Core and Diastasis Recti

Understanding diastasis recti goes far beyond identifying a “gap” in the abdominal wall. It’s about recognizing how breathing, pressure management, and whole-body movements can shape pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and core strength. This article breaks down what diastasis recti means, what causes it, and what effective, evidence-based treatment actually looks like. IN THIS GUIDE Add a […]

Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents Breathing and addressing how we breathe has become a popular topic, for good reason. Great breathing can make the difference between having a super strong, fluid, pain-free body, or one that’s under constant cortisol distress, locked down by tightness, and with decreased

Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents You may have heard of the serratus anterior muscle and scapular winging, but did you know that how your serratus functions can have effects well beyond your shoulders? This vital connection helps with neck and shoulder pain, affects core strength, connects your

Can a diastasis recti be fixed without surgery?  Maybe. But you won’t know until you give it your best effort. I want you to keep in mind that there’s NO TIME LIMIT FOR HEALING!!! I’ve seen women who are 20 years postpartum and we’ve been able to fully close their diastasis. In reality, there isn’t

Flat abs are an aesthetic sign that you’ve been hitting the gym and watching what you eat (probably more on the eating side), but as a physical therapist, I’d like to dive deeper into this topic than aesthetics. I’ve seen enough patients who have “met aesthetic goals” but are in pain that I think it’s

What is Diastasis? A diastasis recti is a thinning of the fascia known as the linea alba that connects each side of your abdominal wall together.  The linea alba runs down the midline from your ribs to your pubic bone and the thinning can be at various locations and varying degrees down the abdominal wall.

Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents What is Diastasis Recti? Diastasis recti is a thinning of the linea alba, which is the connective tissue where your rectus abdominis muscle (six pack ab muscles) meets in the middle from your pubic bone all the way up to your ribs.

Diastasis recti can be a concern for many women during pregnancy. In this article, we’re going to take a look at what percentage of women get diastasis recti during pregnancy, what you can do during pregnancy to decrease it’s severity, and how to boost your recovery postpartum. The abdominal wall being able to stretch to

I love helping women improve their diastasis recti!  For a percentage of women, this is as simple as properly activating the core muscles, and it heals right up postpartum. Some women don’t even realize they had one! (Much like low level prolapse.)  But for another percentage of women, improving a diastasis will take a lot

Maybe, maybe and maybe. 🙂 Ok, let’s dive a bit deeper into each of those maybes so you can hopefully pull out some more useful information than a bunch of maybes. First, what is a hernia?  A hernia is a weak spot in your muscle or connective tissue where organs or tissue can squeeze through. 

Twisting can be a controversial topic. A simple Google search or scroll through Instagram can give you wildly differing opinions and reasons for or against twisting, which of course makes it my favorite topic! I love diving into the movement patterns that stir up controversy to really pick apart the why. I usually find that

Side planks are an AMAZING exercise, but they can easily be turned into a back exercise instead of an abdominal exercise.  They are a great exercise because they target the lateral abdominal complex. This includes the transverse abdominals, internal obliques and external obliques. Another key muscle that side planks work is the glute medius. Most

Yes!!! A diastasis recti is a normal part of development in kids and also during pregnancy to allow room for the baby to grow. It’s actually pretty amazing what the body is capable of!!  Let’s start with development. Almost all small humans have a diastasis recti (DR). Usually it naturally goes away as they get

5 Tips for Better Abdominals Want to build awesome abs? Let’s take this question one step further… what does it take to build great abs that don’t cause pelvic floor woes? We don’t want to cause an issue while we’re fixing one. What fun would that be? No fun! So, that’s the bigger question. I