Frequently Asked Diastasis Questions

By measuring both your back and the circumference of your body over your belly button. Your back size is most important because that will determine if the pad will be the right size. Measure at the level under your breast from one side seam and then across your

back to the other sideseam. The pad should rest on each side of your body. If it rests on the front of your belly it is too big. If it is just on your back it is too small and it will be difficult for you to attach it. If you see that your back size is a small or a medium and your circumference is a large then you will need to make the arms of the splint longer. That is why we have created the extenders to attach to the arms of that size splint so it will fit you until your belly gets smaller from doing the program. The extenders will give you 8-12 more inches on the length of the arms. If you need less than this you can make a hem in the elastic of the extenders. The extenders are also good for pregnant women so the splint can grow with their expanding belly. We now also have short torso splints for short torso individuals and children. You measure from the bottom of your sternum to your belly button. If this measurement is 5" or less you may want this model splint.

Measure the circumference of your body around the belly button in the evening when your belly is the largest. Your abdominal muscles should be relaxed when you measure.

You will have to get the larger size splint and hem the elastic arms of the splint. It is important that the pad of the splint be the right size.

You will need to buy the small splint with the extenders. The extenders will give you anywhere from 8 to 12 inches more on the arms. If you need less than 8 inches you can put a hem in the extenders.

When you do a crunch you are lifting your shoulders off the floor. When you do a headlift you are just lifting your head. When you lift your shoulders off the floor it is impossible to hold in your transverse. If you can’t hold in your transverse muscle it will go forward forcefully making the diastasis larger if you have one or creating one if you don’t have one.

This program closes the diastasis by healing the connective tissue. As the connective tissue becomes shallow, the muscles come together. Healing connective tissue is all about putting it in the right position as well as protecting it.

 If you follow all 4 steps and do only cardio exercise as described below, you will see the healing process beginning. Your diastasis will may get one finger smaller, your connective tissue will feel shallower and your belly circumference will be 1-2 inches smaller. Make sure you take those before photos of your belly from the front and the side so you can see the changes in week 3 and week 6.

You use your abdominals with every move you make. You have to develop the awareness and the strength of how to use them correctly to be able to heal your connective tissue. It takes six weeks to do this. In week six once you have this abdominal strength and awareness of how to use your abdominal muscles, you are taught how to incorporate the Tupler Technique® into an exercise routine. During the first six weeks we recommend only cardio exercise such as walking, treadmill, stationary bike, and the elliptical machine. No running, weights or exercise classes .It is important to be belly breathing while doing cardio exercise.

 If you play these sports you need to make sure you engage your transverse and keep your ribs in as you do the crossover movement in tennis and golf. Check yourself before and after the game and to make sure you are not opening your diastasis back up again. Some people wear a splint while playing to remind them to hold the transverse in. 

If you have not closed your diastasis you need to continue doing what you are doing. Double splint as much as you can when doing the seated and backlying exercises. If you have closed your diastasis you do not have to wear a splint but you need to continue the other three steps of the program. For the contracting exercise do anywhere from 10-20 sets of 100 a day.

No. Weight has nothing to do with the separation of the muscles. Many people mistake the “bulging belly” that is a sign of a diastasis for fat.

You may want to look in a mirror while doing the seated exercises. For the headlifts you may want to have a friend put their hand on your belly to make sure you are working the muscles correctly. If you have a Licensee in your area it is always best to have someone see you in person. If you don’t you can also do the Six Week Online Support Program for all your questions or an individual skype session with Julie Tupler, RN so she can see how you are doing the exercises.

No. The contracting exercise is now at 5th to 6th so there is no need to do the elevators anymore unless you want to.

No. In the first six weeks it is not recommend to do this. The back must be supported and not move. It is much harder to control this in a standing position.

The back needs to be supported with a pillow or back of chair so it does not move and so it can rest and let the abdominals do the work. If it is not supported the back muscles need to work to maintain correct posture.

It forces you to breathe. If you hold your breath it puts intra-abdominal force on both your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles.

To maintain the integrity of the sutures after your surgery. It is important to strengthen your abdominal muscles and know how to use them correctly in the recovery process. Intra-abdominal force on the stitches makes them come undone. You are told by your doctor not to lift anything heavy after surgery. When you go from a seated to a standing position if you do not use your abdominals correctly while doing this you are putting your whole body weight on your sutures!

 Ideally it is best to do the Tupler Technique® before you even get pregnant. If this is not done then the Tupler Technique® program should be done during pregnancy to keep the diastasis as small as possible. If this is not possible then the Tupler Technique® should be done after the pregnancy. With each pregnancy the diastasis will get larger.

 All the weight of your organs is putting pressure on the weak connective tissue. Pressure on connective tissue weakens it and does not allow it to heal.

Yes. The seated position is the best position to be in while having sex to protect the connective tissue. The hands and knees position puts pressure on the connective tissue. In the back lying position with your legs in the air it is too difficult to hold in your transverse muscle.

Back lying with knees bent. Whatever position you sleep it is always important to have your knees bent. In a side lying position it is important to have a pillow between your bent knees. A pillow should be under your lower legs whether you are back lying or lying on your belly. This keeps the top of the pelvis from tilting forward. When this happens it flares the ribs and stretches the connective tissue.

Once you close your diastasis your do not have to wear our splint. You do have to continue doing the exercises for 18 weeks and then for the rest of your life. These exercises are the BEST way to strengthen your abdominal muscles. Strengthening your abdominal muscles means shortening them. This program shortens them from front to back and from top to bottom.

When you do the seated exercises you will be “chest breathing”. With chest breathing you do not get as much oxygen as when you belly breathe. Therefore, it is important to count out loud. This forces you to breathe. The louder you count, the more oxygen you get. Also, people get out of breath because they are doing the exercises too fast. So you may want to slow down when doing the exercises.

No. The program is all about closing the diastasis. This will give you a flatter belly and smaller waist. The loose skin is a lack of collagen issue.

If your toddler can climb up on a chair so they are at a higher place and you do not have to bend over that is the most ideal way of picking them up. Always hold your transverse in right before you lift them. If that is not possible then bend over with a flat back and bent knees. Again, transverse is in at 5th floor before you lift them. This is demonstrated in the exercise portion of the DVD.

NO. Crunches create a diastasis or make a diastasis larger if you have one. A diastasis is caused by a forward forceful movement on the outermost abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis). When the shoulders come off the floor it is impossible to engage the transverse muscle. If you cannot engage the transverse muscle then it is going forward forcefully making the diastasis larger or creating one. Besides working the muscles in the wrong direction they also work the discs of the spine in the wrong direction. Solution to safely increase the intensity of your abdominal work: When doing the head lifts, bring your feet away from the buttocks. This brings the small of the back off the floor. The higher the small of the back is off the floor, the harder it is to use your abdominals to put it on the floor.

When doing the seated Tupler Technique® exercises we always start and end with a belly breathe. However, it is not possible to belly breathe while doing the exercises with holding the transverse at 5th floor. You must chest breathe. That is why it is so important to count out loud. This forces you to breathe. If you don’t count out loud you will then put pressure on both your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles.

This is common when you first start doing the exercises. If a muscle is weak it will ask another muscle to help. In this case, it is your shoulders. So when you feel it in your shoulders just relax them. Also make sure your head is not forward when doing the exercises. Think of bringing the chin back as you are doing the exercises. When the head is forward it rounds the shoulders and then you will feel it there while doing the exercises.

The Tupler Technique® is a great exercise for toning even if you do not have a diastasis.

We use our abdominal muscles with everything we do. A forceful forward movement makes the diastasis larger. However, some forward forceful movements are worse than others. A jack knife and a roll back are the worst and will undo your hard work. So you need to be especially careful not to do these things as they will undo all your hard work.

 In a hands and knees position gravity put all the weight of the organs on the already weakened connective tissue. Engaging the muscles in this position will not take the weight off the connective tissue. So planks and pushups should be done against the wall where there is no pressure on the connective tissue and gravity makes it easier to engage the transverse muscle.

When you are doing aerobic exercises it is important that you belly breathe to get as much oxygen as possible. Remember to expand and fill the lungs up with air as your bring the muscles forward and then bring the belly back to the spine on the exhale part of the breath. You will be working the transverse if you use the transverse on the exhale part of the breath

The purpose of the Diastasis Rehab Splint® is approximating or bringing the two separated muscles together. This will put the displaced organs back in their original position. If you have had a diastasis for a long time then your organs may have “settled” in this position. Putting them back in their original position would then disrupt these organs. This may affect the organs above it (heart) and the organs below it (pelvic floor). So if you have any serious breathing issues such as emphysema or heart issues, it is recommended that you do not wear the splint. You can do the other 3 steps of the program and also “hold” a splint (scarf or arms of sweater) while doing the exercises. If you have any type of pelvic floor prolapse, you can wear a splint if it does not put any pressure on your pelvic floor. The splint should not be worn too tight and the exercises must be modified. You need to count out loud when doing the exercises, hold the pelvic floor muscles in at the same time while doing the exercises and decrease the number of repetitions for the contracting exercise to around 25 contractions instead of 100. As both your abdominal an pelvic floor muscles get stronger you can increase the number of repetitions. If you feel any pressure in your pelvic floor that is a signal to stop right away. If you have any other serious medical conditions please consult your physician before wearing the splint. We are always glad to speak with your physician to make sure the splint is right for you.

Anyone with a diastasis. Women, men and children.

Unless you have some sort of medical issue, you should wear the splint all the time. Just taking it off to bathe. If you broke your leg or arm you would wear a cast to continuously keep the two separated bones close together. It is the same with wearing the splint. You want to keep the connective tissue and muscles continuously close together.

If you wear the splint too tight or too low over your hips you can cause pain, swelling and numbness. There are two side effects that people do experience when wearing the splint. Nausea and acid reflux and back pain in the morning after sleeping in the splint. The nausea may occur because your stomach is now in its original position. Your stomach is now squeezed in between your other organs and not able to expand the way it used to when it was unsupported. You have to eat less now because of this inability to expand. This will help prevent the nausea and reflux. Back pain after sleeping in it can be caused by wearing it too tight or the position of your body while sleeping. Sleeping with straight legs will arch your back. Arching your back will flare your ribs and stretch your connective tissue and also create the back pain. Sleep with your legs bent no matter what position you are sleeping. In a side lying position, place a pillow between your knees. When sleeping on your stomach or in a back lying position put the pillow under your lower legs.

Absolutely not. The purpose is approximation (pulling together) not compression. It puts the connective tissue in a better position to heal and the muscles in a better position making the exercises more effective. Wearing a splint is just one of the 4 steps of the program. Wearing the splint makes doing the exercises easier because you are able to feel the muscles working.

Elastic wears out when you are continuously stretching it and Velcro wears out when you continuously pull the hook part of velcro (end of elastic arms) away from the loop velcro (pad of splint). If it is too small on you it will be continuously pulling. The loop is made of many filaments. Each time the hook is pulled away from the loop the loop loses some of these filaments. When it loses too many of these filaments, it loses its ability to hold the hook and will not stay attached. How long it lasts depends on how often you take it off. That is why it is important to look in a mirror when you are putting it on so you put it on correctly the first time and don’t have to readjust it several times. If it bunches up just pull it down. You don’t have to take it off. So limit the amount of times you take it off to no more than 3 times a day. That is why many people use two splints. They wear one and wash one. If you have two, there is half the wear and tear on it. It is important to hand wash and air dry it to make it last longer. To help preserve the elastic, you do not have to stretch the arms too much to attach it. Stretching the arms a lot when attaching it will also make it too tight. Wearing the splint too tight can cause negative side effects.

Please watch the DVD that is on all the pages in the shopping cart that have a splint on them. You can also read the instructions. Always stand in front of a mirror so you can see where you are attaching it. It is important to be attached in the right place. The top of the splint should lay at the bottom of your ribs. The bottom of your splint should lay above your hip bones. If you are continuously pulling the hook away from the loop to re-adjust it, the hook Velcro at the end of the arms will no longer attach to the pad. Also you do not want to attach it where the hook is touching your skin. This will cause a rash.

You do not have to wear the splint that tight. It will cause a decrease in circulation creating numbness and swelling. It will also not stay in place. When you are attaching the elastic arms to the pad you should not have to pull on the elastic that much to fasten it. If you have to pull on the elastic too much the arms may be too short. In this case you would need to get the Splint Extenders.

Three things to check:

Does the Splint fit you correctly? If it is too big or too small that can cause problems. The pad should rest on your sides. If it is on your back it is too small and will be hard to Velcro it. If it lays on the front of your belly it will be too big and difficult to pull the muscles together. If the arms touch each other in the back they are too long. You need to put a hem in them.

Are you putting it on correctly? You need to put the splint on in front of the mirror so you can see you are putting it on correctly. When the top arm from the two arm side crosses over it need to stay on top. Also arms need to be attached in right places.

Are you moving your body correctly? If you round your back the splint will roll up. You need to get up and down and move with a flat back. Wearing it over a fitted undergarment or wearing a compression garment over it helps to keep it in place. If you are short-waisted or have big hips it is harder to stay in place. Just adjust it with your hands. If you pull the detach and attach the arm from the pad too many times the velcro will lose its effectiveness.

No. It means you do not have enough coverage for your belly. This may happen if you are long waisted or have a big belly. So you need to wear another splint. Either a short torso or regular torso splint. The distance between the bottom of your sternum and belly button will determine if your second splint should be a short torso or regular torso. If it is 8-10 inches then it will be a short torso. If it is 11 inches or higher than it will be a regular torso.

Yes. However, you need to start developing an awareness of how to use your abdominals, how to move your body and how to protect your connective tissue while doing these activities. For example, before you move engage your abdominal muscles, make sure you bend with a flat back and when you bend over put your hand on your belly to protect your connective tissue.

You have to wear the splint until your diastasis is closed. If you have a severe diastasis it may take anywhere from 6 months to a year or more for it to close. Healing a diastasis is not an overnight process.

No. However, you do need to continue the other three steps of the program to “maintain” the results you have gained. Doing the Tupler Technique ® exercises are good for your belly, back and pelvic floor.

Yes. If you can hold a splint (scarf or arms of sweater) while doing the seated and back lying exercises you will make progress. However, it may be slower than if you wore the splint all the time. If you cannot even hold a splint doing the exercises will help.

Wearing a splint takes the stretch off the connective tissue putting it in a narrow position to heal. It also puts the muscles in a better position making the exercises more effective. Wearing a splint all the time can be compared to wearing a cast for two broken bones. The bones have to be kept in the same position continuously in order for them to heal. It is the same with the connective tissue. So you will have the fastest and best results if you wear it all the time.

No. This is not normal. You are most likely wearing the splint too tight. Besides making it looser, sleep with bent knees. For side lying position, put pillow between knees. For belly lying or back lying position, put a pillow under your lower legs.

Yes. If you hold your transverse in on the “work” of everything you do you can prevent the prolapse from getting worse. If you do the exercises incorrectly you can make the diastasis worse! If you have any type of prolapses you can wear the splint if you do not feel any pressure in your pelvic floor.  If you do feel pressure, then just "hold" a splint when doing the seated or back lying exercises.  If you are wearing the splint, make sure it is not too tight. Also make sure when you do the exercises that you do the following:

1. Count out loud. Holding your breath puts pressure on both the pelvic floor and weak connective tissue joining the abdominal muscles.

2. Engage both the abdominal and the pelvic floor muscles at the same time when doing the seated and back lying exercises

3. Decrease the repetitions of the seated contracting exercise repetitions when doing the contracting exercises from 100 to 25 or less. This program will not heal a prolapse.

No. Wearing a splint is just “one” of the four steps of the Tupler Technique® program. It will only give you “temporary results. You must do ALL four steps of the program to close your diastasis. The purpose of the splint is to put both the connective tissue and muscles in a better position. The other steps involve protecting the connective tissue and strengthening the abdominal muscles.

The purpose of the splint is approximation (pulling together) the two separated muscles and taking the stretch off the connective tissue. The purpose of the girdle, abdominal binders and body shaping garments is compression (pulling back) of the abdominal muscles.

Double splinting is wearing a splint all the time and holding a splint (scarf or arms of sweater or top) while doing the seated and back lying exercises. Double splinting is started in week 4 of the program after the transverse muscle has been strengthened.

No. Absolutely not. The purpose of the splint is just to put the muscles and connective tissue in a better position. It is physically impossible to engage the transverse muscle with the shoulders off the floor when doing a crunch. If you cannot engage it you are not working your core correctly and this will make the diastasis larger if you have one or create one if you don’t have one.