Post Baby Core - Heal the Diastasis - Lesson 1

I have so many clients, whether they be new mums or not, that come to me with a diastasis.

This simply means that they have a split in their stomach muscles (the top layer called the rectus abdominus). With an un-repaired diastasis you are likely to experience core instability, lower back pain, pelvic floor issues, and a bit of a ‘pooch’ in the tummy area.

Every single pregnant woman will have had a natural opening between their rectus abdominus during pregnancy - your rectus abdominus absolutely have to split apart to make way for the baby. In many women this split will heal itself automatically in around 6 weeks.

Even a 1cm gap is considered ‘healed’, as long is it isn’t deep (I.e you can push your fingers down deep into the gap). However if you had a big baby, your core was weak before pregnancy, you’ve had multiple previous births, or you had twins - you may have a wide and deep diastasis and it may need to be repaired before you can go back to more traditional workouts.

In this series of ‘lesson’s’ I’m going to teach you some of the best exercises that you can do to use the breath to re-connect these muscles to each other as well as the pelvic floor and the rest of the core.

I’ve done 30 seconds per exercise for 5 exercises and 2 rounds - however this is just for the video.

Do spend longer on each exercise and really focus on that long exhale and engagement all the way from the pelvic floor to the diaphragm.

Exercise 1: Superman 

Exercise 2: Back Lying Elbow Push Down  - push down into the elbow as you exhale and think about elongating through the body and zipping up from pelvic floor to diaphragm

Exercise 3: Side Lying Push- Right - push into the ball on the exhale as you zip up

Exercise 4: Side Lying Push- Left - push into the ball on the exhale as you zip up

Exercise 5: Back Lying Adductor Squeeze - squeezed the ball between your knees on the exhale as you zip up

For more head, as well as a tutorial on how to do the abdominal breathing click here.