Diastasis Recti (AKA Mommy Tummy): What You Need to Know and What You Can Do About It Now!

If you’re a mom, you’ve probably heard about diastasis recti or mommy tummy. After all, it occurs in 100% of pregnant women by the time they are full term. Maybe you even battled with this in the postpartum period or have a friend or family member who did.

But what is it?

Diastasis recti (DR) occurs when there’s a thinning of the linea alba (connective tissue) that runs straight down your belly dividing the left and right rectus abdominis (6-pack abs). DR happens as the abs stretch apart to make room for the growing baby. When detected positionally or in testing, it can look like and/or feel like there’s a long, wide trough between the two sides of your abdominals. As mentioned above, it is a completely normal occurrence during pregnancy.

DR becomes problematic, however, if your abdominals do not come back closer together near the midline in the postpartum period and beyond. Even more concerning is if the tissue support fails to firm up deep along the trough separating left and right rectus abdominus muscles. This can be trouble, because it indicates a reduction in the foundational strength that the body needs for support and stability.

You’re probably thinking: Ashley, my “baby” is 20 years old. Could DR still be affecting me?
My answer to you: YES! Absolutely.

DR can be found decades after giving birth. In fact, it can even be found in women (AND MEN!) who are simply overweight and/or have poor posture.

If you think your tummy has a pooch and/or you’ve been doing core work and haven’t seen the results you want, it’s time to take a step back and see what’s going on.

First, I need you to observe. I want you to check out what happens with your belly when you:

1- Do a crunch.

2- Hold a plank.

3- Lift a heavy weight.

I want you to look for signs of:

1- Doming. This will look kinda like a hardish ball (golfball, tennis, or softball size) forming along the center of your abs when you put forth the effort to crunch, plank, and/or lift.

2- Bread loaf presentation. With this, you won’t see a nice, even contraction along the front of your abs, left to right and top to bottom. Instead, you’ll see a “bread loaf” form with definite edges to the left and/or right.

3- Coning/Tent formation. Here, you’ll see a cone-shape or triangular tent form in the center of your abs.
If you see any of these during your crunch, plank, or lift, this is a sign of inefficient pressure management and a lack of balanced core strength.

This means you need to investigate further.

Let’s learn how to check for DR.

Please watch this video to learn how you can check for DR on yourself.

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