When - Sunday, November 12th from 1230-2pm.

Where - Shape Method Pilates at Burnet Road location.

Cost - $25/participant

This workshop is for anyone interested in learning more about diastasis recti abdominis (DRA). Shape Method’s in-house pelvic floor physical therapist, Dr. Toussaint Roberts, will offer an abdominal screening followed by a movement-based info session. We will cover coning/doming, how to self-screen for DRA at home, and the primary core tests physical therapists use to help load and heal the abdominal wall.

DRA is a musculotendinous separation that most often affects pregnant and postpartum folks. Some people are born with a normal and natural separation up to 3 cm around the belly button, regardless of parity. DRA affects nearly 99% of pregnant people by the end of the third trimester (this is normal physiology). In the early postpartum period, DRA is very common, ~60% up to 6 months. At the 12 month mark, we tend to see DRA in about 30% of postpartum people.

Diastasis recti may contribute to fear around exercise, a feeling of a bulging abdomen, and a possible link to other orthopedic issues like low back, hip, and/or pelvic pain. Breathing dysfunction, abdominal wall weakness, and hernia are sometimes associated with DRA.

What will I learn? Physical therapy can help! Lots of things can contribute to belly bloating. You will learn how to tell the difference between hormonally driven water bloating, common GI issues contributing to abdominal bulge, and how to self-screen the muscle layers of the abdominal wall at home, including core exercise progression.