Diastasis Recti Workout 3: 10-Minute Core & Pelvic Floor (Beginner)

Hi, I'm Lindsey Baumgren of Nourishment. And today I'm coming at you with five beginner ab exercises you can do with a resistance band for postpartum core recovery. So we're just gonna jump right into these five moves. I have a long loop resistance band. We'll link it below, but you could always use the kind with handles on it or you could even use a long throw towel to just mimic the tension we're gonna create with the band. Let's get started by going right to the mat. Alright, so I'm gonna go right here to the mat. I'm gonna take this long loop distance band and I'm gonna lay on my back. I'm actually gonna take the mat or the band and lay it behind me. I want it to wrap around my core. So the band is really just a visual here to help me connect my core. So I'm gonna take the band, I'm gonna loop it across, so I'm holding it one in each thumb. And again, you could use whatever kind of band you have. You could even use a towel. And we're just gonna do some core breathing to get us started. Okay. So it's really good to make that mind muscle connection. We're gonna do each of the five moves for 40 seconds and we're gonna repeat it. So you'll do it times two and we'll talk through how you can progress each time. So I'm gonna start here. I'm gonna do an inhale. Belly's gonna expand, then I'm gonna exhale and pull that band. And it's just going to help mimic what my core is doing to help me make that mind muscle connection. So inhale. Belly expands. Exhale. Pulling the core together. The. The core is wrapping around me just like the band is coming across me. Inhale. So this band is really just creating a visual for me to help visualize what my core is doing. Inhale. Belly expands. Pelvic floor lengthens. Exhale. Pelvic floor contracts. And core contracts. Inhale. And exhale. Nice work. We got about 10 more seconds here. You got it. External cues. I'm thinking about pushing the band into the mat with my back. And internally I'm thinking about decreasing the air from my ribs to hips. One more. Inhale. And exhale. Nice. We're going to go ahead and we're going to do that just a second time so you can really get a feel for it. Okay. On that exhale, I'm thinking about breathing through a straw and someone told Me, once a juice box straw. So instead of a big straw, think about a tiny juice box straw. That's going to help with that core. We're going to go again in three, two. Here we go. Inhale, exhale. Blow through that straw. Nice work. Inhale, exhale. Tightening that band just like the core is tightening. Big. Inhale, exhale. If you wanted to progress this, you could start by lifting one leg or both legs up to 90°. Taking the heels off the mat's gonna force those hips to turn on. Really going to activate those lower abs. Inhale again. Think about squishing the resistance band with the small of your back. Inhale, exhale. Nice work. Sometimes you can even place the resistance band under your back during normal ab exercises to really feel it turn on. Okay, we're gonna move on, and we're gonna take that band out from underneath us and bring it up overhead. I'm just gonna create tension here. My legs are gonna be at that 90 degree bend. Going to inhale, exhale. Pull the band apart, and I'm going to hold the band taut. And I'm going to drop the heel. And drop the heel. We go in three, two. Here we go. Inhale, exhale. Pull the band part. Keep it tight. Drop one heel, drop the other heel. Return. Reset. Inhale, exhale, Pull, drop, and drop. Back to center. Inhale, Exhale, pull, drop, and drop. Nice. The closer my knees are to my chest, the easier it's going to be. Flow through that straw. The farther my knees are from my chest, the harder this exercise is going to be. Inhale, exhale. Now my abs are doing the exact opposite of what I'm doing with the band. Right. My abs are contracting as I pull the band apart. Nice. Creating tension. Inhale, Lengthen. Let's take a quick break. Let those legs rest. We're going to reset, and we're going to do that exact same thing. Bringing that band back up overhead. Legs come to 90 degrees. You're going to inhale. Pull that band apart. Two heel drops. We go in three, two, two. Here we go. Big inhale. Exhale. Pull the band apart. Drop one heel, then the other heel. Nice work. Big inhale. Exhale. Imagine that band is still under your back. You're smooshing it. Nice work. Inhale, exhale. You're breathing through the entire time. You're dropping those heels. I'm continuing to breathe. And then you get the reset. Breathe through it. Breathe through it. Pull that band nice and tight. Awesome work. Inhale, exhale. Ten more seconds here, guys. Yes. You can pull that band apart. Drop those heels. One more. Inhale, exhale, drop. And drop. Awesome job. We're going to come up to a kneeling position, similar to what we just did we're going to do from a kneeling position. Okay, so it's that same thing. I'm going to drop my hips. As I lift my hips, I'm going to pull the band apart. Okay? So my feet. Shoelaces down or toes down on the mat. Hips drop. Inhale, exhale, pull. Inhale, down. Exhale, pull. Pulling that band apart as I lift those hips. Inhale, down. Exhale, pull. Now think about your pelvic floor. Lengthen, glutes, relax. Glutes flex, and pelvic floor contracts. Lengthen, glutes, relax. Pelvic floor relaxes. Think about picking up a blueberry with your lady parts as you push those hips towards me. Inhale, exhale. Pick up the blueberry. Another cue is you could think about picking up your bladder internal organs. That's an internal cue. Pick up your bladder. Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, pick it up. There you go. Nice work. Relax and recover. Sometimes just thinking about a different way to cue something is really helpful for me. I started with the blueberry, and then I moved to the bladder. I went from a little bit of an external to more internal. That really helps me contract that pelvic floor. Okay, so find a cue that works for you. I'll talk about a couple more, and you can find what works for you. And think about that. We're gonna inhale, exhale. You get a second stab at it, so you get to do it twice. Inhale, down, exhale. Another cue that seems to work for me is thinking about a Kleenex. Thinking about picking up a Kleenex with my lady parts and pulling all four corners of the kleenex together. Inhale, Drop the kleenex. Exhale. Pick up all four corners of that kleenex. Pull them in. Nice work. Inhale, Picking up a kleenex from the middle and pulling all four corners in. In, in, in, in, and down. Nice work. 10 seconds here. Inhale, lengthen, exhale, Inhale, lengthen. Last one. Exhale, Contract. Awesome job, you guys. Nice work. All right, we're gonna come up to a standing position. You have two more moves, and they're gonna be done from a standing position. Okay, your first one, you're just gonna start. Feet are parallel underneath me. Band's gonna be out here, and I'm gonna go for cross body pull. So I'm just gonna exhale, pull, Inhale, center, exhale, pull, cross body. Okay, so we're gonna move across the midline, creating a little bit in that transverse plane right here. Inhale, exhale, contract the core. Pull, cross body. Inhale, back to center. Exhale, pull, cross body. Nice work. Inhale, back to center. Exhale as you cross body. Nice. We're just creating tension across our midline. Something you do every day if you're a mom, right? You are constantly moving in that transverse plane, which is pivots and twists as you pivot and twist to pick up that car seat. Get that car seat in the van. Yes. I got three kids, I got a minivan. It is the greatest thing ever, pulling across that body. Nice work. You're going to give me one more. Inhale, exhale, pull across that midline. Nice work. So you could try and increase the band tension. You make it harder for yourself, Right? You're gonna feel those shoulders fire up, too. Shoulders and core, Right. You're also squeezing your glutes, probably to stabilize you. Okay. All very important. It's all together. Our core and pelvic floor is so much more than what we think about. Just right here. Bring that band back out. Let's go for those cross body pulls in three, two, big. Inhale, exhale, pull, cross body, back to center. Inhale, exhale, pull, cross body. Right. I'm still thinking about contracting that core. Nice work right here. I like using this band personally. 8 weeks postpartum and adding this band just really helps me make that mind muscle connection. It takes a while for our bodies to reconnect, right. We breathe every day without thinking about it. Lengthening and contracting our core and pelvic floor takes a little bit more thinking in the beginning and then hopefully becomes more natural as we build these muscles and we get back into our regular exercise routine. Last one. Awesome job. Nice work. We're gonna stay standing for the fifth and final move. You're gonna keep this band. We're gonna go to a little bit of unilateral work or single leg work and bail. So I'm going to inhale, knee lift, exhale, kick the heel away, pull it back in, tap down. Okay, ready? We're gonna go in three, two. Inhale, exhale, lift, kick and pull. Pull back in, set it down. Lift, kick, and push. Pull back in, set it back down. You're kicking that heel towards me. Nice work. You're gon feel those abs, those quads flex. Nice work. Awesome job. Soft bend in that standing leg. Working on that balance again. Keeping those hips square. It's okay to wobble. That's totally normal, you guys. Totally normal. You're conditioning these muscles that might have been deconditioned for a little bit or they were trained differently throughout pregnancy. Took some rest and recovery time. Now you're getting back into it. Last one. Nice work. The same thing. Other leg. This is your last move of our beginner resistance band work. And then once you feel like you've mastered all five of these moves, we have an advanced version for you to scale up to. Okay, standing on this leg. This leg's gonna lift. Soft bend in my standing leg, and I lift it and push it out. Really flex that foot. Flex that quad. We go in three, two. Here we go. There's that balance. I gotta get that. Inhale, exhale, Find my balance. Lift, kick, and pull back in. Set it down. Lift, kick, and push. Nice work. Set it down. Lift, push. Drive that heel to me. Nice work. Lift, push. Nice work. As you drive your heel to me, think about decreasing ribs to hips. Decrease air. Decrease it. Nice work. That's giving you a little bit of that flexion movement you get every day, right when you're hinged over, feeding your baby, picking up a car seat. We're trying to mimic moves you do in everyday life with a strong core. Last one. That's it. Awesome job. I hope you found these exercises helpful. Like I said, this is the beginner version of our postpartum recovery abs with resistance band. If you're ready to scale up, check out our advanced version. You can find this free diastasis recti Recovery program@nourishmovelove.com have a great day. Thanks so much for joining me for that core recovery workout. If you enjoyed it, I'd be so grateful if you dropped a subscribe to my YouTube channel right here. And if you want to access this entire free diastasis recti recovery program, you can find the whole program right here. Have a great day.