Diastasis recti. You might have heard of it and/or experience it.
While you are looking for diastasis recti exercises and ways to fix it, you have to be aware that there are lots of misconceptions about it.
Closing the gap is not what matters the most. I know that sounds surprising, but in this blog post I’m going to show you what is the most important when planning your diastasis recti repair plan.
In today’s post, I will talk about 4 parameters to take in account for diastasis recti repair:
When testing for diastasis recti, you should not only assess the width of the gap between your rectus abdominis (your six pack muscles), but also the tissue quality of this gap.
If you’re not sure how to test for diastasis recti, you can head over to this blog post, How to tell if you have diastasis recti, where I show you, step-by-step how you can self-test for this and how to understand the results.
Once you have perform your assessment, you are left with 2 types of results:
When I say “squishy”, I’m not talking about the cute layer of fat we all have on our bellies after pregnancy. I’m talking about what can be felt deeper. You don’t have to put a lot of pressure to feel that, but still you don’t want to stop at the very first layer just underneath your skin.
One word of warning here, diastasis recti is something extremely common among postpartum moms.
But one does not equal the other. As I just explained, the tissue quality is really important to notice. That’s usually a sign of weakened and compromised tissues, and it might need more time to heal with a specific treatment plan.
Something else you want to note here is if there are any side pains and discomforts going along with this diastasis recti.
You see, everything happening in your body, doesn’t happen only locally. If your abdominal wall is compromised by a dysfunctional diastasis recti, you might experience some pains, discomforts and symptoms like:
What needs the most attention from a healing point of view, is definitely the tissue quality. We need to ensure and re-establish the integrity of your abdominal wall, for all the reasons I stated above.
You might still keep some kind of gap between your rectus abdominis but still have a strong and non-dysfunctional abdominal wall. This is exactly why closing the gap is not what matters.
Focusing on re-building a functional and strong core connection – and core-pelvic floor connection – is what matters the most.
Not the aesthetics. So if you still have some kind of gap after doing your abdominal and pelvic floor recovery, I’m ok with that. As long as you learned:
Lastly, how do you lay out your diastasis recti repair plan? It’s all about breathing and core-pelvic floor connection, my friend.
You see, when we breathe we usually do it backward. We tend to place more pressure on our pelvic floor muscles and our abdominal wall when we are supposed to follow the diaphragm movement.
When we breathe in, your diaphragm is going down, applying more pressure on your pelvic floor that goes down as well. Belly is usually being inflated, and your lower ribs are opening to the sides.
When we breathe out, the diaphragm is relaxing up, and our pelvic floor muscles are following along by being gently lifted. Belly is usually coming in, your belly button is moving in and up, as well as your internal organs, your deep core muscles are being activated, and your lower ribs are coming closer to each other.
You see how your diaphragm, deep core muscles and pelvic floor are all working together? This is exactly what we need you to master in order to close the gap and re-build a strong and functional core.
Moreover, posture also plays a huge role. An imbalanced posture will alter the course of your core and pelvic floor recovery. Without proper posture, your diaphragm won’t be able to function properly, so won’t your deep core muscles and your pelvic floor.
See how everything is connected? This is why I love this so much – postpartum recovery nerd here!
Doing crunches, sit-ups and other planks should be the last of your worries. You need to re-build a strong and healthy core-pelvic floor connection first. Then, after mastering a proper breathing technique and improving your posture, then only, you can start doing your favorite abs exercises. Only with, again, breathing it out and watching your posture!
If you want more details, you can head over to this blog post, where I go a bit more in details on the best postpartum recovery program and on this one, if you want to see what kind of exercise you can do (this one is good for all mamas, not only the ones having diastasis recti).
If you need some help to start your postpartum recovery, I offer a free consultation where we could talk about it and dive more into what you need to do to start feeling better, more energized and more confident. You can schedule your call by clicking here.
Disclaimer: Bonjour Baby strongly recommends that you consult with your physician before beginning and enrolling in any exercise program, even if you are in good physical condition, not suffering from any complications, and able to participate in the exercise.
Bonjour Baby is not a licensed medical care provider and represents that it has no expertise in diagnosing, examining, or treating medical conditions of any kind or in determining the effect of any specific exercise on a medical condition.
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