Diastasis Recti: The Whole-Body Solution to Abdominal Weakness and Separation

by Katy Bowman

Diastasis recti, the separation of the abdominal muscles, is a symptom of a whole-body problem. Your abdominal muscles bend, twist, and support the spine. They contract and release to help you breathe, cough, talk, and sing. They stretch to accommodate pregnancy, haul your lower body towards your upper, and protect your abdominal organs. They should not be splitting down the middle. In Diastasis Recti: The Whole Body Solution to Abdominal Weakness and Separation, biomechanist Katy Bowman explains the larger picture when it comes to DR including body alignment; frequency of movement; the effects of all-day forces, like intra-abdominal pressure; and why a few exercises simply aren't enough for long-term success. You need to learn a new way to move for an improved set of core muscles. Because the abdominals are connected directly and indirectly to every other part of the body, Diastasis Recti lays out a whole-body corrective program to address the factors that overloaded the core in the first place.With over 30 exercises and habit modifications, this book is for any man or woman experiencing abdominal separation or weakness and wanting to improve both the appearance and the function of their abdomen.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Bodies, Self Help, Fitness, Reference, Science

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2016

About the author

Bestselling author, speaker, and a leader of the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman, M.S. is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. Her ten books, including the groundbreaking Move Your DNA, have been translated into more than 16 languages worldwide.
Bowman is the creator and host of the "Move Your DNA" podcast, teaches movement globally, and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences such as the Ancestral Health Summit and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Her work has been featured in such diverse media as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, the Seattle Times, NPR, the Joe Rogan Experience, and Good Housekeeping.
One of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and an America Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement,” Bowman consults on educational and living space design to encourage movement-rich habitats. She has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities to create greater access to her “move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need” message.
Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family.

Reviews

[Josh Padnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because after my wife was pregnant with our second baby, her stomach was stretched to the point of developing a non-critical condition known as diastasis recti. Oddly enough, her OB/GYN didn't mention anything about it, yet it turns out to be a very common issue and so there's a huge amount of commercial content out there to help you solve it. But that content only talks results, and rarely helps you understand the problem itself. Enter this book.

I suppose the author did give me a much deeper understanding of what diastasis recti is, but the book was still unpleasant to read. I found the content to be very dry sometimes, often referencing new concepts casually without introducing them, or introducing an interesting new concept but then failing to explore it to a satisfying level of depth.

For example, one of the key points of the book is that diastastis recti may have been triggered by a pregnancy, but it's the everyday movements that leave a person in a "weakened" state to begin with. Special exercises are like taking "supplements," but only changing the core, day-to-day movements will really fix the problem (akin to "eating healthier food"). What an interesting concept! But then the author hardly explores it.

As another example, the author constantly implores the reader to "drop your ribs," even dedicating a 1-paragraph entire chapter to make the point. But I still don't really understand what this means. :(

As far as a summary of the content, here's what I picked up:

- You can't think of anatomy as just individual, isolated organs in your body. In reality, there are "pressures" acting on all the different parts of your body all the time. For example, if you stick a fork into an orange and get sprayed with a little juice, you're experiencing the "pressure" that exists in an orange.

- In diastasis recti, your adominus recti muscles are kept in place using a "mesh" of muscle ("aponeuroses") called the linea alba. If you exert too much pressure on the linea alba, either by getting too fat or growing a big baby in your belly, your linea alba can't contain the pressure, and deforms. Once the original pressure goes back down, your linea alba may now be unable to hold in more of your "normal" stomach.

- Just as the nutrients in food nurture our body, the movements we do ("nutritious movements") nurture our muscles and whole body. When we put slow, sustained loads in a certain direction on our body, we often "deform" our muscles, causing pain and problems. Such movement could be seen as "movement-deficient.". For example, our bodies evolved to support an active lifestyle, but so many of us sit in an office chair all day. Worse, we sit in a way that does not engage our muscles, compounding the problem.

- Corrective exercises are like "micronutrients" in that they help nourish under-used or over-used areas, but to really solve a problem you need the "macronutrients," which are the everyday way of moving about the world. Ideally, you can combine the two.

- These daily movement habits can be broken down into: (1) neutral/standing stance, (2) little moves, (3) medium moves, and (4) big moves. These sections were difficult to follow because they were really just a collection of exercises, but I struggled to weave them together into a coherent narrative of why one particular movement, or which selection of movements from all the sections you should do. The author even includes a section called "The Plan" that repeats everything in the above sections, but I guess you just need to do these movements throughout the day? And then...your body is stronger? Again, this was confusing.

I get the impression this book would make a lot more sense if I read the author's apparently seminal work, Move Your DNA, which I might actually do, despite the boring writing style, and hard-to-follow narratives.

The same theme just keeps popping up in so many places: our bodies and minds have not evolved to thrive in the society we live in today. The food we eat, the movements we make (or don't make), the air we breathe, the short and snappy content we read all seem to de-humanize us somehow. I'd like to understand more about how to counter the "physical movement" aspect of this, though I fear that winning that knowledge will come at the cost of an unpleasant slog through another of the author's books.

