HELP! WRONG Pilates Exercises Worsened My Abdominal Separation!

[Gugu]

I am writing in fear and sorrow! This is really one silly story... what a pity!

It has now been 22 months since I had my 2nd child and am ONLY NOW discovering that I have abdominal separation, also called "Diastasis recti".

I used to measure just about 2 fingers (even less) up until lately and considered this within "normal" based on all the readings I did on line. However I have been going around looking 5 months pregnant, thinking I have extremely weak stomach muscles. Then I started pilates hoping all the wonderful pilates exercises will help but I just kept feeling and looking larger... Recently I was warned by Chellesgirl on another thread that I might have separation and guess what...? I re-emasured myself after her alerting message and I found my gap measuring about 3 fingers now!!! Ouch!!!

I have been telling the pilates studio about my protruding belly and all but they have no idea about what abdominal separation means and here I am with a larger gap thanks to their ignorant expertise to get me doing 2,5 hours a week of all the sit-ups and crunches you are NOT supposed to do...

I have been reading about Tupler technique and have ordered the book and DVD of Lose Your Mummy Tummy as well as the splint... I am wondering if there is any chance I may correct myself with exercise without having to go for surgery...?

I thought I was desparate not knowing WHY my abdomen looked SO pregnant almost 2 years after birth... but now I feel both stupid and beyond-unlucky for having increased my gap by doing all those wrong exercises that I have been reading about for all these months... Can you believe having paid for and sweated for increasing your abdominal separation in private classes...?

What a silly and sad story...

Any advise please???

Desparately Yours,
Gugu

Eeek for you. Bump as I have no idea. But don't blame yourself, you weren't to know.

they should know

Get a private tutor, explain it to them, pay for some lessons in your home

They will show you the basics and tell you not to move onto other exercises before you've sorted the gap

Unfortunately, there is NO one here where I live who knows about abdominal separation or how to fix it. I need to fly to UK or USA or so in order to find help. I just in an other post asking the group about how I could reach Julie Tupler. Since I need to make a big trip to fnd help I am thinking I might was well go for the big name. I am having her book & DVD courieried to me these days but I do not have the patience to try to learn thru books & DVDs and eventually perhaps not do right at all or do ineffectively, especially after having increased the gap by 1 finger myself in and now am in 22 months since my last delivery and I am 40!!!

sounds like your pilates teachers don't know their arse from their elbow. a properly trained pilates instructor would not have let this happen.

Agree with ReligiousBiscuit a properly trained pilates instructor wouldn't have let this happen. However it HAS but I just wanted to reassure you that it doesn't have to be disaster. Firstly, 3 fingers isn't terrible and you can close it. Secondly, the Tupler Technique is excellent and, as someone who has used the book herself (to close my 2 finger separation following twins) it's not that hard to follow. I don't think you need to jump on an aeroplane and track down Ms. Tupler in person. The initial exercises are very simple, although they ARE intense and you do need to commit to do them every day for a course of weeks before you see a difference. However, I personally think it's much better to view the closure of a diastasis recti as a 'long game' i.e. the longer you take to do it, the more effective the exercises will be. A radical, overnight improvement just isn't going to happen as you have to encourage the abdominal muscles to move back and this occurs slowly. However, the exercises will have an impact on your stomach overall and you will begin to see slight improvements early on and I found my posture improved as well as a result of the exercises (had been fairly shot to bits after months hunching over my twins, trying to feed them).

Don't despair. You haven't caused irrevocable damage and this is fixable. Have you tried Googling a local pilates instructor who specialises in postnatal fitness? Equally, you can talk to your GP and look into getting a physio referral as this can help close the separation (a good physio will give you specific, targeted exercises). In order to get the referral it might be worth emphasising the physical impact rather than the visual as this tends to be more effective - i.e. stress the fact that you've got awful lower back pain (can be caused by poor abdominal strength through abdominal separation) rather than that you're fed up with having a big tummy. I'm personally of the view that how you look is hugely important for self-esteem post birth but not all GPs do or can share that view.

