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“Can the MuTu System Exercise Program Heal A Diastasis?”

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Healing a diastasis. Heel Slide: one of the core restoration exercises from MuTu Core Phase 1

From MuTu Core Phase 1: Heel Slide with correct TVA & pelvic floor engagement

I am so often asked:  “Can the MuTu® System Program Heal A Diastasis?” … I thought I’d answer it here as well as personally to the many enquiries I get about Diastasis Recti, or a separation of the abdominal muscles after pregnancy.

There are 4 phases of core exercises in MuTu® System, depending on your current diastasis gap, abdominal tone and strength. The very first week’s video shows you how to assess this for yourself, & the program document covers the diagnosis, explanation & realistic expectations for healing a diastasis, in detail. The 4 phases of the program are:

Phase 1: A 3 fingers or more diastasis, very weak and unstable core musculature

Phase 2: 2 fingers or less diastasis, with still soft / unsupported midline connective tissue

Phase 3: Firm midline and stable (even if still a small gap)

Phase 4: Full strength

You progress through these stages over the initial 12 weeks, with subsequent stages introduced at weeks 4, 8 and 10. At each of these points you are prompted & guided as you re-assess your diastasis and core strength and tone, to determine which level of daily core exercises you continue on.

Some professionals advocate wrapping or binding the mid-section to draw the split recti muscles back together. Binding has been traditional practice in many parts of the world for generations. It can be helpful when the gap is wide (4 fingers or more), to increase awareness of the abs and for lower back support. However don’t use a wrap or splint as a substitute for strengthening the muscle – if you don’t learn to engage the right muscles correctly and close the gap, you could be wearing that support girdle forever! Using a splint to assist the muscle during exercise is demonstrated in the Week 1 video.

Whilst a diastasis will affect core strength, back comfort & postural aesthetics, the actual repair of a diastasis is just one part of MuTu Core. 10 years of putting mums’ tummies back together (including my own!) has taught me that wearing a splint & closing up an abdominal gap is just one part of a much bigger picture. And to give women the impression that simply closing that gap will give them the flat abs they seek is doing them a disservice… MuTu® Breathe incorporates very specific restorative yoga techniques which will literally resettle your organs within your pelvis whilst strengthening & toning your pelvic floor & narrowing the diastasis (all these muscles are connected – I don’t tackle them individually, but rather as a system).

 If this sounds like what you’re looking for,   GET STARTED WITH THE MUTU SYSTEM RIGHT AWAY!

Do I guarantee that any size gap will be ‘closed’?  No, no exercise regime can guarantee that, & a Diastasis Recti is not always going to come back together completely. The important thing to remember is that it doesn’t always need to. The muscle is naturally made up of 2 parts – they don’t ‘fuse’ back together, but the gap can absolutely be narrowed & core strength restored.

Pelvic stability, strength & correct alignment (as well, of course as fat loss so you can see it!) are what will give you a flatter, stronger stomach, & this is perfectly possible after having babies… even with a small gap remaining between the muscles. A strong mid-line (the connective tissue that stretches between the 2 section of muscle) should be the focus, rather than obsessing over completely closing the gap.

I often advocate a ‘healthy respect for Mother Nature’ when putting our bodies back together again after giving birth. The Lady’s been doing it a long time ;) & stretching to make room for our babies is not a design fault – it’s just physiology & logistics! The design fault, if there is one,  is in not always giving women the tools to put ourselves back together again (crunches or sit-ups anyone? NNOOOOO!!)

MuTu System has been developed to give you ALL the strategies you need to not only repair the muscles compromised by pregnancy & childbirth, but to repair them in the context of the rest of your body, plus to exercise very efficiently & effectively in a way which will ensure that you can actually SEE the result of your well honed abdominal work!

 If this sounds like what you’re looking for,   GET STARTED WITH THE MUTU SYSTEM RIGHT AWAY!

Diastasis Recti. Do We Always Need To ‘Fix’ It?

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flatten your mummy tummy with the MuTu System

Possible even with a small gap... honest.

