Is it the
new
wave
of
core strengthening?
I just finished my Level 1 Low Pressure Fitness Certification last weekend. I am still in awe at all of the concepts learned.
Do you find that you struggle with that lower belly pooch that will NOT go away? Or Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) or Diastasis Recti (DRA)? Or that unwanted leakage when you cough or sneeze (or even just laugh)? Are you always being told by your physical therapist that you aren’t quite able to isolate contraction of your lower belly muscles (but instead find that you “grip” your upper abs or are very tight in your lower rib area)? Do you struggle with constipation? If so, continue reading! Low Pressure Fitness may be perfect for you!
As a PT in the industry for over 20 years, I have witnessed a huge paradigm shift in the way we look at core strengthening. At the beginning of my years, we had found out that doing traditional sit ups or even crunches was not the key to a truly strong “deep” core system that supports our spines and looks aesthetically pleasing. We began to adopt belly breathing and deep core contractions with pelvic tilts. At that point I also remember teaching a head lift exercise for diastasis recti with a sheet wrapped around patients’ midsections to approximate the muscle.
Then with the rise of pilates, we began to teach similar concepts but with a neutral spine. However, we still use many cues such as “draw your ribcage toward your pelvis and funnel the ribcage” to get further activation of these muscles.
In more recent years, we are beginning to understand that true diaphragmatic breathing is more of a 360 ribcage expansion rather than just a breath into the belly. We are also realizing how much intraabdominal pressure (mismanaged) can create many issues such as prolapse and leakage. The issue that I see for many is that when I cue a core contraction, the lower ribs tighten, the upper abominals grip, and patients then create a lot of pressure in their bellies.
I still think there can be such benefit to the pilates based movement system, but this new course helped me to put it all together and realize we can actually create a vacuum or NEGATIVE pressure system that not only strengthens the core and tensions the linea alba (HUGE for diastasis recti), but also widdles away our midlines and lower bellies. What is even more fascinating is that we can get all of this without ever cueing the lower belly to contract at all! We were able to use live ultrasound on our bellies to watch the contraction of the tranversus abdominus (our lower bellies that co-contract with our pelvic floor and support our lower back).
This new system can be a visceral mobilization of our organs because we are able to achieve a big lift of everything in the peritoneal cavity (our liver, bladder, intestines, etc). This can tremendously help with constipation. We are also able to get our diaphragm and thoracic spines moving more as well.
The other aspect that I love about this new movement system is that it is extremely good for our posture. Every single pose is very active from head to toe, and one of the most used cues is to lengthen and grow tall (similar to pilates).
To learn the vacuum can be a little confusing and difficult at first, as it isn’t a move we really ever do. But, once you learn it, it continues to get easier. Many other PT’s in this course were hardly able to do it at the beginning of the weekend, and by the end of the weekend they were killing it! We even took before and after pictures at the beginning and end of the weekend and already noticed a change in our bellies and our posture.
Curious to know more? What do you think about this and have you heard of it? I’d love to hear from you and whether you are interested in learning this! I’m thinking about setting up small classes in a series, so please let me know if you’re interested!