Disclaimer: We have partnered with The Tummy Team, in order to bring you a great giveaway that you will benefit from physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually. We have used personally used The Tummy Team in our own healing journey. All opinions are 100% ours. Enjoy!
If you can answer yes to any of these question, then you need to read on!
- Do you exercise?
- Do you do crunches to get rid of the belly that won’t go away?
- Are you pregnant?
- Have you been pregnant?
- Do you plan on having a C-section or abdominal surgery?
- Do you look pregnant but aren’t?
- Do you have back or belly pain?
- Do you sit or bend over a lot?
- Do you accidentally wet yourself and can’t do certain activities because of it?
- Do you have an outie for a belly button?
- Are you a female or male? (This can affect both!)
- Are you going to have abdominal surgery?
Even if you haven’t answered yes to any of these, yet, this is info YOU NEED TO KNOW. Why? Because I DID NOT KNOW this. I didn’t know the warning signs or that this was even possible. So I continued on in my “no pain, no gain” mentality and missed what my body was trying to tell me.
I Want You to Know because I Didn’t Know
I went from a runner to a mother who could barely walk without major pain after her 4th child was born because I DIDN’T KNOW and ended up hurting myself because I DIDN’T KNOW any better.
BUT now YOU CAN KNOW! And if you are facing this now or ever do in the future,
YOU WILL KNOW where to turn to heal your body!
My Story
A few years ago all of a sudden my body was not working but I didn’t know what to do, other than exercise to try and get back into shape! And NONE of that worked. It just kept getting worse.
The Realization of Why my Body wasn’t Working
I couldn’t figure out what in the world was going on and one day, while I was talking to my Pilates instructor, who was pre & post natal certified, She asked,
“Did your doctor mention Diastasis Recti?”
I replied, “I’ve never even heard of that. What is it?”
She stated, “It’s when your abs muscles separate. Go home and self test and see if you have it.”
So after self-testing, I realized that yes indeed, I had Diastasis Recti. (Watch the video below to learn how to self-test.)
They determine the level of severity based on how many fingers you can fit between your abs and how far you can push down. Normal is 0-1 fingers, but at the time, I could fit my whole first in between my abs and push down quit a bit!
What is Diastis Recti?
It’s a separation of the abdominal muscles.
I was so thrilled to finally KNOW what was wrong, but now had to figure out how to fix it! I immediately called my doctor, who sent me to physical therapy without hesitation.
My first go round with physical therapy actually hurt me a little more than helped. The second therapist I tried had helped others with Diastasis Recti, but our schedules didn’t mesh at all, so I was stuck at home trying to work on what I had gleaned from these therapists and not doing very well.
THEN, I Found the Tummy Team!
So after becoming frustrated and not getting any better, I began researching. I found a blog post about Diastasis Recti written by a lady who was sharing her personal experience. She had been able to retrain her muscles so that she didn’t suffer from Diastasis Recti anymore. And she did it from her very own living room with the help of The Tummy Team!
What I love about The Tummy Team
1. My Body started to heal because of what The Tummy Team teaches!
After working with The Tummy Team’s online courses on and off for the past year and a half and using the techniques they provided, my Diastasis Recti has gone from being able to insert my entire first to only 3 fingers! But better than that my core is strong and I can do amazing things like jumping and chasing after my kids again!
I cried the first time I was able to chase my kids again. It was such a momentous occasion.
And if I happen to do something stupid, like play Wipe Out on huge inflatables (don’t judge), then I KNOW what I need to do when I hurt myself again!
2. For those you can’t make it into their office in Washington, they have online courses!
Being able to watch an online session at any time of day or night, was just what this busy momma of 4 who lived in Oklahoma needed.
3. The Online Courses are Affordable!
I was amazed that an entire online course was less than what I was paying for one rehab session!
4. They teach you techniques that you can use in everyday life!
Because I had the “No pain, No Gain” mentality as an athlete, I have had the opportunity to go to rehab therapy multiple times. What I loved about The Tummy Team’s program is that instead of just teaching you how to engage your muscles while you are laying down on the therapy table, they teach you how to engage your muscles during the course of life.
My family leads a very busy, nonstop life, so being able to take the concepts that I learned in the online course and use them while I was driving, in the shower, playing and lifting my kids, sitting on the floor and reading to them, and even while working, truly made all the difference.
5. They explain how your body works and why engaging your core is so important.
Did you know that we were all gifted with a God-given corset? Yes, it’s called the transverse muscles. In fact they are the only set of muscles that wrap around your entire body. They hold all the organs within your upper body together. So if your transverse muscles are weak, then they can no longer hold all those organs in place and now your body has to work extra hard to compensate for it and your energy is used up faster.
Then, there is your pelvic floor, which if strong and engaged, holds everything up in the body nicely by acting as the floor to the corset.
Through this program I learned that I not only had Diastisis Recti but also learned that my pelvic floor had dropped. This is why I hurt so badly and had problems walking and running.
