Most people check their diastasis incorrectly and think it’s much smaller than it really is. When checking your diastasis, you want to measure it “almost at rest” and when it’s the largest. So, to measure it when it’s the largest you need to first relax your muscles.
Your head must be lying flat, to start, and your knees must be bent. Then you lift your head just a little. The higher you come up, the closer the muscles come together. This is why people think they have a smaller diastasis; because they lift their head and shoulders too high off the ground and the muscles come together and it will feel like the separation is smaller.
So you want to measure the separation when the muscles first start to move. You may want to come up and down a few times so you can feel the movement of the muscles, then check when they first start to move.
Keep in mind, when you’re checking yourself for diastasis recti, you are looking for two things. First, you have to measure the “distance” between the muscles. Which means, you want to see how many fingers fit between the separated muscles. You can also use the Diastometer
belt, which is available on our website by clicking here. This will help you measure it in centimeters and will be more accurate, especially if you have a diastasis of more than 10 fingers.
The second thing you want to check for is “condition.” The condition of the connective tissue is measured by how deep your fingers go into the separation. The deeper your fingers go in, the weaker the connective tissue is. You can also use the Diastometer finger cot.
You also have to make sure when checking yourself for diastasis, that you check at the belly button, above the belly button halfway between the bottom of the sternum, and below the belly button halfway between the pubic bone and the belly button. If you feel a pulsing or see a half-football like bulge when you come up, it’s a sign that you have weak connective tissue. Usually you will need to use two hands to measure yourself when you have these two things.
We advise you to check in week one, end of week three, and end of week six. Write your numbers down in our Tupler Technique® Guidebook. Before starting our program, it’s important to also take your before belly photos from the front and the side. These photos have been so helpful to our clients as they are so excited when they actually see the changes, and they motivate them to continue with the program.
After you check yourself for diastasis, if you still aren’t sure, you can go to our website and search for a local trained professional near you who may be doing free belly checks. Here is the link to this page: https://diastasisrehab.com/licensees
Also, be sure to watch this video by Julie on measuring for diastasis:
If you want to learn more about making your diastasis smaller with the Tupler Technique®, please click on the link HERE for a free copy of my Tupler Tips.
To learn more about Diastasis Recti & the Tupler Technique® read this article: DIASTASIS RECTI RESEARCH AND EVIDENCED BASED EXERCISE PROGRAM
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