Over the years I’ve begun to get over my fear of being upside down, and now I practice handstands often. I still use the security of the wall, but just inverting in the first place was a big step. A lot of my progress was thanks to reading articles here on Breaking Muscle.

So, here are my favorite tips from the archives that explain some steps you can take to get upside down.

Step One: Acknowledge Your Fear

Willow Ryan’s piece, Dear Willow: I Am Afraid of Handstands – Help! was one of the first articles I read that convinced me to start working on inversions. I liked it because Willow didn’t try to convince the reader there’s nothing to be afraid of. Instead, she focused on working through your fear and taking small steps. As she explained:

Any way or attempt is better than being frozen in a pose. Create different thoughts around your sticking spot. The only way out of a ditch is to use your bean, grab some tools, and get to work. Think one foot in front of the other and move incrementally when the fears are the loudest. You can tread slowly and gently in this time while you adapt to new sensations or actions as your fears present themselves.

If you’re afraid of being upside down, that’s okay. Do little things like hanging out in downward facing dog or even over the side of your bed. These small steps will help you get used to the feeling of being inverted. And don’t forget to breathe. Not only will breathing keep you in control of your fear, but it will also create space and extension while you’re upside down.

Step Two: Practice Arm Balances

Practicing arm balances regularly was something I only discovered recently. Do them every day to build arm and upper-body strength while also challenging your balance – without the added trick of having your feet over your head.

This isn’t an original thought. Coach Max Shank demonstrated how you can use frogstand to build up to a handstand in 2 Ways to Bulletproof the Freestanding Handstand:

Practice holding frogstand (also known as crow stand) every day to get more used to the feeling of holding your weight on your hands instead of your feet.

Step Three: Elevate Your Feet

Once you have confidence in your upper-body strength and can breathe while shifting weight into your hands, it’s time to practice the hard part: getting upside down. In his article, How to Maintain and Control a Handstand, yoga instructor Jon Kolaska demonstrated how to practice downward dog at the wall to get your body inverted without kicking up.

If you watched the whole video, you might have heard Jon say some people practice handstands this way for months or even years. So if you’ve made it to this step, be confident in your progress.

Step Four: Loosen Up and Kick Up

The next part is where I’m stuck right now. I can get into the handstand against the wall. I can hold it for over a minute easily. But kicking up is another story.

Coach Logan Christopher gave helpful advice for anyone stuck on this phase of the handstand in his article How to Work Up to a Handstand Against the Wall. Logan demonstrated how to position yourself for a graceful kick up and avoid breaking heirloom family vases:

Step Five: Care for Your Shoulders

When I started practicing handstands regularly, I noticed my shoulders started to feel tighter. Make sure you take care of your shoulders if you’re focusing on handstands in your training. In her article, Are Handstands Good for You? A Yoga Teacher’s Perspective, yoga instructor Bethany Eanes gave three tips for keeping shoulders healthy while practicing handstands:

1. Six days a week work on opening your shoulders and understanding external rotation of the joint.
2. Limit your chaturanga push ups to no more than fifty in a given week.
3. One day a week, without tiring your shoulders first, work on your alignment in handstand.

So, You Got It? Now Make It Better!

Gymnastics coach Pamela Gagnon (pictured above) summed up the importance of taking it slow while working on handstands:

Just as in a house of cards, when executing a handstand, you cannot haphazardly place your body upside down or get inverted. There are steps, progressions, and specific skills and drills designed to build your confidence, strength, balance, and coordination. Watch a gymnast kick to a handstand. It’s done with purpose. A gymnast’s legs aren’t thrown wildly in the air. Instead, he or she demonstrates body awareness, control, and aptitude.

Once you’ve mastered your handstand, I highly recommend you check out Pamela’s workout series, which she details in her article, My 4-Week Program for Achieving Handstand Happiness. Before you know it, you’ll be walking on your hands.

Happy handstanding, and let us know how it goes!

More Handstand Articles:

• Kipping and the Handstand Push Up: Is It Safe?
• 7 Steps to the Freestanding Handstand Push Up
• How to Hold a Freestanding Handstand
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

The post 5 Steps to Work Through Your Fear of Handstands appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Me and my kids after my first 10K. I was happy because I ran the whole way and even finished third in my age group (Source: Nicole Crawford)

Running With Kids

When I first started running before I had children, I wanted to run fast. So I started doing things like hill sprints and plyometrics a few times a week. But all that did was give me chronic shin splints. Eventually those got so bad that I gave up.

“Since I started running with my kids, I have met many of my goals, like running a 10k and placing in my age group. But most of all, I’ve learned to slow down.”

After I had two children, I started running again, more for mental reasons than physical ones. Running gave me a chance to have quiet solitude and focus. I would run in the evening after my husband was home, and it soon became a nightly habit. But I wasn’t a good runner. I was in pain, and I was constantly fatigued.

I took a break from running during my third pregnancy. Now, two years later, I have three children, and I also have what I consider the most essential piece of fitness gear I own – a double jogging stroller. Running with a stroller has helped me make gains in my fitness and more importantly, it has taught me how to train sustainably.

A Lesson in Going Slow

But it hasn’t always been rainbows and sunshine. My first run with the stroller was a rude awakening. Pushing a double stroller with fifty extra pounds through the Texas Hill Country (that name is accurate) was discouraging. It took me twice as long and I was twice as tired. The hills I normally ran without breaking a sweat were now so daunting that I had to slow to a walk. I didn’t like that. But that run also taught me a valuable lesson that has helped me become a better runner. It taught me the value of going slow.

“‘Go hard or home’ might make for a good fitspiration Instagram post, but it doesn’t always translate into long-term success.”

