Deep-core and pelvic-floor training, progressed slowly under a physical therapist’s guidance, can narrow the separation and restore abdominal control.
Most routines for how to fix diastasis recti with exercise open with a crunch, a move Cleveland Clinic advises against until the abdominal wall is under control. Diastasis recti is a separation and thinning of the connective tissue between the abdominal muscles, and it responds best to progressive rehabilitation built around your own symptoms.
A physical therapist who works with diastasis recti can measure the gap, check pelvic-floor function, and set the pace. Cleveland Clinic recommends exactly that kind of evaluation before you push into harder work.
How Do You Start When The Gap Is Still Wide?
Start on your back, learning to draw the lower abdomen in on an exhale without moving your back or holding your breath. Every later exercise rests on that one skill.
- Lie on your back, knees bent, feet supported. Breathe in and let the abdomen rise.
- Breathe out and gently pull the lower belly toward the spine. Keep the back still and keep breathing. Hold about 5–10 seconds, then relax.
- Add a gentle pelvic-floor lift on the same slow exhale. Repeat up to 10 times.
- Move to sitting, standing, and hands-and-knees only when the contraction holds without doming or coning.
- Add small limb work: pelvic tilts, alternating knee lifts, bridges, slow opposite-arm and opposite-leg reaches. Ten reps is a common starting dose, and yours may be different.
- Carry the same coordination into daily life, from rolling over and getting out of bed to lifting, walking, and carrying your baby.
Success looks like a flat belly through the exhale, with no ridge rising along the midline. If a ridge appears, the contraction is too strong, so ease off instead of pushing through.
| Stage | What You Do | Sign You Are Ready To Progress |
|---|---|---|
| Lying down | Exhale, draw the lower belly in, hold 5–10 seconds | The draw holds while you breathe normally |
| Sitting | Same light contraction, feet flat, spine tall | No doming once you stop leaning back |
| Standing | Same contraction against gravity | The midline stays flat while you stand and talk |
| Hands-and-knees | Contraction, then slow opposite arm and leg reaches | No sagging or coning at the midline |
| Daily tasks | Apply the same bracing to roll, rise, and lift | No breath-holding during routine moves |
Fixing Diastasis Recti With Exercise: What Decides Your Progress
Control decides progress, not reps. Advancing to planks or loaded work before the transversus abdominis can hold against gravity is the most common reason people stall.
Cleveland Clinic’s guidance on diastasis recti lists conventional crunches and sit-ups, unmodified planks and push-ups, double-leg lifts, scissors, boat pose, and downward dog among the moves to avoid, along with anything that makes the midline dome or cone. Ohio State takes a more individualized line, noting that planks and crunches may be fine when the abdominal wall stays controlled. Exercise choice follows your symptoms and technique, not a universal banned list.
A binder or kinesiology tape can serve as temporary support, an adjunct rather than a substitute for training. If you want something to wear while you rebuild control, these tested shapewear options for diastasis recti are one place to look.
Technique errors tend to look the same across the board:
- Holding your breath or straining, which signals the contraction is too forceful.
- Yanking the belly in hard instead of using a light, steady draw.
- Training through doming, coning, pain, pelvic heaviness, leaking urine, or worsening back pain.
- Carrying your baby on one hip all day, which loads the trunk unevenly.
- Holding your breath to stand up or get out of bed.
When Exercise Isn’t Enough On Its Own
Get assessed by a clinician or pelvic-health physical therapist before progressing if you are recently postpartum, had a cesarean birth, have pain, pelvic-floor symptoms, a suspected hernia, or limited function.
A visible gap alone does not measure success. Abdominal-wall control, strength, function, and pelvic-floor status count just as much, and no single exercise frequency or program has been proven better than the rest. Roll onto your side and push up with your arms instead of doing a forceful sit-up, and treat lifting anything heavier than your baby as off-limits early on, with the real limit set by your delivery, your healing, and your doctor.
Surgery stays reserved for selected cases, such as lasting functional problems or a hernia, rather than being a first step.
The order that works: breath-led deep-core activation lying down, holds of roughly 5–10 seconds, pelvic-floor work on the same exhale, then sitting, standing, and hands-and-knees once control holds. Add limb movement last, keep breathing, and stop at any dome, cone, or leak.
Common Questions
How Long Does It Take To See A Change?
There is no fixed timeline. Progress depends on your symptoms, your healing, your pelvic-floor function, and how consistently you train, so estimates vary widely from person to person. Judge improvement by how well you can hold the contraction during daily tasks rather than by the gap measurement alone, and ask a physical therapist to reassess if nothing changes.
Can The Separation Close Completely?
Exercise does not guarantee full closure, and closure is not the only measure that matters. Many people gain better abdominal control, easier movement, and fewer symptoms even when a small gap remains. Surgery is generally reserved for selected cases, such as persistent functional problems or an associated hernia, so it is not the expected first step.
Is It Safe To Exercise In The Postpartum Period?
Returning to exercise after birth should be gradual and guided by symptoms, with attention to tissue healing and pelvic-floor function. Gentle deep-core work and walking are a reasonable start. Get a clinician’s assessment before adding load if you had a cesarean birth, feel pain, leak urine, or notice pelvic heaviness.
Sources
- Cleveland Clinic. “Diastasis Recti (Abdominal Separation)” Source for starting exercises, movements to avoid, bed-mobility advice, and therapist evaluation.
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). “Physical Activity and Exercise During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period” Source for postpartum strengthening findings and symptom-guided return to exercise.
- Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “How to Fix Diastasis Recti” Source for the individualized view of planks and crunches and the role of support garments.