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Tupler Technique Plus Kegels- Lose Your Mummy Tummy Tribe

111K views 142 replies 81 participants last post by  haurelia 
#1 ·
Anyone else with me?

I am (trying) to do the exercises in Julie Tupler's Lose Your Mummy Tummy book.

I can describe the first exercises for those who interested.

I am finding them very hard to do though, I don't have much muscle tone in these areas at all.
:
I could use some moral support, encouragement, comraderie, etc etc.

BTW I have two little boys and I'm 6 months postpartum. I am losing weight in lots of other areas but I need to strengthen my core muscles. I had first ordered that Winsor Pilates program, but realized it is bad for people who have a diastisis. My diastisis is one-to-two finger widths.

Okay, I'll shut up for now, until I see if anyone else is interested in joining in.
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#77 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by annran View Post
Hi Rosemary SF-

just wondering if the tummy tucker oil helped any- or did it just help only me? I was telling a couple of my friends- and they were oh so sceptical.
Let me know if it did.

Am sitting up straight since a while and it atleast makes me feel better

Hey, I used it for a while and I don't think it worked--sorry! I did lose most all of the belly fat from doing WW; the oil made me feel like I was doing something in the interim, but it really isn't worth the $$$.
 
#78 ·
I have had a diastisis recti since my second pregnancy and I have 5 kids!! (DS-1990, DD-1999, DD-2001, DS-2003, and DS 2005) At my last appt with my midwife she suggested I see a physical therapist to help but I thought it would be a waste of time since everything I read said the only way to truly take care of it was to have plastic surgery. The idea of someone cutting into my belly actually made me light headed.

I thought today I would search again for ab exercises and stumbled upon Tupler's method. I have requested the book from the library and it seems that overall, everyone on here has seen positive results. I can only hope this will work as I am tired of not being able to fit into my jeans without this pouch that makes me look like I'm about 6-7 months pregnant!!

Can someone tell me what she meant about getting in and out of bed correctly?
 
#79 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dabberdoo View Post
Can someone tell me what she meant about getting in and out of bed correctly?

I don't remember exactly what she said, but you want to avoid shearing your muscles more. One way to do this is to lie on your side and push yourself up to sitting with the arm closest to the bed. It's pretty easy and doesn't rely on your stomach muscles too much. I'll still do that sometimes.
 
#81 ·
I love that this thread keeps popping up in my mailbox periodically.

Like several PP's, I have been doing the exercises, but nowhere near as often as Julie Tupler recommends. I just don't have that kind of time or attention span. (The counting is soooo boring to me.) I've tried to add the exercises into daily life, for instance I hold my abs in tightly while riding elevators or escalators, brushing teeth and whenever I think of it. I also try to hold everything in while doing my aerobics class. To make sure I am holding it in correctly, I turn sideways, look in the mirror, and see what I have to hold in to make me look as skinny as possible.

And don't even ask me about Kegels. I just can't figure out how to remember to do those at all!

Despite my lax regimen, I have seen slight improvement over the past few months (I am 24 months post-partum, so I am starting this all a little late). This is assisted by eating less and dropping a few pounds. I'm trying to keep up, but I'm curious to know if there is anyone out there who is actually doing the recommended # of repetitions? I don't know if they are even possible while caring for a young child, or young children.

After I get my abs all back in shape, I'll need to figure out what to do with all the extra skin on my belly, too. (2 10+ lb babies + 50 lb weight gain each pregnancy. Argh!)
 
#82 ·
I'm not doing the proper number of sets and reps! It's a goal, but I get bored/distracted too easily, esp with 2 toddlers.

This is probably horrifying around here, but once my body is totally back in shape and the babes are all done nursing (last baby is 15 mos) then I'll be making a trip to the surgeon. I gained a huge amount of weight (starting from a very athletic build, had severe pre and post natal depression) and just do not have any elasticity to my skin. I'm almost 27 and my grandmother has tighter skin than me. I love to be super fit, and don't have the self esteem to just deal with hanging skin and breasts when I work so hard for everything else. I am judged and "punished" for them, but it's not my fault for the genetic card dealt.
 
#83 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Meg_s View Post
This is probably horrifying around here, but once my body is totally back in shape and the babes are all done nursing (last baby is 15 mos) then I'll be making a trip to the surgeon. .
I'm right there with you!! I even started a thread here a few months ago. suprisingly, I didn't get flamed.
... but I also didn't get any replies


I actually don't think that I would even go through with it once I read the risks, etc... but it is very tempting to me. I live in an area where a lot of the moms have had some kind of augmentation , and it's very tempting to me because it's the "norm" here.

