[00:00:00] Welcome back. Today, we're going to be talking about uncommon culprits that are causing your core problems, leakage, back pain, and so much more, and also uncommon things you can do to help improve these very same issues with Dr. LaShonda Jones. You guys know I look at health in a very holistic way. The things that we do, obviously, for our workouts matter, our nutrition matters.
Our hormones, our mental health, the kinetic chain is very real. And today, Dr. LaShonda Jones is really going to break down how some of the things we're doing could be affecting other parts of our body, really focusing in on the core. Dr. LaShonda Jones is a licensed doctor of physical therapy, certified personal trainer, pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist, and she's the owner of Core Elevation Fitness and Wellness.
She has over 17 years of experience in orthopedic and pelvic health and currently provides 100 percent virtual services to women all around the world. You are going to [00:01:00] love LaShonda. She is a wealth of knowledge and she is so enjoyable to speak with. I was so excited to get her on the podcast. She's also one of our app experts.
I have the app coming out in just a couple of weeks. We're finishing up those last phases of beta testing. And I was lucky enough to get her to be one of the experts that is covering the resource videos and she is talking about the core and pelvic health and so much more on the app. If you want to join the app waitlist because we do just have a couple weeks left before we launch, that link will also be in the show notes, but you can learn a lot from her in this episode as well.
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Again, SIMPLE40, 40 percent off the site. If you're looking for a nice, comfortable, solid pair of temperature regulating bamboo sheets, Cozy Earth is going to be your go to. All right, let's get into it with Dr. LaShonda Jones and talk about those uncommon culprits causing your core problems and uncommon things you can do to help improve your core leakage, back pain and so much more.
My name's Andrea Allen and I am a mother of four girls under seven, a wifey to a mountain man, a personal trainer and a nutrition coach. I love [00:03:00] all things women's health and fitness. But let's face it, the fitness industry is complicated, and it's not built for the everyday mom. There's so much conflicting information, and you're busy, and you don't have time to figure it out.
I hate feeling confused and overwhelmed, so I made it my mission to simplify health and fitness while creating a welcoming, realistic, and empowering home for like minded women. I'm happy you're here and I hope you stay a while.
I am so glad to have you on Dr. Jones today. LaShonda, as we sometimes know on Instagram, but she is Dr. LaShonda Jones and I'm really excited to chat today. I'm
glad you made it. I am super excited to be here. So tell me a
little bit about your background.
I am a physical therapist, as most people know me, but I'm also a personal trainer and I've been doing that for seven years.
17 years now, which is crazy because I'm only 23, right? I'm just joking. I'm
not going to lie for a second. I was like, [00:04:00] Oh,
wow. Always like to add that little, little ad lib in there, but no, I've been doing this for 17 years.
Stock. I tell them I'm, I'm holding at 35. That's just, just sit right there.
Permanent age going for sure.
For sure. Yep. So I've been a physical therapist, personal trainer, 17 years, um, business owner since 2009 of core elevation, fitness and wellness, um, alongside my husband who just happens to be a registered dietitian. So we were just a great team in that way. Um, my background is actually in the physical therapy world.
You know, orthopedics. So if those who don't quite know what that is, that's where the pts who do, you know, total knees and backs and shoulders and rotator cuff and all the things. Um, so I did that for 12 years. Um, and then after I had my babies, um, that's when I firsthand experiences. All the many changes that our bodies go through in postpartum.
Um, and from that I had to rehabilitate my own body. And that's where I [00:05:00] got the appreciation for the pregnancy and postpartum world. Um, and really understanding what it took to recover. And so from my daughter, so as I've said, I'm kind of alluding to I'm a mom of two, but with my daughter, my, my youngest, I had an unplanned.
C section. And so not only did I had to rehabilitate diastasis recti, I had to rehabilitate from a major abdominal surgery from a C section. It was completely unplanned. And so that's where I really stepped into the space of pelvic health, pregnancy, postpartum. Um, and then I began sharing my own rehab journey on social media.
Um, and that's kind of where people started to really Get to know me and, and me sharing my journey and things like that. And so many women saying, Hey, my stomach looks like that too. And what's this abdominal separation thing? And what's this diastasis recti thing? And nobody ever told me about that, which is the key thing.
And I'm sure you can understand that. Andrea is that so many people say, I never heard of this. So, um, just me, just sharing that got me into that world. And I [00:06:00] became a pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist. Um, and then I. Basically begin working with moms all over the world virtually to help them rehab their core and pelvic floors.
