There are so many dos and don’ts and “Oh my goodness, don’t even think about it!” ideas about what you should and shouldn’t do with your body (and life) before, during and after pregnancy.
It can be really easy to get caught up in the craziness of it all and wonder if what you’re doing is actually the best thing for you.
“Will this actually work?”
“How much should I do?”
“Is this safe for me if I have {diastasis, prolapse, incontinence…}?”
“Am I doing it the right way?”
It’s pretty overwhelming, right?
Well first things first, I want to remind you that “right” looks different on every body.
Second, well I’m not a fan of a one-size-fits-all approach, there are some foundational pieces of the puzzle that every mama needs to know – including you if you’re working on getting your abs strong after baby and having a better functioning core.
We’ve talked before about how to properly engage your core (and how that doesn’t mean pulling your belly button into your spine. Instead think of gently – it’s a very small motion – bringing your belly button in and up towards your chest. Slight shift in movement. Big impact in the results you’ll get.)
We’ve also talked about why you want to let your abs go and not suck your belly in all day, every day like you’re going for top prize in a figure competition.
This next step is a similar, but different (and absolutely important) piece of the puzzle that so many women have questions about.
If you’ve ever wondered if you should engage your core all the time – or when you should and shouldn’t be engaging your core – this video is for you.
You may have been told that keeping your core engaged all the time – or pulling your belly button to your spine throughout the day – will help strengthen your abs and make them look better.
But will it?
You’ll get the straight answer and the inside scoop on why constantly engaging your core may actually be making you weaker instead of stronger.
But the rest of the time we need to let it relax. We need to let our pelvic floor and transverse abdominis go.
So when you’re just chilling on the couch watching Game of Thrones, relax your stomach, relax those kegel muscles.
You’ll actually be able to get a stronger, better functioning core in the long run if you let the muscles and tissues chill and relax when you don’t actually need to use them instead of asking them to be on all the time.
Think of the bicep analogy that I shared in the video – how can you ask an already tense and tight muscle to respond well and get stronger, faster, better if it’s already feeling fatigued by being overused?
Right?
So let it go, my friend. Let it go.
Thank you so much for watching. If you liked this video, I would be super grateful if you shared it with your mom friends.
I’ll catch you soon.
Hugs,
Jen
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