Hope this helps and don't despair. My separation is now closed so it is possible!

Definitely agree with the bad instructor comments, as I can honestly say pilates helped me with the exact same problem. I think physio would be a good bet too, good luck.

Thank you gals! Kitstwins, I remember having read your success story on one of the threads. May I please ask your age and whether the twins were your first pregnancy? And how soon after you gave birth did you start the Tupler exercises? I am 40 and this was my 2nd (and last to-be) pregnancy. And, uUnfortunately, there is NO after pregnancy rehabilitation concept/market where I live. No GPs or gynaecologists seem to know enough or really care about abdominal separation. Prenatal fitness is just becoming popular only in the upper middle class of the society in a very limited polpulation. So I am stuck here to try to find info online or learn thru books & DVDs... When I found out I have been increasing my gap with the wrong pilates exercises, out of desparation I went on an appointment to meet a plastic surgeon on Friday and he told me that there is a sheath around the rectus muscle which is not elastic and once it is strecthed, it does not come back closer with any exercise. The only way is to stitch them with surgery. Of course this is an answer much expected from a plastic surgeon! I do not have any intention to run that road unless I see that I cannot close it naturally myself with exercise and I am more than ready to do the Tupler method religiously... at least you don't have to pay for each session as I have been doing for the private pilates classes.
Also, today on TV my sister has heard on TV from the most sensational mother-former-model of my country here (who is now a post-partum fit-mom symbol and has her 1st pilates at home DVD etc) saying that one should not resume exercise till after the ribcage has been compeletely closed and if one does, damage might occur that even surgery may not be able to fix... didn't sound completely reasonable but surely gives me goosebumps!

Glad my message helped. I was just a couple of days short of my 34th birthday when I had my twins. It was my first pregnancy and previous to it I'd been very fit, with great abdominals. Largely down to exercise (pilates and running) but also due to the luck of the genetic draw. My separation was slight in the grand scheme of things as separations of up to 8 fingers width can occur in a diastasis recti, however it was still very frustrating as my stomach looked quite a mess post birth. Not easy when you are used to good abdominal strength and are crashingly vain about such things (as I am).

Doing the wrong abdominal exercises post birth can certainly exacerbate the situation and can lead to the separation becoming 'fixed'. It's important not to exercise too early post birth and to certainly wait until the abdomen has 'settled' i.e. the ribs have dropped again and the muscles have moved together. I was told around 6 weeks post vaginal birth and around 12 weeks post caesarean birth although this does vary from person to person and should be checked by a GP prior to commencement. My abdomen was 'checked' at my six week postnatal check up by it was very perfunctory and I'm not sure my GP knew what she was looking for (she was a young locum as my usual GP was off on maternity leave). I did a stomach crunch and she felt my tummy and pronounced me "fine". However, I felt that things weren't right and checked myself and also got my (very good) pilates instructor to check also. We both realised that I had a 2 finger separation which wasn't disastrous but could be improved upon, which I was keen to try to do. I did NOTHING until 12 weeks as I'd had a caesarean, although during that time I did lots of walking and gentle stretches to stop myself going mad. After 12 weeks I started tailored pilates classes, avoiding all abdominals except ones to help me close the gap. I bought the Tupler technique book at around this time and started doing the exercises. After about three months things had really improved and my separation was down to one finger, which my pilates instructor said was "negligable". The last finger was hard to close and I got it in by another half finger, which is where I am 2 years on. I'm happy with this as I think this is pretty good and not bad for post-twins.

Your plastic surgeon is right in some respects as he is referring to something called the linea alba, which is a white stretchy band that runs vertically down the abdomen and joins the rectus abdominus muscles. The muscles naturally separate during pregnancy to allow the growing uterus to expand through, but sometimes they move too quickly and hte linea alba can overstretch and tear. You can't 'untear' this but you can still close the gap with exercises and can probably shift the separation to a minimal amount. It won't be as good as pre-birth but it will look fine.

