Lose Your Mummy Tummy

I'll admit that I originally wanted to review this book due to the wonderful and lighthearted title! Lose Your Mummy Tummy is written by Julie Tupler with Jodie Gould. The book focuses on toning and strengthening muscles that have been weakened and stretched out of shape by pregnancy and birth.

Overall I have been very impressed with the book. I plan to do a preliminary review now, and after I've worked with the book's routines postpartum I'll update this review.

Lose Your Mummy Tummy (LYMT) is truly a unique approach to after baby fitness. It has completely changed my thinking on what exercises should be done and how they should be done. I have always thought that stringent sit-ups are the way to get rid of that "baby belly," but LYMT cautions against such exercises.

Tupler's Theory

Tupler explains how the abdominal muscles are structured (in three sets) and during pregnancy and birth, one of these sets gets separated due to stretching. This separation creates what is a called a diastasis. The diastatis must be closed up for the tummy to stay flat again. Tupler goes into much greater detail, so grab a copy of the book for a more thorough explanation.

You're encouraged to move into doing gentle exercises as soon as possible postpartum (there is an entire chapter devoted to getting started after c-section, episiotomy, etc - a great addition to the book). The core of the entire LYMT theory is the "Tupler Technique," which was developed by Tupler to shrink the diastasis and strengthen the abdominal muscles up again.

The Exercise

This exercise is very simple to do. In fact, you can do it while you nurse your baby, in the car, which watching tv or reading a book - anytime, and virtually anywhere. I've begun to do the Tupler Technique on a regular basis, and the first thing I've noticed is how it makes it painfully apparent how little strength my abdominal muscles have. After three babies in five years, I have a lot of weakness in my abdominal muscles.

Tuppler moves on to cover other basic, gentle exercises that can be done in the immediate postpartum periods. I was pleased to see her emphasize Kegel exercises, which are very helpful for restoring pelvic floor muscle strength.

After covering the basic early postpartum exercises, Tupler outlines a gentle 15-minute routine to work through. As I mentioned before, the emphasis of the routine is strengthening and toning muscles. It is a valuable approach to take in the first year after childbirth, when so much has been stretched by pregnancy, labor, and birth.

Later in the book a 30 minute routine is outlined. This routine will challenge you, but it's still gentle and easy to do right in your own home. Tuppler advocates adding in a gentle exercise such as walking or yoga into your weekly exercise schedule.

Plenty of Additional Information

The chapter on cesarean section gives plenty of information for mothers recovering from surgery. Tuppler offers a wide range of hints to aid recovery and to prevent further injury. This chapter also covers episiotomy recovery, hemorrhoids, uterine prolapse, lower back pain, and other possible problems that arise after pregnancy.

Common aches and pains and simple solutions to remedy and prevent them are the focus of another chapter. Tuppler discusses how to sit properly to avoid strain and pain. She also discusses wrist pain, foot pain, and knee/joint pains. It is a practical chapter with clear pictures - in fact, the entire book has wonderful and clear photographs.

Day to Day

The remainder of the book focuses on day to day living. There is a lot of information packed into this slim book. The reader is able to learn how to safely lift baby, even how to safely change diapers and put a child into the car. Tupler gives plenty of information on how to keep your back and the rest of your body safe during the day-to-day activities of motherhood.

She also discusses how you should protect your newly flattened tummy. There is a discussion on how to safely do other exercise techniques and routines. I found it very helpful and enlightening to learn how some techniques can actually cause diastasis.

I was very impressed with LYMT and I plan on incorporating the routine into my life for the next several weeks. I already feel like just doing the Tuppler Technique is helping to strengthen my abdominal muscles - something I've desired since after the birth of my first child. I only with I'd found Lose Your Mummy Tummy then!

Look forward to further LYMT updates ;)

Natural Birth and Baby Care.com