How to Help Your Postpartum Clients Heal Diastasis Recti

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During pregnancy, as the baby is developing and the belly grows, what many pregnant women don’t realize is that, to accommodate that growth, changes are occurring not only in the uterus and skin, but all also in the abdominal muscles.

Toward the later stages of pregnancy, continued expansion of the uterus is possible thanks to the linea alba — a line of connective tissue that runs from under the sternum to the pubic bone, and connects the two sides of the rectus abdominis muscles. The linea alba stretches, allowing the baby to have more room than it would otherwise.

It’s really quite phenomenal that a woman’s body is able to do this! However, this increased length in the linea alba can cause a separation between the abdominal muscles that can stick around long after pregnancy. This common separation is termed diastasis recti abdominis. A 2016 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that about one-third of postpartum women still have diastasis recti 12 months after giving birth.

When the linea alba is lengthened, it can lose it’s ability to generate tension and, therefore, its ability to support the abdomen. The connective tissue stretches loses much of its density and thickness, which leads to a very measurable separation between the two sides of the abdominal muscles.

That gap can extend all of the way from the sternum to the pubic bone, or just somewhere along that line. Typically, the largest gap will be around the belly. In fact, diastasis recti is often the cause of what some women refer to as a “stubborn” post-baby belly. If your client suffers from diastasis recti, she might think that she looks bloated all of the time, or that she looks “four months pregnant” when she’s really two years postpartum, and despite her best efforts, hasn’t been able to slim her midsection.

Beyond aesthetics, it’s important to note that diastasis recti can result in the lower back and pelvis not being as stable and secure as they once were. As the connective tissue of the linea alba becomes stretched, widened, and thinned, it can impair the ability of the abdominal muscles (and entire core system) to do their best work.

With a loss of support for the core, spine, and potentially, abdominal, and pelvic organs, a postpartum woman will definitely feel weaker, and often may not feel that she can’t generate as much force as she used to.

If you or your client are unsure if she has diastasis recti, you might find this article on the signs of diastasis recti helpful for starting a conversation with her. Before you both stress… don’t stress! Diastasis recti is a very common occurrence with pregnancy and it can heal, and in most women it does heal naturally. More important than trying to “heal” it by having the two sides meet back up is to strive to return function to the linea alba.

Here are three things you can do to help your client heal her diastasis recti:

Step 1: Practice Body in Good Alignment

Think of alignment as how the body’s joints and bones “stack up” to create posture. That posture can either be strong, supported, and encourage proper movement patterns, or it can be weak and lead to losses in core strength. For example, if your client is in a chronic “rib thrust” position (in which the bottom of the ribcage is positioned forward and upward, ahead of the torso), the linea alba could be constantly overstretched. With good alignment, the muscles and connective tissues have the right amount of length and tension.

Helping your client get her body into good alignment is like the tale of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” You don’t want her spine too straight or too curved. You want it to be just right. That “just right” alignment is called the “neutral spine position.” This alignment gets the diaphragm stacked over the pelvic floor muscles to allow for the core stability system to work optimally.

To help your client get into a neutral spine position and proper alignment use these cues:

• Stand with the feet positioned directly under the hip bones (not as wide as the pelvis) and pointing straight ahead.
• Position the rib cage over the pelvis.
• Allow a slight arch in the lower back so that the tailbone is not tucked under the torso.
• Focus on maintaining a tall thoracic spine, thinking of growing “up” through the crown of the head. Allow a gentle forward rounding of the top section of the spine.

When your client is healing her diastasis recti, she should use this alignment in all exercises and in daily life where possible, but especially when under load such as when carrying her baby. The photo on the right shows what this alignment looks like when I am standing.

(For guidance on how to teach your client to assess her own diastasis recti, check out this video.)

Step 2: Improve The Core and Floor Connection

For your client to support her core in daily life and when exercising, it is extremely important for her to understand how to gain and release tension (contract and relax) her core and pelvic floor muscles.

When the ribs are positioned over the hips, the diaphragm is stacked over the pelvic floor. This helps the pressure system in the core to function optimally. When she inhales, the diaphragm moves downward slightly and the pelvic floor stretches to allow this change in pressure. When she exhales, both the diaphragm ascends and the pelvic floor contracts upward, too.

