The vast majority of people who perform countless sets and repetitions of ab exercises such as crunches, leg raises, and twists fail to see a dramatic improvement, as if something is missing. Are you one of those who religiously train their abs and still battle distended bowel syndrome?
I can teach you a simple technique to reduce your abdomen in just three weeks! By incorporating this technique, with your regular abdominal training and proper diet, you will reduce the size of your waist and help give you a sculpted midsection!
Requirements
This is exciting news, but it comes with some prerequisites, which are pre-established clean eating habits, adequate water intake, and a low to moderate body fat percentage. Depending on how you maintain your weight, 12-15% is acceptable.
some background
Before we jump over our heads, let’s discuss the reason behind this specialized technique. This exercise I’m talking about is called empty stomach. Relax, we are not going to pump or suck your stomach. This is not a liposuction technique. The stomach vacuum was widely used in the early days of bodybuilding with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Corey Everson and has become what I call “the forgotten abdominal exercise.”
Have you ever noticed how lean, trim, hard, and defined the physiques of bodybuilders were in the late ’70s and early ’80s? Many of today’s high-level bodybuilding competitors have a distended midsection. This could be due to the problem of drug abuse and growth hormone, but it is also related to the fact that many bodybuilders have simply skipped an important training tactic.
The Internal and External Abdominals The abdominal region is made up of internal and external muscles. The external muscles are known as the rectus abdominis and external obliques.
The abdominals cause the rectus abdominis to flex. Forward crunch one-third of the way up targets the entire rectus abdominis. Once the movement passes through this active zone, the hip flexors come into play, de-emphasizing the abdominals.
Your obliques come into greater focus when performing any twisting action, such as twisting crunches where you bring your elbow to your opposite knee.
The real internal abs
The transversus abdominis and the lumbar multifidus are the internal abdominal muscles. These muscles are rarely discussed and are the most neglected. These muscles lie under the rectus abdominis and the external obliques.
The inner abdominal muscles support posture and control deep breathing during power movements such as heavy squats. They are the muscles responsible for supporting the back. Since they are rarely attacked, they are often weaker.
By building a stronger inner abdominal wall, you can limit and relieve back pain, improve posture, create a firmer midsection, and add explosive power to your workout.
The benefits of stomach vacuum
The stomach vacuum is an isometric contraction of the transversus abdominis. As noted above, a stronger transversus abdominis can create a stronger valsalva maneuver (the powerful exhalation required to contract a muscle during an intense workload).
The stomach vacuum is one of the best exercises you can do to reduce your waistline in a very short time. Many people can lose an inch or two from their abdomen in as little as three to four weeks with this technique, provided the prerequisites are met. Also, developing this area of the abdominal muscle will help you gain more control over your abs and better assist you in explosive lifts. Stomach vacuums take practice, but are extremely effective.
How to perform stomach emptying
To perform the stomach vacuum, stand up straight and place your hands on your hips or on top of your head, and then fully exhale all the air from your lungs. As you exhale, expand your chest and pull your stomach in as far as it will go, keeping it in. Don’t hold your breath! To be blunt, it just sucks your gut. Visualize yourself trying to touch your spine with your belly button.
This is an isometric contraction, like curling your biceps. You breathe normally while flexing your biceps and you should breathe normally while performing a stomach vacuum.
sets and reps
Counting reps with this exercise is a little different. An isometric contraction of “X” seconds is one repetition. For example, if you swallow your gut for 10 seconds, that’s one rep. If you do that two more times, that’s 3 sets of 10 reps.
Now, before you say things like, “you can’t reduce blemishes,” “it won’t affect skin elasticity,” and “you can’t have abs by holding your breath,” you’re wrong about this. Article. This article does not claim to do such miraculous things. It’s not about holding your breath or spot reduction. What this exercise CAN do is strengthen and stabilize your core so you have more control over your abs and avoid the sagging belly hangover of an underdeveloped transverse abdominis.
There are macho men who think that since this exercise does not require throwing hundreds of pounds of iron, it is not effective. However, the transversus abdominis is a muscle and needs to be trained. Just because you don’t need a fancy machine or ego-boosting exercise doesn’t mean it’s any less effective. Effective training is about intensity and form, not macho egos and grunts under a stack of plates.
Stomach Vacuum Training Guide: Training days for the stomach vacuum are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or every other day. While the abs can be trained more than other muscle groups, they still need rest. Therefore, doing them daily will not be as effective as you think.
Week #1 – 20 seconds – 3 sets Week #2 – 30 seconds – 3 sets Week #3 – 40 seconds – 3 sets
The idea is to keep progressing in seconds (reps) or sets. You can set your own starting point and progression phase. Eventually try to do 4 full minute sets.
As a bonus, you can use the stomach vacuum when you’re doing your regular abdominal work. Focus on pulling in the transversus abdominis as you do your ab work. Simply do this by pulling in your stomach as much as possible and flexing your snout muscles, as if you were trying to stop the flow of urine.
Bottom Line on Stomach Vacuums
Once mastered, the stomach vacuum can be performed standing, kneeling, sitting, and lying down. Now you have no excuse to avoid abdominal training if you’re stuck in traffic or can’t get away from your desk.