Diastasis Recti (sometimes called Rectus Distension) is a separation of the rectus abdominis muscle which affects many mothers. Self test & exercises for Diastasis Recti & how it affects your core strength are discussed in detail on this blog.

But I often find myself urging women not to get too hung up on Diastasis Recti as the sole cause of all their tummy woes. Women bind their stomachs & spend hours on repetitious exercises when what’s needed is a focus more on learning to use your core & pelvic floor muscles correctly – whilst performing ALL exercises & movement – that will bring back the muscles as far as possible. This is precisely what the MuTu System programme does.

It’s the ‘as far as possible’ which is important.

A Diastasis Recti is not always going to come back together completely. The important thing to remember is that it doesn’t always need to. Pelvic stability, strength & correct alignment are what will give you a flatter, stronger stomach, & this is perfectly possible after having babies… even with a small gap remaining between the muscles. A strong mid-line (the connective tissue that stretches between the 2 section of muscle) should be the focus, rather than obsessing over completely closing the gap.

I often advocate a ‘healthy respect for Mother Nature’ when putting our bodies back together again after giving birth. The Lady’s been doing it a long time ;) & stretching to make room for our babies is not a design fault – it’s just physiology & logistics!

There is a great article here by Jenny Burrell of Burrell Education. Jenny is involved with MuTu System training, & this post aimed at trainers sums up where our focus & expectations should lie. Any questions? Please just leave a comment below!

How to Reduce Diastasis & a Swollen “Pregnant-Looking” Tummy

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MuTu Core | The MuTu System for mummy tummies

MuTu Core. The part of the MuTu System that puts your middle back together!

How to reduce a diastasis is probably the question I am most often asked. A swollen or protruding pregnant- looking tummy is the bane of many moms’ lives, especially when its still there many months after your baby has been born, & people keep asking when the next one is due… Not a great confidence-boosting moment in any mom’s day :(

A diastasis or Diastasis Recti, is a gap in your outermost abdominal muscle, the rectus abdominis. The two sections part during pregnancy to make room for your baby, stretching the thin connective tissue (the linea alba) that holds them together. The tissue or the muscle don’t break or tear in a normal diastasis (unless a hernia is present), but are very often so stretched & weakened, that the gap doesn’t go right back together in the weeks & months after your baby is born.

The result: diastasis recti & a hard, protruding tummy that makes you look about 5 months pregnant.  Because the full weight of your organs are pushing against your weakened core area & forcing everything forward. Hence the ‘doming’ shape you get when you curl or bend forward.

This affects not only the look of your tummy, but also causes a complete lack of stability & strength in that region… which can lead to back pain. Your pelvic floor & abdominal muscles are stretched & forced outwards by intra abdominal pressure (IE pressure pushing everything out & away, when you want it sucked back in & up!), causing an exaggerated curve in your lower back (the resultant posture exacerbates the sticking out tummy) & weakness through your midsection.

The MuTu System online programs will teach you how to put all this back where it’s supposed to be! To draw the stomach back in by repairing, strengthening & toning the abdominal & pelvic floor together. This will help close the gap at the front, give you the foundations of a flatter tummy & improve posture pelvic floor control as well as the aesthetic profile to your tummy.

There may also be digestive factors involved, as any bloating or digestive discomfort will be very obvious owing to the lack of support for your organs at the front.

To reduce a diastasis & lose the swollen, pregnant-looking tummy, you need to do the *right* exercises & movements whilst avoiding the *wrong* ones. It doesn’t have to be a minefield, but it does require an integrated approach that really understands what went on in there in order to correct it. What is your experience of trying to reduce a diastasis?

Want To Lose Your Mummy Tummy? 5 Facts Your Doctor & Your Gym Instructor Won’t Tell You

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Ab Exercises for Moms | Plank on a Balance Ball

Working deep core muscles with the right exercises, not crunches, will get you flat abs!

When it comes to losing your mummy tummy, baby belly, jelly belly,  pooch, muffin top or whichever is your preferred affectionate name ;) there are a number of areas of confusion.

