According to the Cleveland Clinic, “[diastasis recti] affects 60% of people. About 40% of those who have diastasis recti still have it by six months postpartum.” It took me several years to heal from diastasis recti after the birth of my twins. It’s never too late to begin the process.

Let’s start with some diastasis recti before and after photos shared by my powerful mamas. It can give you hope! Then we’ll dive into how to measure diastasis recti, DR exercises, causes and how to know if you have it.

Diastasis Recti Before and After:

Diastasis Recti Breathing Exercise:

• Inhale: Inhale through your nose, filling your ribs and belly with air.
• Exhale: Exhale through your mouth and make a “haaaa” or “sssss” noise.
• Lift Pelvic Floor: On the exhale, lift your pelvic floor (like a kegel) and then pull your belly button in and up.

I created the video below demonstrating proper diastasis recti breathing exercises:

Abdominal Separation Diastasis Recti Exercises:

Aim to work on core breathing for about 5 minutes in the morning and evening. This will help make proper breathing automatic.

1. Cat Cow

• Get on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders, hips and knees aligned.
• Inhale through your nose into your body as you let your tummy relax, looking toward the ceiling.
• Exhale audibly as you press your palms into the floor, round upper back, and tuck your pelvis.
• Relax and repeat.

2. Knee Roll-Outs (a.k.a. Leg or Hip Openers)

• Lie on your back with your spine in a neutral position, knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Inhale through your nose into the body as you slowly lower your right knee to the floor. You should feel your abdominal muscles activate.
• Exhale as you bring the knee back up, pulling your pelvic floor and belly up and in.
• Relax and repeat 5-10 times before switching to the other leg.

3. Pelvic Tilts

• Lie on your back, with your feet on the ground and legs bent at a 90 degree angle.
• Inhale through your nose, down into your rib cage.
• Exhale audibly out your mouth while you gently tilt your pelvis back.

4. Heel Slides

• Lie on your back with a neutral spine, then extend one leg out. 
• Inhale through your nose, down into your rib cage. 
• Exhale as you slide the heel back in toward your body. Alternate legs.

5. Bridges

• Lie on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Inhale through your nose down into your body while your back is on the ground.
• Exhale out your mouth as you rise, lifting your butt off the ground and squeezing your glutes at the top. (Don’t overextend at the top or arch your back!)
• As you relax down, inhale and reset.

Healing from diastasis recti is unique to every mama. I love reading the stories and seeing before and after photos of the moms who are healing their core.

The good news is you can improve diastasis recti even years later. I created Get Mom Strong for postpartum moms who want to heal through exercise.

If you’re ready to begin the process of healing diastasis recti, check out my Free 5-Step Core Guide. The guide focuses on healing diastasis recti, incontinence, back and hip pain, prolapse and painful sex.

Don’t forget to sign up for a free trial of my Strong Like A Mother (SLAM) workout program. It’s a no-diet program with health tips from fitness experts and medical professionals for every fitness level.

The post Diastasis Recti Before and After appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

Not only can flared ribs be painful, they can also affect your breathing patterns and ab muscles. They can also cause back pain and prevent proper diastasis recti healing. 

But don’t worry, I’ll provide the tools you need to get that pesky rib flare corrected in no time!

First, let’s start with the basics:

What is rib flare?

Also referred to as “flared ribs,” rib flare is the result of the rib cage protruding outward beyond the spine. 

If you are pregnant or postpartum, rib flare is very common. As your baby grows, the rib cage expands to make room for your little one as well as your internal organs. Since more organs are located on the left side of your body, rib flare on the left is very common. 

How do I know if I have flared ribs?

• Bra band might feel a bit tighter
• Your lower ribs stick out prominently
• More pronounced curvature of the rib cage
• Discomfort or pain in lower back or rib cage area, especially during activities that involve bending forward or twisting your torso

The rib flare test:

Before you begin, watch this video to see my process on doing a rib flare test. 

Here’s how to see if you have flared ribs:

• Step #1: Grab a marker and stand in front of the mirror.
• Step #2: Starting from the sternum, look in the mirror while tracing the front of your rib cage.
• Step #3: If your rib cage angle is greater than 90 degrees, you might have lingering rib flare.

What causes rib flare?

One of the most common reasons for rib flare is – you guessed it – pregnancy! It is very common in pregnant and postpartum women as the rib cage expands to make room for both your baby and organs. As a result, the ribs may remain in place after giving birth, giving a protruded look. 

If you are not postpartum but notice your ribs seem to stick out more than usual, flared ribs are also the result of:

• Poor posture
• Stress
• Poor breathing 
• Weak abdominal muscles 

How to fix rib flare:

The best ways to correct it are improving your posture and doing core exercises.

We recommend doing the following every day:

• Step 1: Hold a resistance band with both hands, keeping your arms straight in front of your body 
• Step 2: Take a deep breath in through your nose
• Step 3: Exhale through your mouth, bringing one hand up and the other hand down. Pull on your resistance band as much as possible. 
• Step 4: Repeat 10 times
• Step 5: Do the same on the other side to exercise both ribs.
• Step 6: If one rib is flared more than the other, do extra reps on that side. 

Our Core Basics program can correct postpartum rib flare and heal diastasis recti with quick 15-minute workouts. This program also helps with prolapse, leaking, painful sex and back pain. Check out Core Basics!

What makes rib flare worse?

