Belly vacuum - exercise for weight loss. How to do a stomach vacuum at home

06.06.202127.05.2017

Vacuum- one of the most effective exercises. It originated from the ancient practices of yoga, and gained its popularity in the "golden era of bodybuilding."

The hallmark of the athletes of that time was the so-called V-shaped figure: developed shoulders, wide and, of course, flat embossed belly And . Bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted that such an aesthetic combination is achieved largely due to the “abdominal vacuum” exercise.

To figure out why to make a vacuum, how to do it and how the effect of its implementation arises, let's turn to the structure of the abdominal muscles in the article.

Anatomy of the abdominal muscles

The abdominal press consists of external and internal muscle groups:

External abdominal muscles:
- Straight.
- External oblique.
Internal muscles:
- Internal oblique.
- Transverse.

The deepest layer is formed by the transverse abdominal muscles that encircle the waist and act as a natural corset. That is, it is this muscle group that is responsible for supporting internal organs and flat stomach.

The absence of loads on the transverse muscle group contributes to:

The appearance of excess weight at the waist, since the fibers of these muscles are of the slow type, using subcutaneous fat as an energy source.
The lack of strength in the muscular corset, which leads to the extrusion of the internal organs of the abdomen forward.

Classical (lifting the body, legs, twisting, etc.) basically work out only the external muscle groups that form the relief.

For effective strengthening transverse muscles, it is necessary to do static (isometric) exercises. Along with the plank, the best example static exercise for development internal muscles the press is vacuum.

What is the exercise "vacuum for the abdomen"?

The vacuum for the abdomen is:

static(isometric) exercise, i.e., an exercise in which tension in the muscles does not arise with the help of movement, but due to a delay in a certain position.
Respiratory exercise.

Exercise features

The main feature of the vacuum lies in its technique, based on the maximum retraction of the abdomen and proper breathing.

At the same time, proper breathing involves “breathing with the stomach”, i.e. when inhaling, the air is directed to the stomach, due to which the diaphragm moves not back and forth, but up and down. This not only strengthens muscle corset, but also develops the muscles of the diaphragm.

What is useful?

The systematic implementation of the vacuum of the abdomen allows you to:

In addition, vacuum gymnastics does not require special equipment and is suitable for home and office use.

How many times to do a vacuum of the abdomen?

Slow twitch fibers of the internal abdominal muscle groups are best worked out when daily workouts and prolonged static loads.

Therefore, to achieve the result it is necessary:

Hold your breath and hold the contracted position for as long as possible (the best is to perform 3-5 sets of 1-2 minutes).
Do a "vacuum" as often as possible (preferably at least 5 times a week).

How is it done?

In order to properly do a vacuum of the abdomen, you should understand its technique. Despite the fact that, at first glance, it seems simple, this technique consists of many nuances, mainly related to the intricacies of proper breathing, and includes the following steps.

Namely:

It is necessary to make a vacuum on an empty stomach or 3-4 hours after eating.

Depending on the starting position The abdominal vacuum is divided into four types:

lying down;
on the knees;
sitting;
standing.

The technical component of the exercise in each position remains unchanged. The difference lies only in the complexity of its implementation.

Vacuum lying

Vacuum from the supine position is considered one of the easiest to perform and is suitable for any beginner. In this position, the force of gravity itself contributes to the retraction of the abdominal muscles.

How to do:

Sit on a flat surface.
Straighten your arms along the body.
Bend your knees or stretch forward.

Once you have mastered the technique of the “vacuum” exercise and will easily do 3-5 sets of 1-2 minutes in the prone position, you can proceed to the vacuum on your knees ("on all fours").

This option is considered somewhat complicated, because in this case you need to make a vacuum against gravity.

How to do:

Get on your knees.
Rest your palms on the floor at shoulder level.
Do not bend your elbows and make sure that your back is straight: do not slouch and do not bend in the lower back.
Make a vacuum, following the correct technique.

Vacuum sitting

Vacuum sitting- Another complicated option that involves the stabilizing muscles responsible for maintaining the equilibrium position of the spine.

How to do:

If desired, you can complicate the task and increase the load in this position. To do this, it is necessary to sit not on a chair, but on a surface that provides instability of the support, for example, a fitball.

You can also do a stomach vacuum while sitting on your knees (not to be confused with the “on all fours” vacuum, where the body is parallel to the floor):

Get on your knees.
Get into a sitting position.
Move away from the heels by 20-25 cm.
Make sure that the body is perpendicular to the floor.
Make a vacuum, following the correct technique.

Vacuum standing

As you progress, move on to the most difficult type - vacuum from a standing position. This option will allow you to maximize the use of the internal muscles of the abdomen and the muscles-stabilizers of the back.

How to do:

Stand straight, shoulder-width apart and slightly bent at the knees.
Straighten your arms along the body.
Make sure it stays straight and down.
Make a vacuum, following the correct technique.

There are several more variations of performing a vacuum from a standing position:

Simplified standing vacuum. located on the knees, the body moves forward, resulting in additional support.
Complicated standing vacuum. Hands are located behind the head, which allows you to even more include the upper abdominal muscles in the work.

Efficiency

The result from performing a vacuum will occur even earlier if you control the internal transverse muscles throughout the day. To do this, you do not need to hold your breath or draw in your stomach, you just need to always keep your abs in tension. After a while, this will become a habit and the key to a flat stomach and wasp waist.

The best tips for performing a vacuum and subsequently for weight loss:

Is vacuum gymnastics safe for the abdomen?

Belly vacuum- an exercise that does not require professional coordination, the availability of specialized equipment and knowledge. Subject to correct technique performance, as well as the absence of contraindications, discomfort and discomfort, vacuum gymnastics cannot harm the body and is safe.

