I know this seems impossible but the short answer to this is yes, there are ways you can do this. There are a series of programs I will recommend that I have come across and some tried that I think will really help you. Of course, if you look on YouTube you will find many different exercises for DR some of which are great and some not so much because not all of the exercises people recommend for Diastasis Recti are safe for ab separation. Trust me I did a lot of different things I found on YouTube and I found some of them aggravated my separation more.

Before I go into how to close a separation, I think a good first step will be to determine if you have diastasis recti. Just like I started off in the last post I will begin again with resources from professional sites because I am not an expert in this area. I will share some of my tips with you at the end. As always, I recommend you speak with your medical professional regarding this.

Self-testing instructions from healthline.com:

“After delivery, the most noticeable symptom is a bulge or “pooch” in your belly area. Even though you’re no longer pregnant, it might look like you still are.

Here’s how to self-check yourself for diastasis recti after childbirth:

1. Lie on your back, legs bent, feet flat on the floor.

2. Raise your shoulders up off the floor slightly, supporting your head with one hand, and look down at your belly.

3. Move your other hand above and below your belly button, and all along your midline ab muscles. See if you can fit any fingers in the gaps between your muscles.

4. If you feel a gap, or separation of one to two finger lengths, you likely have a moderate case of diastasis recti. After a few weeks postpartum, the gap will start to narrow as your muscles regain strength.

Your doctor or physical therapist can also check for diastasis recti using a measuring tool called a caliper or an ultrasound. These will give them a more accurate measurement. Your doctor or physical therapist should also evaluate any gap greater than two finger lengths.”

A few tips I will add to this are.

1. Make sure you don’t raise your head too high off the floor, so you don’t get a false reading. You want to raise it slightly off the floor and exhale while holding in the abdominals as you measure the separation.

2. Make sure you write down how many fingers gaps you have, so you are able to track your progress of the restoration.

3. Make sure you measure the middle, top, and lower ab separations so you have accurate information, and you can track accordingly.

4. Do not do this test too often, I will advise once a month or twice a month but refrain from doing it daily in order to not worsen the condition.

The two ways you can attempt to close your abdominal separation from healthline.com

1. Targeted Abdominal Exercises: These you can do in the comfort of your home or with a physical therapist. You can also combine your therapy sessions with in-home sessions since the therapy is not usually daily.

2. Surgery: Talk to your health care professional about this. Surgery is only recommended in extreme situations where the patient’s health is at risk. If there is no danger to the patient’s health the surgical option is usually a tummy tuck. I suggest you speak with your doctor about the details before deciding on this option.

My recommendation will be for you to consider doing your diastasis recti workouts with a specific program. By this I mean choose a program to use for your workout and don’t just do random YouTube exercises. My reasons for this is

1. With a specific program, you have a higher chance of sticking to it because you progress, and the journey can be tracked by the timeline of the program.

2. It is not all DR safe exercises you can do from the start. Your muscles get stronger over time; most programs begin with the aim to start at the base level and work on your core to get it stronger over time to be able to take on more difficult routines. The problem with selecting random YouTube exercises is that you don’t know which one works best based on your level of core strength, which is why I recommend going with a specific program such as Every Mother, Mutu System, Tupler Technique.

I will share more on my progress in the future, but until then keep pushing mama’s you got this.