Washington Post: Stop Sucking in Your Stomach All the Time

Sucking in your stomach all the time could be bad for your health

Sucking in your stomach and keeping your abdominal muscles too tense as you go about your day may seem innocuous, but experts say it’s a pervasive habit that can have physical and mental consequences over time.

Heather Jeffcoat is a keen observer of people.

I notice people,” said Jeffcoat, who ascribes her perceptive eye to her nearly two-decade career as a physical therapist. “I notice how people walk. I notice how people stand. I’ll just be like, ‘Oh, that person’s gripping their gluteal muscles, or that person looks like they’re gripping their abs.’ ”

The latter observation — a behavior some experts call “stomach gripping,” or what’s more widely known as sucking in your stomach — is one that Jeffcoat said she often sees among the patrons at her usual Starbucks, which is next to a spin studio in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles.

They’ll be dressed in their spin clothes, basically a crop top or a sports bra and capris, and I’ve noticed it,” she said. Then, her physical therapist’s brain starts whirling: “I wonder if they have back pain. I wonder if they have pelvic floor dysfunction.”

A key initial step is recognizing that you are gripping your abdominal muscles when you don’t need to, Wiebe said. While you should engage those muscles if you’re lifting a barbell, you shouldn’t be tensing them at full strength when you’re standing in line at the grocery store. “Awareness is half the battle,” she said.

Jeffcoat agreed.

Many people, she said, go around life holding it in because they think they’re supposed to” for postural or aesthetic reasons. “The problem is you shouldn’t have to be consciously gripping it,” she said. “It shouldn’t be that you’re constantly going 80 to 100 [percent of your maximal tension]. It should be closer to 20 to 30 percent.”

Pay attention to any symptoms related to the pelvic floor, such as abnormal bladder and bowel function or painful sex, experts said. Other signs of gripping may be more visual. For example, Wiebe said, consistently sucking in your stomach could alter the appearance of your abdomen, including a protrusion of the lower abdomen and a flaring of the rib cage.

To begin retraining your muscles, experts recommend consciously trying to relax and let your stomach out. For people who are having a hard time relaxing in a seated or standing position, getting on all fours and “letting your belly relax down to the floor” may help, Hwang said. “Sometimes having the help from gravity can make a difference.”

Jeffcoat said other strategies include a combination of flexibility and breath work, such as “belly breathing,” as well as abdominal massage. When you’re practicing breathing, Wiebe suggests doing inhalations with an emphasis on easing the stomach and pairing that with meaningful movements, such as descending into a squat. Combining inhalation with movement can teach the body to use the trunk muscles in a different way, Wiebe said, so you’re no longer relying only on your abdominals. For additional help, or if you have any symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, it’s important to seek care from a professional.

For the full expose on the dangers of sucking in your stomach all the time, continue to the full article at the Washington Post here.