QuestionQUESTION: I am 5 feet 100 pounds. My youngest is 20 months. I was told by a plastic surgeon that I have diastasis. Yoga and pilates have not helped. Are there specific exercises to correct this or any that make it worse?
ANSWER: How wide is your separation, where along your mid line does it occur, how was the test performed, and what other issues are you dealing with, protruding abdomen, back pain, etc?
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QUESTION: My seperation is 2 fingers wide. The doctor just felt me to determine this. I feel the gap above and under my belly button, he said it was above. He used the correct name for the muscle. My biggest issue is my stomach is not flat there. When I do crunches I feel nothing. Even after the 1st baby I felt that tightness running down the center of my abdomen. Now I feel nothing in the center, like it's dead. The side muscles are getting much firmer. If I stand and tighten my core it feels a little tighter or hard under my belly button but not like on the sides. Thanks so much for your help.
AnswerMost likely, at 20 months pp, the width of your mid line connective tissue will not change very much. And the good news is that a 2 finger width separation is actually too small to be considered by most to be a diastasis. When rehabbing separation, the goal is to close the gap to 2 finger widths or less.
Connective tissues respond to exercise and become more dense at the muscles to which they are attached are strengthened. So even though your mid line might stay the same size, it can become tighter.
Certainly, you can change the shape and functioning of your abdominal muscles. Stop doing all exercises like crunches, and most Pilates mat work which lift the upper body off the floor, i.e., upper body flexion.
Instead, you need to first strengthen your Transverse Abdominis (TvA), then train the muscle to function as a stabilizer. This is how to re-flatten the abdominal wall after pregnancy. You also need to focus on lower spine flexion when working your abs.
Isometric exercises, rather than exercises that like crunches that use a pulse action, are particularly good for closing the mid line and shortening muscle tissue. (The abdominal wall needs to shorten as well as strengthen after pregnancy.)
Both my award winning DVD "Bounce Back Fast! Post Natal Core Conditioning" and my acclaimed book, "Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best" feature workouts that will train you TvA and flatten your abdominal wall.
To learn more about abdominal reconditioning after pregnancy go to:
http://befitmom.com/abdominal_reconditioning.html
To learn more about the postpartum workouts go to:
http://befitmom.com/store.html
