So the bad news is I don’t have any pics this round, just stats. The good news is the stats are pretty darn great! However I am posting my own “after” for the first time. Scroll down to see!
CLIENT A: I have a pregnant client in her 30s right now that at 28 weeks first pregnancy measured 5 fingerwidths in the middle, 4 1/2 on the top, and 3 on the bottom. You can imagine what that would have been POSTPARTUM as her bellly continued to expand, especially if that was combined with jacknifing in and out of bed, and incorrect abs. Lucky for her, she started rehabbing her diastasis mid pregnancy.
TWO AND A HALF WEEKS LATER: At 30 1/2 weeks (her belly growing), she measured 3 in the middle, 2 3/4 at the top and 2 fingerwidths at the bottom. For an expanding belly, these are EXCELLENT results! They would be fantastic WITHOUT the belly expanding in the equation! What did she do? Seated Tuplers while relaxing the pelvic floor, elevators, pelvic tilts primarily.
CLIENT B: I have a client with 3 young kids, she is in her late 20s/early 30s. She has a excellent fitness background – runs 15 miles a day no problem, does yoga, and is a very healthy eater. However, she noticed her midsection still did not look right. She was right – she was 7 1/4 fingerwidths in the middle of her diastasis, 7 at the top, and 4 at the bottom. A surgeon would have looked at this case and recommended surgery right away.
FOUR WEEKS LATER: This client returned with fantastic results. Her diastasis decreased to 2 3/4 Shallow (meaning the the bottom was together but opened slightly at the top. ) She measured just a 3 at the top and a 2 at the bottom. This is FANTASTIC progress. Usually when I have someone wider than a 6, they have trouble getting the mind-body connection of the muscle at first. So these results averaged faster than 1 fingerwidth per week per two of the areas. Unfortunately I didn’t suggest she do before and after pics. I really wish I would have!! Her waist went from a 28 to a 27 inches. So there is still left to close, but it is nearly “clinically closed” – meaning 2 fingerwidths or smaller all the way down. But it is easy just to close it the rest of the way. I am guessing her waist will go down another inch to 2 inches when she is finished in a few weeks.
WHAT DID SHE DO? She wore a splint
CLIENT C: I have another client who is in her late 20s. She is a mom of 2 very young kids. She herself is actually VERY slender, very skinny person. She got everything super trim, except for her darn midsection. After reading about diastasis, she thought this is what she might have. She had been so diligent with crunches and typical gym rat obliques. The results for the diligent crunches? She was a 7 on the bottom, 7 in the middle, and a 5 at the top. So that DEFINITELY was what was causing her funky midsection. Any surgeon would have wanted to whisk her away to surgically and artifically fix this problem.
2 WEEKS LATER: She measured a 4 in the middle, a 5 on the bottom, and a 3 1/2 on the top. So she went in about 1 fingerwidth per section of her diastasis per week. FANTASTIC start!! She wore her splint and did the seated tupler “consistently the first week” and “not as consistently the 2nd week.” So imagine how much further she might have progressed had she been diligent the 2nd week. But still great results to begin.
WHAT DID SHE DO? Wore the splint
CLIENT D: This client will be posting pics later and is very excited. She is a mom in her early 30s and has 2 very young kids -both under 3. She spent hours and hours researching what was going on on the internet with her belly. She knew she had a little hernia, and felt that she possibly had a diastasis after all her research. Her last C section was 18 months ago. She measured a 5 in the middle, 4 on the bottom, and 3 on the top.
TWO WEEKS LATER: This client brought in her measurements fantastically. She brought the middle in by 2 fingerwidths to measure now at a 3. Her top measures 2 shallow, and her bottom measures 1 1/2 shallow. Her pants are fitting looser and she can tell a huge difference. Still room to go, but its fun to look to see what is possible by doing these exercises.
WHAT DID SHE DO? She did her 5+ sets of 100 seated tuplers per day, pelvic tilts and wore her Splint night and day “except when she went swimming.”
So to come? PICTURES – SOON! I am exciting to encourage more of my clients to take pictures because they can be so powerful!
Here is my OWN “after” taken just the other night. Just know I was a 32 inch waist after my 3rd baby, and I did 10 sets a day of seated tuplers until I became a 25 inch waist again. I also closed a 3 fingerwidths diastasis in all three places.
