Diastasis Recti and Me #Mamavation

Baby #3 and my post-baby body

Diastasis.  I feel like I have seen this word all over the place in the last couple of weeks.  Maybe it's a new trend, maybe I'm just learning more about myself and my body.  Regardless, I had to spend some time this last week reading about it.

What is it?  It is a condition in which the abdominal muscles separate, left to right, allowing belly fat to protrude from between the muscles and distorting the shape of the belly.  This seems to most commonly happen to women who have had babies.  Many times the muscles repair themselves, but not always.

How do you know you have it?  From my reading, I've found that you lay on your back, knees bent, feet on the floor, fingers from one hand on your belly button - and do a partial sit up.  If you feel a gap between your muscles (some say 2.5 fingers wide or more), you most likely suffer from diastasis.

What do you do about diastasis?  There are a number of websites suggesting a variety of exercises.  Several of these sites warn that if you do them wrong you are likely to teach the muscles bad form and not help yourself in the end.  That is not so encouraging to me.  Some websites suggest a wrap.  There are a variety of conflicting views about the best way to fix diastasis.  The important thing is: it can be fixed.

Diastasis, or just belly fat?

What does this have to do with me?  Well - I've had 3 babies, 4 pregnancies, and I have to admit - my belly is kind of "bulgy" and roundish.  It does not look like it did 5 years ago.  So, I had to check it out, to see if I might have problems with diastasis.  Great news: I appear to have nicely put together abs!  The bad news is, I need to work on toning those muscles.

Why am I sharing? I had not heard of this problem until a couple of weeks ago.  I'm certain there are others who are new to the topic and may benefit from learning a little bit about it.  I don't want to try and hash out all of the information available here.  Search Google, or Pinterest for "diastasis".  You will be amazed what you find!

Have you struggled with belly fat?  What is your best tip to reduce ab flab?