Carpal Tunnel Syndrome- A little Background & Prevention Exercises

I'm not going to get super technical here, but if you have some 'funny feelings' in your fingers or thumb, then you're going to want to read this. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is an uncomfortable and potentially debilitating condition that is preventable with a little extra care. Carpal Tunnel syndrome affects your hands as a result of wrist pressure. It feels like tingling or numbness starting in your finger tips and thumb and may progress to feeling of pain or burning and weakness affecting use of the hand.

Between your wrist bone and its supportive tissues is a very small space called the Carpal Tunnel. The median nerve goes through that little tunnel to get to your fingers and thumb. Because the Carpal Tunnel space is so small, any swelling or change to the space from pressure can irritate or compress the median nerve, causing the uncomfortable sensations.

During pregnancy, the swelling that many women experience puts them at higher risk for developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. For some, this will go away after the pregnancy. For some others who are not so lucky, this can cause serious and potentially permanent damage that could even require surgery to alleviate.

If you are pregnant and you have any of the other risk factors for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, then you are at an even greater risk. Other risk factors include long spans of typing, other small repetitive hand tasks, obesity and injury to the area. Knowing that you have any or even a few of these risk factors should be enough to convince you to put a little effort into prevention--- as many medical professionals will tell you, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

The greatest prevention for avoiding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is going to be avoiding what is causing the aggravation to the median nerve. If it’s swelling from pregnancy, you can’t help being pregnant, but you can watch that weight gain, sodium intake and make sure you’re well hydrated so your body isn’t hanging on to unnecessary fluid. Try to modify activities that make the symptoms worse so that you aren’t bending or putting pressure on the wrist. This might include adjusting your chair height or lowering your computer when typing so that you see your wrist is as flat as possible while typing. And, with any activity work-related or fun (some people will give this to themselves from recreational activities like sewing!), be sure that you are taking a five to ten minute break for every hour of activity.

If you already have the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, you should discuss them with your doctor. He or she may help you to find a wrist support or brace that can help to keep it from getting worse as it heals.

In the meantime, if you have any of the risk factors for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, you should really try to get in the habit of doing some wrist ‘exercises’ (they’re really more like stretches). These are especially useful at work and once you practice these a few times, they will come naturally:

Follow this sequence 10 times, allowing each step to be held for five slow breaths:

1) Extend and stretch both wrists and fingers acutely as if you were doing a handstand against an invisible wall in front of you. If it were your foot, it would look like you were lifting it off of a gas pedal.

2) Straighten both of your wrists and let your fingers hang limp.

3) Make a tight fist with both hands, arms still extended straight out in front of you.

4) Bend both hands down like your fists are taking a bow.

5) Straighten both wrists and let your fingers hang limp.

-- if any of these movements are PAINFUL, then STOP. You need to discuss this with your doctor.

-- you can do this as often as you take breaks from activity.

Everyone Farts on the Elliptical: Feeling Awkward at the Gym

So that’s kind of gross but it’s true. Sorry for the people standing behind the elliptical machine that may have previously been unaware, but the point is that everyone feels a little weird or embarrassed at some point in their gym habit. What is important is that you don’t let that awkward experience, or general feeling of self consciousness to get in your way as you achieve your fitness goals.

Every single person who walks into the gym for the first few times feels a little weird. They have to get to know the layout, decide which machines work for them and how the darn things work and they have to get to the point where they feel their flow. It is kind of like the first day of school, but maybe even a little more intimidating, because you might feel like you’re putting your physical self out there to be judged.

The truth is, whether or not you have the audience that you’re worried about, that doubt or worry in your head is holding you back from getting the most out of your work out. The great majority of people complain that they don’t really have time to dedicate to work out… so if that is the case, then the great majority of people should want to do everything they can to squeeze every last drop of productivity out of the workouts that they do manage to fit in. This definitely points to getting over those self-conscious butterflies.

I’ve listed the top ten things that everyone does at some point at the gym. Maybe you’ll only nail one or two of these, but there’s also the possibility that you may be the unlucky (albeit kind of adorable) nincompoop that is really familiar with all of the things listed. Either way, enjoy, smile, don’t take yourself too seriously, and above all- don’t let it get you down!

“Everybody, at some point…”

10- Missed your mouth just a little bit with your water bottle.

