By Herb Duncan
Twitter:@nexlev
After the initial excitement of your brand new child sets in you notice the bulge of your belly and wondering “Will I ever be able to make it go away?” The great news is a loud yes! But let’s speak a little about science. Right after birth that protruding belly could be at worst caused by what is called diastases, a separation of the outermost abdominal muscles that sometimes occurs during pregnancy. Left unworked after pregnancy this muscle separation will never improve. This is one of the reasons a woman will continue to have backaches after pregnancy. To prevent this problem and many others, general exercise is a must before and after pregnancy.
Rakesh C. Patel MD, Arizona Sun Family Medicine, recommends a good exercise and diet program as an important part of normal pregnancy. It has also been shown that women can increase their fitness levels during pregnancy without significant problems. There is also very little data to show the need to lower target heart rates or decrease the intensity of a exercise routine, although it is routinely recommended to keep heart rate at levels below 140 beats per minute or below 60 % of maximum. Regular exercise has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety and promote self-esteem. These are two areas that cause many women problems since hormones are running wild during pregnancy. The overall benefit for a good fitness program before and after pregnancy is your ability to return to your normal size quicker after pregnancy. The more lean tissue the body has the better it burns body fat.
The main muscle that returns that flat mid section to its pervious form is the transverse abdominal muscle. This innermost muscle wraps around your abdomen and back like a corset. It is one of the main muscles used in delivery of your child. Lamaze class teaches women how to control this muscle through certain breathing exercises, which help with a smoother childbirth since this muscle does most of the squeezing. The problem that remains is women are not taught how to properly strengthen this muscle before and after birth. Left untrained this muscle is one of the major reasons so many women have troubles losing this area after childbirth. Regaining this abdominal strength is crucial for women for many reasons. It supports the back and helps avoid many after childbirth problems associated with daily activities and will speed up the process of this problem area regaining its flat form after childbirth. It’s crucial to learn how to draw this muscle in properly to activate it properly during exercise. Standing up straight place your right hand index finger on your naval. While continuing to breath draw your naval in as far as you can as if you were trying to touch your spine with it. Once you have gone as far as you can squeeze as hard as you can with your draw in abdominal muscles. Hold this for 15 to 20 sec and then relax. If done correctly you have just done your first abdominal exercise including your Transverse abdominal.
What types of exercises will achieve this result? Functional strength training is the key. Functional training, when done properly, demands these and other abdominal muscles function properly in order to perform the exercises. The proper workout must demand these muscles strengthen. The stronger this muscle is the faster that flat tummy will return to its previous state. Excellent ab fitness tools include JC bands, medicine and stability balls as well as airex pads. Also utilizing a trainer with good physiological knowledge of the human body and you will be on your way to a much firmer and slimmer mid section after that new born arrives. Until next time happy training!
Reference: Danforth's Obstetrics & Gynecology
Editor(s): Scott, James R., Gibbs, Ronald S., Karlan, Beth Y., Haney, Arthur F.
9th Edition © 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Rakesh C. Patel MD
Arizona Sun Family Medicine, P.C.
Twitter:@drrcpatel
Email us at nexlevfitness@nexlev. com
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