I think surgery through a mesh repair is possible but it's quite a drastic measure and is usually prescribed for really extreme cases of separation and hernia. You'd end up with perfect abs in the end but it's a big operation and requires a good six weeks of recuperation post op (no lifting, etc. which is quite hard with small children). If you had a whopper diastasis and all the issues that come with that (back pain, pouching stomach, hernia, pelvic weakness, loss of self-esteem, etc.) then I'd say go for the operation but I think it is worth trying the Tupler exercises first.

My stomach isn't the same as it was pre-birth as my bellybutton is now stretched but other than that it all looks okay. I'm okay with the changes as they seem minimal and a small price for the babies I got. I know I got off very lightly in the body stakes.

I think you've spooked yourself with this, as it's really easy to do post birth. I understand this as I was equally ticked off about my separation and imagined that my stomach would always look this way. Like you I also worried that I'd 'fixed' the separation by rushing about and lifting too much in the early days, but it was all unfounded. Don't imagine that this is it and you've gone and made things worse as you really haven't. At least you've identified the issue and can now do something about it. Wait for the book, have a good read through it and then do the exercises every day. If it helps, take a couple of photos once every couple of weeks so you can track the changes over the course of a few months. You won't notice things straight away as the changes are subtle but it will work and you will see results.

Hope this helps and sorry it's a bit garbled.

thanks kitstwins! what ı dont understand is that almsot all info on the web has been referring to the 2 fingers and less as acceptable... and mine has been measuring less than 2 fingers and how come I had this BIG bulge making me look like 5 months pregnant especially after I eat and drink anything?

kitstwins, your story is extremely encouraging and motivating but given your fit stomach muscles before pregnancy reminds me to think that all stories arent like yours as I have read about more people who had to opt for the surgery since they couldnt close theirs than those who could close theirs... especially I read in one site/blog about a mom's story where even though she did Tupler religiously for about a year she showed no improvement and then got herself fixed with Helene Byrne's "exercise after pregnancy" (www.befitmom.com). I have this book as well but her book focuses more on strenghtening stomach muscles and getting a flat tummy after your DS is healed and she gives very few exercises for working on DS.

I have just ordered also the LYMT DVD and the splint and my book is on the way too...

Oh dear...

Hi there,

Well I do think my prior fitness helped in the sense that my muscles were strong and so it was perhaps easier for me to use them post-birth in the exercises. But I don't think having strong muscles stopped me getting a diastasis recti - I think I could have had abs of steel and it still would have happened as it is just one of those things. Down to having twins and expanding rapidly in my case.

I also read that two fingers was 'acceptable' and in a sense it is because the separation isn't so great. You'll still have abdominal weakness with two fingers or less and so will have the risk of referred back pain, etc. (the pelvic girdle of muscles is vital in supporting the lower back as well as all the internal organs) but it won't be as severe as it might with a larger separation. That brings with it the real risk of debilitating, long term back pain and degeneration.

You say you look five months pregnant which does imply that your muscles are very weak in your abdomen, especially as it increases after you have eaten and drunk. This would imply that your internal organs (digestive system, etc.) is pushing against your weakened muscle wall and causing your abdomen to pouch forwards. Given this I DO think it's worth you trying the tupler exercises (or something similar) as although you might not get a radical closure of your two finger separation, the exercises will help with the overall strengthening of your abdominals. There are complex muscles in this area that underly and overlap one another and so the weakness doesn't just have to be in the rectus abdominus - it can be in the deeper layer of abdominal muscles. The Transverse Abdominus muscle for example which is the deepest abdominal and wraps around the torso (a bit like a belt). This muscle is quite hard to locate in exercises because it is so deep and, if your abdominals are weak, it just doesn't get fired up. Unless I really focus on this muscle during pilates, etc. I tend to use more superficial abdominal muscles in its place. The Tupler technique really helped me strengthen this muscle which, post pregnancy/caesarean was quite weak. Again, I'd been quite strong prior to pregnancy so it wasn't impossible for me to 'find' these muscles in the exercises but I was really surprised at how feeble they were following the birth of my babies.

