How to Activate Transverse Abdominal

Hokai, this is VERY important to those who are bearing child to be and also post after delivering child to be, but it is just as important to those who have LOWER BACK issues.





During my gymnastic years, I develope lower back problems just because my discs were rubbing against each other. I could barely swim on my front when I moved sport. This was my fundamental, my base, my permanent ground set up for more extreme physical conditions from there on. And it really helped to know and understand that we have 4 LAYERS OF ABS. And the MOST important layer is the one behind your 6-pack :).

Mommy trainer


Every women needs to activate her T.V.A-Transverse abdominal muscle and pelvic floor muscles after giving birth. This is the exercise you need to do during the first 1-10 days post birth. If you have had a ‘C’ section it is better to wait for 5-14 days before you start.

Why is it Important? 

It is important to start activating your TVA along with your pelvic floor muscles as this is the first part in your rehabilitation from your pregnancy, labour and birth.  These muscles have been severely stretched and even more so after a ‘C’ section. During your pregnancy and you will have lost or have minimal neural connection to the inner core muscle now.

If you have strong TVA and pelvic floor muscles you can hold good posture whilst you are breastfeeding, carrying and lifting your baby. It will decrease the risk of back and hip pain and reduces possible post pregnancy incontinence.

Exercising the muscles sooner rather than later will help to start to correct a diastasis recti (post pregnancy abdominal separation) ultimately leading to a flatter stomach and if you want to eventually get back into a regular exercise routine activating these muscles daily is a must to prevent injury.

Where are these Important Muscles?

• The transverse abs run from our sides (lateral) to the front (anterior), its fibers running horizontally (transverse).
• The muscle runs transverse and is the deepest of the major abdominal muscles (the others being the rectus abdominis, and the internal and external obliques).
• It ends (the muscle insertion) by joining with the large vertical abdominal muscle in the middle (the linea alba), where the fibers begin to curve downward and upward depending on what direction it has to go to meet the linea alba, and below the sternum it combines with next most superficial muscle (the internal oblique). This insertion runs down by the belly button where it passes over the thick abdomen muscle (the "6/8-pack") and all the ab muscle fibers join together.

The transversus abdominis (TVA) helps to compress the ribs and viscera, providing torso and pelvic stability. The transversus abdominis also helps pregnant women deliver their baby.

Watch my video guide to Activate your TVA's correctly

Make sure this is the first Exercise you do after Giving Birth and do it sooner rather than later.

You don't have to engage the muscles lying down you can think about engaging your TVA and Pelvic Floor muscles together during the day.

Have a look at your stomach when you are standing, sitting and when you are holding your baby and try to activate your T.V.A muscles.

First think about activating your Pelvic Floor Muscle then draw your belly button in towards your spine, I think about either trying to zip up a pair of jeans or imagine you have a corset on and it is being pulled tighter, it is a subtle contraction.
 You should see your tummy muscles draw in; if you can see this happening, you are activating the correct muscles. You could use a mirror to help, stand sideways and watch yourself activating these muscles.

From 1-14 days post birth this is the exercise you need to do try to think about activating your tummy muscles regularly when you are lifting, changing and carrying your baby. If you can concentrate on this for a couple of weeks post birth the connections will become stronger, the muscle strength will increase and activating these once weakened muscles will become second nature.

Mummy Trainer

20 years Experience in the Fitness Industry. A Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist. I have specialized in Pregnancy and Post Natal Exercise for more than 15 Years. My company Pregnancyexercise.co.nz is dedicated to providing professional advice during your pregnancy and beyond. I want all women to benefit from exercising both during and post pregnacy. I try to achieve this through this blog, my website and facebook sites. http://pregnancyexercise.co.nz for On-line Pregnancy and Post Natal Exercise Programs

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My Post Pregnancy

Elo!

*Shy*

So yeah, thought I'd share my own experience about 'recovering' back to my pre pregnancy body with the hopes that some of you may be inspired to take this guidance, as I do am weary about the safety and recovery of our fragile bodies throughout this period of time.