Poor posture

We get it, slouching can definitely be the more comfortable way to sit or stand. But, it’s the worst for rib flare. Think about stacking your rib cage over your pelvis when you’re standing or sitting. This will help reduce pressure on your lower ribs. 

Tight clothing

If you think you have rib flare, try to limit wearing tight clothing, especially around your rib cage area. Tight clothes can restrict movement and cause poor posture, particularly when working out. 

Not enough core exercises

As a mom, it can be hard to have time for a shower, let alone a core workout. Ashley, our program founder, is a mom of four and understands this more than anyone. She designed the workouts to be quick, allowing you to fit in a fast workout during naptime or after your little ones go to sleep at night. The workouts outlined in Ashley’s Core Basics program are the best way to correct it quickly. 

How long does it take to fix rib flare?

Rib flare typically improves fairly quickly. Here are some before and after photos from our SLAM moms!

Rib flare before & after photos

“NSV: I’m 9.5 weeks into Slam Bridge, and look at that pesky left rib flare improving!” – Angie B.

“My ribs flared out significantly, especially one side. Well they both did but one even more so. Now after 20 months of practicing slam-ology (lol) I can contest that they have leveled out and gone back down!” – Svenja L. 

The post What is Rib Flare? And How to Fix It appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

A separation of the rectus abdominis muscles is quite common. Some natural healing occurs after birth. Research shows that two-thirds of women still have some separation six months postpartum.

So is there a diastasis recti workout? Or some “go-to” diastasis recti exercises?

First, Check for Diastasis Recti

Before we get into how to fix it, assess yourself with a diastasis recti self-check. (Many doctors don’t check at your postpartum follow-up). Understanding the width and depth of your muscle separation is important to your healing process.

Breathing to Strengthen Your Core

The first step in healing diastasis recti is breathwork. Your core is a pressure system. How you breathe matters. 

As you breathe in your diaphragm flattens, gently pushing air down into the lungs. Your pelvic floor relaxes. As you exhale, the diaphragm recoils and the pelvic floor gently lifts. 

Thanks to the pressure to be skinny, to bounce back, to suck in, etc., many women end up breathing improperly. This impacts the core muscles and pelvic floor.

Fortunately, you can start practicing diaphragmatic breathing any time after birth.

Aim to work on core breathing for about 5 minutes in the morning and again in the evening. This will help rewire your brain, so proper breathing becomes automatic.

Diastasis Recti Exercises to Avoid

You should avoid movements and core exercises that are hard on your midline, like crunches and planks. They place stress on the abdominal wall and the core’s connective tissue, known as the linea alba. They may even worsen the separation.

As a result, refrain from these movements until your core has fully recovered. To be clear, they’re not off-limits forever, just until you’re better able to manage pressure!

Best Exercises for Diastasis Recti

Healing your core means strengthening your transverse abdominis (TVA). These are the “corset” muscles that wrap around your core and hold everything together. The following exercises target these deep core muscles.

Remember, everyone is unique – listen to YOUR body throughout your diastasis healing journey.

Once you’ve hit at least 6 weeks postpartum and have your doctor’s okay to begin working out, add these exercises into your routine.

As a general guideline, aim to complete a couple of sets of 10 reps for each side:

Diastasis Recti Exercises for Beginner/Newly Postpartum Bodies

1. Pelvic Tilts

Pelvic tilts are effective in activating the lower abdominal muscles without straining the linea alba.

• Lie on your back, with your feet on the ground and legs bent at a 90 degree angle.
• Inhale through your nose, down into your rib cage.
• Exhale audibly out your mouth while you gently tilt your pelvis back.

This movement not only strengthens your core but also promotes pelvic stability.

2. Heel Slides

Heel slides are excellent for engaging the core while promoting hip mobility.

• Lie on your back with a neutral spine, then extend one leg out. 
• Inhale through your nose, down into your rib cage. 
• Exhale as you slide the heel back in toward your body. Alternate legs.

Be sure to keep your core engaged consistently to avoid unnecessary strain on the abdominal wall.

3. Knee Roll-Outs (a.k.a. Leg or Hip Openers)

Also known as leg or hip openers, knee roll-outs target the obliques and transverse abdominis.

• Lie on your back with your spine in a neutral position, knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Inhale through your nose into the body as you slowly lower your right knee to the floor. You should feel your abdominal muscles activate.
• Exhale as you bring the knee back up, pulling your pelvic floor and belly up and in.
• Relax and repeat 5-10 times before switching to the other leg.

Hip openers enhance core stability and control.

4. Glute Bridges

Glute bridges strengthen the posterior chain and engage the core effectively.

• Lie on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Inhale through your nose down into your body while your back is on the ground.
• Exhale out your mouth as you rise, lifting your butt off the ground and squeezing your glutes at the top. (Be careful not to overextend your body at the top of the movement, and make sure to avoid arching your back!)
• As you relax down, inhale and reset.

Ensure you’re lifting with your glutes and core, not your lower back.

5. Cat Cow

Cat-Cow gently stretches and activates the deep core muscles. This promotes mobility and controlled engagement without straining the abdominal wall.

• Get on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders, hips and knees aligned.
• Inhale through your nose into your body as you let your tummy relax, looking toward the ceiling.
• Exhale audibly as you press your palms into the floor, round upper back, and tuck your pelvis.
• Relax and repeat.

Flow through Cat-Cow with intention, letting each movement reconnect you to your core.