So I don't think for you it is just about the separation - I think that's just the most obvious point of your abdominal weakness and hasn't helped matters. It's probably more helpful to view the whole of your abdominal area as very weakened and concentrate on that. Given this, the right tailored exercises really could help and although you might not close the separation much, if you strengthen the lower muscles below the rectus abdominus (the top layer of muscles) you should tone up. The stronger abdominals will act as a corset - holding all your internal organs in place.

Hope this helps. From personal experience, I don't think people should underestimate how distressing it can be to have this post birth and I do think there is a bit of an assumption out there that women should just accept their new, post-birth body as part of the experience; a necessary casualty of pregnancy if you like. I think a drastic change in body image post birth can be hugely distressing and can cause big self-esteem issues and the prevailing mentality that women should somehow just accept it and lump it is wrong.

Let me know what you make of the book. .

I think you are pretty right Kitstwins.

In fact, the reason why I did not think I might have abdominal separation that needed specific exercise to get fixed before I would start pilates was because 1) just about 2 fingers of gap I was measuring was said to be acceptable and 2) because I used to think I actually have extremely weak stomach muscles... Now that I have completed my "6-week increase your diastasis gap pilates program" successfully I officially have a gap larger than the acceptable measurements. Perhaps I have the 2 cases together... the gap and the weak muscle combo! Nice lottary... ? NOT!!!!

You seem to know quite alot about the core area anatomically and fitnesswise... so let me tell you abit more Kitstwins.

I used to be always very very slim with very flat stomach whereby I never knew what it meant to have body fat etc that would restrict in choice of clothing.. I also have never worked out... I was just lucky that I was a very very slim person...

With the 1st baby I gained 21 kgs (from 49kgs went upto 70kgs) but within 6 months after delivery I was back to my usual look with a couple of kilos more but with stomach area that sure changed where I could see my skin had stretched as I had a little amount of soft extra skin but not in a really disturbing way... also after I would have a full meal I would start experiencing a little bulge coming out which was a whol enew thing for me... I was 30 when I had my first baby... but I was still totally fine to wear my bikinis or tight outfits the way I used to... It was that my tummy was not washboard flat as it used to be... Then I turned 35 and was in a time of my life with an increased social life making me have a glass or two of wine afew times a week... over a year or so of this active social life, I started seeing my stomach getting slowly but surely a little bigger than it ever seemed it could be. the year before I got pregnant a 2nd time, I started not eating too much when dining out since it was making me need to undo the button of my pants at the restaurants... in fact I could see my stomach area was changing further whereby the tiny little bit of extra soft skin from 1st pregnancy was getting more pronounced and I really had to start watching ho wmuch I eat and drink when we were out. I also started noticing that my stomach was not responding to wine well as it was making me feel bloated... just around exploring this new era of change in the nature of my abdominal area which was surprising and kind of worrying me day by day, I got pregnant a 2nd time, at the age of 37,5 and unfortunately with a stomach that is getting somewhat older without any exercise for recovery after a pregnancy already. I carried this 2nd baby so exaggratedly forward going that I had nothing from side to side but everything was going and looking forward... an enormously forward stretched tummy... the baby arived about 3,5 weeks early and I had an unplanned c/s. As I wrote in my initial message, the day after the delivery, the nurse was in shock seeing how HUGE my stomach was... I seriously looked at least 7 months pregnant. The tummy shrank down to looking 4-5 months pregnant, coming out after eating and drinking which is where I am now...
So, I think my stomach was already giving enough signals asking for attention before I got pregnant a 2nd time. But surely there are millions of women out there who do not exercise and do not necessarily get such weak stomach muscles and abdominal separation even despite multiple pregnancies, such as my mom who had 6 pregnancies and such as my 3 sisters each of whom had 2 babies with all flat stomachs afterwards and none of these women in my life have ever never exercised either but they did nto carry any of their babies in such an unfortunately stretchy way... I had always trusted my good genes for my slim figure and the post-baby bodies in good shapre of the ladies in the family but I would not have a clue I would carry so forward and stretch my tummy eternally...

