weights/body weight excercises

Body: 

Hello ladies! I am a 32 year old woman, 7 months post partum who was recently diagnosed with a grade 2-3 rectocele...I have been told not to lift anything over 15lbs; this has proved difficult because of my job and the fact that my baby is over 17lbs. anyways I desperately want to get back in shape after my baby now and want to know what parts of my workout routine I am allowed to do. I havent been to see my PT yet so I thought I might get some guidance here.
Can i lift weighst if I'm in a seated or laying down position? what about body weight exercises and crunches/leg lifts/planks?
also, what is this WW posture i'm reading so much about in the forums?
thanks ladies

Hi pandora and welcome!
Congratulations on your new baby! The whole woman posture is what this site is all about for helping to allieviate, manage, and in in some cases reverse prolapse symptoms. All the male based exercises you have mentioned above are what contribute to prolapse, so the sooner you learn about what the true female form is, the better you will feel overall. Go to the tool bar above, and start reading about Christine's work. She has helped so many of us in all stages of life with prolapse and our hips!

Here are a couple of quick links just to get you started:
http://wholewoman.com/newpages/video/ww101.html
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RvGROzIYN6w

Thanks ladies, I think it is great you all are here to converse and support each other... From what I understand, to take advantage of this wonderful help to live my life with these problems, I have to purchase something?

Not necessarily, but you would get the full benefit from completely understanding what Christine's work is all about. We are not here to push purchasing on anyone. If you do enough reading on this site, you should have enough to get started. If you are then curious about more, go to the whole woman store and see what Christine has to offer.
This is a lifestyle change for many of us, and Christine has done this research all on her own to help us fully understand what prolapse is truly all about.
We are not an infomercial, but dedicated women who really believe in whole woman work, because of how it has helped us get our lives back.
Keep reading and then you decide for yourself what you think of it.
Personally, I wouldn't have gone any other way! Best wishes to you!

You reap the benefits of this program in direct proportion to the effort you put in, and the commitment you make to your own success. There really aren't any shortcuts, and this is work that you will do for the rest of your life. You might want to stick around! - Surviving

Pandora, you do not have to order anything to begin the work. I started assuming the posture and doing some of the exercises based on video clips I found on this site. I have a medical background and understand anatomy fairly well, and Christine's teachings make much more sense to me than anything I have ever heard or been taught about the pelvic area of a woman. I ordered the book and some of the DVD's because I understood scientifically what Christine was saying and because I already felt just a minuscule improvement from the small amount of work I was doing from the video clips I had seen. I am in no way affiliated with this website, but I already believe in the work enough that I may pursue becoming a WW Practitioner one day. I have already told several women about this website, and I am a very skeptical person. Whole Woman is the real deal, and I cannot wait to continue my journey along this new path in my life.

Just an afterthought that you might appreciate: I had to lift several fifty pound bags of feed for my horses today. I have been terrified to even try for the past few weeks. I made sure I stayed in posture, and I felt absolutely no pressure or discomfort in my lower abdomen. I did not even feel the need to check my prolapse afterwards which is really amazing for me. I doubt I will be lifting fifty plus pound hay bales anymore because I cannot figure out a way to do that while maintaining the posture, but fifty pound bags are pretty heavy, and I managed that. I am not telling you to go out and lift heavy weights. I am only telling you that for the first time since my prolapse "dropped" further, I actually felt that I had the knowledge and technique needed to protect myself. That made me feel more like my old self again.

Good luck to you, and I hope that you will investigate the Whole Woman teachings further. This website is the first thing that has given me hope, and I am already seeing positive results from the workouts.

Dear Fillygene,

Welcome and thanks so much for the wonderful endorsement…and I couldn’t agree more. Not because “if I do say so myself” - lol - but because this is truly the way the female body works and we are best off if we work with what we have.

How exciting to hear of another possible WW practitioner!

Christine

Hi Pandora81,

I identified with your comments particularly because I am in my 30's and 17 months post pardum with my second child. I developed a mild rectocele at 3 months post pardum (with my daughter) and saw the doctor, gyno and pelvic physio. Naturally I was not given much uesful advice and I did not get on the web as was worried about what I would find and could not imagine there might be another way as wonderful as WW posture/exercises. I am all for natural ways but could not imagine how misguided the experts were.

