Build Strength and Confidence in Your Core
Changes in your abdominal wall can affect how your body feels during exercise, lifting, childcare, and everyday movement. If you have noticed a gap, bulge, or doming through the middle of your abdomen, you may be experiencing diastasis recti. At Ability Physiotherapy & Wellness, we provide personalized physiotherapy for diastasis recti in South East Calgary, AB and North East Calgary, AB. Our physiotherapists can help you understand how your abdominal muscles are functioning and develop a plan based on your individual needs and goals.
What Is Diastasis Recti?
Diastasis recti is a widening of the connective tissue between the two sides of the rectus abdominis muscles. These are the abdominal muscles that run vertically along the front of your abdomen.
Diastasis recti is especially common during and after pregnancy as the abdominal wall adapts to a growing baby. However, it can also occur in people who have never been pregnant.
Having abdominal separation does not automatically mean your core is weak or damaged. What matters is how your abdominal wall works with the rest of your body and whether you are experiencing symptoms or difficulty with activities that are important to you.
What Can Contribute to Diastasis Recti?
There is rarely one simple reason why diastasis recti develops. Several factors can influence how the abdominal wall changes and adapts.
Your physiotherapist can consider these factors along with your movement, symptoms, activity level, and goals.
These may include:
- Pregnancy
- Multiple pregnancies
- Changes in abdominal tissue during pregnancy
- Individual differences in connective tissue
- Changes in strength or muscle coordination
- The physical demands placed on the abdominal wall
Signs You May Benefit From an Assessment
Some people with diastasis recti have no symptoms or activity limitations. Others notice changes in how their abdomen looks, feels, or functions.
An assessment can help you better understand what your abdominal wall is doing rather than focusing on the size of the gap alone.
You may consider a physiotherapy assessment if you notice:
- A visible gap along the middle of your abdomen
- Bulging or doming during certain movements
- Difficulty coordinating your abdominal muscles
- A feeling that your core is not supporting certain activities well
- Difficulty returning to exercise after pregnancy
- Concerns about lifting, carrying, or other physical tasks
- Pelvic floor symptoms occurring alongside abdominal concerns
More Than Closing the Gap
Improving abdominal function involves looking beyond the separation itself. Your physiotherapist can explore how your abdominal muscles coordinate with breathing, the pelvic floor, and the rest of your trunk during the movements you want to perform.
There is no single exercise program that is right for everyone with diastasis recti. Your program can progress as your strength, coordination, and physical capacity change.
Depending on your needs, treatment may include:
- Abdominal strengthening: Build your ability to manage progressively more challenging movements.
- Breathing strategies: Learn how breathing and abdominal muscle activity work together during exercise and daily tasks.
- Pelvic floor training: Address pelvic floor function when it is relevant to your symptoms.
- Movement retraining: Explore different strategies for lifting, carrying, exercising, and completing everyday activities.
- Progressive loading: Gradually increase resistance and physical demands based on your current abilities.
- Exercise modification: Adjust activities when needed while continuing to work toward your goals.
- Education: Learn more about abdominal wall function and how to manage your own activity with greater confidence.
See How Your Core Responds to Movement
Your physiotherapist will look at more than the distance between your abdominal muscles. The assessment may explore how your abdominal wall responds when you breathe, move, lift, or perform exercises that are relevant to your daily life.
Strength, coordination, movement, and your current activity level can all provide useful information. Pelvic floor function may also be considered when relevant to your concerns.
These findings can be used to choose an appropriate starting point for exercise and determine how to progress the challenge as your abilities change.
Frequently Asked Questions About Diastasis Recti
Prepare Your Core for the Activities You Enjoy
Diastasis recti does not mean you have to avoid exercise or treat your abdomen as fragile. Your body can adapt to progressively greater demands when exercise is matched to your individual abilities and goals.
Whether you want to return to exercise, lift more comfortably, manage the demands of parenthood, or simply feel more confident using your core, Ability Physiotherapy & Wellness can help you develop an exercise approach suited to what you want to accomplish.
THE ABILITY WAY
Care That Starts With You
We believe your care should never be one-size-fits-all. Every plan is shaped around your story, your goals, and the way you want to move through life.
- One-on-one personalized care
- A plan built around your goals
- Hands-on treatment and movement support
- Education to support lasting progress
