Diastasis Recti

Nothing to Fear & Everything to Learn

Companies have learned that fear sells—especially to women and most definitely to moms.   

If you are afraid AND only have access to partial or distorted information about your body, then you are more likely to buy whatever they tell you will fix the problem. 

Case and point, Diastasis Recti.  

Diastasis Recti (pronounced dai·uh·stay·suhs rek·tai or just DR for short): 

Is a common condition that describes a thinning and weakening of the abdominal wall and an inability to create a strong, unified contraction of all of the layers of your abs across the midline, or Linea Alba.

ANATOMY 101

In order to make an accurate strength assessment and informed decision about your healing, we are going to first dive into understanding what your muscles do and why.

Your TVA (transverse abs) form the base of all of your mid-trunk muscles, from the back through your side waist, across the front of your hips. They are your stability muscles that glide back and forth around your waist when you take deep breaths.  

Resting on top of your TVA, are your visible ab muscles, which are your mobility muscles—meaning they are the ones that flex and extend to help you bend over, turn and lift heavy objects (like your toddler!).

Here’s what you need to know: Isolating your TVA is new for most people.  I certainly never had to do it before having babies.  But, and this is essential - learning to isolate and strength train your TVA is the secret sauce to rehabilitating your pelvic floor, your back and entire trunk function. This is because your TVA is the foundation for your entire body.

When your TVA is passive and unresponsive (which naturally occurs with pregnancy and childbirth), you will experience all kinds of tightness in your hips, back and pelvis.  You’ll feel like it’s impossible to engage your abs and like you’re stuck and can’t move easefully. A disengaged TVA often contributes to other conditions like incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

TAKES TIME TO LEARN YOUR TVA, BUT IT WILL PAY OFF

Chances are, you’ve never had to isolate your TVA. I certainly hadn’t prior to giving birth! My core had just always kind of been there for me. So, learning how to breathe and create the subtle glide of your TVA without triggering other muscles (like your hip flexors) requires both patience and consistency. The more you practice, the stronger your neural pathway from your brain to your TVA becomes, making it easier to strength-train and make progress.  

Check out this video in Phase 1 for detailed instruction on strengthening your TVA.

THE SECRET ABOUT MEASURING DR:

There is no standardized way to check for DR by a healthcare provider or even by pelvic PT’s. If your OB does a quick check at your 6 or 8 week check-up and declares you fine or “3 fingers,” take a breath, go home, and follow these steps to discern your actual abdominal capacity. 

WHAT DO FINGER MEASUREMENTS MEAN?

Not much, honestly.  

Consider a belly at total rest. If I stick my fingers into the space between the two sides of your six-pack, chances are I’d be able to get a few fingers in there, especially if I’m digging around. 

Now, consider a belly that has been activated into a best-effort attempt to co-contract your TVA and your six-pack? This midline would be much more firm.  

Then, take the same belly, on a mom who hasn’t slept in 24 hours, whose back is jacked and ask her to make a best-effort contraction—her midline would measure much more weakly.  

Here’s my point (and some homework!): Hold your initial DR reading lightly. Let it be a guide post that you check every 6-8 weeks as you are doing progressive strength and rehabilitative work (ahem…like working your way through RM Phase 1, for example).

HOW TO KNOW YOU’RE READY TO WORKOUT

Right after delivery, your belly is literally a deflated balloon—the tissues are stretched and beginning a healing process that spontaneously contracts and shrinks your tissues. This is NOT the time to start digging into your midline to see if your abs are separated—they are and that’s totally normal.  

In the early days post-childbirth, it’s best to do some simple breath-based, TVA engagement (follow along here) where you’re waking up your abs to work within the movements of daily life—to help you stand up, sit down, and support a baby cradled in your arms.  

Once you are feeling like you want and need more, head over to the 4th Trimester program. Timing is personal—for me, it was about 10 days post birth. So, no matter when you’re feeling like you need to get into your body and begin moving the newborn kinks out, it is the right time.  

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE READY 

Have your mind in the right space and understand your motivation to help your body heal and feel more at ease.

Enter a place of curiosity with your body. Go from tending to your recovery, to helping your body heal and regain strength—not from hating your postpartum body and trying to get anything back from before motherhood. That is all in the past. Now, you are in the present and moving forward. Remember, you are living the opportunity of your lifetime—to embody and know yourself as a mom, as a woman, as all of the facets of brilliant you.

Motherhood is everything…the entire suite of human emotion, thought, and self-expression. It takes courage to enter your body as a mom, because you will release feelings that are big—they could be scary and you might even discover some inconvenient truths. But, this is the gateway to thriving and really enjoying your life.  

Be brave—you can do it! You can do anything you set your mind to…you gave birth! So, place fear of your body, mind, and emotions aside, roll out your mat, and discover what is possible in this lifetime.  

I’m in there with you, every step of the way.