Do Hypopressive Exercises Help Diastasis Recti? A 2026 Trial

Had a baby and been told you have diastasis recti? That's a gap between the two sides of your belly muscles. So you may have wondered if hypopressive exercises can close it. A 2026 trial checked. The gap didn't close.¹ But the mothers who did the exercises still got better in other ways.

What are hypopressive exercises?

"Hypopressive" means "low pressure". It's a breathing exercise. You breathe in through the sides of your ribs. You breathe out slowly. Then you hold your breath with your lungs empty, and open your ribs wide.²

The thinking was that this lowers the pressure inside your belly. But that's not settled. In a 2026 lab study, 36 women did it, and the pressure in their bellies didn't drop. Their pelvic floor muscles did switch on, though.³

There isn't much proof that it works, either. A 2025 review looked at 13 trials and saw some signs of benefit. But 12 of those 13 were set up in a way that could skew the results.⁴

One safety thing. In a small study of 10 women, blood pressure went up while they held their breath. It has been advised against for people with heart conditions,² so check with your doctor first if that's you.

What did the trial do?

Researchers at the Federal University of Uberlândia in Brazil ran it, with 44 mothers. They were between about 6 weeks and 6 months after giving birth. All of them had a gap of 2 centimetres or more.

One group did the hypopressive exercises for 12 weeks. Twice a week, 30 minutes each time, with a professional watching. The other group did nothing.

What changed, and what didn't?

The gap? Same in both groups, according to the ultrasound.

But the mothers who did the exercises could hold a plank more than half a minute longer, and side planks too. They felt better about their bodies. And pelvic floor problems bothered them less.

Do other studies agree?

Only partly. Another 2026 review put together 15 studies, with about 800 mothers. When it combined the three trials that were alike enough, exercise made no real difference to the gap.⁵ Its authors said exercise might still help how mothers feel and move. They also said some people may need other options, even surgery.

Then there's a different 2026 review, which we covered in our earlier post on diastasis recti. That one found the gap got a little smaller, by about 8 millimetres. So the experts don't agree on whether exercise shrinks the gap at all.

What can you take from this?

We're coaches, not doctors or physiotherapists. If you have pain, leaking, or a bulge or ridge along your belly that worries you, please see a clinician.

Here's a kinder question than "has my gap closed?" Are you moving and feeling better? In this trial, the mothers held a plank longer, felt better about their bodies and had fewer symptoms, even though the gap on the scan stayed the same. A gap that doesn't change doesn't mean nothing is improving.

This was a small trial of one program, and the proof for it is still thin. We're not saying it's the answer for everyone. We start with the breath, because how you breathe shapes how your whole body works together. If you want a plan built around how you move and feel, not around a measurement, that's where our postpartum support coaching begins.