I’ve been interested reading your blog, which I first found out about while reading the Fit Me Pink blog. I just gave birth to my 3rd child 5 days ago. My diastasis is about 1 1/2 fingerwidths at the belly button, but seems closed above and below it. (I think I have a long torso.) I’ve been trying to do seated tuplers every day, not quite sure if I’m making it to 500, but I’ve done at least 300 each day. Should I just keep doing these and should I (and if so, when) move on to different exercises? Thanks for your input and information.
Hi Jill,
Great question. DEFINITELY keep doing the seated tuplers. You will want to do them until they are closed, and then do them the rest of your life for maintenence – otherwise they can atrophy and split.
Having said that, you will be encorporating them into all sorts of other exercises. When you lift wifts for example, start at the 5th floor. When you lift the weight UP (the work part of the exercise) you will go back to the 6th floor. Then when you bring them back down, you will go back to the 5th floor. You can do contractions (seated tuplers) during yoga positions, arm exercises, stay at an elevator at 5th floor during leg exercises and during the work part of everything you do.
AND CONGRATS ON YOU 3rd!!!
Wow! Great results! You’re doing awesome with your blog. I wish I could devote more time to mine…as now I”m helping my husband start a business….Hopefully soon, I can get with it! I’ll be recommending my friends to your blog!
Hi
I just found your blog after already purchasing the tupler video and splint a month ago. You mentioned that you were doing the tuplers incorrectly after your first pregnancy and it took you five months to close the diastisis. I’ve been doing the tuplers religiously, even purchased two splints so I could always wear one (while washing the other), but I have not experienced any improvement of the diastisis (seems to be about a four in the middle but not sure if I’m measuring incorrectly). I must be doing the tuplers incorrectly. My waist is a 31 right now. What exactly were you doing wrong that you fixed?
Thats a good question –
I should actually do a separate blog post about that! Since the transverse has two different insertions (one upper and one lower) you can actually be working one insertion and bringing the other forcefully forward – thereby CLOSING one part of the diastasis – say the upper for example – and OPENING or OPENING FURTHER the other end of the diastasis – the LOWER part if you still go with the example.
That is what I did. I did the seated tuplers in the bathtub one day to really see what was going on. In my case, I was working my lower insertion (at and below belly button) fantastically. The upper insertion of the transverse I was not moving at all or engaging. NO WONDER! As I lay in the bathtub and watched that muscle move (probably for the first time REALLY) then I finally go the mind/body connection to the upper insertion and worked that. In ONE WEEK I closed that seemingly stubborn (but not really) part of my diastasis and brought my waist in from a respectable 27 to a 25 1/2. In ONE week!
I encourage my clients to watch in the bathtub – I think it helps tremendously to get a mind body connection, see what you are doing, and make sure EVERYTHING is working the same.
Hi Bonnie!
Just wanted to thank you for such an inspiring blog and let you know that I’m passing along a blog award to you: The Cherry On Top award.
You’re welcome to drop by my blog Healthnutforlife[dot]org and pick it up to put on your blog if you like.
Keep up the great work and I look forward to more from you!
Had second set of twins five months. Have a separation this time around. Feeling discouraged that I will never like my midsection again. Also feeling confused about what I should & should not be doing. Done crunches & planks & oblique twists before finding out those moves could be making my condition worse. Bought a few dvds but haven’t seen much improvement. Wore a belly bandit for the first twelve weeks & it did help my waist go down. What is the splint & is it the same thing as a belly bandit? What are tuplers & how did I find out how to do them? HELP!
This is good stuff! I like seeing awarness about diastasis, and that there is NO need to run out to a plastic surgeon, and feel completely in despair, as I did, while pregnant with my 8mo old twins. (My 4th and 5th children).
You can close the gap, all on your own, as long as you take the proper course of action, and be more aware of your daily movements, that may be further extending, and widening the diastasis. Things you never even thought about. (Getting out of bed quickly, coughing, etc.)
There is no reason to rush to the most negative side of things. there is much to hope for, and I’m a total fan of your work. Bravo:) Great looking tummy to. You go girl! xoxo.
