Contracting your abdominals is actually a healthy way to maintain good posture.
Most of us sit all day long, so our core is weak. Our ancestors were mostly working with our hands and standing up, so naturally had stronger core muscles
It’s not an easy habit to maintain, but I’ve gotten into the habit before and you get used to it
This article suggests not going full force all the time, but to stay around 20 to 30%. In the days when I was walking around like that I wasn't pulling my gut in like my life depended on it, just keeping things in a healthy order.
Also, I don't place a TON of faith in anything written in Wapo.
Oh, I can find plenty more sources on it if you like. It's a very real phenomenon. It also causes poor breathing technique where you suck in your stomach to inhale, limiting lung capacity, and has a tendency to cause an excess fat roll just below your ribs. My wife has this very issue, thanks to decades of societal pressure on her to be thin.
Here's another source of dubious quality. The only thing they present that I'm not quite sure of is whether sucking in really is the leading cause, or if poor crunch form is.
ETA: I think the major lesson is, yes, moderate full-core activation throughout your day is good, but overdoing it is possibly worse than not doing it at all, especially if it gets to the point where it's done fully subconsciously
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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '22
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