A quick  search on YouTube & Google produced the following: an exercise for diastasis recti which showed a pregnant woman doing oblique crunches; an eminent plastic surgeon stating categorically that a mummy tummy was caused by “muscle weakness that no amount of exercise will improve”; & a number of ‘postpartum exercises’ that involved lying flat on your back & crunching into a sit-up type movement.

PLEASE STOP RIGHT THERE! If you’re doing these things you are wasting your time & will not get flatter abs after having babies, even a long time after having babies :(

5 MUMMY TUMMY FACTS YOUR DOCTOR OR YOUR GYM INSTRUCTOR WON’T TELL YOU  DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE MUMMY TUMMY 101  FOR FREE HERE!

1. Sit-ups or crunches (including oblique crunches where you twist as you raise your upper body) are NOT SUITABLE  for any woman who has had a baby. The reasons why are covered extensively on this blog (they make a Diastasis Recti (or abdominal separation) worse & exert pressure in all the wrong places…). But it is important to understand that you are not ‘waiting for the gap ( diastasis recti) to close’, so that you can then do them. YOU NEVER NEED TO DO THEM! Crunches are absolutely, categorically, without question NOT THE BEST EXERCISES TO GET FLATTER ABS

2. *Going through the motions* of  Pilates-style or core  exercises without ensuring that your tranvserse abdominus muscle is correctly engaged; or *just sitting* on a Fit Ball / Balance Ball now & again is not going to flatten your abs. It’s better than nothing, in the sense that your transverse muscle will need to ‘wake up’ a little. But Unless you consistently  focus on correctly ENGAGING & WORKING your Transverse Abdominus… then whatever exercise you’re doing, isn’t working. Note: whilst this will be a very conscious effort at first, it won’t always be so. Your weakened muscles simply need to re-learn their job!

3. Unless your pelvic floor muscles are integral to all your ab exercises, you won’t get a flat tummy. This applies if you had a c-section too!

Your ‘core’ is made up of: your transverse abdomnius, your diaphragm, the multifidus muscles of the spine & your pelvic floor. They are all connected & they all need to be strengthened following pregnancy & childbirth (regardless of the type of birth(s) you had). There is more to strengthening your pelvic floor than ‘squeezing as if you’re stopping yourself from urinating’. Newsflash: there is more than one hole down there…

For the Ab Exercises you SHOULD be doing, check out myTOP TEN AB EXERCISES FOR MOMS VIDEO!

4. Except in the case of an excessive gap (or hernia) You DO NOT need surgery to repair a diastasis or abdominal separation. But also remember that surgery will not solve all your tummy problems. A tummy tuck (Abdominoplasty)  fundamentally involves cutting away loose skin. It may also involve  (“while you’re in there Doctor… ;) ”) suturing the gap between the 2 halves of muscle, & maybe a bit of liposuction for good measure. You CAN strengthen your abdominal muscles & close a diastasis with corrective exercise – however long ago you had your babies & however weakened they might be. They’re MUSCLES. So you can strengthen them like any other. But you have to do it correctly, & in the right direction, if you want a flat tummy.

5. Diastasis Recti is not the only reason for your mummy tummy. Unless you tackle nutrition, digestive issues, correct your posture & core strength AND lose the flab that sits on top, don’t blame it all on the gap in your abs!

What’s frustarting you about YOUR mummy tummy?Just ask me my Lovelies… Mummies Tummies are what I do! :)

Diastasis Recti, Belly Binding & Sweating

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Belly binding refers to using a splint or binder to reduce the appearance of your waist or to help pull a diastasis recti gap (or abdominal separation) together.  What can it do & what can’t it do?

I got sent the link to a bizarre video a while ago, showing an eminent plastic surgeon displaying an interesting side line in corsetry. Apparently all you have to do is wear some latex underwear that makes you sweat ;)

There are many advocates of wearing a splint, or binding the stomach after childbirth, the ‘Tupler Technique’ being the most well-known.

