Hey, ladies!
Today we’re going to be talking about Diastasis Recti, which is an abdominal separation you
get, usually with pregnancy.
So today we’re going to be talking about Diastasis Recti.
What this is, ‘diastasis’ means ‘separation’, ‘recti’ refers to your ab muscles called
‘rectus abdominals’.
So, what’s going to happen is – with diastasis recti, it’s a fairly common condition in
women, especially during postpartum, where the right and left halves of the rectus abdominus
muscles actually split apart in the midline fascia.
What you’re going to see, if you have this, there’s going to be a gap here.
Sometimes it can happen here, but generally it’s going to happen through here.
There are different widths.
Some people will have the two-finger, three-finger, so it can really vary, depending on the condition
in the person.
If the symptoms of – it’s actually a symptom of excessive, or unsupported intra-abdominal
pressure.
So, what happens is, the belly sticks out because the space between the left and right
of the belly has widened.
It’s very common, like I mentioned, among pregnant women, and about 2/3 of pregnant
women actually get this.
So, the best time to start strengthening your core is before you get pregnant.
But if you already have this, then you really want to make sure you’re taking the right
steps to condition in the proper way.
First what you want to do is, you want to test to make sure you actually have it.
There are tons of great videos on YouTube that can show you how to do it.
It’s a super simple test.
It just takes a few minutes to see if you actually have it, or you can chat with your
OB/Gyn first.
Most people can usually tell if they have it.
But it’s always good to make sure you test first before starting any kind of ab workout
at all.
Just very quickly, the exercises you want to avoid.
You absolutely want to avoid a standard crunch.
That would be this motion here.
On the ground.
You do not want to be doing any kind of standard crunch.
What it does is severely increases the intra-abdominal pressure.
So, it’s going to push your organs outward, against, and through the gap, and downward
into the pelvic floor.
You really want to make sure you’re avoiding that.
Even just a regular sit-up.
Same thing.
We don’t want to do that.
Any kind of twisting, anything here; you absolutely do not want to do any kind of twisting.
Planking.
This isn’t really the time to do planking either.
It just puts too much pressure on the abdominal wall.
I’m just going to run , though, really quickly, four different exercises you can do at home,
just to help you gently start engaging the deep core stabilizers, the pelvic floor muscles;
all the muscles that have separated and need very gradual, gentle strengthening.
The first thing we’ll start with is a pelvic tilt.
We’re going to lay on the floor, our knees will be bent, our palms will be up.
We’re going to think ‘belly button to spine’.
We’re going to gently rotate our hips up toward our face.
Normally I would say have your head, and a neutral spine.
Relax on the ground.
I’m just going to talk up to you guys.
So just know your head should be on the ground, and fully relaxed here.
So, you’re going to think about raising, and lifting that spine a little bit.
But it’s all through the hips.
I’m gently tilting my pelvis toward my face.
It’s a very small movement.
It really doesn’t show much.
So, you’re here, and I’m just engaging these very deep lower muscles here.
Relaxing and tilting my pelvis up and rotating back on the ground.
Rotating up.
So, you can see, it’s a very slight tilt, and relax.
Tilt, and I’m really trying to engage those muscles.
I clench them up and relax.
Once again, those are some really critical muscles to work on.
Those deep core stabilizers, those pelvic floor muscles.
The next one we’re going into is a heel slide.
This one is all about stabilizing through the core.
Our knees are going to be bent, our shoulders will be shoulder width apart, our palms are
going to be up.
Neutral spine, naval to the spine, once again.
So, we’re kind of keeping our core engaged the whole time.
What you’re going to do is press your heel – actually, I’m going to bring this up
because my heel is not going to slide.
I’m going to take my shoes off.
Just so you can get a little bit more of a slide with these.
I’m going to take these off quickly.
Okay, so we’re back down here.
We’re going to have our palms up, and you’re going to think about a little bit of pressure
on the ground.
We’re not going to lift that heel, and then we’re coming back.
So that’s what that navel to spine.
We want to think about our belly button to spine.
As we’re pushing down.
Then I’m bringing that up.
I’m really feeling that through the bottom muscles here.
Those deep core muscles.
Those stabilizing muscles.
I’m down, bringing my knee up, never lifting it off the ground.
I’m not putting a ton of pressure, but I’m really focusing on those deeper, lower muscles
doing the work there.
It doesn’t look like it’s doing a lot, but you’re going to feel that.
Even just doing that little bit I did.
Next, we’re going to go into a knee lift.
We’re staying in that same position.
Everything is going to be.
Bent knees, palms up, neutral spine, belly button to spine.
With this one, we’re going to focus on the knee raise.
Think about controlling this.
Not only up, but down.
Especially on the down.
I could really feel that lower muscle here doing a lot of work.
With all of these, I want you to think about doing 8 to 10 reps.
I’m lifting, slowly lowering, because that’s where I’m really feeling it; on that lower.
When I’m lowering my leg I’m really feeling it through those deep core stabilizers.
So, the stronger you get, that’s where you can start doing two feet.
And lower.
You’re really going to feel it when you’re lowering on these.
And lower.
Belly button to spine.
And lower.
Really good.
Okay, our last one.
We’re going to do a pelvic pillow squeeze.
So, we’re going to stay on the ground, you’re going to get a pillow in between your knees.
You’re going to be palms up.
This is going to be working the intra-pelvic floor muscles, and we’re going to be activating
the adductor muscles of the inner thigh.
So, I’m laying here.
Once again, neutral head, my belly button to spine, my palms are up.
I’m just thinking about really squeezing that pillow as hard as I can.
I’m bringing my knees together and I’m going to relax.
Squeeze that pillow together the best that you can.
Not only am I feeling that in my inner thigh, I’m actually feeling that in my low rectus
abdominus at the very bottom.
And relaxing.
So, think about anywhere from 8 to 10 squeezes, relax, squeeze again as hard as you can.
Really think about trying to squeeze your knees together through that pillow, and relaxing.
8 to 10 reps.
Try to think about doing three rounds of each of these exercises.
Try to do this workout five times a week because they’re very gentle exercises.
You don’t need to overdo it.
Remember, it’s all about healing and strengthening at the same time.
Hey, ladies!
Thanks for joining me today.
I hope you found this video helpful.
Please make sure you take things gently and carefully because I know it’s a long process.
Just do what you can.
Hit the like button, subscribe if you liked the video today.
Leave us comments and let us know if there are any other videos you’d like to see from
us and thanks for joining me!
We’ll work out soon.