9- Bonked yourself on the top of the head with the pull down cable bar.

8- Accidentally walked out with a gym towel (whether you brought it back or not!)

7- Forgotten to wear deodorant.

6- Done a few sets of something totally bogus on the weight machine (and immediately saw the person who was waiting for it use it correctly right behind you).

5- Had malfunctions with the super-low water fountain that caused you to look like you wet your pants (or sweated somewhere that no one should be working out at the gym).

4- Realized that you were singing out loud to the music in your ear buds (and it’s Hansen’s MMmbop song)

3- Gotten caught checkin’ out your bad self in the mirror.

2- Farted on the elliptical machine.

1-  Gone into an ambitious set and had to stop.

These are, of course, just silliness that is supposed to make you smile. That being so, I did want to talk a little about #1. I think the great majority of people who feel a little funny at the gym are way overestimating how much other people are looking at them. It would be way more weird for someone to be counting your set than for you to not make it to the end of an ambitious set. And I would always choose writing myself a workout that was, in retrospect, a little over my head than to write a workout that I knew for sure I would be able to complete in front of my perceived audience. I assure all of you, the other people in there really aren’t watching. And you will get a lot more out of your workout if you stop watching for them watching J

That being said, since I am definitely the nincompoop that has invariably accomplished more than just that top ten list, I have also listed some tactics for helping you to get over any self conscious fears that you may be experiencing and that may be holding you back in your workouts:

-          Really listen to your music. Make sure that you organize a special playlist beforehand (so you aren’t wasting time fiddling with your player when you could be working out) that is made of music that gets you pumped and also really engages your attention. Beware of #4 J

-          Actually write your workout plan (or print it) on a piece of paper or notebook that you carry with you. For people who stick with the gym long term, it is not weird or novice to do that. Knowing what comes next can help you avoid that awkward ‘scanning the room, what now?’ look and it will help you keep track of your progress anyway.

-          ASK. I cannot possibly say it enough. If you don’t know how to use something, ask a gym attendant how to do something or if you are doing it right. I promise you, they will not think you are stupid- they will appreciate you not hurting yourself or breaking the equipment. And, that is what they’re there for! I would not ask other patrons because you want to be considerate of their limited time as well.

-          Be considerate of others, but stop being so cognizant. They’re probably getting weirded out by you looking at them to see if they’re looking at you J

-          Laugh it off… of yourself only. If something weird does happen, I guarantee you that if someone saw it, they probably have been there and done that anyway. We are all human and if we’re in the gym together, we probably have some parallel goals going. Do your part to promote the positive environment by not teasing/laughing at others, and at the same time, be willing to laugh at yourself.

Basically, there are a lot of obstacles that we face as women as we strive towards our fitness goals. They might be demands on our time, energy and other resources- so anytime we are able to squash something that is holding us back, let’s do it! Feeling awkward is not necessary. No one is cool 100% of the time and the closest thing to it is not worrying too much when you do something goofy.

Got a funny story from something that has happened to you at the gym? Share it in the comments section and I will feature it in this blog in the future!

Pregnancy Complaint #1: Nausea

First and absolutely foremost- here's a big sincere hug. I think a lot of pregnant women get the response 'oh, that is to be expected'/'everyone feels that way', etc. That's true, but WOW that does NOT make you feel better about it at all. Even if every other mom-to-be out there is feeling the exact same way right now, my heart still goes out to YOU right here, right now reading this. Because all the categories of 'this is normal' are not going to help you through each individual moment of that seasick feeling, only your woman warrior inside is going to. So hugs.

Let's learn a little more about Nausea. Nausea is a common & sometimes debilitating symptom most common during the first 20 weeks of your pregnancy. Most people are told that this is due to hormones, which is actually true in a way, but it is really because the hormone changes occurring in your body are relaxing your body's blood vessels so that they can carry more blood for a higher oxygen demand.  So suddenly your pipes are able to hold more, but with the same amount of fluid inside them. While your body works on filling up these ‘bigger’ blood vessels, you experience being underfilled which can mess with your blood pressure and is associated with common symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, and that light headed feeling you get from standing up too quickly and of course… nausea.

