D I A S T A S I S • R E C T I

Coning, doming, and what it all means in a nutshell, because it seems like this unfortunate hot topic isn’t going anywhere with pregnant women!

I wish we were more focused on what is happening functionally versus cosmetically with pregnancy and postpartum athletes, but unfortunately DR is the most obvious, talked about, physical presentation that makes women run to the internet, their friends, and hopefully their PT’s for advice. In general, so much more emphasis needs to be put on whats happening inside the body, versus what it looks like. But that’s a centuries old battle that we fight with minimal success, every day. But we have to keep fighting it. Spread the word, ladies, it’s not all about your gap!

Read, absorb and retain this fact: DIASTASIS RECTI HAPPENS TO 99% OF WOMEN WHO CARRY A PREGNANCY TO FULL TERM. what’s that again? Yes, *all of you* who are pregnant will get it.

No, you can’t stop it.

No, it’s not “bad.”

Yes, that targeted Instagram or Facebook ad that says someone says they can “close the gap” for you is too good to be true.

The gap itself is cosmetic. What’s happening BENEATH the gap is what we need to focus on.

In these two photos, one in a bear crawl position and one in a full plank, you can see a clear difference in how my IAP (intra-abdominal pressure) is managed. In the bear crawl plank my belly is hanging, it’s soft. That’s gravity and a baby in there. In the Full plank, my abdomen is overloaded and trying desperately to compensate by creating a “book” shape with my abs, further separating my abdominal walls. We stay away from things in pregnancy and postpartum that create this “coning” appearance, not because it’ll “make your gap wider”, but because it’s forcing your body to do something unnatural that will come to bite you in the belly before and after delivery. It’s a cascade effect starting with a weak core, moving pressure to your back and hips, potentially radiating down to your knees because of altered gait, messing with your already-messed-with-posture, and generally throwing your whole body out of whack.

Sometimes we can manage IAP with breath control and moficiations, which is why it’s critical to learn this in fitness but especially for women. When we can’t, it’s time to take that red light from your body and cut the movement out. If you’ve ever been told to “stay away” from planks, crunches, traditional sit ups, boat pose…this is the reason why. If you are able to do these movements with no coning or pain throughout pregnancy, that’s great! They’re probably still not the best thing for you and there are plenty of other options for targeting those muscles without these, but some people will want to hang on to their planks a little longer. And that’s ok, provided you understand the load you’re putting on your abdomen that’s already loaded down with whaetver your fruit-of-the-week-baby is.

It’s about more than “the gap!” DR is a presentation, it’s not a symptom in itself. You can have a large gap, but if the *tension* on your midline is strong, and you can perform without pain, and avoid the coning with movement, you don’t NEED to close it. There are women with a 2cm gap who finish an Ironman 🙋🏼‍♀️. There are women with a 3-4cm gap that can still lift heavily, safely.

This is a narrative that HAS to shift. Your DR does not define your ability to perform. The combination of the width and the tension, as well as how you move under pressure, is what will define the path forward. Through careful navigation of strength training programs, proper loading, learned breath control, and for God’s sake a little patience (again, if it seems too good to be true or like a fast fix, it is!) you’ll get to where you want to go with your performance and fitness.

There are cases where women have surgery to correct this. I am not a medical professional, so I’ll stop with saying, exhaust your options, go to a coach who is trained to address this properly, see a women’s health specific PT, and go through your options before undergoing a major abdominal surgery. And that said, don’t judge the women who will resort to that…including yourself.

As with everything in training and pregnancy, everyone will heal, progress, and regress in different patterns. It’s up to all of us to educate ourselves on the process, not just the physical result!