having been such a slim person all my life (disregarding the last while before baby #2 with bloating after wine and dine) and now having this bulge sitting righ tin the middle of tummy is indigestible for me... I have not seen my pubic area when I look down standing up since my tummy started growing during last pregnancy...

I am more than committed to do any exercise as long as there is hope...

I want to be proud of myself by fixing my problem with my own body power and not under a surgeon's needle and stitches...

Well it does sound like you've been unlucky and I do think you've been doubly unlucky in that you've had the diastasis as well as quite extensive abdominal weakness. It's not at all uncommon - my previously strong stomach muscles were absolutely hammered into submission by one twin pregnancy and caesarean - but I think diastasis always makes it seem worse as there's a physical, actual manifestation of the weakness. It's an actual area of negativity to focus on.

Nothing is irrevocable. Good, tailored stomach exercises can make a huge difference and there's no reason why they shouldn't work well for you. In fact, reading your descriptions of your stomach it really does seem as if you have an all-round abdominal weakness (as well as the diastasis - poor you!) that would really respond well to Tupler-style exercises. If the deeper abdominals are very weak then they can offer no support to the internal organs and when you factor in the added weakness from the diastasis then its almost inevitable that you would get this stomach pouching and '5 months pregnant look'. Am sitting here now doing one of my Tupler exercises just to think it all through and it really does fire up my Transverse Abdominus (the deepest, girdle-type abdominal muscle) in a way that standard abdominal exercises don't really manage. And it makes sense that if you get your upper layer of abdominal muscles strong and close a separation then that will help hugely, but if your deepest muscles are still weak then pouching will still occur. It won't be as severe as before you strengthened the upper layers but you'll never get as good a result.

Hope this makes sense. I just want to reassure you that all is not totally doomed. I actually think you'll respond really well to the specific exercises and it's worth a go. My tummy was annihilated post-section and post babies and I did worry that I'd never get my tone or strength back, but I did. It probably took me a good six months of key abdominal exercises but the change was steady.

Don't despair!

Hi Kitstwins! thanks so much for your detailed explanations. I have read a fair amount on the stomach muscles as well and what is interesting is that I have learned hwo to isolate and contract my transverse really well. My tummy would get really hard ans strong look during most exercises showing I can in fact contract my muscles but since I have been increasing my gap with all the wrong exercises, it has bene impossble to see any improvement in toning up the muscles but what you see is rather a more protruding stomach!

I received the courier frm amazon yesterday, the much desired Julie Tupler book...I had a very quick look at it last nite and need to read it carefully and digest the initial exercises... I felt so awful reading all the DON'TS! she is listing during pilates which I have been doing extensively... no wonder I have an additional finger's gap!!!

All her advise for incorporating her technique and engaging transverse in the day-to-day activities sounds so wise...

Now that I know I have DR, I can now pinpoint all my complaints that has been exaggratedly increasing thru the pilates classes I have done the last while, I can see how sensitive my belly button area got and how hollow it is there when I touch... ıt was nothinlg like that with my less then 2-fingers before I started the heavy pilates exercises...

What is interesting is that Julie Tupler says even if you get surgical repair of DR, if you exercises incorrectly later, you can open it up again!

