This program is able to be used through pregnancy, and for anyone who is wanting to learn Hypopressives but has a medical condition where they are advised not to hold their breath or stretch internally.

This program will provide you with an alternative to the apnea/vacuum breath which will still work on strenthening the deep core whist receiving the postural and neural benefits.

However, should your circumstances change and you are later able to start incorporating apneas, there is no need to purchase another program. Perfect for those pregnant ladies, Hypopressives is my recommended way to recover post-partum once you are able to exercise again as it will heal you from the inside out re-setting your optimal function of your deep core muscles.

If you are recovering from COVID-19 or have a lung condition, you can slowly work on improving your lung function with this program. I do however ask that you consult your physician before starting any apnea breaths.

If you have had mesh surgically inserted, wear an IUD, have had a weight-loss surgery or an organ transplant apneas are not safe for you – permanently. You may however follow the apnea-free program.

Unlocking the power of your diaphragm is a must if you are wanting to reach your full athletic potential.

The main three benefits of this course specific for athletes are:

1️⃣You won’t get gassed as quickly. Your respiratory performance will improve in both efficiency and endurance. Obviously this has a significant impact on your performance as an athlete, especially those who are in cardio edurance-based sports such as boxing, triathlons, marathons etc. You will also learn how to encorporate the use of an inspiratory breath trainer, further excelling the results of Hypopressives on your respiratory system and providing hypertrophy for your diaphragm.

2️⃣You will be providing yourself with a myofascial release of your abdominals and diaphragm. All that work you put your diaphragm through as an athlete… How have you been stretching it? Chances are, you haven’t. We all know a tight muscle is a muscle with dysfunction, and the diaphragm is no exception to that. Referring back to benefit 1, the hypertrophy we will put your diaphragm through will pair nicely with this deep internal release.

3️⃣You have a tool to down-regulate your nervous system back into the parasympathetic mode following intensive training. Thus having a faster recovery and a more efficient body overall. This is extremely important if you are spending a lot of time in the sympathetic nervous sytem.

*Breath trainer is not included in the course and if you do not already have one, you will be recommended to purchase one.
 

I would go out on a limb and say that 99% of people who suffer from anxiety have some form of breathing dysfunction.

This can appear as hyperventilation syndrome, shallow breathing, complete belly breathing, shortness of breath, faster respiratory rates, irregular breathing patterns and the list just goes on.

The way we breathe has a huge implication on our mental state, and vice versa.

Hypopressive exercise can provide a tool for those who suffer from anxiety to better manage their breathing by learning an optimal breathing pattern and a new exercise technique that both calms your mental state and increases your resipratory function at the same time. And yes it tones the abdominals too.

The diaphragm is the main muscle used in respiration. Those who suffer from anxiety often have dysfunction in their diaphragm. This then constricts the vagus nerve which directly passes through this beautiful muscle. The vagus nerve is responsible for 75 percent of our parasympathetic nervous system including the REST (relax) and digest process. So you can see how dysfunctional breathing, means a dysfucntional diaphragm, which means dysfunction in the operation of the vagus nerve, which means your rest (relax) and digest process does not complete the way it should, leaving you feeling left in the fight or flight process aka anxiousness.

After releasing the diaphragm (also knows an the muscle of the soul) via Hypopressives, you can feel a variety of emotions. I personally feel zen, energised and extremely happy. However, it is common for those who have trapped emotions within this beautiful muscle to feel an outpour of emotions along with that sense of release and calm. That is a natural part of the healing process.

These breathing techniques can then be applied in times of need.

But did you know the source of your tight traps is not always due to poor posture? The actual cause is often a tight diaphragm!

How? Via dysfunction of the Phrenic Nerve. Let me explain…

The Phrenic Nerve originates in the cervical spine and connects to the main muscle responsible for breathing, the diaphragm. If tightness occurs in the diaphragm from poor breathing mechanics or anxiety, this can cause a stiff or tight neck which doesn’t get resolved by stretching or traditional rehabilitation methods.

