Hey there! I hope your week has been going well.

I’m on my way back from Los Angeles after teaching our pelvic mechanics workshop this past weekend. It was such a great group, and I’m excited to share that we’ve added another workshop to the schedule in Asheville, NC this fall. We are also working on another LA workshop for November for our California folks who missed this last one.

In addition to teaching, I also ran the Disneyland Half Marathon. I snagged a last minute bib and ran my best time ever. To be fair, I’ve only run one other half marathon and that was just a few weeks ago, so it’s easy to set a personal best. But it was also the fastest race pace I’ve run since having kids. I placed top ten in my age group and was the 38th woman out of over 8,000 runners. I’m fully owning that excitement and not being humble about it at all.

Getting back into racing has felt really meaningful. I was a collegiate runner and identified as a runner all the way up until my first pregnancy in 2016. During pregnancy, running started to feel off, so I stopped. Postpartum, I would slowly return, but just as I felt ready to train and race again, I was also ready for another pregnancy. That cycle repeated four times.

Now here I am, almost ten years later, at that familiar postpartum point. In the past, this is when I would be preparing my body for another pregnancy. This time, instead, I’m stepping into a new chapter of motherhood and focusing on my own fitness goals.

If you’re reading this and feeling nervous about returning to a sport you used to love, you’re not alone. Maybe you’re wondering if you can even work out with diastasis. Maybe prolapse symptoms are holding you back. Or maybe you were told you have a diagnosis even though you don’t feel symptoms and now you’re scared to move.

This is exactly what I want to talk about with you.

You are not broken. A diagnosis does not mean you’re done. And finding yourself again after pregnancy and birth is possible, even with diastasis and prolapse.

Let’s talk about how to move forward safely, confidently, and in a way that actually supports your body long term.

Can you workout with diastasis??

The short answer is yes! Diastasis usually refers to the normal separation of the front abdominal muscles (and honestly, the entire abdominal wall is stretching) along the linea alba, the connective tissue between your two six pack ab muscles. This thinning and stretching needs to happen to accommodate baby’s growth.

But, there can be a lot of fear that if you exercise, any diastasis you may have could be made worse or that working out can hinder the healing.

Some reassurance is that simply having diastasis is NOT a reason to avoid exercise. In fact, resistance training may actually help you to reconnect more with your core and improve diastasis postpartum.

Hayley Kava, one of our in-house pelvic floor physical therapists, and I chat about diastasis and debunking a lot of the fear in our latest podcast episode.

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Hayley also walks us through a few exercises that could help improve diastasis that are outside the box—so no heel slides or other traditional DRA exercises you may have seen.

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If you want more traditional deep core exercises, you can check out our free postpartum core workout series here, or explore ​our advanced core workouts​ if you need more of a challenge.

What about prolapse?? Can you workout with prolapse?

The second short answer is yes, you can workout even with prolapse. I have a grade 2 prolapse, and I am asymptomatic. I am able to lift heavy, run, and jump with no real symptoms or issues with my prolapse. When I do have symptoms, it tends to be related to pelvic floor tension—so some back expansion and pelvic balance usually relieves the symptoms pretty quickly for me.

Here is an example of a pelvic balance workout + my approach to the pelvic floor from our YouTube channel. Or you can read the blog for a breakdown of each exercise.

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Did you know we have an entire playlist of free workouts on our YouTube channel? You can subscribe to our channel to get notified when we release new workouts (usually every Tuesday).

If you are having symptoms from prolapse or feeling really anxious about exercising with that diagnosis (which is totally understandable, it can be scary), here is a video where I explain HOW to lift with prolapse and some strategies on what to do if you are feeling symptoms.

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And here is a video on how to find relief from symptoms you may be feeling!

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It can be terrifying to get back to workouts (or even start them for the first time) after you have a baby. There is a lot of misinformation out there on what’s safe or unsafe to do, and a lot of fear around diastasis and prolapse. Or normalization on issues that you may experience such as pelvic pain, leaking, or heaviness, that you may feel you just need to accept as a new normal for you instead of seeking help.

Your body has a great capacity to heal after pregnancy and birth. You are so capable even with kids! I hope that our resources can be helpful for you on your journey. If you have any questions or just need some reassurance, please reply to this email and we will answer all of your questions!

Thanks for reading, and talk to you next week! I’ll be sharing more about Roxanne’s healing this postpartum!

Gina

Stay Strong in Pregnancy and Motherhood!

MamasteFit is one of the only fitness training facilities in the country that exclusively works with in-person prenatal and postnatal fitness clients—and also provides hands-on birth support. Our prenatal and postpartum fitness programs aren’t random “safe” modifications pulled from the internet; they’re designed specifically for this stage of life, tested and refined with our in-person clients, and approved by our in-house pelvic floor physical therapists.

Our prenatal programs were created to keep you strong and pain-free throughout pregnancy with specialty exercises to help you prepare for birth with pelvic opening, pelvic floor, and birth prep movements.

Our postpartum programs were carefully designed with our in-person fitness clients and pelvic floor PTs to ensure there is a smooth transition from rehab and recovery to fitness. Many PTs recommend our programs for both pregnancy and postpartum because of how seamless they integrate with someone's 1-1 PT!