Belly Binding is traditional in many parts of the world, & it may help you feel more comfortable if you have a wide diastasis (3/4 fingers or more) or until sensation returns following surgery.

A cotton & rubber belly binder (like a ‘Squeem’ which incidentally makes only aesthetic, not medical, claims as to its effects)  will certainly yank you in, support your back whilst you’re wearing it & make you look a little more streamlined under clothes. Which helps. But our eminent surgeon in the video has much grander claims for his rubber corsetry. ‘They make you sweat & so you’ll lose fat in that area’??  ‘It’ll increase your metabolism in that area & so make you lose fat underneath it’??

Hmmm. I believe we may be trespassing in the realms of Weight-Loss-BullS*** just a little here.

You CANNOT ‘spot reduce’ fat. This means that you cannot lose fat from one area of your body disproportionately. Exercise professionals have known this for years – if you over-exercise one specific muscle (for example your upper arm), without losing the fat that sits on top – you’ll get a bigger arm, not a smaller one.

So if you can’t do it by exercising, you honestly, really can’t do it by SWEATING.You lose water when you sweat, not fat. Just think, there’d be emaciated sauna enthusiasts collapsing in their droves all over Europe…

Sweating under latex underwear will not make your tummy flat.

So back to the Splints & Binders…

Belly binding or using a splint (even one specifically designed to be worn for exercise & to reduce a diastasis) will ‘hold you in & together’ & support your lower back whilst you’re wearing it, BUT what it can never do, is actually strengthen or tighten the muscles just by being worn.

Diastasis recti or abdominal separation can be reduced with exercise – by strengthening & restoring your core muscles to reduce the size of your waist & increase stability & strength in your lower back.

An exercise programme that includes wearing a splint or belt will still only work to help close a diastasis recti IF you are engaging & working your transverse, pelvic floor & oblique abdominal muscles absolutely correctly, consistently & regularly.

The binder doesn’t do the job, the muscles do. The binder might pull them back in whilst you work them, which will assist with a severe gap (3-4 fingers or more), but don’t rely on it to do  the job for you.

What’s YOUR experience? I’d love to read your comments!

Learn how to narrow your waist, flatten your mummy tummy, strengthen your core, support your back AND improve a diastasis recti gap through the unique 4 Phases of MuTu® Core corrective exercises of MuTu System 12 week video coaching

Core Exercise Explained, and Why Postnatal Pilates Isn’t Enough

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Postnatal core exercise, core strength, ‘Fire the Core’ (a favourite Pilates phrase), ‘deep’ abdominal muscles… Yada Yada.  You are forgiven for being confused &/or wondering why you should care. And what’s the difference between ‘core exercise’ & Pilates? Is there a difference, or is it a fancy name for the same thing? Well yes there is, but yes it sort of is… & sort of not. Clear now? Great. I’ll move on.

Your ‘core’ is made up of 4 muscles (or groups of muscles). They are:

 

Your Pelvic Floor muscles (at the bottom)

Your Transverse Abdominus muscle (around the sides & at the front)

Your Diaphragm (at the top)

Your Lumbar Multifidus muscles (at the back)

 

All of these muscles are ‘deep’ muscles, which means there are other muscles (like your obliques & the ‘six pack’  muscle) that sit on top of them. You can’t see them (however buff you get), & their main function is stabilization. This means that they do not move your body in the sense that contracting your bicep muscle makes your arm bend at the elbow joint, or that contracting your rectus abdominus muscle or ‘six pack’ makes you bend forwards or crunch (not that you EVER do crunches… do you??)

They are ‘anticipatory’ muscles, which mean that your body switches them on automatically prior to movement, to stabilize your trunk, supporting your spine as you move & protecting your back. And they’re all attached in some way to each other, so when one (such as your pelvic floor) switches on correctly, then so does another (your transverse).

So if they’re automatic, what the problem?

