Are you looking to get back to your pre-pregnancy body, improve your core and pelvic floor function? Hypopressive exercises might be just perfect for you. Keep reading to learn what they are!
What is hypopressive exercises?
Hypopressives are a form of postures and breathing techniques that reduce internal pressure, to the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic areas. This provides many great benefits for the body. Abdominal hypopressive exercise is an alternative to traditional abdominal exercises to promote abdominal muscles strength without overloading the pelvic floor muscles (PFM).
The abdominal hypopressive technique (AHT) is performed mainly via transversus abdominis (TrA, deep core muscle) activation and has been indicated for pelvic floor muscle (PFM) disorders. This technique has become widely used in physiotherapy around the globe.
The name hypoppresive means “less pressure” because the exercises are based on the abdominal suction effect, which causes a decrease in intra-abdominal pressure. Hypopressive exercises can be classified as abdominal, postural and respiratory muscle exercises. They are excellent for women after childbirth. Although there are several contraindications to them, let’s start with the advantages!
Benefits of hypopressive exercises
Many benefits have been discovered that result from hypopressive breathing. Nowadays, it’s used to help improve overall health and wellness for men and women. Hypopressive exercises decrease or reduce internal pressure, to the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic areas of the body. They re-programme the core muscles, which are vital to managing pressure both consciously and subconsciously, and they increase their resting tone and involuntary function. In other words, the core, including the pelvic floor, starts to work again as it was designed to – without you having to think about it.
Hypopressive exercises:
- strengthen the abdominal muscles – the tummy is flatter and the waist is slimmer
- great if you have pelvic organ prolapse and/or incontinence
- promote healing of diastasis recti (tummy muscles separation)
- improve the function of the pelvic floor muscles
- improve posture
- improve body awareness and breathing pattern
- improve the mobility of scar tissues, e.g. after caesarean section, abdominal surgeries
- are safe for women after pregnancy even at a very early postpartum stage
- can help prevent herniations (abdominal, inguinal)
- can increase intestinal function and visceral congestion
Hypopressive exercises, core and pelvic floor
Studies have shown that during hypopressive exercises, the transverse abdominal muscle is strongly activated, which helps to strengthen the core. The core is designed to work at a subconscious level, so it can be effective throughout daily life, not just when you are exercising. It needs to kick into action if you have to suddenly run for a bus, or swoop in to pick up your child when they fall over. It needs to work without you thinking about it. This automatic function is often disturbed after childbirth and hypopresives can help to retrain it. However, research confirms that hypopressive abdominal techniques will not replace isolated pelvic floor exercises. Studies show that the hypopressives are less effective than pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contraction alone, but adding PFM contraction to hypopressives also improves the TrA contraction. Hypopresive and pelvic floor training compliment each other, so it is a win-win situation.
Hypopressive exercises and breathing
Hypopressive techniques are based on diaphragmatic breathing. I wrote about the importance of it in the post The Best Breathing Exercise to Improve Your Pelvic Floor
If we have excessive muscle tension in the diaphragm area, we will find it difficult to breathe through our lower ribs and will not be able to perform hypopressive exercises correctly. Sucking the tummy is done on a false inhalation (apnoea). We spread the ribs as if we wanted to inhale, but we are on apnea. For people with little body awareness, having problems with diaphragmatic breathing, making a false inhalation can be very difficult and confusing. I would recommend that you should first master the right way of breathing before moving on to hypopressives.
Contraindications to hypopressive exercises
Although hypopressive exercises are great for many people, there are a few contraindictions:
- hypertension
- pregnancy
- large diastasis recti (tummy muscles separations)
How to do hypopressive?
The beauty of this type of exercise is that it doesn’t require a place or equipment to do. There are different positions you can practice it in. Let`s start in standing first.
- Stand tall with your back straight, but relaxed. Chin tucked in (double chin). Elbows are bent and hands are spaced. Arms are raises half way.
- Take three diaphragmatic breaths. Breathe in while opening up your lower ribs, then breathe out letting the ribs relax and release all of the air.
- When there is no air left inside, don’t breathe in (we are looking to create apnoea). You need to block the breathing so that no air may enter or exit. If it is one of your first times you can do this at first by pinching your nose with a hand and closing your mouth.
- Now on apnea, suck the abdomen in and spread the ribs pretending to catch a breath. Don’t actually breathe in. You will now see the characteristic outline of the ribs and a very tightly drawn in belly. This is a completely different mechanism to the so called abdominal pull-in. You will feel your organs lift into your ribs. Now hold this position for four seconds… 1 … 2 … 3 … 4. Then breathe in and rest.
- Repeat the cycle for another three rounds.
Well done!
Congratulations, you just completed your first Hypopressive breathing exercise!
Hypopressive abdominal techniques is a very interesting abdominal training, especially for women after childbirth. Women with pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence will find it beneficial too. It has a lot of advantages, the effects of exercise are very quickly visible. It is completely safe for the pelvic floor, which is its great advantage!
If you struggled with it, why not book an initial appointment to make sure you do it correctly? You can book an appointment here
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