I see a fair bit of abdominal (six pack) separation in clinic, hardly surprising given almost two thirds of women suffer from some form of diastasis recti post partum (even if they had a C section).
But did you know men can suffer from this as well?
There are a number of causes, other than pregnancy, that could give rise to this including, but not limited to, abdominal surgery (including piercings!), fast and / or steady weigh gain, certain medications, certain disease states, or front line issues.
Last week a fire fighter falling into one of these categories, had suffered from it “as long as [they] could remember, but it didn’t give [them] any issues”.
Unfortunately it had contributed to the epigastric hernia they were now suffering from. Like most, they believed because it’s the rectus abdominus which separates, they needed to do lots of sit ups and it would be fine.
Unfortunately this can often make things worse, and in the case of an existing hernia, is definitely not advised. In fact it is a combination of other abdominal muscles utilised in breathing, and building intraabdominal pressure which need to be ‘worked’ on.
We found their rectus abdominus, and external abdominal obliques to be overactive, with a tighter than normal diaphragm.
Conversely the transverse abdominus, internal abdominal obliques and to a lesser extent lumbar multifidi were all found to be underactive.
Release and activation completed, RockTape applied, homework videoed so they know exactly what to do, and then we will monitor the gap over time.
There’s a bit of homework to do, but if it means avoiding surgery (in this case) I’m sure it will be high on their list of priorities. The ability to optimally breath, and build intraabdominal pressure correctly is also likely to help with the shoulder niggles as well – bonus 😎
If you’ve got any questions, or wanted to get an assessment, give me a shout 😊👍
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Diastisis recti – Image credit unknown