These were a few 'blogs' that I religiously read through my pregnancy stages, just so that their lifestyle and experience were similar to mine. One of the blogger is now expecting another baby so I will still be sticking to reading her life!

http://blondeponytail.com/postpartum-fitness/
http://www.enjoyyourhealthylife.com/2013/11/20/sacrifice-to-make-fitness-a-priority/
http://fitnessista.com/2011/06/the-birth-team/

As of 4 months post pregnant, I am about 90% back to carrying my usual Les Mills Body Pump weights and feeling 70% in my core. I am however over 100% on performing Les Mills Body Balance as I find that I still have the flexibility in the joints, as well as strength from the yoga poses done during my pregnancy stage.

It is the core that I am very particular about to carry out my everyday activities. Here was my journey the moment I delivered my darling little baby.

Weight before pregnancy: 48kg
Weight at 36 weeks pregnant: 57kg
Current weight at 4 months post preg: 49kg

What's important is that one has to stop bleeding, and is clear from diastisis recti to start small exercises such as going on all fours (horse stance).

2 weeks after delivery
Body: Abs felt very achy sore, like going hard at the gym after missing for a week.
Exercises: Loads of Kegels from day 1 and Transverse abdominal activation lying on my side.
Frequency: Twice a day about 5-10mins when lying down resting.

3 weeks after delivery
Body: Check to see if there is still any diastis recti. None. Very important not to carry heavy items until next check up with gynae
Exercise: Chest push up on knees - 2 x 15 times
                Plank - 3 x 15seconds (5 sec rest)
Frequency: Once this week.

4th week
Body: still feeling weak, but taking it easy and being extra patient.
Exercise: Les Mills Body Balance 30 min
                Push ups - increase to 20,15,10
                Plank - 3 x 30 seconds (15 sec rest)
Frequency:  3 times this week

2nd month
Body: Feels like it is progressing rather slowly. Bleeding has stop so worked towards carrying more body weight type exercise.
Exercise: Les Mills Body Balance 30 min
                A mini circuit exercise of (2 rounds):
                        Push ups
                        Plank - 30 sec
                        Side plank - 45sec
                        Lunges - 2 x 10
                        Straight jumps - 3 x 10
                        Squats - 2 x 10
Frequency: 2-3 times a week

3rd Month
Body: Swelling has reduce alot, confident to start running around and jump. Kegels are still essential as I still feel a little 'lose' on that side when I jump. Struggling still on ab workouts.
1st two weeks: GRIT Cardio workout (body weight cross training is also good enough)
3rd week: Added Team teach body pump
4th week: Included Body Balance
Frequency: 3 times a week towards the end of the month

4th Month (started teaching all my classes again)
Body: Feeling stronger, but core work still needs more work. Abdominal exercises are easier.
Body Pump - twice a week
Body Balance - twice a week
GRIT - once a week
Frequency: 5 times a week.

It is most important and very extremly crucial is to have a husband or family members who are around and supportive to run all the other errands whilst you are healing. Support is essential to us mothers throughout, emotionally, physically and mentally.

As for me, I dedicate this post to my wonderful hubby who has been through thick and thin so far through this journey.

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50 Inspiring Quotes From Your Favorite Cartoon Characters

I love this!

Cartoons aren’t just for kids anymore; I think we’ve already established that. So it’s no surprise that these (mostly) cartoon character quotes apply to you no matter how old you are. Collected by playground equipment maker AAA State Of Play, these 50 quotes are from all sorts of characters from all sorts of cartoons. Whether they’re 3D or classical 2D, movies or TV series, they still have a point. Even Chuckie’s “A baby’s gotta do what a baby’s gotta do”, since it also doubles as a good explanation why babies do anything at all.

Though it could be argued that DC Comic books are a little too dark for children, and Adventure Time is for adults anyways. Then again, many materials can be read and watched by both adults and children. After all, there’s usually enough

AAA State of Play is a family owned US playground equipment manufacturer located near Indianapolis.

I guess the “family” part betrays how they got to hear most of those quotes.

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Do it Better: Dynamic Warm-ups

As far as everyone is concern, warm ups are very important to prevent any injuries and to condition the muscles for a better workout. Below are some exceptionally good ones to maximise the warm up while minimising some time and of course any risks.



Warm-ups for cardio workouts have traditionally consisted of performing your cardio activity of choice at a lower intensity with gradual increases to higher intensity. While gradually increasing intensity is important, adding dynamic warm-ups to your clients’ routines can add multidimensional benefits to their cardio workouts. It can also serve to enhance their overall fitness and general wellness by decreasing the likelihood of overuse injuries.