Here is a great diastasis recti workout for beginners:

Diastasis Recti-Safe Exercises for Intermediate Levels

Once you’ve mastered the beginner exercises and feel confident managing core pressure, add in the following:

6. Bird Dog: Balance and Stability

This exercise challenges your balance while engaging multiple core muscles.

• Get on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders, hips and knees aligned.
• Inhale down into the body as you gently let your tummy relax. Lift your left leg and right arm away from your body center.
• Exhale out your mouth as you extend the opposite arm and opposite leg. Be sure to keep a neutral spine. Alternate arms and legs.

Keep your hips level during the movement to enhance core engagement.

7. Heel Tap March (a.k.a. Heel Drops)

This exercise strengthens the deep core and pelvic floor. This controlled, low-impact movement helps to rebuild stability without stressing the abdominal wall.

• Get into a starting position on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Your back should be flat against the ground. As you inhale, feel your ribs expand with air.
• Exhale audibly, drawing your core tight and pelvic floor up. With control lift your leg and return the heel with a tap to the ground.

Keep it slow and steady—each tap is a step toward a stronger, more connected core.

8. Quadruped Extensions

Quadruped extensions build core stability and balance. They engage the deep abdominal muscles without putting excessive pressure on the midline.

• Get onto all fours, and drop to your forearms.  
• Inhale through your nose while all four limbs are down.
• Keeping your knee bent, exhale as you extend your foot straight up toward the ceiling. Your hips and shoulders should remain in place, parallel to the floor.
• Repeat with the other side.

Focus on control over speed—each extension is a chance to strengthen and reconnect with your core.

9. Dead Bug Prep

Dead Bug Prep activates the deep core and improves coordination. This helps to strengthen the abdominal wall while keeping intra-abdominal pressure in check.

• Begin lying flat on your back, march your legs up one at a time. With knees bent, inhale through your nose and down into your body.
• Exhale as you extend opposite arm and leg (e.g. left leg and right arm)
• Switch sides and repeat.

Move with intention—every controlled rep brings you closer to a more stable, supported core.

10. Modified Forearm Side Planks

Side planks are fantastic for the obliques but need modification to be safe for diastasis recti.

• Lay on your side, legs stacked and prop yourself up on your elbow.
• Inhale through your nose, down into the body to set your core.
• Exhale as you lift your hips and hold, keeping bottom knee bent and on the ground. As you advance further, keep both legs straight out and lifted when you raise your hips.
• Use little exhales to prevent bearing down on your pelvic floor. 
• Hold for a few seconds and try to build up over time. Repeat on the other side. 

This variation reduces pressure on the abdominal wall while still building strength.

Here is a great diastasis recti workout for intermediates:

Give Yourself Time

Remember, it takes time to heal. Almost everyone experiences some level of diastasis recti during pregnancy, and most don’t fully heal on their own. Take care of your amazing body and rebuild your core strength!

If you are experiencing discomfort you must consult with your physician or a physical therapist who focuses on pelvic floor wellness.

Need Help Healing Diastasis Recti?

For more postpartum-friendly exercises, check out the Strong Like A Mother (SLAM) program. It helps you build total body strength, while healing your core and pelvic floor.

SLAM offers the following safe and effective programs:

• Core Basics
• SLAM Bodyweight
• SLAM Bridge
• SLAM30
• SLAM45
• SLAM Advanced
• SLAM Elite
• SLAM Pregnancy
• SLAM Core
• SLAM Barre
• SLAM Nutrition
• SLAM Stretch
• SLAM Challenges

The post 10 Best Diastasis Recti Exercises To Heal Your Core appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

Before we dive in, a friendly reminder that many women have some extra fat to protect organs, so please be kind to yourself.

Why Do I Still Look Pregnant?

One of the most common reasons to still appear pregnant months or even years after having a baby is diastasis recti. Diastasis recti is a thinning of the linea alba – the connective tissue that runs between your rectus abdominis, or six pack muscles.

During pregnancy, this tissue thins and widens because of the growing baby. After baby arrives, this connective tissue doesn’t always snap back. Think of this connective tissue like an over-stretched hair tie that has lost some elasticity.

This thinned connective tissue and weakened deep abdominal system, the transverse abdominis, make it so your internal organs aren’t held in quite as tight. This abdominal separation can leave your stomach looking months pregnant even years after delivery.

Many postpartum women have an abdominal separation. It is easy to check yourself for diastasis recti.

The good news is, you can “close the gap” with diastasis recti-specific exercises. SLAM workouts are packed with these core exercises.

No Diastasis Recti… but Still Look Pregnant?

You’ve checked, and your linea alba feels shallow and taut–less than a two-finger width gap. This means there is good integrity of the connective tissue, and you don’t have a significant separation in your abdominal muscles. Yet you still feel or see a “baby bump” and you know you’re not pregnant. What else could be causing it?

Pressure Imbalance/Pressure Management Issue

Your core is a pressure system, and how you breathe affects both your core and pelvic floor.

As you breathe in your diaphragm flattens, gently pushing air down into the lungs. Your pelvic floor relaxes. As you exhale, the diaphragm recoils and the pelvic floor gently lifts.

If you have a belly pooch, you may find yourself sucking in your tummy and gripping your abs to try and hide it. This puts a kink into your pressure system – essentially, you’re breathing backwards, up into your chest.

