Exercise after birth & resolving diastasis recti (an exclusive interview with Leah Keller)
Did you know that roughly 60% of women suffer from diastasis recti after pregnancy (some studies even suggest numbers closer to 90%)?
How about that up to 50% of women who had a seemingly uneventful birth, experience a change in their urinary control (yup, that means that >50% of women who have given birth are more likely to wet their panties during normal activities like jumping, running, sneezing...).
Why does nobody talk about this?
There is so much information out there about exercise after birth; some helpful and lots of it just flat-out wrong, misleading, and yes, even damaging to your pelvic, abdominal and back muscles in particular.
Many -or perhaps even most!- women aren't given sound advice and guidance on how to exercise after giving birth (not to mention before or during pregnancy to encourage proper healing afterwards).
As a result staggering numbers of new mamas are suffering from a condition called diastasis recti (separated abdominal muscles), incontinence (the inability to control the flow of urine), and back pain, amongst others.
Proper healing is so incredibly important when you are a new mom! Not only does it allow you to feel good in your body and like "yourself" again faster, but it also allows you to be more present, more comfortable, and more involved with your new baby.
That's why I decided to interview Leah Keller on: Exercise after pregnancy and specifically how to resolve diastasis recti no matter how long it's been since you had a baby.
In the interview you will learn:
- what diastiasis recti is
- how to know if you have it
- how soon after pregnancy you should start with what Leah calls "core activation" (you'll be surprised!)
- which common exercises to avoid
- what other areas in your body and life will benefit from doing the correct exercises (your hubby might appreciate this one ;))
Watch our interview below (+ you will hear me say "diastasis recti" with a major German accent many times... it's just one of those words that gets me every.single.time even after being in the US for so many years;)):
"It’s very difficult to convey the subtleties of the deep core exercises and how core compressions differ from typical core exercises" - Leah Keller
To get an idea for what The Dia Method looks like, including some of the basic exercises Leah teaches to postpartum moms, click here.
You can find out more about Leah at leahkeller.com (especially if you are based in the Bay Area and would like to work with her in person) as well as at http://thediamethod.com/ where you can access and sign up for her pre and postpartum online training course to prevent or resolve diastasis recti.
Plus, thanks to Leah's generosity, you can enter WELLMA at checkout and save 20% off your initial subscription! Yay, thanks Leah :)
In the comments below, I'd love to hear from you: Have you experienced any of these symptoms? How did you feel in your body after giving birth? Do you feel like you received proper advice and guidance from your health care provider?
Xo,
