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Should I Do Cardio with Diastasis Recti?

Should I do cardio with Diastasis Recti?

How do I approach cardio training?

Simply put, cardiovascular exercise is important to your health. There are just a few things I want you to consider when approaching your cardio exercise if there is a Diastasis or core function issue.

  1. We always start with ABC (TM)
  2. How does this cardio feel?
  3. What should I adjust to maximize results?

So, first of all, in all positions, postures, and movements, we start with ABC. We adjust all things to fit into our ABC’s, whatever that is today.

In other words, if we are struggling to get into good alignment from standing still, how does that change when I am moving? Can I fix the position and how?

Can I perform correct breathing while doing this cardio exercise?

Can I perform this cardio exercise with proper core engagement?

If any piece of The ABC’s is out of place, we have a functional, foundational problem and we have to adjust and start again.

Sometimes, that means moving to low impact rather than high. Sometimes, it means changing the movement altogether. Sometimes, it means spending some more practice time in The ABC’s.

If you’re struggling with your cardio and Diastasis, just go back to the beginning. Refer to the book or the course and reset your ABC’s.

You WILL get back out there. Safely.

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New Collections on Moxie

NEW! Collections on Moxie.xyz/carrie

I’ve been asked about FIRST WORKOUTS and HOW TO PROGRESS, so I made you some collections on my moxie site!

The collection “YOUR FIRST 10” is for you when you’re first “released to exercise” by your doctor or therapist, after pregnancy, injury, or surgery. This is perfect for those first core activation workouts.

The collection “PRACTICING PROGRESSIONS” is for when you are working through recovery, with the book or the course, and you go into the “exit protocol” or “next steps protocol,” and you’re ready to work toward progressing your core exercises. Use this mindfully!

Both collections are part of my overall page, which includes 2 fresh workouts every week and a whole lot of past workouts! You get all of this as a subscriber!

Join now!

What would you like me to include on my next workout?

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Why Should Trainers be Concerned with Diastasis Recti?

Answering:

  • “I’m not a postpartum specialist. Why should I worry about clients with Diastasis Recti?”
  • “How come I’ve never had a client with Diastasis Recti?”
  • “I just wait for the doctor’s note, They will tell their patients what to do.”
  • “I can’t do anything anyway, right?”

Trainer or fitness professional, we need to talk.

This IS your business, and your role is what’s best for your client.

Take a look at the graphic above. These are GROSS underestimates of the Diastasis Recti and core issue, because they are highly under-reported, under-diagnosed, and under-treated. In western medicine, Diastasis Recti is not part of any check up ever, including and particular to the postpartum check-up, and as you can see, chances of her having Diastasis Recti post pregnancy are very high.

A client may get answers if she asks. Many times, it takes persistence and more than one office visit.

Even so, western physicians often do not offer solutions.

We are working to change that and be a referral partner, but many physicians are not open to it or default to their own specialty rather than considering referrals.

This is changing and I have met several western medicine doctors who see the problem and want to be part of the solution.

YOU can help by being an advocate. Tell your client to be an advocate for herself, too, and to continue to seek solutions.

YOU can be one of the solutions.

As you can see, Diastasis Recti is also not just for new moms. Moms can continue to struggle with Diastasis Recti for months or YEARS (sometimes they find me when they are grandmothers), and many have never gotten help or a solution. Many have been told that they are “just fat” or “just weak.”

Can you see how this type of dismissal can lead women (and men) down the wrong path?

Men are struggling, too, and not getting much help if any. Many of them will try “hard core” workouts, become distressed, and find me after doing further damage to the situation.

So, if you’re wondering why you’re not seeing Diastasis Recti in your clients or participants, you’re simply not attuned to some of the signs.

  • protruding abdomen
  • complaint of “weak” core
  • back pain
  • digestive / continence issues
  • the obvious space in the rectus abominis wall.

If you’ll take the time, you’ll probably find, as I did when I decided to check every client, that the degree and level of injury is widespread and deserves our attention.

I recommend not waiting for an official diagnosis, because anything official is rare. Empower the client to perform a self examination and journal for you what she feels in her abdominal walls.

Importantly, don’t give up on this client. You will need to do things differently, such as modify workouts and use a specific protocol like The ABC Method to help her. You will need information. You will need a referral list (physical therapists, chiropractors, and holistic doctors are good to have as partners).

If you agree to become a learner by her side and help her through this, imagine the long term effects that has on her life and on you as an ever-evolving professional.

The ABC Method can help, and you can learn this method directly with me. Our clients deserve better answers. That’s up to us.

 

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Who When and What? The ABC Method Certificate for Professionals

This week, Carrie went over what The ABC Method Certificate Course is and who should take it. See the full video here:

The ABC Method is a full fitness integrations system for anyone working with women or men struggling with core dysfunction and/or Diastasis Recti within the fitness sphere.

