Diastasis recti has gained a lot of attention in the pregnant, postpartum and fitness world. As a pelvic floor and sports PT, I’ve had female athletes come to me in complete fear of this gap during their pregnancy, without really understanding what it is (and what it isn’t).
What is Diastasis Recti?
Defined as a gap between the two rectus abdominus muscles that develops during pregnancy to accommodate for the growing fetus. Your linea alba is the connective tissue that runs a long the midline of the abdominal muscles. After hormone changes and increased laxity in the body, this connective tissue softens and the two rectus muscles move further apart. This is not preventable and naturally occurs to allow the abdominal wall to expand.
How to Check if You Have Diastasis Recti:
You can perform a self-check at home using your fingers to measure the width in between your two rectus muscles. This is a good way to keep a baseline and measure your improvement over time.
To check: lie on your back and lift your head and shoulders slightly off the floor. Use your fingers to palpate above the belly button. Feel for the two rectus muscles on each side and feel for the gap in between the two. Keeping your fingers together and held horizontally, measure the width in between the muscles by the amount of fingers. In addition to the width, also make note of the depth of the gap going down. Reassess at and below the belly button as well.
What Do I Do If I Have Diastasis Recti?
Almost 100% of women will get this during pregnancy, whether you notice it or not. You may notice a coning or doming along the midline of your abdominal during certain tasks. This often includes tasks that cause an increase in pressure in the abdominal cavity - sitting up out of bed, lifting something heavy, or doing abdominal exercises. If/when you notice coning along the midline, try to recruit the deep core for increased support and think about exhaling on effort. If you still have trouble controlling the doming, it may be appropriate to modify the exercise and make it easier. A pelvic floor PT can help you learn these strategies.
In the postpartum stage, It is unknown why some diastasis’ will heal without intervention and some do not. This is still a topic that isn’t heavily researched. There are several factors that are out of our control in regards to developing DRA. This includes collagen structure in the body, number of pregnancies/multiple babies, size of baby, etc.
What we DO know, is these tissue respond to strength training. We want to focus on building strength and tension in all of the abdominal muscles: the transverse abdominus, internal and external obliques and the rectus abdominus. When we load these tissue appropriately, they continue to respond. In PT, we do not focus solely on “closing the gap”, but more so building a resilience in this muscles so daily tasks and exercises continue to get easier.
In summary, diastasis recti is a treatable outcome of pregnancy but may require some guidance in order to return to whatever exercise you enjoy! It helps to be knowledgable about it, but try not to let it make you fearful of movement.
