Blog series: Diastasis Recti
What is Diastasis Recti?
Diastasis Recti is the thinning of the abdominal fascia or tissue, a normal adjustment during pregnancy as your body makes room for your baby. As we discussed in our workshop, this tissue needs time to heal, but your core also needs to be challenged and strengthened to work efficiently.
How Do We Approach DR?
We focus on progressing from exercises on our back to kneeling, standing, plank positions, and one-leg exercises. These position changes help engage the core and pelvic floor in a healthy way without straining your healing tissue.
What Does Research Say?
Research in this area is sparse, but we know that the linea alba (the “six-pack line”) is only 51-59% of its normal tensile strength at 6 weeks postpartum and 70-93% at 6-7 months postpartum. This means your core isn't working at full capacity until around 7 months. However, there is no “normal” or “abnormal”—only what your body can do well when it needs to.
Putting It in Perspective:
Would we ask someone with an ACL reconstruction to play a full game at 70% healed? No way! We know an injury would occur, so we build exercises to work up to the game. This is the same for postpartum women. Initiating activities before you are fully healed leads to injury or pain.
Our program starts with a foundation, moves on challenging your core, adds weight and rotation, then dynamic movements like jumping and running to show you how efficient your body can be in mom life. Have more questions, let’s chat after class!
For more detailed info, check out our resource guide
on our website: