Courses

Welcome to MY FIT DIASTASIS, my first online course.

This programme is based on years of assessing, treating and researching, treating new moms’ tummies! I hope that I have consolidated my clinical experience in this easy to follow, progressive, empowering and comprehensive exercise package.

If you are reading this you may be worried or just wondering about your abdominal muscle strength, perhaps after having had a baby recently or in the last few years. You might be looking to return to low or high intensity exercise and be worried that you could cause harm to your body if you do. You might have heard about Diastasis Recti Abdominis (DRA) and are wondering if you have it. You might be searching for a program that will bring you gradually and safely, level by level, to where you feel strong, recovered and prepared to take on the demands of your usual exercises as well as the demands of raising your family.

If you feel like you still look pregnant and that your tummy is soft and weak, if your muscles ache or cramp after your normal day or after lifting your kids or doing housework, if you are experience sluggishness or constipation, if you have pelvic floor issues such as incontinence, and if you don’t feel confident about your body or are worried about how you look, perform or feel, then you may have DRA or general core weakness. You will benefit from this exercise program.

Remember that when your baby was growing in your tummy he or she needed space. Your hormones (Relaxin mostly) surged through your body to allow your muscles, fascia, connective tissue and ligaments stretch to allow this growth during your pregnancy and to facilitate delivery. Your linea alba became the point of least resistance and the bellies of your rectus abdominis muscles moved aside to allow this band of connective tissue to expand.

Your linea alba ( Latin: “white line” ) is a straight band of connective tissue that separates the bellies of your rectus abdominis ( Six-Pack muscles) and even before pregnancy it takes up space so before pregnancy there is a small varying gap between your tummy muscles. During pregnancy it became the point of least resistance and the bellies of your rectus abdominis muscles moved aside to allow this band of connective tissue to expand. DIASTASIS simply means “separation”.
This is all a natural occurrence and it took up to 40 weeks to stretch and widen the linea alba. Your tummy muscles themselves will have stretched to as well as your other ligaments and pelvic organs.

Some of us started tall, some started small, some of us had smaller babies and some of us has big babies; we did not know what was ahead of us! Diastasis research is telling us now that most of us have Diastasis Recti after out babies are born! Recovery will rely on the amount of stretch that we had, the size of the baby, the genetics of your muscles and fascia, what your own goals are, your motivation, your weight goals, your support system at home and much much more!

The studies that have been published on the subject or DRA so far have not been able to prove that DRA (All by itself) will cause health issues so when you are testing your tummy muscles ie the tummy check, don’t worry too much about the number fingers between the bellies of your abdominal muscles. Try to zone in on the tone of your muscles, how they move, the presence or absence of pain and your ability to add some load to your tummy muscles.

Do not hesitate to get your tummy muscles checked objectively by a Women’s Health physiotherapist or by a doctor if you are unsure whether you have Diastasis Recti Abdominis. Remember though that measuring the gap is only a small part of the assessment and it is also important to notice the following:

Your skin is very thin and your abdomen feels lumpy and soft.
When you move forwards, get out of bed, sit up or lift anything your abdomen bulges forwards and rounds.
When you try to draw in your tummy you find it impossible to flatten your tummy.
You also have lower back pain, a feeling of pressure in your pelvis or vagina, leakage or pelvic pain.
What does this mean? In this program it means you may hover around the easier part of this program for longer than someone else. That is all! You will work on the strength, you will work on your pelvic floor and posture and you will work on feeling stronger and better.