Because of the cause, the ‘cure’ is doing what you can to help counter underfilling. Chiefly this means being optimally hydrated and drinking water! First step is you must write down your water intake: at the top of your planner paper, or just a sheet of paper if you aren't a planner kind of gal, draw eight circles (ideally you would make it to ten circles!). Fill in a circle each time you drink an 8 ounce glass of water. Subtract from your total if you drink anything with caffeine in it (*** caffeine should be avoided when you’re pregnant. Some doctors will condone one glass of it a day as far as safety of the baby is concerned, but for your own sake, remember that caffeine is a diuretic so it makes you loose fluid and makes the symptoms of underfilling worse! That is besides the debate of risk to baby). Many people are surprised when they write down their fluid intake to find out that they really are not drinking as much water as they thought they were! You might think "Oh, that doesn't apply to me, I drink water allll of the time". Carrying around that one bottle of water and nursing it slowly throughout the day is not meeting your water intake.

When you’re doing the best you can with water intake, it is time to try the tricks. Most of the pregnant women that I have spoken to have heard of eating a saltine cracker before getting out of bed, sucking on hard candy, flat soda, etc. Most of the women who tell me about these do so in frustration because they've tried them to no avail. I had one poor lady tell me she thought that he doctor was just making things up for her to try to distract her, hoping that she would just get through this part and quit bugging her! 

Unfortunately, the goal of most of this nausea relief is to decrease it as opposed to actually stopping it. Your body is doing something absolutely amazing and you are basically along for the ride at this point. If you have realistic expectations for how much a little trick can help you, then you are more likely to have the positive outlook that allows you to see the decrease in nausea, even if it is only a little bit. A little bit is better than nothing, so keep an open mind and try to focus on small differences. If you focus on the small differences, you will feel them more greatly!

 I’ve broken down the tricks into categories:

Ingestion:

-          Sucking on ice cubes or popsicles can numb your stomach. This is the only thing that mildly helped me and I found that it also helped my water intake. The best ice (in my opinion) is at Sonic drivein where you can by it by the bag and it is the tiny balls of ice (yum!).

-          Sniff or suck on lemons (this is a good counter taste to the metallic taste some women experience)

-          Swipe a rubbing alcohol wipe under the nose and breath deep calm breaths of the smell (I don’t know why, but this works for patients undergoing chemotherapy and it did help me as well... I gave one quick sniff of the noxema in my shower and that would usually stop the chain drive heaves long enough to take some deep breaths).

-          Research supports eating calcium rich foods will help and that is a common reason that these come up as cravings. Cheese, yogurt or icecream are good alternatives if drinking milk is upsetting. Ice cream serves a duel purpose because the cold will also numb the stomach. 

-     Many people swear by ginger. There are ginger candies and ginger tea that you can have approved by your doctor. Make sure that you discuss any and all supplements that you take with your doctor.

Action:

-          Sea bands can be found at most drug stores, they do the wrist acupressure point which is supposed to alleviate nausea symptoms.

-          You can try the acupressure on your own by placing the first three fingers of your right hand on the inner aspect of your left wrist with the ring finger of the right hand directly over the wrist. Under the index finger will be the acupressure point; switch wrists after five yoga breaths.

-          Yoga Moves:

1)      Downward facing cross legged: Sitting on the ground in a cross legged pose, bend body forward and rest arms on the seat of a chair. Relax your head onto your arms.

2)      *Reclining hero pose: (I’ve had the most luck with this one, because it lifts the diaphragm): Kneeling position with buttocks between heels. Recline upper body backwards slowly as far as you can comfortably, looking up at the ceiling (you can brace your arms behind you but don’t curve your spine or you’re defeating the pose).

-          Outdoor air with deep breaths. Some people find relief from breathing the salty air near water at the beach.

Try something different:

-          For some people, the nausea is actually being caused by the prenatal vitamins. Don’t stop taking them, but taking them at a different time (with your biggest meal of the day like around dinner time) might help this.

-          As a last resort, remember that if your nutrition is being affected by vomiting, consider that your doctor can prescribe medications that are safe to take during pregnancy that deal with nausea. Never take any over the counter nausea medication without your doctor’s permission.

Of course with regards to nausea, make sure your nutrition is optimal, that you're getting that water you need and that you're getting enough sleep... if there's a problem in any of these categories then your nausea might mean something more serious. You should always talk to your doctor about your symptoms, even if she's said that they are normal before or if other people tell you it's normal. You know yourself.

