Best way to do higher impact GYM excersise - HELP!?

I would say that you can do most things, but you hafta think, test, and see what happens...

Step aerobics - You step lightly - Think as if you are stepping at midnight with everyone in bed next door - Step quietly and dont stomp!

When walking or moving use your body to it's full extension - rolllllllll through the foot instead of stamping and stomping... In rolllllll I mean you are walking and you step maybe an inch further in your stride but also heel to toe rolls through the whole foot rather than stomping each foot down flat footed etc

Ther are many exercises you can do without consequence I have found. The only one that I haven't tried of late is rowing. ot cos I am scared etc - Just cos I have a problem with an arm, but when rowing - if I rowed now - I would say to not lean back too far, let each part of the body work and - as this would be a test - I would, if alone - do a 'stop check' - Yes that is exactly what I mean - I used to own my own rower - so if I had that now I would stop - and check if my POP was peeking again - by hand - If at 20mins all is well - and after the first or second row all was well i would continue and just keep an eye on myself... How does the POP react to the new movements etc

I would no longer do the 600 situps a day I did in my past life. I guess that as every womans body reacts differently - You may get a problem that I would not.

To do legs and butt - I might try that squat against a wall movement - its menna be a killer ;-) You 'sit' with your back against the wall then slide down a bit and apparently you can feel it like ^*$% in legs and butt.

I do not wor out now - Not because of POP - Mainly because I have an illness that makes it complicated for me now.

But... You said you want a high impact version - The way to increase your fitness and stuff - All you do it increase 'range of motion' That is - step one inch further and reach one inch further - reaaaaaaaach and in that - You will find that you hafta work harder to achieve it.

Have you tried Christines Yoga? It might be a good thing for you. Alot of people on here still run with POP, so they may be able to aid you with thoughts on running.

Good luck

I like to cross country ski and I also use the ski excercise machine "Nordic Track" when I can't ski. Is this safe from my POP ?

Hi LTwesp – Only another experienced cross-country skier who has been practicing WW for awhile would be able to give you a good answer to that. Once you have been doing this for awhile, you won’t need anyone to tell you what is good for your prolapse and what is bad.

Are you able to do these activities in some version of WW posture? Can you keep lumbar curvature in place most of the time, rather than holding your body at an obtuse angle that flattens the lumbar curve? If so, you are probably OK. Does it make your POP feel worse? Not a good sign. Does it cause you to tighten up your belly? Hope not. Hoping for some more specific answers on this. - Surviving

Welcome to this site and congratulations on your baby. I am only 3 months or so here and post menopause so in a different place than you. However, I would say that since you are only 6 months PP it would be very important for you to go little by little now. With your youth on your side, and beautiful results in only 48 hours in WW posture to no longer feel the bulge (congratulations there too!), maybe you can slow down just a bit. Of course you want to be back in shape but it is a process. Learn now to listen to your body (I wish I could have done that at your age!) and monitor this new posture carefully. Many people here do run, I walk 3+ miles most days, but we need to always be in WW posture so that our organs have a safe place to nestle and our back and breathing can become strong. I sense a bit or urgency in your post and maybe it is important to look at that so that you can begin this process of recovery (from pregnancy and birth and prolapse) and take baby steps now toward a stronger and more fit body in a unique way. Try not to think that the trim look of the pulled in tummy is feminine. That tightening up can actually be quite hurtfulI. Let your belly become strong by relaxing it and lifting the chest to make those abs long and strong with pride. I was told that in WW position with POP, we can do almost anything and I believe that. It is just that you want to take some little steps now to learn to listen to your body and honor all that it has been through. You might want to consider ordering the bundle if your finances allow. I have found the DVD for prolapse and the yoga DVDs just wonderful, and yes, I am getting stronger and more fit from visiting them often. I wish you all the very best!