[Catherine Gillespie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested to read Katy Bowman’s book on Diastasis Recti, which is the official name for how your abs can separate–often during pregnancy but also for other reasons. Basically, this book is about your core and how it works and how to protect and use it well. I generally find books full of exercises difficult to implement, but this one helped me in that it gave me a better understanding of core function as a whole, and made suggestions for how to alter regular activities to make them more supportive. I won’t say that my stomach is back to normal, and honestly I suspect it never will be, but at least I can move toward more health in that area thanks to Bowman’s book.

If you’re interested in core health or have had babies, I’d recommend Diastasis Recti. I’ve also found Lose Your Mummy Tummy and Maternal Fitness helpful in the past, and for some reason Jillian’s Six Week Six Pack helped a lot after one of my kids, although I wouldn’t recommend it until you get your core back into pretty good shape post-partum.

{Read more of my reviews at A Spirited Mind.}

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered my diastisis recti at 2 months postpartum. I paid for a 3 month membership to a program designed to help heal this issue, but due to poor cell service (and app issues) I couldn’t do the workouts everyday as I was supposed to. At best, I did core compressions 1-2 times per week.

Fast forward to when my membership ended and I began searching for something else and I found her book. One week after buying this book and making the necessary standing posture adjustments, I’ve noticed a dramatic difference in my abdomen. She helped me to understand that focusing on just the core is not going to solve anything.

I can feel my legs growing stronger everyday that I stand correctly. As a ripple effect, my abs are strengthening, too. She knows her stuff!

[Mknox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Finally explains a lot of things other professionals (Dr., midwives) never told me about DR and alignment . But what's not clear to me is how long each excercise should be done for. Two minutes? Ten minutes? I'm not sure. And how long do I spend on each group of exercises before I move on to the more difficult excercises? Otherwise I'd give it five stars.

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I had never heard of a diastasis recti, but heard Bowman talking about it on a podcast and decided to check out this book at the library. Very interesting. I have no idea if I have a diastasis recti, but I most certainly could use a stronger core. I started this book while I was in the middle of “Move Your DNA,” so I had the “why” background to rely on. This book was both more focused and less technical than “Move Your DNA.”

Bowman’s main idea (well, besides lowering your ribs) is that we can get a lot of benefit by paying attention to how we move each moment throughout the day. In fact, it can benefit our bodies more than set-aside exercise time. Think about it. Many hours every day working and stretching our muscles slightly vs. 40 minutes of intense workout. It makes sense to me. Plus, then we have trained our muscles, connective tissue, and bones to work together properly for the benefit of the entire body.

Sounds good to me... and easy/hard. Haha. It will take a lot of patience. Seems to me this is smart in the long run. I can imagine years as a senior being much more comfortable if my body is aligned, with the muscles and tissues exerting and experiencing their proper loads and forces. And since extreme longevity runs in my family, I had better get started.

[Heidi Kuchta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I necessarily have Diastasis Recti, but I found this book helpful for learning how to heal and strengthen a weak, tense core. There are many pointers for incorporating strengthening exercises into your day-to-day life, which I liked. I learned a lot about how my core fits in with my overall functional movement. I would buy this book as an At-Home reference on core health.

[Tricia]

A quick read! About half anatomy and lifestyle explanations and half corrective movement explanations. The accompanying bookmark is very hand to keep at work as a reminder of the corrective moves I can fit into my day.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a book about exercises and a medical condition, it was an extremely fun read. Also, I found the approach and ideas really useful and enlightening.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bowman communicates biomechanical and physiological concepts very well. This book, like many of her others, has some really great elements and movement "vitamins".

[Seyly Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book of information for anyone who wants to learn about diastasis recti and how to better manage the abdominal muscles and pelvis. I love the exercises she has and all of the info at the beginning of the book, including how to stand and sit properly.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, Katy gave so much information. I'm looking forward to implementing the moves in my life and seeing how they help me.

[Kirsten stracke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this book 3 kids ago! So valuable.

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, when it comes to movement and biomechanics, Katy seems to be the smartest person in the room. All the exercises here can be done with things you have around the house or nothing at all. But every book on exercise chooses to be detailed, and possibly get the perscription, mileage, weight, etc. wrong, or leave the reader, who may be a total noob, on their own. This book give you exercises, but not how much, not a clear progression. The reader is expected to do a lot of work to figure out what needs to be done in what order, in what amounts. If you're okay with that, this is your book. If you're looking for a quick how-to, steer clear. Though it's not clear at all that you have any options out there speaking to this topic.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third read: Will probably always return to this for motivation and inspiration. Glad I finally bought a copy!

Second read: Great refresher; should probably be required postpartum reading.

First read: Fabulous, whole-body techniques to restore core stability and strength. I have totally bought into Katy Bowman’s Nutritious Movement philosophy, and this was a great introduction, even if I do not think I have DR (or don’t yet)!

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katy Bowman is such a smart woman! This book is funny and accessible, and the exercises entirely do-able. I was looking for a bit more info specific to doing them during pregnancy as I am currently pregnant, but I think I can figure it out. I thought there would be more about squatting, but this is very specific to just DR issues.

[Dilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This read will change your thinking about posture from a static conception to a more dynamic understanding of the forces involved in body shaping in the literal sense.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It may seem strange for someone who is not dealing with diastasis recti (that's the medical term for an unnatural separation of the abdominal muscles) to read a book with that title. But I've heard Katy recommend this book on her podcast many times for any core-related issues, and even more broadly, for anyone with a core. So I qualify. Like her other works, Katy is again discussing our poor mechanical nutrition, at a cultural level, this time in the context of a diastasis recti.

Getting down in the weeds regarding the forces at work in your abdomen, though on the surface highly technical and boring, is actually a pretty tremendously enlightening thing to do. Given that our bodies are shaped by the ubiquitous "casts" of our culture (think chairs, cars, heeled shoes, etc), we have adapted in ways that are not exactly obvious, but far-reaching in their health consequences. Like tight calves being sneakily at play in your chronic neck pain, or in the case of DR, your forward-thrusting hips (thanks to sitting) putting pressure on the linea alba which connects the two halves of your abdomen. Little things make a BIG difference. Which is why chapter nine: "Drop your ribs" is short enough to quote in its entirety:

"Drop your ribs. That is all. I just wanted to put this here in case you were skimming the book and didn't read anything but the first line of the chapter. Just drop them. The end."

Thanks to Katy, I have a new awareness of the small ways my body should and shouldn't be moving, and a handful of things I can work on almost any time. Dropping my ribs being one.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book because I am interested in learning more about Diastasis Recti. I have had four kids and am not sure if I have it, but am suspecting I might. While there were no diagnostic tests in there, there was quite a bit of anatomy; which I love. Also, there were exercises to help improve posture and core strength; some of which I am doing right now while typing on the computer. A lot of it was self explanatory - move more! Some of it was repetitive - keep your ribs down!, but it was all educational and relevant. Also, the author was funny, which you do not often find in a rehabilitation book.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am currently reading all of biomechanist Katy Bowman's books, but I thought about skipping this one, considering that I have never suffered from diastasis recti. However, I pushed through, hoping it might provide useful advice for overall core strengthening, and it did not disappoint. There are quite a few core exercises in this, starting small with tiny stretches and postural adjustments, but eventually progressing to large core movements such as hanging and swinging. Exercises are explained in detail throughout the text, but then are repeated in a helpful summary at the end of the book. It was definitely worth reading and worth adding to my self physical therapy library!

[Clairette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a LOT about the core. The most important thing I learned is that poor flexibility in the hips and shoulders leads to stretching of the connective tissue amongst the core muscles. That is what leads to poor resting tone even if you're pretty strong and active. So, stop stretching the linea alba by keeping a neutral pelvis and ribcage, stretch out the hips and waist, be mindful of abdominal/pelvic/chest pressures (breath comfortably at all times!), so you can let yourself be strong in some places and heal in others. I hope this works.

[Hannah Henson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about how to move my body in the future to alleviate diastasis recti. From correct alignment while standing, to how to properly sit, this book had the information. The only complaint I have is that it appeared to be geared towards individuals with sedentary lifestyles. I’m a relatively active person, so I felt like it was hard to apply some of the things Bowman said. I will still be filing away and using many of her tips.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katy Bowman’s writing is so readable for the layperson. Trained as a biomechanist, Katy breaks down the causes of diastasis recti and discusses both corrective exercises and lifestyle changes. Her discussion of diastasis as a symptom of a low movement lifestyle was eye opening, especially when so many attribute this condition to pregnancy. She packs a lot of information into this slim book and the accompanying drawings and photos are very helpful.

[Fala Moves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katy is a great writer, she explains things in a way that just make sense, which is a sign she knows her stuff. I also love how she circles back a lot to the same ideas. I’ve read a couple of her books and they all tie together but offer something new as well. Her approach isn’t what you’ll hear from many movement/wellness practitioners but it’s what we all need, simple but effective and smart.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I return to this book time and time again. It is so “meaty” but in a really digestible way. There are principles in here which can be taken into daily life and exercises to do at other times too. It is all explained in a logical and practical way. They why as well as the how are both covered. It is amusing and well
thought out and you don’t have to have diastasis recti to benefit either. Thank you Katy

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the title of this book for you; this is for desk workers and anyone who's missing out on movement. She has amazing insights and relatable analogies which can only come from knowing her subject thoroughly.

Also encouraging, is that she's been through a gnarly recovery after surgery, bed rest, and giving birth.

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s full of information about the forces that create diastasis recti and other core weaknesses and then exercises and practices to strengthen your core and your whole body. I’m excited to use it to improve my core function. Bowman’s writing style appeals to me, it’s very matter of fact & quirky, and gets to the point.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. Bought my own copy for the exercises. Only did 4 stars because at times she forgets the audience may not have the biological terms and I wasn't sure the muscle to use. But still good info

[Talie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to follow advice. Quick wins with just hanging around on the monkey bars at the playground with my kids.

[kmm1985 · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent!

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this two years and finally read it. Oops. Another solid Katy book with great exercises to try.