In yoga, it is generally believed that vacuum helps to rejuvenate the internal glands, nerves. gastric tract and intestines, removes toxins, improves blood supply to internal organs and strengthens the back muscles.

Can I make a vacuum during menstruation?

While safe, useful, and effective, vacuum has its limitations. In women, the tension of the internal abdominal muscles as a result of its implementation causes uterine contractions.

During menstruation (menstruation, because the vacuum will increase bleeding).
During pregnancy (since a vacuum can provoke some undesirable consequences up to a miscarriage).
Immediately (only a gynecologist will determine for how long after childbirth).

Contraindications

There are several more contraindications for which vacuum gymnastics should be abandoned:

Gastric ulcer.
Ulcer of the 12 duodenal ulcer.
Other diseases of the abdominal cavity.
Recovery period after surgery.
Diseases of the respiratory system.
Diseases of the cardiovascular system.
The period of exacerbation of chronic diseases.
Infection.
Dizziness, abdominal pain, and other discomfort arising during the execution of the vacuum.

It should be understood that the absence of the above circumstances is not a guide to action. And before you start making a vacuum regularly, you should consult your doctor.

Vacuum- an extremely effective and easy-to-perform local exercise for the abdominal muscles. But, of course, it does not get rid of subcutaneous fat on the stomach and body.

In order for the waist to really become aspen and beautiful, a whole range of measures is needed: regularly engage in cardio training ( aerobic exercise) and eat a healthy diet.

Vacuum is great exercise, appeared in bodybuilding from yoga. It accentuates the transverse abdominal muscle, which holds the internal organs.

Vacuum- this is the only exercise that helps to do. If during training the press, the waist always only grows, because hypertrophy occurs during training muscle fibers, That this exercise really helps to visually reduce the waist. You can also find information that it removes visceral fat, but this is not so, fat, whether subcutaneous or visceral, does not matter, the body accumulates any fat when there is a lack of calories, and it does not matter at all whether you pump the press or not.

The vacuum exercise was especially popular in the 60-70s, he practiced it, which provided him with a luxurious waist, with large muscle volumes. Today's athletes, in pursuit of huge muscle mass, do not practice such exercises, the result is big bellies even during competition. Moreover, the stomach “sticks out” not because the athlete has a lot of subcutaneous fat, but because transverse muscle just can't hold such a large stomach.

1) Lie on the floor, bend your knees, rest your heels on the floor, and lower your arms along the body, head pressed to the floor.
2) Draw in your stomach as you exhale, tensing the transverse muscle, and then relax it and exhale, doing 10 short repetitions in this way to feel the muscle.
3) Exhale the air, relaxing, but without pulling in your stomach on purpose, stay in this position for 25-30 seconds.
4) Take a short and shallow breath, and then pull your stomach in, after 15 seconds repeat the procedure, and after another 15 repeat again to finally deepen the load.
5) Slowly relax the transverse muscle and push the stomach outward as much as possible, then repeat the exercise another 7-8 times.

Vacuum exercise - notes

1) The exercise does not have to be performed lying down, there are also options for sitting and tilting, but the lying athlete gets the opportunity to focus only on the transverse muscle.
2) Never let yourself get short of breath, as this will force you to concentrate on the work of the respiratory system instead of concentrating on the work of the muscle.
3) The transverse muscle rarely receives signals from the brain to perform any action, so the neuromuscular connection is poorly developed, so try to concentrate on the work of the target muscle group.
4) Do not take your head off the floor while performing the lying vacuum exercise, and do not talk during the exercise.

Anatomy

The transverse muscle is behind the muscles abdominals, so it is not visually visible, but it performs a very important function. In addition to the fact that a strong transverse muscle will help you improve the aesthetic component, it will also allow you to take the load off the spine during execution. basic exercises, especially barbell squats, since in this exercise it acts as a stabilizer in the abdominal muscles. Thus, the vacuum exercise allows you to develop two whole functional qualities: respiratory system and strength endurance.

The vacuum exercise does not need to be performed during drying, on the contrary, it is best to perform it while gaining muscle mass. The bottom line is that the athlete has to eat a lot when he works out the hypertrophy of muscle fibers, as a result of which the stomach increases, especially if the athlete eats incorrectly, eating large portions and irregularly, but the vacuum exercise allows you to offset the negative effects of an enhanced diet.

Vacuum exercise — Video

Plank exercise - execution technique Effective Exercises for a thin waist

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Today's article will focus on the vacuum exercise.

Its main feature is that it can reduce the waist. You heard right - reduce the waist. So, without any diets, one exercise can remove a few centimeters in the waist area. Let's figure out what causes this decrease and how to properly perform a vacuum.

Exercise features

What is the essence and how the waist can be reduced? Frankie Zane, demonstrating his famous “vacuum” pose, strongly pulled in his stomach, as a result of which his transverse abdominal muscle was greatly reduced.

Anatomically, the transverse abdominal muscle performs the function of a weightlifting belt and runs along the abdomen from left to right. It holds the entire peritoneum and internal organs, preventing them from “falling out”. In untrained people, it is weak and stretched.

As a result, the stomach hangs, even in thin people. The transverse abdominis is located under the rectus and oblique muscles of the press. Those. is the deepest muscle. Plus, it does not work to bring the bones of the skeleton closer together. Its only task is to increase intra-abdominal pressure and support the spine with tension.

The essence of the vacuum exercise is to give the transverse abdominal muscle tone and elasticity. After a few weeks of regular performance, her condition will improve, she will tighten up and thereby reduce her waist.

Waist width (front to back) is not genetically fixed and you can control it by making the vacuum exercise a priority in your training and preparation. By training the transverse abdominal muscle, you also prevent back pain by relieving stress from the lower back.