The
best thing is I would say, and you'd probably agree 10 years ago, you're right, nobody knew what it is. So at least we're moving in that direction and I'm happy that. Pelvic floor specialists are, therapists are popping up everywhere. They're starting to show up everywhere because I know I say this multiple times on the podcast, to get a hands on assessment or to see a PT can be life changing.
Like it can make sure you're doing things correctly. It is, I wish it was guaranteed with every delivery that we could get into a pelvic floor doctor. Because. That hands on assessment can be a game changer. So I'm so happy that the industry is growing, which is why I tend to love to have PTs on the podcast so that we can all learn and grow together.
Absolutely. And that's, that's the general goal. There's just so many, there's a mom, as we're having this podcast right now, there's a mom, several moms having [00:07:00] babies. And so we can't do enough to work together to get this information out there.
100%. So can you explain a little bit, let's dive into the parts of diastasis recti that maybe aren't seen.
I know we talk a lot about breathing and about exercise, but as you know, there's so much more to truly improving your core than just a handful of exercises and learning to breathe. So first let's talk about the difference in the variations of diastasis recti and why that matters.
Yeah, absolutely. So I kind of likened diastasis recti and this is just from me being in the orthopedic world again working with People who have back pain and so many other things.
So I kind of liken diastasis recti or the diagnosis of diastasis recti to low back pain. Because low back pain is kind of one of those catch all terms like it can present completely different person to person, right? So same thing with diastasis recti, it can completely look different, present different person to person.
And so what a lot of [00:08:00] moms and women don't realize is that there are different variations of diastasis recti. And based off the variation that you have. It may require different exercises, different, um, a different type of assessment, different ways of going about treatment or rehab wise that can make such a big difference for moms, especially if they feel like, hey, I'm not seeing any results, or I've been doing these set exercises that I've seen, and it's not giving me, it's nothing's changing, which can be very frustrating, but realizing, okay, There's different variations out there, with the four different variations being, um, your, that opening or the separation in the two abdominal muscles with the rectus abdominis muscles.
Um, that variation can be where it's open more above the belly button, at the level of the belly button or the umbilicus, um, below it, and then, or all the way through, which is why it's so important for, Uh, moms or, you know, for the PTs to make sure that we're assessing from the xiphoid process of the sternum all the way down to the pelvic bone, because you can have openings [00:09:00] at any area along that actual, um, linear outlet tissue.
And so understanding that those four different variations exist can really help moms understand, hey, I need to do Different exercises or focus on different areas or do more look at do I have a rib flare? Do I have a wider rib cage or whatever the case may be? To understand that okay, just because I have diastasis recti doesn't mean every exercise is gonna work for me in my body
Yes, that's totally true, especially because if someone, let's say they have the top, the upper part and they're doing nothing where they're moving their arms, let's say they're only doing movements where they're extending their legs or something like that.
It really does vary the exercises. So I love that you pointed that
out. Absolutely. Yeah. And so I, you know, for me, Having worked, number one, rehabilitating my own body, I had to learn, you know, first on myself, that's kind of where it all started because again, I was an orthopedic PT, this was not my, my space and I'm just like, what in the world, what is wrong with my, what's wrong with my stomach, you know, this was years [00:10:00] ago, my son's nine, that's my oldest and that's the first time that I had diastasis recti, but as we all know, second baby, That second baby that always really, or third or fourth in other people's cases, where it's just like, Whoa, you know, things are not quote unquote, snapping back the way that they used to.
And that's really the often the game changer where moms see it the most. Um, but yeah, but just from working with so many women and realizing, Hey, you know, this particular exercise or in this particular position may not work for you. Maybe you need to be in a position that works you greater. Maybe you need to work on thoracic mobility because you're so tight, or maybe we need to do, you know.
Um, skin rolling or whatever the case may be because you're an upper ab gripper. So it's just, it's not as simple as it may seem, um, but that's not to scare moms and say, oh, you know, it's going to be so complex and it's going to take you forever to, to ever to fix it. Sometimes you just need a very individualized approach that helps you.
Uh, improve the things that you need to improve because it's not just we get sometimes hope hyper focus on the core and diastasis recti. [00:11:00] Uh, but just keep in mind you had, you were pregnant, your whole entire body changed and that just happened to include your core and your core muscles. And so we can't just ignore the rest of the body when we're looking at diastasis recti.
Totally. And just the simple fact of awareness, because let's say someone is getting online and they're looking at a workout that they know is a deep core workout, and maybe they're only doing those three moves over and over again online, and they're not realizing, Oh my gosh, there's so many more layers.