Dynamic warm-ups, says Chris McGrath, founder of Movement First, a New York City-based health and fitness education, consulting and training organization, typically consist of integrated movements that help improve muscular strength, mobility, stability, balance, coordination, agility and/or even power. Warm-ups can include foam rolling, balance exercises, yoga-type movements, agility drills and even plyometric drills.

Because most cardio activities are performed with relatively small ranges of motion and are dominant in one plane (straight ahead, such as walking, running, cycling, stair climbing, elliptical, etc.), it is important to incorporate movements that move the body in more complete ways. This should include full ranges of motion, rotation and side-to-side movements.

McGrath suggests incorporating the following five movements into your clients’ dynamic warm-ups:
•“Loosen” Up. Foam rolling can help reduce excessive tension in chronically tight areas. It can also improve blood flow and circulation. If a client has a muscle that is chronically tight, taking a few moments to “loosen” that area up can be beneficial for his or her workout and protect against overuse and/or unbalanced movements.
•Extend. Most people spend much of their day sitting, which puts the knees, hips and spine in a flexed position. Counteract this tendency by incorporating movements that extend and lengthen, especially the parts that may be hunched up when sitting (hip flexors, hamstrings and upper spine).
•Use Full Range-of-motion Movements. Many clients have few opportunities to move through complete ranges of motion during the day. Therefore, they can greatly benefit by introducing full ranges of motion, even if (and perhaps especially because) the cardio workout they will be performing will not.
•Rotate. The hips and upper spine are designed to rotate more than other parts of the body. If these areas lose that ability, other parts may be required to do more rotating than they are designed to do (for example at the knees and lower back). Therefore, find ways to add mobility to the hips and mid-upper back.
•Move Sideways. Have your clients spend some time moving the body laterally. Side-to-side movements can wake up lateral stabilizers, resulting in better control and protection for when they do move straight ahead.

With countless variations and exercises to apply, these five movements provide a great framework for designing creative and effective dynamic warm-ups for your clients. And, as mentioned earlier, you can also employ the flow-based properties of yoga to transition from one movement to the next. In the following video, Jessica Matthews, M.S., E-RYT 500, senior advisor for health and fitness education for ACE, demonstrates a six-minute yoga-inspired dynamic warm-up that will help your clients get ready for just about any activity. Urge your clients to follow this warm-up prior to your sessions together or for their between-session workouts.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/zpj1hpg7ojq


For more ideas and exercises to include in a dynamic workout, check out these additional resources:

The Dynamic Warm-up Every Runner Should Try
Teach your clients how to take a few minutes to properly warm up with these multiplanar drills and you’ll be helping them run with better results for years to come.

5 Foam Rolling Exercises to Prep for a Dynamic Workout
To adequately prepare your clients for dynamic workouts, they need to do more than just a quick warm-up or a few stretches. To get the blood flowing, increase neural input to the muscles and enhance mental focus, here are five creative foam-rolling exercises that will help fire up your clients for their next dynamic workout.

Dynamic Warm-up
This continuing education course offers 25 energizing and innovative warm-up exercises to prepare your clients for superior sport performance. These techniques improve flexibility, prevent injury, reinforce proper speed movement and mechanics, elevate tissue temperature, and activate the nervous system. The dynamic warm-up sets the tone for a great workout or competition and can also be used as a stand-alone conditioning routine.

A Detailed Guide to Designing Activity-specific Warm-up and Mobility Drills
Whether you’re providing a 30-minute session for a deconditioned client or a two-hour workout for a professional athlete, these detailed guidelines and protocols will help you properly prepare your client’s body and mind for a maximally efficient training session.

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The Elemelons

Something Funny!! Thanks 9Gag

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Why tidying up could change your life

I find this very very beneficial and useful. The one that sinks in the most is step 3; to never save your best perfumes. Therefore, I have started to open up ALL my toiletries gifts muahahaha...And no, I have stop collecting stuff from the hotel rooms.......

Thank you very much the guardian

‘I was surprised to be told that the ‘before’ picture doesn’t look that messy, but that’s the effect of shoving 80% of your crap into groaning cupboards and drawers.’Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

I am stuffing a letter between two books when I realise my possessions are in charge of me. It’s a hoarder’s attempt at tidying: hiding stuff inside other stuff. My coffee table groans under books, digital devices, coffee cups, lint rollers, newspapers and one or both of my kittens, Ollie and Sebastian.