Findmehappier, I would just like to add to all of the above that at 6 months PP your body is still changing and recovering. At this point, instead of looking for high-impact stuff to do to get your old physique back, you should immerse yourself in some Whole Woman knowledge and understanding of what this is all about. Being in posture for 48 hours isn't going to "cure" this, nor is anything else, though chances are you are still in for some PP improvement if you do the right things and avoid the wrong ones. You will have bad days and good; setbacks at the beginning are the hardest to handle because you don't yet understand that it's all part of the deal. Good luck to you! - Surviving

Hello Surviving. I ordered the book and DVDs several weeks ago and am still anxiously awaiting them to figure out what the posture actually is etc. Hope they get here soon but will take you words of wisdon and advise when they do. Thank-you.

I know that feeling of wanting to be a total bada**. I couldn't begin to unravel where it comes from, but I'm happier when I'm stronger and leaner. Maybe that makes me selfish or something, but I'm accustomed to a very high functioning body. I want to be able to run fast and jump high and swim far and lift things with out much effort.
I'm 16 months postpartum with our 5th baby and I'm ALMOST ready to commit to an every day kind of routine for exercise. I've always started earlier than 16 months because I knew I was going to be pregnant again, so I was in a hurry. This time, I'm not thinking about that ;) and I feel like I have the rest of my life to get there, why rush. But my sweet baby is ready for me to leave her home with the family so I can work out.
anyway, a long way to say
first: living in wholewoman posture will make you stronger than you have ever been before. It's a consciousness of movement that you can employ all the time you are on your feet or sitting down. It brings an energy and awareness and purpose to your movements all day long.
second: the wholewoman exercise routines are challenging and can be made more so if you need them to be, you can push yourself in a really healthy way. So, consider the exercise dvds :)
third: there is no reason that you must stop your gym routine- but I recommend getting really familiar with your body first. Know what causes problems for you (for example, I experimented with distance running vs running for speed to determine if one or the other caused any issues).
last: time. you have it. so take it.

Hi FindmeHappier

If you are nursing your vagina and vulva are probably not very juicy yet. I suggest that you use an everyday vaginal moisturiser or lubricant to help them to be more comfortable. This may also help with the burning you are experiencing.

Go easy girl. Alemema is right. Lower impact for a start. I doubt that you will get results sooner if you go harder and more often. Patience is the most important part of this first few months. You might get buff on the outside but your internal connective tissue is going to take a long time to come back near pre-pregnant, no matter what you do.

Louise

I am not sure about this one - But if i remembner rightly - when you are on a cross country ski machine - You are stabilizing yourself on a kind of hard pad-cusion with your lower belly? If this memory of mine is correct - I personally would not do that as I believe I need to be able to stabilize myself upright with my own core.... But - I am not 100% sure on this as I really didn't like the nordic track for me, so I only had one for a couple of weeks then I bunged it on ebay and got rid of it LOL

I would probably say - Try for a short time- and see how your body likes or dislikes it - Getting to know yourself and the POP within is a long term thing. To be able to 'Live well with prolapse' it will become a lifetime journey to see what works and what doesn't. And if it doesn't work - You may have a down day or two with POP - But it can and will revert to where it was..... And the only reason I know people DO get better from these very peeky and down days - Is because I have been through battles with my POP twice now - When i got here - And later when I had a second battle after not thinking before doing things and assuming that once fixed = always fixed. But if you take small steps - Unlike myself who just jumps right in - lol - Take small steps and test things - And you may well be able to nordic ski by moving that stabilizing pad up a bit or down a bit.... who knows...... You could become the WW nordic exercise guru :-)

If I'm not mistaken, one is leaning forward on a Nordic Track, at an angle that is extremely bad for prolapse. Start with the basics of posture, before you try to figure out which machines you can still use or not. Personally, except for my treadmill for walking on bad weather days, if I were a "newbie" I would hesitate to use any of them for right now. There's a bigger picture out there, that needs to be embraced first. - Surviving

However, there are some people who will happily use a machine for half an hour a day, but find WW Yoga not to their liking. I guess it is a case of deciding which medicine is better for you. If it tastes nicer it is not necessarily better. Understanding why some medicine is better than other medicine is the key to choosing the better, and making your POP's behave better.