Since I started running with my kids, I have met many of my goals. But most of all, I’ve learned to slow down. And because of that, I can finally say I enjoy running on every level – mental and physical. I no longer feel pain after I run, so I can do it five days a week. I’ve come to appreciate the importance and effectiveness of consistent, easy runs. “Go hard or home” might make for a good fitspiration Instagram post, but it doesn’t always translate into long-term success or consistency.

It’s harder than it looks, but it’s worth it.

Start With a Plan

What follows is a four-week plan for getting started with a jogging stroller. It’s most appropriate for parents who already have a regular running habit and can easily run a 5K without stopping. If that’s you, follow the plan as written.

You will probably notice this is a walk-run plan. You might think you’re above this, but keep in mind you’re adding a pretty heavy load to your runs. In his brand new e-book, Run Strong, coach Andrew Read explains the value of using a walk/run plan to ease into running and avoid injury:

The top minds in movement all say the same thing – develop mobility, stability, and proprioception, then strength and power, before finally adding endurance. But you can build mobility and stability concurrently while learning how to run at the same time. The best way to do this is a walk/run program.

I’ve seen huge benefits from taking this approach to running – with a stroller and without. The goal for these four weeks is to get you to the point where you can run comfortably for eight minutes with the stroller. If you can do that by the end of the four weeks, great. If not, repeat the cycle and add one minute to each of the intervals.

Listen to Your Body

If there’s one thing you need to know before you start running with a jogging stroller, it’s this: Your body makes the rules. This is always true, but it’s especially important when you’re running with your kids in a stroller. It might sound dramatic, but their safety is in your hands – literally. The last thing you want is to be on the verge of vomiting or blacking out on a hot day with two kids in the stroller.

But that’s what I love about running with my kids: those little people are built-in self-regulation. Running with the stroller will teach you your true limits in a safe way, provided you train smart. And it’s exciting to see your solo times get better by running with the kids three times a week. That’s why Sundays in the plan are solo run days – so you can see what impact the stroller has on your personal records, even without the kids.

Here’s the first week of the program as a sample. For the entire four-week plan, click the link below to download a PDF version.

Click Here to Download the 4-Week Plan

A few notes before you begin:

• Use rate of perceived exertion to pace yourself during these four weeks. It’s easy to do if you have conversational toddlers in the stroller, and it will keep you from pushing too hard. You should be able to muster a few sentences to your child without gasping for breath, and you should feel reinvigorated after your runs. If you get to the point that this becomes impossible, slow to a walk or slow jog until you get back to an easy to moderate pace.
• You might find in order to stay at this RPE, you have to walk during the designated “run” periods. What is most important is not whether you are walking or running, but how much effort you are using. So some of the numbers in the plan might be different for you, depending on your fitness level. That’s okay. Prioritize RPE over running/walking. If you can’t run at a RPE of 4 or 5, slow down.
• Do mobility work on off days (and on run days if you can). Regular mobility work will help you create a sustainable running habit.
• Track time instead of mileage, with the exception of your solo runs. The Sunday solo runs will show you how your running is progressing.
• For some pointers on form, read my article, 5 Tips for Running With a Jogging Stroller.

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• Mommy and Me Workouts for Moms on the Go
• Beyond Baby Wearing: Mechianical Nutrients for Babies (and Parents)
• Prioritizing Your Fitness Isn’t Selfish – It’s Necessary
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

The post A 4-Week Plan for Getting Started With a Jogging Stroller appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Diastasis recti is a thinning of the tissue that connects the two sides of the rectus abdominis. This tissue is called the linea alba.

When pressure builds, as inevitably happens during pregnancy, the connective tissues weaken and become thinner. This also increases the load in other parts of your body, which can affect posture and cause back pain. Pregnancy is a common cause of diastasis recti, but it can also be caused by rapid weight gain, intense abdominal exercise, and even heavy lifting.

If you have diastasis recti, you will need to adjust your training. I’ve designed a twelve-week diastasis recti recovery cycle of workouts to help you get through the healing process without missing your time in the gym.

Signs of Diastasis Recti

The typical way to test for diastasis recti is to lie flat on your back and lift your head off the ground while palpating along the entire linea alba. Here is a helpful video demonstration of a test:

If you have diastasis recti, you might also notice an abdominal protrusion when you do crunches, or you might have a stubborn pregnancy pooch. Research suggests you can have an abdominal protrusion without a diastasis and vice versa. If you observe an abdominal protrusion while doing crunches or any other time, discuss it with your doctor or a physical therapist so you can determine the exact cause.

“If you have diastasis recti, diet and regular exercise can help, but skip the hundreds of GHD sit ups until your diastasis is completely healed. Now more than ever, your training needs to be smart.”

Although diastasis recti is a separation of the rectus abdominus muscles, studies indicate the transversus abdominis also plays a critical role in the prevention and treatment of diastasis recti. When I worked on closing my diastasis recti after the birth of my second child, I found it helpful to focus on engaging the transversus abdominis while standing and sitting.

If you have diastasis recti, diet and regular exercise can help, but you’ll also need to skip the hundreds of GHD sit ups until your diastasis is completely healed.

A Twelve-Week Cycle of Free Workouts

The diastasis recti recovery workout program is ideal for women who have received the green light to exercise after delivery and are looking for a gentle and effective way to rebuild core strength and stability. However, pregnancy is not the only cause of diastasis recti, so you certainly don’t have to be a mom to do the workouts.