In the meantime, here's another hug. And also, just so you know, the nausea card is a great thing to cash in on throughout future mother's days!

Do cellulite creams/stretch mark creams work? Do you recommend a certain brand?

Unfortunately, no. They ‘work’ based on the claim that keeping skin hydrated will keep it from tearing. Well, in a super technical sense that is one way to hydrate, but it is not really going to prevent stretch marks (and it definitely does not affect cellulite). It is good, however, for alleviating that itchy skin feeling when skin starts to stretch. The key factor in stretch marks is genetics (thanks Mom!) and the only other tried-and-true prevention is gaining that weight slowly so that your skin has time to adjust. For hydration, I can’t say it enough, water & ice! Your body hydrates more efficiently than you can smear it from the outside with anything because your GI tract is actually meant to absorb fluid.

The only recommendatation that I have is that you choose hypoallergenic creams when you are using any kind of lotion. Your skin might be more sensitive during pregnancy and you'll be surpised what different reactions you might have to things that never bothered you before!

Common food-related questions from clients in their first trimester

                The most common questions from a client who has just found out that they are pregnant (or are otherwise in the first trimester of pregnancy):

                I’ve heard from my doctor that ‘eating for two’ is a myth; How much weight am I supposed to gain?

In designing a first trimester food plan with the goal of slow and optimal weight gain (or maintenance if you are starting your pregnancy over your ideal weight), remember: Step 1: no guilt. Your ‘square one’ (your starting point including pre-pregnancy weight and fitness levels) is simply that; where you are starting from. No matter how you feel about your current weight, you aren’t doing anything wrong by feeling hungry and needing food. Your body is now working in hyper-drive and it needs the energy (calories) to step up and perform. So, as I said before, although the old adage of ‘eating for two’ is not accurate, now is not the time for dieting (yay!). So let’s talk about balance.

                First, I’d like to break down the body changes that you can expect. For most women, the ideal weight gain over the entire pregnancy is between 15 and 35 pounds. If you start overweight pre-pregnancy, you’d be on the lower end of that scale. Even if you gain the ideal amount of weight during pregnancy, you can expect loose skin, loose muscles and some shape changes. I’m not scaring you, I’m preparing you J ! A safe expectation for feeling “normal” in your body again is 9-10 months following birth (it takes as much time to take it off as it does to put it on).

                Okay, so we aren’t dieting, so time to hit up Golden Corral buffet? No, not exactly J There are 3 goals to your eating plan; 1) feeling satisfied (full mommy = happy mommy) 2) getting the nutrition that you need for baby making 3) minimizing extra weight gain. So that means eating when you are hungry (not bored) and eating smart.

                I’m only in my first trimester and I’ve already gained /x/ amount of weight! How can I slow down?

                The absolute best way to prevent super sneaky fast weight gain is to eat at home (or packed meals from home). Restaurant food is tasty but tricky and it is loaded with stuff that is going to make your weight gain get out of control really fast. It’s a very hard habit to break when you lead a busy lifestyle, but with good grocery shopping planning it doesn’t have to be inconvenient to eat at home or boring either! When I worked as a full-time nurse, the crock pot was my at-home chef making my dinner hot and ready for me when I walked through the door!

                Another important point to avoiding too much weight gain is pacing your meals. By eating according to the many-small-meals-per day idea (start by splitting your 3 full meals in half, making 6 small meals), you can prevent the blood sugar highs and lows which give you that panicky feeling hunger which tends to lead to a cycle of over-eating. You will probably have to adjust the times of your meals to what works for you during your day; some women just cannot fathom the idea of eating in the morning at this point in their pregnancy while other women would be sick all day if they didn’t eat first thing in the morning!

It is also good to know that for your metabolism during your pregnancy, your own body is actually using fat as your primary energy source (yay! That means it’s going to take some of it out of storage) and the baby is using glucose (sugar from carbohydrates) as his or her primary energy source. That does not mean over eat on any of these categories; it means that skipping these categories can seriously affect your health and your baby’s health. Again, deprivation diets (which are never really a good idea) are now a super bad idea during your pregnancy.

I eat out all of the time because when I look at my cabinet, nothing ever looks good; what kind of snacks would you recommend?

