Upper ab tension (or “gripping”) is a common pattern I see in the postpartum period, especially those doing everything “right” in their core work, but still feeling tight, disconnected, or imbalanced.

If you’ve tried all the core exercises, stretching, or cueing your way out of this tension and it’s not working… it’s probably time to zoom out. Tension often isn’t just a core issue.

It’s often a pressure and position issue rooted in the way your ribcage, pelvis, and core are working together. Let’s break down what’s really going on and how to fix it from the ground up.

What Is Upper Ab Gripping?

Upper ab gripping is a pattern of excess tension through the upper portion of the rectus abdominis (the “six-pack” muscle), often visible as tightness or doming through the top of the abdomen, especially during movement, exertion, or even breathing.

It may feel like:

• Constant tightness or tension just below the ribs
• “Overworking” during core exercises
• Trouble accessing lower abs or obliques
• Visible coning or doming near the upper abdomen
• Shallow breathing and difficulty expanding the ribs

What Causes It?

Upper ab gripping is not just a bad habit. It’s a protective strategy the body uses to stabilize when the system feels out of sync. Common contributing factors include:

Pressure mismanagement — like breath-holding, shallow breathing, or constant bracing
Ribcage or spinal positioning — such as flared ribs, extended spine, or anterior pelvic tilt
Postpartum changes — diastasis, altered breathing mechanics, or lack of coordination
Underactive support systems — like the pelvic floor, obliques, or posterior chain
Overuse of global muscles — like rectus abdominis and lats taking over when deeper stabilizers aren’t firing.

Why Upper Ab Gripping Doesn’t Build a Strong Core

While upper ab gripping may feel like you’re in control or engaging your core, it doesn’t reflect true core strength. Instead, it often reduces mobility in the ribcage and spine, disrupts the balance between breath, pressure, and movement, and encourages over-reliance on the rectus abdominis and other accessory muscles. This pattern can limit coordination with the pelvic floor and glutes, and in many cases — especially postpartum — it can actually worsen coning or doming. Bottom line: gripping is a compensation pattern, not a long-term solution.

A Full-Body Approach to Release Upper Ab Tension

Fixing upper ab tension starts with zooming out. Your abs are only one part of the system. Let’s look at how to build better pressure management, mobility, and integration:

1. Posterior Expansion

Goal: Expand back ribs and shift pressure away from the front line.

When the ribs can’t expand posteriorly with breath, the diaphragm is limited in its ability to fully descend, making each breath more shallow and chest-driven. As a result, the upper abs often kick in to compensate for the lack of pressure control and stability, leading to gripping and unnecessary tension. By restoring movement and breath into the back of the ribs, we create space for the diaphragm to function more efficiently and for the core and pelvic floor to coordinate properly.

This shift reduces the body’s reliance on surface-level tension and helps retrain the system for deeper, more effective breathing and core support — ultimately lessening the need for upper ab gripping as a strategy.

Exercises:

Short Lever Side Plank with Forward Reach

• Muscles worked: Obliques, serratus anterior, transverse abdominis
• Benefits: Opens up the back ribs, facilitates oblique engagement, improves side-to-side expansion
• How to: From a short side plank position (knees bent), reach the top arm forward as you exhale softly, thinking about filling the back of your ribcage. Hold and breathe in this position.

Hands and Knees Breathing with Band Feedback

• Muscles worked: Diaphragm, obliques, pelvic floor
• Benefits: Trains 360° expansion and coordinated breath
• How to: Wrap a resistance band around your lower ribs. Inhale and gently expand into the band (especially back and sides). You should feel a gradual build of pressure across the band.

2. Rib Mobility

Goal: Free up the thoracic spine and ribcage

Improving rib mobility plays a crucial role in reducing upper ab gripping because the position and movement of the ribcage directly influence how the core functions. When the ribs are stiff or stuck in an extended or flared position, it becomes difficult to achieve a full exhale or activate the diaphragm and deep core muscles effectively. This often leads the upper abs to compensate by gripping in an attempt to create stability. Enhancing rib mobility allows for better ribcage expansion and recoil during breath, supports optimal alignment of the spine and pelvis, and creates the space needed for the diaphragm, pelvic floor, and abdominal wall to work together.

With improved rib mobility, the body no longer needs to rely on tension or holding patterns in the upper abs to feel “stable,” allowing for more coordinated, efficient movement.