All I want is tummy lipo and tuck.. just to get rid of the 30+ lbs that I am carrying there

donning flame suit and exiting
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#84 ·
The norm here is astonishing to me as well. I don't know how much is natural or not, but the women here just don't look like they did back home (ontario) or in new york, where I lived for 5 years before coming over here. This is another world where the women are incredibly beautiful and well formed and I feel really out of place. I do want to lose all of the weight and get my abs in condition first though, I want it as a skin procedure, not a weigh loss one. I lurk on a tummy tuck and a breast lift forum and the pics from the ladies who are in good shape always look really good, the ones who are overweight can sometimes look really odd.. maybe because it is difficult to make the fat under the skin even from the part below the scar to the part above the scar, so the entire body can look a little misshapen. Yeah my extra 30 are all on my midsection too. I shoudl probably take this talk somewhere else, where is your thread?
 
#87 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Meg_s View Post
I have a question about the technique.. are your ribs engaged? There are 2 ways I can do this, one is with my ribs being pressed down as well, and the other is with them being high and sort of sticking out - which one is the correct one?
The first position, I think. The transverse stretches from your ribs to your hips, and the book talks about pushing your ribs down and in while holding everything in.
 
#88 ·
Aak! I just checked for diastasis as I was pretty sure my traumatic pregnancy/emergency c-section left me with one... That totally creeped me out! Above my belly button its 2 fingers wide, below is 3 and at my belly button where I already knew I'd had a hernia before - 4 fingers wide! Blech! I started to gag picturing my organs just flopping out all unprotected - which is exactly how they've felt! If I lean against a counter while working in the kitchen it's painful and I get instantly nauseous and a little light headed. No wonder!! I tried telling my OB, and he said that is just normal after pregnancy... WHAT!? He told me to ab exercises - so I've been doing them and of course its gotten WORSE! Geeze! So glad I found this thread! I can't afford the DVD right now but I'll try to do the exercises and report back
 
#89 ·
It's funny I started this thread two years ago after I had my second son-- now I am due any day with our third child-- a daughter! So I will definitely be doing this again. I am also getting the Belly Bandit postpartum girdle this time, too. I was going to get the Tupler DVD but now I'm not sure I will. Either way I know that binding my belly and minding my posture right from the beginning will make healing happen a LOT faster this time than last time.


I'll be checking back in soon!
 
#91 ·
Hmmm, I couldn't get the link to work right last time, let me try again.

This is supposed to be a picture of me after I lost my "mummy tummy" last time.

There, that should work.


I've never had a tiny waist because my bone structure is pretty straight-up-and-down from hips to ribcage-- but my tummy was tight and flat, (besides a little extra skin) so that was what I was looking for. My waist measurement was smaller than when I was in highschool. And not one crunch involved.
 
#92 ·
You look GREAT, LTB!

I am still reading and actually think about this thread a lot, but never have a chance to post to it. (I can post right now b/c the kidlets are at the park w/daddy...)

My mummy tummy is still there, but looking somewhat better, I think. I look fine so long as I never relax my abs. I go thru cycles where I think about it and do the exercises at least daily (still not the recommended # of exercises...) other times I am distracted or not feeling well and don't do them. My Kegel record is horrible; I haven't been doing those at all.

Today before I read this thread update, I pulled my exercise ball out of storage to sit in the corner of my bedroom. I plan to do about 5 minutes of various types of sit-ups each day, on top of my current workout regime of aerobics 3-4 times per week, an hour class during which I concentrate on holding my abs in *tightly* the entire time. Instead of counting individual sit-ups, which I find horribly boring, I just kept doing slower sit-ups for 5 minutes total, keeping my transverse pulled in the entire time. It hurt!


Maybe I can remind myself to do some Kegels at the same time. This is all contingent on the cooperation of my LOs refraining from harassing one another, etc. while I am trying to do this.
 
#93 ·
Thanks, dflanag2!! So, I just had the baby on Thursday (yay!!!
and so today I pulled out the book again and reviewed it. I am so excited to do this straight from the beginning this time! I think it will make a big difference.

Now, dflanag2, you really don't have to do sit-ups at all until your diastisis is completely healed. If you do choose to do them, amke sure that your belly is tightly bound up with a splint and that you have your transverse muscles totally engaged the whole time. Personally, I felt it was too risky and so I skipped the sit-ups completely. Even after I healed my diastisis I found other exercises that I felt worked better to tone my abdomen anyway-- without risking another diastisis!