Following is a list of ideas, and you can pick and choose based on taste or follow their lead to your own ideas… just don’t try to be slick and say a carrot basically looks like a corndog J!!!! So get creative, AND, the easiest first step for bringing home food to work is to purchase portion-friendly Tupperware and start packing ahead so that you can grab your snack supplies on the way out of the door…

Ideas:

-          8 ounces of yogurt or frozen yogurt

-          Apple (apple with skin is one of those ‘feel full’ foods)

-          2 slices of bread (bonus points for wheat or calcium fortified bread) with 2 tablespoons peanut butter

-          Skim milk with ovaltine

-          ½ of a whole grain bagel topped with : cottage cheese & tomato (my favorite) OR 1 tablespoon peanut butter with raisons or sliced banana

-          Homemade grilled cheese sandwich

-          Any healthy choice soups (they have great variety and the clear broth soups can sooth bellies)

-          Protein: Meat (duh, but do go for low-fat choices), nuts, legumes, dairy, eggs, grains.

-          Fat: I know, we’re supposed to avoid it, right? Hold on, GOOD fat should be 20-30 % of your daily intake (remember, that’s your energy source). Good fat (monounsaturated or poly unsaturated) can be found in: canola oil or olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, corn, soybean & fish. Bad fat (saturated fat) and VERY bad fat (trans fats/ or hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats) are not your friends and can be cut out completely if possible. These are in almost everything you would eat out at a restaurant L & read food labels to see what kind of fat is in the stuff at the grocery store.

-          Homemade mashed potatoes made with chicken broth

-          Angel food cake (read the serving size)

-          Homemade hot chocolate

-          Apple slices with cinnamon and 2 tsp butter, zap in microwave for 60 seconds

-          Strawberries dipped in chocolate pudding

-          Cottage cheese mixed with fruit (they have these prepackaged now! Check out the yogurt section)

-          Small pizzas (cookie cutter some pizza dough, pile with sauce and cheese and veggies)

-          Cinnamon and sugar toast with milk

-          Tortilla roll ups (bonus points for wheat tortilla): layer some cheese and goodies, roll it up and cut into pieces… if you’re bringing it in a lunch box, you might want to stick it with some toothpicks

-          Vanilla pudding cup with crumbled up animal crackers

-          Zucchini bites (slice a zucchini into rounds, top with pizza sauce and cheese and bake)

-          Fruit smoothies (these come frozen, easier than acting like an infomercial with  your blender and a garden and all that mess when you don’t have time!)

I don’t have time to eat healthy; are quick foods really that bad?

Everyone has time to eat healthy! What we don’t have time for are all of the health ailments associated with eating poorly! J

Frozen foods can be good and bad. I love morning star brand (it’s vegetarian with great nutrition, but watch your sodium) and there are lots of ‘healthy ’ options that you can have as snacks too! They will never beat fresh options for nutrition/taste, but they would be the lesser of evils if you really need a practical time saver.

Unfortunately, the reality is that when you work full time and balance that with your family life and other time demands, you’re probably going to eat out sometimes. I won’t condone it but I will say, even then you can make ‘better’ choices… we don’t drop our cell phone on the ground and then say ‘oh well, it’s already on the ground, I guess I’ll smash it to pieces’ and our food goals should follow the same idea J I am not saying you should eat out, but here are my recommendations when you have to eat out (because eating out is better than not eating, don’t go hungry!). Taco bell (order fresco and limit to two tacos or one burrito), pizza hut/other pizza options (two slices and thin and crispy, plus go nuts at the salad bar), wendy’s (junior hamburger, kids fries, chicken grill sandwhich, side salad, or a large chili with one packet of crackers), macdonalds (small shake alone, or 6 pc chicken nuggets, kid portion fries), jack in the box (chicken fajita pita with whole-grain, two egg rolls and a fruit cup, or small curly fries and small hamburger), panera (plain bagel with reduced fat cream cheese, pumpkin muffin, any soup!, half chicken ceaser on focaccia, half chicken salad on whole grain), Subway (any 6 inch!), Chinese (avoid any msg, and stick to veggie and meat choices for the main portion).

I am so nauseas; is there anything I can change about my eating habits to help?