So you're saying awareness. And if you go to Lashana's page, she has tons of videos also showing this on her Instagram handle explaining the difference. I know you even recently just did one.
Right? Yeah. More than likely. Yeah. More than likely it's out there. For sure.
For sure. I'll link it in the show notes.
I'll link it in the show notes for anyone who's like, wait, there's variations. I will link that video in the show notes because that does make a difference. Absolutely. Okay. So what about things that are uncommon? I know that anyone who listens to podcast knows I've done a ton of episodes on this. We've had a couple of different PTs on to discuss this, [00:12:00] but what are some uncommon Things that we might be doing that can be hindering our ability to heal.
I know again We focus so much on core work, but as you know, definitely, you know, there's more to that So what are some other things we could be aware of and this is even for people if they don't have diastasis recti Maybe you just have a weak core. Maybe you just have back pain still there's still things we can do to strengthen our deep core I sometimes have people ask me Well, let's just strengthen my core.
Even if I don't have that issue, I'm like, yes, you always want to learn to work your deep core muscles. Like baby, no baby, you know, DR or not. You always want to work on that. So what are some things we could be aware of to just strengthen our deep core and really help in our ability to heal? If we do have the
issue.
Sure. So kind of going back to what I was saying in regards to sometimes we can get hyper focused on the abdominal muscles and the core muscles and things like that. There's just again, such a, a bigger picture that can be such a game changer because [00:13:00] again, your whole entire body. Normally, it was impacting even if it's been 10 years ago, like, if you've never been through formal rehabilitation, those deep core muscles can be weak for years and then, you know, sequentially, then you can have things like back pain and all the other things.
So that's where the benefit of doing total body strength, in which I love your page for Andrea, because you really emphasize the, the importance of strengthening your entire body. And that is, um, you know, an uncommon thing that is missed is that we get so focused on, you know, what can I do for my stomach, my stomach, my, my core, my core.
But it really helps with diastasis recti to have an whole body approach and also do total body strengthening. That's one thing that I highly recommend moms do because a lot of times we'll have like glute weakness and things like that. And those glutes support our core and abdominal muscles. And so that's sometimes a missing link there.
So you have to think outside of the box and really look at, you know, and that's where Pellet PT is, is beneficial because then, you know, if we're doing it correctly, we're assessing the whole person. We're looking above the core, [00:14:00] below the core. We're looking, we should be looking at everything that can also impact that diastasis from healing all the way down to the feet.
You know, I'm not sure, you know, I haven't listened to all the podcasts where the PTs have been on, but you know, just looking at the feet alone sometimes, you know, can be a missing piece with someone improving their diastasis. So, you know, that's, that's an uncommon thing. Like my feet, what did my feet have to do with my, my, My stomach, but your body is one big kinetic chain.
And so sometimes what's happening at your feet will have you come compensating for things happening at your core and so on and so forth. So I could go on and on about that, but yeah, that's, that's definitely an uncommon thing. Um, another thing is sleep, you know, a lot of moms don't realize like lack of sleep can impact your healing.
And so. Newborns, early postpartum moms, you know, get super frustrated like, Oh my God, I feel like I'm stuck. But sometimes moms won't see healing until well after that early postpartum period, because now you're sleeping better. Or if you were nursing and you've discontinued nursing, those hormones in [00:15:00] your body, that makes a difference in the laxity of the connective tissue.
Therefore, how, you know, if you are breastfeeding, sometimes you'll see a greater gain or a difference in that connective tissue strength. Um, Once you finish nursing. So that's another thing to also consider or an uncommon thing. Not necessarily that makes a big difference in, um, your exercises or anything, but more so your diastasis healing.
So just that alone kind of gives mom some grace for themselves to say, okay, it may not happen in the first six months. Maybe I need to, you know, still continue to do the exercises. Don't wait. I was still moms that don't wait just because after your breastfeeding, there's still so much you can do. Um, but just keep that in mind, right?
That that's, that's. The good
thing. Yes. And even if you're nursing, and we do know that, you know, relaxing causes the muscles to loosen while you're nursing, but think about how much you can still connect mind to muscle, learn, learn, absolutely correct form. So when you're not nursing and your hormones level out.
You're like, bam, I already know what I'm doing, you
know, so it [00:16:00] makes a huge
difference. So I love you said, don't
wait, don't wait, get moving. Absolutely. Absolutely. But that's just something, you know, again, to keep in mind. And it's not the everyday thing that you're probably going to see on social media.
