How To Get Your Abs Back

Kara, a midwife with Midwifery Traditions, understands the struggle to get back to feeling like yourself after having a baby. Part of the journey involves losing weight and regaining muscles that may have become stretched out during pregnancy, like your abdominal muscles.

Here's what she suggests you do to take care of those muscles and start feeling & looking like your old self a lot sooner:

It can take several months for these muscles to begin to heal and move closer together after giving birth.

So basically, the first step is to give yourself time and grace. After all, it took 9 months to get that way and it probably won't be fixed in a few days or weeks.

For some individuals, the separation can remain significant, a condition called diastasis recti. This condition can lead to a weak core, back pain, and a stubborn postpartum belly. Fortunately, diastasis recti can be greatly improved or healed all together with the slow implementation of certain core stabilizing exercises.

First, it is helpful to check for the degree of muscle separation. Lying on your back, lift your head and shoulders slightly off of the floor (like doing a mini crunch) and push your fingers down into your belly button. If your fingers sink into your abdomen, you have a separation of your rectus abdominis muscles.

Okay, now what? How are we supposed to fix this? Kara shares some helpful do's and don'ts for new moms…

DON'T:

• crunches
• sit-ups
• planks

According to Kara, these exercise are actually counter productive and can make your condition worse. She recommends waiting until your diastasis recti is fully healed before adding these kinds of exercises back to your work out routine.

DO:

• breathing exercises
• pelvic tilt

Finally, Kara recommends getting help from a physical therapist for the best results.

Ultimately, a physical therapist is going to be able to best asses your muscular weaknesses and tailor individual exercises. If you feel that you would benefit from professional physical therapy, please speak to your provider about a referral.

To learn how to do the breathing exercises and 6 other exercises recommended for correcting diastasis recti, check out Kara's complete article on healing abdominal muscles. Then, share what works for you in the comment section to help the rest of us recovering moms.