The abdominal muscles play an essential role in maintaining posture and trunk stability. When their strength decreases and they begin to separate (a condition known as diastasis recti), this can cause lower back pain, pelvic dysfunction and other symptoms.
Regular core-strengthening exercises can help men recover from diastasis recti. To do so safely and successfully, one should strive to progress slowly using movements that avoid encouraging abdominal separation.
Fire Hydrant Exercises
The Fire Hydrant Exercise is one of the best ways to strengthen glutes, hips, and core muscles without needing extra equipment. While this bodyweight movement might appear awkward or unnatural at first, it does an incredible job at targeting core muscles while simultaneously improving balance, posture and hip stability. Furthermore, it makes an excellent dynamic warm-up exercise helping prepare you for workouts, practices, or games ahead.
This straightforward exercise targets not only gluteus medius and minimus muscles, but also works hamstrings and inner thighs. As it’s low impact and suitable for anyone regardless of fitness level or experience level – making it especially suitable for individuals recovering from joint problems or injuries.
Start by standing so that your hips are hinged and trunk parallel with the floor. Next, lean forward and squeeze your core while raising one leg to side of body while keeping its bent at 90 degree angle – this completes one rep of this exercise. To increase intensity of this workout, ankle weights or looping a small loop resistance band around legs may provide resistance – additional reps will increase intensity further.
Make this exercise even more difficult with “fire hydrant kicks.” To perform this variation, complete a typical fire hydrant movement; but once your knee has been raised to side of body, pulse it up a few inches before lowering again. This increases how long glutes are under tension while helping improve form for more effective and effective strengthening exercises.
An often-made error during this exercise is to fling one leg outward from the body, taking stress off its target muscles. Furthermore, weak core muscles may lead to lower back pain if you don’t stabilize your spine correctly; therefore, prior to commencing this movement it is essential that static core stability exercises such as dead bugs and planks be performed first in order to strengthen these static muscles properly.
Draw-In Maneuvers
Diastasis recti is most frequently identified by its visible bulge or lump between abdominal muscles. But there may also be other indicators, including leaking urine, lower back pain, doming or invagination of abdominal skin and doming invagination; abdominal pain; digestive issues and urinary tract infection among others.
Condition occurs when the connective tissue that runs along our abdominals (linea alba) becomes thinner than usual, leading to abdominal muscles to separate, creating a gap in the center of our abs. Left untreated, this gap may widen further and result in serious injuries to our core region.
To restore ab muscle integrity and heal gaps, specific exercises that target core and abdominal muscles must be undertaken – these can be performed either at home or a gym; they just take time and require constant focus from you; the healing process could last weeks or months before progress can be seen.
Exercise that work the abdominal and pelvic muscles are an ideal way to treat diastasis recti. These gentle exercises typically result in greater pain relief compared to crunches or other core-building activities which place too much strain on abdominal muscles and may worsen diastasis recti injuries.
The Draw-in Maneuver (or TVA Breathing), one of the best exercises for treating diastasis recti in men, requires lying on a floor with your back straight and knees bent, placing both hands on your belly button, contracting abdominal muscles to pull abs toward spine for five seconds then slowly relaxing to return back to starting position; repeat this movement 10 times for best results.
As well as drawing in your abs, it’s equally as important to maintain strong core muscles by engaging and activating it during daily activities and movements. Doing this will reduce your risk of diastasis recti in the future – so when carrying groceries up stairs or picking up your child from daycare think about engaging and strengthening those core muscles.
Glute Bridge Exercises
The glute bridge exercise strengthens gluteal muscles and core without exerting too much strain on your abdominal area. This exercise makes a fantastic addition to any bodyweight workout, or as part of a resistance circuit workout program.
Start off on your back on the floor, with both knees bent at 90-degree angles and your hands placed flat on either side for support. Slowly lift your hips until they line up with both knees and shoulders – hold for several seconds then lower back down slowly back onto the floor before repeating several sets of 10 repetitions.
This movement may be less rigorous than planking, yet still challenges core strength and promotes abdominal contractions to reduce diastasis recti. Furthermore, it engages transverse abdominis muscle to help close any gaps in abdominal walls.
Assume you’re lying on your back on a flat surface with bent knees and feet flat on the ground. Press your hips up into a bridge position while simultaneously squeezing your glutes at the peak of movement; hold for several seconds before slowly easing back down again.
As your transverse abdominis muscle gets stronger, it may start shortening rectus abdominis muscles and closing off abdominal separation associated with diastasis. This is a good strategy as it will alleviate discomfort caused by diastasis while decreasing risk for future episodes.
As you progress through these exercises, it’s wise to monitor your abdominal separation regularly. Use our suggested test or consult a healthcare provider for personalized advice; if it still remains, visit your physical therapist who may offer targeted exercises and a supportive ab brace as extra support – they may even help determine whether your diastasis may actually be related to other issues such as pelvic floor dysfunction or lower back pain that require different solutions.
Planks
Plank exercises are abdominal bracing exercises designed to build core strength without exacerbating abdominal separation. Unlike many common ab exercises that can put too much strain on healing abdominal areas during treatment, planks strengthen transverse abdominis muscles – shortening rectus abdomen muscles to close gaps between them – shortening them further, shortening and tightening up gapped abdomens muscles while providing strength benefits through posterior tilts and trunk contraction.
Start the plank by lying on a mat or towel on top of a bare floor without rugs, with both of your socked feet flat on the floor. Engage your core muscles by slowly sliding your right foot toward its left, holding for two seconds before returning it back down onto the floor – repeat this cycle ten times for each leg.
Planks with both legs offer more of a challenge and require greater core control and stability – perfect for men with diastasis recti as it increases intensity of work performed by core muscles while relieving stress or compression from abdominal wall muscles.
Bird Dog is another abdominal bracing exercise designed to strengthen transverse abdominis muscles and create a posterior tilt, by stretching them across your torso and backbone. Start this movement by lying on your stomach with your lower back pressed into the floor and core engaged, and inhaling slowly while tucking your tailbone and engaging core, exhaling lifting left arm and straightening right leg until both are in line with torso, holding this position for two seconds then slowly returning both arm and leg back down again before repeating this movement for 8-10 repetitions per side.
diastasis recti is most frequently experienced by postpartum women; however, it can affect anyone at any age and stage in life. Diastasis recti results from an expanded uterus which weakens and separates the six-pack muscle in your abdominal wall causing diastasis recti to form.
Abdominal separation can result in back pain, poor posture and pelvic instability as well as decreased core muscle strength and function. Although physical therapy may provide effective relief from abdominal separation symptoms, for optimal results always consult a physical therapist and discuss additional therapies such as core muscle braces or neuromuscular electrical stimulation if required.