                I mentioned before when we were talking about nausea that calcium can (for some people) help with that. Calcium is also very important during pregnancy; most of us know that milk, yogurt, cheese and ice cream can give us calcium, but these foods also tend to be higher calories. Other good ways to get satisfying calcium in your diet include seeking out those calcium-fortified choices (cereals, oatmeal, bread, boost, etc) and foods like Tofu, green leafy vegetables, beans, almonds, bok choy and sesame seeds.

                Otherwise, many women experience food aversions during this part (and sometimes throughout) of their pregnancy. Food aversions means that something that you may have even really liked eating before just absolutely turns your stomach now. Sometimes just the smell or thought of that food can make you toss cookies! During one of my pregnancies, I had an aversion to leafy greens. Anyone who knows me would probably think that is pretty funny, and it did not help with my own weight control!! Food aversions are unpredictable and they might come and go. For the sake of your stomach, it is better not to fight them. There are always alternatives for meeting your nutrition and you will find at this time in your life, your body is really calling the shots!

                If your nausea is severe enough that you worry you are not meeting your nutritional needs or if you are unable to drink fluids adequately, this is something you need to see your doctor about. Although it is really common for women to be nauseas during this time, you do need to make sure you’re getting the nutrition and fluids that you need!

What foods should I avoid during pregnancy?

                A lot of people hear contradicting information about what they can and shouldn’t eat during pregnancy. Ultimately listen to your doctor, but some things that are universally unacceptable to eat during pregnancy are raw or undercooked meat (eggs over easy counts in that), processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat (some doctors say it’s okay if it is micro-waved- however, no risk is better than low risk in my opinion), swordfish, soft cheeses not made with pasteurized milk, shark, king mackerel, tilefish, herbal tea (still being researched), caffeine, drugs/alcohol/smoking.

Should I eat before or after I exercise?

                As far as food and exercise goes, make sure you are having a protein & carb snack about an hour before you exercise and 8 ounces of water for every 15 min of exercise. I can’t stress enough how important exercise is during pregnancy. When you’re starting from not having a fitness regime, it is important that your doctor gives you the go ahead. You should set aside 20 minutes 3 times a week, and try to make sure that on your ‘off’ days, you are being moderately active like walking, housework, gardening, etc.

Getting the most out of your Post-Partum Core workouts!

                After you have accomplished giving birth, whether it is to your first or fifth child, you might be reasonable in believing that there is nothing in the world that you cannot do. You are a woman warrior, a symbol of strength and power; so why is it that so many women perceive reclaiming their midline after childbirth as ‘impossible’?

                So many women throw up their hands and in the towel when it comes to their goals regarding what they can expect for their tummy area to look like after childbirth. They have become accustomed to an idea that childbirth ‘just changes’ us and that we are better off accepting an altered boxy shape or the sagging midline. No more two piece bathing suits, jeans never fit right again; the list goes on. Maybe they are discouraged from hearing other’s excuses or maybe they are discouraged from the lack of results from their own efforts. Either way, moms do not have time to waste. If they are not getting the results they are looking for from a workout, then they are likely to move on to their ever-expanding list of other responsibilities that take precedence over what seems like a losing battle. Don’t lose the battle; arm yourself so that you know what you are working with and so you don’t waste that time that you don’t have!

                If you have had a baby, then I have no doubt that you have heard of the pelvic floor. Most people know of the pelvic floor as something we need to do Kegels to tone so that we don’t piddle when we sneeze. That is true, but the pelvic floor is also the foundation of your core. Training it along with the Transverse Abdominis (the TA) are the two most important elements to getting the flat stomach that you had before pregnancy or that you have never had but have always wanted.

                There are many very effective core workout routines offered in many different programs. I won’t delve into the eternal debate about what workout is best; among fitness experts, the core is such an important part of the fitness goal that it will probably be an ever-evolving strategy. What I do want to address is that, in any and all of these programs, there are two key pieces of information that you absolutely need to know in order to get the most out of whatever workout it is that you choose. First, you have to know what you are working on. Second, you have to uncover what you are working on.

                The TA is the deep abdominal muscle that runs under your six-pack. Yes, you have a six-pack, even when you can’t see it- it is just spread out or hidden under fat tissue. The Pelvic Floor (PF) and the TA are what hold your insides in and flatten your tummy. The stronger they are, the flatter your tummy will be.

