After giving birth, a woman’s body often undergoes many changes. One of the common ones is the separation of the abdominal muscles – diastasis recti. They often go back on their own, but they often need additional help. In any case, gentle strengthening of the body after childbirth will never hurt.
Diastasis and types of diastasis
Here, the stomach before, during and after pregnancy. The muscles on the sides (transverse and oblique), our natural corset, weaken and cease to hold the muscles in the middle (straight), as a result of which there is a separation of the white line of the abdomen, which can later be observed as a dip or vice versa in the middle stomach when straining the press. The photo shows varieties of diastasis.
Most often, the difference occurs above the navel, 4 perpendicular fingers higher, and at the level of the navel. There, the tissues are most vulnerable, so it is there that it is easiest to detect and the most clearly expressed diastasis.
Diastasis recti preventive measures
In order to support the muscles during the postpartum recovery process, it’s necessary to tie up (an ideal option for everyone is benkung). If you don’t do this, you can find yourself in a situation similar to mine: a week after giving birth, my stomach looked as usual, so I decided that tying did not concern me, after three months I started pumping the abs, and in the tenth month during rocking abs noticed a ridge along the white line of the abdomen. A problem is considered a muscle separation of more than 2-2.5 cm, well, I had 2, and, I’m sorry, but this is also a problem.
Improper posture, lifting loads, and overeating contribute to diastasis recti very well – I have tested it myself. Therefore, it is important to move smoothly, stretching up, without bending forward or backward, and it is also important to spread the weight of the body correctly – on two legs. A sling is great, but make sure you distribute your weight correctly and maintain proper posture when using it. The praised “vacuum” and “plank” will not help, or even harm, if they are performed incorrectly and without preparation, and on the Internet you can come across many incorrect techniques for performing these exercises, be careful. Correct techniques come from yoga, and first of all, when performing them, it is important to breathe correctly.
Diastasis recti threatens with a lump on the abdomen, so even if there is already a lump and it is such that it is not even possible to feel the separation of the muscles, the best thing to do is to learn to control the transverse muscle. With this tool, you can start pumping the press.
Also pay attention in the picture, how little space in the abdomen is occupied by the rectus muscle with all its dreamy cubes. These cubes do not have any practical value and, although they create an illusion of beauty, they will not hinder you in yoga. But that’s up to you: if you want cubes, please. However, before starting to work on the rectus muscle, it is necessary to strengthen the bases around it: the external and internal obliques and the transverse muscle.
First of all, after childbirth, it is necessary to activate and restore their tone, and in further training, be guided by the principle “from deep to superficial”, successively including in the work all muscle groups of the abdominal wall – first transverse, then internal, external oblique and already in the last turn the rectus abdominis muscle.
From my own experience: correcting diastasis, taking it under control, means not only improving the appearance, but primarily improving the work of the gastrointestinal tract, getting rid of problems with bowel movements, incontinence, hemorrhoids, and even getting rid of extra pounds. I strongly advise everyone to forget about external beauty forever, because it is a consequence of internal health, and it is on this that you need to concentrate. The outside is a nice bonus.
Diastasis recti self-diagnosis
Lying on your back, bend your knees, put your feet on the floor. Put one hand under your head. Breathe naturally and, raising your head slightly from the floor, look at your stomach. The photo shows a typical manifestation, which is called a roller:
Other manifestations: a hut (like a ridge, but even more reminiscent of the roof of a hut) and a hole (looks like a ditch, an unusual recess in the place of a ridge).
Dip the fingers of your free hand vertically between the edges of the rectus abdominis muscles above, at the level and below the navel. So you will be able to measure the width of the distance between the muscles, the depth to which the fingers can sink inside and the length of the diastasis recti from top to bottom along the midline.
Is it there? Now all that’s left is to get rid of ⏩ Gangsta Yoga.
