Closing a diastasis recti is all about healing the connective tissue. When you heal the connective tissue with the research-based Tupler Technique® Program, you bring support to the umbilicus. You will see your belly button go from an outie to an innie! You will also get a flatter belly because your muscles (not connective tissue) will be supporting your organs.

Healing connective tissue is not an overnight process. This program takes time, effort and a commitment to doing all 4 steps of the program for a minimum of at least 18 weeks.

If  you decide to  go the surgery route for whatever reason, it is still important to do this program  to “prepare” for the surgery. This program will strengthen your abdominal muscles before surgery, teach you how to use them correctly and prepare you for the activities you will be doing during the recovery process.  As a result, you will be able to maintain the integrity of the sutures so your surgery will last.

So the bottom line is….you have nothing to lose by doing the Tupler Technique® Program. Chances are if you are really diligent about doing this program you will close your diastasis and fix your umbilical hernia.  If not, you will have a better outcome for your surgery.

The diastasis recti (separation of the outermost abdominal  muscles) is the cause of  that belly that just won’t go away no matter what you do! That is because it is now the weak connective tissue supporting your organs instead of the muscles if they were together!

The goal of the research-based 4 step Tupler Technique® program is to close the diastasis by healing the connective tissue. One of  the 4 steps is wearing the Diastasis Rehab Splint®. The purpose of this splint is to approximate (bring closer together)  the separated muscles. By doing this, it puts the connective tissue in a better “position” to heal (takes the stretch off it) and puts the separated muscles in a better “position” (closer together) to do the exercises more effectively.  So the purpose of this splint is NOT compression it is approximation! A totally different function! While you wear this splint you are required to do the Tupler Technique® exercises to strengthen the transverse abdominal muscle. Doing the exercises will bring blood flow to the connective tissue which will help it heal. The exercises will also strengthen the transverse muscle so it will be strong enough to do its job of compression.  Having the transverse muscle be able to be strong enough to perform its job is crucial because to heal the weak connective tissue you have to prevent intra-abdominal force on it.  You prevent intra-abdominal force by having the transverse be strong enough to be able to go back towards the spine  (compression) when doing activities of daily living as well as during your exercise workout.  If the transverse does not go back when you are doing these activities it is still working….. only now it is working in the wrong direction! It is going forward forcefully on the weak connective tissue and weakening it. So just wearing the Diastasis Rehab Splint®is NOT enough to close your diastasis. You must do all 4 steps of the program.

Not only is it hard work, pushing incorrectly can cause many abdominal and pelvic floor problems.  Learning how to push with your strengthened abdominals while relaxing the pelvic floor muscles that you have strengthened and stretched during pregnancy is a skill that must be learned and practiced so it is second nature during labor.  You cannot learn a new skill when you are in pain! The key is to learn how to work the two muscle groups separately.

It is even more important if you have an epidural because then it is about “muscle memory. “  You must “visualize” bringing the abdominals back while you relax the pelvic floor muscles.  The image is of visualizing your uterus like a tube of toothpaste and your transverse abdominal muscle like your hand. When your hand or abdominals go back, the baby like toothpaste, comes out the bottom!

In my last blog I talked about wearing a Diastasis Rehab Splint® while pregnant. One of my licensees, Lyndsey Halik, talked about her experience with the program and also about  wearing a splint during pregnancy. Lyndsey just gave birth and I wanted to share her birth experience.

Lyndsey told me that she had an epidural so she relied on muscle memory and visualization.

She said,  “I couldn’t feel any of the contractions so I was told by the nurse midwife when to push.  I pushed three times every contraction while exhaling.  I held my abdominal muscles together with my hands while I pushed.  I could feel the muscles working!  I was impressed with how strong they were!  I used the visualization of the tube of toothpaste.  That was very helpful.  I pushed for a total of 25min during which time I had 13 contractions.  I was able to control the pushing so that I didn’t tear.  The nurses were telling me how intact my perineum  was afterward.  The doctor the next day told me I was barely swollen at all.  I wasn’t even sore afterward. So far I have had a quick recovery with everything.  I started wearing the splint and doing the exercises three days after delivery.   I lost 3 inches in 3 days so far!  My back is feeling good too!”

Many people ask me about wearing the Diastasis Rehab Splint® during pregnancy.  This is perfectly fine if a pregnant woman is comfortable wearing it!  If she is not comfortable wearing it, then she can just hold a splint (scarf or arms of sweater) while doing the seated and back lying exercise as well as while pushing in labor.