Right. Um, so I'd love to point that out to moms just so that they're, you know, more educated about the healing process. Um, other things that I tell moms, like how we stand, you know, our posture, um, being able to connect with that core and that core canister. I'm sure that term's probably been thrown on your podcast before, but being able to connect just by how you stand, how you're, you're, um, positioning when you're exercising and things like that.
Sometimes we're just, We're not connecting to the right muscles just based off of how you're doing an exercise. So just being really aware of your form and all of those things, how we pick up the babies, how we stand, you know, some, a lot of moms, I see it all the time, um, where the knees are locked and, or we're tucked under and tucking our butt, but those are compensatory strategies that our bodies will just do because our cores.
are weak. And so we just have to be mindful of those things because then we're [00:17:00] not using the right muscles, we're just using compensatory muscles. So that too can keep your diastasis from healing or seeing the results you want to see. Which
goes back to your first point about total body strength training because if you're weak in other areas, you're going to automatically Overcompensate in other areas.
That's just how the body works It is going to take care of you in an improper way or a proper way by strengthening all over or by modifying and Overcompensating in a new area. So your first point totally rounds back to the point you just made that your posture is affects it. And your posture is also affected by weaknesses and strengths in different muscles.
Absolutely. Um, let's see some other things, gripping abs, very big one, very big one that can keep you from again, being able to connect to those weaker, often more lengthened muscles. Um, so those, uh, upper abs just kind of take over the whole picture. So you're thinking, okay, they said, you know, inhale through my belly and then engage, engage my core and exhale.
And this is like the whole time those [00:18:00] upper abs are like. Doing all the work, you know, and so just getting, um, or learning how to kind of quiet those muscles and really learn how to connect with those other muscles that can make a really big difference. And that, that is often something that I see with a lot of moms, they'll come in with, you know, the habits of upper ab gripping, and we have to then retrain the brain and the muscles and all of those things to learn how to not do that so much.
Wait, real fast with the
upper ab, if someone is an upper ab gripper. Let's say there's someone listening right now. Can you give them a couple of signs that this might possibly be their issue? Cause they may be doing all the things and then they're like upper ab gripping. Like what are some signs or things they could be aware of and notice on themselves that this may be their
issue?
Sure. Uh, number one, looking in the mirror, like watching yourself, I can't emphasize enough the benefit of actually watching yourself do the exercises. Because what you. Um, what you think you may be doing with your body is actually doing could be completely different. Um, so if you go to try to engage your, your deep core muscles, you know, you're really trying to do [00:19:00] that, but you see those upper part of your abdominals are like gripping where, okay, my lower belly is pooched and it's kind of going nowhere.
But my upper abs are like super sucked in, super tight. And it just like all the work is happening up there. That's a very common sign that your upper ab gripping. And then when you're just relaxed, if you're relaxed and you have a Kind of flat. Um, upper part of your abdominals and the rest of your lower belly pooches out.
That's also a sign that you can be upper ab gripping. Um, another one can be like that little indent line that a lot of moms have, where almost like you look, you have a V shape to your belly, if that makes sense. And so it's like you're, it's like that sucking in kind of look. And it's like, no matter what you have almost a permanent line right there.
Yes, that indentation that just sits there.
You have a permanent line that's like above your belly button, but kind of, Yeah. Below your top rib. And there's almost always a line there. That's a really good sign. Oh yeah. You be gripping those
abs. Gotta let them go. Yeah. I think [00:20:00] just that alone is just like, Oh wow.
That's why, you know, my middle or my lower. Um, belly just keeps staying pooched out, you know? Um, so yeah, those are a few of them that I would say just are just easy to just kind of look in the mirror, watch how you engage or just look at yourself and see, oh yeah, maybe I am a gripper. So yeah, for sure. Uh, uh, waist trainers for sure.
Um, that's a big one
out leggings. I definitely want to go over waist trainers and leggings because that's one where I feel like people don't catch that one and you're really good at pointing that out.
Yeah, you know, well our society makes us so hyper aware of our stomachs. Anyway, I put out this Post a while ago.
It's like we don't go around, you know, comparing our elbows and our necks to each other Why are we going around comparing our bellies to everybody else? You know what I mean? It's just an insecurity that the the diet industry has really hyped on but anyway, that's a whole nother Podcast for another day.[00:21:00]
Um, but again, waist trainers, again, a lot of women will wear them because they don't want to look pregnant, which is a big indication of maybe I have diastasis recti is I still look pregnant when I'm not. And so moms will wear waist trainers, but what they don't realize is that that waist trainer, The typical waist trainer is very, uh, compressive on your core.
