Diastasis recti – what it is, why you should care and your questions answered {a couple anyways}. I get LOTs of questions related around diastasis recti, both from pregnant mama’s, postpartum mama’s and that’s right even moms that had their babies over 20 years ago! Most women I’m finding don’t even know, let alone understand what diastasis recti is – IF they’ve even heard of it!
With your help I know we can help spread the word because you can do something about it – no matter how long it’s been. Watch my live video below where I address the mentioned above:
Diastasis recti is the separation of your abdominals, specifically when there is separation between your rectus abdominals down your midline. There are varying degrees of separation.
Click here for how to test if you have diastasis recti {be sure you are 10 weeks postpartum or beyond}.
Why you should care? Like I mention in the live broadcast above, I’ve talked with different doctors about this and they flat out tell me it’s all for vanity sake – I beg to differ!!! If you have abdominal separation then most likely you have poor pelvic floor and transverse abdominal connection – and probably suffer from occasional, if not daily back pain! That’s right! I find a big correlation between back pain {among other body aches and pains} that for many greatly improve as their diastasis recti improves.
Because – when your diastasi recti improves that means your pelvic floor and transverse abdominal connection and the fascial connection through your abdominals had become much stronger! And when that happens your back now has more support and that means your back feels better!
Mama’s – when you are pregnant back pain does NOT have to be a part of pregnancy. For many I know it is and for many it at least can be greatly minimized. That’s why I stress the importance of understanding and learning how to properly strengthen your deep core. A big reason why I’ve created everything I have. If you are pregnant I highly recommend my Digital Prenatal Program which also includes nutrition – and nutrition plays a big role in how your body feels and of course digestion {but I’ll leave that topic for another day}.
Then there’s the topic of hernia’s in the abdominal area – when you have weakend connective tissue and have diastasis recti that could greatly increase the risk for hernias in your abdominal area. In order to truely repair a hernia you do need surgery and I’m finding a lot of mama’s being led to do surgery to repair their abdominal separation {regardless of hernia{s} or not} but don’t understand that there is a lot of repairing they could be doing instead. More to come on the hernia topic….
If you are beyond baby or it’s been years and I’m extremely serious when I say 20-30+ years beyond babies! I get mama’s that ask me if 9 months postpartum is too long and it’s absolutley not! Because even 30 years postpartum is not to late – it’s never too late! The sooner you begin to rehab your core after baby the easier it can be but that doesn’t mean it’s every to late to start! I’ve got some very exciting news coming but for now you can get started with my Prenatal Sculpt DVD {seriously a great place to start postpartum or if you know your core is weak and need a safe place to start!}
And when you are able to start creating a good foundation of strengthening your deep core during pregnancy that could help you tremendously after baby when it comes to diastasis recti and core rehab! My eBook “The Knocked Up Fitness Guide to Pregnancy” is a must read as I break down how to properly strengthen your deep core along with tons more info!
Things you can do to help in minimize diastasis recti and helping to repair:
- Avoid crunches
- Watch for and avoid “coning of your belly”
- Do appropriate exercises that don’t stress your core but actually help in strengthening
- If you experience “leaking down there” I suggest avoiding those exercise for now and refocus your attention on your deep core connection.
- Be mindful of your exercise, focus on the connections you are making through your body and what you are actually feeling working.
- Give your body time to heal, very very important after baby and I know it’s hard but it really can make a huge and positive effect in the long run.
- Focus on good fascial connection through your body {more to come on this because I do realize most don’t even know what fascia is…}
- Posture! Stand tall, sit tall, walk tall, carry babies and children with good posture.
Use your core to hold your body upright – crazy idea I know! It’s amazing what just improving your posture can do.
Click here for 3 exercises that I LOVE for helping to strengthen your deep core and help in repairing postpartum and beyond.
More to come, so join me live this Wednesday June 22nd at noon CST on facebook.com/knockedupfitness
I know you’ve got questions so please post them below in the comments section. Please also share this post with your friends, mom, sister, aunt and anyone else you feel could benefit from this info. Sign up below so you don’t miss out on any of my new info and exciting announcements coming up soon!
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