What happens if you constantly hold your stomach in?

September 30, 2025 •

5 min read

According to chiropractor Dr. Adam Browning, stomach gripping can reduce your oxygen intake by as much as 30%, which is one of several unintended health consequences that can occur if you constantly hold your stomach in. This common habit, often done for aesthetic reasons, can lead to serious muscular imbalances and other problems.

Quick Summary

Chronic stomach gripping can lead to muscular imbalances, known as 'hourglass syndrome,' affecting breathing, posture, and pelvic floor function. It increases intra-abdominal pressure, causing neck and back pain, and can be reversed by practicing mindful breathing and core-strengthening exercises.

Key Points

Hourglass Syndrome: Constantly holding in your stomach can lead to an imbalance, where the upper abdominal muscles become tight and the lower ones weaken, sometimes causing a visible crease.
Breathing Problems: Habitual stomach gripping restricts the diaphragm's movement, leading to shallow, inefficient breathing and reduced oxygen intake.
Musculoskeletal Pain: The resulting muscular imbalances force other muscles to compensate, which can cause chronic pain in the neck, shoulders, and lower back.
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: Increased intra-abdominal pressure from gripping puts stress on the pelvic floor, potentially leading to incontinence and other issues.
Digestive Issues: The constant compression can interfere with digestive organ function, contributing to acid reflux, bloating, and constipation.
Reversing the Habit: The condition is reversible by cultivating mindfulness, practicing proper breathing techniques, stretching, and wearing comfortable clothes.
Professional Guidance: For persistent pain or dysfunction, consulting a pelvic floor physical therapist can provide effective, personalized treatment.

Understanding Stomach Gripping and Hourglass Syndrome

Constantly holding in or 'sucking in' your stomach is a habit known as 'stomach gripping' that can lead to a condition called hourglass syndrome. This is not a formal diagnosis but a term for the muscular imbalance caused by the repetitive, extensive contraction of the upper abdominal muscles. While done to achieve a flatter appearance, it does more harm than good over time, creating a physical change where the muscles of the upper abdomen become over-tightened and the lower abdominal muscles grow weak and underused.

This imbalanced muscular function can lead to a crease or indentation in the mid-abdomen, where the upper and lower sections meet, and an upward pulling of the belly button. Importantly, this is not the same as proper core engagement, which strengthens all the muscles of the core together in a balanced way.

The Cascade of Health Consequences

Impaired Breathing and Oxygen Intake

One of the most immediate effects of stomach gripping is that it disrupts the function of the diaphragm, the primary muscle for breathing. When you constantly hold your stomach in, you prevent the diaphragm from moving downwards to create space for your lungs to expand. This forces you to rely on less efficient accessory breathing muscles in your neck and chest, resulting in shallow, restricted breaths. This limited lung expansion can reduce your oxygen intake significantly, leading to early fatigue during exercise and leaving you feeling short of breath. Shallow, chest-based breathing keeps your nervous system in a 'fight or flight' state, which can increase stress and anxiety.

Musculoskeletal Pain

The muscular imbalance caused by stomach gripping puts a strain on other parts of your body. Your spine and other stabilizing muscles are forced to compensate for the weakened core, leading to chronic pain in several areas. As the chest and shoulders are used for breathing instead of the diaphragm, these muscles become overworked and tense, potentially leading to neck and shoulder pain. An improperly functioning core fails to support the lower back, placing excessive pressure on the lumbar discs and joints, which can result in significant lower back pain. Over time, the habit can change the natural curvature of your spine and your overall posture, creating new points of muscular tension and strain.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

The core is a pressure system, and squeezing the abdomen creates increased intra-abdominal pressure. This force pushes downwards onto the pelvic floor muscles, which act as the base of this system. The constant pressure can weaken the pelvic floor muscles, leaving them strained and overworked. A weak pelvic floor can contribute to or worsen stress incontinence, leading to urine leakage during activities like laughing, coughing, or sneezing. In more severe cases, excessive pressure can increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse, where unsupported organs shift downwards.

Digestive Issues

Squeezing your abdominal area can also impact your internal organs and digestive process. The diaphragm plays a role in preventing stomach contents from re-entering the esophagus. Its dysfunction from gripping can compromise this function and lead to or worsen acid reflux. Squeezing the digestive organs can hinder their normal function and motility, potentially causing issues like bloating, constipation, and overall discomfort.

