Below are some of my best Instagram post on your diastasis recti essential so you can get a strong core and feel confident in yourself again. You can find the original posts here and much more juicy topics you need to know for healing your core.
Is It Too Late to Fix Diastasis Recti?
I am X years postpartum, is it too late to fix my belly pooch?
It’s never too late. Take myself, for example, I didn’t know I had diastasis in 2016, and I started working on it in 2018 after my second baby was born.
It does not matter how many years you are into postpartum
Healing diastasis is about healing the connective tissue called the linea alba. It runs in the middle of your abdomen holding your left and right core muscles in place. Currently, it is too stretched out like an overused rubber band.
4 factors
- The severity of your DR, specifically the conditions on your linea alba
- Ligament laxity from breastfeeding
- Correct exercise techniques
- Genetics, does DR run in your family?
Severity of your DR
How damage is your issue?
The width and the depth of your diastasis recti will help determine how damage your linea alba is, though an ultrasound will be the most accurate. The severity could come from how many babies you have had. Did you have a multiple birth?. It could be the way you worked out during pregnancy and after birth. Maybe you didn’t know you had DR like how I was after my 1st pregnancy, and worsen the linea alba.
Ligament Laxity
Are you currently breastfeeding? The hormone relaxin increases the laxity and softness of ligaments. So if you are not breastfeeding, you may heal quicker. But DO NOT quit breastfeeding just to heal DR. Liquid gold is more important in my opinion.
Your Exercise Techniques
Are you exercising correctly? Or are you flipping through YouTube videos doing what everyone is doing? Remember, your journey is not the same as everyone else. An exercise that is appropriate for her may not be appropriate for you because of the way you load the pressure, your breathing pattern, your hips stability etc. Correct execution is key.
Genetics
Does DR run in your family? How long did it take your mother to heal her diastasis? And how far and deep did she have it? Most interestingly, does she still have it NOW?
START NOW
I don’t want any of the previous reasons to paralyze you. If you never start, you will never know your strength. This is the worst place to be in: what if I started 5 years ago, where will I be now?
Weight Loss and Diastasis Recti
Tone, lose weight, core strengthening, what should you choose?
If you have been following me, losing weight and healing Diastasis at the SAME time has been my approach. I lost 35lbs in 5 months while building strength in my core. However, having the knowledge I have now, would I recommend it to you? It depends.
Remember. Slow down is to run faster.
Is your foundation in place?
Good Foundation / Poor foundation
great breathing pattern / poor breathing pattern
Awareness in your pelvic tilt / No idea what an anterior pelvic tilt or posterior pelvic tilt is
Understand what doming and bearing down looks like/ you have no control of core functions
Good posture from head to toe / poor posture
Understand if your pelvic floor is working with your core/ you have no idea what this means.
Take me for example. In the beginning stages of my diastasis recti recovery journey, my physio showed me some exercises but she didn’t teach me the foundation.
So I lack the knowledge on how my body works. Since I did the exercises at home without her watching me, I didn’t know how to catch myself if I was exercising correctly.
I only wish if I knew these principles from the beginning.
However, I strongly believe that if you need to lose weight, then you should. Don’t let your diastasis discourage you from doing anything. Otherwise it’s going to kill your momentum.
Without momentum = No action = Staying it is
Find a balance between losing weight, toning up and healing your diastasis recti WITH the foundation in place first, so you are reaping the rewards every step of the way.
Engaged Abs Vs Sucking Abs
There is a big difference
This is the difference that will make or break your diastasis recovery
When you are sucking in your abs, most of your work come from the area between your belly button and ribs (A)
It could look like your upper abs is flattened while lower abs remains the same. It could look like your ribs are gripped by your muscles and/or lower belly pooches out. It could look like nothing has happened (That’s me!)
How do you engage your ab or the deep core muscles? You need to think of your body like a sweater with a zipper. We are zipping from the bottom up.
First
Relax your belly and pelvic floor completely
Second
Contract your pelvic floor muscles
Third
Think of lifting a marble up with your lady parts gently
Fourth
Make a “Shhh” sound very slowly as you do #3
Fifth
Stop when you see your abdomen looking uneven. For example, the lower abdomen is raised or your upper abs sinks in.
Try doing it lying on the floor first so you are not fighting against gravity. Here are some common reasons that keep moms stuck when they try to engage.
- They couldn’t connect their pelvic floor
- They are holding tensions while inhaling
- they are gripping their ribs and bearing down = leads to leaking
- They are over doing it = other muscles take over instead of your deep core
- It takes a lot of practice. I used to do them 20 times in the morning and 20 times in the evening until it finally connects.
Want to learn more how you can exercise correctly and efficiently? Check out these topics below!
@beckychoi_