6. They teach that no amount of crunches will get that belly that looks pregnant back under control.
The transverse muscles are the muscles that allow our bellies to stretch out when we are pregnant. When these muscles become weak due to pregnancy, working out or in the normal course of moving through life, they begin to not be as tight a corset as before. If we do exercises like crunches, we can actually make them weaker because crunches cause them to pull apart more.
Yikes! I did so many crunches and cross training workouts when trying to get back into shape. I KNOW now that only made my Diastasis Recti worse. Who knew? I sure didn’t but now YOU KNOW!
7. They teach us how to love our bellies.
I don’t know about you but I found myself becoming very upset with how I looked. I was frustrated that I looked 6 months pregnant when I wasn’t. Kelly challenged me to rethink these thoughts and appreciate what my body has endured. My body has served me well. I have 4 beautiful children and have put it through so much in my 37 years. If I’m going to heal my transverse abdominals then I needed to emotionally connect with them again and love my body.
8. Last but not least, The Tummy Team “Team”- Kelly & Gillian
is led by Kelly Dean, a physical therapist specializing in the rehabilitation of the internal muscles of the abdominals and back, and Gillian, a core rehabilitation and pelvic care specialist.
These two amazing ladies have lived through this same thing, have healed their bodies and now are helping others do the same! They understand that this is more than just physical. It is mentally and emotionally draining as well. KNOWING this, they not only work on healing the physical side but encouraging healing on the emotional side as well.
New Habits to Strengthen our Cores
When we, in the normal course of living, stretch the transverse muscles either through exercise, positioning our bodies incorrectly, pregnancy, etc, we have to learn new habits and ways of engaging our bodies so that they can function the way God intended. And that is exactly what The Tummy Team does!
Giveaway
Check out their list of online courses and see how they can help you! Sign up below for your chance to win YOUR CHOICE of any one of these online courses.
1 person will win an online course of their choice & 3 will win a 40% discount to any one of the courses! How awesome is that?
The Tummy Team – Online Course of Your Choice Giveaway
Online Courses
Core Foundations is designed for anyone with core weakness, low back pain, diastasis recti, pelvic floor weakness or just a poorly functioning core. Core Foundations builds the foundational strength of the internal corset muscles and gradually integrates that essential strength into your everyday life.
This program is also our recommended program for women recovering from birth.
Core Integrations is the next step of your rehab journey. When you have restored your core and are ready to challenge those muscles in a new way, this program takes the foundational core strength you learned to the next level.
The prerequisite for this program is either personal clinic work with The Tummy Team, Core Foundations or Prenatal Core Training.
Prenatal Core Training is designed to help expecting women prepare their abdominal wall and pelvic floor for pregnancy, labor, delivery and birth recovery. The Prenatal Core Training Online Program will systematically and safely help you rebuild the internal core muscles and then effectively prepare the pelvic floor for delivery.
This is a perfect program for any expecting mom and is especially popular with women who had difficult previous deliveries, c-sections or excessive tearing and want a better experience. This program is also very helpful for women who have a diastasis and are now pregnant and do not want the separation to become worse.
The Prenatal Crash Course is designed for pregnant moms who may not have 6 weeks left in their pregnancy to complete our Prenatal Core Training (PCT) online course.
This condensed version of PCT includes the essential information our Core Rehab Specialists™ would give a client if they could only be seen for one session. The course will provide clear background education about the anatomy of the core, the role of the core in labor and delivery, and step by step exercises to help you prepare for effective pushing and birth recovery.
This is a perfect program for expecting moms that do not have much time before delivery but still want to prepare physically for birth.
The Core Preparations for Cesarean birth is a 4-week online program helps expecting moms prepare physically for a planned cesarean birth. The strength of the core and optimal awareness of alignment during pregnancy and birth recovery can make all the difference in your birth experience.
This program is great combination of the information from our Core Preparations (for abdominal surgery) and our Prenatal Core Training program. It includes specific information for C-section birth preparation and birth recovery, and provides you with an effective and realistic post-partum plan.
The Core Preparations for abdominal surgery is a 4-week online program helps clients prepare for abdominal surgery. The strength of the core and awareness of alignment and optimal movement are key to helping clients recover from abdominal surgery. Preparing the muscles and body prior to surgery can prevent so many complications.
This program is great to prepare physically for any surgery but we specifically see clients with hernia repairs, hysterectomy, bowel resections, back surgery, scoliosis surgery, tummy tucks, gastric bypass, gall bladder surgery and more. This program is beneficial whether you are having a full incision or a laproscopic procedure.
Which course would help you the most right now?
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
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I have several friends who struggled with this after having babies- I’ll direct them this way!
That would be awesome! The Tummy Team will give them the knowledge they need to heal so they can regain their core again!
I know many women (including me) who have struggled with diastasis recti. Yesterday, I took advantage of the 45% off sale for the MUTU system because I know a few friends who have had success with that program.
