DIASTASIS RECTI Test, What Works and What To Avoid

Frequently Asked Questions About Exercises to Alleviate Diastasis Recti or Postnatal Abdominal Separation.

Q: How do I test for diastasis recti?

A: Lie on your back with your knees bent & your feet flat on the floor. Relax your head & shoulders & place your fingers (palm facing you) just above your belly button.

Lift your head, neck & shoulders slightly off the floor & press down with your fingertips. If you feel a gap, that’s the diastasis. You will feel the muscles close in around your fingers as you lift your head & neck. Don’t lift your shoulders up too high.

Repeat the test in two other place: directly over the belly button, & a couple of inches below.

A diastasis recti gap is measured in finger width’s. You are aiming for 1-2 finger gap or less, but don’t panic if it’s much bigger at first – up to ten fingers is not unheard of!

Q: Should I use a splint or abdominal wrap to bring the muscles back together? What’s the best exercise for diastasis recti?

A: Many women, & some popular exercise techniques such as the Tupler technique, advocate wrapping or binding the mid-section to draw the split recti muscles back together. Binding has also been traditional practice in many parts of the world for generations.

In my experience, it can be helpful when the gap is wide (4 fingers or more), & certainly helps with awareness of the abs & for lower back support. However don’t use a wrap or splint as a substitute for caution when working the abdominals. The point is not to ‘switch off’ & let the splint do the work!

To use a splint (a towel does the same job) to encourage your muscles to ‘knit’ back together:

Lie on your back with your knees bent & feet flat on the floor. Wrap a towel under your tummy & cross it over your abs, holding onto each end.

Slowly & gently lift your head, neck & shoulders off the floor, whilst drawing your belly button towards your spine & tilting your pelvis. This will activate your transverse abdominal muscle. As you lift, pull the towel tighter around your waist.

Do about 10 reps, building up to 30-40 a day (you don’t have to do them all at once!).

Q: How Common is Diastasis Recti?

Over a third of women will have a gap of two fingers or more after their first baby. After second or subsequent pregnancies, this figure is more like two thirds, especially if the gap wasn’t closed effectively after the first.

Q: How Do I help a Diastasis Close Up?

A: Think about the ‘bellybutton to spine’ contraction discussed in this post, with everything you do – not just when you’re specifically exercising your abs. When you sneeze, cough, pick up your baby, do any type of exercise, stand up from a crouching position, or turn around.

Try to get back in touch with your body & be aware of your core muscles doing the work to stabilise you in every day activity.

Q: My Youngest Is At School…! – Can I Still Reduce a Diastasis?

A: Yes – activating & engaging your core transverse abdominal muscles at any stage post partum can improve the gap.

If you did a lot of crunches &/or oblique crunches post baby, then you may have developed a ‘cone’ shape on your abdomen where you have worked the muscles hard, but in the wrong direction…  Practice belly breathing, engaging your transverse abdominus & pelvic floor & do the towel exercises explained above.

Persistence will pay off! These exercises might not feel like you’re doing much, but do them daily, as many reps as you can, & you will start to see a difference in 6 weeks.

Q: Which Movements or Exercises Should I Avoid?

Crunches, sit-ups, oblique (twists) combined with crunches; anything that  ‘jack-knifes’ the body, by pivoting at the hip & placing strain on the abdominals such as straight leg lifts or holds from lying on your back & some Pliates moves.

In terms of every day movements, avoid lifting straight up from a horizontal lying position – always roll to your side & push up from there; be careful when twisting & turning from the waist, keep thinking ‘core’ & pull belly button through to spine whenever you lift, twist or get up from lying, bending or crouching.