Think of your core like a balloon. Sucking in at the belly button is much like pressing into the middle of a blown up balloon. The air gets displaced. Your core works the same way. Core pressure must go somewhere, so it gets redistributed. The result? A vicious cycle and a mummy tummy!

If this sounds like you, postpartum exercises focused on healing diastasis recti will also help you learn to manage intra-abdominal pressure.

Poor Posture

During pregnancy your center of gravity shifted, and you may have lost touch your core. Everything is out of whack. And then you’re carrying kids (and all their stuff), hunched over while feeding a baby, or generally trying to compensate for weaknesses. It’s easy to fall into poor posture habits postpartum.

These postural compensations can have a direct impact on the appearance and function of our tummy.

Look at how you stand. Check from the side – do you arch your back and stick your butt out with a anterior pelvic tilt (aka twerker style)? Or do you have a posterior tilt, where you tuck and grip your booty muscles – pushing out your belly?

The goal is… neither of these. You want to align your pelvis and rib cage with a neutral spine. This automatically pulls in your belly.

Extra Adipose Tissue

Female bodies tend to store excess fat in the abdominal area. This is especially common during breastfeeding because bodies need to hang on to extra calories to produce milk. There’s no trick or tip to spot reduce lower belly fat, it’s how we were designed.

Also, we are proud owners of a uterus, which can also make our low tummy a little more pronounced, especially before menstruation.

Eating nourishing foods, moving your body when you can, and getting sleep (if possible) can help our bodies feel better.

Loose Skin

Loose skin tends to hang in the lower portion of our belly, especially if you’ve had a C-section. No matter how much core strength you have, there isn’t much you can do to get rid of loose skin, unfortunately.

Remind yourself that your body created life and that is pretty epic.

If you had a c-section, scar massage can help the appearance of the skin.

Bloating, Digestive Issues, or “Endo Belly”

Ah, bloating. That can be caused by many things, from where you are in your cycle to digestive system issues.

If you have diastasis recti, you are more prone to show bloating quicker than pre pregnancy, because you deep abdominals aren’t holding your insides in as tightly. In other words, if you have undigested food, or water retention, your belly may push outward on the lax connective tissue.

Rebuilding your core, improving posture, proper breathing, and keeping your GI system running smoothly can improve swelling and bloating symptoms.

However, if you’ve noticed your bump is painful and frequently bloated, you have gastrointestinal distress, or painful periods it could be caused by endometriosis. Talk with a doctor about your “endo belly” symptoms. Medications and diet changes can help you manage them.

As always, if you are in pain, dealing with ongoing digestive issues, or feel like something just isn’t right, seek assistance from a medical professional.

Postpartum Bodies Need Time

Remember, it is normal to still look “a little bit pregnant” after having a baby. Whether you have an abdominal separation, need to relearn how to manage core pressure, or work on your posture, it takes time to heal and feel strong.

The post Why Do I Look Pregnant? appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

Let’s talk about what may cause back pain postpartum, and more importantly–how to fix it.

Diastasis Recti and Back Pain

Throughout pregnancy, the connective tissue that runs between your six-pack muscles thins and widens to accommodate weight gain and the growing baby. This abdominal separation, also known as diastasis recti, can leave your core feeling weak long after baby has arrived. As a result of this core weakness, other muscles try to compensate for the lack of core stability. A major muscle compensation pattern is over-recruitment of the low back muscles and gripping your glutes tight. Any muscles that are overworked, are likely to become tight and angry, causing pain.

While studies show back pain isn’t a sign of diastasis recti, many women with diastasis recti also have back pain. Essentially, a weak core leads to back pain. It’s a vicious cycle, but there are treatment options!

Postpartum Back Pain Relief

Strengthening your core and pelvic floor will make a BIG difference. Think of your transverse abdominis muscles like a natural corset, supporting your body. (Side note: actual corsets are crap!) Over the course of a pregnancy, this corset system – along with the connective tissue and linea alba – stretch, and your body loses some of its “mind-muscle connection”. 

To help with back pain, you will need to re-learn that connection and how to use your deep core muscles to support your body. When the deep core is strong, your back muscles can let go, bringing pain relief.

Breathing to Help Back Pain

Proper breathing is key to regaining the mind-body connection, which can help with back pain relief. Often called diaphragmatic breathing or deep belly breathing, this is one of the most important healing tips I teach clients, and it’s the first thing you’ll learn in my Core Basics program.

 Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Relax in a seated or side-lying position with one hand on your chest, the other on your lower ribcage.
• Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose and feel your ribs expand open like an umbrella. (Your chest and shoulders should remain mostly still.)
• Exhale through your mouth, pulling your abdominals in and up. Think belly button to spine AND up toward sternum. Again, you are keeping the chest mostly still.

Practice this for five minutes daily to restore mind-muscle connection with your deep core and pelvic floor.

Also, incorporate diaphragmatic breathing into your daily life when you lift things. For example, as you prepare to pick up your kids, groceries, etc., inhale deeply through your nose. As you lift, make a big exhale through your mouth, lift pelvic floor, and draw belly in and up. This fires up your body’s natural back brace, so you can safely lift heavy loads. 

If you are just sitting on your couch though, don’t hold your core tight. Relaxation of the core and pelvic floor is also important.

Exercises to Help Back Pain and Diastasis Recti

You don’t necessarily need to head straight to physical therapy for back pain. (But I always encourage seeking help from a medical professional if the pain is unmanageable.) A pelvic floor physical therapist, in particular, can really help get to the root of the problem. 