This is Julie Tupler

Those of you that have considered surgery or have an umbilical hernia around your belly button, I want you to read this email that just was sent to me by a client:

Re: Question and referral?
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:22 PM
From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
"Kimberly Cowell-Meyers"
View contact details
To:
[email protected]
Cc:
[email protected]

Julie,

Great news! You would not believe it but the surgeon has determined there is no longer any medical reason for surgery! I was scheduled to go under the knife three days ago and the dr., who hasn't seen me since Dec, couldn't believe the changes. There is still a small hernia, visible to the naked eye, but we can't make it pop in or out the way a hernia should so the dr. thinks it's not worth undergoing surgery at this point. I'm not sure I communicated this before, but when I saw him in Dec. he recommended a repair including 5" of mesh! Now the area surrounding the defect is so tight that if we did surgery, we would need a teeny circle of mesh, less than an inch.

Thanks so much for teaching me how to tighten my transverse. Your exercises have changed everything. As I mentioned before, I've lost 1 1/2 inches off my waist, I've noticeably toned my abs and I don't have to have a surgery that was supposed to lay me up for 2 weeks and prevent me from lifting my son for 6! I'm am eternally grateful and a total convert to the cult of Julie. Can I write you a letter of endorsement?

Best wishes,

Kimberly

Oh golly. Julie - if you see this - please let me know where I can find out about your technique, as I have a small hernia since childbirth - it is probably only about an inch and my separation is less than two fingers, the gP says it is tiny and not worth surgery but I hate it and am afraid it'll just get larger.

I'll try anything
Thankyou

Ah have now seen other thread! Thankyou

This is slightly off topic but still about pilates! I don't want to end up doing the wrong exercises (I'm 19 weeks pregnant) so am desperately trying to find a pregnancy pilates class in the Worthing area where I live. I don't suppose anyone has any suggestions?

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can purchase the 'Lose your mummy tummy' DVD and splint in the UK please?
I've sone a google search for both items and get just 1 result for a US company that does ship to the UK but the costs are quite steep!
Can anyone help?
THANKS

Hi this message is for Gugu, I have the exact same problem as you. I wondered how you have got on with the Tupler exercises, 9 months on? I am desperately depressed by the 5 months pregnant look, it has started to dominate my life. I have got the Tupler book, DVD Splint. I guess I just want someone to tell me it will be o.k if I stick with it.

hi just to let you know i discovered i had diastasis recti 1 year after the birth of my second child (aged 38). i was doing all the wrong exercises (bootcamps with situps galore etc) and was looking 5 months pregnant even thought i had lost all the baby weight. i then decided to try pilates and it was my pilates instructor who explained to me the problem and gave me really basic pilates exercises to mend it. once i was aware of it and incorporated using my TVA muscles in my day to day life and exercises the gap closed from 4 fingers and is now 1/2 a finger after 4 months. so i would complain at your pilates studio as they really should know what you were talking about. look at the tupler book as it helped my friend too.
and give it some time - you will get a flat stomach again. it just takes a little while.

Sorry to bump an old thread.

I am 7 months pregnant. When I use my stomach muscles to sit up (eg from lying in the bath to sitting in the bath) I get a really pronounced ridge running down the middle of my bump - like I can draw a line down the centre of my bump which would be the middle of a steeply pitched roof. Hard to describe.

Is this normal? Can't quite work out what diastatis recti is.

LuckyC yes it's totally normal just look sweird - I felt like a shark

NB if you have a new question it;s often best to start a new thread thus with a relevant title

and for the record distasis recti

I'm so sorry to hear about people's lack of information regarding their problems fixing diastasis recti. Although it will vary from woman to woman (and depends on the separation) it is usually easy to fix, however many regular (ie not specialised for post-natal) exercise regimes can sometimes worsen the separation, especially vigorous sit-ups/crunches too soon after giving birth.
I am a Pilates teacher and would recommend people seek a qualified Pilates teacher who has taken further specialist training in pregnancy & post-natal Pilates. Look for a Pilates Foundation teacher for peace of mind as they train long and hard and you can be sure they know their stuff. Also you could contact Guild of Pregnancy and Postnatal Exercise for advice on approved teachers in your area

I can second Tessarc about the Pilates Foundation. Their teachers are fantastically trained, and done properly, Pilates can assist you in getting better. Good Luck !