Diagnosis Mummy Tummy

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Guest Blogger, Wendy Powell of No More Excuses, helps us to diagnose our Mummy Tummies.

Diastasis Recti (or Split Abdominal Muscles)

Now I know you may not be entirely familiar with them right now , but there are quite a few layers of muscle in your abdomen. We’re starting here with the outermost one, & the first of 2 muscular causes of your mummy tummy. It’s called Rectus Abdominus, it runs vertically from your sternum to your pubic bone, it’s the one that on certain supremely honed beings forms a six-pack and it’s the one that ‘splits’ during many pregnancies.

Diastasis Recti is a very common, perfectly normal & painless parting of these muscles. Up to two thirds of women will have developed it during their pregnancies.

The function of this muscle is to support your back & your organs. So when the muscles separate, this support system is weakened causing low back pain & a Mummy Tummy. Your organs actually protrude as they are being supported only by a thin piece of connective tissue.

Obvious indicators that you have a diastasis, are a bulging, or ‘doming’ above or below your belly button when you contract your abdominals (especially if you attempt a crunch or sit-up type movement). An ‘outie’ belly button may also a sign of a diastasis (also associated with umbilical hernia).

You can test for the gap yourself:

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Relax your head and shoulders and place your fingers (palm facing you) just above your belly button. Press down with your fingertips. They may go in quite far – don’t be squeamish! Then lift your head & neck slightly off the floor & continue to press down. You will feel the muscles close in around your fingers as you lift your head & neck. Don’t lift your shoulders up too high. The gap in the middle is the diastasis.

Found the gap? Try it a few times to be sure. OK, so if you can visualise this gap, hopefully it is clearer why a crunch or sit-up movement would serve only to gape this separation further… Which is why you should not, under any circumstances, do crunches or sit-ups post-baby and certainly not if you know you have abdominal separation.

For more detailed description of this test and other movements to avoid please see this post.

Instead you are going to do core exercises which work the muscles in a linear direction – I’ll show you how in the next post.

But you can start closing the gap right now visualising the gap and closing it. Sit there now and pull your belly button towards your spine. Breathe OUT slowly as you do this and don’t hunch your shoulders. Now imagine ‘zipping up’ the gap. Just let your mind close the gap from bottom to top. Another way is to imagine folding your pubic bone up towards your sternum. Pull in and together. Do this whenever you can think of it during the day – 30 times if you can!

Next week – the core muscles and how they connect to this one and help bring it all IN. But I’ll leave you with a demonstration of how effective the mind is, when engaging muscles in the correct way. A client had been taught this ‘zipping up’ visualisation by a Pilates instructor. When she came to me she still had a significant gap above her belly button, but not below. When I explained it, she said, ‘Well she told me to zip up my jeans. My jeans don’t come up to THERE!’

Hipster jeans – more to answer for than we thought.

Thank you so much to Wendy for helping to diagnose our Diastasis Recti!  I for one can guarantee that this is me.  In addition to an umbilical hernia I most definitely have serious diastasis recti.  When I did my own diagnosis diastasis recti, I believe that I have a 3 FINGER separation!  Ack…ick!  I feel as though my stomach (the actual organ) is FALLING OUT of my core.  If you listen close, after drinking a glass of any liquid, you can hear the liquid sloshing around!  It’s like listening to the ocean through a shell!  I’m working on my zipping up visualisation technique as I type…oh, my abdominal muscles are feeling it.  Phew!  I’m looking forward to Wendy’s post next week!

If you have any questions or comments for me or for Wendy, please leave them in the comment box below.  If you’d like to keep your questions/comments confidential and NOT have them appear on the post, please use the Contact Us page at the very top of the homepage.  I’ll pass on any questions for Wendy.  How are you doing with your Mummy Tummy Begone challenge?  Have you made some goals for this week?  I’m finding that KNOWING that I have you all here watching is a lot of motivation for me.  I didn’t WANT to go out and do my run/walk last night (Tuesday).  I wanted to sit on the couch and veg but I knew my body would rebel even more if I didn’t go out, not having run since Saturday night.  I also knew that I couldn’t get away with it…you’re counting on me to lead by example right?

Another thought…I was Twittering today (as you do) and another lovely Mummy Tummy Begone blogger mentioned that she was going to take photos of herself BEFORE and AFTER.  I need to do this!  I was shocked, when I was filming my Disney Princess Dancing vlog, at how BIG my belly is.  When you see yourself in pictures or video, it’s a bit shocking.  And maybe its the shock that we all need.  I’ll do my best to take BEFORE pictures this week and will decide if I’m brave enough to share them with you.  Please let me know your thoughts.  Good luck with your workouts and remember…mummy tummy…begone!