Use the following exercises to regain strength in your ab muscles and alleviate back pain. Make sure to use diaphragmatic breathing as you complete each one:

Pelvic Tilts

• Lie on your back, with your feet on the ground and legs bent at a 90 degree angle.
• Inhale through your nose, down into your ribcage.
• Exhale audibly out your mouth while you gently tilt your pelvis

Bird Dogs

• Get on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders, hips and knees aligned.
• Inhale down into body as you gently let your tummy relax and you look up and lift your left arm and right leg.
• Exhale out your mouth as you extend opposite arm and opposite leg. Be sure to keep a neutral spine. Alternate arms and legs.

Cat/Cow

• Get on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders, hips and knees aligned.
• Inhale through your nose into your body as you let your tummy relax, looking toward the ceiling.
• Exhale audibly as you press your palms into the floor, arch back, and tuck pelvis.

Bridges

• Lie on your back, with your feet on the ground and legs bent at a 90 degree angle.
• Inhale through your nose down into your body while your back is on the ground.
• Exhale out your mouth as you rise, lifting your butt off the ground and squeezing your glute at the top. (Don’t overextend at the top or arch your back!)
• As you relax down, inhale and reset.

Lying Marches

• Lie on your back, with your feet on the ground and legs bent at a 90 degree angle.
• Inhale through your nose while your feet are on the ground.
• Exhale through your mouth and lift your pelvic floor as you draw your knee in toward your chest.
• Alternate raising/lowering your legs.

The Bottom Line

Back pain and diastasis recti are frustrating. But working through these and other exercises can help you regain the core strength you need to meet the physical demands of daily mom life.

The post Can Diastasis Recti Cause Back Pain? appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

Does Diastasis Recti Make Your Stomach Bloat?

A bloated belly does tend to SHOW more after pregnancy, even if you aren’t actually bloating more. Why? Bloating can be a side effect of diastasis recti, which is common among pregnant and postpartum women.

Your transverse abdominals run laterally, like shoelaces, acting as a natural corset for your core. During pregnancy, abdominal muscles stretch to accommodate the growing baby. The connective tissue along your midline, called the linea alba, thins and widens, which leaves a gap between your rectus abdominis, or “six-pack” abs.

This is a risk factor for developing diastasis recti postpartum. After the baby is born, more than half of women still have an abdominal separation.

When your transverse abdominal muscles are weakened due to diastasis recti, and your linea alba is stretched, they can’t support your core very well, and your internal organs put pressure on the abdominal wall. You may notice a tummy pooch or feel bloated more than you did before kids, especially after eating.

In short, you aren’t actually bloating more, but your abdominal muscles aren’t holding your internal organs in as well, so you show any bloat more quickly.

How Do I Reduce Bloating?

Even though bloating has a variety of causes, rebuilding your core, improving posture, proper breathing, and keeping your GI system running smoothly will help reduce bloating.

Also, diastasis recti can exacerbate constipation. Slowed motility means your body has slowed down its digestion process and is likely creating excess gas. Both can lead to more bloating.

Here are my top tips to stay regular, keep things moving, and improve bloating symptoms:

1. Strengthen your Core and Pelvic Floor

Properly and safely working to heal your diastasis recti and pelvic floor will have a major impact on bloating. It takes time, but most people can strengthen their core muscles and improve symptoms – even years later, and without diastasis recti surgery (aka a tummy tuck)!

2. Breathe Properly

Breathwork helps heal your core, repair a persistent belly pooch, and manage bloat. Diaphragmic, or deep belly breathing, gently massages your internal organs. Activating your diaphragm also helps put your body back into the “rest and digest” state and can reduce abdominal pain, urgency, bloating, and constipation.

You can find a lot more information on proper breathing in my Core Basics program (included with your Strong Like A Mother subscription).

3. Stand Up Straight

Mom life is demanding. You spend hours hunching over a nursing baby, picking up your kid (and all their stuff), or one of a million other things. Your abdominal muscles stabilize your spine, and a compromised core can lead to poor posture. Poor posture can make diastasis recti worse – it’s a vicious cycle.

Remind yourself to focus on alignment (shoulders back, hips square, pelvis neutral). This allows you to best find the support of the core and pelvic floor…not only in the gym, but as you move about your day. Read my post with tips for improving posture.

4. Drink More Water

Your body needs a lot of water, and most of us are mildly dehydrated. It may feel counterintuitive, but drinking water encourages your body to keep what it needs and let go of what it doesn’t. (Bye, bye bloat.)

When your body is properly hydrated, your stool will be softer and easier to pass. Help flush the bloat with some of nature’s diuretics, such as asparagus, pineapple, peaches, cucumber, watermelon, leeks, ginger, and garlic.

Tip: Add fresh lemon juice to water for a flavor boost – the citrus can also help stimulate bowels.

5. Eat That Fiber

Fiber is notorious for helping things “move along”, but as busy moms we’re on the go and most of us don’t consume enough of it. Fiber adds bulk and softens stool, making it easier to eliminate, resulting in less belly bloat. Some of my favorite fiber sources include fruits, veggies, chia seeds, and whole grains.

Tip: Add the ingredients to my Poop Balls recipe to your grocery list. When I need to get things moving, these tasty balls are perfect.