Bottles of toiletries line the bathroom mirror collecting dust, and upstairs cubbyholes burst with clothes I no longer wear. Let’s not even talk about my inbox, crammed with unread emails. The Stuff is winning. Enter The Minimalists, Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn, who believe that without the abundant clutter of material possessions you’re free to prioritise the stuff that matters: family, hobbies and passion projects.

Nicodemus and Millburn launched theminimalists.com in December 2010. In the first month, it attracted only 52 visitors to the site. Last year, it drew more than two million, as well as nearly 30,000 Twitter followers – and their TED talk has had more than 600,000 hits on YouTube.

Related: Decluttering: show us your before and after pictures

Nicodemus goes to his Montana office to Skype me because he has no home internet – one of the many effects of exchanging his £80,000 lifestyle for a decluttered existence, including a four-month “experiment” of living in a cabin with Millburn.

“It wasn’t just possessions taking up my time,” says Nicodemus, who used to work as a business manager for a telephone company. “I was working 60-80 hours a week, plus I was studying, so all my free time was spent pacifying myself with an accumulation of possessions. It was a revelation that I could be deliberate with my time – and that I can work 30 or 40 hours a week and still have a great life.”

The idea of tidying up our lives, ridding ourselves of material clutter, is ancient and enduring, a practical and emotional goal we’re constantly trying to achieve – check out “storage solutions” on Pinterest to see almost fetish-like homages to tidiness. The concept is big again now with Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up currently topping the New York Times bestseller list. Now, as we claw our way out of a recession that forced many to embrace a “less is more” lifestyle, Nicodemus and Millburn have captured a moment of backlash against the endless, mindless accumulation of stuff. Here’s how I got on with their help.

Step one Decide why you’re becoming a minimalist

“I can’t tell you how many times I went for a new car, promotion or job on impulse, never asking myself why,” says Nicodemus. “So before you even start, ask yourself: how might my life be better with less stuff?”

I get down to three reasons for waging war on stuff. First, I think my time would be better spent on humans I love than wasted on objects I don’t – half a weekend is a ridiculous amount of time to spend cleaning a flat that’s not much bigger than me. Second, when I need something, I’d like to find it, not go on a quest for it. Third, I haven’t seen Sebastian in days. He’s got to be in here somewhere.

Step two Play the 30-day minimalism game

This is a way to declutter in daily steps. On day one throw out, sell, donate or recycle an item. On day two, two items. On day three, three items, and so on. After 30 days, you’ll have removed 564 items. “People resort to coathangers and paper clips in those later days,” says Nicodemus, who recommends playing the game with a friend or work colleague “and betting something – a coffee, a steak dinner. Having that accountability helps”. If you don’t know any other clutterbugs, tens of thousands of people tweet their way through the 30-day challenge using the hashtag #minsgame.

The first thing I throw out is a pair of ripped jeans. I earmark two Post-it pads to throw out tomorrow, and I already know on the third day I’ll throw out these old lint rollers and the cup with a chip on the rim. Then I think, why not just throw them out now? Long story short, I remove about 100 items on the first day.

Step three Get rid of your ‘just-in-case’ items

In most cases, any item you’ve been hanging on to “just in case” can be replaced “in less than 20 minutes for less than £10” – usually in a charity shop, or even for free online. For example, the French grammar books I kept just in case I learn French. Many JICs will never see their save-the-day moment. In a year, Nicodemus and Millburn had to replace their disposed-of JICs fewer than five times between them.

I sheepishly admit to having a JIC bag of old mobile phones. “It’s hard to throw out mobile phones,” Nicodemus says. “You think, ‘This is worth £300. To get rid of this is to get rid of £300.’ But it’s sunk cost. We hold on to things because we spent a lot of money on them five years ago, but the second you bought it you were never going to recover that money.”

I donate the phones, as well as two sacks of clothes I was keeping just in case one day they magically fit, look good, or no longer have holes.

Step four Have a packing party

“Everything is more fun if you put ‘party’ after it,” say the minimalists. In their TED talk, Nicodemus and Millburn tell the story of the day they spent packing all Nicodemus’s stuff (with “a couple of pizza deliveries”). He then unpacked items as he needed them day by day. “After three weeks, 80% of my stuff was still sitting in those boxes. I couldn’t even remember what was in most of them.”

