It takes more than STRENGTH to have a HEALTHY core
Your Core is the CENTER of your body. It is not only your muscles, but also your breath, your guts, your energy center, and the place where all healthy movement starts. And does it get effected by growing and birthing a baby? Absolutely. So let’s talk about how to care for it.
Besides being strong, a healthy core is also:
Well Slept. What?? So if I sleep more, my core will be healthier? YES! This is true, because of the role that stress plays in our lives. When we are stressed, a hormone called cortisol kicks into high gear, and cortisol also contributes to excess belly fat around the midsection. When we get the right amounts of restful sleep, it helps to lower cortisol. Too much high intensity exercise and calorie deprivation can actually stress our bodies, contributing to too much cortisol, and having the opposite effect of slimming our waistlines. So, tell your husbands and children to support you in getting your shed eye!
Well Fed. When bloating contributes to discomfort and distention, another issue that effects the core, we have to take a look at the role that nutrition plays. Food intolerances and just poor food choices obviously contribute, but I’ll tell you something else- HOW we eat actually matters just as much as WHAT we eat. To more easily digest our food, we should be chewing at least 20x before swallowing. That avoids big “gut bombs” for our bellies to have to digest, and the bloat that comes with it.
Soft. We often think of firm bellies as desirable, but you have to remember, we also BREATHE into our bellies. And so, clenching the abdominals or “cinching” in to have a slimmer appearance is not good- not good for getting oxygen into our system, for relaxing the muscles of the pelvic floor, or for having a relaxed nervous system. Tightness in the abdominal muscles, or obliques, can be released manually, and this can help the muscles to be stronger.
Adaptable. Think about it- you wouldn’t use all of your strength to pick up a fork. Our core strength needs to adapt to the loads placed on it. So, picking up a newborn is WAY different than lifting a toddler into the swing, and strength needs to be trained for the movements mothers do on a day to day basis.
Loved. Moms, let me tell you- You grew a baby, birthed a baby, your body may be producing nutrition for a baby and holding onto some fat stores to be able to do that. We deserve to RECOVER, we deserve to not pressure ourselves to regain a body that we had before doing these monumental feats. Our bodies, and our cores, need love too.
Do you want to LOVE on your body and help it recover from pregnancy and childbirth, and train it up for the demands of motherhood, or even get your run on again? My next online FIND YOUR CENTER core class starts this September. Check it out at the link here: https://bit.ly/findyourcenterseptember
