Miss the flat abdomen of your pre-motherhood days?
Well, then you might care to know that a fitness expert has – in conjunction with a doctor – has developed a simple (seriously, it actually is really simple) exercise program – the Dia Method – that promises to cure the ‘mum pooch’ for good. In just 12 weeks. With just 10 minutes exercise a day.
Sounds insane? And yet it actually works.
It turns out that the classic ‘mum tum’ actually has a medical name: diastasis recti, which refers to a separation of the abdominal muscles which happen to many during pregnancy. In fact, it is so common that last year, a study from Norway reported about a third of mums end up with diastasis recti a year after giving birth.
However, fitness expert Leah Keller assures you that the Dia Method actually can help you get your old stomach back – in just three months.
“Grounded in science and backed by results, the Dia Method activates your transverse abdominis, your natural corset, to protect and restore the abdominal wall. Through isometric contractions of the transverse abdominis, the Dia Method reinforces the strength, resilience and elasticity of both the linea alba and the rectus abdominis.”
How to do it?
Sitting on the floor cross-legged, hands on your belly, take a big breath and let the belly fully expand.
And then as you exhale, suck in your belly muscles — as far back as they’ll go, toward the spine. Then try to hold it there, this position, with your belly sucked back towards your spine. Take tiny breaths, and with each exhale, push your stomach back further and further.
The key is to be sure your back is flat, and that you do the exercise 10 minutes each day, changing your positions slightly every two minutes or so. For the rest of the time, your belly is pulled all the way back into the spine.
Tip: Keep your fingertips on the bellybutton, so you know that you’re squeezing tight, tighter with the belly, and you’re never bulging the bellybutton forward.
And if you are doubtful you might be interested to know that medical researchers confirm The Dia Method’s efficacy in resolving diastasis recti postpartum. This study of The Dia Method, entitled “Postnatal exercise can reverse diastasis recti,” has been published in the May 2014 issue of the Green Journal (American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology).
According to the study run by herself and a doctor at Weill Cornell, Keller found that “100 percent of women achieved full resolution” after using the program.
