“Intensive abs sessions can do damage” (Joëlle Bildstein – The Belly Lab)

What is The Belly Lab method?

It is a postural and respiratory method intended to build up your belly in depth. It comes from hypopressive abs.

Can you explain to us what hypopressive abs are?

The hypopressive method or gym was invented by Dr. Marcel Caufriez. It is a breathing technique and posture work intended to strengthen the abdominal strap. It is no longer a question of pushing down, but of exhaling so as to have the organs and the perineum rising upwards to put everything back in its place.

Today there are hundreds, if not more, of methods to achieve a flat stomach. How does this one differ from the others?

There are indeed multiple methods intended to have a flat stomach, but they are often ‘hyperpressive’. This means that they push the belly and the organs down, sometimes creating big problems of incontinence, constipation or even prolapse – descent of organs – especially in women. This method is different because we work from the bottom up, and we therefore raise all the organs. We will put the organs back in their place, improve digestion, and we will contract and work your perineum in depth. The goal is to strengthen only the transverse, as well as the obliques, so as to have a stronger abdominal strap – among others. But above all, it is through breathing alone and the pelvic floor that we will succeed in having results.

I asked myself this question when I started The Belly Lab method in 2012. I was afraid, almost ashamed, and I said to myself: ‘but how will women believe me and think that they will have a flat stomach thanks to breathing?’. You have to understand that the exhalation and the contraction of the pelvic floor will seek a muscle called the transverse, which is innervated, and that it is a kind of sheath that we naturally have around the abdomen which encircles our spine. It is thanks to the control of the breath that we will be able to strengthen this muscle which will contract on itself. And it is by strengthening your transverse, and only your transverse, that we can hope one day to have a flatter stomach, and even more to reconnect with your stomach. This is very important, especially since breathing also leads us to a certain refocusing on ourselves, and to work on stress since it lowers the level of cortisol, the stress hormone. My fight is to fight against crunches, intensive abdominal sessions and anything that can do damage to women’s stomachs and perineum… So stop intensive abdominal sessions.

Beyond diet, poor sitting posture, or more simply morphology, what can cause stomach problems?

Beyond bad posture, physical inactivity, obesity, diet, bad impact sports, intensive abs, the stomach also undergoes our emotions: sadness, anger, hatred, humiliation, jealousy… This can have many negative impacts, including digestive upset. We wake up in the morning, everything is fine, then in the evening we go to bed with a belly the size of a rugby ball. Often linked to stress and other emotional causes.

A fortiori, having a flat stomach is not just an aesthetic issue. What are the benefits of a ‘calmed’ stomach?

There is necessarily an aesthetic issue, but a soothed belly is above all a belly that we love. We’re going to love it, we’re going to pamper it, we’re going to pamper it and every day we’re going to give it back its place. Many women have put their belly aside, they have their head on one side, the belly on the other. Sometimes they completely forget about him, so he knocks on the door and that results in stomach aches, bloating, indigestion. You have to give it the place it deserves to feel better, physically and mentally.

We talk a lot about the connection between the brain and the intestine, to which you devote a whole chapter. Can we deduce that the well-being of the belly is perhaps more important, if not as important, than that of the mind?

In my opinion, the connection between the brain and the intestine is essential. I would even say that the belly is the first brain. I may be a little out of step with that, but today when you feel bad in your stomach, you also feel bad in your skin and in your head. We actually have a more wobbly life because the inking is not there. We don’t feel our emotions, we don’t listen to our body, and one day or another it reminds us through different ailments.

To carry out The Belly Lab method, you have to devote 15 minutes a day to it. Women don’t always have the time… Do you have any exercises that can be done while traveling or at work?

It is essential to do these 15 minutes of exercises a day, but it can be five minutes in the morning, at noon or in the evening, for example. It’s up to everyone’s convenience, the main thing is simply to do it. I always say that if we don’t have five minutes to ourselves in a day, there’s a problem. Especially since I give in the book several exercises to be carried out away from home, whether in transport or at work, and which simply require sitting on a chair, with your back straight.

You also mention the role of food. What should be favored to have a flat stomach?

I am against the diktats of thinness and diets, but if you want to have a peaceful stomach, to be better in your stomach, you have to pay attention to your microbiota, to your intestinal flora. It should be considered as a small garden that we take care of every day, paying attention to what we plant there – and therefore what we eat. I recommend taking notes in a notebook, and to write down, for example, the foods that may have caused stomach aches or bloating. The goal is to regulate, and try to stop certain foods to replace them with others, and see what happens. You have to listen to yourself, and listen to your belly, since it is he who will give all the right indications. There are still golden rules, including that of favoring vegetables, putting green in all your meals, and never mixing protein with gluten and starchy foods.

*”The Belly Lab method: Better in your stomach, better in your head” by Joëlle Bildstein – Editions de l’Homme – Released March 16, 2023.