Um, so it can cause secondary issues like, and I say can, don't mean it will, but it has the potential to cause secondary issues like prolapse because it's placing pressure inward and then pressure Placing pressure and that pressure has to go somewhere which either is down onto your pelvic floor or up and so I've had moms say I have issues with acid reflux or yes like when I share that post a lot of women and moms chime in like I had issues with acid reflux I was leaking on myself I had like this mild prolapse with this thing hanging from my vaginal area I'm like I'm like what is happening and they didn't realize oh it's from this waist trainer and then when it comes to diastasis recti you know again same thing when we talk about the core canister and being able to engage [00:22:00] the It just, it throws off that system and it also makes your core muscles weak because you're then relying on this trainer especially if you're using it in the postpartum period.
We get so reliant upon the trainer versus learning how to use your own personal corset, your own personal trainer, which is your transverse abdominus muscle, which wraps around from the front of your belly to the back. And that's what corsets do. That's what trainers do instead of having to rely on that, we want you to learn how to strengthen those muscles.
Um, and so again, if you are relying on those things, that too can, uh, reduce the speed of your recovery, um, and also affect your rehabilitation from your core. It just kind of slows the process down. Again, potentially cause other issues.
Well, I mean, you got to look at it like a balloon. You know what I mean?
Like the balloon. And imagine a waist trainer around a balloon. Where's that balloon going to go down
and up? It's where it's going to go. Nowhere else to go. Yeah, nowhere
else to go. And I think people get confused because at the [00:23:00] beginning. You want a little bit of support. And I know I've had Jeanette talk about before when we're talking about C sections, having like some support, but it shifts from support where it's helping you and then you ease out of it too.
I'm actually just going to get a corset style and tighten and tighten it. And you're moving away and somehow that staying, and now it's no longer support, it's a crotch. And, and now it's taking over and then people are trying to like, it kills me. Just the other day, I saw a woman in the gym, lifting heavy with a waist trainer on, and I almost wanted to be like, stop your core.
It's none of my business as a stranger. You can, but yeah, so I love, I love that you've pointed that out about where
it goes and, you know, I talk about leggings and things like that and of course leggings. Unless you're wearing some super tight leggings. It's not as restrictive as a waist trainer, but it's one of those things that you can kind of miss where I've seen a lot of times with my mom, they'll wear their high waisted leggings [00:24:00] in that same area of indentation, right?
And so now you're sucking in, now you're also putting. Extra, you're almost like adding another layer on top of that. So it's making you suck in even more, right?
Especially if those, a lot of those leggings have an elastic, like some of them have that elastic and it's like putting, yeah, elastic right on your stomach.
So if you have those kinds of leggings, it's even
more so. Yeah, and then oftentimes we're then wearing those leggings when we're working out or we're doing our rehab exercises and then because we don't want anybody to see our belly, even ourselves, we don't, you know, we could be in the comfort of our home and still have those pants jacked up.
You know what I mean? It's just habit. It's just habit. And so again, if you're trying to. You know fully inhale and we're trying you know, we're trying to get you to stop gripping and fully inhale and get that rib cage to Open up, but the pants are kind of giving this signal to your brain to just no suck in like It's already pushing you in it's kind of working against you.
So again, that's why I say, you know Either wear things that are lower down, you know And which I know a lot [00:25:00] of moms don't like to do that or if you're going to wear the high Um, waist, um, leggings, just make sure they're not highly compressive. Um, and that's just a light compression. Um, it feels good. You should be able to fully inhale, exhale.
It just shouldn't be super tight. And that's the, that's kind of where I leave it with the leggings. Cause I wear, I wear yoga. Pants. I wear leggings. I just make sure they're not super compressive. And that's the main thing there.
Yeah. I mean, all of us have put on a pair of leggings before where we're like, okay, I can barely breathe and I'm going to wear these all.
And
all of us, and then I got to work out with them. Oh, no. Right. And then, and
that's even, even with shorts, you know, like I'm very particular about the kind of word that I'm like, if I feel at all constrictive, mine is even for all kinds of reasons. I don't like to feel like claustrophobic, but in general, when you put on your leggings, just think like.
Is do I feel like this is all sucking me in and I can't move in my core like you mentioned or is there some give in the fabric where like I can get a good nice inhale in and an exhale with no
problem for sure. Yeah. And that's [00:26:00] just, that's the main thing. At least, you know, that's what I advocate for, you know, just making sure that you can just.
You know, no, not banning leggings, not as I'm not as strong about that. And I'm just like, purely no waist trainers, period. I give no give in that area on the waist trainers, but you know, the leggings for sure is just like, you know, just be more mindful of it. But waist trainers, yeah, no, let's just, just for so many reasons, let's just let that go, you know, so.