Conversely, if you have stiffness in your neck from poor posture, training habits, or stress this can cause stiffness in the… no points for this one, the diaphragm.

It can be a chicken or the egg situation, but regardless of the root cause breathing is kinda important for absolutely every living being!

Hypopressives are unique as you can provide your diaphragm with a myofascial release (stretch). There just isn’t a better way to release your diaphragm than that. 

The best method I have found to release tight traps is dry needling. If you have built up a pattern in your nervous system over time resulting in overly dominant traps you will also need to strengthen your mid and lower traps to reset the optimal function.

Just another reason why Hypopressives are so freakin amazing!

You are applying forces from above which are unable to be supported by your pelvic floor from below.

The forces you are applying to your body have to be supported by the forces from below. Your pelvic floor not only acts as a shock absorber for impact but it is also a support structure for steady forces that you are applying in your daily activities. 

Exercise and weight lifting is an obvious one, yes.

Carrying your child around is too. 

Just being upright, especially when overweight, is also a force from above that needs the support of the pelvic floor. Because, ya know…. gravity and all that!

And every muscle has a ceiling point. When it reaches that ceiling point it WILL fatigue and weaken under the pressure providing a lackluster performance of its function.

Usually, this highlights an underlying issue that needs to be addressed and rehabilitated by following a structured and well thought out program. You can also use support garments and pessaries to assist with the support of the pelvic floor. In some cases, surgery may be recommended.

Constantly weeing disturbs the connection pattern between the bladder and the brain. Generally, we should hold approx 500ml of urine before needing to wee. When the bladder is ‘full’ the brain gets a signal that you need to pee, and so then you should empty your 500ml and start again.

Too many ‘just in case’ wees confuses this pattern, and the brain can be getting signals that your bladder is full when it is actually not.

On average we should empty around 8 times per day. If you do this before midday then Houston, we have a problem!

We have all been told it’s not good to hold your wees, and this is true IF your bladder is FULL.

If your brain and your bladder can’t communicate properly, it can be more difficult to avoid bladder leakage – especially if your bladder actually is full.

So how do you know? Measure your intake of fluids, and measure your output of urine in 24 hours. Yes with a measuring cup, and a bladder diary. An ultrasound with a before and after pee can also shed some light.

If you find out you are peeing prematurely, try holding it and using breathing and different positions to pass the false urge until you are actually due for a pee. You should also get tested for a UTI and if problems persist, be persistent with your doctors until you get answers. There are tests they can run for you to look deeper.

In no particular order…. #2

Hypertonia is where the pelvic floor muscles have high tone at ‘rest’ as they are constantly in a state of contraction.

This doesn’t mean the pelvic floor muscles are strong, because A TIGHT MUSCLE IS A WEAK MUSCLE. Hypertonicity prevents the pelvic floor muscles from being able to relax/stretch out/let down. A muscle needs to contract and relax to be functional. It’s like having a bicep or hamstring that is always contracted, this weakens the contraction phase as well and shortens the range of motion.

This pelvic floor disorder is extremely common. It is linked to anxiety and pelvic trauma.

People who are plagued with anxiety tend to tense up without knowing, this includes in their pelvic floor musculature.

People who have experienced significant pelvic trauma, by childbirth experiences, pelvic surgery, sexual assault, endometriosis, etc

So how does it make you leak urine?

A tight muscle is a dysfunctional muscle. It is always slightly contracted which weakens the ability to contract…. when you actually need it to! People who suffer from Hypertonia often experience leakage with impact, and often have trouble releasing a good flow of urine when they are actually trying to pee.

They also are closely linked to pelvic pain, vaginismus, lower back, and glute pain.

Aside from the above people who are hypertonic usually struggle with the letdown or relaxation phase of a kegel.

Fellas get hypertonic too, this does not only apply to women!!

How do you fix it?

-Down training the pelvic floor by lots of relaxation and manual release.

-Dilator therapy

-Hypopressives…. my fave.

