Lose Your Tummy; Healing Diastasis Recti

TranquilityAndPeace

Tue, Jun 19 2012, 10:46 am

Someone PM'ed me about how to do exercises to heal diastasis recti, which is a separation of the abdominal muscles and results in a 'mummy tummy'.

I'm taking a 6 week class for this, so I'll post what I learn - but I'm far from an expert! If you want to buy the book or DVD that shows how to do these exercises in detail, look here: http://www.diastasisrehab.com/products.html

Firstly, I bought a splint with 3 velcro straps, which I use to pull my muscles together. I was only able to sleep in it once; all the other times I couldn't fall asleep and took it off. I wear it for a few hours a day, especially when I know that I'll be moving around a lot. You're supposed to wear it as much as possible.

The main exercise is bringing your belly button inward in a hundred reps at a time. Picture your stomach as a horizontal building. Your belly button at rest is at the 'first floor' and your spine is at the '6th floor'. Focus on sitting or standing with good posture, and bring your belly button inward, to the 3rd floor. Then bring it into the 5th floor and release only until the 3rd floor- not all the way at rest. Do this 100 times, 10 times a day, for a total of 1,000 a day. It takes about 2.5 minutes to do 100. Count out loud while you do it, to make sure that you're breathing.

Belly breathes- before and after doing the transverse exercises described in the paragraph above, take a few deep belly breaths. In through the nose, allow the stomach to expand naturally, then out the through the mouth, allow the stomach to deflate naturally. (Weirdly enough, I actually breathe wrong, so this takes a lot of focus.)

Don't do any traditional ab exercises while you're healing. Crunches, sit ups, planks, all make the diastasis worse. Don't get down on all 4's, because then gravity will cause your muscles to hang down and separate.

Focus on holding in your abs while bending down, standing up, sitting down. (Hence all the zillions of things strewn across my floor right now!) Do not jackknife into our out of bed. Sit down in bed, then slowly reach your hand closest to the pillow toward the head of your bed and allow the rest of your body to follow until your head is on the pillow.

Everyone is different, some people lose inches on their waistline in just a week, and for some people it takes a few weeks to a few months. Many people have a diastasis; babies are born with it but then it closes up. Many men and women without children have it. 98% of women who have given birth have it, and it gets worse with each subsequent pregnancy.

My instructor, Tami Huber of http://reclaimyourcore.blogspot.com/, is a physical therapist. She noticed that her tummy was growing when she was pregnant, even though she was just in her 3rd month and knew her baby was just the size of a small fruit! So she looked into this and became a certified instructor. She has 3 little kids; the youngest is 7 months, and her abs are as flat as can be!

chocolate chips

Tue, Jun 19 2012, 11:02 am

My belly button doesn't stick out but I have a flabby "mummy tummy" and am otherwise skinny.

Is this the same thing?

TranquilityAndPeace

Tue, Jun 19 2012, 12:27 pm

chocolate chips wrote:

My belly button doesn't stick out but I have a flabby "mummy tummy" and am otherwise skinny.

Is this the same thing?

Most likely. I'm just like you. For years I thought that I just carried all my extra weight in my stomach. But when I lose 5-10lbs, I just lose a bit in my stomach and the rest from places I think are fine, like my arms and legs, and I wished there were a way to ONLY lose from my stomach.

If you look at that site http://www.diastasisrehab.com it tells you how to diagnose yourself. I had a hard time figuring out what I was feeling, but after my instructor showed me, I can feel it. Basically you lay on the floor with your knees bent. Then just lift your head, not shoulders. Press down around the belly button, 3" higher and lower. See if you feel a gap. I have a 3" gap!

amother

Tue, Jun 19 2012, 4:23 pm

I imagine early pregnancy isnt the time to work on this?

octopus

Tue, Jun 19 2012, 4:37 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

chocolate chips wrote:

My belly button doesn't stick out but I have a flabby "mummy tummy" and am otherwise skinny.

Is this the same thing?

gaps are not measured in inches. they are measured in fingers. perhaps you mean a 3 finger gap?

abound

Tue, Jun 19 2012, 5:05 pm

do you know the name of the velcro splint you bought. I would like to order one.
Thank you so much for all this information, it is incredible helpful!

chocolate chips

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 10:00 am

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

chocolate chips wrote:

My belly button doesn't stick out but I have a flabby "mummy tummy" and am otherwise skinny.

