There’s an essential part of postpartum fitness that many trainers aren’t including in their programming.

Yes, you want to get your alignment, breath and core engagement strategies down pat.

Yes, you want to rehab and rebuild your core and pelvic floor strength.

Yes, you want to progressively build strength overtime (not just dive back into a HIIT class at 6 weeks postpartum).

So many (amazing) trainers are sharing all this goodness with moms.

But the piece that they’re often missing can be the difference between you feeling amazing and getting awesome results and still feeling kinda crumby and getting “meh” results.

What’s that piece?

[Read more…] about Are You Missing This Essential Step In Your Workouts?

When you aren’t as far along as you’d hoped you’d be by now, it can get frustrating and bleak.

You thought you’d feel stronger by now.

You thought you’d feel better by now.

You thought you’d be able to do those sit-ups, pull-ups, planks without any symptoms by now.

And when you aren’t feeling better, getting stronger, or seeing results as fast as you’d like, the natural tendency will be to want to push harder, do more, find a better, more challenging, different workout.

Because that’s what you’ve always done, right?

When you wanted to reach a fitness goal you just pushed harder and made it happen.

So why is that not working now? Why is that not the right choice now?

Because – while pushing harder may give you a temporary feeling of “Yes. Good. I’m doing it” – it won’t solve the actual problem. It won’t give you the results you were hoping for – especially not without way more risk involved.

[Read more…] about Because You Thought You’d Be Farther Along By Now…

A common piece of advice given to women who are newly postpartum or managing diastasis recti or prolapse is to avoid crunches, sit-ups, planks and other more traditional core exercises.

The idea is that these kinds of exercises create a lot of pressure into the core and pelvic floor (which is obviously not the best thing for a recovering muscle system).

And while they can create a lot of pressure, so can a squat or an overhead press. So it’s not just about avoiding traditional core exercises.

And honestly?

[Read more…] about 3 Proven Postpartum Core Strengthening Exercises

Whether you do the whole “New Years Resolution” thing, or not, you can’t help but be caught up in the freshness of a new year.

You start dreaming about where you’ll be 360+ days from now.

What goals you’ll achieve.

What awesome adventures you’ll get to be a part of.

How healthy, happy, and fulfilled you’ll be on December 31st as you close out a stellar year.

The problem is that it’s easy to dream. It’s not as easy to do the things that lead to that dream becoming a reality. Especially when you’re a busy mom with a demanding career, small kiddos, a partner (and maybe a dog or parakeet to support too!)

You have a lot on your plate.

So how can I possibly even hint at the idea that you can get twice as many workouts in this year as you did last year?

Well it all comes down to this simple (yet fabulous) 3 step process.

[Read more…] about How to Double the Number of Workouts You Get Done This Year (Even Though You’re a SUPER Busy Mom)

There are 2 extremes in the postpartum fitness industry.

On the one side you have the “Lose the baby weight fast”; “Look like you never had a baby”; “Fit back into your jeans” stuff.

On the other end you have the “Love your body – stretch marks, loose skin, scars, and all!”; “Only think positive thoughts about your body”; “Never think about losing weight. That’s just society trying to force you to change” stuff.

The truth is that both extremes aren’t helpful.

They’re not taking an entire woman’s health – mental, emotional and physical – into consideration.

They’re both dogmatic approaches that try to control a woman and the choices she makes instead of giving her the option to make an informed choice about what’s right for her.

So we need to take a step back from the extremes and meet in the middle.

A place where you aren’t shamed for looking a certain way, and you aren’t shamed for wanting to look a certain way.

Where weight loss isn’t the only priority, but it can be a priority if you want it to be.

Where you’re taught to accept (and hopefully even love) where you’re at. But you’re also allowed to change how your body looks – even if that means getting a tummy tuck or other cosmetic procedure.

Proponents of the one extreme will say, “But a woman has a right to look however she wants to look and she can workout and eat and do things to make that happen.” That’s 100% true.

Advocates of the other extreme will say, “But a woman shouldn’t feel pressure to fit an unrealistic ideal.” That’s 100% true.

This is why we need to take a step back, set our judgements aside and remember what postpartum fitness is truly about – empowering moms to feel good in their bodies.

So how do we do that?

How can you get to a place where you aren’t driven by a hatred for your body, but you’re also allowed to make some physical changes?

This isn’t an overnight process. And there are some key things we want to remember along the way. But it’s possible. Here’s how to get started…

[Read more…] about Agree? “I Want to Love My Post-Baby Body. But Sometimes I Wish It Looked Different.”

Diastasis recti has become this ginormous fear-factor in the postpartum fitness industry.

There are tons of posts out there about how to “fix” it, what exercises make it worse, whether or not you should be worried about closing the gap or just opt for a functional diastasis (where the gap isn’t technically closed but your abs respond well when you engage your core so you’re considered healed).

The truth is that diastasis doesn’t need to be as scary or confusing as it may seem.

And just because you have diastasis doesn’t necessarily mean that you can never lift heavy again or never do a crunch or plank again or never enjoy life again.

You just need to ask yourself one simple question to help determine if a certain exercise – like the plank – is the right choice for you.

Because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to any aspect of postpartum fitness – including rehabbing a diastasis and regaining your core strength.

You simply need to pay attention to the signs and symptoms that are coming up for you and ask the right questions to help determine what’s best for you and your body.

That’s why – if you want to bring the plank (or any exercise) back into your fitness life – you’ve gotta get clear on this…

[Read more…] about Can You Do a Plank When You Have Diastasis Recti?