Intelligence in Action
Saying 'NO' to Tight Abs
by Graeme Lynn, GCFP, CSTAT
From dance teachers to Pilates instructors to body-builders to physiotherapists comes the admonition to tighten the abdominal muscles. Herein follows a de-mythologizing of this advice.
There are many reasons why tight abdominal muscles are very wrong, wrong in the sense of working against the functional health of the human body. I will detail them here.
First, let me name and describe the abdominal musculature: the rectus abdominus muscle that, when hard, produces the washboard effect and that runs from the pubic bone to the middle rib cartilages; the internal and external oblique muscles and the transversus muscle that wrap around and give shape to the waist. The main functions of these muscles are to contain the viscera and assist in balance. They do that whenever a person is alive and active - and are rightly toned in that process if the body is otherwise rightly organized in its dynamic response to the constant force of gravity. Their other secondary functions are assisting in the twisting and turning of the body during movement and initiating forward flexion of the trunk.
There are three kinds of muscles in the body: the heart whose moment-to-moment functioning is automatic; the viscera, which, like the heart, work on their own and are generally beyond conscious control; and the striated muscles or musculature over which ideally we have voluntary control and which consist of primarily two different kinds of fibres. The red fibres, for tonic functions, are slow-firing and tire very slowly; the white fibres, for movement functions, are quick firing and tire relatively quickly. All the voluntarily controlled, striated muscles have both kinds of fibres. Those striated muscles whose function is largely tonic - that is, mainly purposed to respond to gravity and, as in the case of the abdominal musculature, contain the viscera - have a greater proportion of red fibres. The intrinsic musculature of the back is also mostly of red fibre because that musculature is primarily responsible for the anti-gravity function. In contrast, the muscles in the legs and arms consist mostly of white fibres, for movement.
Exercising, in the form of repetitive movement against some kind of resistance, whether that resistance is in the form of an apparatus (weights) or of gravity (sit-ups and their variations) or of one's own antagonistic musculature (isometrics), strengthens primarily the white fibres and is of virtually no benefit to the tonic support mechanisms, and, thus, of virtually no benefit to the main functions of the abdominal musculature. In fact, it can indirectly weaken those functions.
In the case of the abdominal muscles, conventional exercise has a second deadly effect. By constantly strengthening the frontal muscles and, thereby, habituating their shortening, more work is required from the musculature of the back, in order to maintain upright balance. This has two very negative, long-term consequences: it causes a vertical compression of the body through the resultant shortening of the back and the front, and it is a major contributor to back pain, by over-working the back and by compressing the intervertebral disks. From an aesthetic point of view, the long-term consequence of vertical compression of the body is a thickening of the waist.
Increasing overall tone of individual muscles and the body altogether has further unfortunate results. Muscles are strongest when they are at their fullest natural length - not stretched, but maximally relaxed or released within the background demand of the tonic response to gravity. This can be easily understood with this simplification: a longer muscle has a longer distance to go to get to its shortest length than an already shortened muscle. Thus, a body that is always optimally released is maximally strong. And, of course, it is also more comfortable to be in, because it is not self-stressed.
Tight abdominal muscles are analogous to the corsets that women wore in the past. They cause deterioration of the back, they restrict breathing, they interfere with the working of the viscera, and they bow to fashion to the detriment of health.
Ideally, with each inspiration, the diaphragm is drawn down, the lower ribs expand outwards in all directions, and the viscera are pushed down and out, all this as the abdominal muscles partially release reflexively. With 'tight abs', the diaphragm cannot go down and the ribcage cannot expand, so breathing is restricted greatly. The long-term effects of this diminished respiration can be chronic fatigue, depression, asthma, and any number of other consequences of inadequate oxygenation of the blood.
If the 'abs' are tight, the viscera are compressed, which can interfere with digestion, elimination, and the sexual function, amongst other processes. None of the organs in the abdominal cavity works well if it must try to do so in a confined space. The urinary system can be affected negatively. In the long term, the uterus can be forced downwards; pressure can be exerted on the prostate and blood flow restricted; and there can result sagging of the bodily base.
A flat belly is a fad, enjoyed by only a few and for this relatively short time in fashion history. Vital health represents a senior function in human well-being to fashionable self-presentation, both from the point of view of the physical as well as the psychological. Surely, it can never be right, or good for one's self-esteem, to conform to the norm merely to be valued as a conforming model.
Other psychological factors may possibly cause this current fashion, and this fashion doubtlessly affects the psyche. Remarkably, fear and anxiety are expressed bodily in the contraction of the central muscles of the front of the body, namely, the abdominals. Think of the psychological and cultural consequences of our cultivating and admiring that very contraction!
Hardening the abdominal musculature may also be associated with armouring oneself against vulnerability or with the compulsion to control or even suppress one's vital life. And, generally in men, it is associated with an effort to look hard, cool and tough, a psychology hardly congruent with cooperation, tolerance, and peace.
Although seeking a flat belly directly interferes with the dynamic response to gravity, on the other hand, paradoxically, the belly does stay relatively flat, but in a soft way, if the body is rightly organized in its response to gravity. The flat belly must come about indirectly and it may not be the result in every individual case. It largely depends on your body type.
The viscera are suspended by tough connective tissue from the spine in a sack-like structure called the peritoneum. When the back, including the spine, is maximally lengthened and lengthening in its response to gravity, the peritoneum is drawn upwards and backwards towards the spine, thereby drawing the viscera up and back. If, in addition, one is not overweight and not chronically constipated or carrying an excess of fluid or waste in the colon, the belly will appear attractively flat in most cases. Otherwise, it will appear attractively fulsome.
Even mainstream dietary philosophy is more and more advising a whole food, high-fibre, low protein, high-complex-carbohydrate, natural diet coupled with occasional fasting to effect the best assimilation and the easiest elimination. Such a nutritional regimen can be learned by careful study of any number of excellent books recommended by any good natural foods store today. The effects of such a diet are wonderfully beneficial to vital health and general well-being
To learn how to move with relaxed ease, a healthily lengthening back, and maximum efficiency, the Alexander Technique offers the most effective teaching strategy and the greatest success. The Alexander Technique uses awareness, functional intelligence, and the natural capacity for voluntary control to master right use of the body in movement and at rest. It is a 'conscious exercise' to this end, which duplicates the otherwise unconscious natural mechanisms to which most of us have, unfortunately, adapted poorly. In a series of lessons in the Technique, one learns, under the guidance of a skilled teacher, to engage simple movements while releasing the body to its full natural height, thereby creating a long, strong back and a slim waist. In time, this conscious practice can be artfully applied to any life activity.
So, anyone can rightly achieve a relatively flat abdominal wall, if the body is so designed. And it will not be from stressfully tightened abdominal muscles but from a healthy diet and relaxed, dynamic, poised ease in the course of everyday life.
To schedule lessons, please contact Graeme in Toronto, Ontario, at 416-964-7026, or click to email.