postpartum ab workout | Tone and Tighten

The Mommy Tummy Fix – Postpartum Abs Workout Program

April 15, 2019

The most comprehensive postpartum abs workout program available! An abdominal workout progression, healthy eating plan, and at-home cardio guide designed to help you lose weight and tone and flatten your stomach. Every workout is also diastasis-recti friendly.

My wife is AMAZING. She has always loved to be fit and active and has worked incredibly hard to “bounce back” to pre-pregnancy shape after having each of our four children.

Personal fitness has always been important to her and she has always carried a certain air of confidence about her body image.

That all changed after she had our fourth child.

With each subsequent pregnancy she found it a little harder to “bounce back” afterwards.

Where the pounds noticeably melted away after our first was born, it took a lot more work and yielded much slower results after our fourth (I’m sure many of you can relate).

There are two primary reasons behind this – 1) it’s typically harder to recover from subsequent pregnancies and 2) she was a little older each time.

Sure this is normal and even expected, but she didn’t see it that way.

“Why have I stalled out in losing weight?”
“How come my stomach still looks like this?”
“What am I doing wrong?”

Gone was the self-esteem and body confidence I was used to seeing. It had somehow been replaced by self-doubt, fear, and negative body image.

It was at this time that she humbly came to me and said…

“I’m ready for you to put me back together.”…

The Four Best Postpartum Ab Exercises

April 12, 2019

Reintroduce core strengthening safely and effectively with 4 of the best ab exercises you can do after pregnancy. Instructed by a doctor of physical therapy specializing in postpartum care, these exercises will start to tone your stomach and strengthen your core. These are also four of the best exercises to heal diastasis recti and minimize your abdominal separation.

The Four Best Postpartum Ab Exercises

Abdominal bracing/TA activation
Abdominal bracing with a march
Abdominal bracing with a ball squeeze
Modified side plank

Keep scrolling to see the full video demonstration of each of these exercises!

First of all – CONGRATULATIONS! I’m assuming if you’re watching this video and reading this description you’ve recently welcomed a new baby into your home! I wish you peace, joy, happiness, and SLEEP as you both get to know each other.

You ladies go through so much to get these babies here; don’t discount the absolute miracle that your bodies are and the wonders they perform in growing and sustaining life.

That being said, for most of you, the last nine months have been an all-out battle that, I’m really sorry to say, your abs probably lost. While chances are that your stomach doesn’t look the same that it did pre-baby, there’s so much that you can do to get it back into shape! This workout is one of my all-time favorites to show to postpartum moms. Not only are these exercises safe, they’re incredibly effective! If you’re looking to tone your abs and tighten your stomach after pregnancy these are the PERFECT exercises to get you going.

The secret is in activating the RIGHT muscles the RIGHT way while avoiding aggressive activation of the wrong muscles. This is the fastest way to decrease postpartum stomach fat and even heal diastasis recti abdominal separation. Keep reading below for more!…

15-Minute Beginner Ab Workout – Without Crunches!

April 5, 2019

Sculpt and strengthen your abs at home with this awesome 15-minute workout. Ab exercises simple enough for beginners, but at an intensity that everyone will feel. The best part is all the moves are safe for diastasis recti as there are no crunches, sit-ups, or front planks.

15-Minute Beginner Ab Workout Without Crunches

Alternating Toe Taps
Quadruped Stomach Vacuum
Side Plank
Dying Bug
Side-To-Side Toe Taps
Thread-The-Needle Side Plank
Double Toe Tap with Ball Squeeze

Keep reading for a step-by-step guide of the workout with pictures and descriptions of each of these exercises.

As a doctor of physical therapy, low back pain, core weakness, and postpartum core issues are some of the most-common referrals I receive. Fortunately, there’s a lot that the right exercises can do for each of these conditions and today I want to share them with you.

Today we’ll run through one of my favorite at-home ab workouts that’s perfect for beginners. The exercises are simple, but the timing and sequencing make this a great, challenging workout! Follow along with the full video below; let’s get it started!…

Exercises To Avoid With Diastasis Recti – And What To Do Instead!

February 13, 2019

One of the most-common conditions that I treat as a physical therapist is diastasis recti (DR). This is a condition that affects up to 60% of women either during pregnancy or postpartum. Fortunately, there’s a lot that exercise can do to help this condition if done correctly. Today I wanted to share with you 3 ab exercises you should definitely NOT do with a DR, and what you should do instead to tone your abs and help heal this separation.

*** As always – if you have recently delivered GET CLEARANCE FROM YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING THIS OR ANY WORKOUT PROGRAM. 6 weeks post-partum is the most generally-accepted “safe time” to resume some of these activities, but it’s always best to have your doctor’s clearance for your own unique situation. ***

WHAT IS A DIASTASIS RECTI?

Your abs and abdominal cavity are made up of four muscles. The one that sits out in front is called the “rectus abdominis” (RA) and goes from the bottom of the rib cage to the top of the pelvis. This is the “six pack” muscle that’s primarily active in crunches, sit ups, and other exercises that bring our ribs towards our pelvis (trunk flexion).

This muscle is composed of two muscle bellies that run vertically next to each other and are connected by a tendon-like connective tissue called the linea alba.

In instances of strenuous pressure on the abdomen and abdominal cavity the connective tissue between the halves of the rectus abdominis can be stretched, pulled, and eventually even separate. This is what we refer to as a “diastasis recti”.

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