Let It Go Part 1: Why sucking in your stomach does more harm than good for your core and pelvic floor
We live in a culture that still praises women for “bouncing back” postpartum and “not even looking pregnant” during pregnancy.
These unspoken (and often not 🙄) pressures can lead us to unconsciously suck in our stomachs or over grip our abs throughout the day. This habit can be a limiting factor in healing and increase your risk for injury to the core and pelvic floor.
While I see this commonly in postpartum women, I know from personal experience (hello 10 years of competitive gymnastics) that these patterns can begin much earlier when we become aware of the ridiculous and unrealistic societal pressure to have a “flat belly”.
If you’re one of the lucky ones that didn’t internalize these harmful messages (yay!!🎉), you may have learned to suck in your stomach through a fitness lens. Poor core cueing or even explicit instruction to always have your core tight could be how you came to this habit.
The guiding truth here is: a healthy core (this includes your pelvic floor!!) is made up of muscles that can both contract AND relax. Turn on AND let go. Engage AND be at ease. When we consistently suck in our stomachs we aren’t giving our core or pelvic floor a chance to relax, let go and be at ease.
Before we jump in I want to share my intention in writing this. I don’t share this information so you have another thing to add to your to-do list of things to fix in the next three days. 🙅♀️ Not. At. All. In fact, I hope this information feels like a bit of freedom. Like something you DON’T need to do anymore. Something you can let go of.
First things first, how do you know if you’re even doing this?
Great question! Of course, not everyone has this habit. Here’s what it might look like if you do.
Sucking In
This looks like pulling your belly button to your spine and usually results in your rib cage widening. You are also usually holding your breath or breathing shallowly if sucking in.
Ab Gripping:
This also goes by the term “rib gripping” and looks like tightening your upper abs or obliques and typically results in your rib cage narrowing. You might even feel your shoulders pulled forward slightly.
Combination:
It’s also possible and common for people to do a combination of these two habits by sucking in and gripping down on the abs at the same time.
Instead of sucking in, ideally your core should be responding to the demands placed on it throughout the day.
It should turn on the appropriate amount when you need it to do something like pick up your kids or reach up to put something away and it should be at a resting state when you are relaxing on the couch or sitting in your car.
If that’s not you *yet * then read on for a few reasons that might convince you to pay more attention to that habit of sucking in your belly.
Three Reasons to Stop Sucking in Your Belly
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When you suck in it makes it difficult for you to breathe into your rib cage, core and pelvic floor in a diaphragmatic breathing pattern.
Instead, you are more likely to breathe up into the chest, likely causing unwanted tension in the neck and shoulders. Go ahead, give it a go! Suck in your belly and try to take a deep breath. Not ideal right?
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When you constantly hold your core tight you make some core muscles over work and others don’t get a chance to engage like they are supposed to.
This creates imbalances that will limit your ability to reconnect to your core. Muscles that can’t relax can’t contract as well. This may feel counterintuitive but, if you are constantly sucking in and want to heal your core the very first step on your journey will be learning to let your belly relax.
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Problems like pelvic organ prolapse or stress incontinence (leaking when you jump, sneeze, laugh etc) can be made worse by this habit. Over bracing your core throughout the day leads to unwanted changes in how you manage pressure. Imagine a blown up balloon.
If you were to press (ie suck in) at the balloon's center or rib tightly around the top you would see the bottom of the balloon bulge. Imagine the bottom of the balloon is your pelvic floor and the squeezing action is you sucking in throughout the day. This kind of constant pressure can be harmful to the pelvic floor muscles over time.
So now you know a few reasons to say so long to sucking in your belly but, how do you actually do it?? Years of these patterns can make it hard to break. Stay tuned for part two of this blog to learn five good ways to start!
