Ok! The vacation is over! Ha ha! I am back on full duty. What does that mean? Referee, entertainment, chef, housekeeper, shopper, and any other mom duty that I missed. That means I have to really structure my exercises appropriately so I do not overdo and I can maximize the positive effects. Nutrition is also HUGE! I don’t have time to not be at optimal function as I have a lot of responsibility and a lot of healing left to do!
Some perks will stay! Here are some of the FABULOUS shifts that I will keep as a permanent part of my routine:
Everyone helps keep the house clean! Once a week we all do a thorough cleaning: Cameron vacuums the house and dust, William mops the floors with Madelyn as his vinegar sprayer and cleans the windows that he can reach and Annabelle cleans the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and anything else she can wipe 🙂
Kevin puts the girls to bed when he is in town! This is a FANTASTIC stress reducer! And it gives me time to read before bed!!
I am asking for help when I need it! People can always say, no
Eight Weeks Down!!
Eight weeks into this process feels like a lifetime away from where I started. I have to tell you this has been the most energizing process that I have ever gone through! Starting from a “clean slate” has been such a gift!! I am truly grateful for this opportunity!
I am also grateful for going into the surgery with a solid foundation which has made the recovery “relatively” easy. I am confident that all of the years of training using the principles of applied functional science and eating to support connective tissue growth gave my body the best opportunity possible to heal. Although my interventions were not enough to fully recover my abdominal wall, that does NOT mean they were unsuccessful!
Remember that function is so much more than aesthetics... It’s about resilience, endurance, stress threshold, daily function, and the ability to perform in life every day! I can say with confidence that this surgery will only enhance all of those things!!
All of these walks have given me a fantastic opportunity to enjoy many morning podcasts, and 4 audiobooks and make some new friends! This is a picture of one of the special deer families near my home... Noticed Albina, a rare albino deer.
Check out this sunrise from the other day! It is simply fantastic!!
This is SO true! I thrive on a movement-rich lifestyle! So, I am grateful for all of the variables and movement opportunities that have been a part of this recovery process!!
Week 8 Update!
Everything is going really well eight weeks into this process. There have been some days when I have overdone and been sore, but overall every day trends more towards improved function! I bared my tummy in this series because I have gotten several questions about what my abdominal wall looks like now. I have some swelling in the top above the belly button and still swelling along the scar. When I see my soft tissue specialist and she works on my thoracic spine, and ribs and does some lymph massage... all is 90% better! It’s a process that can take up to one year to fully realize results.
Week 8 Nutrition
I am finally up to my maintenance calories! Yay! I have worked so hard to recover and improve my metabolism after years of stress. I did not want to stay in a caloric deficit for too long and damage my hormones! I will stay at this caloric level until my activity intensity increases. My first training goal is to rebuild the muscle that I have lost. In order to do that I have to be in a caloric surplus to support growth! I am still following a time-restricted eating strategy to support the cellular cleaning, improved digestion, and growth hormone needs of recovery! So far, it works really well for me!
Onto the Exercises!!
The goal of these movements is to specifically start loading the connective tissue of the core through integrated whole-body patterns. I am using a Pelvicore Pro in all movements! The pelvicore serves as an external tri-plane load to the pelvic floor and core. In some exercises, I am using a breathing exerciser which helps me move the all-important intercostal muscles through a resisted breath excursion.
The beauty of all of these patterns is they are also fantastic for reintegrating the core in the postpartum period!
NOTE: All of these exercises are sped up in order to fit all of the variables! You can find the real-time speed videos on my Facebook page .
EXERCISE ONE
This pattern uses multiple variables to stimulate and integrate the core and pelvic floor. Along with breath, I am using both prepositioning of the knees as well as an eye driver while on all fours. While on my knees I am using breath and a hand and eye driver to create a top download to the core! The inhale initiates the movement while the exhale takes me out!
EXERCISE TWO
This one is as much a brain exercise as it is a core and pelvic floor exercise. Squatting with the Pelvicore on at this stage requires a conscious contraction of the abdominal wall and timing with the pelvic floor. I will not have a reflexive (on its own) contraction of the abdominal wall for 8-12 months!
You start with a preposition of the feet and then move through a center squat and into a lunge. The lunges and squats are the same for all nine foot positions.
EXERCISE THREE
This developmental pattern is my new favorite! I love the feeling of the sit disc on my upper back as I use both a hand and eye driver along with the sagittal plane bridge. Note that I change my foot position from narrow (squeezing the ball) to wide (rolling out agains the band).
EXERCISE FOUR
Can I have two favorites?? Ok, so I do! This prepositioned hand driver along with the lunge is a BIG challenge for me right now! Especially rotation and posterior!
EXERCISE FIVE
Alright, I actually have three favorites!! This one is FABULOUS! Can you find all of the tweaks here? Isn’t movement, fantastic!! There are so many opportunities to move post operatively! Ok, this has breath, eye driver, hand position and coordinated pelvis reach as well as the Pelvicore!!
Create your own series by piecing together your favorites!