I pack up the bathroom, bedroom and living room and, as you can see from the “after” picture and my smug expression, it was pretty successful. I put away all my books, leaving only a notebook and the Italian textbooks I use weekly.

One small chest of drawers was totally empty once I cleared out the rubbish, so I donated it and put the stylish boxes that had been clogging up the corridor in its place. (Ah … in its place.) Clearing out the kitchen cupboards made space for the glasses my parents gave us as a housewarming gift. To my genuine astonishment, I too find life is fine with only the essentials and what’s in those boxes has become a mystery to me, although not an intriguing one.

Step five Digital decluttering

When you work from home, people think you’re amazing simply because you work rather than, say, sit in your pants drooling on yourself, watching Jeremy Kyle. “Well,” you get to say with a smug eye flutter, “you have to be very disciplined”. But while I’m disciplined enough to avoid Netflix during working hours, I’m not disciplined enough to avoid working during Netflix hours. I can’t even get through an episode of Better Call Saul without absentmindedly checking my emails. That’s the opposite of “living deliberately”.

“Try removing internet from your house,” suggests Nicodemus. “Start by removing email from your phone.” I compromise by placing email, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook on the fifth page of my iPhone in a folder marked “Must you?”. Baby steps.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest

‘To my genuine astonishment, I too find life is fine with only the essentials.’ Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

The verdict Decluttering saved my life

Outer order has indeed contributed to inner calm in the household. I was surprised to be told the “before” picture doesn’t look that messy, but it’s only because I’d shoved 80% of my crap into groaning cupboards and drawers.

That’s the tough part: now that I live in such an ordered oasis I must resist the urge to hoard more clutter behind cupboard doors. Decluttering makes you feel like bathtime did when you were a kid: at best you procrastinate and at worst you put up a fight, but as soon as you do it you think, “That was fun: now I feel clean and can sleep. Why did I put it off?”

I do feel bad for not going all in with the digital declutter, so as a show of goodwill towards minimalism, I mark all my emails as read. All 1,184 of them. It feels amazing.

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Whey-ing up the benefits

Interesting information on Whey. Do be careful when taking them, for they can cause side effects :)

Thanks Les Mills!

Whey-ing up the benefits 2015-05-06

Walking into a supplements store today can be a little overwhelming. There seems to be a supplement for everything and more and more products are coming to the market everyday. In order for exercisers to build and repair muscle, adequate protein intake is required with athletes needing slightly more protein than the average active individual. But what is the difference between different proteins?
Whey Protein
A complete protein, meaning it contains all 20 amino acids used by the body, Whey is generally branded as the best and the most commonly used protein supplement. Fast and easy to digest (providing you aren’t lactose intolerant), the liquid component (whey) is extracted from milk in the cheese making process. Whey, in addition to high protein content, contains good fats, minerals and vitamins all of which are beneficial for the body while supporting fat burning, boosting the immune system, improving insulin sensitivity, and decreasing appetite. The only disadvantage of whey is that the lactose intolerant or vegan can not consume it.
Soy Protein
Soy is renowned as one of the best non animal product sources of protein and a great alternative for vegetarians and vegans. Soy contains all nine essential amino acids, as well as good levels of zinc, potassium, iron, vitamin E and B complex vitamins. On top of this, soy has had a long history boasting the ability to lower cholesterol and prevent breast cancer. In recent years there have been an increasing amount of studies into soy to determine if the super food really is all it’s cracked up to be. Soy today is generally highly processed, and genetically modified and also appears in a large range of foods, but the jury still seems to be out on its pros and cons.
Pea Protein
For those who are lactose intolerant and are keeping a cautious distance from soy protein, pea might be the answer. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans, as well as the gluten intolerant, unlike whey and soy, pea protein does not contain allergens. Higher than other plant based protein pea protein contains the same protein content per serve as whey protein. Pea protein contains a unique combination of essential amino acids that are great for muscle growth and weight loss.
Isolate vs concentrate
Protein Isolate and Protein Concentrate are often written all over supplement packaging, but what is the difference? Protein isolate is protein concentrate broken down even further than concentrate. The further breakdown results in smaller peptides which are more easily absorbed by the muscles but at the cost of other health benefits. In the digestive process our body will break down protein concentrate further so contrary to popular belief consuming isolate does not affect our muscle fibre’s absorption of the protein and does not affect muscle building. There are arguments which support both isolate and concentrate proteins and it seems they both have great advantages.

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