Start Point

Neutral Spine
Find yourself a towel, mat or blanket to rest on so you feel comfortable. Lie on your back, with your feet
flat on the floor and knees bent, your arms resting down by your sides.
Gently roll your pelvis and hips forwards so that your back arches off the floor. Now roll your hips and
pelvis the other way that is backwards so that the lower back presses in to the floor. You should now
find a mid way position between these two points so the lower back lightly touches the floor or is just
off it. This is classed as your neutral spine position.

NOTE you should be able put your hand under your lower back if you push it in, but you
shouldn’t be able to put your whole arm under.

From here do the breathing exercises in the videos in the stage one of the beginners program.

Breathing

The breathing exercise is for the strengthening of the deep core. To begin with do this lying
down as it is the easiest to feel the engaging of the TVAs, but as you get better at it you can do
it sitting up or standing up (in the stage 3 videos).

When inhaling you actually want to relax, so inhale without activating any muscles. Breathe
deeply. You should feel your pelvic floor relax, back and sides expand, and a little air come into
the belly as the diaphragm drops.

As you exhale, pull up the pelvic floor, and draw the belly button up and slightly inwards,
connect the sitz bones (the bones we sit on in our buttocks), then hip bones, your rib cage
should naturally come in and down (don’t grip them down) and TVAs engage.

Another technique is like a “hissing snake”:

Make a “Ssssssss” sound while doing a long exhale. As your breath runs out you will feel your
pelvic floor rise and your core tightening

You should be able to do this before doing the exercises and once you can activate them then
move onto the exercises 

No movement of your hips, pelvis or spine should occur as you gently engage the TVAs.

If you palpate your belly just inside the left and right hip bones, this contraction should feel like
a light, deep tension under your fingertips, not a contraction that pushes your fingers out.

The Diastasis Recti Exercises

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Website: www.katrinaoakley.com
Hold the contraction for 3- 5 seconds and then release and breathe throughout this exercise.

Follow the instructions for the different types of TVA engagement exercises in the Stage One
videos.

Exercises
 Heel slide
o From your neutral spine position above with your transverse abdominal muscles
activated slide one leg down to straight and bring it back to bent, repeat with the other
leg
NOTE: if you see any doming or bulging then your TVAs are not yet strong enough to
start these exercises
 Pelvic tilt
o Find your neutral spine.
Engage your TVAs
On the exhale, scooping and pulling the belly button down towards the spine. Try to
relax the buttocks, they shouldn’t play a part in this exercise and don’t force your lower
back in to the floor. Breathe throughout the exercise but without allowing your
abdomen to rise and fall…instead use shallow breaths.
 Knee lifts
o Lie on your back with a neutral spine knees bent. Place your hands on your tummy or at
your sides, wherever it’s comfortable.
Engage your TVAs
Lift one knee up (keeping it bent) then lower. If your TVAs are engaged correctly this
movement should be easy and your leg should be light – try with your TVAs not engaged
it should feel a lot harder!
Repeat with the other leg
NOTE: if you feel like your upper abs are working too much and you notice you abs
bulge outwards, go back to the heel slides and working on your TVA breathing.
 Glute bridge
o Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Your feet, knees and
hips should be in line with each other.
Engage your TVAs
On the exhale slowly raise your hips and bottom off the floor so you have a straight line
from the shoulders to the knees, keeping the hands by your sides on the floor. Now hold
this position keeping your TVAs engaged whilst inhaling.
Lower on the next exhale
o You may want to put a Yoga block between your legs
 Wall sit
o Start by standing about 2 feet away from a wall with your back against the wall. Slide
your back down the wall until your hips and knees bend at a 90 degrees angle. Keep the
shoulders, upper back and the back of the head against the wall. Both feet should be
flat on the ground with the weight evenly distributed.

The Diastasis Recti Exercises

email: support@katrinaoakley.com
Website: www.katrinaoakley.com
 o Make sure you have a neutral spine and have your transverse abdominal muscles
activated
 Side Plank on a chair
o Start with the chair beside you, with the leg furthest from the chair up.
o Put your elbow on the chair and push up on the front leg sliding the other leg to the side
into a side plank position

o Make sure you have a neutral spine and have your transverse abdominal muscles
activated
o Concentrate on inhaling into your back and exhaling pulling up a little more from the
pelvic floor
 Wall Plank
o Stand away from the wall, engage your TVAs
o Lean forward and place your hands on the wall
o Keep neutral spine and transverse abdominal muscles activated
o Check your gap and make sure it has remained firm
o Concentrate on inhaling into your back and exhaling pulling up a little more from the
pelvic floor
o Don’t let your engagement go until you are standing back upright again.

The Diastasis Recti Exercises

email: support@katrinaoakley.com
Website: www.katrinaoakley.com
Moves to avoid when healing DR are:

 crunches
 frontal planks
 sit ups
 oblique twists
 Russian twists
 push ups

Find more information on Diastasis Recti here:

http://www.katrinaoakley.com/resources

Katrina Oakley

support@katrinaoakley.com

The Diastasis Recti Exercises

email: support@katrinaoakley.com
Website: www.katrinaoakley.com