The cycle includes three four-week phases:

• Phase one focuses on stabilizing the core muscles and restoring abdominal strength and low back support through bodyweight workouts, daily walking, and restorative core exercises.
• Phase two continues the exercises from phase one, but with kettlebell workouts added in twice a week to build strength. The strength exercises in phase two have a higher volume and lower load than in phase three.
• Phase three adds in one day of high-intenstiy cardiovascular exercise while increasing the load and turning down the volume for your strength work.

The goal of these workouts is safely lose baby weight while also strengthening the core musculature. There are no traditional core exercises in this series. Until your diastasis has completely healed, avoid these exercises, which can aggravate the condition. Even after your diastasis has closed, you may choose to avoid them and opt for movements that place less load on the abdominal wall.

“The basic goal of these workouts is to strengthen the core musculature while avoiding typical core isolation exercises, which can aggravate diastasis recti. For this reason, there are no traditional core exercises in this series.”

Although the recommendation to avoid direct ab work is pretty well known in the fitness community, your clients might not know how detrimental it can be to the postpartum body. I can’t tell you how many moms I see doing “500 Crunches a Day” challenges to get six-pack abs shortly after delivery.

But studies have repeatedly shown isolated abdominal work may not be the most effective way to build core strength. For example, a 2013 study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research compared the following isolation core exercises and integrative core exercises:

Isolation Exercises

• Crunch
• Oblique Crunch
• Extensions

Integrative Exercises

• Mountain Climber Plank
• Hover With Lateral Reach
• Side Hover
• Pointer With Resistance Bands

Mountain Climber Plank

Hover With Lateral Reach

Side Hover

Pointer With Resistance Bands

After testing all these exercises and measuring muscle activation, the researchers came to the following conclusion:

Overall, our results demonstrated that the activation of the abdominal and lumbar muscles was greatest during the integration exercises that required activation of deltoid and gluteal muscles.

For example, the rectus abdominis was 27% more active during the hover with lateral reach exercise than it was during the traditional crunch.

Diastasis Recti-Safe Exercises

Here are a few of my favorite exercises for diastasis recti recovery. Like the exercises used in the study, they are not direct ab exercises but will still help close the gap.

Strength Exercises

• Glute bridge
• Side plank
• Australian pull up
• Single leg deadlift
• Bodyweight squats/wall sit

These exercises utilize many muscle groups to support and strengthen the core musculature. The strength exercises used in my twelve-week program were chosen to avoid increased pressure on the abdominal wall while also building all-around strength.

Natural Movements

• Crawling
• Hanging
• Walking

Restorative Poses

• Legs up wall
• Psoas release
• Child’s pose

These natural movements and restorative poses work to engage the core musculature in a dynamic way, as opposed to in isolation. They also help alleviate issues that can be aggravated by diastasis recti, such as lower back pain. Do these movements every day.

DO THE WORKOUTS: Diastasis Recti Recovery, Week 1

Give It Time

This twelve-week workout cycle is similar to the methods I used to heal my own diastasis recti. After the birth of my second child and a long period of bedrest, I had a diastasis that was about four fingers wide. It was frustrating to feel held back by my own body when I felt ready to hit the gym. But with smart training, patience, and consistency, diastasis recti will usually resolve itself and does not necessarily require invasive methods like surgery.

I hope this program is helpful to you and you are able to reduce your diastasis recti.

Click Here to Download a PDF of the Entire 12-Week Cycle

The post 12 Weeks of Workouts to Rebuild After Diastasis Recti appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Nevertheless, as an athlete, trainer, coach, or pregnant woman, it’s also important to understand what exactly happens during pregnancy. Obviously there’s a lot more going on than an expanding waistline. Although pregnant women can usually still follow along with typical exercise programming, whether that’s weight training, running, or CrossFit, it’s still important to remember that this is a special time in a woman’s life, and training should reflect that.

I’m not saying that to scare any pregnant women away from their kettlebells and pull up bars. On the contrary, I have found that being active during pregnancy can be even more satisfying and effective, as have many of my clients. There’s something special about training during pregnancy and feeling that bond before your baby is even born. Sensing your baby wake up as you stretch after a morning run or fall asleep while you do some kettlebell swings is a singular feeling. As a trainer or coach, helping a pregnant woman train through an entire pregnancy and then watching her finish off those months of training with the marathon that is labor and delivery is humbling and inspiring.

If you are pregnant or training a pregnant client, you will probably find that learning about the physiological effects of pregnancy only confirms what you already know or observe in yourself or your client. Just as it’s encouraging to know the changes the baby is going through at every stage, it’s also exciting to know what’s happening in your body at various stages of pregnancy. It can help you understand why you feel the way you do, and how your body is actually working to support your baby’s growth, even if some of the results are less than pleasant. So what are some of these changes? Let’s start with the cardiovascular effects of pregnancy and discuss heart rate monitoring during the prenatal period.

Heart Rate and Pregnancy

Women talk a lot about the common first signs of pregnancy, morning sickness being the most infamous one. For me, one of the first tell-tale signs, even before nausea or fatigue, is unexplained breathlessness with relatively low-intensity activity. I feel winded halfway through an easy run, or break out in a sweat after an embarrassingly low number of kettlebell swings. That’s because during pregnancy, a pregnant woman’s blood volume increases by as much as 40 percent. To deal with that increase, the heart volume must also increase by 15 to 20 percent, but that takes some time. As pregnancy goes on, you or your client will probably be able to handle higher intensity exercise much more easily, since the body has adjusted to these changes.

If you’re used to using a heart rate monitor, you’ve probably heard that it’s not the best indicator during pregnancy. That’s because your resting heart rate changes pretty dramatically during pregnancy, due to the increase blood volume. At this point, experts agree that Rate of Perceived Exertion is a better indicator of how hard mom is working.