Yeah, and the last thing I would say is then that's kind of like the uncommon thing that should be talked about more even on my page I've done a couple of posts about it, but even for myself looking back like okay I should talk about this a little bit more but again It's nutrition right the nutrition side of things because so many moms will deal with Things like chronic bloating and chronic bloating can have an effect on your diastasis, um, healing as well.
Um, and then also understanding that what we eat can also aid in healing. And a lot of moms or women or even men, right, because diastasis, [00:27:00] yep, exactly, for the building up of collagen. And so, um, if we can also be mindful of our diets and, you know, Um, dairy, you know, I'm just going to use dairy because it's a common one.
If dairy bloats you all the time, right? You're always bloated. Um, maybe we should look at that, right? And maybe we should find some things, um, to, as an alternate, um, to, because of course there's, there's more than just the dairy part of it. Uh, nutrients and things that's in that, that you still need, you don't need to snatch everything out, right?
That's a common mistake people make, just start just snatching things out of their diet without making sure you're replacing it. But anyway, um, but just making sure that that's something that you look at. If you're chronically bloated, then you're just like, you're exercising, exercising, exercising. But what mom sees that my stomach still looks the same, right?
And so then we need to also then look at your nutrition. Um, so I think that's an important piece of the, the puzzle as well. Um, and then. Again, things like understanding that different vitamins help with, with, with, you know, the aiding and healing and all of those things. And so the more educated you about [00:28:00] that, then the more empowered you'd be for a more holistic way of going about healing your diastasis.
You know, with the bloating, it's interesting because as you know, obviously you bloat easier when you have diastasis because the linea alba is stretched and thin, but even that, if you think about it, if your stomach. Like, we encourage you to be aware of coning or that doming, the ridge on the stomach. But if you're bloated, your stomach is pushing out for hours at a time.
Like if you're bloated, like, and so that is definitely going to hinder it. So I love that you pointed out if you're regularly bloated, yes, you might not be seeing the improvement, but literally you're pushing your stomach. out, which is not helping those muscles learn to wrap in during certain movements when you're doing things.
So I love that you pointed that out, even with the vitamins and minerals, because I don't think nutrition gets talked about very much with. With it as well. And that's a huge one. So I love that. All right. Let's talk about some non traditional things we can do to help now. We talked about all the things to be aware of that are uncommon.[00:29:00]
Now we know obviously deep core progressive exercise. You want to progressively challenge your core. You can't stay doing heel slides the rest of your life and be shocked. You've got to keep moving forward and breathing. Obviously we know we talked about the sucking in and some other things, but what are some other things?
Other uncommon things we can do or be aware of that will help heal our diastasis recti.
Um, so I kind of alluded to this earlier when I was talking like thoracic mobility and things like that. So mobility exercises can be fantastic. Um, sometimes we're not aware we're so focused on strengthening and strengthening, but sometimes areas are tight, right?
That's why you can't get a good diaphragmatic breath in because, you know, you're so Tighten the thoracic area or the rib cage is not moving well. So mobility can be very beneficial to helping you with the diaphragmatic breathing or your ability to engage or it might be one of the reasons why you're sucking in because again mobility wise.
Things are just so tight. So things that can be helpful as mobility exercises, um, [00:30:00] skin rolling. I use that a lot with my moms, um, who have diastasis recti, especially my upper ab grippers. I tell them, you know, get in there, grab those, grab that fascia and just start rolling it and in doing that on a daily basis to kind of get that area to loosen up a little bit.
Right. Um, so I find skin rolling to be really helpful to the areas that are tight so that you can just, be able to engage better, breathe better, um, and kind of get those guarded muscles to, to relax. And how do you really
skin roll? Do you just, I mean, I know how, but let's, I want you to talk through as a professional how someone would do that quickly, like where they
would start with that.
Sure. So say that you have like super tight, um, areas around your, you've, you've kind of realized I'm an upper ab gripper. So try to grab that fascia. So not like just your skin, but just kind of grab everything that moves there, including our postpartum fat rolls. Like just grab whatever's around that you can grab.
Typically it's not fat rolls around your upper abs. Whatever, but anyway, um, [00:31:00] grab what you can grab there and you just kind of take your fingers and the palm of your hand and you want to just grab it and then you're taking your thumbs and you're rolling The skin, the fascia, all of those things kind of down kind of like a rolling pin effect But you're using your thumbs to do it.
