To the core

These past weeks I have really been thinking about my posture again. I had been so focused on standing properly while pregnant but hadn't realised how even more important good posture is holding the baby! My body has been sore as I find myself standing pressing my pelvis forward putting pressure on my lower back and throwing off my hips. I am also putting adding pressure on my knees by standing and rocking. I hadn't realised how awkward (belly out, shoulders slumped) I looked until I saw myself in the mirror. This snapped me into attention!

I say it to anyone who will listen: I truly believe your core muscles are the most important muscles in your body.  Having weak core muscles at the moment completely reinforces that for me too. When I refer to core muscles, I'm not talking of just the muscles you work in a basic crunch; your core muscles are all the muscles in your abdominal area and lead into your back and down into your hips. The ones we know best from the major muscles groups include our obliques (the muscles down your sides), rectus abdominus (your 6-pack), transverse abdominus (the muscles that lead around your core from front to back), and erector spinae (the muscles along our spine).  It also includes our pelvic floor muscles (which we become very aware of during pregnancy), the latissimus dorsi (major muscles that run down your back) and even our glutes. Interestingly, with all these muscles that make up our core, we tend to focus on the rectus abdominus and obliques and can be very happy with the results. What we need to remember though is that all the muscles are crucial for good posture, balance, and to alleviate back issues.

During pregnancy:

While pregnant, the excess weight on your front (and over your entire body) puts the extra pressure on your back and weakens your abdominal muscles as they stretch. Although it seems difficult, try to keep your stomach braced while standing, walking and sitting to maintain strength through your abdominal area. You'll find you have less pressure on your pelvis and your lower back and therefore less pain. Unfortunately, it's tiring to keep your muscles engaged so if it's too much, try to engage the muscles while standing still and release when sitting. To keep your posture while sitting, focus on your upper back and shoulders and your kegel muscles.

To continue strengthening your core, focus on complex muscle exercises like planks (this can be done on your toes or knees) to include side planks and forward planks to activate many muscles with one exercise. The bonus is that planks work the deep muscles like your transverse abdominus as well as "surface" muscles.

Post partum:

Holding the baby to get her to sleep (both rocking and bouncing) puts pressure on your pelvis, lower body joints and big time on the back. Breastfeeding can also force you to lean forward putting pressure on your shoulders and upper back and neck. You still have excess body weight that is distributed in an odd way on the body, although there's no baby, the skin and muscles are still stretched, I find everything just hangs.  All of this is very strenuous on the body. Again, try to brace your core. This can be done from the moment your baby is born. This not only helps to restrengthen your abdominal muscles, it will help you stand taller and avoid other strains on your joints and back.

When you're feeling ready (and have the OK from your healthcare practitioner), begin light strengthening exercises.  Remember that it's going to be tough to reestablish the strength you had before so set small goals.  My first goal is to hold a kneeling plank for 15-30 seconds. From there, I will aim for 15 seconds on my toes. I want to restrengthen everything so I include exercises that target different areas: heel drops, basic crunch, plank, side plank, ball exercises, back extension.

Bracing your core vs "Sucking in":
We often make the mistake of sucking in our stomach rather than actually bracing our muscles. When we suck in, we pull in our stomach and inevitably try to hold our breath.  Unfortunately we can't hold this position for long and have to release. Instead, brace your abdominals by doing the following:

• roll your shoulders down, away from your ears (imagine sliding your shoulder blades down your spine)--this will help you stand taller and relieve tension in the upper back
• draw your belly button into your spine
• Imagine sliding your belly button higher up
• flex your abdominal muscles around your belly button

While bracing the core is difficult as you're activating muscles for a period of time, you are strengthening the most important muscles and keeping your body in prime condition!

See you at the gym!