Fit Mums Friday – Part 1: 5 Posture Fixes To Look Slimmer Instantly

This post is the first in a series of four Fit Mums Friday articles that aim to give busy mums (like you) no-nonsense, easy to understand and super practical fitness info to help you trim down, have bundles of energy and feel on top of the world.

Over the next four Friday’s we will cover:

– Posture: 5 simple fixes to appear slimmer instantly

– Exercise: How to get 1 hours worth in just 15 minutes

– Motivation: How to find it and keep it

– Diet: Easy ways to make big wins with your diet and get lean

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Today we’re starting with the importance of fixing your posture to start by making you appear slimmer instantly, reducing many of your pain areas and automatically increasing your confidence.

By Dan Pinch, Founder of Fit Mums – Get your free 30-Day Beginner Weight Loss Guide for Mums

Did you know that some of the most common post-pregnancy postural issues seen in mums can make you appear less slim, cause you pain and knock your confidence?

It’s true, but the good news is that you can reverse these things with just 5 simple fixes, which will help you:

– Stand taller
– Look slimmer and trimmer
– Feel more confident
– Reduce back, knee and hip pain as well as tension headaches (yes, seriously)

You can banish pain, shave 5-10lbs off your silhouette, and you will feel totally awesome because of it.

Posture for Slimming

When you slouch, your shoulders sag over, your hips tilt forward and your belly is pushed out. This gives the appearance of being heavier than you are. On the other hand, when you stand tall and sturdy, with good posture, the opposite is true. Your tummy is pulled in, your waist is defined and you look awesome.

Normal changes that occur during pregnancy commonly cause poor posture in your shoulders, back and hips. This is normal, and definitely not your fault. But without proper correction post-pregnancy, it will continue to be an issue.

To show the importance, look at the following two images. They are both taken seconds apart, but you can see the difference between a poor posture and a good one.

Uses-for-evil side note: The appearance difference between good and bad postures is so distinct that many “before and after” pictures you see plastered over health products and websites are actually done on the same day.

If they can do it to fool people, so can you.

Posture for Pain Relief

Our bodies are designed to move and be held a certain way. Our spines are beautifully crafted to support our entire frame. Our hips, knees and feet are perfectly symmetrical in order to take equal loads on each side.

We disrupt this perfect harmony with poor posture. And it causes us pain. Poor posture causes imbalances that put stress on your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles as your muscles try to compensate, this can lead to pain in all of those joints.

Many mums have niggling aches and pains for so long, they simply dismiss them as a price of parenthood.

Don’t let this be you. The human body’s natural state is pain free. Even with conditions such as SPD, slipped discs and diastasis recti – posture can be huge in managing the pain symptoms.

Don’t ignore your pain, fix it. These 5 tips will go some way to helping.

Posture for Confidence

Confidence may seem a strange thing to link with posture, but it’s been proven that a strong, open posture creates physiological changes to your hormone levels – making you feel more confident and powerful. Who doesn’t want that?

The other cool thing about posture and confidence is that it’s a self promoting cycle. When you improve your posture, if makes you feel better, which makes you have better posture, which makes you feel better…etc.

Once you’re aware of it, posture is easy to adjust throughout the day. All you need is a little knowhow.

And here it is:

Correction #1 – Pelvic Tilt

Having a degree of pelvic tilt is extremely common among mums. During pregnancy, your lower spine and pelvis must tilt in order to accommodate your little grower.

You spend so long in this position that your back muscles shorten and your front abdominal muscles lengthen and weaken. This means that even once you’ve given birth, you’re left with an anterior (front) pelvic tilt.

The result is that you can appear to have an overly protruding belly. You may perceive this as carrying extra weight, but with this 20 second readjustment you can get rid of it!

