comes to postpartum recovery and fitness. Everyone has a different pregnancy experience, a different birth experience, different rates of healing, different genetics, and different lifestyles. That means that your slow will be different than that Momma’s you met in your birthing class. Your early postpartum is not a time that should be rushed because majority of your efforts and energy are going to your baby, and you are not running on a full tank. You are better off doing 5 minutes a day of specific movements to help your recovery, than trying to do 30-60 minutes every few days. We can always add more, we can’t always take away. If we skip the important steps and start doing crunches, planks, lifting heavy or running before being able to contract our core properly, we could be putting ourselves at risk of an injury, delaying our strength rebuild, or something more simple like being too sore to go for a walk with our kiddos the next day.
3. Not Focusing on Core Engagement, Strength, & Stability
The muscles of our core are important for pretty much every movement we do. It helps us stabilize while we stand to rock our babies to sleep for the 5th night in a row. It helps us accelerate when we run to our baby who is about to fall off the couch, because they just learned how to pull themselves up onto things. Helps us decelerate when we are skiing downhill with our toddler who only wants to ‘french fry’ and not ‘pizza’. It is important to learn how to properly control the intra-abdominal pressure in our abdomen, because a certain amount is needed to do the things I mentioned above. We use our core for all the high performance activities we love doing- running, skiing, rock climbing, lifting heavy weights, and everyday activities like carrying grocery bags and pushing a stroller uphill.
4. Not Focusing on Relaxing Your Muscles
A properly functioning muscle is not only able to engage properly, but they need to be able to relax properly as well. If we are constantly sucking in our stomach, we are not letting the muscles relax entirely and that has negative effects on the function of the core as well as your pelvic floor. Overly active muscles can lead to muscle fatigue, pain, or even injury. Your range of motion and flexibility in your spine, hips and shoulders can be limited as well. So take a deep breath in with me 1…2…3…4, and now exhale and let it all go 4…3…2…1.
5. Not Resting When You Need It
Just like our muscles need to be able to relax, we need to be able to slow down. If we are constantly go-go-go, if we are working out 7 days a week PLUS doing all that we can for our kids, we are really pushing our bodies and exposing ourselves to higher cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone released by our body in response to stress. Too much exercise can result in elevated levels of cortisol, which can lead to further stress, fatigue or trouble sleeping. In early postpartum and even up until your kid is 2 or 3 years old, you are already dealing with stress, fatigue, and trouble sleeping. We do not need to add more to that. Plus, if we are not resting enough, our recovery and fitness progress will be effected.
If you feel like you have made one or more of the mistakes above, I don’t want you to feel bad or discouraged, because we can learn from our mistakes. Asking for help is hard and you may be thinking “How am I going to fit in time to focus on me and my physical recovery while figuring out Motherhood?!” I can’t deny that it is hard, but you do not need to figure it out alone.
I got you Mama.
Ready to take the first step? Book a consult and start building a strong foundation for your postpartum journey and beyond!