Well,  sometimes the automatic button kinda malfunctions. Unsurprisingly, pregnancy & childbirth takes a toll on ALL the muscles of your midsection. They are stretched & weakened. They are subjected to heavy loads as your bump grows & your posture & centre of gravity shifts. If a diastasis occurs in the rectus abodminus muscles on top, they take the transverse muscle with them, creating a lack of stability at the front. Muscles are not cut during a Caesarian section, but nerve pathways are, which means that you lose sensation & the ‘connection’ to them. A vaginal birth results in at least some (occasionally severe) trauma to the pelvic floor muscles, again temporarily cutting nerve pathways or tearing muscle fibres which need to repair. Your pelvic floor is stretched & weakened by postural changes & the weight of your growing uterus, regardless of how you give birth.

That’s a lot of reasons why everything may NOT be happening quite as *automatically* as Mother Nature intended.

So we need to switch our core back on, the first stage of which is to find our core. Like I said – it used to happen automatically, & now it doesn’t (or not very well), so we’re trying to feel something we can’t see working & that we haven’t had to consciously think about before. MuTu System takes you step by step through some very specific exercises to restore your core over a 12 week period (it may not even take that long if you do it right!).

But then you move on. The most important thing the MuTu System programme teaches you is how to incorporate these muscles into EVERY movement you make, without even thinking about it.  Not only into every exercise you perform in the fat-dropping, toned-backside-producing interval training workouts … BUT ALSO into every time you pick up your child, your laundry or a car seat, every time you change a baby, feed a baby, grab an escaping toddler or turn around to yell in the car… It teaches your body how to make these muscles work *automatically* again.

Every time you move your body, you’re doing a ‘core exercise’ (or at least, you should be).  The exercises in this video are sometimes regarded as ‘Pilates’ exercises. But as I discussed in this post, Pilates doesn’t own your core. Exercises performed lying still on on your back whilst breathing deeply, are FUNDAMENTAL to rediscovering your core when you’ve lost it, but are NOT in my opinion, necessary to  do ad infinitum once you’ve found it.

Every single day, most healthy mums will squat, balance, lunge, push, pull, rotate & bend. All these movements need your core.  You don’t have to be lying on your back in Pilates class to use it. Better to find those muscles & MOVE! Which might just have a rather nice effect on your waistline too…

As always folks, just my humble opinion, & I’d love to hear yours :)

BUY THE MUTU SYSTEM 12 WEEK COACHING & RECEIVE YOUR FIRST VIDEO & THE FULL PROGRAMME RIGHT AWAY!

Diastasis Recti in Pregnancy

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Testing for a diastasis recti in pregnancy is not necessary & whilst you can minimise its impact on your core muscles, you should not try to prevent repair a diastasis in pregnancy.

I recently posted a video on the MuTu System YouTube channel showing you how to test for a diastasis recti (abdominal separation) following pregnancy – even a long time following pregnancy!). I wanted to write a quick post today regarding testing for a diastasis recti during pregnancy, as I am often asked about this.

Please don’t!

Please don’t go poking about or worrying about diastasis recti or abdominal separation during your pregnancy. The rectus abdominus muscle parts to make room for your growing bump in a third of first pregnancies, & in around two thirds of second or subsequent pregnancies. It is normal, painless & perfectly natural. You’re not going to stop it parting, & nor should you try.

What you can do is keep your transverse & pelvic floor muscles strong throughout pregnancy, whilst avoiding exercises or movements that will exacerbate the problem. This will ensure the effective recovery & restoration of those core muscles after the birth, & make repair of the gap easier.

Diastasis recti gets a bad rap. But really abdominal separation is just your body’s natural way of making room for your baby. Keep your muscles toned, strong & working in the right direction… & most women will be able to repair the gap painlessly in 6-12 weeks.

Even if you had your baby many months or even years ago, once you start doing the right exercises, & stop doing the wrong ones, you can reverse the condition.

For information & articles about exercises for diastasis recti & exercises to avoid see the Diastasis Recti articles of the blog or download the free report

So don’t panic. And leave your poor bump alone… if your baby needs more space, Mother Nature knows how to make room! :) What is your experience of being properly informed or educated about a diastasis in pregnancy?

