Split abs during pregnancy: How to recover after giving birth?

Do you suffer from split abdominal muscles after pregnancy? No stress! You are just one app install away from solving your issue. And the best part is yet to come…it is totally, 100% FREE to get started.

Also read:

Ab split: What is it?

During pregnancy, your abdominal muscles give way to make room for your growing baby. The separation of the straight abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis) at the midline of the connective tissue tendon plate (linea alba) that connects the straight abdominal muscles is called a diastasis, or diastasis recti.

And now in plain English…

Diastasis is a deviation of the straight abdominal muscles. You probably know them: the six-pack muscles. Everyone has them but you do not see them in everyone. Sometimes they are hidden under a layer of fat. In a normal situation, these rows of muscles are close together. In the middle, they are connected by a tendon plate called the linea alba.

When you are pregnant, your belly gradually begins to bulge. Your uterus, filled with baby, placenta, and amniotic fluid, grows and grows. Your uterus is increasingly pressing against your abdominal wall and, little by little, your abdominal muscles and the intercostal linea alba are stretching. This is a very natural process that is necessary to make room for your growing belly.

Pregnant diastasis is perfectly normal

So diastasis (split tummy muscles after pregnancy) during the actual pregnancy is perfectly normal. Nature intended it that way. Where else is the enormous belly and its contents to go? It can't go to the back, because that's where your spine is, and going up or down doesn't seem like a good option to me either. Anyway, it is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

Suppose you don't want to be one of those people with a diastasis that doesn't recover (fast enough), what can you do to prevent this?

Recovery after pregnancy

After you have given birth, your abdominal muscles return to their original shape fairly quickly but the tendon plate between them often takes longer to regain the original strength and elasticity you had before you became pregnant. This is because connective tissue has a slower recovery; it takes an average of 12 months before connective tissue has its full tensile strength again.

This recovery is different for everyone. It is possible that you will continue to have space between your straight abdominal muscles for quite some time. This does not mean that there is a gap, but that the connective tissue is stretched, it is less strong and elastic than before. For some people, the space between the straight abdominal muscles is already minimised after a few weeks, while with others it can take years and sometimes never be as it was.

Below we show several split stomach muscle exercises that we offer in our FREE APP. Continue reading to learn more about how you can fix your split abdominal muscles after pregnancy.

Abdominal exercises after childbirth

For a good physical recovery, a strong core (a combination of abdominal, back and pelvic floor muscles and your diaphragm) is important.

Your pelvic floor muscles have been dealt a heavy blow during pregnancy and especially during childbirth. It is important to start exercising them again soon after giving birth.

You can find exercises for this in our FREE APP.

Your abdominal muscles, however, need more time and guidance. Do not start exercising your abdominal muscles on your own, especially not with exercises for your straight abdominal muscles. Incorrect exercises can do more harm than good.

If you were doing abdominal exercises before you were pregnant, don't think that you can do them the same after you have given birth.

You can train your oblique and deep abdominal muscles lightly, but your straight abdominal muscles really require some guidance. Especially if you suffer from diastasis.

For a good recovery of (among others) your abdominal muscles and diastasis, we have developed online workouts in our dedicated diastasis recti fix app. You can find the app in the iTunes app store. This application is only available for IOS (iPhone, iPad) users.

Download the free app

What can you expect from the FREE diastasis recti fix app from Buff Body:

Fix back pain, mummy tummy & bloating of your stomach by creating a healthy balanced body
Prevent your diastasis recti from getting worse by avoiding exercises increasing intra-abdominal pressure
A step by step strategy to become conscious about your abdominal muscle layers & learn how to use them intentionally
Create an awareness of a healthy posture and safe movement patterns
Relearn to control your core in exercise and carry this awareness over to be safe in daily, work and sports situations
Progress through a series of abs exercises – from easy, static situations to complex, dynamic movements – tailored to control your diastasis recti

Success stories: split abs recovery after pregnancy

Sair

“Buff Body is LIFE CHANGING. I went from struggling to do daily tasks with my twins to mastering them like a boss. I finally am beginning to feel like myself again.”

Jana

Reduced abdominal split from 4 fingers to 3 within 2 weeks

“Great exercises. My diastasis recti was reduced after two weeks and my stomach felt very tight! I finally found someone who could really help me with my diastasis issue!”

Cristina

“After four months, I am back to my pre-pregnancy shape, my lower back pain is minimal and my diastasis has almost disappeared. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier. What worried me about the condition was not only the aesthetics but also that I didn’t have any control over my abdominals, I felt weak and my lower back hurt.”

Tsveta

Reduced abdominal split to 1 finger within 1 month

“Speechless on how I changed in just 1 month! 4 kgs down, diastasis recti only 1 finger wide now and my belly looks as if I didn’t have a baby.

My friends started telling me I lost my mummy tummy and clothes started to look better on me.”