Why it's bad to always suck your stomach in
Lancaster (UK) (The Conversation): Our abdominal muscles are among the hardest-working muscles in the body. They are involved in nearly every move we make, keeping the body stable and balanced, protecting our spine and even ensuring our internal organs stay where they're supposed to.
But certain health conditions and even unnecessarily tensing the muscles during your daily life can cause the abdominal muscles to become imbalanced.
Over time, this can lead to a condition called "hourglass syndrome" a detrimental change in the structure of the abdominal wall, which may cause a visible crease to form in the mid-abdomen.
Not only that, but this change can also have a knock-on effect on the internal organs and other parts of the body if left untreated.
There are four main causes of hourglass syndrome. All of them result in an imbalance in the function of the abdominal muscles.
The first is due to certain congenital conditions (such as gastroschisis or omphacele) which cause the abdominal muscles to develop incorrectly, leading to muscle imbalances.
Poor posture is another cause. This leads the spine to move away from its normal, s-shaped curvature, resulting in detrimental changes in the tension and function of the abdominal muscles, leading to imbalances.
Pain in the abdomen (whether from stomach, liver or gallbladder problems) can also cause a person of voluntarily or involuntarily contract their abdominal muscles in order to reduce or avoid pain.
But another surprising cause of hourglass syndrome may be body image issues, which are an increasing issue. People who may feel insecure in their body or who want a flat stomach may suck their stomach muscles to achieve this look.
Muscle imbalance
When we suck our stomach in it causes our rectus abdominis (commonly referred to as our "six-pack" muscles) to contract. But since we tend to store more fat tissue in our lower abdomen, the muscles at the top of the stomach tend to be more active.
This creates a fold or crease in the abdomen over a long period, with the belly button being pulled upwards.
Regardless of the cause whether voluntary or involuntary sucking the stomach in places greater pressure on the lower back and neck. This is because they now have to compensate for changes in core stability.
The compression of the abdomen also reduces the amount of space available for the abdominal organs to reside. If you consider the abdomen like a tube of toothpaste, squeezing it in the middle creates pressure at the top and bottom.
The pressure at the top affects breathing by making the diaphragm (the major muscle involved in drawing air in) unable to pull down as far.
The pressure at the bottom places greater force on the pelvic floor muscles as the abdominal cavity reduces in volume when the abdomen is sucked in. Alongside this, there are increased forces placed on the joints of the spine and pelvis because the abdominal muscles are less able to absorb impact when tensed.
Although there's limited research looking at the effect of hourglass syndrome itself on breathing capacity, research on abdominal strapping (where the whole abdomen or only part of it is strapped to aid recovery from a muscle injury or after surgery), shows a 34 per cent decrease in the amount of air that's exhaled and a 27 per cent - 40 per cent reduction in total lung capacity.
It's uncertain if this leads to long-term changes in breathing capacity. But in the short term, this may it harder to exercise and you may also feel fatigued earlier due to reduced oxygen coming into the bloodstream.
Sucking in the abdomen can place strain on the pelvic floor, which will affect the function of the bladder, uterus and rectum, potentially causing urine or faecal matter to leak, as well as uterine prolapse. For people who already have issues with pelvic floor dysfunction (such as urinary or faecal incontinence), sucking in the stomach may worsen them.
Fortunately, hourglass syndrome is reversible. Treating the muscular imbalance through exercises that strengthen all of the core muscles will help. Exercises such as planks or bridges are just a couple of examples. Similarly, activities such as yoga or pilates are also likely to be beneficial in relaxing the muscles.
Hourglass syndrome is probably something that will develop over a long period weeks of consistently sucking in the stomach. So occasionally sucking the stomach muscles in is not likely to cause problems.
There are also many ways you can avoid it. If you have unexplained or prolonged abdominal pain, it's worth seeking medical advice not only to prevent muscle imbalances but also to treat the root cause of the pain.
If you tend to suck your stomach in to improve your appearance, exercises that strengthen the muscles and back will be useful for helping maintain good posture and flatten the abdomen.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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