So the first day I had the baby I bound up my belly right away with my old maternity support bely-- the only thing that would fit right away! By the second day, I could just barely fit into my Belly Bandit postpartum compression girdle-thingie. I love that thing!!!
It feels SO supportive and helps me with my posture, which is important.

I was reading all about good posture today and I am convinced that just maintaining the correct posture at all times (which is no small task!!!) and binding the belly up is probably enough to heal the diastisis on its own, if done from the beginning. I am finding that just maintaining correct posture is a workout on its own.

For instance, squatting all the time instead of bending over (bending over at the waist is NOT allowed) is hard! It is working out my thighs-- no complaints there! My thighs could use some trimming-down right now.
Sitting up nice and straight at all times is challenging, too. (Feels more comfy to slouch over!) I am also trying to remember to do kegels intermittently whenever I think of it, and also being mindful of pulling in my transverse muscles when I happen to think about it. Within a day or two, when I have my posture down a bit better, I'll start working some gentle exercises inot my routine-- some stretches and the Tupler Technique and more kegels and so forth. I'll work on getting into the habit of doing the BAKS routine daily, first, before I move onto incorporating her 30-minute routine.

Any other new moms going to be starting this??? Tuesday is the new moon so that's a great day to start new projects.
 
#94 ·
I should mention that I don't have diastisis anymore, I had my last child over 2 years ago
I just still have a big floppy stomach. The sit ups on the exercise ball help, I think because I'm really sore after doing them (not that I am doing them a ton, once a week for 5 min at this point!) as well as holding in as often as I can think to do it, and doing quite a bit of core work at my aerobics class 3x per week.

And I've kept off the weight I lost last fall! I've officially dropped a clothing size, I'm searching on ebay to see if I can replace my jeans with one size smaller...
 
#95 ·
Checking in here... (LTB we are in the same DDC, but my babe came early at the end of January
).

I have been reading with interest. Tonight I'm going to figure out what I'm starting at when I lay down, and tomorrow I am planning on getting the book out from the library
 
#96 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by triscuitsmom View Post
Checking in here... (LTB we are in the same DDC, but my babe came early at the end of January
).

I have been reading with interest. Tonight I'm going to figure out what I'm starting at when I lay down, and tomorrow I am planning on getting the book out from the library

Awesome! Looking forward to doing this with you! I just bought a workout outfit that fits and a resistance band for doing the exercises in the book. I haven't been brave enough to check my diastisis yet as I'm only ten or so days postpartum so I'm afraid it will still be pretty wide-- we'll see! I've been binding my belly and my waist is already much smaller than it was right after birth, though. I'm really excited to get active again. Also, I am transitioning into eating more healthfully, too.
 
#97 ·
I'm inspired to get back on the wagon. I'm pretty thin, but I've definitely got that weird bulge. I want my flat stomach back!
 
#98 ·
Totally joining! I bought her book on eBay and for the first week, whenever I sat down in a chair I made sure to sit up straight and do the elevator exercise.

The results were so crazy obvious that my DH read the book, determined he had a 2 finger diastasis and started doing the exercises! LMAO

Mine is 3 fingers wide and I think I am dealing with scar tissue too...feels like knots...and I know just when it happened...I was in the 2nd tri walking and heard these "pinging sounds" just like guitar strings popping. shudder....
 
#99 ·
Thanks ladies, you are inspiring! I'm 2 months, 3 weeks PP and have been using the Belly Bandit off and on. I think I'll be giving this Tupler program a go since I have a diastisis. My friends are starting the 200 sit-up program, but it looks like I shouldn't participate until after my diastisis disappears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meg_s View Post
This is probably horrifying around here, but once my body is totally back in shape and the babes are all done nursing (last baby is 15 mos) then I'll be making a trip to the surgeon.
You'd probably be interested in this fabulously written article about elective surgery after having babies: http://www.brainchildmag.com/essays/...09_stanton.asp
 
#100 ·
I've had the Tupler book for 2 years now and agree with others who said they had a hard time doing all the exercises. My tummy never really went back to normal. Now I am 10 weeks PG with #3 and already I have quite a little tummy! What exercises can I do to prevent a huge diastasis? I assume I shouldn't wear the band or anything that compresses my belly, right?

I guess I need to dig out the book again... {sigh}. My main complaint with the book was that I had to sit there with the book in front of me and flip pages while exercising. Annoying.
I need a quick reference flip chart or something.

TIA,
Micaela
 
#101 ·
Subbing as well!

I am making a word document to start a regiment TODAY!! I have been doing the "navel pulls" for a while as well as Turbo Jam, which I think is pretty good, as all of the exercises involve "pulling". I do have a before picture and one intermediary, so I will post that in a bit too!
 
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