Written by: Maternity Sports Academy. Commercial partnership.
In abdominal muscle separation, the straight abdominal muscles separate from each other and the white linea alba, which runs along the midline of the abdomen, stretches. Abdominal muscle separation is not a reason not to exercise - quite the opposite. But there are a few important things to consider before you hit the gym.
Abdominal muscle separation is common among women who have given birth, but abdominal muscle separation can happen to anyone, including men. In this blog post, we'll look at how to look out for abdominal muscle separation in the gym and what you can do about it.
What happens in abdominal muscle separation?
Abdominal muscle separation is a dysfunction of the entire midsection. The tendon in the midline of the abdomen stretches and at the same time the entire abdominal wall stretches. The tendon is a dense connective tissue and its function is to transfer forces between the lower and upper body. When the fascia becomes stretched, this transmission can be disrupted and many people experience a feeling of powerlessness in the midsection or difficulty in activating the abdominal muscles.
Abdominal muscle separation does not automatically mean pain, but sometimes you may feel difficulty in taking deep breaths, urinary incontinence, a feeling of pressure in the pelvic floor and symptoms of back fatigue.
If the recovery of abdominal muscle separation does not progress and symptoms occur, it is advisable to seek professional help.
Abdominal muscle separation therefore occurs when the abdominal wall stretches and is particularly common during and after pregnancy. A high level of visceral fat, or mid-body fat, also increases the risk of developing abdominal mass lesions. A fibrous abscess is normally about 1-2 cm wide, but during pregnancy it can double or even triple in width. During pregnancy, abdominal muscle separation is perfectly normal and all pregnant women will develop separation by the last trimester of pregnancy at the latest.
Also, mid-body fatigue stretches the tendon. Stretching brittles the structure of the tendon and therefore supporting the recovery of the tendon requires a variety of exercises to restore elasticity to the tendon.
Muscle training and abdominal muscle separation
Muscle training is an effective way to promote the recovery and rehabilitation of the abdominal wall, and to prevent abdominal muscle separation, for example during pregnancy. The abdominal muscles are made up of several layers, known as the superficial and deep abdominal muscles. All the abdominal muscle layers can and should be strengthened in a variety of ways, even if you have abdominal muscle separation.
An often-heard belief is that if there is more than one finger width between the edges of your abdominal muscles, you should not train your core. However, width alone does not tell you anything about the functionality of the gluteus maximus and the midsection, so there is no need to avoid muscle training. There are, however, a few important things to consider before you start exercising. Let's look at some of the things to keep in mind in the gym.
The technique and alignment of the movement is important for the recovery of abdominal muscle separation
The torso has often been described as a house structure. The house structure of the torso should be upright and all the pieces should overlap. If the house is more like a leaning tower, the muscles of the torso cannot work together as desired.
From the point of view of the recovery of abdominal muscle separation, it is important that all parts of the house structure work together seamlessly. Strengthening the abdominal muscle separation requires re-starting the body and re-learning the function and activation sequence of the muscles of the torso.
In a house structure, the diaphragm can be thought of as the roof of the house at the top of the abdominal cavity, the pelvic floor as the floor of the house and the walls as the abdominal and back muscles. This quartet, strongly linked to the upper and lower limbs, forms what is known as the deep support of the midsection. All of these parts need to work together seamlessly to create strong support for the spine and intervertebral discs, and controlled posture for the midsection.
So it's really important to take care of technique and alignment, especially when training with free weights in the gym. For example, squats and deadlifts are great basic movements and work well as a way to control and strengthen your core, as long as you get your technique right.
Breathing is one of the most important elements to support the recovery of abdominal muscle separation in the gym
The diaphragm is the main respiratory muscle, and many people who exercise are familiar with the use of breathing during exercise. The deep support of the diaphragm, pelvic floor and deep muscles of the midsection is needed to regulate the internal pressure in the abdominal cavity during movement.
You may have noticed at some point in a movement that your stomach bulges outwards when you do a movement. This is quite common, for example, in abdominal crunches or heavy basic movements such as a deadlift. Abdominal compression is important and is needed to support the spine, for example. The abdominal cavity pressure rises every day, for example when you get up from a chair or when you cough. The heavier the movement, the more the abdominal pressure rises.
In abdominal muscle separation, the abdominal wall is fragile and resilient. Also, the mid-body's support structure does not work seamlessly together and therefore a strong increase in abdominal pressure repeatedly is not a good thing.
Abdominal pressure should be evenly distributed within the abdominal cavity, but when the abdominal wall is fragile, the pressure pushes towards the midline of the abdomen and the abdomen bulges. Repeatedly and continuously, this load puts unnecessary strain on the abdominal wall and does not support the recovery of abdominal muscle separation.
Breathing is one of the key elements in the regulation of pressure in the abdominal cavity. To prevent the abdominal pressure from pushing towards the abdominal midline, it is not advisable to hold your breath during the effort, but to combine exhalation with the winning or heavy phase of the movement.
Getting the deep core muscles right first is everything
The activation sequence of the muscles of the torso may be disturbed in the abdominal muscle separation. The abdominal muscle layers can be thought of as players in an orchestra, each playing a different note, but not in unison. The orchestra requires the re-harnessing of the diaphragm (breathing) to get all the players in the orchestra playing together again, and the strengthening of the midsection proceeds.
Deep muscles are largely made up of slow muscle cells and this means that they should be activated with long, leisurely repetitions. So the key is to start by strengthening your core muscles with calm, controlled movements. At the same time, you get to practice breathing and combining breathing with movement, in order to balance the pressure in the abdominal cavity.
Supporting the recovery of abdominal muscle separation requires varied and ascending training. The aim is that when deep support of the core is found, when breathing is naturally integrated into the movement, and when the technique and alignment of the movement are correct, a varied workout in the gym with squats and lunges is performed.
To strengthen your deep support and core, you should use the advice of a maternity exercise professional to ensure a safe and effective workout.
Do you want support to aid the recovery of abdominal muscle separation? Check out the new Core Recovery programme at the Academy of Maternal Exercise, where you can train with a pelvic floor physiotherapist.