What to do

To fix this and instantly be visibly slimmer, do the following:

1. Stand up
2. Clench your butt muscles firmly – as you do this pay careful attention to your hip position, you should notice that clenching your butt muscles actually moves your hips in a backwards rocking motion.
3. Tense your front abdominal muscles firmly – concentrating on using them to maintain your new hip position
4. Relax your butt muscles
5. Reduce your abdominal muscle contraction to around 20-30% in order to maintain the new pelvic position

Every time you stand up or are standing for a prolonged period, repeat this process to reset your hips. After a short time, this will become your default position and you’ll look slimmer permanently.

Correction #2 – Shoulder Slumping

Another common postural issue for mums is shoulder rounding or ‘slumped’ over shoulders which can give a widening appearance.

Shoulder slumping commonly occurs during pregnancy as the increased weight can ‘pull you down’, putting strain on your upper back and shoulders causing them to roll forward.

As well as the visual effects of shoulder slumping, the strain put on your back and shoulders muscles can cause severe tension headaches.

I know this pain first hand. For years I had issues with severe head pains. Once I realized it was because of my poor shoulder posture, they went away almost immediately.

What to do

1. Stand up
2. Roll your shoulders backwards in a circular motion 3 times
3. On the third roll, as you reach a shoulders-back position, stop and hold
4. You should feel that your shoulder blades are flat against your back and not sticking out (if you put your back against a wall you shouldn’t feel your shoulder blades poking it)
5. Hold this position and reset each time you feel the position drop away

Correction #3 – Duck Feet

When you stand, walk, jog, squat, sit and basically do anything in life, your toes should always be facing forward. During pregnancy, it’s very common to develop flat feet due to a shift in body weight and centre of gravity. Flat feet causes your ankles to roll inwards when you walk, which can then result in your feet turning.

Look back at your footprints when you walk out of the shower or just look down and check yourself when you’re standing. Do you see a V shape? If so, you’re walking duck foot.

Walking with your feet turned out continually weakens your leg and back muscles, as well as puts a huge strain through your lower body joints. You may already have aching knees and back, but if you don’t, it’s only a matter of time before you do.

What to do

1. Simply be conscious, when standing and walking, of your feet position
2. Look down frequently and diagnose whether your feet are straight or turned out
3. If turned out, make a conscious effort to straighten them

Correction #4 – Hip ‘Sitting’

We all experience that tired feeling when we’re stood still for too long, when our legs start to ache

The worst part is that we usually favour one side over the other. Meaning the muscles on one side of the body stretch and weaken more than the other, creating a muscle imbalance. This muscle imbalance, paired with the added pressure you’re putting on to one hip, results in pain through the hip and lower back.

What to do

As with #3, simply be conscious when you are standing. Frequently check yourself and make adjustments so you’re standing evenly on both legs.

Correction #5 – Belly Hang

Another side effect of pregnancy is lengthening, weakening and, in some cases, separating of the core abdominal muscles.

This weakening means you don’t naturally pull in your stomach like you used to, as the internal pressure of your stomach is greater than the resistance of your muscles. What results is a ‘belly hang’.

Part of the belly hang can be caused by a layer of fat stored in the stomach region, but a considerable part of it is simply the relaxed muscle allows the internal pressure of the stomach to protrude.

The good news is that this can be taught to go away without any exercise or dietary changes.

What to do

1. 1. Either standing or sitting

1. 1. Use your abs to firmly suck in your stomach as far as you can go (imagine trying to lift your belly button in to your ribs)

1. 1. Reduce the ab contraction, allowing your belly to lower from the sucked-in position but stopping when it’s flat

1. You should keep around a 30% contraction to keep it in place

This can be tough to start with if you haven’t recently been doing core exercises, but here’s the bonus good news… By doing this contraction regularly, not only are you improving your posture and making yourself appear slimmer, but this is actually a valid core exercise and will actually be strengthening your core muscles.

Combine these techniques with the exercise and nutrition guidance in the Free 30-Day Ultimate Beginners Weight Loss Guide for Mums and you’ll be giving yourself the best chance of transforming your body and confidence in no time.

Don’t forget to check back next week for Part 2 of Fit Mums Friday.

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