The Valsalva Manoeuvre
While looking up ‘core muscles’ in a bid to speed up my learning to swim, and to refresh my memory so as to improve faster at Shorinji Kempo, I came across the Valsalva Manoeuvre, which, remarkably, is a method in which you can voluntarily and dramatically instantly affect the behaviour of and stresses on your heart:
Core muscles are very important in the Valsalva maneuver, which is when a person’s thorax tightens while holding their breath. This normally involuntary action can be induced by linking one’s hands in front of the chest while standing, and then pulling against the hands without letting go. The Valsalva maneuver assists in lifting, excretion, pushing, and birthing. - wikipedia
Core muscles assisting with excretion? This rung true with a suspicion I have harboured for years, and which now appears to be resolving itself.
The first shades of this suspicion were sown by my father, who expressed a dissatisfaction with Western style sitting toilets, expressing something along the lines of ‘squatting toilets are much better, more comfortable and ergonomic’.
As a child, and thereafter, certain toilet moments have made me think… woah… this is quite an effort. Just how healthy is this? Could I be causing myself health problems like this? But lacking any clear verbal handle to research this, I thought to myself ‘well, everybody lives like this, I can’t be worrying myself with this.’
However, this suspicion was reinforced at some indeterminate date by somebody mentioning ‘careful, you’ll burst a blood vessel like that!’ in response to someone’s (perhaps of a very young age) bowel straining facial expression (or perhaps this was in a film, or perhaps in a dream, who can tell).
So… I was well and truly primed to be receptive to the mention of the engagement of core muscles in excretion, and the Valsalva Manoeuvre fits that bill precisely.
And my suspicion of health problems was very rapidly lent weight:
Excessive straining, expressed in intensively repeated Valsalva Maneuvers, is needed for emptying the bowels in the sitting position.
The Valsalva Maneuver adversely affecting the cardio-vascular system is the causative factor of defecation syncope (fainting) and death. The cardio-vascular system of a healthy man withstands the intensive and repeated straining at defecation, while the compromised cardio-vascular system may fail, resulting in syncope or even death.
The squatting defecation posture is associated with reduced amounts of straining and may prevent many of these tragic cases.” - toilet-related-ailments
This image is particularly illustrative:
(Full description here.)
I recommend that you have a good read around http://www.toilet-related-ailments.com/ and consider adapting your lifestyle towards a squatting toilet position. I know I will. The list of sitting-toilet related ailments listed on that site is long, and true sounding. And it makes me wonder just how many other daily aspects of modern life are so harmful and avoidable…
And any time you find yourself executing the Valsalva Manoeuvre, think, am I overdoing it? Am I doing this because I’m not really strong enough to do what I’m trying to do? Certainly I will be researching this topic further.