Um, for my visual people, I know they're like, wait a minute Can you just show me a video of how to do that? But again, you're just trying to get that area to loosen up and sometimes just grabbing and wiggling The area so like kind of up down up down up down type of a thing that can be really helpful Just you just want to think about you want to get that fascia and everything that feels like it's kind of Plastered down because of all the gripping getting that to loosen up If that makes sense, hopefully that makes sense.
Um, okay. Um, let's see, what are some other things outside of that? Oh, scar massage I think is another, again, uncommon thing. Moms just don't think about, but if you had a C section, um, scar massage can be really helpful with you being able to connect with those lower abdominals again. Um, and especially for my moms who [00:32:00] have a more open diastasis toward the bottom.
Um, That's something to also consider, uh, because it can, that scar tissue being there, the scar tissue is not just right along the scars, all over the area. So just doing some scar tissue massage can be really helpful, um, with you being able to connect with those muscles, um, and being able to, um, or maybe even sometimes affect that lower belly pooch type of look.
Another one could be just, we talked about this earlier, angia is total body strengthening, not hyper focusing on the core, working the whole core, working areas of weaknesses. Um, and if you like. I don't know my areas of weaknesses. Sometimes they kind of show up when we're working out, like we do a single leg bridge versus a regular bridge.
You're like, whew, this left side is super weak, you know? And so sometimes just focusing on those weaknesses. And if you don't know, then that's where having, you know, being assessed by a PT can be very beneficial. Um, or regular PT too. I talk about. Pelvic PT because that's what we talk about but even orthopedic PT, especially when you just talk about basic imbalances and things like that If you're going for back pain [00:33:00] or whatever the case may be just seeing what those weaknesses are can be really really helpful And then those weak glutes focusing on more glute strengthening that can help support your weak core So those again are like some Few other additional things to think about.
And again, when I'm, I'm a very big holistic approach type of person, if nobody's caught on to that just yet, but I'm just taking a holistic approach. Individual to individual, it may look different, but those are some things like, Hey, I'm trying to do this on my own. What, what, what is the missing piece that those are some additional things that you can think about.
And it just
shows that there's so much more to it. And the body like that you pointed out holistic, I'm all about that. I hate when we just focus in on, on small things. I almost look at it as like when people try to spot train, they try to help health health spot train. I'm like, Nope. There's so many factors that go in into things that you're pointing out.
That healing the core and feeling strong is truly an whole body dynamic and even that you pointed out the [00:34:00] bilateral being able to see those weaknesses. If we're doing all of our exercises with both legs or going, you know, forward or never moving laterally, never using different planes of movement.
We're not going to catch those imbalances. So do add in some bilateral movements. That means using one leg at a time, instead of just both legs, do add in movements where you're going forward, where you're going sideways, where you're going backwards, where you're going at a diagonal, moving through different planes of motion, and you'll be able to catch some of those weaknesses that might, you know, be uncommonly an issue or just like help you in general get stronger, which will help your core improve as well, because it's moving in different directions.
Absolutely. And, and that's a good point to make too. Like it's still kind of on the lines of exercises, but it's just exercising in different planes makes the muscles have to work differently. And so something that may not feel like a imbalance in one area or no, it feels, I actually feel super strong, but then you get in a different position and you're like, Whoa, [00:35:00] this is a lot harder.
Um, and so that kind of go back to the importance of progressive overload and things like that. But just, we get off of our backs. Try exercises in different things, challenge the muscles in different ways. Um, all of that can really, um, be beneficial with diastasis healing for sure.
I love that. All right.
If you could give a mom who is discouraged, any piece of advice, what would you want her to know if she's looking this journey, like, Oh my gosh, I just, I had a baby four weeks ago, or I had a baby 40 years ago, either way. And I feel. Lost. I feel like I will never feel great in my body again. And this isn't a visual thing.
I don't want people to think I'm talking about great in my body as an aesthetics. But I mean, like, strong and comfortable and functional. What would you want them
to know? Biggest message there is that, number one, you don't have to do it alone. Right. And I think that's just because there's not enough emphasis on the postpartum village, the postpartum [00:36:00] support team outside of, you know, your lactation consultant.
Like, I feel like that's heavily pushed, um, but not so much. A lot of moms are just still figuring out about pelvic PT. They're just still figuring out that, you know, some trainers, you know, certified and specialize in postpartum care. Like there's a whole team of people that can, that can help you, whether you're four weeks postpartum, whether you're 40 years postpartum, like there's just people that can help you.
And then note that a lot of these issues that we talk about, it's never too late to improve these things. Right. Um, and if you're in the early postpartum, Period. Keep in mind, it's never too late. So you don't have to rush. Right? You don't have to rush. That's so, so doesn't it break your heart when you
get a message and they're like, it's been two years.
