How to Get Rid Of My Mummy Tummy

Jun 16

18:33

2012

Cathy McGovern

As a new mother, you are probably wondering how you are going to shed the additional pounds you put on during pregnancy. Our belly is mostly the area we center on and this is no surprise.

As a new mother, you are probably wondering how you are going to shed the additional pounds you put on during pregnancy. Our belly is mostly the area we center on and this is no surprise.However we want to be careful as some exercises might really be detrimental to our stomach muscles and even our back. To understand why, we are required to understand our abdominal muscles.The Rectus AbdominisThe Rectus Abdominis is the outer layer of muscles that support your back and internal organs. These muscles are the ones that help form the six pack appearance on the stomach. During pregnancy, these muscles can seperate and stretch.This seperation is called Diastasis Recti which is the seperation of the recti muscle. This can lead to back problems as the muscle also supports the back. When the muscles separate, they are joined together by a thin layer of connecting tissue. The connecting tissue is all that remains to support the organs. Because the organs are not supported properly, the cause your tummy to be the wrong shape.Commonly, this condition will become more severe after each pregnancy. To repair the damage, there are some exercises that we can do.The ObliquesThe Oblique muscle group is a centre layer of muscles in the stomach. They run diagonally down the sides of the body. They join with the Recti muscle. Every time you stoop forward you can cause more damage due to the shearing action between the Obliques and the Recti muscles which can cause further seperation.Sports like tennis (above all the tennis serve) should be avoided as this can make the separation bigger.Transverse Abdominal Muscle GroupNearly all tummy exercises are aimed at the Rectus Abdominus muscle group. The Transverse Abdominal muscle group is the bigger, interior muscle and it acts like a girdle for the organs. This muscle group provides most of the core strength and it also supports your lower back. The rectus muscle is also connected to this muscle group. One of the main uses of this muscle is for respiration. The "Tupler Technique" also focuses on this muscle to help repair damage.How to tell if you have "Mummy stomach" (Diastasis Recti)If you have Diastasis Recti, you will quite likely have a tendency to slouch and have bad pose.You will very likely have back problems and have trouble lifting objects. There will be a strong liklihood that you also have a tummy pooch protruding. Even with all of the above symptoms, this is not validation that you have Diastasis Recti.There is a uncomplicated test that you can do to see if you are suffering from Diastasis Recti.

Lie flat on the floor with your back on the floor.
Make sure your knees are bent.
Place your hand on your stomach with your fingers pointing towards your toes.
You will be checking your stomach in 3 positions.
The navel
3 inches above the belly button
3 inches beneath the belly button
Lift your head of the floor and using your fingers, squeeze down on each of the three positions.
Keep your shoulders on the floor.

If a gap appears at any of these positions that let 1 of your fingers sink into it, then you have Diastasis Recti. Whenever the gap is deeper, this is an indication that the condition is worse.