diastisis recti

[buttershy]

Hi all,

I have SPD and saw a physio a few weeks ago for it. I mentioned during my session that I had noticed that when I 'engage' my core, ie lowering myself from sitting to lying down on the bed, or if I lean backwards standing up that my tummy goes into an incredibly strange triangluar shape. She said it was called diastisis recti, separation of the abdominal muscles and that it was more common in petite women (I'm 5ft 2) and generally fairly small all over. She said she would see me again after the birth to help give me some exercises to help it to close up. I've done a bit of reading since and it looks quite depressing in that exercise only has limited success. I'm only 25 and I don't want my body to be totally ruined, I'm already a self conscious person and I hate the idea of always hating something about me. The pictures on google images look so scary :( I am 35wks and have put on 10kg (approx up from 8st 12 to 10st 2).

I am wondering if anyone else has had diastisis recti, if they were diagnosed before or after baby being born and if anything can help, such as a belly support band after birth.

Thanks

[buttershy]

Oh and my baby is measuring 2.5 weeks 'behind' so not a big baby.

[Thefitfatty]

I was diagnosed 2 years after giving birth. I've closed the gap from 5 inches to about 1 and 1/2. That's about as good as it's probably going to get.

[buttershy]

How???? That's awesome! Are you happy with it now? X

[Thefitfatty]

Exercises. I found a free program online and followed it. There are paid programs like MuTu and Tuplar but I can't afford them.

I'm pretty pleased with myself but don't get me wrong, my figure is shot :/

[Thefitfatty]

Just to give you an idea. (Because I feel bad about saying my figure is "shot", I'd been trying on bikini's a few hours before and was feeling horrible about myself :P )

The first pic is last year, right before I started this program: breakingmuscle.com/sites/default/files/downloads/diastasisrecticyclepdf.pdf

The second pic is yesterday. If you're thinner than me, and you work right away (not 2 years down the line) to close the gap. You might have much more success. Good luck. :)

[branofthemist]

I was diagnosed with my first (12 and a half years ago) my stomach is flat now and I have the start of a six pack.

It took a long time of exercising and I had a lot of weight to loose.

The main improvement came when I started martial arts as core training is a huge part of it. And we do exercises in between technique that focuses on muscle strength including s lot of core work.