To help your client improve her core and floor connection, use these cues:

• Lie on the floor on one side, making sure that the head, hips, and heels are in a straight line.
• Drape the top arm over the front of the rib cage. In the next two steps, have her notice the rise and fall of her arm over her body with the inhale and exhale.
• Take a deep inhale breath, focusing on sending air into the ribs, belly, and pelvis.
• Perform a full exhale, focusing on lifting the pelvic floor muscles up into the body and raising the belly button up toward the breastbone.

Note: The contraction is very gentle. Your client should think of it as only about 30 percent of her maximum ability of contraction.

Step 3: Have Your Client Perform These Exercises to Heal Her Diastasis Recti

Now that you’ve helped your client learn how to do the core and floor connection, it’s important that she use that connection to promote healing of her diastasis recti. We want to encourage exercises in which your client can create good tension in the linea alba but can avoid any bulging, and exercises that are going to challenge her to strengthen her core musculature, but will not cause any harm to her abdominals and pelvic floor. These exercises help to create tension, density, and strength in the linea alba.

For instance, while healing the diastasis, I recommend avoiding exercises that involve facing the belly to the floor (front-loaded positions) such as the push-up, front plank, and bear crawl. The core may not be able to properly handle the pressure and intensity created by these exercises. What’s more, sometimes women feel that they can’t control their abdominals during these exercise, since require a high level of core coordination. . Without the requisite core strength and coordination, the belly can easily bulge forward during these front-loaded exercises.Your client may also complain of feeling uncomfortable downward pressure on the pelvic floor.

In addition, exercises such as the crunch, sit-up, v-up, and double-leg raise may also create a bulging belly. The bulging can occur when the core isn’t able to properly control the intra-abdominal pressure. The pressure from the “load” has to go somewhere and it usually goes outward. This can happen to anyone who doesn’t have proper intra-abdominal control, not just women with diastasis recti.

Below are some of my favorite “tummy safe” core exercises for women completing diastasis recti rehab. Remember to emphasize for your clients the core and floor connection in all of these exercises, exhaling through the toughest part of each exercise. Additionally, with the client’s permission to touch her, you can feel the linea alba and monitor for bulging when adding new abdominal exercises to the program.

Heel Slide with Alternate Arms

• Exhale, extend one leg out straight, hovering the leg above the floor.
• Simultaneously, extend the opposite arm towards the floor above the head.
• Ensure the hips stay stable.
• Inhale to return to the start position.

• Glute Bridge

• Exhale, squeeze the glutes, and lift the hips upwards until the body is in a straight line from shoulders to knees.

• Inhale to return back down to the floor.

• Half-Kneeling Pallof Press

• Squeeze the glutes of the back leg tightly.
• Exhale to press the arms straight out in front of the chest.
• Feel tension in the core to resist rotation while pressing outwards.
• Inhale to return back to the start position.

• One-Arm Farmer’s Carry

• Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell slightly away from the body.
• Walk at a normal strolling pace.
• Keep the body tall and centred (avoid slumping to one side).

• Side-Lying Knee Abduction

• Get into a side-lying position on the floor with the hips and knees bent to 90-degree angles. Make sure the head, shoulders, and hips are aligned (not rotated forward or backward).
• Keeping the 90-degree bend at the hip and knee, raise the top leg, opening up the hips, and then lower the leg back down to bring the knees together.
• Place a hand on the top hip to feel the hips staying stable.

For more examples of effective core exercises your client can do to heal diastasis recti, see these two articles on diastasis recti and no-crunch core exercises.

Start Healing!

Remember, you don’t need her to close the gap to be functional. Emphasis is on tension not on the width of the gap. If your client can generate good tension and maintain it through the exercise, then that is fine. However, if your client has a wide or deep gap, it is wise to work with a physical therapist. Support your client and be patient with her — and remind her to be patient with herself and stay consistent! By prioritizing proper alignment as well as the core and floor connection in all of her exercises and in daily life, she’ll go a long way toward healing her diastasis recti and improving her core health.

The post How to Help Your Postpartum Clients Heal Diastasis Recti appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.

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