Hi Tabatha! As long as you don’t see the protruding ‘football’ in your tummy when you do this move, it should be safe. learning to activate the TVA muscle is a critical piece of recovering from and learning to live with DR. If you do see the protruding muscle happening, scale it back. Please email me at bq @ rollerderbyathletics.com or use the contact form here and I can send you a handout I’ve made specifically for athletes with diastasis recti!!

Is the “engaging your core” video you’ve attached safe and beneficial if you have diastasis recti?

Hi Kitten! Sorry to hear about your struggle! Usually if one muscle hurts it’s because another muscle is underperforming, so it’s working overtime. That makes some sense based on what you’re describing – your low back may hurt because your other core muscles are leaving too much of the load to it. That’s just a hunch though, and your physiotherapist is the best person to be able to advise you! I hope you can keep working with them to resolve this for good!

I may have made an editing error and left out that plank-ups alternative! A roll-up (pilates style) would be a good alternative. I have another workout called “No Hands” here: http://www.rollerderbyathletics.com/no-hands-workout and also this “Jump & Jive” one:www.rollerderbyathletics.com/jump-jive/ which might require a minor modification depending on injury severity, but I recorded it when I had a sprained wrist :)

Hey Dell – Sorry to hear about that! Sounds very frustrating. I’m glad you’ve seen a physiotherapist – that was going to be my first suggestion! I would follow their advice over your doctor’s as they’re more trained in this area. Have you tried biofeedback training? Little sensors give you a read-out and you can see how contracted/relaxed the muscles are. A short bit of online research tells me this is often useful for PFD therapy. See if your physio can do this or refer you to someone who can?

Thanks, Maria! There are some other hip flexor stretches you can do without putting weight on your knee, too. You could do the same stretch in a lunge position with your back knee raised; or lie on your back and bring one knee up to your chest to stretch the other hip. If this doesn’t give you a stretch, lie on the edge of a bed (Actually, a kitchen island counter is ideal because it’s higher, but not always available!) with your butt almost hanging off the edge. Bring one knee to your chest and let the other leg dangle. Try those out – it’s important to stretch the flexors!