Self diagnosed diastasis recti... What to do?

Mr_Boy

I'm a man in my late 30s. In the last 6-12 months I've noticed my abs start to have a pronounced 'dome' above my belly button; this seemed to worsen when I was going through a spell of doing crunches after no exercise.

Fairly extensive internet research suggests diastasis recti is the likely culprit here, but what do with that? I am currently making real efforts to work out more after a few years of sloth and don't want to stop but I don't know what exercises to do and to avoid.

I'm not sure if it's worth seeing a doctor for... If so would a general practitioner be best of a physiotherapist or what? Appointments are hard to get due to Covid anyway.

Suggestions welcome

142jmh

I suggest looking into Bodyfit by Amy on youtube: she has a masters in exercise science, and has an entire playlist on diastasis recti, including information and exercises. Diastasis recti is pretty common among women that have carried a child, so some of her videos are geared toward that demographic, but its great information regardless.

In her other videos, she specifies which moves are safe for diastasis recti, and gives alternatives for moves that aren't as safe, which might help you to keep working out but doing so safely.

Best of luck!