Be kind to your connective tissue. Do not stretch it forward or sideways. Closing your diastasis is all about healing your connective tissue by positioning it, protecting it and strengthening it.
Positioning it. Wearing the Diastasis Rehab Splint® puts it in the right position to heal. The point of the splint, like a cast, is to keep it in the same position all the time. The splint keeps it in a narrow position. It takes the stretch off the stretched out connective tissue. In this narrow position it gets more blood flow and is in the right position to do the exercises. Also, wearing the splint puts the separated muscles closer together. They need to be closer together when doing the exercises so they move in the right direction. When they are separated 4 fingers or more, the outermost muscles will move sideways. A sideways movement not only does not strengthen the muscles it also stretches the connective tissue. In week 4 of the program, double splinting is started. This helps bring both the connective tissue and muscles closer together.
Protecting it. It is important to protect the stretched out connective tissue from getting stretched either in a forward or sideways direction. To protect it from a forward stretch, it is important to engage the transverse muscle with activities of daily living and then in the exercise routine. You use your transverse muscle with every move you make so it is important to hold it in before you move. If you don’t, it moves forward and stretches the connective tissue. Also, no abdominal facing down activities or exercises as this position also stretches the connective tissue in a forward direction. To protect it from a sideways stretch, you should not do any activities where you arch your back and flare your ribs or any forward crossover movements with your upper body.
Strengthening it. By strengthening the abdominal muscles you strengthen the connective tissue. The connective tissue, once in a narrow position, gets stronger by the tension on it with the backward isometric exercises.
In case you’ve missed this week’s Tupler Tip, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSsdPv7AOyU&feature=youtu.be
To learn more about Diastasis Recti & the Tupler Technique® read this article: DIASTASIS RECTI RESEARCH AND EVIDENCED BASED EXERCISE PROGRAM
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Watch the short video below to know what a diastasis is.