are you suffering from weak abdominal core muscles due to hernias such as umbilical
epigastric inguinal or c-section post-partum or anyone with very big abdominal muscles that
causes low back pain hi my name is annie and welcome to my channel andy palata's physical
therapist and this is my best friend abel and in this video i'll be discussing about how to
engage your core muscles safely and effectively if you have umbilical
hernia and this is a gentle progression utilizing an elastic pan so we can slowly
strengthen it so get your mat ready a gentle beginner-friendly elastic band to join me today
so let's discuss a little bit about hernias and weak pelvic floor and low back muscles so
if you have all of these or some of these my recommendation is to really find what's best
balanced for you if you feel like you're really hurting a lot and you're fresh from recent surgery
my recommendation is to start six weeks post-op or six weeks postpartum if you just gave birth
so make sure you're fully healed on your scar tissue if you have c-section and if you have
umbilical hernia then i want to make sure that it's not a hernia where a discoloration already on
your hernia that's really getting darker and black please see a doctor because sometimes surgery is
warranted if you have diastasis recti which is an opening on your linea elba and if it's more than
four inches apart then stop don't do exercises you want to make sure you see your doctors first so
let's discuss about diet plans and how to help less bloatedness on your abdominal area this is my
first time discussing this because there's a lot of you asking questions how to lose weight how to
lessen the pressure on your hernia the incisionary abdominal or if you have diastasis right that
my recommendation is to try to limit salty food or anything with dairy that could cause bloatedness
on your abdomen and stomach area so if you have more air swelling salt causes
retention of water and if you're not drinking a lot of water it also causes retention of water
so my recommendation is to proper hydrate yourself and to limit salty food and that will help you
heal more because you're not having this pressure coming from in to out together with exercise and
my best recommendation there's no food before you exercise you can strengthen more effectively and
you really pull your abdominal muscles more so for those who are absolute beginners my recommendation
is to go to my seven day absolute beginner's pilates program follow that step by step before
progressing with this elastic band because this is already a progression there's also another two
more videos you can try first before going with the elastic band because the elastic band adds
resistance and pressure my third recommendation before you start this program is to have abdominal
binder embrace during the time that you're doing any lifting heavy activities more than 10 pounds
so if you're carrying your child you don't have a binder it causes a strain on your hernia
or your diastasis recti so that's why you're not healing is because of poor lifestyle choices
if you've been bending forward instead of squatting then you're hurting your spine
and it's also hurting your hernia a lot of proper big body mechanics keeping your back straight
will help heal your hernia your diastasis recti as well and any area that feels so weak on your
abdomen your therapist said that you don't need to wear your brace then trust your therapist if you
feel like you're reading the stage you're getting stronger then slowly wean off the brace or girdle
but for absolute beginners my recommendation those girdles and abdominal brace will help
support heal the area where you have the opening so it helps them pull together to fully heal
because if you have weakness on your abdominal muscles and you start lifting something heavy then
it will not heal properly it will keep ripping it open so that's another recommendation is to have a
brace when you're doing a heavy activities like carrying your child and anything that's lifting
more than 10 pounds however if you're just doing some household chores you're not really
bending much or you're just walking then it's best to slowly let go of the girdle
and abdominal brace so those are my recommendations to keep your hernia healing
well so you can really fully heal and slowly progress to this level with the elastic band okay
my friends let's start now with the program so place the elastic band around your thighs so this
band is red band so this is resistance of one to two pounds but if this is still too difficult
there's another color band yellow which is one pound only so you know your body if
you've been doing my exercises that i recommended earlier then you are ready on this progression
so hold on behind your thighs slowly lie down to the mat as you breathe out
protecting your hernia area your dice that's direct eye keeping your knees bent place
your hands on your side so this is the gentle progression inhale lift both hands overhead first
so with your hands overhead you're engaging your upper part of your abdominal muscles
and slowly bend your knee to tabletop you can start with your left
and then lifting your left hand same side first as you breathe out tap down hand overhead
then your right side inhale bend your right knee right hand pointing the ceiling as you exhale down
so you want to keep your abdominal muscles tight by vacuuming so one breath one motion so inhale
squeezing my core in i'm really flattening my stomach in as i breathe in and then my
navel trying to go at the back of my spine as i breathe out slowly tap my foot down and then my
