AKA MUMMY TUMMY
What is Diastasis Recti?
In short, a gap in between your right and left abdominal muscles. Diastasis recti is also known as mummy tummy after giving birth, it is the pooch that you have on your belly.
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The most likely reason that your belly is still looking like you are pregnant after the delivery is because you most likely have diastasis recti.
The problem is pretty common, about 2 out of 3 women have it.
Even I had it.
Diastasis recti is common during and after pregnancy. The reason is that the muscles are stretched to accommodate your growing baby.
If you have diastasis recti, it means your abs are like an overstretched rubber band right now and you are left with a 2 or more finger gap at your belly and this is causing the bulge.
Do I have diastasis recti?
Let’s see…
You can easily perform a self-check test if you have diastasis recti like this:
Go and lie on your back, bend your knees and keep your feet on the floor.
Lift your head up like doing a mini abs exercise-like position.
Put a finger on the midline of your belly, close to the navel area.
Press your fingers down.
Feel for the sides of your abs muscles, and feel if they are separated.
Usually, separation is described as one, two or three fingers separation.
It is hard to tell in advance if you will get diastasis recti.
You might be more prone to develop diastasis recti if you are:
petite, are pregnant with multiples, have had more than one pregnancy, have a baby later in life, have poor muscle tone, have a bad posture, or have had diastasis recti before.
Can you prevent diastasis recti?
Yes! During pregnancy, always roll on the other side when getting up and do not make exercise movements that can make diastasis recti worse.
This can help keep the muscles from separating.
Exercises to avoid:
Avoid any crunches and planking, because doing these kinds of exercises that are too difficult, can actually make diastasis recti worse.
Always listen to your body.
Check out this YouTube video about what exercises to avoid.
How to heal diastasis recti?
Can you fix it?
Yes! Totally!
I really was miserable with my tummy after delivery, because I never had a belly before.
And I’m happy that I tried these exercises because it has given me back some of that lost confidence on the way.
This will work for you too if you keep consistent with it!
Exercise can be used to repair diastasis recti, just get your doctor’s approval to start exercising again.
These exercises are meant to help strengthen the core while avoiding exercises that can make the problem worse.
It is also possible to correct diastasis recti with surgery, but make sure that you do not want any more kids if you think about this option.
Watch this video about how to start healing diastasis recti.
Exercises are really easy!
I made these exact movements and my diastasis got a lot better!
I am so thankful for her!
Does it heal on its own?
In some cases, diastasis recti heal on its own over the period of 6 weeks to 3 months.
However, in some cases, diastasis Recti may persist and intervention may be required if the recovery does not occur.
It can be beneficial to use a belly band, it will physically bring your abs muscles back together.
When you combine this together with exercises, this can help close the gap between the muscles.
But keep in mind that a belly band is a temporary fix and does not fix the problem.
Even if you delivered a long time ago, it is NOT too late to start healing a diastasis recti.
It is all about working with the connective tissue.
How long you need to treat your diastasis recti will depend on the fact how big a gap you have and if you do the exercises and do not make exercise movements that will make your condition worse.
What kind of results did I get from the exercises?
Let’s get into it!
EXERCISES TO HEAL DIASTASIS RECTI
Have you noticed that you use your core to perform all your daily movements?
Do you remember that after the delivery it was hard to get up from the bed or when you sat down it was a battle to get up!
This is the reason you need to heal your core.
Be sure to keep your core healthy and it will make you stronger.
You need to strengthen the deepest abdominal muscles and then that can provide support for those muscles that have been stretched.
You will have so many sources telling you what to do and how to get back to your old self after having a baby.
The truth is…
It will take time to heal. Sometimes a lot of time.
No there is no fast way to get back to the shape you used to be in.
More time you take to heal, the better for your body.
You might want fast results, but honey, if you want any results, they are not going to be fast. Sorry.
I was like that too…
I couldn’t wait for the results but here is my development in 3 months:
And here is a photo 1 months after the delivery:
There was definitely some work I needed to do!
Right now I am losing about 1kg in a month,
but slower is better than no progress at all!
Don’t you think?
You cannot rush this!
Your body is healing and it needs to take the time to do that. So get rest and admire the miracle that your body has just made, your baby!
That in itself is a miracle!
Movements are really easy and fast to perform.
Then it is done! Just like that! Awesome!
The simple and easy at-home exercises below can help you train your deepest abdominal muscle.
This is how you get that mummy tummy away.
Or this is how I did it: video.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
If you have any other questions about diastasis recti, let me know in the comments section below.
Or if you have a video idea that you would like me to create, you can send me a DM on Instagram @marika.anneli.kim
And don’t forget to subscribe to my channel!
I’ll see you back here for more helpful tips soon.
XO, Marika Kim
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