This blog is dedicated to helping all the awesome moms and lovely pregnant women out there on ‘how to get your belly flat after pregnancy,’ like my beautiful sister in law, Zinnia who is soon to have her first child, a baby girl. I’m so excited and can’t wait to see my little niece in a few months and, especially can’t wait to take her hiking all over the mountains when she can walk, of course. 🙂 I’m going to make her a little mountain girl. 🙂
I often hear from clients and friends that quite a few are getting cesarean sections these days, this really isn’t ideal for the baby, it can be traumatic or, for the mother to get her belly flat again. Why? In Paul Chek’s book, “How to Eat Move and Be Healthy” he states that, “As the fetus grows, there’s increased stretch placed on the abdominal wall from the inside. This stretch force causes the body to add functional units called sarcomeres to the abdominal muscles, making them progressively longer. After childbirth, the stretch force is reduced and the sarcomeres begin reducing in number. Normally, the muscles should return to normal length. Unfortunately, this natural rebounding process may not occur if the woman becomes pregnant again too soon, gains excess weight or has a cesarean section.” Wow, I wonder if the doctors inform their patients of this when they schedule their C-sections? The damage that a C-section can do extends further by damaging the abdominal muscles when they cut through. There are 3 layers of muscle that are cut and when they are sewn back together there is scarring and this scarring plus adhesions cause dysfunction in the abdominal wall. So, unless there is an emergency and you have to get a C-section don’t just schedule one. It’s best to try to do things as natural as possible, a Midwife or Doula can help with that. Damage can also be done to the pelvic floor through the stretch pressure of the expanding womb or an episiotomy so, it’s important to do certain core workouts and pelvic floor exercises as I mention below.
How to get your belly flat after pregnancy:
1. Do not have a C-section unless it’s an emergency.
2. Eliminate inflammatory foods such as gluten and certain grains.
3. Drink good quality water and fresh organic foods when possible.
4. Stay active before during and after pregnancy – walk, bike, hike, swim, circuit train, yoga or whatever you feel comfortable with.
5. Do core and pelvic floor strengthening exercises such as, Paul Chek’s Lower abdominal series, 4 Point Tummy Vacuum, Diaphragm breathing and, Kegel exercises.
You can see these exercises and learn more about them in Paul Chek’s book, “How to Eat Move and Be Healthy” or contact me to schedule an assessment and get your customized post pregnancy program to do in the comfort of your home or in a private training facility.