FitSugar

What's the Deal With: Diastasis

FitSugar — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:00:00 PDT

It should come as no surprise that pregnancy can pull quite a number on a woman’s body. The weight gain, the hormonal changes, the carrying a nine pound bowling ball in your belly – these things all add up and can change a few things anatomically. One very common after effect of pregnancy is diastasis when the top layer of abdominals, the rectus abdominis, separate by pulling away from the center line of the body known as the linea alba.

While that may sound painful, the muscles slowly stretch and separate over the course of the nine months so there really is no pain involved. The pain actually may occur sometime later, in the form of back pain since the spine relies on strong abdominals for support.

Diastasis is fairly common and the muscles will come together on their own about 6 months after labor. Post pregnancy, it is considered healed/normal when only 2 fingers fit in the gap between the abs. Working the deep abdominals, primarily the transversus abdominis, TVA, is your best bet for strengthening your abs and reducing the gap. The TVA pulls all 4 layers of abdominal muscles toward the spine and in essence fills in the gap created by the diastasis. By working the deep abs you can decrease the gap!

To see how to test for the condition

Finding Your Deep Abs!

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:30:00 PDT

Finding your deep abs is essential to training your core and for just about every Pilates exercise in the book. Accessing them, however, can be difficult. Here is the easiest path to discover your transverse abdominus (TVA for short), the deepest of all the abdominals.

Sit upright in a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Align your head over your pelvis while maintaining the natural curve and keeping the spine long. This is no time for slouching. You need to sit in front of a mirror so you can monitor the movement of your shoulders.
Place your hands on the sides of your waist with your thumbs pointed back and your index fingers forward.
Inhale into the back and sides of your ribs (imagine a balloon filling up with air), not just your chest, without letting your shoulders rise to your ears. This can take a few tries to master. If breathing this way makes you light headed, take smaller inhales - just don't let your shoulders rise.

Who knew finding something in your own body could have so many steps? For the rest of the steps

Exhale by pulling your abdominals toward your spine to force the diaphragm up into the lungs, creating the exhale. You should feel the diameter of your waist decreasing as you do this, since the TVA wraps around the waist and attaches in the back. It helps to make a soft "Haaaaa" sound while you exhale.
Keep inhaling and exhaling in this manner.
When exhaling you want to feel a sensation of the abdominals pulling up from the pubic bone to the belly button, kind of a zipping sensation. To help activate this sensation feel the pelvic floor pulling up, like doing a Kegel exercise.
Once this feels natural (or at least easier), try it lying on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.

This breathing is simple, easy and rather inconspicuous so you can practice at your desk! I have a friend that breathes this way at every stop light (she keeps her hands on the wheel though). Integrate using your TVA when you lift weights, so you're working your deep abs (and helping to stabilize your torso) as well.

The Skinny On: Neutral Spine

FitSugar — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 04:00:00 PST

We all want to have some neutral shoes and neutral pants in our wardrobes. But what about a neutral spine? If you have heard an instructor use the term neutral spine in a fitness class, but didn't have a chance to clarify its meaning - I'm here to give you the skinny on it.

Neutral spine means maintaining the natural curves of your spine. If you are lying on your back, the lowest 5 vertebrae should NOT be smashed into the ground but making a slight curve away from the floor. Your rib cage does rest on the floor. The neck mirrors your lower back and pulls away from the floor, while your skull rests heavily on the ground.

When lying on your back, a simple way to check if you are indeed in neutral is to make sure your ASIS (that's what folks commonly call their "hip bone") is in the same line as your pubic bone. Place the bottom of your palms on the ASIS and your middle fingers on your pubic bone. They should make a plane parallel to the floor. To see a spine way past neutral

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This spine is way past neutral - the ribs are away from the ground and more than the 5 lower back vertebrae are off the floor. Why we like it: Working in neutral spine is the best way to work your core since the back muscles are working in tandem with your abs.