Feel the burn and do it anyway

 

So I exercised yesterday for probably the third time since C was born.   Now, before pregnancy I was obsessed with Pilates and practiced most days.  I was pretty evangelical about it because I had taken it up after a back problem developed and persisted on and off for two years.    It was a dull nagging ache that meant I was always uncomfortable at work despite spending a considerable part of most days adjusting my chair in the several different ways it was adjustable.    I couldn't exercise and for a while couldn't even do anything that involved standing which was awful as gigs were a no-no.  Eventually I found the wonderful Aisling Harmon, a talented osteopath, who made it go away and I credit Pilates with keeping it away.    I continued to practice during pregnancy, right up until a couple of weeks before I delivered and was amazed to have no back problems at all.


One day when doing my stomach exercises, I looked down and saw a pyramid of muscle protruding from my abdomen.   You don't need to be a doctor to know that's not good.  After a bit of research, I realised it was  diastasis recti, a common condition in pregnancy where your six pack separates to allow the expansion of the womb.     This happens to most of us but I guess it goes unnoticed the majority of the time because there aren't that many of us doing Pilates roll ups at 20 weeks gone. 


I was convinced that once I had C, I would be back practicing within 6 weeks, during her morning nap.  I know those of you who have babies are having a good roll around the floor laughing at this point.  Obviously that didn't happen.    It's hard to find the time to have a pee, nigh on impossible to achieve the head space to commit yourself to a mind-body exercise like Pilates.   Anyway, a self-assessment of the damage to my stomach muscles post-natally revealed a hole where they used to be.  This is the diastasis after pregnancy.  I could fit three fingers between the left and right side which apparently isn't bad but it felt very strange indeed.    I read that time would bring it back together so I was able to vegetate with a clear conscience, knowing I shouldn't exercise in the meantime in case I strengthened the muscles in the "apart" position which would mean they would stay there.


Eventually things seemed fairly normal in the abs region and life with C had become slightly more predictable (this was probably somewhere around the 6 month mark).   During her nap one morning, I got out my Pilates mat, stuck on my dvd and started.  Or at least I tried to.  On my first roll-up, I couldn't even get my shoulders off the ground.  I was shocked.   I'd expected my mid-section to be weakened, not utterly decimated.



So what did I do?   Well, I didn't practice and practice every day until it got back to something approaching normal.   I just gave up.  I told myself it would never be back to normal anyway, so what was the point?   It wasn't until recently when C refused to go into the buggy and I realised that as a result I was getting zero exercise of any description that I made up my mind I would need to sort out my body.   I've always found exercise to be a great mood elevator and could feel myself falling into a bit of a hole for the lack of it.

Scared of trying Pilates again, I turned back to Cindy Crawford and her "A New Dimension" workout dvd.  The workout is aimed specifically at women who have recently given birth but when I first bought this seven years ago, I didn't realise.    Once I did, I didn't care, because it is one of the best total body toning dvd's I've  done.   In 40 minutes, you hit all of the usual problem areas, plus weights are used which I personally love.       So if you are looking to tone up and think you could find 40 minutes once or twice a week to do this workout at home, I would highly recommend it.
 

I'll admit that completing the workout after such a long hiatus wasn't easy but I felt like She-Ra afterwards.   The after effects were predictable considering my level of unfitness.  Walking for the next four days was a challenge and going upstairs nearly killed me.  The workout has strength exercises to tone your bum and thighs, push ups for your chest and arms,  a great toning section for abs, and weights to streamline your arms.  Each section is short and snappy so it doesn't get boring and the music is pretty decent for a workout dvd.  OK, so most of us could do without looking at a supermodel when we are trying to kick our post-birth bodies into shape, and she does look annoyingly fabulous, but if you look closely you will see a very strange distribution of fat around her hips which betray the presence of some serious control pants.   So even Cindy Crawford is not perfect. Yay!

I skip the abs section of the workout and substitute 10 minutes of Pilates core work instead, because I think it's a lot better for my back.  If you are really horrified with your mid-section and want to sort it out, I recommend this 10 Minute Solution workout.   Anyone with no kids won't understand why finding even 10 minutes a day is impossible a lot of the time, but think what a difference it would make if you could.   So stop thinking there's no point trying and just do it (cue a law suit by Nike).   You might be pleasantly surprised at the results.