How to create IAP
Do you know how to create intra-abdominal pressure?
Do you normally breathe from your belly?
You need to know how to do both.
Before we can create what is called intra-abdominal pressure, or IAP, it is of dire importance that we know how to diaphragmatic breathe, or belly breathe. This is essentially doing the opposite of sucking in. So when you intake, your belly expands (as opposed to keeping your stomach sucked in and breathing from your chest). It’s a simple concept but it is VERY hard for a lot of people to do because we’re used to sucking our stomachs in all day every day. You can read more about diaphragmatic breathing in our earlier blog post, Belly Breathing.
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Now once that is mastered, we can start learning to create IAP. In the simplest of terms, IAP is created by continuing to belly breathe, but forcing some of the air to stay in your stomach at the same time. Essentially, your stomach stays in the expanded state but you continue to inhale and exhale. This is very hard to explain and learn without showing you or cueing you in person, so watch the video below for a visual!
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Now for more technical terms. When IAP is created, the diaphragm is pulled downwards, and the front of the spine is stabilized with a hoop of pressure. As your diaphragm is pulled down, the abdominal wall creates an isometric contraction that pushes back against the force created by the diaphragm. It’s these two opposing forces that drive IAP and ultimately spinal stiffness.
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How is this different from tightening your core? A concentric contraction of the abdominal wall does not include an inferior pull of the diaphragm, so there is no pressure. No pressure means no stability. There is still decompressive, shear, and tensile loads placed on the spine.
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When learning how to create IAP, laying on your back in the dead bug starting position (as shown in the video) is a good place to start. It’s important to note that the low back must be flat against the table the entire time. Once we become good at creating IAP in this position, we can start to practice it while sitting, standing, and under load with some weight. The low back must stay in good position when upright by keeping a neutral pelvis. An easy way to do this is making sure your ribs are stacked over your pelvis - this will prevent excessive arching of the low back
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Different amounts of IAP is needed for different things. The amount you need to pick up a cup of coffee vs. squatting heavy weight at the gym is significantly different. I often get asked if the goal is to be able to do this at rest - absolutely not! We should absolutely learn to diaphragmatic breathe at rest, but IAP is only needed when we need to stabilize and stiffen our spine.
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“Without the diaphragm there is no pressure. Without pressure there is no stability.” - Paul Hodges
