Theory:Constantly sucking in your gut creates pelvic floor tightness.

[Spoonman84]

I will keep it as brief as possible. So as weird as this might sound, I'm starting to have a theory that people that who are constantly sucking in their gut might be a contributing factor for tight pelvic floor. Lots of people condition themselves to always suck in their stomach to appear thinner. As a fat kid I did this all the time, and I know friends that did it too. It had became so instinctive for doing it for years that many years later I still do it subconsciously.

So how does sucking in your stomach contribute to PE/tight pelvic floor? As previously mentioned on this site many times, and many scientific studies show that deep abdominal breathing stretches the pelvic floor. This one is such a given. When you are always sucking in your gut you don't get that stretch and expansion on the pelvic floor.

The other reason, and this is the reason that got me thinking about all this. When you are constantly sucking in your gut, you are constantly pulling/drawing in the pelvic floor. In yoga Nauli kriya, Agni Sara(I'm sure I spelled those wrong) are stomach vacuum exercises that require you to basically suck in your gut. They are specifically touted as being able to drawn in your pelvic floor. They are also used as pelvic floor exercises and used in conjunction with kegels to be more effective. Many other references I have seen mention that any vacuum exercise target the pelvic floor by nature. So it might not be as intense as direct stomach vacuum exercises, but should still be doing some pulling on your pelvic floor. So when you do it all the time you are constantly putting some tension on it . So in theory when you constantly suck in your stomach, your pelvic floor is always having some pull, drawing it in and shortening it, while never deep breathing to stretch it and expand it.

[Spoonman84]

I'm curious if anybody else here constantly sucked in there gut and has had tight pelvic floor issues. I'm not by any means suggesting this is a root cause for the problem . Just something that can be possibly been contributary to the development of the problem, and something to learn to possibly eliminate doing.

[closed291]

I tend to agree with your theory and now I am learning to let my stomach to stay in a more relaxed state.

[HansTwilight]

This was a very significant symptom in my situation, and you are correct. The reason behind it is that when there is PF tension, the sufferers breathing mechanism alters, and they start breathing via the chest instead of the diaphragm. This is why belly breath combos (diaphragmatic breathing, breathing reverse kegel) are the standard method of treatment for PF issues.

[billfong250]

I'm curious if anybody else here constantly sucked in there gut and has had tight pelvic floor issues. I'm not by any means suggesting this is a root cause for the problem . Just something that can be possibly been contributary to the development of the problem, and something to learn to possibly eliminate doing.

Guilty. As a fat kid who wore loose clothes, all i wanted to was look less fat and i did this quite a lot. At the end of the day, tight pelvic floor is a result of so many bad habits built over a lifetime. Do u guys have postural issues? like slouching while walking.

[Gym1]

I am more then 30 years old and I do this with my stomach most of the time. Also, I've just today read hans's thread about hard flaccid (I've had this problem sometimes when weightlifting too much or overall having stressful period) and pelvic floor dysfunction.
I think my cause of sucking stomach is not to try look more fit but I do that unconsciously because I feel tense/anxious. I think my tense/anxiuous mind makes all of my core (stomach and pelvic floor) being tense.

I guess cure is deep breathing and reverse kegels. Problem is reminding myself to do that all the time.. specially when concentrated on something else (and when I'm concentrated that's when most tensed I am..).

[ThrowAway99]

I wouldn't say I disagree, but I'd say there's some nuance to this at least. Yes, yoga moves that target this transverse abdominis wall (inner abs) will also affect your pelvic floor, and hence could be a factor in your PE.

However, I'd guess that in most cases this muscle is actually too -weak-. Yes, you should know how to relax it. But due to all the sitting we do, our culture's core muscles aren't used as much in day to day life. If you then need this muscle- to keep you stable during thrusting, for example- it is going to fail early, and thus stress out your pelvic floor more.

[sbostjan]

I'ts one month since i discovered this also and i totally agree with this theory. Since then i'm trying to lose my belly (i'ts very more sticking out as i consciously relax it LOL)

If I repeatedly move my skin over my head after urinating and fully relax my abdominal muscles (but now have the beer belly) there are none of the IK's that occur when I do not do it. Another way to test this is, if you push your finger in the perineum just before the anus. If the muscles are tensed (when you pull your belly in) you can feel the tensed muscles of the pelvic floor but when you relax your belly the tension goes away and the finger feels only smooth muscles which are now perceived deeper

[hubbub7997]

THIS!! I was actually going to post something similar to this a few months ago! I noticed that I'm constantly sucking in my gut, to avoid looking fat. I noticed that when I released, or relaxed, I could feel my pelvic floor relax as well. I tried to stop doing it, but, it's tough. After seeing this post, it reminded me that I need to be trying to relax my stomach more. Thanks!

[loveinrewind]

I partialy agree. Since im very skiny, I didn't concioulsy suck my gut in, but I believe stress made me tensed and I'm a stresful person. So thats why it happened. This might just be one of the causes you're right