A couple of effective mum tum exercises please?

[connyrabbit]

I am not about to be able to go to a gym, and my DVD player has just died.
I am on a diet but the tummy muscles are soooo loose. What are good (safe) core muscle exercises i could do while at home with the babies around?

Thank you!

Pulling your navel in as many times a day as you can be bothered, also while doing other things (like lifting and walking).

Check out diastasis exercises on Youtube. Some I found there also showed how you can splint yourself with a towel.

The plank is a good one, lie down as if about to do a press up but put your elbows on the floor instead of hands. Hold for 30 secs or longer if poss!

Google pilates on you tube and you should come up with some exercises. An easy one to do is to lie on your back, pull your tummy button in towards your back and make sure there is a small gap just underneath your back ( enough for a finger), lift your legs up with your knees bent at a right angle over your hips and hold. It sounds easy but it works !! A variation on this is to keep your knee bent and lower leg just as if you are going to test the water temperature with your toe.( Sorry if I am not clear enough) If your back starts hurting then stop as it means that your stomach muscles are not strong enough. I would get yourself to a class as if you dont get the exercises correctly you can hurt yourself .

I recently bought the ebook advertised here on pelvic floor exercises by an Ozzie physio and it happens to say that most of the exercises for tums are really BAD for the pelvic floor- including those mentioned above- they force everything down.

You can't actually lose weight.flab round your tummy with these abs exercises- you need to lose the fat!

This will probably sound odd, but I bought a pair of Sketchers (sp?) trainers wih the rounded bottoms, like MBT but cheaper. The biggest difference I noticed was to my abs, it was really quite marked. You have to walk more actively ie. think about holding yourself in as you walk, but if you already walk a bit you could change to these to walk in and get stomach exercises almost for free! Legs/ bum also got worked out, but my tum really benefited the most!

Definitely do some planking and side planks if you are a glutton for punishment.

Also at the gym they got me doing leg raises, laid on back both legs at a time, then alternate legs keeping them moving at all times, this helps the lower core. Do be careful if you have any back pain though, they didn't help that.

Finally I used a small gym ball, sat down, feet off the ground and moved it from one side of me to the other, to tone the sides of my abs.

These did all work I promise...but combined with a bit of WW.

I'm on my phone sorry it's short but google julie Tupler she is a dia stasis expert, her exercises really really work

Thank you very much all.
Have been pulling my navel in very often during the last few days. I now constantly feel like I've got some sort of period pain. Guess it's working the right muscles!

The one I find works is to lie in your back with your legs in the air (knees bent at 90 degrees), hands at your ears. Bring your left knee slowly in towards you while bringing your right elbow up and over towards the left knee in a sort of sideways ab crunch. Start moving your left knee back to the start position and at the same time move your right knee towards you and take your left elbow towards it. Keep doing this so your doing a sort of slow cycle with your legs and bringing your elbow to the opposing knee. Killer but works!

Here is a pdf about the Tupler method. I think it really works and I've been strengthening my Kegels at the same time. My diastasis is definitely getting narrower.

another vote for Tupler method here. It worked really well for me. But you do need to ensure your pelvic floor is engaged. BTW, working your pelvic floor will help to tone your tummy muscles too and improve posture. It's the reason you always engage pelvic floor muscles in pilates and yoga.

i used a pilates 10 minute one on youtube after both my sections

search Katrina Post-Natal on youtube

I got a great result from this: Bootcamp for Tummies: Mama Mio Bootcamp for Tummies www.mamamio.com/uk/body/bootcamp-for-tummies-skincare-and-exercise-system.html
Sit-ups are not the answer! It shows you the best way to exercise post baby AND has two lush creams in the box... Good luck! Xx