Before going through pregnancy and childbirth, I never shied away from sit ups, crunches, and other abdominal exercises that involved spinal flexion. However, a lingering case of postpartum diastasis recti made all of those exercises off-limits, so I had to rethink the way I trained my core.
My pelvic floor physical therapist often assigned bear plank leg reaches during our appointments. As a certified personal trainer I was certainly familiar with the move, but regretfully I’d never incorporated them into my routine on a consistent basis. Trying them in her office left me shaking after a set and sore the next day, and that was all the evidence I needed to start doing them more regularly.