What Does This Mean for the Exercising Woman?

Obviously, these cardiovascular changes are going to affect exercise. What’s really fascinating is that exercise helps the pregnant body accomplish these changes and deal with them better. In his book Exercising Through Your Pregnancy, Dr. James Clapp notes five cardiovascular changes that occur both during exercise and during pregnancy:

1. Increased overall blood volume

2. Icreased skin blood flow response

3. Increased heart chamber size

4. Increased blood volume pumped at each heart beat

5. Increased oxygen delivery to tissues

Clapp’s conclusion, not surprisingly, is that “…women who exercise regularly during pregnancy have more circulatory reserve, which improves their ability to deal with both anticipated (exercise, work) and unanticipated circulatory stress (hemorrhage, trauma, anesthesia, and so forth).” In short, a, strong, fit, and active pregnant woman is a blood-pumping machine. Exercise enhances the mother’s ability to deal with the increases in blood volume, skin blood flow, heart chamber size, and oxygen delivery because it also increases these factors. This is what Clapp describes as an “additive effect” of exercise during pregnancy.

These effects hold true for women who exercised before their pregnancy, as well as those who are taking their pregnancy as an opportunity to become more active. Overweight clients, for example, should be encouraged to exercise during their pregnancy at a proper pace and intensity. A 2010 study found that a regular walking program decreased resting heart rate and helped maintain heart rate variability in overweight pregnant women. “The results suggest that an exercise program could attenuate the increase in blood pressure and the loss of parasympathetic tone associated with pregnancy, especially in overweight women.”

What Does This Mean for the Exercising Baby?

Mom isn’t the only one we have to worry about here – baby is exercising too. What effect, if any, does this have on the developing baby? Will exercise stunt baby’s growth by depriving her of oxygen? A 2003 review of the medical literature concludes: “Controlled prospective studies have demonstrated that moderate prenatal exercise during the second and third trimesters is useful to improve aerobic fitness and maternal-fetal physiological reserve without affecting fetal growth.”

As a matter of fact, an active mom’s heart rate might actually line baby up for lower heart rate and increased heart rate variability. A 2009 study on the effects of aerobic exercise during pregnancy found that “At 36 weeks gestation, during the active fetal state, fetal heart rate was significantly lower in the exercise group (p=<0.0006). Post-hoc comparisons showed significantly increased heart rate variability in the exercise group during the active fetal state at 36 weeks gestation for both time and frequency domain measures.”

The implications of this phenomenon are particularly important during labor and delivery. A fit baby will be more resilient during the stresses of labor. As Clapp notes, “The first thing we looked at during labor was the babies’ heart rate responses to the contractions of labor. We found evidence that the babies of the women who continued to exercise tolerated the stress of the contractions much better than either the controls or the women who stopped exercise well before term.”

The studies on the cardiovascular effects of pregnancy continue, but so far the research is promising. In short, it seems that a tough mama makes a tough baby. So next time your client seems embarrassed when she’s huffing and puffing after two minutes of brisk walking, remind her that it’s a good sign. She’s doing more work than she probably realizes.

Keep an eye out for future articles detailing the amazing changes that happen during pregnancy. If you’re looking for an exercise program to do during pregnancy, check out our Complete Pregnancy workouts, which are specially designed for pregnant women at all fitness levels.

The post Training For Two: The Cardiovascular Effects of Pregnancy appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

1. I love pregnancy.
2. I love lifting weights and working out during pregnancy.
3. I love selfies of cute pregnant bellies, and I usually even love the people who take them.

But…

Over the weekend, I read this article and felt a little conflicted. The article is about a professional fitness model who posted Instagram before-and-after shots of her first singleton pregnancy and her third twin pregnancy. The “before” shot is of her in a winter sweater and leggings, pregnant with her first child in 2008. The “after” shot is of her in her bra and panties showing off her baby bump during her twin pregnancy in 2015 after becoming a fitness model.

What I see in both photos? A beautiful pregnant woman. What the social media world sees? “Wow, her belly is so much smaller now that she eats healthy stuff and exercises.”

Keep in mind, this woman is a fitness model. Her diet and workout regimen are both far from ordinary. And yet thousands of non-competitive women are looking at her photo thinking, “Wow. I didn’t look like that when I was pregnant,” or, “Wow, so maybe if I eat really healthy I won’t gain as much weight during this pregnancy.”

These are irrational comparisons that don’t have any positive benefit.

I just had a baby two months ago, so admittedly I might be a little sensitive. But here’s the thing: I’ve had four kids now, and with each pregnancy I have gained more weight. My first pregnancy weight gain came in at barely over 20 pounds. My fourth clocked in at 41 pounds. Twice the amount of weight, but just as many people commented about how I was “all belly,” if not more.

That fourth pregnancy was my easiest and healthiest yet. I did kettlebell workouts, ran, and did yoga until the end. I did cave in to my donut cravings from time to time, but for the most part I ate well. And now, two months later, it’s been the easiest recovery yet.

When you start posting about things like pregnancy weight gain and the size of your baby bump, you move into dangerous waters. Inevitably, your viewers – because that’s what your IG followers really are – will be tempted to judge themselves based on your image. They might even start to believe that a tiny baby bump and low weight gain necessarily translate as healthy pregnancy – but they don’t.

I’m not saying Sophie is doing any of these things intentionally. I think her Instagram account is inspiring. It shows a happy, healthy mother loving motherhood. Nothing beats that.

The problem isn’t Sophie, or any other pregnant woman who posts cute baby bump selfies. The problem is how people read the Internet, and the inevitable fact that the photos we see so easily become unreasonable ideals. When you see that post, by all means – be happy for Sophie. Applaud her for keeping up with herself while being a mom. We all know that’s a huge challenge and something to be commended.