Exercise:

Seated Banded Reciprocal Row

• Muscles worked: Rhomboids, middle traps, obliques
• Benefits: Encourages thoracic rotation and rib mobility in a controlled setting
• How to: Sit upright with a resistance band in both hands. As one arm rows back, the other reaches forward. Inhale to prepare, exhale on the reach and rotation. Alternate sides. This is a great early postpartum exercises as it is both supported and can be modified with the use of a resistance band, like shown.

3. A Full Exhale with Light Resistance

Goal: Reduce pressure and down regulate tension with gentle breathwork

Learning to fully exhale is a key step in improving upper ab gripping because it helps restore balance and control to the core system. A complete exhale allows the ribcage to move down and in, which shifts the diaphragm into a better position to coordinate with the pelvic floor and deep core muscles. This not only reduces the tension held in the upper abs, but also improves intra-abdominal pressure regulation — something gripping tends to disrupt. When you exhale fully, you’re training your body to release unnecessary tension, use your breath more effectively, and create space for proper core engagement without compensating through bracing or over recruiting the upper abdominal wall.

Exercise:

90/90 Breathing with Banded Reach

• Muscles worked: Serratus anterior, obliques, transverse abdominis
• Benefits: Builds rib control, engages deep core muscles without overactivation
• How to: Lying on your back with knees bent, hold a light band overhead. Exhale softly through pursed lips as you reach your hands toward the ceiling. Feel your ribs drop and core engage gently.

4. Core-Glute-Pelvic Floor Coordination

Goal: Integrate deep core with lower body support to reduce compensation

When the upper abs grip, it’s often a sign that the body is compensating for a lack of support or coordination elsewhere — particularly from the glutes and pelvic floor. Without this integrated support, the upper abs may try to take over, leading to excessive tension and poor breathing mechanics. Reconnecting these systems helps distribute effort more effectively, reduces the need for gripping, and promotes a more balanced, functional core strategy that supports both everyday movement and higher-demand activities.

Exercise:

Glute Bridge with Adductor Squeeze + Band Pullover

• Muscles worked: Glutes, adductors, obliques, transverse abdominis
• Benefits: Encourages pelvis-rib stacking, builds pressure management during movement
• How to: Lie on your back with a pilates ball or block between your knees, resistance band anchored overhead. Squeeze the ball, bridge up, and pull the band over your chest while exhaling.

5. Functional Movement with Connection

👉 Goal: Load the system in dynamic ways without reverting to gripping strategies

Functional full body movement is essential for improving upper ab gripping because it challenges the core system to work reflexively and efficiently in real life, dynamic scenarios. While breathwork and mobility lay the groundwork by restoring position and awareness, the real test is whether those patterns hold up under load, rotation, asymmetry, and movement complexity.

The goal is to integrate strength, breath, and coordination without defaulting to old compensation strategies like upper ab gripping. Functional exercises — such as lunges, carries, presses, and rotational movements — create opportunities to reinforce proper core-glute-pelvic floor coordination while managing pressure in more demanding contexts. This not only builds true strength and resilience, but teaches the body to stabilize and generate power without relying on excess tension in the upper abs.

Over time, this re patterning helps make efficient, full body core engagement the default. Both in training and in daily life.

Exercises:

Tall Kneeling Kettlebell Halo

• Muscles worked: Core, shoulders, thoracic spine
• Benefits: Challenges ribcage control, spinal mobility, and core stability in upright posture
• How to: From a tall kneeling position, hold a kettlebell and slowly “halo” it around your head. Exhale as the bell comes around the back of your head. Stay stacked throughout.

Kneeling Lat Pulldown with Overhead Press

• Muscles worked: Lats, deltoids, core, glutes
• Benefits: Trains full-body integration under resistance
• How to: From a half-kneeling or tall kneeling position, pull a cable or band down to chest level, then press overhead without rib flare. Use a soft exhale to guide the press.

Final Thoughts:

Upper ab gripping is a common compensation pattern — but not a sustainable or effective strategy for core strength. It often masks deeper imbalances in breath, alignment, and coordination. Simply telling someone to “relax their abs” or “engage their core” isn’t enough. Instead, we need to:

• Improve rib and spine mobility to allow better positioning
• Restore full exhalation to unlock the diaphragm and deep core
• Expand breath into the back of the ribcage to reduce shallow, chest-driven patterns
• Reconnect the core with the glutes and pelvic floor for integrated support
• Load the body dynamically without reverting to gripping for stability

Building a strong, functional core requires a systems-level approach — not just stronger abs, but smarter movement. By retraining how you breathe, move, and stabilize under load, you’ll create lasting strength that goes far beyond surface level tension.

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Let’s build a stronger, more connected system — without gripping.