Hypopressives regulate the resting tone of your pelvic floor. They increase blood flow to the pelvic region which also helps to regulate the acidity/alkalinity of your pelvic floor (hypertonicity reduces blood flow). They provide one helluva myofascial release (stretch) and improve function. Happy days!!!

I had struggled with Hypertonia which used to cause me pain on and off for a long time after each vaginal trauma that is childbirth. Hypopressives and dilator therapy have been the only true breakthroughs I have experienced.

In no particular order…. Reason #1. Stay tuned for other reasons

Starting with this one because it is the ‘most well known’ reason among society.

Low muscle tone, not only in the pelvic floor itself but in the glutes also, means there is less support for the bladder and pelvic organs.

Our pelvic floor muscles are like the electric elevator doors that open and close for the bladder. If the doors are too weak (made of paper instead of steel), they lose their ability to keep contents inside.

They are responsible for holding up your pelvic organs, alllll dayyyy long. They need to be built of a strong enough substance to withstand the day ahead.

The sphincters of the pelvic outlets are made of muscles. We need those muscles to stay closed when we need to not leak and to open when we need to evacuate urine.

A weak muscle lacks umph to stay closed under pressure and can therefore lead to unwanted leakage of urine.

You can improve the tone of your pelvic floor by practicing Hypopressives or following a pelvic floor-based exercise program.

A D D E D  B E N E F I T S 
When using the Hypopressive Exercise Method you are using a multifaceted form of strength and wellness.
Hypopressives are a full-body workout when performing with the correct and full postural cues.
They work similarly to yoga in the sense that one of the primary objectives is to lengthen the muscles while holding an isometric/eccentric contraction. This gives a long, lean looking, functional, and well-balanced result.

There are too many added benefits to list out, keep an eye out for future posts detailing some of the amazing additional benefits that go far beyond core strengthening. Here are just a few bullet points to note:

Hypopressives work on strengthening and correcting postural imbalances, from head to toe.
They tone the s**t out of your arms!
They help regulate the tone of the pelvic floor in both men and women. This means correcting hypertonia for some, and increasing resting tone for others.
They help relieve and treat anxiety!
They improve your breathing mechanics.
They leave you feeling super ZEN.
They stretch your diaphragm – how else are you going to do that?
They relieve pressure off the vagus nerve.
They aid in boosting athletic performance.
It’s out of the box and gives you something different to mix up your exercise regime.
Relieves constipation and improves bowel regularity, decreasing pressure in the colon.
Helps with erectile dysfunction in men.
Helps improve sexual function in both women and men.
Helps with phonation – great for singers!
Improves blood circulation.
Decreases pressure on the esophagus.

I’ll stop now, cause I could go on forever

Hypopressive Exercises are done with an INvoluntary contraction of the abdominals where as regular core work is a voluntary contraction of the muscles.

Here we are looking at tone vs strength. 

Muscle strength is a voluntary contraction of a muscle based on a command from the body and uses mostly type 2 muscle fibers. Basically when you are asking the muscle to ‘do something’.

Muscle tone is the muscle tension at rest and is mostly the type 1 muscle fibers responsibility. Basically, how active your muscles are when you are ‘doing nothing’. 

With Hypopressives, the decrease in intra-abdominal pressure (refer to part 1) creates INVOLUNTARY activation of the TYPE 1 MUSCLE FIBERS in the pelvic floor and core. So whilst we are ‘doing something’ to our body in order to train those particular muscle fibers, it is an INvoluntary contracion! 

The deep pelvic floor and core muscles (transversus abdominis) are made up of approximately 70% type 1 fibers (therefore a stabiliser).
The rectus abdominis is comprised mostly of type 2 fibers (therefore a mobiliser). 

Basic core anatomy= the transverse abdominals are what really gives you a flat belly and tightened wasitline as these muscle fibers run horizontally. Hence why people get such good results from Hypopressives, in terms of getting their belly to be flattened. Hypopressives also reduce the outward pressure on the abdominal wall when training, which helps achieve flatness. 

We need both strength and stability for good function. However, stability is harder to train and maintain as it requires more thoughtful planning to achieve.

Stay tuned for part 3….