But don’t assume a tiny baby bump is a marker for health. Let’s keep this whole #fitmom thing somewhat real.

The post #Fitmoms: Can We Stop With the Tiny Baby Bump Thing? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As she talked to me about her diet, I could see the spark that had been there just five weeks before was now gone. “I guess I’ll just stick it out,” she said deploringly. As she gazed at my hefty breakfast with a deep longing, I suddenly felt like a couples’ counselor. This woman was clearly in a bad relationship. What had begun as an exciting summer fling had rapidly devolved into mindless, meaningless, lonely tedium. It was time for her to move on. But of course, when I suggested that, she quickly jumped to her diet’s defense.

Dieting has a huge effect on our mental state, just as it does our physical health. And sometimes it can be hard to escape the “I have to do this because I committed to it” trap. The problem with this kind of perfectionism is that it usually has one of two outcomes: either it ends in guilt and shame, or it ends in miserable stick-to-itiveness that doesn’t yield any happiness, much less pleasure.

There are valid reasons to break up with your diet. If you find yourself in any of these scenarios, give yourself permission to let go and move on.

1. “It’s Not You, and It’s Not Me – It’s Just Not the Right Time.”

So you’ve committed to the latest diet fad, and it involves an enormous time commitment. You try it for a week and your success rate is low, not because the plan is bad, but because it’s not a good fit for your life. It’s just like the potential partner who would be great to date, except that he or she lives a few hours away and doesn’t have good phone habits. The timing isn’t right.

Instead of sticking to this diet, think about how you can make healthy eating fit your life as it is now. Is your sugar consumption high? Consider cutting out one sweet treat per day, then adding another next week until you get it in check. Stick to small, consistent changes. You need a plan that will be sustainable in the long term, which means no extreme measures.

2. “It’s Not You, It’s Me.”

This is the classic, heart-wrenching breakup when everything about the other person is perfect, and all your life circumstances are just right. She wants everything you want, she has a great sense of humor, she gets along with your family, and you guys even work in the same building, so dating would be convenient. And yet that magical “something” just isn’t there.

This is the diet that looks great on paper. It’s not too strict, although there are some guidelines that make it slightly inconvenient. Other than that, it seems completely manageable, and there’s no real “reason” it shouldn’t work – except that it doesn’t. You’re not necessarily miserable, but after weeks on this diet plan your results and your initial excitement are wearing thin.

Maybe now isn’t the right time to be on a strict diet, period. Maybe it’s a good time to focus on other aspects of your life, like sleep, a new training plan, or stress management. When the time feels right, you’ll find the plan that clicks with you and your personal needs – and you might even find you enjoy it.

3. “It’s Not You…Well, Actually Yeah It Is.”

You’ve held on for a long time. You’re not happy, you’re not seeing results, and you don’t enjoy food any more. You’re only following this diet because it’s what you’ve been doing, and you don’t want to change things up. Plus, all the books and bloggers say this diet is the only way to health and happiness.

It’s time to let go. Dieting should not make you hate food, just like dating should not make you hate men or women. Break the cycle now, before you find yourself backtracking – physically and emotionally.

Stop Playing the Diet Game

Someone once said, “Never love anybody who treats you like you’re ordinary.” We can think of food in the same way. Never follow a diet plan or a nutrition guru that assumes you’re just like everyone else. The points above are a bit tongue-in-cheek, but don’t underestimate the power eating and food can have over your mental well-being. You don’t have to be miserable to eat well and see results. Breaking up is hard to do, but it’s usually worth the pain.

The post “It’s Not You, It’s Me:” 3 Signs You Need to Break Up With Your Diet appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It took me about nine months to realize there was a lot more going on than weakness. One day, while doing one of those typical “Mom wants to get her belly back to normal” ab routines, it dawned on me that I should probably check to see if my abs were still separated. Sure enough, the six-pack ab muscles I had been so proud of regaining after my first daughter’s birth were long gone. In their place, I was left with a gaping abyss that could easily accommodate my entire fist. Sure enough, the doctor diagnosed diastasis recti.

Here’s the Web MD definition of diastasis recti: “‘Diastasis recti’ means your belly sticks out because the space between your left and right belly muscles has widened. You might call it a ‘pooch’.” (Disclaimer: That’s a really bad definition. Read on for a better one. But it was about the extent of my own knowledge at the time.)

I was surprised that diastasis recti could happen to me. I always had defined ab muscles and prided myself on my ability to do hundreds of crunches without suffering much the next day. Little did I know, athletic people with ripped abs are just as prone to DR as sedentary people.

Katy’s book treats DR as a whole-body issue that requires a whole-body approach. [Photo courtesy of Katy Bowman.]

Diastasis Recti and the Body Ecosystem

Nowadays, a Google search for “diastasis recti” will produce pages of conflicting and confusing results. But back then, there wasn’t much information out there about diastasis recti. So I was fortunate to discover the work of Katy Bowman, founder of Nutritious Movement and director of the Nutritious Movement Center Northwest in Sequim, Washington.

Katy’s approach to dealing with diastasis recti – among other common problems – made so much sense. Her blog, Katy Says, was a goldmine of information about whole-body alignment and how biomechanical factors contribute to diastasis recti. So when I heard in fall 2015 that she was releasing a book all about diastasis recti, I was beyond excited. Sure enough, the book surpassed my expectations.