 

One Happy MuTu System Customer

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And today… I shall mostly… be blowing my own trumpet. (Go on, indulge me? Just for a second?)

Lots of people are asking about my MuTu System download… & there’s a nice little buzz on Twitter as my intrepid reviewers sweat, starve (*KIDDING* on the starving bit!!) & breaeaeathe their way through the 12 weeks to flatter tummy-dom.

And today one mom who bought the programme 6 weeks ago, emailed me to tell me how she was getting on…

“I would just like to commend you because I have watched a few other videos on Diastasis Recti and while they are  informative they are not very fun and are kind of boring. But I love the way you put your videos together with great music, and make it fun. You write and talk like you are talking to your best girlfriend and encouraging and motivating her. So thanks again so much for what you do for women. I went through having two babies and no one in the medical community ever mentioned or ever talked about Diastasis Recti with me. I pretty much realized something was wrong and diagnosed myself and then had to dig to figure out what to do about it. All the doctors keep telling me is that the only way you can fix Diastasis Recti is with a tummy tuck.

So thank you, thank you, thank you for women out there like you that are talking about it and are showing us ways to fix it without major surgery. It has given me hope that someday my stomach might at least resemble something of it’s former self before having kids. :) And I have noticed a difference. My pants are much looser! Keep up your amazing work!!!!”

So there’s me feeling all chuffed & warm & fuzzy inside that a lovely lady many, many miles from me is using my methods & getting slimmer.

Cool.

:)

See here for what industry experts have to say about it!

Is Diastasis Recti The Reason for a Hard, Protruding Still-Looks-Pregnant Post Pregnancy Tummy?

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tummy that still looks pregnant | is it diastasis recti?

Pregnant? Or just...

Diastasis Recti symptoms & information can be confusing. A particular area that often causes concern is when your post pregnancy belly is not squidgy, or jelly-belly like, but rather hard & protruding, as if you were 5 months pregnant again :( Is this diastasis recti? Or could something else be causing it?

This can be more confusing when the rest of your body is relatively lean or slim, but the mummy tummy hasn’t gone away. It doesn’t *feel* like excess fat, because it’s firm & sticks out, literally like when you were pregnant.

Sometimes it gets worse throughout the day, getting bigger at the end of the day or after a big meal.

Bottom line, you’re fed up with being asked when the next one’s due, & can’t understand why the rest of your body has pretty much ‘gone back’, but the belly is still a BIG problem.

OK, well there are a few factors which could be contributing:

Firstly, & this applies especially if your belly seems to get bigger throughout the day, or if you feel bloated or uncomfortable after eating: there could be excess sugar in your diet, &/or you could have developed an intolerance to certain foods. All of these will cause swelling & bloating, as undigested food in your intestine is literally ‘pushing’ your stomach outwards.

Cut out processed foods, including sugar, & try cutting out wheat & dairy as well for a few weeks. None of these foods are necessary for healthy diet so you won’t come to any harm by removing them for a while! And try to monitor when it feels worse. Very often women complain of bloating which varies throughout the day – if this is the case for you, then your muscles are not to blame, this is a digestive issue.

Clean up your diet as much as you can, drink plenty of water & herbal teas to encourage digestion & eat plenty of fibre in the form of whole fruits & vegetables & wholegrain carbs such as wholegrain rice, quinoa, rye, oats & spelt (Note: the last 3 grains on this list contain gluten… you may be intolerant to all gluten containing foods, so if the problems persist, you may need to go totally gluten free).

You can get propoerly tested for gluten or other allergies – I found this really informative site which very clearly explains a lot of food intolerance issues & conditions.

But sugar is the place to start… it may well be all you need to cut out, to see a dramatic difference & to make you feel a whole lot more comfortable.

