Adult “stomach time” is one thing now – where physiotherapists like

If you thought the time of the belly was just for babies, think again. “Adult Tummy Time” is one of the latest trends in well-being taking Tiktok, with a few videos of training accumulating at least 3 million views.

Supporters of the adult belly time say that sleeping on the belly for 10 minutes or more per day while watching television or reading can improve bad posture and relieve the “neck of technology” – tension of our neck and shoulders caused by looking at phones and laptops for hours every day.

“The neck of technology occurs when the head gradually bows in the vertebral position, putting greater stress on the upper back and neck”, Leah Verebes, PT, DPT, GCS, assistant professor at the Touro University School of Health Sciences and A certified specialist in geriatric physiotherapy council, told Health. “This forward inclination grants up to 60 pounds of pressure on the cervical column, resulting in muscle tension, joint tension and even disc problems.”

Some research estimates that 73% of university students and nearly 65% ​​of people working at home have neck or back pain, with laptops and mobile phones as the main contributors to the problem.

But is the belly for adults really the solution, or should the soil practice be reserved for infants? Health spoke to physiotherapists to discover it.

For uninitiated time, the belly is exactly what it looks like – to yourself. Doctors encourage parents to make babies do it to strengthen their neck, shoulder, nucleus and arms muscles so that they can lift and turn their heads, support their arms and finally roll and crawl. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies to start getting playing time on the belly just after birth, for three to five minutes at a time, working up to an hour or more per day.

“For adults, this intervention is gaining popularity because it is promoted as a way to counter the hours we spend, clash or look at phones and computers,” said Joseph Hribick, DPT, assistant professor of physiotherapy to physiotherapy in Lebanon Valley College. “It is used to help reverse the posture of the head before and rounded shoulders and addresses the outfit from top.”

When you make the belly, some people can sleep with casualness on their stomach while others can treat it more like a pose, similar to the exercises carried out in the stomach position – or lying – in yoga and in pilates, such as sphinx, cobra, swan and swimming.

Although the term “time of the belly of adults” can be new, the position and the idea behind not. “I never called it” stomach time “, but I prescribe this to my patients, especially people with disk injuries in the lower back,” said W. Zach Smith, PT, DPT, doctor of physiotherapy and co-founder of Hidef physiotherapy in the Grand Seattle.

“It’s like the” Hot Girl Walk “,” Milica McDowell, PT, DPT, C-EP, Physiotherapist based in Montana, Physiologist for the Exercise and Vice-President of Operations at Gait, said Health. “What are we doing? We just walk. Someone puts it in a catchy package, then everyone wants to take a bite. ”

Unlike many modes of social media well-being, it actually works, experts said. He thwarts the bent position used during the phone scrolling by bringing the head and neck into the opposite position.

“By going to your stomach, you need to keep your head against gravity, so that it can help you strengthen the muscles on the back of your neck and create a nice support structure for your neck,” said Smith. “And because you put your belly and your head is above the ground, it will also put your neck in the extension instead of a flexed posture, that is what the neck of technology comes.”

Extension exercises and lying positioning have long been used in physiotherapy to improve posture and alleviate pain. And there is research to safeguard their advantages. “Although no clinical trial is known to study by their name” adult belly time “, fundamental principles and interventions are strongly based on evidence,” said Verebes.

Even thus, the time of the belly is not for everyone. People with lower conditions, such as vertebral stenosis, degenerative disc disease or vertebral instability, can find the position aggravates their condition. The same goes for those who experience pain on their stomach or leaning. It is also not recommended for pregnant people (especially in the second and third quarters), who have undergone recent and abdominal surgery, or who have osteoporosis.

Like babies, you will probably have to start with small increments and progress to longer periods. Most people would probably not want to do more than 30 minutes by belly per day. In fact, too much of that could have the opposite effect. “Staying in this position for too long can potentially cause bombing back and neck pain,” said Hribick.

If the neck and back are starting to interfere with your ability to sleep, work or do regular activities, it is probably time to make an appointment with your doctor or a physiotherapist rather than trying a DIY treatment.

Other signs, it’s time to see a professional is that if you feel numbness, tingling or burns or if you are self-medical with pain relievers, marijuana or other substances, said McDowell.

Although experts are suitable that stomach time can help, it will probably not be cured by magic all the pains on the neck, shoulder and back.

“A time of the belly is going to be better than nothing, but it’s just a piece of the puzzle,” said McDowell. “The time of the belly will not completely repair your neck of technology. It will help. It will sift the iceberg, but it is not a panacea. ”

Here are other recommendations supported by experts:

• Seek: McDowell said that if you want the benefit of an extension without lying on your belly, an alternative is to look at the ceiling. This can be particularly useful for people who cannot lie lying or look a lot while they work, like chiefs or mechanisms, but cannot stop what they are doing to lie on their stomach.
• Use devices at the right height: Supply of devices to the eye keeps our neutral neck, which can reduce pain and tension, said McDowell. Keep your phone high instead of your knees by supporting it on something or pressing your elbow in your belly while you keep it. Place a yoga block or a pile of books under a laptop to raise it in your eyes. Better yet, connect it to an external monitor and keyboard so that you do not look at the screen.
• Practice other exercises: Verebes recommends “wall angels” to activate the upper back muscles. Hold on a wall and slide your arms folded from top to bottom in a goal post pattern. Scapular contractions (pressing the shoulder blades together) can also promote a more straight posture and engage the back of the back of the back. Yoga poses, including cat / cow, pose the child, sphinx and cobra can also help.
• Take breaks of movement: Adjust a timer to get up to sit and move every 30 to 60 minutes.
• Try a standing office: If you are in front of a computer all day, use a standing office if available to change the posture and get out of the seated positions. But when you sit down, keep your feet flat on the ground with hips and knees about a 90 -degree angle, Hribick said.

Small adjustments can greatly contribute to mitigating ouch. “Make small progressive positive changes in your workstation, your postures, your movements and your exercise composed over time and lead to powerful changes in the fight against the” technological neck “, said Hribick.