Diastasis Recti addresses this common issue from the perspective of forces. As Katy notes in the Introduction, “If you don’t know about the forces, and specifically how you can create forces that pull your abdomen open, then how could you possibly stop creating a DR?” The book delves into the forces that are at play in the development of DR, as well as how to leverage those forces in your favor to help restore the muscular imbalance that results from it.

Strengthen the Small Areas

I had the opportunity to ask Katy a few questions about her approach to diastasis recti, particularly for athletic populations. First of all, Katy addressed how diastasis recti can be common in athletic men and women, despite the idea that these individuals may be considered “fit”:

I believe one of the reasons diastasis recti persists in very fit people is because of this notion that it’s only the hardest, fastest, biggest, and most intense moves will make you the most healthy.

The body functions similar to any other ecosystem, and for movement to be sustainable (i.e., you’ll have movement available to you both now and in the future), every part of the ecosystem must be healthy. One small part of the body not functioning optimally can cause ripple effects of ailments throughout the rest of the system. Strengthening these small, neglected areas, and using all of your parts in conjunction with one another, is essential to overall strength and health.

Athletes tend to do more or more physically challenging things with their body, and in most cases, they’re assuming the core musculature is there to support their movement. If a diastasis recti is decreasing your ability to produce force, you could be compensating without realizing it, potentially leading to breakdowns in those areas performing in lieu of the core as well as further stressing the damaged area.

It’s Not About Avoiding Movements

Usually the number one question I get about diastasis recti is something along the lines of, “Should I plank?” or “Should I do toes to bar?” In other words, people want to know the exercises to do and those they should avoid.

The problem with this approach is that first, it varies from person to person, and second, it’s not exactly empowering, not to mention practical. Aside from the extreme nerds, not many people will consult an anatomy text to see which muscles are worked during their ab workouts in order to determine their safety. And yet still, many people just want a list of exercises that are either off-limits or okay.

This is what sets Katy’s book apart from many other resources I’ve seen on DR. As Katy noted, “I laid out a very comprehensive movement program for what I feel is a sustainably strong, well-functioning core. Or said another way, the entire book is a DO!” Instead of simply listing exercises, Diastasis Recti outlines more general, whole-body ways to prevent and/or repair DR. Katy explained:

I’ve also laid out what can place loads on the linea alba and how to pay attention to things like straining, flinging, and moving in a way that throws the linea alba under the bus a bit. So in that way, anyone reading it can figure out the “Don’ts” based on how they’re executing a move rather than the move itself. I’m not even sure there are “Don’ts” as far as exercises go, although your current strength level might mean it’s best to save a move for the future, once you’ve filled in some of your strength gaps and become aware of when you’re using pressure in lieu of muscular force production.

I frequently encounter athletic men and women who know they have diastasis recti and want to fix it, so they add daily (or less frequent) corrective exercises into an otherwise rigorous training schedule. Katy’s book emphasizes that cultivating a healthy movement “diet” is a much more sustainable approach than simply adding exercises here and there. “If you are demonstrating signs of a tissue failure and your DR is brought about and reinforced by how you are training, continuing to train in the same way and adding exercise on top of it is more like treating the symptom instead of the problem. It’s similar to how learning to eat a diet of thoughtfully selected whole foods will take you farther, nutritionally, than taking a handful of vitamins with your otherwise fast-food diet.”

The role of movements and postural habits of the pelvis and ribcage are important factors when recovering from DR. [Photo courtesy of Katy Bowman.]

Additionally, many athletes think of DR and other issues commonly associated with pregnancy (bladder incontinence, pelvic floor dysfunction) as normal. It’s assumed that if you’ve had a kid, you’re going to pee a little during box jumps and probably need to fix a diastasis recti at some point. But as Katy noted, “The conventional use of ’normal’ means usual or typical and doesn’t imply ‘natural’ or ‘necessary.’ Calling our issues ‘normal’ grants us a certain amount of relief, but at the same time, it also can stagnate investigation into understanding the actual mechanism causing the problem.”

Katy’s book presents a global approach to healing after DR. For example, she stresses the role of the movements and postural habits of the pelvis and ribcage. This discussion struck me as especially important for people who do CrossFit or weightlifting, with repetitive movements like overhead presses and heavy squats. But don’t expect to find tables full of Do’s and Don’t’s in Katy’s book. Her approach is also highly individual and takes into account the many variables that exist from person to person. Katy explained:

I think that there’s a list of Do’s or Don’ts for everyone because the amount of intra-abdominal pressure and abdominal tension created during an exercise depends more on the person doing them than the exercise itself. Form, current strength and tensions, and weight of an exercise are all variables at play. I would say, if you’re trying to correct a DR then it will be helpful for you to learn what it is that pulls or pushes on the linea alba and choose the movement program that best suits all your goals of fitness performance and physical restoration.

It Is About the Whole Body

I’ll warn you that the exercises Katy recommends to strengthen the body after DR and restore core integrity are not what most hard-chargers would consider strength exercises. Instead, you’ll find “foundational movement tests and skills that reveal the mobility and control in particular areas that could mechanically be placing tension on the linea alba.”

Why? Because it’s not just about your abs, or pregnancy, or crunches. Diastasis recti is a whole-body issue that requires a whole-body approach. It’s refreshing to find a resource that acknowledges that need and provides concrete steps to achieve it.

More information on diastasis recti:

Can Your Abs Split in Two? 5 Important Facts About Diastais Recti

The post Diastasis Recti and the Athlete appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The top ten metro areas were:

Recently the ACSM released its annual American Fitness Report for 2016. The report assesses fifty metropolitan areas across the United States for various fitness factors – including smoking rates, obesity statistics, and number of parks and other public recreational facilities – to determine how fit each area is.

