Suck it in
Everyone’s Guide to Eliminating Low Back Pain and Having a Flatter Stomach
Too many people suffer from low back pain during their daily activities, jobs, sports, child rearing, TV watching, I-phone staring etc. And while I can write 500 pages to solve everyone’s back pain during these activities, FIRST I want to teach folks the core principles of stabilization to protect your spine and obtain a happy, healthy low back!
Suck it in…it’s the SINGLE best thing you could ever do for your back!!
Suck It In is going to teach you the simplest, most effective thing you can do to rescue your low back and begin your journey to eliminating low back pain and having a flatter stomach! As you read, you will not only be learning how to use this technique (and be able to apply it into your daily life), but you will see how and why mastering the control and function of these muscles is critical to keeping a healthy back. You will learn, as proven in the research, the specific function of this muscle as well as the connection this muscle has to our brain! And by the end of this book, you will have a comprehensive understanding AND the knowledge to perform the “hardest, most easiest exercise” you have ever learned and be able to incorporate it into your everyday routine!
This book is simple and fun, with the technique tried and tested daily by people in my clinic….AND, best of all, it works!!! Every day I hear from my patients how when they suck it in, their pain is either significantly less or goes away during their desired activity, even if that activity is as simple as rolling over in bed. My hope for you is that, after reading this book, you walk away confident in your ability to perform this technique and incorporate it immediately into your daily life!
How to get started? Don’t be shy. Suck it in!
Pull your belly button into your stomach as if you are taking a side shot photo in a tight dress. Come on ladies, you KNOW what I mean! Never wore a dress?? Not a lady? That’s ok too. Just imagine you are trying to move your belly button closer to your spine. Or try to bring your two pelvic bones closer toward each other. You can also envision yourself zipping up a too-tight pair of skinny jeans. Now it’s your turn! Lie down and try it. DON’T flatten your back. Don’t squeeze your buttocks. “WHY NOT?” you may be asking?!! We all want to use our larger superficial abdominal muscles. That’s the easy way. But what we are trying to access is our deeper, more stabilizing abdominal muscle. This one is called the transverse abdominus or “TA” as you will hear me refer to it as.
Normally, your “TA” fires the second after your brain comes up with the thought for creating a motion. For example, your brain thinks…”I need to go to the bathroom,” a task which involves getting up from your chair first, in order to walk over to the bathroom. So when your brain sends that message of, “I need to stand up,” your TA fires automatically to stabilize your spine and provide stability for your entire body and extremities. With low back injury, pain, poor posture, birthing, multiple C-sections or surgeries ….I can go on and on…… this brain-generated TA mechanism is disrupted. We need to retrain it neuromuscularly to work properly once again…. which is a conscious effort at first. This is WHY I call it, “The hardest easiest exercise you’ll ever do!” If you have ever been a patient of mine, you will recall fondly my famous last words as you walk out of the office, or turn on the table, “Suck it in.” Or you might recall how just a stern look from me with a raised eyebrow and a tilted head would elicit you to suck it in. These are all cues, novel cues, to give to your brain to teach it to do what it was designed and engineered to do automatically!!
Keep your eyes open for the upcoming release!!
Thank you and… Suck it in!