Well I went on with life and my symptoms got worse (as I sucked and tucked) and now I have cystecole (mild) and a worse a rectocele (bulge does not pop back up anymore). I found the WW site 4 weeks after things got worse and wonder everyday why I did not listen to my gut and get online earlier. Hmn lesson learnt but I am still so grateful that I found this site before things progressed further.

So please try this stuff. I have purchased and read the book and will be looking into the yoga series soon and then other products. You can start online as I did and then see what you wish to learn more of. Reading the posts on this forum has also been great for me.

Now when I carry my daughter I know that my rectocele is moving up. When I cough, I cough into my relaxed lower belly and things improve (they feel horrible if I forget to do this). I do this work for me, for my family and to feel like a women. I have so much more love and patience for my body now. A gift this work has given me. We have so many years ahead of us in our 30's, we need to preserve and hopefully improve what we have - this work is the only way to do that.

I look forward to a future for my daughter where she will know and love this amazing part of her body rather than be removed and even fearful of it as I was (or now realise I was conditioned to be).

Thanks Christine and all the wonderful women on this forum.

P.S. I have nothing to gain from this post other than helping others and sharing my thoughts on this wonderful work.

thanks everyone! i am SO discouraged because i need to get back into shape and i know that at the gym, nothing burns fat like building muscle..and lifting weight that has to be more than 15 lbs! lol body weight exercises can help me but I can feel the "bulge" coming out of my vaginal opening when i strain at all (sorry to be so graphic, but i'm sure you're all used to it!) i will watch these clips & links you have shared with me :)

Dear Pandora,
I hope that you will be heartened when I tell you that living in WWPosture and adding the exercise DVDs including the wonderful Destinaton - Prolapse- Free, online course exercise program, BUILDS amazing Muscle and Strength that I have never been able to gain from conventional exercise!!
I lift and work with my own body weight which is around 10 stone, and add small weights to the arm exercises in the Hips DVD.
My muscles have become long and strong, & stronger every day, in a way that I would never have dreamed happening - but I bet Christine is NOT surprised at all.
All this muscle and strength without exhausting myself and raising much perspiration !!
I am proof that modern exercise styles are not only contrary to good health, even more-so with people/instructors yelling and pushing each other beyond healthy limits. They are so stressful on the body and soul.
The reason you have the "I can feel the "bulge" coming out of my vaginal opening when i strain" when lifting weights, is you are pulling your ab muscles in which pulls the organs back and down. WWP and exercise lengthens these muscles so that the organs are protected in the relaxed lower belly ( the lower belly may be relaxed, but by pulling the chest up. and working on this program, you will feel while in WWP that your muscles form a strong wall with no effort like sucking and tucking involves)
Just walking in WWP, sitting in WWP, strengthens muscles that we have not used for years because we don't sit on the floor holding up our own torsos (like babies learn to). Observe your babies and how they learn to sit unaided, hold themselves while walking, notice their lumbar curve and relaxed lower belly with their strong torso muscles, while lying with their legs frog - style, they are developing the roof of the acetabulum roof where the hip joint sits), and waking in tip - toe which develops their foot arch.
Christine's exercises, though challenging can be learned gently at our own pace. My abdominal wall is long, strong and the effort to get it that way is nothing compared to the nauseating burn that I experienced with crunches which affected my hips and prolapse.
If you read through some of my latest posts you will see how effective that they have been for me after a few short months. There is also a postpartum DVD featuring Christine's daughter - the exercises featured are suitable for most women with some fitness, and flexibility.
Hope this is helpful,
Best Wishes,
Aussie Soul Sister

I really appreciate your comment. I was extremely depressed until I found your website. Minutes after I found your site, I called my mom and told her that I finally had hope. I was feeling very desolate because the medical community really seemed to only have two answers - live with it or have surgery - neither of which appealed to me.

I cannot think of anything more satisfying than being able to teach women that there is quality of life after the discovery of prolapse. So many people unquestioningly follow the advice of doctors. I have great respect for the accomplishments of traditional medicine, but I also maintain a healthy dose of skepticism especially when radical surgery is involved. More women need to become proactive and advocate for themselves. Whole Woman is a God-send that allows us to do just that.

Thank you again for all of the work you have done and continue to do. I would probably be walking around in bubble wrap right now if I had not found Whole Woman. Thanks again. :)