To find your TA, stand up straight with your shoulders relaxed and place one flat hand across your abdomen below your belly button. You’re going to engage the TA and pelvic floor group without cheating. I will explain more about cheating in just a moment. Now keep your hand where it is but tighten your abdominal muscles to pull them away from your hand so that you can see light between your hand and your tummy. You should picture a string from behind your belly button that pulls directly through your middle to draw your stomach evenly towards your spine.

Make sure that you are not cheating! Cheating is just sucking in your stomach, which doesn’t do anything effective for you besides the thirty seconds you can hold your breath and check it out in the mirror. The way that you know that you’re sucking it in versus really engaging your stomach is to ask yourself if you can breathe normally. When the muscles are engaged properly, you will not hold your breath and your breathing will feel natural. Feeling the difference between sucking it in and really engaging that core takes practice; mastering this difference is what makes the difference in getting the optimal results out of whatever core workout you choose.

Your actual core workout time is not the only time to practice this. You can, and should, practice engaging your core during all of your activities during the day. Start with times when you have a second to think, maybe when you are nursing or make the association to remember to re-engage your core every time you stand. Do what works for you and increase your attention to this little by little. At first you may in your new self awareness that you spend a lot of time with your core disengaged. This is at least helpful in understanding why that core workout wasn’t helping much! Do not be discouraged; use it as a launching point for what you are accomplishing starting now. Just like any habit out there, remembering to engage your core during daily activity will take about thirty days of practice before being really entrenched in your natural actions.

The second thing that you have to understand about core workouts is that you have to uncover what you are working on. That means even if you do every core workout available out there and you have stellar rock hard abs, you will never see them if you do not work off the fat that covers them. With this, you need to understand that there is no such thing as tummy fat. There are a lot of products or programs out there that make the claim that they target tummy fat. This is impossible. There is no way to burn off fat in one area more than another. Fat is distributed and it is stored throughout your body and it is burned throughout your body. This is the same concept as blood in a way. You would never say that you had leg blood or head blood. Your blood is all over your body. Fat is depleted systematically from all over your body; so whether you’re running or doing fifteen hundred crunches a day, you will never be able to fool your body into pulling fat from a specific place. The only way to uncover your abs is through a healthy balanced exercise program that trains your whole body and decreases your overall body fat percentage, revealing those awesome abs that you’ve been working so hard for!

                Are you reading this before giving birth? Consider this. Many women do not know that you have a layer of Fascia which covers your abdominal muscles behind your skin. This is an extra layer of connective tissue to help hold together the muscle and keep everything where it should be along your waist area. The Fascia cannot be strengthened or tightened without surgery; there is literally no exercise that will affect this. Therefore, the less damage we can do to the Fascia during pregnancy, the faster it will bounce back and return to normal. The way to do this is by gaining the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy over the recommended amount of time. By gaining the weight slowly, you are able to avoid damage to the Fascia by stretching it too quickly!  

                Finally, I did want to note for any woman who is pregnant or in a post partum period that she should be aware of a condition called Diastasis recti. This actually quite commonly occurs during pregnancy and results in a significant separation of the rectus abdominis. This happens gradually as the result of the baby expanding your belly and usually is not serious or painful. In fact, most times it will heal on its own after pregnancy. Despite this, it is not a condition to ignore and if it is detected during the middle to later part of your pregnancy, you should not be doing core exercises which can worsen the condition and slow down recovery. If you have this condition after pregnancy, you should speak to your doctor before doing traditional core workouts. There are exercises specific to aiding in the healing of this condition that you should go through before joining a traditional core workout which can pull the muscles apart and slow down healing. You should always follow your doctor’s advice about what is safe for you specifically on the subjects of exercising during and after pregnancy.

I will not say that reclaiming your core after pregnancy is the easiest thing you will ever do; but I sincerely hope that you are encouraged by knowing that it is possible. It is not only possible for famous movie stars or people who have the money for plastic surgery; it is possible for anyone who is willing to practice the self awareness that I have described and commit to consistency. You deserve more than an excuse to half make you feel better about the changes that your body has undergone. As mothers, we spend every waking minute multi-tasking. This information is not meant to increase the time you spend on this issue, but to avoid wasting the time that you already spend on it. Even if you have doubts, and despite wherever they have come from, give this basic information an honest try and let your own progress keep you going!