Diastasis Recti occurs in both men and women but is more commonly found in postpartum mums. Diastasis Recti happens when connective tissue (known as linea Alba) has been stretched and widened by your growing baby. This creates a gap between your left and right rectus abdominals.
How can you tell if You have Diastasis Recti? Still looking pregnant months later? This is a common complaint among women. Another is a doming effect in the mid section when a sit up is performed. Back pain and pelvic floor incontinence can also occur. One or more symptoms can occur in postpartum women, everyone’s body is different. But all them are unwanted and not the effect you will be looking to achieve, right?
Sit ups and crunches are 2 of the most common core exercises people perform when trying to “flatten” their tummy. This is something even I was guilty of after my first pregnancy. In the right conditions these exercises are great as part of a balanced exercises programme, except when Diastasis Recti is present. Until core and pelvic floor function has been restored these are exercises best to avoid.
Why? Because when a crunch or sit up is performed it generally increases intra-abdominal pressure. This pushes your organs outwards through the gap and down towards your pelvic floor. ( It has to go somewhere right?) Before we can move on to exercises such as sit ups we must first focus on those deeper abdominals. The transverse abdominals, internal and external obliques and pelvic floor should be our priority.