Diastasis Recti
The Whole Body Solution to Abdominal Weakness and Separation
A smarter, gentler approach to healing diastasis recti, rebuilding core strength, and supporting your pelvic floor–now in a 10th anniversary edition!
Abdominal separation, core weakness, and even hernias are rarely just “ab problems.” The way you sit, stand, walk, carry groceries (or toddlers), tense your shoulders, scroll your phone, and even breathe affects the pressure and forces moving through your midsection every day.
In Diastasis Recti, Katy Bowman offers a practical, whole-body approach to abdominal healing that goes far beyond “bounce back” culture and punishing workouts. Warm, funny, and deeply informative, this guide helps you better understand your body, and move yourself well.
Whether you’re navigating postpartum recovery, pelvic floor dysfunction, hypermobility, hernias, or ongoing core weakness, Bowman shows how simple exercises plus adjustments to every day movements can add up to meaningful change over time.
Learn:
- To resolve “core confusion” and learn the difference between actually using your abs and just sucking everything in
- 30+ exercises organized into Little, Medium, and Big Moves—so you can build strength without needing a full life overhaul
- To use walls, floors, and everyday surroundings as built-in “movement coaches” to improve form and support your core
- How pressure and forces from both inside and outside the body affect abdominal separation, posture, and pelvic floor health
- Quick posture and movement tweaks that can reduce strain on your abdomen while sitting, standing, walking, lifting, and carrying
- Everyday strategies that fit into real life—even if you’re busy, tired, working, parenting, caregiving, or all of the above
- To become a body nerd (in the best way) and finally understand what your core is actually doing all day long
- How to strengthen your core without increasing pressure on the pelvic floor or relying on endless crunches
This is not a quick fix, a six-pack plan, or a “perfect body” program. It’s a realistic, empowering guide to moving better, feeling stronger, and supporting your body for the long haul—with plenty of science, practical tools, and humor along the way.
Praise
“Whether you have a DR from childbirth, posture, or came into the world with one, you will learn new ways of integrating strength into your body and transferring intelligent movement across this adaptable zone.” —Jill Miller, author of Body By Breath and The Roll Model
“The best book I've ever read about the core. Perfect for physical therapists who like to geek out on the mechanics of tissue function and forces.”—Libby Hinsley, DPT, author of Yoga for Bendy People
“Diastasis recti is a whole-body issue that requires a whole-body approach. It's refreshing to find a resource that acknowledges that need and provides concrete steps to achieve it.”—Breaking Muscle
“...helpful not only to pregnant moms experiencing diastasis recti, but also to anyone dealing with prolapse, hernias, or seeking a framework to identify how their body and habits compromise their optimal health.”—Anietie Ukpe-Wallace, DPT, author of Tending to Your Womb
“Using the same friendly approach that makes her anatomy and movement lessons so easy to follow, Bowman offers an outstanding and necessary guide to diastasis recti and many other abdomen-related issues.” —Foreword Reviews
About the Author
Katy Bowman, M.S. is a biomechanist, movement teacher and bestselling author of books that have changed the way many move and think about their need for movement. Her twelve books, including the groundbreaking Move Your DNA, have sold more than 350,000 copies in English and been translated into 17 languages worldwide.
Named one of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and an America Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement,” Bowman teaches movement globally and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences. Her work is regularly featured by national and international media including The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, CBC Radio, Seattle Times, Good Housekeeping, Outside, The Joe Rogan Experience, and The TODAY Show. She has also worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities to create greater access to her “movement as nutrition” message.
Founder of the movement education company Nutritious Movement and host of the Move Your DNA podcast, Bowman lives in Washington State, where she spends as much time as she can moving outside with her family.
Connect more with Katy Bowman on her website.
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