The sizing is tricky though because you will need a larger size as your belly gets bigger. We recommend getting one size larger and then putting a hem in the arms of the splint. Then letting them out as you get larger.

Keeping your diastasis as small as possible during pregnancy is crucial to prevent back problems during and after pregnancy and to make your pushing more effective in labor.  If the uterus is being supported by the thin connective tissue (instead of the muscles if they were close together) the already top heavy uterus will tip over putting the cervix out of alignment with the vaginal canal making pushing in labor very difficult.

Lyndsey Halik is one of my licensed Tupler Technique® Providers in Ferndale Washington.   She is pregnant with her third child.  She did not do the Tupler Technique® Program during her first two pregnancies.  She, of course, has been doing it during her third pregnancy.

Lyndsey has been involved in fitness her entire life. She even ran cross country and track and field at the University of Illinois. After her first child, she got back in shape and began running triathlons and road races. Though she was physically fit, her abdominals just wouldn’t firm up. Everyone told her that is to be expected when you have a baby, and Lyndsey believed it. After her second child, Lyndsey learned about the Tupler Technique®. She was surprised to know that a diastasis was causing her protruding belly. Following the program religiously, Lyndsey lost four inches off her waist in six weeks! She was so impressed with the program that she decided to change career paths so she could support women in this process of closing their diastasis.  A former kindergarten teacher, Lyndsey became a certified personal trainer  so she could become licensed to teach the Tupler Technique®.www.abdominalfix.com || lyndsey@abdominalfix.com

I wanted to share with you a film Lyndsey has made about wearing the splint and also her experience with the program. She also shows you how to put the splint on. If you have any questions, feel feel to email her.

Film by Lyndsey

When you get any type of surgical incision, there is a scar. A scar causes an adhesion. What this means is that one layer of  tissue is “stuck” to the underlying layer. The tissues are meant to move freely over each other. So when they are stuck together,  it is going to be much harder to close your diastasis on the bottom.  So after your scar is healed you must do what is called scar mobilization. That means separating the two layers that are stuck together.

If you are uncomfortable about doing this yourself, you can always go to a physical therapist for this. They can do this manually for you or you can have them do lazar therapy on it. My licensee, Jill Hoefs , who is a physical therapist in NYC, does this therapy on all my  clients that have had a c-section. If you have questions about this please go to her website at www.BodyAlignPT.com

My licensee, Laura Weisberg, who is a physical therapist that owns Forward Physical Therapy, has shared a letter from one of her clients.  This woman has had back problems for 25 years! Here is her letter.

IT IS TRULY AMAZING
For more than 25 years, I had regular mid back pain, ranging from slight to severe. About two years ago, my SI joint upslipped and rotated. Through physical therapy I had been able to manage it-but it would be OK for a week or maybe two and then it upslipped and or rotated and the pain returned. I would get it adjusted and a week of two later, it upslipped and/or rotated and I needed it adjusted again. Sitting was the worst, so I often brought a mat with me so I could lie down rather than sit. I dreaded car rides and airplane rides.

And then, six weeks, ago, I started the Tupler Course at Forward Physical Therapy. My first class was the day before I flew to NY and Italy for a three week vacation. I almost did not go on this trip because I feared what all the flying and driving would do to my back. But I did my exercises, wore by Tupler splint, and lo and behold, despite flights, car rides, and no visit to the physical therapist, I HAD NO PAIN! I could not believe it. My mid back pain is now rare and mild and my SI joint remains level and I have no lower back pain. And my stomach is getting smaller, but that is just a bonus. It is the virtual end of back pain problems that had made me a believer in the Tupler method.

Rosalind Andrews
Knoxville, Tennessee

Closing a diastasis recti is all about healing the connective tissue and strengthening the transverse abdominal muscle. Healing the  weakened connective tissue means being “kind” to your connective tissue.  You can do this by not stretching it or putting any intra-abdominal force or weight on it.

Wearing a Diastasis Rehab Splint ® takes the stretch off the connective tissue putting it in a better position to heal.  It also brings the muscles closer together making the exercises more effective.

Strengthening your transverse muscle with the Tupler Technique® exercises will bring blood flow to the connective tissue helping it heal AND make it strong enough to engage   this muscle with “every” repetition of your workout.

So hang in there!  Just know that incorporating the Tupler Technique® into your workout will make it much more effective and challenging….. while maintaining the results you’ve achieved in the process of closing your diastasis.