Throughly sick of mum tum! separated abs?

[needtobediscreet]

18mths PP, baby weight all gone and back in pre baby clothes but have awful mum tum still. Am size 10-12 but my waist - measured with tape in line with my navel - is 33 inches?! If I contract the muscles in it goes smaller but I can't do that all day.
I've been doing various abdominal / transverse muscle exercises most days for about 6 weeks now and do a decent walk most days or do kettlebells and weights at home and gym for cardio and abs about twice a week - intervals and HITT sessions. I avoid crunches, planks and all the other exercises that are apparently bad for separated abs.

My gap between abdominal muscles is around 1.5-2 fingers depending where you measure. It was 2.5 about 8 week's PP according to physio I saw back then.

Am seeing zero improvement and can't wear my old fav style of tops and dresses as I look five months pregnant.

HELP?!

Have you been to the GP?

Could tell us your height and weight?

I'm not being flippant here but couldn't you wear some good sturdy pants with your favourite clothes until this improves? There are some really good ones even in good old Marks etc (even Primark in fact).

You sound as if you are doing everything possible which must be hard with young dc. Hope it improves.

Thanks for the replies.

I've not been to the GP - feels a bit cosmetic to bother them with but maybe I should go?

I'm 5ft 6in and 149lbs / 10st 9lbs
I'm in my mid 30s.

I got some good control pants for a recent party I went to. They help me feel less conscious but I couldn't wear them everyday. Never dreamed I'd need them at my age tbh!

There are specific exercises for separated abs, did your physio give you any?

Divarification of rectus, have you tried These excercises? can be a while for results to start to show, have you seen your GP? Might be worth asking for a physio referral.

Better link! but do see your GP first, check everything else is ok before starting.

Missred - I'll check those links out later as I can't download the PDFs to my phone.
Yes, in the early months after giving birth the physio advised doing heel slides while lying down and another lying down one where bend your legs and let one knee drop outwards as far as you can go controlling it then bring it back in. I've done the mutu type exercises more recently - I Googled them as they're specifically post natal for mummy tummies.

The Tupler Technique makes a big difference.

Have you had success with it Antoinette? Would you be able to tell me more about it? I've googled and found some exercises. Happy to spend time doing them, if they work!

It worked really well for me-unfortunately it was a couple of years ago and I gave the book away! I definitely recommend it though. I had about a 3 finger gap that closed to about 1 finger.

This is me too. My friend in France says they offer surgery!

Oh thanks Antoinette. I'll check it out. Was it v time consuming?

Sauce - I think you can get NHS surgery here if you have a large gap along with pain and / or a hernia. I have neither - no hernia as far as I know anyway. I'll consider paying for a tummy tuck too once I'm done having done children if my tum still looks the same. France offers far better general post-natal physio and routinely unlike here.

You can have surgery here but you will be advised to complete your family before going under the knife.

Apparently it's quite a long recovery time too (my muscles separated too, best friend is a nurse in the local private hospital where they do the ops so have chatted to her about it after my GP suggested it as an option).

"I'm 5ft 6in and 149lbs / 10st 9lbs"

I wouldn't have surgery if I were you. It's drastic and can go wrong.

At the least try to get your weight to 8 and a half (19 BMI) or 9 stone. For me (even after twins who stayed in to 40 weeks which is almost a record!!) it is all about weight.

Laura - I honestly don't think I've ever been as light as that as an adult. I'm quite muscular iyswim, tummy aside. I would struggle to get to that weight I think. In the past when I've been able and had the time to do lots more cardio than I could ever fit in now, I've not got to that weight. I could definitely do with losing a few more pounds in an ideal world but my tummy will still bulge cos of the muscle separation. It's all a bit disheartening tbh.

Needtobe - I'm 5/7 and couldn't get lower than 9 and a half stone - and I'm not muscly!

Pilates helped me hugely - I quickly went down a finger width. I got private lessons - with the pilates tables etc - I thought the group lessons were a waste of time.

Interesting sauce!

I did Pilates classes for a while - weekly for a couple of months - but the instructor isn't a post-natal specialist and the class included lots of moves I now know are not advised for separated abs. She recommended the plank above all else and MuTu says this is an absolute no no as it means gravity pushes all your organs into the weak area.
How can I find a good teacher?

I was in London so it was easy. You really need one to one if you can get it for about 10 weeks. Very subtle changes in positions make all the difference to the posture. Movements are small and intense. In the meantime - do pelvic floors - lying on your back with your knees up and feet on the floor.

The other thing about Pilates is that the name was never trademarked so many people call themselves pilates instructors but haven't done the original training. So research is key.