Is this the same thing?

A gap between what and what? When I lie down my stomach goes flat and hard! as if there is no extra fat there.

TranquilityAndPeace

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 10:30 am

octopus wrote:

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

chocolate chips wrote:

My belly button doesn't stick out but I have a flabby "mummy tummy" and am otherwise skinny.

Is this the same thing?

gaps are not measured in inches. they are measured in fingers. perhaps you mean a 3 finger gap?

Yes, I think you're right!

abound wrote:

do you know the name of the velcro splint you bought. I would like to order one.
Thank you so much for all this information, it is incredible helpful!

You're welcome! I only found out about diastasis recti recently from imamother!

The splint can be found here: http://www.diastasisrehab.com/products.html - watch her youtube video about how to put it on when you get it.

Chocolate chips, here's a video about how to diagnose yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvybTZiLqRE

gp2.0

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 2:44 pm

I tried pulling in my stomach (and standing straight, I tend to slouch) for several hours yesterday.

Now a muscle in my mid to upper back aches. Last night the pain was sharper, it hurt to take deep breaths.

Do you know if this is a common side effect? Am I doing it wrong? Am I doing it right?

MrsDash

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 2:46 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

chocolate chips wrote:

My belly button doesn't stick out but I have a flabby "mummy tummy" and am otherwise skinny.

Is this the same thing?

Can we please switch places! That seems to be just about the only place I lose.

TranquilityAndPeace

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 3:01 pm

GP2, I also had a pain, but a very dull pain, nothing sharp. Tami told me it's a good sign, that I'm doing the exercises correctly and using muscles that hardly ever get use. But I obviously can't diagnose you! Maybe take a few days off, and then try gradually building up the time you pull in your stomach over a week or two.

Yoshi, you have a deal:)

MrsDash

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 3:38 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

Great! Can you start working on my legs? Very Happy

Leesah

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 3:39 pm

How is it pronounced?

TranquilityAndPeace

Wed, Jun 20 2012, 7:36 pm

Yoshi- LOL!

Leesah - die-ast-asis rectie (or look on youtube for someone saying it!)

gp2.0

Thu, Jun 21 2012, 8:49 am

Ugh. Now I have cramping and ache in my lower belly and lower back. Feels like period/early labor cramping.

I do want to lose the tummy and strengthen the muscle, but does that mean I'll be popping tylenol every day for the next 6 months?

:S

Maybe I did just overdo it. Still, now I'm hesitant to pull my stomach in even for a little.

Leesah

Thu, Jun 21 2012, 9:36 am

Awesome. Thanks!

TranquilityAndPeace

Thu, Jun 21 2012, 10:17 am

GP2, just do the exercises. Each rep of 100 takes about 2.5 minutes. So doing 1,000 will take 25 minutes of your day. Start with about 300 today and add 100 each day until you get to 1000.

DON'T try to pull in your stomach all day long!!!!

Only focus on pulling in your stomach during transitions: standing, sitting, bending, etc.

I lost one inch from my waistline in a week! I keep a tape measure in my drawer and have been measuring for a few months, while doing regular exercises, so I know this is accurate. I look now how I usually look when I'm wearing control top hose! (Which is great because I hate control top, and I even have a theory that the Inquisition invented them!)

CatLady

Thu, Jun 21 2012, 10:27 am

I don't have enough words of thanks to you, T&P! My diastasis rectii was so bad that when I went to have an umbilical hernia repaired, the surgical resident wanted to fix my abs right then and there! But it falls under the category of plastic surgery, and therefore is not covered by my insurance. I'd have to have the surgery done electively, and I would rather avoid this, obviously. This is a functional and non-invasive way to mitigate this problem.

Thanks so much!! Cool

Ruchel

Thu, Jun 21 2012, 10:28 am

I love Latin pronounced in English! lol
I actually didn't make the link between the pronounciation and the spelling at first

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Jun 21 2012, 10:35 am

Out of curiosity, is diastasic recti not usually addressed in postpartum checkups at the OB?

My midwife checks at 2 weeks and at 6 weeks and lets me know about exercising in conjunction with it. I've had it really, really bad with some pregnancies, but last time I checked I only had a fingertip gap....
(I still have stomach flab, but not the vertical mountain heap I used to get.)