6. Use a Poop Stool

A Squatty Potty or similar stool puts your body into the optimal position when it’s time to go #2. If you experience incomplete voiding (i.e. you don’t feel like you’ve gotten everything out), a simple shift in body mechanics can make a big difference.

When to Seek Help

Even though bloating can be a side effect of diastasis recti, there may be other factors at play, such as food intolerance(s) and other gastrointestinal issues. Please speak with a medical professional if you need help managing symptoms.

And remember, all bodies bloat. Men and women were designed with some elasticity in their midline to accommodate eating, weight gain/loss and just living daily life. But excessive bloating and constipation can also be symptoms of diastasis recti. Strengthening your core, staying regular and improving posture and breathing will provide relief.

The post Does Diastasis Recti Cause Bloating? appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

Healing Diastasis Recti Years Later: 8 Top Tips

From understanding and assessing your diastasis recti to engaging the right muscles and the right support system, the following strategies will help you find the results you’re seeking.

1. Understand the Issue

Let’s start by answering a few common questions.

What is diastasis recti anyway?

Diastasis recti is a thinning of the connective tissue, the linea alba, that runs between your rectus abdominis, or “six-pack” muscles. It often occurs during pregnancy, and truth be told, it’s the body’s brilliant way of making room for a baby.

All pregnant women experience DR–it’s a normal and necessary process. Sometimes it spontaneously heals in early postpartum, but for many women (me included!), it takes time and effort. And for nearly 1 in every 2 women, the condition results in some degree of ab separation or gap after the six month postpartum time frame.

Does diastasis recti (ever) heal itself?

You might be wondering: does diastasis recti ever go away? Well, it depends. For some women, the condition does heal on its own in a relatively short period, especially during the first six months postpartum. But for many women, improving DR can require targeted fitness and awareness-building. In both cases, directly addressing the condition of abdominal separation, with a focus on your deep core muscles, can speed up and improve recovery.

What happens if you don’t heal diastasis recti?

While having DR doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have other postpartum concerns, it does indicate a pressure imbalance within the body. Unaddressed, many women also experience a number of pressure-system conditions including a weak core, umbilical hernia, incontinence, discomfort during sex, and pain in the back, pelvis, and hips.

Can you heal diastasis recti years later? Really?

Yes, ma’am. Intervention programs including transverse abdominis activation with an exercise program, coordinated breathing exercises, and pelvic floor muscle engagement can yield positive outcomes. You could also ask these women about their personal experiences—each improved their DR using SLAM.

2. Assess Your Diastasis Recti

Whether or not your doctor checked you, you’ll want to do a diastasis recti self-check.

During self-assessment, be sure to lift your head and shoulders off the ground as little as possible. If you sit up too far, results could indicate that your rectus abdominis muscles, or “outer” abdominal wall,  are closer together than they really are. You’ll need to check for width and depth—understanding the tension on that tissue matters.

3. Take Some Deep Breaths

Don’t freak out if you do have an “unclosed diastasis recti.” The truth is, we all have some level of separation even before babies. If yours is 2+ fingers deep or lacks tension, we can improve it!

You can fix diastasis recti even after time has passed. And one of the most important tactics to healing your foundational core, loving your mommy tummy, and repairing a persistent belly pooch is breathwork.

It comes down to managing intra-abdominal pressure. Basically, your core is a pressure system. Your diaphragm sits under your rib cage, and ideally, as you inhale, this dome-like muscle flattens against your abdominal organs and pushes air down into your lungs. This gentle expansion also lets the pelvic floor muscles relax. When you exhale, the diaphragm recoils and the pelvic floor gently lifts.

Unfortunately, many of us suck in our tummies and grip our ab muscles, which can make us breathe backwards—essentially, we start to breathe up into our chests. The video below details how to get back to breathing right:

This is especially important when you exercise, to avoid bearing down on the pelvic floor.

4. Increase Your Rib Mobility

Improving DR is all about breathing down into your body—and increasing your rib mobility will help you do this better.

A few approaches to increasing rib mobility include manually expanding the rib cage, mobilizing the latissimus dorsi muscles (or lats), and opening up the back muscles. You’ll find corresponding exercises, including skin rolling, foam rolling, back expansion, and wall mobility slides, in the video below. Also, getting a massage can really help—treat yourself!

5. Strengthen Your Deep Abdominal Muscles

One important strategy for healing DR is strengthening the deepest layer of your abdominal muscles, the transverse abdominals. These core muscles sit beneath your six-pack muscles and wrap all the way around your torso, from top to bottom.

If you can get this supportive abdominal system to help keep things in their place, your connective tissue is going to be much more likely to heal. Plus, increasing strength in your transverse abdominal muscles with core exercises will help reduce back and pelvic girdle pain, and improve your posture. I designed the Core Basics program around exercises that target this muscle group (through deep core work) for optimal results.

6. Practice Mindfulness

Improving awareness of how you breathe and hold your body can make a big difference. Healing DR is not about keeping your core engaged all the time—it’s about learning to activate and keep your core stable for mom-life tasks. Over-activating your abdominal muscles can actually cause more harm than good, especially for women with pelvic floor issues.

Focus on your natural body alignment. Think of your body like a snowman—with head, ribs and pelvis all stacked. Whenever possible in your daily life, square your hips and aim for a neutral spine.

