Adult Tummy Time: Why you should be doing it every day.

What is Tummy Time?

We’ve all heard babies should have tummy time. Tummy time is not about their bellies. It is about their back and helps them develop a spine strong enough to help them lift their heads, sit up, and prepare to stand and walk. Imagine a toddler trying to walk with their spine and hips still in the fetal position. The prone or tummy position stretches out the front of the body and strengthens the hips and back. This creates the strength and balance necessary for continued development and healthy alignment.

If you’ve been around babies just starting tummy time, you know it isn’t always their favorite activity. But, as the baby gets stronger, tummy time becomes another fun way of exploring and interacting with their environment. Adults need tummy time, too, but for entirely different reasons. 

Tummy Time While You Sleep

When I recommend tummy time to my teen and adult clients, I often get “the look.” That “what you talkin’ about Willis?” face. I laugh, then explain. 

Adults (let’s include older kids and teens in this conversation, too) rarely spend time lying on their stomachs. Some health professionals also recommend not sleeping on your stomach, which, in my opinion, only makes sense when there is a medical issue, injury, or significantly limited range of motion in the neck. For many of us, it is just fine and actually a good idea. Sleeping on your stomach promotes neck range of motion and helps us regain what we lose during the day from constantly looking forward. Sleeping positions could take up another entire article. If you are interested, you may want to check out my blog on pillows.

Back to getting prone (tummy time) during the day…

Chair-Sitting

Our culture is set up so that we are almost always sitting. Toileting, eating, working, driving, relaxing, etc., all involve chairs of varying structure and comfort. Chairs didn’t become common until the 16th century. Since then, we’ve kept making them more and more cozy and comfortable. Our bodies have become very accustomed to chair-sitting. Chair-sitting isn’t necessarily bad, but most use chairs irresponsibly. We collapse into the chair, letting the chair do the work of keeping us upright. We allow our tailbones to tuck under and our heads to fall forward. What does this look like? The fetal position!

Our bodies become sticky in the positions we are in most, especially if we don’t move them regularly through a full range of motion in different planes (think yoga, tai chi, dancing, or similar). Add up the hours you sit in a day. For many of us, that will be 12+ hours. Ouch! Not only does our fascia thicken and tighten with lack of movement. This habitual positioning creates muscle imbalances. Some muscles become far longer than they are intended to be, and others are shorter. All are probably tight. What to do? The good news is that our bodies are very resilient.

Positioning the Pelvis for Effective Tummy Time

To get on the path to tummy time, the first thing you should know is proper pelvic positioning. There are a variety of landmarks in your pelvis, but this is probably the easiest for most people to find. Stand sideways in a mirror. Feel the bones that stick out the furthest in front on both sides of your hips. These are known as the anterior superior iliac spine or ASIS. Now, find the pubic bone. Put your fingers just under your belly button. Press in and slide down until you feel a bone. That is the top of your pubic bone, which is also part of your pelvis. These three bony landmarks are all connected.

Now try this movement that will remind you of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tilt your hips so the pubic bone is further forward than the ASIS landmarks. Now try tipping the ASIS points back and your pubic bone forward. The goal is to line them up in the same plane shown in the picture below. This is the position where your lower back is the strongest. It is also the best position for diaphragmatic breathing and pelvic floor function!  This position also allows the upper body to stack up in the best alignment. (Sidenote: If you can’t get rid of your neck or shoulder pain, check your hips!)

Make it Work for You

You may be able to feel the landmarks better if you get on the floor on your tummy. A floor is best to try this. A bed is too soft and will skew your results. Make sure to also have your chest and shoulders close to the floor. Can you feel those three points touching the floor? If not, reach your hand to feel the landmarks.  What isn’t touching? Can you tilt your pelvis back and forth to get there? If you can’t, your fascia, muscles, or joints are probably sticky. Don’t force it. Instead, stay there and see if your body will slowly adjust.

Give it time. It may take a few minutes or a few months. However, moving toward proper pelvic alignment is a huge step toward better overall health and less pain. If you have trouble achieving this position with gravity helping you, you will have difficulty working against gravity while standing. 

If this is too hard, start on the bed, but move to the floor when you can. You can take your tummy time further by adding a ball to stretch your abdominal fascia and muscles. See more in my video Belly Stretch.

While in tummy time, you probably won’t have anyone entertaining you or cheering you on like you may have had as a baby during tummy time. But you can entertain yourself. Read, play a game, listen to a book or music, watch the news or some Netflix, or meditate. Get your family and friends to practice tummy time, too!

If you need help finding proper alignment and deciding how to get there, make an appointment. I’m happy to help!

I also have many great courses to help get your body on track. Check them out here.

Updated June, 17th 2024