Diastasis Recti

[gottabefit]

Hi Cathe! I haven't had a chance to visit your website in many months, but I did get your new Slow & Heavy tapes for my b-day. Just did the leg and shoulder one -- WOW. I'll be feeling it tomorrow! I have quite a collection of your tapes and it makes exercising at home so much more fun. Plus you see results. You look fantastic in your new videos! -- my goal to achieve someday, although I don't think my build lends itself as well to a lot of muscle mass, but I'm gonna try!
My question is regarding separated abdominal muscles -- I have a two fingers width separation since having my second baby 4 months ago. I have read what I can find on this subject, as well as searching the forums here. What I want to know is how long do you have to modify exercise, will the muscles really come back together, can you do plank exercises, or pretty much everything except oblique work? A loaded quetion, I know. I just want to get things pulled in as quick as possible without doing more damage or prolonging the problem. I've read that you can hold the sides of your abdominals together while doing the exercises, however, when I do crunches, etc. the muscles pull together by themselves anyway. Thank you in advance for whatever info you can give me. Anyone else that has advice -- I'll take it. Thanks!

 

[Kath]

No profound thoughts to share here, except that my babies are 11 & 13 and I think I still have diastasis recti. When I do planks or pushups I can see a ridge in my abdomen, makes me squeamish so I try not to look. But I have really flat abs with good definition so it's not so bad, I don't think you're doomed to flabby abs even if it never goes away.

 

[gottabefit]

Thanks for your post. I don't think I'm doomed to flabby abs either, I just wonder if the connective tissue between the muscles will ever really reconnect. I'm still hoping that Cathy will see this and make some comment on it.

 

[mogambo]

You might want to post in the FitMoms forum, where Cathe's pregnancy expert, Sheila, might answer.

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi gottabefit! Sheila, our pregnancy forum expert, is very educated in this topic. I would post your question in that forum and hopefully she can give you a fairly informative answer.

I have actually taken a piece of another poster's question along with Sheila's answer which is related to your question but does not fully answer it. But at least it will give you some information for now.

Here it is:

Hi Lora-Kate! It sounds to me like what you are referring to when you say splitting abdominals is "diastis recti". Sheila, our prenatal expert here on the forum has addressed this question in the past. I will post her reply here. I also want to say that some people get this separation and some do not. I did not get this and neither did the other woman that all delivered babies around the time I had my first. We all did ab work through most of our pregnancies. By the way, I do abs on an incline soley to promote good circulation to the baby.

Sheila responds:

A very good reference for this is "Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year" by Elizabeth Noble. I would highly recommend this book.

Also, here is an exerpt from my "Healthy Moms Perinatal Fitness Instructor Training Manual"

Diastasis Recti

As a quick review, the rectus abdominis is the outermost abdominal muscle, which attaches from the top of the ribs to the pubic bone. It is composed of two halves called recti that are normally about a half an inch apart. The two recti are joined by a fibrous band of connective tissue or central seam known as the linea alba. The hormones of pregnancy cause the linea alba to soften. This is why women notice a “thicker” waistline early in their pregnancies. This softening coupled with the increased pressure from the growing baby may actually cause the two recti to separate around the area of the navel, somewhat like a zipper separating under stress. The onset of diastasis recti may be gradual or sudden (Ex. During a bout of coughing or during labor). During pregnancy, a gap or bulge is often noticed in the seam when the head and shoulders are raised. This is the “telltale” sign of a diastasis. Women sometimes find their diastases when they are rising out of bed and notice the bulge.


Implications

Pregnant women should be checked for separation after the 20th week of pregnancy or when they begin to “show.” They should be checked every one to two weeks after their initial assessment. Clients should also be checked after they return to class postpartum since they may have separated during labor and delivery.

The oblique muscles, which are involved with trunk rotation, insert into the linea alba. If a mom has a separated rectus muscle, she should not be doing rotational oblique work as this could encourage further separation. It is necessary to “splint” the seam (i.e. the “corrective” exercise) by crossing the hands over the lower abdomen when doing abdominal work.

Separation Check

POSITION: Supine, knees bent. Press fingers of one hand (horizontally) firmly into area around navel (perpendicular to the linea alba)

ACTION: Client slowly raises head and shoulders about 8 inches off the floor while reaching for her knees.

CHECK: How many fingers remain in gap?
- A slight gap (~ ½ - 1 finger) is normal.
- ~ 2 or more finger separation: Client should do the corrective exercise below.


"Corrective Exercise"

POSITION: Supine with knees bent(first trimester) or on a slight incline (after first trimester). Cross hands over the abdominal area and guide the recti muscles toward the midline to stabilize them.

ACTION: Inhale deeply. Slowly exhale and pull in abdominal muscles (“pull navel to spine”) while simultaneously pulling the underlying muscles together with your hands. Only raise your head, not your shoulders. Return to starting position.

This exercise should be done a few times in the morning and evening while lying in bed to keep the recti muscles in maximum tone and to discourage further separation." (end of response)

 

[gottabefit]

Thankyou Cathe! And congratulations on your second little one in the making! Have you or are you making a pregnancy exercise video? It seems to me that you mentioned you might do that with your second pregnancy. That would be awesome. I used your tapes into the first part of the third trimester but I had to use other tapes when I really had to slow down the pace due to Braxton Hicks contractions. Whenever I exerted extra energy or tried to pick up the pace, one of then would hit me and I'd have to back off. I'm back in the groove again though, 4 1/2 months after baby. Shooting for new goals.Thanks for your awesome workouts, Cathe. BTW S&H is killer!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Gottabefit! No I chose not do a pregnancy video because the time to rehearse and film it would have landed on the holidays and I did not want to film at such a special time. Btw, I don't know if you checked yet but Sheila has answered your question on the pregnancy forum. Take Care!