• Meet The Team
  • Services
  • Shop
  • Sign Up
  • Online Training
  • Blog
  • Contact
Menu

Fit and Eats

10 Porter Drive
Guelph, ON, N1L 1M3
647 991 4212
A STRONG MOM STARTS WITH A STRONG FOUNDATION

Your Custom Text Here

Fit and Eats

  • Meet The Team
  • Services
  • Shop
  • Sign Up
  • Online Training
  • Blog
  • Contact

The importance of Diaphragmatic Breathing.

January 13, 2017 Lucy D'Aguilar
How To Do A Belly Breath..png

After I had my daughter Eden, I didn't realize how important breathing was for postpartum recovery...I wish I had learned this info while I was pregnant. I had a really tough recovery and wasn't prepared for the toll delivery took on my body. I really struggled to get back into exercise postpartum because I had undiagnosed diastasis recti AND and an undiagnosed prolapse. Luckily due to ankle injuries I had been told no jumping so I didn't make my prolapse worse. But it wasn't until wayyyy into my postpartum recovery that I leaned all this information. I struggled mentally with not being able to perform as well as I could before. 

All this together meant I had to figure out what was going to work for me. I did so much research into the human body postpartum and which exercises would help or hinder recovery. I changed my exercise routines and started to heal my diastasis. I was still so scared about the prolapse I didn't really know what to do (so I set that aside for a while). 

It wasn't until 18 month postpartum that I discovered this was what I really wanted to help women with. There Is so little help given from your family doctors/OBGYNs, especially if you don't know the questions to ask or they rush you out of the office after a check up. I had been following the teachings of Bellies Inc and decided to take their course to become certified in core rehabilitation.

The foundation for everything in pregnancy and postpartum exercise is diaphragmatic breathing (or as Bellies Inc coined it, the Core Breath). It connects the four core muscles together to create strength behind every exercise. The four core muscles being the transverse abdominus, multifidus, diaphragm and the pelvic floor. When these muscles are out of sync, along with other factors, they can create whats known as 'core dysfunction'

  • urinary incontinence
  • pelvic organ prolapse
  • back pain
  • pelvic girdle pain
  • diastasis recti

However, you can re-train your body into functioning correctly. The first step is with your breath. You can start this as soon as possible, pregnant, postpartum, trying to get pregnant, the sooner the better. Watch the video for a demonstration of belly breathing/diaphragmatic breathing and start practicing NOW!!

I cannot stress how important breathing is for effective core function so PLEASE if you are only going to change one thing in your exercise routine...start with this! start with 10 breaths per day and slowly increase as you get the hang of it.

Step One

Sit on a stability ball, chair or lay on your back, with a slight arch in your back (finding neutral spine), two feet are on the floor (knees bent if lying down) and look straight ahead. Place one hand on your belly and the other on the side of your ribcage.

Step Two

Take a deep breath in. Focus on filling the space in your ribcage without your chest rising (imagine your ribcage as an umbrella), fill your belly and in vision your pelvic floor soften and relax. Feel as your ribs and belly expand as you take in air. Breath like this a few times so you can get use to filling your belly and ribcage with air before moving on to the next step. Your belly and ribs should be moving in unison with 70% of the air going into your ribcage.

Step Three

As you breathe out, feel your ribs and belly move in (umbrella closing), exhale through pursed lips. Take a few breaths like this as you begin to understand how your body is moving then add in the pelvic floor contraction. As you exhale, feel as your pelvic floor lifts away from the ball or chair and draws in. Use nice slow breaths, focus on slowing the breath down and engaging the muscles as you breathe out. Remember as you inhale, to soften the pelvic floor.

Pelvic Floor Cues

Picking up a blueberry/jelly bean
Prevent a tampon from falling out
Imagine your pelvic floor as a jellyfish
Sipping a milkshake through your vagina

Step Four

Only after you have perfected the first three steps, should you progress to this step.

As you close your umbrella and pick up your blueberries, exhale through pursed lips. You should feel a band of tightness across your lower abdominals. This band of tightness is your transverse abdominis contracting and completes the optimal “core” contraction. You can feel the activation by placing your fingers on the inside of your hip bones. NOTE: this is a gentle contraction.
You can also use these visualizations for your TVA:
• Imagine closing your two front hip bones together
• Imagine a guy wire between your two hip bones and as you exhale, create tension in the wire.

The great thing about core/diaphragmatic breathing is you can start it as soon as you feel comfortable post delivery. If you don't want to include the pelvic floor right away that is FINE you may still be tender. If that is the case just focus on breathing into your belly and ribcage and fully relaxing your pelvic floor. Listen to your body, don't rush and don't push too hard, you have just given birth! 

 

HAPPY BREATHING MAMAS

In Mommy Advice, Workouts Tags health, healthy pregnancy, fitmom, fitness, fitmum, exercise
← Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Souptop 5 healthy tips for the holiday season →
 

Sign up to discover all about our Mama & Littles fitness classes. Don’t miss out on when to sign up and when new sessions start.

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!
How to workout at home...make a plan, execute plan, repeat!! We have been doing this whole #covid19workout routine for a while now...has anyone been able to make it stick?

The plan at the beginning was simple, move your body to stay motivated and en
Post baby core action coming at ya! If you don’t have band, don’t worry! The band adds extra resistance...but make sure you are ready for it before you add to your exercises!

Mama’s core needs some love after giving birth...it help
It’s Monday...have you planned your week? Life with a baby needs some scheduling to make things actually happen. If you make a day and a time in your weekly planner you are MORE likely to succeed! If times change, that’s ok, if days chang
Are you following my 30 day move more challenge? Here is a no impact HIIT workout to start you off on the right foot. 
Examples of intervals your can do are;
👉🏻30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest
👉🏼30 seconds work, 15 seconds rest
👉🏽 45 seconds wo
𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬🧖🏼‍♀️🧖🏽‍♀️🧖🏻‍♂️
The days have been looong for everyone lately, so plan a little self care day with this AMAZING PRIZE 💛

Entering is Easy:
1️⃣ FOLLOW ALL 3:
@fitandeats
@agirlnamedtrenholme
@yellow
Some days our shoulders need a little love! We carry our babies and toddlers all day, so why not add this workout to the mix?

Grab a weight which doesn’t feel too light! If you have a variety of weights feel free to change them up for differen