What we do in the 23 hours outside our exercise routine makes a huge impact on postpartum healing. Especially when it comes to daily tasks like picking up kids (and picking up all their stuff) with good posture. The two most common postural compensations when lifting heavy things are to jut out a hip or sway back, arching your low back and tightening your butt. Here are a few tips to help you maintain proper posture and awareness, no matter what madness is happening.

7. Give Yourself Time

Healing takes time so remember to be patient with yourself. Every woman’s body is different. A focus on losing weight or rushing to get back to a pre-baby body, especially by overdoing exercises like crunches and sit-ups, can actually make DR separation worse. And, please know that no matter how far out postpartum you are (yes, postpartum is forever, even if your kids are 35), it is never too late to heal and improve DR.

8. Seek Out Extra Support

If you’re able to, go see a pelvic floor physical therapist. Physical therapy can make a big difference in many areas of women’s health.

Also, check out the SLAM Program. There’s really nothing else like it for postpartum empowerment and healing, especially if you’re looking to improve diastasis recti. I’ve been there and I know how hard it can be – I also know the answer doesn’t include crazy exercise regimens or extreme weight loss and dieting. Let’s get you feeling and looking great…together, the right way. Learn more.

The post How to Fix Diastasis Recti Years Later appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

First off, remember that you are the owner of a uterus and it is normal to have some pooch to our tummies! This is especially true after having babies. I’m going to share with you the best kept secret to improving the appearance of your lower belly.

Why Ab Exercises Aren’t Helping Your Lower Belly Pooch

What if I told you that you didn’t need scissor kicks and Pilates 100s to minimize the lower belly pooch? Say whaaaaat? ⁣In fact, these exercises could be making that mommy pooch worse.

What if I told you that it’s trying to tell you something about your pelvic floor function?

What if I told you your breath was the way to a flatter low tummy? ⁣(Okay, Ashley… spill the beans).

Your Core is a Pressure System

How you breathe affects your core and pelvic floor. The diaphragm sits under the rib cage. As you inhale this dome-like muscle flattens and pushes air down into the lungs. This gentle expansion lets the pelvic floor relax.

As you exhale, the diaphragm recoils and the pelvic floor gently lifts.

If you are sucking in your tummy and gripping your abs, you are putting major kink in this natural system. As a result, you start to breathe backwards. Essentially, you breathe up into your chest. This can cause headaches, anxiety and pelvic floor issues.

What Causes a Low Belly Pooch?

There are some obvious causes of a low belly pooch. You could have diastasis recti, a thinning of the connective tissue between your abdominal muscles. Checking yourself for diastasis recti is quick and easy.

Another culprit may also be excess skin from pregnancy. This loose skin likes to hang in the lower part of our belly, especially after having a c-section. There isn’t much you can do to get rid of loose skin.

And yes, it can be the stubborn belly fat that many of our bodies like to store. Listen carefully though; you cannot spot reduce fat. There is no tip or trick to losing lower belly fat, and if anyone tries to sell you on this… RUN!

Stop Sucking In

The one culprit you probably didn’t consider? Your low belly pooch can be made much worse by sucking in!

So many women suck in all day. We usually start doing this in adolescence as we become more self-conscious. Once postpartum, many women suck in even more in an attempt to hide the postpartum tummy.

If you suck in all day, your upper abs grip down tightly. When your upper and mid abs grip tight above the belly button, it creates a pooch.

Think about your core like a balloon. If you press into a balloon, the air gets displaced. Your core is the same way. Core pressure still has to go somewhere, and so it gets redistributed. The result? A pooch.

How to Get Rid of the Lower Belly Pooch?

So what’s the fix?

First off… let it go. Seriously, stop sucking in. Most of us have been sucking in since we were teens. It will feel scary and hard to let your tummy relax. Also, try to relax your booty, too.

Now, when you inhale, try to get the breath down. You’ll find this frustrating at first, but keep practicing. With practice, it will become second nature.

When we exercise, it is particularly important to set up that inhale, or we bear down on pelvic floor. If you see your low abs pooching on any movement, it usually means that you are also bearing down on your pelvic floor.

Still confused? Check out this free core healing essentials guide. This free guide will teach you how to breathe and manage your core pressure system.

Try Strong Like A Mother Free for 7 Days

I go over this topic in way more detail in my Core Basics program, which is included with your Strong Like A Mother subscription. But hopefully, this gives you a good start!

The post Lower Belly Pooch? Let’s Learn to Breathe. appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

The vast majority of women breathe up into their chests instead down into their body. This happens from years of sucking in to “look thin.” Add pregnancy on top of that and things get smushed, which makes it harder to take a breath down into the body.

Why Does Rib Mobility Matter?

Let’s take a deeper look. Check out what happens with each and every breath. If your ribs prevent the breath from going down into the body, your pelvic floor can’t relax.

Old habits die hard. My first line of defense in improving diastasis recti, prolapse and incontinence is teaching women how to breathe down…into their bodies. I go over this in great detail in the Core Basics program, which comes for free with Strong Like a Mother, the total body fitness program designed to help your core and get you strong as heck! But even with the best of intentions and mind/body connection–without good rib expansion, we get stuck. Quite literally.

The rib cage is designed to expand laterally on the inhale. The diaphragm, the dome-like breathing muscle that sits under our ribs, pushes air down into the lungs. Ideally, this inhale expands the ribs outward. It is a slight expansion, but an important one. Overflow of the breath goes down into the belly. In short, on that inhale, the breath should expand the ribs, and go into our back and belly. This is called 360 degree breathing.

