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?

Moms need strong glutes because they’re an important ally to your pelvic floor and core. They’re also what you’ll use to do most of the lifting, walking, lunging, squatting… that comes with the #momlife territory.

So strong glutes = feeling stronger overall, functioning better, and having an easier time keeping up with the day-to-day physical demands of motherhood.

But something that’s often missed in postpartum exercise programming is the fact that it’s not just “Do these 12 exercises to get a better booty”.

There’s so much more to the postpartum glute-strengthening scene than that.

And the surprising truth is that – if you’ve been doing glute exercises and not noticing much, if any difference in the way your glutes feel or look – it might not be because you’re choosing the wrong exercises, or even that you’re not doing them enough.

It could be that you’ve got some tightness that’s stopping you from getting results.

It’s actually super common for moms to have tight muscles in (and around) their booty that make it hard (maybe even impossible) for the glutes to engage as well as they could.

Yes.

Just like you can have a too tight and a too weak pelvic floor at the same time, you can also have a too tight and too weak booty at the same time.

[Read more…] about The Surprising Reason Your Butt Isn’t Getting Stronger (No Matter How Many Glute Exercises You Do)

How many times have you gotten to the end of the week, frustrated that you didn’t get enough workouts in?

How many months have gone by where you’ve been disappointed by not seeing the changes in your body you’d hoped you’d see by now?

How many promises have you made to yourself that this week it’s going to be different? This week you’ll take care of yourself for once?

Fitting in fitness as a mom can be complicated.

No two weeks are the same.

Heck, no two days are the same!

You do your best to plan out your workouts, decide when you’ll do them, get everything ready.

But then you’re up 5 times soothing a teething baby and too exhausted to do that HIIT workout.

Or you forgot that your kids have a doctors appointment so you can’t make it to the gym like usual.

Or you set your alarm to get up early and it works! You get up before anyone else on Monday and get your workout in. But then Wednesday rolls around and you have an early morning meeting so the workout will have to wait.

With so much inconsistency in your life, you can end up feeling like there’s no way you’ll ever get your workouts in on a regular basis.

This is why you need to take it one day at a time.

Or, as I like to tell my clients, plan but be flexible.

Here’s how that looks in my life.

[Read more…] about This One Thing Will Help You Commit to Exercising More Consistently