Diastasis Recti
Being pregnant again with my 4th pregnancy and also living in the training world, I've come to find that many women and men (definitely not excluded from this topic) have been neglected to be checked for diastasis recti, or in other words, weakening/separation of your abdomen.
What is diastasis recti?
DR put simply is the weakening of the connective tissue of the abdominal wall, also known as the linea alba. Many believe that it's only typical in pregnant or postpartum women, but it can also be found in men and children.
What causes DR?
Many things can cause separation of your abdomen and weakening or overstretching of that connective tissue. One of the most common ones is pregnancy because of the overstretching and expansion that takes place during the pregnancy process.
Other causes may be from straining during bowel movements, holding your breath often or during workouts, crunches, planks, or other continuous forward forceful pressure on the connective tissue, intense coughs that protrude your stomach out.
You can also have this weakening happen on the hormonal side, if your cortisol levels are often through the roof (stress hormone), progesterone and estrogen levels can make the tissue become looser during certain lifestyle adaptations.
Often separation doesn't happen with just one of the above symptoms. Typically the weakening of the tissue is a combination of some of the above factors (and others not mentioned) as well as over time with repetitive lifestyle or movement patterns.
Signs of DR?
How do you know if you have separation?
Take a look at your stomach and see if you notice any bulging or protruding anywhere along the abdomen. It may be small or it may be very noticeable.
If you've been training hard, been conscious about your eating and still feel like your core isn't getting any stronger, or maybe it's getting stronger but you still have that layer that just won't budge, you most likely have some degree of separation.
Other signs may be:
-Often constipated
-Weak bladder
-Pelvic Floor problems
-Been pregnant or are pregnant
-Chronic Back, SI Joint, or Hip Pain
Or if you feel like you have some sort of weakening in the abdomen area.
What you can do about it?
If you find that you may have DR, there is hope. First see if your doctor will check you for it (a doctor that knows his/her stuff will have you lie down and check you in 3 separate places along your abdomen) If a doctor isn't available for you, that's OK, you can start doing things right now to help strengthen that connective tissue.
Tip #1: Active Sitting/Standing
-Anytime you are sitting or standing throughout the day, avoid slouching down and crunching that abdomen together. You end up putting to sleep your transverse abdomen (your inner most layer of your core and one of the most important to rebuild) and put more pressure on that connective tissue.
-Try to focus on rolling those shoulders back, feet flat on the floor (if in a sitting position), core nice and tall, and sitting on your sit bones rather than your tailbone in your chair.
Tip #2: Hydration
-Water is super important, not only when you exercise or exert yourself, but all the time. Start to drink at least half your weight in ounces to help bring those hormone levels to a neutral state as well as stregthen and hydrate that connective tissue through and through.
Tip #3: Avoid Certain Positions
-When your connective tissue is weak, you want to avoid anything that will put extra pressure on it and strain it.
-If you're working out, avoid exercises such as; planks, crunches, v-sits, flutter kicks...anything that protrudes your abdomen into a ball like form or puts a lot of downward forceful pressure on the connective tissue you want to avoid.
-If you're pregnant or nursing, avoid letting your stomach or that pressure bring you down. It will be a lot easier to let it do it's thing when you're tired and focused on a million other things, but it's going to be key in helping that connective tissue become stronger.
Hopefully this gave some insight into being more aware of your body and answering some lingering questions.
For more questions or concerns, feel free to email me at
makinsey@mcfitnessandnutrition.com
or click on the link below to schedule a 15 minute Q&A call with me. I'd love to hear from you!
https://calendly.com/mcfit/qa
Thanks for reading!
M.C.