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Exercises for Diastasis Recti or Tummy Gap
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:37 AM |
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Diastasis Recti or tummy gap So you have a Diastasis
Recti, where there is a gap running in the muscles (more then 2 fingers gap, 2
or less is fine) down the front of your tummy. What now? We want to try, with gentle
exercise, to correct the gap (bring it back together). Why? Because Diastasis
Recti is associated with a weak core including week pelvic floor and can lead
to a lack of strength & stability in the entire pelvic region &
midsection. Weakness in these areas could contribute to back pain, bad posture,
pelvic floor dysfunctions, hernia, as well as potentially leaving you with a
tummy that looks like you are still months pregnant aka THE Mummy Tummy. There are a few huge NO’s
when starting to exercise to correct the Diastasis Recti: ▪
Sit up’s /
Crunches or any exercise of this kind – NO ▪
Pilates
exercise such as Jack Knife, rolling – NO ▪
Oblique Twists
or any such exercise that work the Oblique muscles – NO If you’re unsure what these
are, don’t worry. You simply don’t want to put any pressure on this
midsection, which will only serve to pull the rectus abdominus apart (6 pack),
until we are sure that, through gentle core exercise, the gap has been
corrected and closed. Before we can move on to
any of these type of exercises we need to work with the Transverse Abdominus
(TA), the deep postural muscles that act as corset around the spine, along with
the Pelvic Floors (PF). The Exercises To work the TA & PF, we
work with our breath in a slow and controlled manner. 1. Seated tall on
a chair or crossed legged on the floor, lifting right up onto the sit bones, lengthen through the spine and draw shoulder blades down your back into a soft V shape. 2. Breathe in
through the nose wide and full into the rib cage, so that you feel the ribs expand and breathe out slowly and controlled through the mouth as if breathing
out through a straw. Practice the breathing a few times. 3. Picture a piece
of string from your belly button going back towards your spine and when you
breath in pull the string back so that your tummy button pulls back towards your spine and as you breathe out slowly release the string (tummy button)
back. Practice this a few times before we really start multi tasking! 4. Repeat step 3 again, but this time imagining a lift between your pelvic floor muscles and your tummy button (your lift has 10 floors) as you breathe in and pull your
belly button back you are going to pull up your lift to the 10th floor (PF) or
as high as you can and then breathe out and slowly release. 5. Try step 1-4 on
all 4’s. Hands under shoulders, knees under hips, head in line with the spine,
eye line to finger tips. 6. Now place a
pillow/cushion or Pilates/Chi Ball between your knees and whilst completing
steps 1-4 on all fours include a squeeze of the pillow or ball between your
knees. 7. You can also do
step 6 in laying on your back, feet flat, knees to ceiling. Do this every day, make it
part of your get up or go to bed routine. As well as this practice your pelvic floor exercises. How Long Will
It Take? How long it takes to
correct/close the Diastasis depends on 2 major factors, the first being the
severity of the Diastasis…for example a gap of 3 fingers in the top which is
quite shallow could take just 6 weeks but a deeper wider gap will take much
longer to repair. The second factor is YOUR commitment, like any form of
exercise only your own commitment will gain results. Think of your commitment
as muscle the more you train it the stronger it will become! Most of all give yourself
time and don’t expect over night results, Rome wasn’t built in day as they say! Once the gap is closed we
can start to add different exercises onto this. A word of caution here though,
just because you have closed the gap doesn’t mean it will stay closed if you
train in the wrong way. You COULD re-open the gap so it is important to take
advice from a qualified pre-post natal exercise specialist before you do
anything further. But you can give yourself a massive head start by practising
steps 1-7 EVERY single day! |
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