A Testimonial

This one is for my fellow mommy friends. Because we all know that testimonials are cool. This one is about our stomachs, ladies, so brace yourselves.

You may recall that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to re-introduce myself to my inner abs. Recently, I've been doing exercises in a book called Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best by Helene Byrne. They're mostly core exercises with a few stretches and other things thrown in. She has some for the 1st 6 weeks after pregnancy (which help no matter how long ago pregnancy was--I did mine for 5 weeks--but especially if you've had separation in your abdominal wall) and then some basic exercises and then some advanced. I know that doesn't sound so interesting or so amazing, but I've lost an inch and a half off my waist since I began these exercises 2 months ago (I'm still on the basic ones) and I feel like my posture has improved (no, it's still not great) and that my stomach has flattened out. Byrne describes the exercises in incredible detail and it really helps to re-introduce yourself to certain deep abdominal muscles that you may not have really known you had until those babies came along and you lost them. (Ah the things we take for granted.) She emphasizes working all the abdominal muscles (not just those obvious outer ones) and she emphasizes exercising carefully so that the muscles are trained to pull in instead of push out. I considered myself pretty knowledgeable about exercise, but I learned plenty, and the painstaking way she described the exercises was really really helpful to me. It's this type of emphasis on the right way to do an abdominal exercise that is often missing from a class at a gym and I found it so useful.

I know that I'm not a heavy person, but ever since having Emma my core has been incredibly weak. This is even though the outer wall of my abs--the part you can most easily flex--has returned to a state of somewhat firmness. After Emma, I noticed that I just couldn't get my stomach back to the state of relative flatness it had enjoyed pre-4th baby. When I would wear a tight shirt, my stomach would always always stick out a little bit (and not exactly with fat either; there was fat to be sure, but I also had this tight sort of bulge that would stick out). It was frustrating and confusing to me. This was especially true a few days before my period. It's like my uterus would begin to expand (as the uterus always does pre-period, though we don't usually notice it unless we have impossibly weak inner abdominal muscles) and there was nothing to hold it in. I'd walk around the week before my period looking like I was 4 months pregnant (at least if I didn't hide it under a loose shirt). I'm not going to lie. This really bothered my vanity. But in addition to that, it seemed sort of problematic or potentially problematic--as though my abdominal muscles were no longer as effective at holding my organs and stuff in place as they'd once been. That seemed like it would only lead to more problems (and stomach unattractiveness) as I aged. Additionally, I noticed when I would do yoga that my balance (usually the only thing I am kind of good at in yoga) was not as good as it had been. I wondered if my weak core was to blame for this as well.

At any rate, I've been doing these stomach exercises every day (except Sundays) for 2 months and I'm officially a believer. They take 15-20 minutes once you get the hang of them. I know that that can seem like a long time in a day that is super stacked when you may also be hoping to fit in some types of exercise that are not just your abs. But I find that in addition to being slimming, there is something sort of meditative about the exercises and the breathing. It's just so focused that it's sort of relaxing, so it is doing a bit of double duty there. Also, I feel like that 20 minutes is worth it each day because--vain motivations aside--I feel like I'm doing something that my post-baby body really needs if it intends to function reasonably well as I age. When your core is weak, your balance is off, it's extremely easy to hurt your back (and many of your other muscle groups as well if you're lifting things like small and not-so-small children or groceries), your posture suffers, and I don't know what goes on with your organs, but surely sagging out everywhere can't be good for them. I think sometimes after we have a baby (okay, I'm speaking for myself here), we jump back into life and sometimes desperately back into exercise, hoping to restore ourselves (ha ha), yet that basic core can be neglected or improperly worked and our whole regimen of wellness can suffer because of it.

Okay, I'm done now. And I'm not trying to preach (though I'm kind of good at that too), only to testify. This book has been really good for me. And I thought maybe some of you might like it too.