If your ribs don’t expand easily, the breath is forced down into the tummy (or we revert and breathe up into our chest). We take 25,000 breaths a day. That pressure out against the tummy midline repeatedly can prevent full healing.

Self Massage Helps with Rib Expansion

If you tend to have an upper diastasis recti (above the belly button), this lack of mobility may be to blame. We need to work on rib cage expansion by addressing a few factors.

• Skin rolling to “release” fascia
• Foam rolling to release the lat muscles
• Mobility and range of motion exercises

Watch this video. See if you can get some release in your back and side body.

Train with Ashley

Want step-by-step training taking you from foundational healing work all the way through kick-butt, total body workouts? Try SLAM! First 7 days free.

The post Rib Mobility to Improve Diastasis Recti appeared first on Get Mom Strong.

1. The 6-week postpartum check-up doesn’t cover ALL the things.

You may be anxious to get back to working out. I get it. I SO get it. Perhaps you have been hanging your hat on that six-week check where women typically get cleared for exercise. The issue is, many practitioners don’t take a whole-body approach, or give great guidelines on returning to exercise the right way. Your practitioner will check to make sure your uterus has returned to size, and that your incision from a c-section is healing. They will likely also check on vaginal tearing or other external injuries to be sure they have resolved. That is all very important, but also, there is a whole host of things that are left unaddressed.

It is also important to understand what is going on internally with the pelvic floor, as well as with your abdominal muscles. Do you have prolapse, an abdominal “separation,” bladder urgency, leaking of urine or feces, a tight or weak pelvic floor? Many practitioners don’t look beyond the exterior.

Go see a pelvic floor physical therapist after your six-week check. A pelvic floor physical therapist can address all those missing links in postpartum care.

2. You will likely need to rehab your body.

When you get cleared for exercise at that six-week check, you will likely be told you can return to all activities. But how you train in those early postpartum days makes a HUGE impact on your long-term recovery. For example–sit ups, full planks, running, and other high-impact workouts aren’t ideal as a starting point. The pelvic floor and core need some foundational work first. Don’t get me wrong. You can workout hard, but you also need to workout SMART. Check out the Strong Like A Mother program. It is challenging, but mindful. The program starts by teaching you the boring (but super important) core connection work, and then mindfully takes you into total-body, sweat-inducing workouts!

Birth is a sporting event, and often, women don’t get to the finish line without some degree of injury to the body. So why don’t we treat it as such? I have some theories, but I’ll save you the rant. Your body just underwent something really amazing, and also really shocking and hard. It is of utmost importance to take the time to rehabilitate and heal from the inside…out. Take the time to rehab…it pays long term! You are only as strong as the foundation you lay!

3. “Bouncing back” doesn’t happen over night…or sometimes ever. 

You grew a human (or a few!). Your body stretched and opened itself to life. It took you nine months to create each glorious human. You can’t expect to birth that baby and then instantly bounce back. As mentioned above–you can absolutely rehab your body and get super functional and strong again (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!). But for many women, our bodies are different. Our hips are wider. We have stretch marks and loose skin. Expecting to look like a cover girl a few weeks after birth isn’t realistic or healthy. Focus on the healing and the function, and the rest will follow.

4. You don’t always lose weight while breastfeeding.

Shocking, I know.

Yes, you burn calories while breastfeeding, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the weight will just fall off. Hormones and lack of sleep also play a huge role in satiation and hunger signals. So don’t beat yourself if you hang on to a few pounds while you breastfeed. The hormonal shifts also may delay the full potential in healing Diastasis Recti and prolapse, and can also contribute to painful sex. Give this a quick read to better understand why.

5. You may lose your butt. But you can find it again!

So many women complain after having babies that they “lost their butt.” It is a common issue. During pregnancy, as the weight of the belly grows, many women seek stability by gripping their glutes tight. Postpartum–when the core is particularly compromised–the gripping becomes a way of survival. This constant butt-gripping not only creates “pancake ass,” but it is actually not good for your pelvic floor. In my Strong Like A Mother program, we focus A LOT on glute and core training–the natural antidote to “mom butt.” In addition to strengthening your glutes and core for true body stability, it is also important to mentally stop the habit of gripping. How do you do this? Grip your butt tight and then relax it. Do this throughout the day. Sometimes you don’t even realize you are doing, but this is a great way to start tuning it. Just cue yourself…”butt check?” Also, notice times during your day when you do it most. Maybe while doing the dishes, or rocking the baby while standing. If you grip and release it, then you cue your mind to let go!

6. You may need to go up a shoe size.

Most women aren’t shocked when they need new jeans after a baby, but many didn’t know that they’d possibly be in the market for new shoes, too. After my twins, I had to throw away so many shoes! So what’s at play? That hormone relaxin strikes again! This is the hormone we make from ovulation through breastfeeding, and we make it to loosen the joints around the pelvis so baby can make his way down the birth canal. Well played, body. But this same hormone also loosens the ligaments in your feet, causing the foot bones to spread.

You are a warrior. 

Moms are warriors! Pure warriors. I know it can be hard to celebrate and appreciate your postpartum body when you feel so frustrated and experience so many changes all at once. Know that you WILL feel like yourself again. You CAN get strong. You CAN heal. Knowing where to start it the first step.

The post 6 things no one tells us about our postpartum bodies… appeared first on Get Mom Strong.