{"id":736,"date":"2021-05-17T23:28:16","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T23:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.mutusystem.com\/en-us\/?p=736"},"modified":"2026-08-09T16:56:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:56:39","slug":"crunches-curl-ups-diastasis-recti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mutusystem.com\/en-us\/diastasis-recti\/crunches-curl-ups-diastasis-recti\/","title":{"rendered":"Crunches, Curl-Ups And Diastasis Recti"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can you do crunches with diastasis recti? The short answer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. Current research shows that crunches and curl-ups are safe with diastasis recti and do not make the gap worse. In fact, trials show curl-ups build abdominal strength without widening the separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What matters is readiness. Rebuild your core foundations first, then reintroduce these movements gradually, watching how your body responds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why crunches got their bad reputation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Standard crunches and sit-ups have historically not been recommended for postpartum women, especially with a diastasis recti present. The thinking was about pressure: the way a crunch is usually performed can increase pressure inside your abdomen faster than a recovering core can manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If your deep core and pelvic floor aren&#8217;t yet working well as a system, you&#8217;ll see it. Look straight down as you curl up and you may notice a cone shape, a bread-loaf shape, or a pregnant-looking belly. That&#8217;s not the effect you&#8217;re working out to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But here&#8217;s the thing that got lost. It&#8217;s not that the movement is dangerous. It&#8217;s a sign the load is ahead of your readiness. Those are very different messages, and women have been given the wrong one for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the latest research says (updated August 2026)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The advice on this has changed, and MUTU has updated with it. For years, women with diastasis recti were told to avoid crunches entirely. Newer evidence does not support that restriction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/37286390\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">randomised controlled trial led by Sandra Gluppe at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences<\/a> found that curl-up exercises improved abdominal muscle strength in postpartum women with diastasis recti without worsening the gap. Studies measuring the immediate effect of single exercises show that curl-up type movements actually narrow the gap between the muscles, while some deep-core-only contractions temporarily widen it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July 2026, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/JWH.0000000000000383\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a scoping review by Nina-Margrethe Theodorsen, Gr\u00e1inne Donnelly and Professor Kari B\u00f8, published in the Journal of Women&#8217;s &amp; Pelvic Health Physical Therapy<\/a>, brought this evidence together and called for guidelines to move away from restriction and avoidance toward confident, progressive exercise. The review also found that abdominal widening in pregnancy is a normal adaptation, that abdominal and pelvic floor exercise is safe, and that improving strength, function and confidence matters more than the millimetres of the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the approach MUTU has always taken: no forbidden movements, just movements you build up to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why curling up is worth doing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supine spinal flexion &#8211; the forward curl-up motion from lying on your back &#8211; engages and shortens the rectus abdominis. That&#8217;s the vertical &#8216;six-pack&#8217; muscle, the exact one that has separated from its midline connective tissue and been stretched and weakened along its length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So exercising to shorten it, performed correctly, is a good thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And bending forward is a perfectly useful human movement. You need it to get out of bed, to lift your child, to sit up from the floor. Maybe not repetitively or excessively, but you may well want to curl all the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Foundations first<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before you train your abs this way, the deeper muscles need to be recruiting properly \u2014 actually kicking in and working. The transverse abdominis, the obliques and your pelvic floor all work together as a system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This phase of mind-to-muscle reconnection, learning to engage the right muscles first in isolation and then as a unit, has to come first. That&#8217;s what MUTU System is designed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are also common crunching habits that work against you. Sucking in, or holding your breath, causes your stomach to pooch out and your organs to bear down on your pelvic floor. Often the hip flexors and lower back take most of the strain, so the muscles you meant to target aren&#8217;t doing the work. You get the strain without the benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If in doubt, choose an easier version and build from there. You lose nothing by progressing gradually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can you find your core muscles?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Place your hands on your hip bones \u2014 the bony corners at the front of your pelvis \u2014 then move your fingers slightly inwards and downwards, where it&#8217;s soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exhale as you gently draw your abs inwards, engaging your pelvic floor at the same time. Imagine drawing a tampon further up inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When your transverse abdominis and pelvic floor engage, you&#8217;ll feel a broad flat muscle tensing under your fingertips. It should tense downwards, towards your body \u2014 not bulge, push or strain outwards. If your stomach pooches away from your hand, if you&#8217;re holding your breath, or the movement feels forceful, you&#8217;re working the outer muscles instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Signs to back up a stage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Watch for these when you engage your core, and especially during any abdominal exercise. If you feel or see any of them, the load is ahead of your readiness. Back up a stage. You&#8217;ll get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leaking urine or feces when you sneeze, laugh or cough, or as you rush to the toilet<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bulging or doming anywhere on your abdomen during any exercise<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bulging in or from your vagina or rectum, or any feeling of heaviness or bearing down<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pain in your back, pelvis, abdomen, hips or leg<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to do it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keep the range of movement very small at first. Don&#8217;t lift your head and shoulders high off the ground \u2014 there&#8217;s no muscular benefit to curling right up anyway. Keep the levers short: knees bent, feet flat on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inhale fully with your head and shoulders completely relaxed on the floor. Exhale slowly, gently engaging your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles as you lift your head and shoulders just off the floor. Relax completely back down on the inhale. Watch for doming or straining, and stay aware of how your pelvic floor feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then increase the demand one small shift at a time. Straighten your legs a little, keeping knees bent and feet flat. Take your arms overhead to lengthen the lever. Hold a small Pilates ball between flat palms and squeeze gently as you lift and exhale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just one change at a time. Each has a big effect on your ability to maintain tension through the midline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This isn&#8217;t new thinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Back in 2015, when I was consulting on adapting workouts for pregnancy and postpartum, this was a fringe position. We put it out there anyway &#8211; and ran it past the renowned physiotherapist <a href=\"https:\/\/learnwithdianelee.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Diane Lee<\/a>, who was unequivocal. Abdominal curls matter, she told us, and full sit-ups are a different question entirely. As she put it: <em>&#8220;It&#8217;s a wrong message to say never do a curl-up! That isn&#8217;t life.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her emphasis was on teaching the curl-up properly and maintaining tension through the midline \u2014 because bulging or doming is the clue that the deep system is off and the pelvic floor is having to work far harder to resist the pressure. Focus on the strategy, not the reps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eleven years later, the published research says the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Crunches are not a bad or taboo exercise!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No movement is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MUTU&#8217;s programs build the foundations first, which is why you won&#8217;t find crunches in the early phases. The point was never that crunches are dangerous. It&#8217;s that they work best once your core can manage the load, and MUTU is designed to get you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortening and strengthening the rectus along its length, through gradually increasing ranges of motion, is both functional and beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More on <a href=\"https:\/\/mutusystem.com\/en-us\/diastasis-recti\/exercising-with-diastasis-recti\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">which exercises are safe with diastasis recti.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foundations first. So you can do every movement you please. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can you do crunches with diastasis recti? The short answer Yes. Current research shows that crunches and curl-ups are safe with diastasis recti and do not make the gap worse. In fact, trials show curl-ups build abdominal strength without widening the separation. What matters is readiness. Rebuild your core foundations first, then reintroduce these movements [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"blog-single.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diastasis-recti","category-postpartum-exercise"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Crunches, Curl-Ups And Diastasis Recti - MUTU System<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yes, crunches are safe with diastasis recti once your core is ready. 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