From Guilt to Strength {Tummy Team, Week 2 Recap}

Here’s a report on how I’m doing, two weeks into the 8 week online core rehab course from The Tummy Team. You can read why and how I started in this post. I’m super pumped this week because I’ve had some ups and downs but things are a changin’ for the better! Here’s a recap…

Wow, I’m Weak!

On day nine I kinda got to a low point. I was learning more and more about proper body alignment and listening to my body for what was triggering my back spasms and was heartbroken when I realized that carrying Lydia (my year old baby) for more than 60 seconds caused my back to begin filing complaints. So did cooking, cleaning, sweeping, vacuuming, and pretty much anything other than standing still. The reality of just how weak I was and that I would need to baby myself for a season while I rebuilt my core was depressing to me!

I’m a push-through kind of gal, I don’t like admitting weakness to myself. I don’t like meeting an obstacle and not being able to go over it. I posted in the private forum about how discouraged I felt in realizing how broken I really was, and Kelly was so encouraging and shared links to blog posts that she’d written specifically to feeling broken and why working on my core really was the long term solution to this. Then, the very next day she published a new post that I felt had been written just for me–a reminder that pain is a blessing because its our body’s way of helping us find the problem and fix it.

Now, as I go through my day, I’m learning to listen to the quiet whispers of my muscles nearing fatigue, and telling myself to stop instead of pushing through. This would be totally depressing if I did not firmly believe that it is only for a season because I am going to build up the strength to engage my muscles properly very soon!

Signs of Progress

In fact, only the next day I seemed to turn a corner. I felt like my awareness of proper alignment really began to kick in, and I went ahead and let myself avoid stuff that would strain my back. (In other words, I had my man and kids carry Lyddie around for me and only held her briefly or when I was sitting.) By the end of the day I had not had a spasm in my back all day–first time in a long time!

I think my favorite part of the program so far is the education I’m getting on how my muscles and my body are designed to function. For me, knowledge is one of the biggest motivators. Kelly is able to distill her vast knowledge of muscle behavior and body mechanics into simple revelations that are making more of a difference in my life than any other attempt at fitness I’ve made in the past.

I’m also loving that the support is personal and in real time. Rather than providing “less” than an in real life class, it’s actually delivering more value with less effort on my part–I can only imagine how difficult it would be, in my current state of pain and weakness, to haul myself to an appointment several times a week. (Well, I do know what that would feel like–when I tried to address my back pain with twice-weekly chiropractic appointments, I came home with my back so angry, I had to ice it as soon as I got home.)

Surprise Bonus

I’ve struggled with poor posture my entire life, and always hated catching sight of my rounded back and slumped shoulders in the mirror. I felt this was an area of genuine failure on my part, and I hated that I just couldn’t seem to be disciplined enough to break the habit. Now I understand that my inability to sit or stand up straight was not laziness but due to weakness in my abdominal muscles, and I’m learning to wake those muscles back up and strengthen them so that my neutral position will actually be proper alignment. Strength is replacing guilt, and it feels amazing.

I can’t wait to report to you again in another two weeks! You can check out the programs Kelly offers here. I’m doing the Core Foundations one, but she also has a great one for if you’re pregnant–Prenatal Core Training. 

This post contains affiliate links because I’m techy like that (not!).

Have you ever taken an online course for anything? This is my first time and I’m kinda blown away at what an easy, effective way it is to learn! (Although I’m an extrovert, I seriously love anything that keeps me from having to leave the house. Bring the party to me, I say) What about you?