We have LIVE face time, as well as resources, to help you implement the system into what you are already teaching, all with ongoing support.

See more at theabcmethod.com

Register NOW for an open session, or contact Carrie to schedule a private session for your group.

 

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Mind Body Energy

I would consider myself a student of mind body energy, and there are practices all over the world and all through history to help mind body connection.

What I have also found in the modern era is a seeming disconnect, either from being “stuck in our head,” from trauma, or from not using those connections we made in infancy.

Which brought me to find experts in Chakra and Reiki recently.

Chakras are energy centers that correlate to places in the body along the spinal column. Reiki practitioners help move energy through these areas.  Interestingly, Chakra practice is from India and Reiki Practitioning originated in Japan. The history of each practice is separate, but so aligned that they are often taught together, and seem to make sense together.

A lot of my work has brought me to look at root, sacral, and solar plexus chakra. For some people, reconnecting to these chakra or being able to envision the energy in these areas may help with pelvic floor and core engagement.

I recently got some energy work done by a Reiki practitioner, and I have to say, it was pretty amazing. I could feel the chakra areas and the energy moving around them. That being said, I have been actively working on my internal mind body game since I felt cut off post surgery 10 years ago.

I figure it’s all part of the practice, and no one is “wrong” when it comes to finding internal energy.

What about you? Are you able to access areas of the core through energy work?

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Side Effects of Diastasis Recti

What are some other side effects of Diastasis Recti, other than the appearance of a bulge?

Because the core as a whole is compromised with separation of the rectus abdominis, any of the following side effects are possible (it’s a possibility, not a definition of the issue):

  • back pain
  • pelvic pain or discomfort
  • indigestion
  • constipation
  • pelvic pressure
  • core instability
  • chain weakness (spinal, hip, shoulder, and more)

Make sure that you take the self examination and work on your next steps in order to help yourself recover from Diastasis Recti, and don’t forget to reach out for more help.

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Women in Athletics Day

This is “women in athletics” day.

Celebrate your strength and athleticism. Celebrate your wins. Recognize how far you have come and how far you have yet to go.
Never let anyone pretend that your gender is a weakness. Anyone who does IS weak in their thought and riddled with ego.

Strong women.

We ARE. We SUPPORT. We RAISE. We EMPOWER.

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The ABC Method Endorsed by Fit4Mom

The ABC Method Endorsed by Fit4Mom

Fit4Mom Instructors and Franchise Owners…. Did you miss the informative interview about Diastasis Recti on the Fit4Mom platform? Go back right now and watch it; it’s just 30 minutes. I’m proud to partner with Fit4Mom, the premier women’s fitness corporation and top women-owned franchise company, to help educate teachers, trainers, instructors, and women’s business owners, on Diastasis Recti and how to approach fitness during a time of Diastasis and core instability. Check out the content and then come with any questions to the next open information meeting, next Thursday, february 11, at 7:00 PM Central Time / 4:00 Pacific. Put it on your calendar and ask for the zoom code. Fit4Mom instructors get a DISCOUNT on The ABC Method Certificate Course! Ask me how. Let’s see how many people we can empower with core stability THIS YEAR. Love you ladies and everything you do!

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Compar-itory

I heard this word for the “first time,” though it sounded familiar, yesterday, from the amazing Emmanuel Acho (check out his series on youtube: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man)

He skimmed past the word, but I was like “YES” And then my daughter asked me about “purgatory,” an in-between world, believed by some religions, as a place neither good nor bad… sort of void of beauty and happiness. And don’t we put ourselves in “Compar-itory” all the time? It’s not “good” or “bad,” but devoid of happiness and joy. It’s the place we go to NOT live our best lives, NOT live our full potential, NOT be fearless and free and full of LIFE. It’s the strange human belief that someone else’s life is more special than ours.

I used to be stuck here BIG time. And when my ego got a hold of this, he went buck wild in my head with “she is better…. she is prettier…. she has it all …. you’re a LOSER.” Every now and then, I’ll catch myself starting to go into that world, seeing someone farther ahead on a business path or finding prosperity before she is my age (I sometimes get a crazy notion that I am of “advanced” age, and I assure you; I am only getting started) But the practice is back to the G word GRATITUDE will save you.

Thank you, God, for these legs that carry me. Thank you, God, for these arms that hold. Thank you, God, for this roof over my head. And I was reminded in a really fabulous clubhouse room (are you on clubhouse?), that even things that seem like a negative gift can be spun into a positive one and we can be grateful in that moment, too.

Thank you, God, for the coffee that spilled, reminding me that I have more coffee I can brew. Thank you, God, for the cold weather, that I will rejoice in the seasons. Thank you, God, for my sassy child, that she will grow up strong in her self!

Did you discover you’re in Comparitory?

What’s your way out?

Remember: the more you tell the ego to shut up, the less he will come around.