Let’s get right to it: you can strengthen your abs just by fixing your posture! Diastasis Recti is a pressure management issue. When you’ve got an ab separation, your connective tissue and rectus muscles become weak and cannot properly hold pressure inside your core canister. This results in the pressure wanting to find the path of least resistance, pushing out forwards, and causing that poochy mom belly and making you look 6 months pregnant. No mama wants that!
And yes, of course you need the correct core exercises to help you heal the separation and help your muscles get stronger. The Core Corrective does that beautifully.
But, ab exercises aside, the single best way to help heal that pressure management issue is by giving your abs a fighting chance and fixing your posture!
What has posture got to do with your weak core and pressure management? Everything. There are lots of facets of posture, but today let’s tackle the placement of our pelvic relative to the rest of your body. Here’s the visual:
Notice how my pelvis is in different places in each photo! Correct posture is when your hips and pelvis are lined up correctly underneath your ribs and shoulders. Proper alignment creates lots of space for your core to function properly and actively (but gently) engage to support your body. That’s what we want! We want our core working without us thinking about is, and definitely without us sucking in!
Photo 1: BAD! My rear is way out behind me. This is called anterior pelvic tilt. My butt is way too far back and my ribs thrust forward. This posture pulls on your diastasis and causes low back pain.
Photo 2: BAD! My butt is gripped and tucked under. This puts way to much pressure down on the pelvic floor, and then your abs take a vacation. Butt grippers scrunch up the core, which gives it zero space to function, and makes your belly pooch out. Lots of pressure on your knees happening here too.
Photo 3: GOOD. My pelvis is nice and lined up, ribs are stacked over my hips, glutes not gripped. Glutes are WORKING, abs are WORKING! There is lots of space in my core for my abs to support my body. And this lengthened state makes my belly taller and flatter without having to suck in! This is what we want. (PSA – stop sucking in. It’s the worst thing you can possibly do, and your core will never heal if you don’t stop it. But that’s a post for another day. :))
Now, it’s your turn. Stand sideways in front of a mirror, check to see where you pelvis falls in your regular posture. Is it like photo 1 or photo 2? Now, try to line everything up, ribs over hips, hips over knees, knees over ankles. Come up tall through your core, like there’s a string lifting the back of your head straight up to the sky. Now check your form in the mirror? Did your belly magically flatten? Can you feel your abs working in this lengthened position? You’ll be surprised how just fixing that pelvic posture can drastically change the shape of your belly!
For more help with posture, check out our programs page. Each program comes with detailed posture help!