Comparison: Constant Gripping vs. Proper Core Engagement


Feature	Constant Stomach Gripping	Proper Core Engagement
Breathing	Causes shallow, restricted upper chest breathing.	Encourages deep, diaphragmatic breathing that allows the belly to expand and contract naturally.
Muscle Activation	Over-activates upper abdominals, while weakening lower abs and surrounding muscles.	Co-contracts all core muscles (diaphragm, transverse abdominis, obliques, and pelvic floor) for balanced stability.
Core Pressure	Increases downward pressure on the pelvic floor and upward pressure on the diaphragm.	Manages intra-abdominal pressure effectively, protecting the back and pelvic organs.
Body Aesthetics	Creates a temporary flat appearance but can lead to a muscular 'hourglass' crease.	Builds functional core strength and improved posture for a naturally stronger, more aligned physique.
Longevity	Not sustainable long-term due to fatigue and health risks.	A healthy, functional way to support the body in daily activity and exercise.

How to Break the Habit of Stomach Gripping

Breaking this habit requires mindful awareness and retraining your muscles. The good news is that the muscular imbalances are reversible with a conscious effort to change your strategy.

Practice Mindful Awareness: The first step is acknowledging the habit. Regularly check in with your body throughout the day to notice when you are gripping your abdomen. Set reminders on your phone or use a regular activity, like checking your messages, as a prompt to relax your stomach muscles.
Learn Diaphragmatic Breathing: Practice breathing exercises that focus on using your diaphragm. Lying on your back with one hand on your chest and one on your belly, inhale slowly through your nose, letting your belly rise. As you exhale slowly through your mouth, feel your belly fall. The hand on your chest should remain relatively still.
Use Self-Massage: Gently massaging your abdominal area can help release ingrained tension in the fascia and muscles. Focus on rubbing the area under your ribs and around your waist to promote relaxation and help your brain understand that it is safe to let go.
Incorporate Stretching: Stretching the front of your body, like with poses such as the Cobra or Cat-Cow stretch, can help elongate and relax the tightened abdominal muscles. Yoga and Pilates are also excellent for fostering this mind-body connection.
Wear Comfortable Clothing: Tight waistbands can encourage and perpetuate stomach gripping. Opt for clothing that allows your stomach to move and relax naturally with your breath.
Seek Professional Help: If you find it difficult to stop gripping or experience persistent pain or pelvic floor symptoms, consider seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist. They can provide targeted exercises and manual therapy to restore muscle function and balance. As noted on the Washington Post website, therapists emphasize that changing your strategy is key to reversing the health consequences.

Conclusion

While the motivation to maintain a flat stomach is understandable, the chronic habit of stomach gripping is detrimental to your overall health. From impairing your breathing and causing musculoskeletal pain to creating pelvic floor dysfunction and digestive issues, the consequences are significant. By prioritizing mindful awareness and retraining your body through diaphragmatic breathing and focused exercises, you can break the cycle and regain a healthier, more functional core. Releasing this tension is not only physically beneficial but can also alleviate stress and improve your overall sense of well-being.

Frequently Asked Questions

Hourglass syndrome is a term for the muscular imbalance that occurs from constantly contracting the upper abdominal muscles. It causes the upper abs to tighten while the lower abs weaken, potentially creating an indentation in the abdomen.

Yes, chronic stomach gripping weakens the overall core because it over-activates the upper abdominals while the lower, deeper core muscles become underused and less functional.

It impairs diaphragmatic breathing, the body's most efficient breathing method, by restricting the diaphragm's natural downward movement. This forces you to use less efficient neck and chest muscles, leading to shallow breathing and reduced oxygen intake.

Yes. When the core muscles are out of balance, the lower back muscles must overcompensate for stability, leading to increased pressure on the spine, muscle tightness, and chronic pain.

Yes, it creates increased intra-abdominal pressure that pushes down on the pelvic floor. Over time, this constant pressure can weaken and strain the pelvic floor muscles, potentially contributing to incontinence or organ prolapse.

Proper core engagement involves a balanced co-contraction of all core muscles, including the diaphragm, deep abdominals, and pelvic floor, which allows for functional movement and proper breathing. Holding in your stomach is an imbalanced, constant contraction of only the upper abdominal muscles.

Yes, experts confirm that the condition is reversible. By increasing mindful awareness, practicing proper breathing techniques, stretching, and addressing muscle imbalances, you can retrain your core to function correctly.

Start by practicing mindful awareness to catch yourself in the act. Incorporate diaphragmatic breathing exercises while lying down, and try gentle stretches like Cat-Cow. Wearing comfortable clothing and seeking guidance from a physical therapist for persistent issues can also help.

Yes, chronic stomach gripping leads to shallow, upper-chest breathing. This overworks the accessory breathing muscles in the neck and shoulders, causing them to become tense and potentially leading to neck pain and headaches.