Keep spreading the word!
Shelly
http://www.twinpossible.com
I am almost 4 months postpardum and still have a bulge in my mid section. I do not understand your explanation of the seated tupler being a “horizontal elevator.” Do you have a video clip of the exercise? Or do I need to actually purchase your DVD to really understand what you are talking about?
Horizontal Elevator – just means that you are bringing your belly back to your spine. If you at 5th floor, your belly will be back totally against your spine. In a way its like “sucking in” but you wil be breathing shallowly through your nose and are not holding your breath. But the muscles will go backward. They can go backwards a little (1st floor, 2nd floor) more (3rd floor, 4th floor) or ALL the way (5th floor, 6th floor) – and that is why its a horizontal elevator. Hopefully that helps 🙂
Hello. I gave birth to my son 5 months ago and around month 2-3, I felt like something wasn’t right with my tummy. I still had a “3 months pregnant look” and I’m a small woman (5’4, typically 118lbs) so it was obvious. I did online research, found the diastasis self-check method and found that I had about a 5 finger widths diastasis! I was floored that none of the medical providers even mentioned this condition at my 6 weeks check up or at all during my pregnancy. I also read alone that there was very little that could be done about this condition other than plastic surgery. I came across your blog two weeks ago. Ordered the Tupler Technique kit (referenced on your page) and wow! Two weeks ago, prior to starting it, I was at a 4 finger widths diastasis, this week I’m at a half a finger width! and I really haven’t been doing the excercises as routinely as suggested. I just want to thank you for blogging about this and will definitely share with all of my post-partum friends!
Hi! I had my second c-section 11 months ago. I slowly eased into exercising 5 months PP and didn’t get into a regular full-on (sorta, haha) ab exercise routine until about 3 months ago, fearing I’d do more damage. So, I’ve been taking it easy.
My gap has closed quite a bit and with diet and exercise my waist has gone from 34in to 28in. I’m also down to my pre-baby weight, but I feel and look very wide all around my torso. I’d like to go down to my usual 25inch waist, and I just can’t seem to get there. I stumbled on your blog and am interested and eager to try this out. Is it too late to go at it with this technique? It’s been nearly one year. :/
Hi Rocio!
Yes – this is the best thing to get that waistline back down. I always tell my clients – you do the Tupler Technique HARD CORE until your diastasis is closed and until your waist size is the size you want it to be. For me it is also 25 in after each of my 4 babies. That last inch usually takes a bit longer in my experience – but it gets it there! I have several clients right now who have broken in the the 23 and 24 inch waist range – even though its been 1 to 3 years!
I have a horrible ridge that pops up when I do any kind of ab excersie also I bloat terribly so that by the end of the day I look 4mo. pregnant. I have had 3 c sections my last being 9 yrs. ago so I am wondering if I have this diastasis recti condition and is it too late or is a abdomoplasty my only hope? I have been to a trainer and they offer no help…… I AM DESPERATE TO HAVE A PRETTY TUMMY AGAIN!
Hi Bonnie! I am fit, but can’t seem to flatten my belly. I started researching diastasis and learned I have a 1/2,2,1 gap. For this type of separation is a splint necessary or do I just do the seated tuplers and hold my transverse in during my daily activities?
Hi JSS – that DEFNITELY is a diastasis recti. That ridge is the big indicator!! I would definitely start the program!
Melissa – you probably could get away without a splint, unless you have a poor mind/body connection with your belly. In that case you WOULD want to splint. You would still follow the program – outlined in the Guidbook, DVD (both can be purchased on this site – right hand side). Those would INCLUDE the two things you mentioned. You can also check the book “Lose Your Mummy Tummy” by Julie Tupler at the library or buy on Amazon.com . Best of luck!
Both feel free to contact me if you are interested in setting up Skype sessions to go over programs and technique!
bonniewayne1177@hotmail.com
Hi, your above results are really inspiring. I’m currently 29 weeks pregnant with a 3 finger diastis recti and have been full of anxiety that I will forever have a ‘pooch’ and not be able to get a flat tummy again after the baby because of this condition. I saw you got some good results during pregnancy with seated tuplers and pelvis tilts, how
Many reps should you do a day for results?