The top ten metro areas were:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Minneapolis, MN
3. Denver, CO
4. Portland, OR
5. San Francisco, CA
6. Seattle, WA
7. Boston, MA
8. Salt Lake City, UT
9. Hartford, CT
10. San Diego, CA

I was happy to see my hometown of San Antonio had moved up on the list…from #47 to #45. But despite the progress, the fact remains that I live in one the ten least fit metropolitan areas in America. Here’s the whole list of fitness bottom dwellers:

41. Las Vegas, NV
42. Detroit, MI
43. Orlando, FL
44. Birmingham, AL
45. San Antonio, TX
46. Nashville, TN
47. Memphis, TN
48. Louisville, KY
49. Oklahoma City, OK
50. Indianapolis, IN

This data is surprising to me. There’s no reason San Antonio should be one of the least fit cities in America.

With the exception of hot and muggy summers, we have beautiful weather year-round. The beach is nearby. There are gyms everywhere. We have a lot of park space – in fact, in the 2015 report, one of San Antonio’s strengths was that it had slightly more acres of parkland per capita.

And according to the 2016 reports, Texas state physical education requirements are an area of excellence, which means they exceed the national target goal.

Take Birmingham, Alabama as another example. According to the report, Birmingham has more farmers’ markets, dog parks, park playgrounds, golf courses, park units, rec centers, swimming pools, and tennis courts per capita than the target goal

Alabama also has a higher state requirement for physical education.

And yet the data also includes several “improvement priority areas,” meaning the reported data was less than 20 percent of the target goal. A lower percent report consuming 2+ fruits per day and 3+ vegetables per day, and there is a much higher percentage of obesity, asthma, diabetes, and death due to cardiovascular disease. Despite all those farmer’s markets and dog parks, the Birmingham metro area comes in at #44 on the list.

Reading this report made me think about what makes a city or metropolitan area more or less fit.

Some of the data just doesn’t add up. An area might have more farmer’s markets, but less fruit and vegetable consumption. The home state might have better physical education standards, but higher obesity rates.

It seems there’s a mysterious ingredient that some metropolitan areas have and others are lacking. I suspect it has something to do with community and social norms.

For example, the city of Austin, Texas – just an hour from where I live and ranked much higher at number fifteen – has a palpable fit culture. People walk or ride their bikes around the city, and there are innovative fitness communities cropping up everywhere. Part of what’s so weird about Austin is that fitness isn’t weird.

Humans are prone to peer pressure, and it seems the cities at the bottom of this list might just need a little more of it.

The materials are there, but I suspect there’s one thing missing: that elusive thing called “motivation.” How do you spark motivation on the community level?

The post How Fit Is Your City? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

How does your pelvic floor feel after that race? [Photo courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.]

A review published in February 2016 acknowledged the need for more research about the relation between pelvic floor disorders and physical activity. The research review, titled “Physical activity and the pelvic floor” was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The research team looked at literature published from 1980 to March 2015 to determine how athletic activity relates to pelvic floor disorders such as stress urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and fecal incontinence.

The goal of this paper was “to summarize studies reporting the association between physical activity and pelvic floor disorders.” But the researchers noted many of the studies they used in their analysis were quite limited. A randomized, controlled trial would be the best way to obtain information about the long-term correlation between pelvic floor disorder (PFD) and physical activity, but such a study is impossible for practical and ethical reasons. Fortunately, we cannot doom an entire group of people to a life without exercise to see if they suffer from PFD more than another group of people doomed to daily CrossFit, even if we do it in the name of science.

After reviewing the research, the authors came to the following conclusion:

The primary findings of this review include that urinary incontinence during exercise is common and is more prevalent in women during high-impact sports. Mild to moderate physical activity, such as brisk walking, decreases both the odds of having and the risk of developing urinary incontinence.

Women who participated in regular, high-impact physical activity were also more likely to report stress urinary incontinence and fecal incontinence. However, older women who participated in mild to moderate activity had lower odds of experiencing fecal incontinence. I would be curious to see what the results are with male subjects, as these issues are not limited to women, by any means.

What stood out to me about this review was not that high-intensity, high-impact activity might affect pelvic floor function. That’s a no-brainer, really. But the potential for mild to moderate physical activity to have a protective effect was interesting. Perhaps the middle ground between completely sedentary behavior and random spurts of jumping and running might be the best way to go.

Time to go for a walk?

The post Respect Your Pelvic Floor appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

But every so often, it’s nice to see yoga acknowledged for its athletic benefits. A new study that was released in the International Journal of Yoga provides more evidence that when it comes to flexibility, yoga is the name of the game, even when that game is soccer.

The new research aimed to show that just ten weeks of yoga would increase balance, flexibility, and joint angles (JA) measures in collegiate soccer players. To test their hypothesis, the research team formed two groups of athletes:

• One group of baseball players performed their usual sport training (which included non-yoga flexibility work) for ten weeks.
• The other group of soccer players did the same, but added in two hour-long yoga sessions per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Before the testing period, the researchers assessed flexibility in all the athletes. Then, after ten weeks, they did the same assessments. These tests consisted of three categories:

1. Flexibility, assessed with a shoulder flexibility and sit-reach test
2. Balance, assessed with the stork stand test
3. Joint Angles, assessed by right forward lunge, downward dog, and chair (pictured below)

Three of the assessments performed by the athletes. (Photo courtesy International Journal of Yoga)

At the end of the study, the yoga group subjects showed significant improvements in ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion, hip flexion, and shoulder extension. The subjects in the yoga group also demonstrated more balanced positioning in the chair position.