Agree with you totally; my concern is that most of these workout threads are started by new members, and we don't want them to leapfrog over the posture principles in order to stick with their old way of "working out". - Surviving

I think it is because new members just do not want to (in some respects) give up their old self - They wanna do all they ever did and for POP to give in and behave.

I can understand that - But true knowledge can be found from acceptance of the fact that you are permanently changed, that can be like a grieving - I know I grieved my old body - And then accepting that you are not the person you were - And finally getting to know the new you.

In no way does this mean the new you is a lesser woman than the old you - This is just a different woman. IN a similar way to the new me being a different woman to the me who I was when I was carrying 138lb more than I am today....

It is like meeting a new person - But in the same the old person is still there. I think you have to just 'find yourself' in a new way.

There is no way to leapfrog over getting to know the new you and what she can do. She is a strong woman inside of you - You will find her an inspiration of what she CAN do, when you have accepted what she can't.

I hope that all women who come here who were previously total workout addicts like myself, will not judge themselves as failing - Your body has not failed you - This is just part of the journey of life and you may be going down a different path now - But you will still get where you wanna go. Life is a journey - And you WILL be OK..... We just have no maps or sat nav and we have to stumble our way until we find our wings to fly.

And fly you shall - You shall be fit and live well with your POP!
But maybe it will take you down a new path or two to get there :-)
Hey - turning left is not always a bad thing - It can take you to somewhere fabulous by the scenic route.

If we just keep the posture in our minds - We will know what our body wants and needs and what it might protest about :-)

Oh look I'm a babbling again - Bad me :-)

Dear Me, Myself and I

Please do babble on, babble a brook if you like. The depth of change you have transitioned yourself through and how you talk about it makes it worth the listening.

By your own account, if I got it right, you have implemented change willingly (your amazing weight loss, one of the hardest changes of all), been forced to change because of prolapse and a later illness, and inadvertently brought about another change through exercise induced hernias about which later you could beat yourself up over, if you so chose. You know a lot about change and different types of change.

Prolapse means unexpected, out of control change. At some point we stop ignoring it, denying it, fighting it and realise we need to go with it for at least a little way and see where it leads us. We start getting creative, we compromise, we bargain, we trade off. But that comes later.

How you convince someone about the best way, the right way is something someone like yourself is perhaps better qualified than most. Most of us as parents despair of “putting old heads on new shoulders”, but we have to keep trying that’s our heritage. Not that it is an age thing, we all act similarly.

From out of the dross, recognizing the true stuff is the secret. You have that, so please babble on.

Cheers Fab

Yes, please do babble, MM&I - loads of insights, thank you for all of your posts - Surviving

Hi Findmehappier

Surviving is right on this. We really don't want to be saying which machine is better, or how you can use a particular machine better. However, you did ask, so we are continuing this part of the conversation. :-)

WW work *is* primarily about posture as a means of managing pelvic organ prolapse. Being fit and strong is a high priority for managing prolapse, but there are several reasons why we advocate the exercise programs developed by Christine.

1 Christine has developed these exercises specifically for the purpose of strengthening the body and making it more supple in order to support our efforts to maintain WW posture. Correctly done, they will strengthen your whole body in ways that will enable you to support your pelvic organs much more effectively.

2 A six pack or flat stomach, which we do not consider to be desirable, useful or attractive on a woman, is *counter productive* for a woman who has pelvic organ prolapse. We aim to empower women to give themselves permission to allow their belly to find its natural shape (with slight resting tension), which provides the haven for her pelvic organs, out of reach of intraabdominal forces.

2 Making the videos enables us all to learn the techniques of these exercises from the DVDs. Learning them one to one with a Whole Woman Teacher is even more effective than this because a teacher can observe what you are doing and make corrections to your technique that will make the exercises more effective for you, and prevent the exercises themselves from causing symptoms, by adjusting how you do them. Those women who attended the Whole Woman Conference in Albuquerque in May will attest to the benefit of hands on help. I was surprised at how much a small adjustment in technique could be for women, when I heard them say, "Ahh! it feels better now," after I had put my hand on a certain place on their spine, or their foot, and suggested that they do the exercise slightly differently. YOu don't *need* a a teacher. Christine's explanations are very clear on the DVD.

