Though the stomach vacuum is not a groundbreaking exercise, few realize how important it is for strengthening the abdominals. If you do it correctly and persistently, it’s one of the best and fastest ways to slim your waistline, tone your tummy, and improve your posture.
Over the years I’ve mainly done dynamic ab exercises like sit-ups, leg raises, crunches, etc. Since I enjoy trying new things and I’d like to get more diversified ab workouts, I gave the stomach vacuuming exercise a try in spite of being skeptical if it works. I did it each morning for about five minutes. I noticed that my stomach got flatter after a week, and it didn’t pop out as much. This is because the transversus abdominis is worked effectively during the exercise.
I still do the stomach ab vacuum exercise almost daily in the morning. It works well with my traditional ab workout.
Give yourself 3-5 minutes a day for this exercise to get a better-looking abdomen.
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What are the benefits of the stomach vacuum exercise?
A stomach vacuum is an isometric exercise that targets the abdominal wall. During an isometric contraction, muscle length remains relatively constant during tension production.
Works the deep core
By performing ab vacuum, you will strengthen your deep core muscles, especially your transverse abdominis, as well as your rectus abdominis and obliques. The transversus abdominis are deep abs muscles that aren’t easy to target with traditional exercises. Typical core exercises for this layer of muscle are abdominal hollowing and the plank exercise. In a nutshell, it is a great way to improve your core strength.
Great for women
A diastasis recti is a separation between the left and right abdominal muscles that causes the belly to stick out. Pregnant women commonly experience this condition, which is often called the “pooch.” It affects about two-thirds of pregnant women.
It’s not a fantastic sight to see the abdominal vacuum, but it’s a very effective exercise. This mini workout will help you to get rid of that pooch. Do it every day to achieve the perfect summer body.
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Quick and effective
It doesn’t need to take hours for you to sweat. You can do it while you work at a desk or drive. Your determination is all it takes. If you use the abdominal vacuum, you can flatten your stomach significantly. While it won’t take fat off the critical area, it still gives you flat abs. In this case, it is also essential to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.
No matter how much fat you have on your belly, this exercise is still beneficial. Start today. You don’t have to wait for when you are skinny. In a few weeks, you’ll be able to see results. Internal abdominal muscles like internal obliques and transverse abdominis are worked with this exercise.
It has yoga origins
Due to its yoga origins, this practice has a history of use dating back centuries, proving its efficacy. In addition to toning your muscles, this exercise also improves bowel function and reduces backaches.
It doesn’t build bulky muscles
People doing bodybuilding have those barrel stomaches. That looks pretty bad. Arnold had a very slim midsection. Guess what he did every day? Yes, the tummy vacuum exercise.
It is important to remember that strengthening these internal, invisible muscles will not increase your belly size. By improving their contractility, the abdominal muscles above them will also become stronger and will be able to function better since they will be more stabilized.
In addition to improving your appearance, vacuuming is also good for your health. A hernia can occur if you have weak abdominal muscles.
How to do stomach vacuuming?
The best way to vacuum is standing up. (You can find a few easier variations below, however.)
Here is a step-by-step technique:
- Be sure to exhale completely.
- Imagine touching your navel with your spine by pulling your stomach in. Imagine stepping into a cold sea and the water touching your belly. The more you can hollowing your belly and control it, the more you work your muscles. (You can place your hands on your abdomen to feel the contraction.)
- Hold this position for 10 to 15 seconds, feeling it almost hurt. It won’t work if you don’t feel anything.
- Let yourself relax.
- You should repeat the circuit 2-5 times.
For those who find it difficult to feel the exercise, lean forward a little or lean on something to help you pull your stomach in. But the goal is to be consistently able to stand straight while doing it.
On all fours vacuum pose
Using this stomach vacuum variation is perhaps a bit easier than using the standard form, so try this variation if you are having trouble with the standard version.
- Be sure to align your hips, knees, and shoulders at 90 degrees as you go on all fours. Keep your lower back in a gentle curve.
- Draw your belly up toward your spine. Be sure to breathe normally in this position.
- Squeezing your sex organs together and pulling them gently towards your belly button will also help contract your pelvic floor muscles.
How can you make your stomach vacuum workout harder?
In this video, you will learn how to modify the vacuum abdominal exercise so that you use the external obliques and rectus abs alongside the internal obliques and transverse abdominis. In classic bodybuilding versions of this breathing exercise, you had to squeeze your belly. Getting functional abs requires more than that.
Bodybuilders use a vacuum ab workout to get their core muscles to work together. You can get a tighter waist using the Arnold vacuum pose, as some like to call it. If you activate the external obliques and overlying abs once this is done, a whole new level of activation occurs.
When performing the abdominal movement, the critical difference between these vacuum exercise variations is actually the sequence in which the muscles are used. By firing your deep ab muscles first, you set yourself up for stability so you can exert greater power in your more superficial ab muscles later.
Stomach vacuum results
Bodybuilding’s most prominent personality, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is known for his narrow waist and flat stomach. And guess what he did a lot? The vacuum!
But, you can also find plenty of results on the internet. For example, this guy did it for 21 days, and he saw excellent results.
Eating a balanced diet is vital. When you eat well and do these exercises, they do work! To get the most out of them, you should do them on an empty stomach, the first thing in the morning. Get all the air out of your lungs and suck your belly for as long as you can. Take 3 long breaths, release the air and squeeze your abdomen for as long as you can. Every morning, do 10 reps.
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FAQ
How many stomach vacuums should I do per day?
Initially, start with three sets and work your way up to five sets or more. Additionally, the amount of time you vacuum your stomach matters. Begin by holding it for 15 seconds, and gradually increase it to 30 seconds and more over time. A great thing about stomach vacuum exercises is that your muscles can’t overtrain so you can do them multiple times per day.
How long should you hold a vacuum pose?
When you begin, aim to hold each vacuum for 15 seconds. Progress over time is important with any exercise. Hold the vacuum for 60 seconds or more per set as you progress.
Does ab vacuum burn belly fat?
Abs vacuum exercises are isolated strength training exercises that do not require much intensity. As a result, it does not increase your heart rate or engage multiple muscle groups necessary for body fat burning to occur. To sum it up, it shapes and strengthens the abs, but it doesn’t help much with reducing belly fat. To lose stomach fat you need to get rid of your bad diet plus do cardiovascular exercise to get visible stomach muscles.
Conclusion
In summary, ab vacuums are very effective at reducing your stomach and shaping your midsection. This is because they are gentle but still effective, and they don’t require any special equipment. They are easy to perform, and they are actually kind of fun. So if you want to have a flat abdomen, give stomach vacuums a try.
Last update on 2023-10-02 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API