Oh, I’m sorry you’ve struggled with it too but glad you are finding ways to help it. I have never heard of that system. I hope it works well for you! IF not, definitely check out the Tummy Team. I love that they teach how to engage your core during the course of living, because then the habits become second nature.
Sounds to me like they do a lot more than just the tummy 🙂
Yes, they do a lot!
Wow I hadn’t heard of this either. Great information, I’m going to look into their site. Thanks for sharing.
I have never heard of this either. I played the video and did the self test. Luckily, no problems, but this is GREAT to know.
Yay! Thankful you didn’t have any problems. I believe this is something we need to know and keep in our back pocket even if we don’t have problems now. It might be something we can share with a friend, use for ourselves later in life or even our hubbies because it does happen to men too.
I have never heard of this before. Very interesting. I will have to look into it further.
Glad I could share it. I didn’t know about it or even had an issue until a few years ago, so it is definitely a piece of knowledge to keep in your back pocket even if you don’t have the issue now. Blessings to you!
I too suffered from Diastasis Recti after my third little diva. I restored it early in my weightloss journey and am grateful I found out about it in the beginning. This is great for awareness and restoration!
I’m so glad to hear you were caught it and restored it. Looking back, I realize now that I actually had it with my 3rd child but because I didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t do anything about it and it only got worse until it stopped me in my tracks. Yay for you!!!!
This looks amazing! I would definitely benefit from Core Foundations. I have felt “fluffy” for a long time and very restricted on anything that involves running, jumping, laughing, sneezing. . . just about everything that involves movement!
Oh, Debbie! Core Foundations is amazing! It will help in so many ways!
Never heard about that before. I watched your video. I will have to self test myself! The best part is how they teach people to love their bellies. People with a good and healthy self-esteem are able to feel good. Such a helpful post Amanda! Thank you for sharing.
Never heard about that before. I watched your video. I will have to self test myself! The best part is how they teach people to love their bellies. People with a good and healthy self-esteem are able to feel good. Such a helpful post Kristi! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Hadia! It has truly been a healing process on so many levels – physically and emotionally! I’m thankful to that they have been through this too and are helping so many others find healing in the same way. Glad you will do the self test. I would recommend doing it in several different places above and below the belly because Diastasis can actually occur all along where the transverse abs meet. Sometimes people have it high, medium, low or all up and down the way. Blessings to you!
Keeping a strong core sure is challenging after having kids, great tips!
It sure is but that’s why I love what the Tummy Team teaches because they make it easy to fit it into our every day lives!
So glad you found the help you needed.
Thank you, Mischelle! For a while I had no clue what was going on and I am so thankful to have found Kelly & Gillian and glean from their knowledge!
I bet my issues are so unique that they probably don’t see many people like me. I was born with my internal organs outside my body and my abdominal muscles were not connected at all until I was in my 20s and then I’ve had several surgeries since then. I’m always lots of fun at the ER. All the docs want to see someone who survived my birth defect, LOL I’m glad they were able to help you heal and realize our bodies are for using, not abusing!
Oh wow, Jennifer! God certainly made you unique and what a blessing you are to those you get to share that miraculous story with. Interestingly enough, when Kelly, the founder of the Tummy Team, originally found out she had Diastasis Recti, she was told her only hope was surgery. She knew in her heart of hearts there had to be another way, that God made us and the body could heal and that is the start of where she ended up today. God is glorious and His plans are better than we could have imagined even in the midst of… Read more »
Oh wow i have never heard of this! Thank you for all the info!
You are so welcome! I’m thrilled to let more people now about this issue.
I had only one child and I managed not to gain a lot of weight so I had no issues losing them and returning to my former status. Nevertheless, this is such a helpful info and I am so glad there are people who can help other people in this! I am so glad you found the help you needed!
Oh, that’s so wonderful, Katrina! I, too, never gained much weight with my kids…maybe 35 lbs max. The weird thing is that Diastasis Recti is more about if our transverse abs are weak. Even though I never gained much weight, I was putting so much pressure on my transverse abs and pushing them out (like when I picked up kids or did most of my daily activities) that it weakened them to the point that they were no longer able to act as my God given girdle. That’s why even when I weighed my pre-pregnancy weight, I still looked pregnant.
How interesting! I am so glad you found the help you needed!
Thank you, Caroline! It was an exciting to understand exactly what my body was doing and what I could do to help it!
This is the first time for me to hear of the Tummy Team. The courses look awesome. I have lower back pain a lot.
Pamela, I’m sorry to hear you have lower back pain. These courses are awesome and one of the biggest things I have learned is how to carry my body so that other muscle groups do not have to compensate, when others are not doing their job or because of the way I am holding my body, I am not allowing them to do their job. Blessings to you!
I never heard of this before. Glad I stopped by!
So glad you did too, Denise! Bringing awareness to this very common, but seldom diagnosed condition is exactly what we hoped to do.
Great information. I had the same problem and even ruptured a disk in my back after my 4th baby was born. I did not know that crunches are bad for this!
Oh no! It is not common knowledge at all, which is why we wanted to share about it!
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