3 The income generated from this, Christine's work, goes towards keeping WW afloat. If WW goes under, these Forums and all the women's stories, are lost. Gone.

By all means, continue your quest to utilise gym equipment for your exercise, but be aware that these machines are not designed for women who are managing pelvic organ prolapse, so you will get sub-optimal results. Being committed to gym equipment you will find better and worse ways of using them, which will not compromise your symptoms.

I still think that patience will be your best tool for surviving this postpartum prolapse. You are right at the worst stage of it now, as women of childbearing age will tell you on these Forums. Three to six months is often the pits. You can Search for their posts. By six to nine months it will start to feel somewhat better, whether or not you have done anything to help it along. WW exercises will allow you to maintain WW posture during this time, and will improve the improvement by making you 'appropriately stronger'. It will be a full two years until your body has fully reverted to 'as good as it gets'. Walking in WW posture with good, long strides, with a stroller, will give you a wonderful workout, of the type that your body really needs right now. You might also be able to push the stroller with your hips, and do wing flapping as well. This relies on being able to adjust the height of the handle/s. Your baby can have their very own guardian angel!

I am not telling you to give up your quest for a flat stomach. I am asking you to reexamine what you think is good for your body, and reexamine what you think is attractive,and why that might be.

Louise

:-)

To be honest my weight loss was somthing I fell (literally) over. I couldn't lose weight - and I had a fall and punched myself in the mouth hurting 2 teeth badly - 2 root canals and 3 abseses later - I lost them :-( - But I decided after that I quite liked my teeth so I gave up Diet Coke - And my weight started going down down down... When I gave up the last aspartame product (hermesetas) my weight came to the number where it started - Now I am about 20lbs below that - But I am happy :-) Not dieting - just living.

I now eat better foods and more food. I don't diet I just eat when hungry (I eat to live not live to eat) I fast - Only between meals - hahaha.

And about the flat stomach - I have one. - But it is not a washboard type...

To be honest I dunno if I went in to the change willingly - I would rather be eating ten chocolate cakes a day :-) I just found that by doiung things aslightly differently - I felt better - My POP didn't annoy me any more (And at one point just standing to do the washing up and I would be able to feel it protruding!) So - I guess I just changed things slowly and they became better - And I liked the freedom from POP problems POPping up and annoying me :-)

I think POP is alot about the emotions as well as the physical -Feeling like your body has betrayed you - Let you down - And has taken away from you your life. Feeling this is a permanent change you are out of control of. That was the fear I held within me - I cried about - I hated my body for daring to betray me in such a horrible way. I dont think you can ever convince someone about the best way - If there is a 'best way' for them - They hafta kind of find it themselves. I have a friend who went through Hyster for POP last year - I said about this site - I tried and felt down and upset about not being able to show the way - But in the end I came to the fact that - This is not MY journey - This is hers, this is her choice and she has to live with the after-journey that doing that brings. I worry - But - There is nothign I can do - I am not in control of the choices of another.

One thing about me is - I am a pretty open person - I do not hide my frailties or anything - I dont think I have a stiff upper lip - I fall apart spectacularly (hehe) But - In time I tend to sit and work my way through things - And maybe that falling apart is how I cope? Who knows. I just know - Things happen and being a very emotional person - I explode/implode. And then in time - I tend to find that 'OK' place again....

With POP I fell apart in a totally spectacular manner :-) But - In the back of my mind - The teaching was there (The second POP falling apart this was) I fell totally apart - But those words were in my head - The teaching had held me - It kept reminding me of what to do - And when I sat down and listened once more..... The road ahead became clear once again...

Part of being female is having an inner strength isn't it? I aleways felt so weak - So 'nothing' Now - I am a BLOODY STRONG WOMAN (when i've finished falling to bits that is) I never knew I was like this :-)

We need to get to know ourselves more - Forget what everybody else judges us al..... To our own self be true!