Am I too late? I'm like too late for what? Like you're still in your body.
Are you alive?
Then? No, it's never. Too late. And I feel like that to me, it's just like that, that little piece [00:37:00] of pie that you can give moms. It's just like, okay, I'm just now learning about this. My, you know, I'm having these conversations in my DMS all the time. And I'm sure you are too, Andrea. I'm like, I'm, I'm getting these messages of moms.
Like, Oh my God, my kid is 10 years old. And you know, I'm having all these sensations or I'm having these issues like I feel like hopeless, you know I love to be able to be that I call people. I'm the hope dealer. Okay, I'm like But passing out that hope to mom to just let him know that hey, it's never too late There's so much that you can do but you know, it does require work.
We have to prioritize And that's going to look different when your baby's a newborn versus your kids are four or five or whatever and they're in school, right? But just, you know, with that, give yourself grace, but also know, hey, there's going to be a work piece to this thing. You know, you got, you, we have to prioritize ourself.
We have to make time, even if it's a short bouts of 10 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever the case may be. All of that adds up. So that you can actually start to feel better in [00:38:00] your body and look, you know, the way that you feel like you want to look and be confident in your skin and your clothes and all of those things.
Like it is possible, but we do have to give ourselves grace. And we do also have to reach out to the people that can help us. You know, don't always have to rely on social media or YouTube and things like that because like as we talked about here Sometimes you need an individual approach and that's okay because you're your individual self and your individual medical history in your body So get that help and you know, and and if it's not the right help the first time, you know, don't don't don't be discouraged You know, or maybe you need a dish that different approach and that's totally okay.
Yeah, don't
give up and keep going I it's great advice All right. Where can we
find you? Most people find me on Instagram. Um, that's where you can learn so much things. You know, so much free content that, you know, I share on my page. Um, talk about different topics within my page. Not just diastasis recti, but different postpartum, um, ways of healing and rehab and all of those things.
So you can find me on Instagram at PT Trainer Shonda. There's only one T in [00:39:00] that. It was my own inventive idea when I tell people. So I'm sure you'll put that in the show notes, how to spell that, but anyway. Yeah, we'll put it in. Yeah, for sure. And then, of course, you have that link within that bio that I have all sorts of freebies and resources like how to test yourself for diastasis recti.
All the things that moms are just trying to figure out in that. And so, again, Instagram, social media, that's where you can find me. And then I have my website. site, core elevation, fitness. com. That's where all of my programs are. Um, I have a eight week diastasis recti program, um, opportunities to work with me one on one online.
Uh, and that's where you can actually have a zoom call with me. And I work with moms again, all over the world. I've worked with moms all over Europe. Africa, wherever, which is what I absolutely love because not every mom and person has access to pelvic PT, you know, and sometimes we take that for granted here in the United States, but that's not pelvic PTs are not everywhere.
And luckily, you know, more, more, um, PTs are. Getting into the poet PT [00:40:00] field, but that's not the case for everyone. So again, I can work with moms in that way. Um, and I also have a self led version of that program as well. If, you know, unable to work with me one
on one. And you also do have some courses on C section as well, right?
Absolutely. Yep. I have some courses. I have a C section recovery guide. Um, and I also have a C section workshop. So I do different workshops. Throughout the year, I'm just educating on all of these things and just trying to get this information, education out there to the masses, you know, as much as I can, so yeah, that's, that's,
and some other great news is LaShonda is also one of the experts in the app.
She covered some of these topics in the app in detail. You're going to love her in there. She's amazing speaker and communicator. So I was so thankful to have her be an expert in the app. We're really, really excited about that. All right. Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you so much for having me.
I adore LaShonda.
She is a wealth of knowledge and I hope that you gain so much knowledge from this episode. It does take time to heal. It [00:41:00] does take effort. And it's never too late. I love that we covered that. That sometimes I think we think just because we have kids, whether it's been 4 weeks or 40 years ago, that it's too late.
And it never is. And I hope that you see health in a little bit more of a holistic way of how our family is. Full body movements, our posture, the things we're wearing, the things we're eating, all those things all matter. And they all slowly compound up and add up to get you where you're wanting to go.
Patience really does make a difference, but I promise if you just continually take steps in the right direction, your core will feel stronger. You will be more functional. You will feel stronger everywhere else, which is going to allow you so much more. Freedom in life and create a little bit more longevity for you.
All right, that's it for today. As always, you are doing so much better than you think you are. We'll chat next week.[00:42:00]