left hand overhead then your right side inhale squeezing your core in and then exhale down
one breath one motion in tabletop squeezing it you can hold this for five seconds hold
hold it there and then exhale down then your right side my recommendation is 10 times each leg i'm
really pulling my navel in squeezing as hard as i can you can feel your abdominal muscles shaking
five seconds hold and then die after doing the same side then you can do opposite sides
so i'm bending my left knee and then lifting my right hand so this is the opposite side
it engages your oblique muscles as you breathe that squeezing my stomach in
hold that for five seconds hold you're gonna feel the resistance of the band around your
knee and your thigh area so that engages your lower abdominal muscles more
and then slowly go down you don't want to plop your foot you want to do steady
so now my right knee bend and then my left hand pointing to the ceiling squeezing my stomach in
vacuum hold that for five four three two one and do that ten times as well inhale bend your knee
right hand pointing to the ceiling left hand bent five four three two one and exhale down
and my recommendation is to do that ten times each leg as well
the next progression is table top and then same side again and then slowly lower your
knee to the side and your hand to the side keeping my back straight i don't want to
twist my spine so if you notice i'm not going all the way down if you're going all the way down with
your knee and you're turning your body to the left then that's not a good way to strengthen your core
and your abdominal muscles i'd rather have it not too low to the side
i rather have it a little bit angle only to 45 degree just to engage
your abdominal muscles keeping them steady and engage pulling your belly button in
and then exhale back center and then down hold each side five seconds so bend five seconds
and then lower to the side for another five seconds keeping my back straight without twisting
vacuum i'm really pulling my stomach in navel towards the spine inhale back to the center
five seconds hold as i breathe out all the way down 10 times each side as well the next one is
opposite side so table top on my left lifting now my opposite hand as i breathe out
i'm lowering my right hand to the side and then my left away so i'm opening my body a little bit
holding that for five seconds hold five four three two one and going back to the center and then down
so now reverse switch it up to the other side right knee bend left hand pointing to the ceiling
and then slowly lowering to the side my hand and my knee away from each
other hold that for five seconds hold do it ten times with your breathing
and then inhale back center hold that for five seconds hold again
and then lower it down one more try inhale bend five seconds hold lower to the side five seconds
hold inhale back center five seconds hold and then down last one on this side my recommendation is
ten times each leg and side as well this is only demonstration only and if you want me to do a
follow along video leave a comment down below and i'll do another one for a follow-along video for
this gentle progression the next one is with your knees bent hands pointing to the ceiling
slowly open your hands and your knees apart to a butterfly position squeezing your core in
i'm really pulling it in as i go back to the center so the resistance of the band
help challenge it a little bit more so open hold that for five four three two one and then go back
and my recommendation is ten times the next one will do bridging so
lift your glutes up squeezing your core in as you lift your glutes hands overhead
to challenge your core and your abdominal muscles i'm really tightening my glutes
hold that for five four three 2 and 1 and then slowly go down one vertebrae at a time
as i slowly lift my hands pointing to the ceiling and then touching the mat bone to bone to the mat
slow and gently as i breathe out again lift your glutes hands overhead squeezing my core
in and my glutes tightening it and five four three two one and then slowly go down one vertebrae at a
time last one my friends my recommendation is ten times as well lift tighten your glutes five four
three two one and this time when the challenge by holding that glutes up off the mat the next gentle
progression is doing a butterfly while you're in the bridge position so i'm opening my knees
you can place your hand on your abdominal muscles and then back to the center open and
back center squeezing your core in challenge your abdominal muscles with your breathing
inhale squeeze open and hold that for five four three two one back center squeeze open five four
three two one and back center and then slowly go down one vertebrae at a time my recommendation is
also 10 times and that's it for now i'm hoping you learned a lot about how to fully heal your
core muscles if you have surgeries or hernias or diastasis recti or postpartum and you want to
slowly build it up safely and effectively this is the gentle progression utilizing the elastic band
and as i said earlier if you want to follow along video leave a comment down below subscribe to my
channel ring the bell so you won't miss any of my videos about pilates yoga physical therapy health
and wellness if you have any questions suggestions or concerns leave a comment down below or direct
message me on my other social media and i'll try my best to answer each one of you please like and
share this video to your friends and family who will benefit from this always remember be safe
be well and healthy you abel has been snoring and sleeping for a while until next time bye