And truly..... I feel so empowered by that which I have learned over this past *thinks* 7yrs - Sometimes I even amaze myself!

Be well Whole Women... If we look after ourselves - It brings to us a strength that we are able to shar with many others - Just like in those old days when many women used to be together as a village..... We can be that village again.... Spread across countries... We are a community who holds much strength within us :-)

I never thought i would get over not exercises like a madwoman - It was a part of who I thought I was. It was 'who' I thought I was. Funny now - I have no urge to beat myself up over it... I musta grown up eh ;-)

But being a woman is so much more than being physically emotionally and mentally strong. Women can hold so much within them, we are women - we are so much more than there are words for....

I always wanted to be a boy when I was younger - Not now! I am woman!
HOO-Ya!

See when I am babbling I never really read it back - So the typo fairy probably is up there making a mess.... I just babble like I would speak - And yes I talk rubbish alot LOL

Have a great day Whole Women!

I love your beautiful babblings! thank you for all of your ramblings. They are lovely. You too have a great day!

... to hear you babbling away again, MeMyselfandI. Because it comes from your depths, truthful and uncensored, well maybe just a little bit. There needs to be more truth-speaking in this world, rather than pretending that we don't all have these things in our depths.

For a woman who is feeling weak, low and all those other negative things, to hear your account of what it has been like for you, would at the very least normalise their suffering. Thanks.

L

MM&I, your post touches on so much of what WW Yoga 3 (just came out!) is all about - knowing yourself and finding the power from within..... thanks for sharing, I can identify with every word. - Surviving

Thank You *blushes*

I sound like such a together person don't I - LOL- Truth is my Mom is in hospital as I type today and I am a head case!

I dunno about Yoga - Maybe one day I will try the ones that don't need any balance...

Best wishes to your Mum, MM&I. Hang in there.

L

Yesteray was a horrific day (I won't even begin to start or I will just fall to bits)
Today I am going up to collect her and to tell anyone whom I decide to that they shoudl have treated her LIKE A QUEEN and they didn't! So - My complaint has gone off and people should just understand who they are dealing with - Cos if needs be I will get mean (lol) Suffice to say - It is OK now - It's over - But they wer mean, they lied, and I am sooo not happy!
But it is over..... :-)
Off later to collect her and take her home....

It just happens time after time. How can we trust mainstream medicine, when these things happen? I guess they are only human, and doing the best that they can. This is why we need to be on the ball and think critically about our own health and sickness.

L

Hope it all works out, we will be standing by to hear your account of the fiasco! Feel free to ramble and rant. - Surviving

My Mothers extreme fiasco is now over. She is doing well - My complaints are with the right people (i think) - Even trying to colect her took forever - like 2hrs for them to bother to do discharge notes.

Grief!
But - The breast cancer is not OUT - And she is doing well. I jut pray that this never returns - This is the second time she has had to go through this - And this one was worse than last time I think - They really didnt tell their left hand what their right hand was doing....

I am so glad she is home now :-)

That's good MM&I. NHS, like our Medicare, can be really great, but as you say, the right hand rarely talks to the left hand. Our younger son fractured two thoracic vertebrae a few weeks ago. Similar story.

Good luck to your son. Hope he is on the mend real soon.

It is so different privately to NHS - But if they werent so busy cutting corners to 'not' save money - They could give a better service instead of being charged so much for something that is relatively cheap (Like they say 'Id like a light buld please' - reply says '99p please' they say 'Can you bill the NHS'' reply = 'Yes - That'll be £100 please' Its all a con - They are in charge of the buying - They should haggle or refuse and get a new source. I mean - If they say 'Ill find it elsewhere' the company overpricing things would go bust. They don't realise the power they hold...

Ah well.... I shall kick up a storm for my Mum - Who wouldnt complain... They will - Like before - Find they picked on the wrong person - Last time the ambulance woman treated My Mum disrespectfully - *I* get on the case - Last time we saw this person - she was too scared to even LOOK at my mother! (So she should be!) I will NOT have anyone treat my mother like dirt!
Hehe

Tho it is usually easier to fight for someone else. I just wish they would understand that old people / sick people etc - Ned MORE respect and they are not just a conveyor belt system of meat....

