Recovering from Diastasis Recti: How Long Does it Take to Close Abdominal Separation with Postnatal Exercises?

Once you were told, or you've noticed that you have an abdominal separation, you might get scared at first, some might even panic, but as soon as you can, you start looking for solutions and start wondering how long is it going to take to close the abdominal separation?

There are a lots of questions arising that need to be answered. First of all I must say there is no one answer for everybody. Some people can close it within 6-8 weeks, for some it takes 6 months, some might never going to be able to close it. I know..., bummers!

So what makes this wide range of success? I identified the following factors:

Location of DR (Diastasis Recti/Abdominal Separation)

The DR might only affects the top part, the bottom part or the middle, it might affect a combination of these segments or goes through the whole length of the midline. Usually a faster result can be expected if only one part of the abdomen shows separation.

Size of DR

This might be obvious, the larger the separation, the more work needs to be done to get the two sides closer to each other.

Body consciousness

This is a big factor. Some people have done structured physical activities throughout most of their life. They tend to be able to isolate movements and muscles sooner and at a higher standard compared to someone who has not been so active and conscious about their body's functions and movements. The good news is that this can be learnt and implied with focused, regular practice.

Exercise frequency

This is something great, because you are in complete control over it. The more regularly and consistently you do your workout, the faster you can notice the benefits, the sooner you can see a reduction in your gap.

To summarise it, there are 4 main factors which influence the time needed to close your abdominal separation (apart from genetical characteristics), 2 of which are the starting points and the other 2 are down to you and your instructor. While I can't guarantee an exact timeframe or the scale of the reduction in abdominal separation, I can guarantee that once you put your mind on it and do the effort required, improvement is going to be on your way.

So take action, make up your mind, and make sure you do your exercises regularly!

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