Ok, I’m sorry but I’m also not sorry, because you deserve to know the truth.
Doing the ‘right’ abdominal exercises will not guarantee you a flatter tummy, and it will not guarantee your happiness with your mid-section.
To start with, you’re allowed to care about how your tummy looks.
You’re allowed to miss how it looked before kids.
You’re allowed to wish it looked different now.
And of course, you wouldn’t be alone.
So many Mums feel less than satisfied with the way their abdominals look after having babies.
Unfortunately, the promise of toned abs sell.
Programs promising six packs or flat/toned tummies are everywhere, usually covered with images of people with very low percentages of body fat and probably favourable genetics.
Fear also sells – Fear of the wrong exercise or the wrong technique causing harm.
Now I’m not saying that your tummy will never look or feel the same and you’ll never be happy with it after babies.
But I am saying that there are many factors that affect how your tummy looks:
➡️Pregnancy & birth
➡️Genetics
➡️Your connective tissue type & how your skin responds to stretch
➡️Digestive issues
➡️Conditions like Endo, PCOS
And there are just as many factors that affect how you FEEL about how your tummy looks:
💮Social media
💮Your personal beliefs & expectations
💮Your relationships
💮Body image throughout your life
💮Your mood on any given day
So whilst you can definitely achieve great improvements in strength, function and aesthetics of your abdominal through exercise, especially when the exercises:
✅ Challenge you enough and are progressed over time
✅ Are not overcomplicated
✅ Are ones you feel confident in doing, at some stage, on your own
… there is also no fool-proof exercise ‘recipe’ for flat, toned abs or a tummy that you love.