Moan over :-)

:-)

Hi again Findmehappier - Even if you do not have a nearby teacher and even if you have not yet ordered any of Christine's materials, you can and should be working on posture at all times. There is plenty of info on this site to guide you in that. If you are taking long walks NOT in correct posture, then you aren't yet helping yourself. Is the belly totally relaxed and lumbar curvature maximized during these walks? You don't have to exaggerate it...with a relaxed belly and pulled-up chest, it should take care of itself. I recall early on feeling the same thing at times, that my walks were making it worse. But they weren't, as I discovered as I continued on with WW posture being the primary and constant focus of my attention while walking. - Surviving

My best wishes go out to you. I am wondering about the 3 hr walk ? Had you built up to this? A 3 hr walk is a wonderful thing but not unless you started at 1/2hr, built up to 1 hr, then etc etc. AND all that walking time spent in a lovely WW posture. I do think you will find the DVDs very helpful. If you can swing just one of them, maybe the Prolapse DVD, and gradually bring those exercises into your daily life. They are so wonderful on so many different levels. One thing that I love is that they are not overly long. They are inspirational, well thought out, and in just 15 minutes +or- you have given your body and mind the opportunity to strengthen in ways that allow us to improve. I agree with you, I so wish I had a teacher near-by. Are you in Australia or the UK? Maybe one of the teachers there is not so far from you? I am sure there are needed corrections in my posture, but without the teacher contact, how will we know? I am hoping the skyping idea will take hold so we can have a consultation with visuals. My very best wishes to you.

I agree with Nightingale about the walking. It's one of the best ways to reinforce WW posture as you are learning it; however, a 3-hour walk is probably not going to feel great if you are a newbie at posture, and not hitting all the elements! It takes time and work to get to that point, and a true understanding of WW posture. I am in my third year, and a few weeks ago I did a 3-hour hike. Afterwards, my symptoms were about the best they've ever been since I discovered my prolapse.

It will be great if you can get with a teacher. However, no excuses if you can't! There is enough information on this site and in Christine's body of work to give you what you need. - Surviving

Have a look at the WW Teachers tab at the top of the page. I am a teacher. It might also be possible to have a Skype consultation. I am not quite up to there yet, but hope to be soon. You can email any of the teachers and explore the possibilities.

Louise

Sounds like you are really practicing it now. Watch out that you aren't lunging. At least my understanding is, that we are rolling off the feet, allowing the back foot time on the ground and reaching a bit with the front foot, but I am not thinking of this as lunging...just a nice long stride. I am building this stride little by little. Hope I am doing it correctly. Also, I know it is easy in the beginning to slip back into our old posture. If you can, just stay calm but constantly check it. I still make my walk, my WW meditation....always checking in on the posture and for me, the relaxed tummy because that has been the hardest. I wish you the very best.

Stretching out your strides, and taking your time, extends your hip joints and spine, encouraging a lumbar curve. When we hurry we tend to hunch our shoulders forwards, tightening the front of the body and preventing our body from stretching out. It makes us very tense. Tension makes the hunching worse, because we curl up to self-protect. Hunching makes the posture worse, which worsens POP. The world makes us tense and hurried. No wonder we end up with POP!

That's why our exercise has to reverse all these trends, to balance our bodies with extension of our muscles and open our posture to that of a Queen.

Louise

Yesterday while shopping I made a real positive effort to hold the WW posture. I walking proudly and it felt GOOD! I noticed that it relaxed my pelvis so my stride lengthend naturally and my hips could move........I was not flirting..........It felt very sensual, womanly!

Yes it is very sexy, it accentuates your curves and makes you look and feel sleek and strong. Really when you think about it, this posture should be a no-brainer for any woman, prolapsed or not. It is such a shame that most of us have lost it. I feel totally different these last couple of years.

We have claimed it back now! Look out, world. Here we come!

:-)