Pregnancy Ab Separation: Fight Back with the Help of Your Personal Trainer
A lot of things happen to your body when you're pregnant. Sure, it’s the part you’re playing in the miracle of life and all that, but the inability to see your feet for several months or put your pants out without assistance can be a bit disheartening. With your Los Angeles personal trainer on your side, you’ll find there’s not a lot you can’t overcome – including pregnancy ab separation. The dreaded “mummy tummy” that can occur after you have a baby is not something you have to live with! Fight back with the help of your personal trainer – here’s how.
Ab Separation? What Is It?
During pregnancy, that uterus of yours does a pretty intense stretching act. This massive expansion can stretch the muscles that meet in the middle of your abdomen, causing them to separate. “Technically,” says personal trainer Lalo Fuentes, CSCS, “this is called diastasis recti and if not resolved can lead to a bulge in the middle of your stomach where the two muscles are supposed to meet.”
Don’t despair! Your post-baby pooch isn’t a foregone conclusion. If ab separation strikes you, there are some things you can do to fight back.
What To Avoid
You may think the key to avoiding this fate is to keep your abdominal muscles strong throughout pregnancy with exercises like crunches, but that’s actually not a good idea. Los Angeles personal trainers can tell you that crunches are not effective exercises when it comes to increasing the strength of your core muscles – the very muscles impacted when you’re pregnant.
What are the best exercises? With the help of your personal trainer, you can learn how to safely and effectively keep your core strong throughout your pregnancy. It’s important to get the guidance of a professional because the normal exercise recommended for core strength such as pull-ups and kettlebells may not be the best for a woman expecting a baby. Even after the baby is born, if you’re suffering from abdominal separation, movements such as planks or sit-ups may actually aggravate the conditions.
What You Can Do
When you’re pregnant, you can try to reduce the chance of experiencing abdominal separation by:
Using correct posture when getting up or laying down to reduce strain on the core
Focusing on movements with your personal trainer such as squats, with proper form, of course
Avoiding rib thrusting, where your ribs thrust out farther than your hips
Avoiding movements that isolate abdominal muscles such as crunches
Meet with a Los Angeles personal trainer to find out more about his condition and what you can do to help. Preventative steps when pregnant are important, but the real work begins after the baby is born in order to help your body bounce back. A personal trainer will work with you to create a targeted and specific program to help meet your individual needs.
While abdominal separation may not be able to be avoided, it’s not something you have to simply live with. Make sure to seek professional help from personal trainers like Lalo Fuentes, CSCS, who will be your partner in continued health and healthy abs!