Second possible cause is your posture. The posture of pregnancy & mothering doesn’t do the profile of our tummies any favours! Imagine your pelvis is a bowl of water, which you have to keep upright to stop the water spilling… If you are over-arching your back (& consequently sticking out your belly), you’ll need to level out your pelvis by tilting it back towards you. When this over arched back & protruding belly is a permanent postural state (as it is for many mums), then the outward pressure on the rectus muscle (the one that splits with a diastasis) is increased. It also further weakens your transverse muscle, the important one to strengthen to get a flat tummy.

Thirdly, you may be doing your core exercise, but it is possible to go through the motions of these exercises without engaging the transverse muscle correctly. The key is what your lower abdomen looks like as you do them. Does it bulge out at all? If so, you are unknowingly increasing intra-abdominal pressure & training the muscles to push outward still further. You may be ‘bearing down’ or pushing (yes, this relates to your pelvic floor muscles too!) when you want to be achieving the opposite. When you engage your transverse muscles correctly, the lower abdomen should hollow inwards as the muscle contracts.

And the fourth factor is of course, diastasis recti… plenty more on diastasis recti here.

Lastly, a bloated, painful & swollen abdomen CAN be a sign of something very serious like ovarian cancer – this is not to scare you, but simply to say that there’s no harm in getting checked out if you’re really concerned. Remember this is much less likely, & the above are  much more likely causes, but I want to make sure I cover every possibility!

I hope this helps! Are YOU fed up with being asked when the next one’s due?

Want the definitive guide to Diastasis Recti? Get the ‘MuTu Free Downloads’ here!

The MuTu System 12-week coaching download leaves no stone unturned in your quest for a flatter post-baby tummy! Download Here

Is Diastasis Recti The ONLY Reason for Your Mummy Tummy? You Sure About That…?

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Lose your Mummy Tummy with the MuTu System

Mind the Gap...

Diastasis recti is without doubt a major culprit in the mummy tummy stakes. But make sure you don’t overlook diet, excess fat storage & maybe a lack of motivation or a feeling of hopelessness about your situation too :( Here’s some ideas & strategies that might help.

If you have a post pregnancy belly which bulges or protrudes, & seems to form a cone shape when you get up from lying on your back, then you probably do have split abdominal muscles, or diastasis recti. You will also likely be suffering from weak core muscles – that’s the muscles that support your lower back, define your waistline & are connected to your pelvic floor.

But there may be other factors at play. Appropriate exercises for diastasis recti are the core activation & strengthening exercises discussed here. You see, the muscles that have split – the outermost, vertical recti muscles of your abdomen – are connected to the important transverse abdominus muscle that lies deep inside.

Any exercise that strengthens the transverse muscle & draws it IN, by default will also draw the recti muscles TOGETHER.

Multi-tasking exercise. We like that.

But I would like to add a cautionary note, that follows on from my post about the psychology of excuses… if you do not perform these exercises on a daily basis to repair your diastasis recti & strengthen your core AS WELL AS eat & exercise intensively to lose fat… you will not get rid of your mummy tummy.

Diastasis recti is:

1. Reparable

2. Not the only problem with most mummy tummies

In our determination to identify the one issue to place all our focus on, we easily lose sight of the maybe more obvious stuff. I recently dealt with a client who was so fixated on diastasis recti as the key to all her mummy tummy woes, she chose to ignore (or at least downplay) her excessive sugar consumption. The abdominal gap wasn’t the big deal in this particular case, the sugar in her diet was. But it was easier to focus on the former as that felt more ‘medical’, more out of her control, or was maybe just less painful or less hassle to deal with.

Post natal fat loss does not have one isolated answer.

This is why my MuTu System incorporates 5 essential components, ONE of which is treating diastasis recti.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking that if you could just close the gap in your abdominal muscles, all would be flat & gorgeous. In some cases this may be the predominant problem (every individual is unique), but there are 4 other issues. Ignore them, & you will make improvements, but you won’t have solved the problem.

Are you confused by the extent of your own diastasis recti, & how much it contributes to the appearance of your tummy? Let me know where you’re struggling & I’ll try to clear it up for you!

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