Low Pressure Fitness and Hypopressives
What in the world is hypopressives? I’m not going to lie, I was very skeptical at first when I heard about them. Seeing photos of women sucking their bellies in and expanding their rib cages seemed like it would recruit the wrong neck muscles and didn’t look very functional from my first impression. I was curious enough that I immediately signed up for Tamara Rial’s Low Pressure Fitness Course. I instantly got sucked in! I loved the concepts of posture, breathing, strengthening, toning- All things we focus on in physical therapy. I couldn’t believe how sore I was from the 20 min low pressure fitness flow class we did at the end of the class…all my muscles were shaking and were exhausted and it looked so basic.
So what is Low Pressure fitness? What are hypopressives?
“LPF is a training system aimed at postural and breathing reeducation. It utilizes breathing and hypopressive maneuvers together with myofascial and neurodynamic techniques to decrease pressure and body tension.”
“Hypopressive” means to decrease pressure. The false inhale or hypopressive maneuver is done by expanding the rib cage without taking air in. The idea is to create a negative pressure and suction, tractioning the viscera upwards and recruiting the deep core muscles involuntarily. The idea is to help retrain and normalize the respiratory muscles and deep core to function synergistically and help with everyday life tasks.
triggers the involuntary action of the deep core unit
decreases pressure and helps decrease stress to weakened areas (prolapse, hernia, etc)
Improves core balance and ability for it to handle hyperpressives (cough, sneeze, heavy lifting, running)
breathing can help manage stress by balancing sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
Who can this help?
Postpartum
Pelvic organ Prolapse
Chronic pelvic pain
Athletes wanting to increase performance
Everyday people who want to improve their posture
Low back pain
Contraindications:
High blood pressure, cardiomyopathies for vacuum (false breathe)
Pregnancy for vacuum
diarrhea/fever/pain
Recommended to wait >6 weeks for vaginal birth, >12 weeks for abdominal surgeries
I’ve absolutely loved incorporating low pressure fitness/hypopressives into my treatment plans for patients that are appropriate. I even showed them to my dad and taught him how to do them to help with his low back pain- he has multiple levels of spondylolisthesis (instability). He gave me good feedback that they have helped him manage his pain and feel stronger. Check out my instagram account @dynamicflowphysicaltherapy for a video describing some of the basics.
For more information check out @dr.tamararial @hypopressiveguru @lowpressurefitness