Overall, the yoga group improved in flexibility and balance, whereas the non-yoga group actually declined in some areas. For example, as shown in the figure below, the yoga group significantly improved in the seat and reach assessment, whereas the non-yoga group decreased performance over the ten-week period.

Figure 2: The non-yoga group decreased performance on several of the assessments. (Photo courtesy International Journal of Yoga)

The researchers suggested that the loss of flexibility and balance in the non-yoga group was due to the specialized training the athletes underwent during the testing period. For this reason, they made the following conclusion:

To maximize the training opportunities, activities that more effectively improve athletic performance are critical. Because sport is a multi-dimensional endeavor, athletes may consider taking part in activities that optimize the specific dimensions of fitness as well as the aspects of the multiple dimension of performance.

I am curious as to how this experiment would have turned out if the athletes had participated in the same sport, since baseball and soccer require different skill sets. But overall, this study suggests regular yoga practice has an impressive ability to impact balance and flexibility in high-level athletes. I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt for everyday athletes and weekend warriors, either.

The post Yoga and Sports: A Winning Combination appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The other article was a recently released research paper titled, Common sports-related musculoskeletal injuries presenting to the emergency department. This article, published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, examined the increasing incidence of sports overuse injuries in young children, including fractures, ankle sprains, and apophytis. The researchers discussed some ways parents and coaches can protect children from these sports-related injuries.

A Contradiction

The ideas discussed in these articles highlight a self-contradiction we parents fall into when it comes to our children. On the one hand, we are increasingly reticent to allow our kids to do the things that have always been associated with childhood, like climbing trees or playing barefoot in the dirt. We restrict these activities due to the fact that they are too risky.

On the other hand, parents are more and more pushy when it comes to participation and performance in organized sports. Somehow it’s easier to overlook the risk involved, despite the fact that doctors and other health professionals are writing research papers about this very topic.

The authors of the study in the Journal of Paediatrics noted that, “with an increased emphasis on success in sport, tendinopathy and fatigue fractures are now being reported with increasing frequency.” When you consider the amount of time many kids spend on the field, it’s no surprise that childhood sports have these risks. They just happen to be more organized and socially acceptable than dirt, sharp rocks, and tall objects.

So if sports are so risky, why are we parents more likely to allow and even encourage our kids to play them? And on the flip side, why are there so many parents at the playground who freak out when I let my five-year-old attempt to climb a tree?

Trees Are Teachers

I’m not here to question the benefits of childhood athletics. But I do think it’s important to remember one thing about the more playful activities of bygone days: they are teachers. They have the ability to shape the character and physical capacity of a child in just as powerful a way as organized sports.

The article in the Journal of Play noted just a few of the things children learn from risky play:

• Kids learn their limits
• Risky play teaches kids to overcome their fears
• Risk-taking allows kids to test and develop their physical abilities
• Risky play may help kids overcome phobias or prevent phobias from becoming worse.

It’s easy for us adults to see the lessons kids learn from organized sports. Sports teach kids personal responsibility, teamwork, the importance of hard work – all good lessons. And of course, there are the physical benefits as well. That’s why we let our kids risk incurring serious injuries. It’s why we allow them to feel the sting of defeat on the field, even though we know how bad it hurts.

But we shouldn’t underestimate the effect of play, or forget the role it plays in developing a child’s sense of self. Let’s not forget the lessons learned from trees. Lessons for our kids, and maybe even for ourselves.

The post Organized Sports or Trees? Choose Your Risk appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association recently addressed this topic. The authors discussed some additional markers that should be used to diagnose obesity and predict its related health concerns. They acknowledged that while BMI might be one indicator of unhealthy body fat levels, other markers also need to be taken into account for a more accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

BMI has a few benefits for classifying the level of obesity in clients. It’s a decent indicator of healthy weight, and often correlates with body fat. However, BMI doesn’t distinguish between lean muscle mass and fat mass, often to the detriment of perfectly healthy people. On the one hand, you have the “obese” who are athletic and healthy. On the other hand, you have those with a “normal” BMI who suffer from loss of muscle mass due to aging, or the dreaded “skinny fat” people who are at risk despite a healthy appearance.

The problem is simple: healthcare professionals need more dependable data in order to make the most accurate judgment.

Eight women with the same BMI of 30, but different weight distribution and abdominal volume. (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

A Holistic View of Obesity

The researchers emphasized the need to consider waist circumference in addition to BMI to determine obesity risk. As they noted:

The rationale for measuring the waist circumference in clinical practice is to identify metabolically obese and overweight patients whose BMI is normal and thus would not be considered for lifestyle intervention and treatment.

In other words, adding in this additional criterion for obesity will help identify those clients whose BMI falls on the lower side of the obese or overweight spectrum, but who are still at risk for obesity-related concerns. Waist circumference is a dependable predictor for intra-abdominal fat, which is a major contributor to metabolic syndrome and inflammation.

The researchers also acknowledged the need to consider ethnicity when diagnosing obesity. For example, studies on Asian populations have suggested, “Asians, in general, have a higher percentage of body fat compared with whites of the same age, sex, and BMI.” This puts them at risk for obesity-related health concerns at a much lower BMI than non-Asian populations.

Although waist circumference and ethnicity are often factored into obesity diagnosis in a medical setting, fitness professionals and exercise enthusiasts may not account for these additional warning signs. Before you assume you’ve been spared from the obesity epidemic, you need to consider all the markers that put you at higher risk.

On the flip side, if your BMI has you concerned about your health despite the fact that you feel totally healthy, remember that it’s just one marker for obesity. If your diet, fitness, and stress management are dialed in, you might not need to be scared of the numbers. As this article reminds us, the obesity puzzle is multi-faceted and highly individual.

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