Top 3 Ways Your Breathing Is Betraying Your Belly Pooch

I get it. Breathing is a natural part of life. Its not something you think about.

So HOW could it possibly affect your belly pooch or diastasis?!

Let's get into it.

1. You take shallow breaths.

Think about it. When was the last time you took a big, deep breath?

Maybe when you were stressed out.

Maybe you do every now and then to try to calm down.

But DAILY?

It's probably not something you think about.

If I were a betting person, I'd say if you looked in the mirror right now you would barely be able to see your chest move when breathing. And I'd double down to say that when you do breath in deep, your shoulders probably start to rise up too huh? Gotcha.

2. You "Belly Breath" for a deep breath.

If you've been through any kind of sport, or fitness programs you were likely told to "take a big deep breath into your belly!".

And then you exhale, and are supposed to suck your belly button to spine.

But did you know that isn't ACTUALLY letting your lungs fully expand and do their thing?

You're definitely moving pressure down into your belly, but likely not the way you want to.

That increase in pressure can press on your abs.

You can worsen ab separation.

And, you guessed it, you can let your belly think its time to pooch out. I don't need to do any work!

3. You hold your breath, or strain when stressed.

No I don't necessarily mean "my kid wont take his nap and is screaming for 20 mins straight" stressed.

Although, I've been there, and I totally get if you catch yourself holding your breath not to scream or cry too.

I mean "stress" in the sense of when you are putting your body through something strenous.

For some people, that may be trying to lift all the grocery bags and your toddler out of the car at once. You hold your breath while you pray that your forearm doesn't actually break off like it feels like it might.

Or let's get intimate here for a second. You might be holding your breath and straining when you go to the bathroom. Maybe you feel like you just can't finish or get everything out without a little extra push.

This stresses out your stomach.

When your stomach muscles are stressed, they don't like to work properly.

When they don't work together, other muscles have to pick up their slack.

You can imagine this might piss off some other muscles.

Think about if your coworker decided "hey this is hard, I'm just gonna turn off now".

And now YOU'RE stuck carrying all the extra load so your boss doesn't fire everyone.

This can lead to the belly pooching, back aching, hips feeling tight.

BUT FRET NOT.

All is not lost. If you found your self saying "oh my gosh, I do that" to one or more scenarios, I can help.

Check out our "better breathing" mini course. Where we walk you through the fundamentals of how to change your breathing patterns to improve muscle coordination. Or do you want to take the plunge and transform your belly from a wide gap diastasis, stop hiding your "mom pooch" behind baggy clothes, and feel confident and strong while running around with your kids? If yes then you HAVE to check out our "Core Revolution" transformation master class. Book a Demo Call with us to see which class would be the perfect fit for you