The stomach vacuum | slim down your midsection and have the V taper you dream of

Superficial Abdominal Muscles Obsession Vs The Truth

The stomach vacuum | slim down your midsection and have the V taper you dream of

• Overview
• How to Perform the Stomach Vacuum (With the right muscle)

Overview

Today I'm bringing you a topic which is highly underrated and overlooked by many athletes and bodybuilders, let alone regular people hitting the gym or having home workouts. 

Aesthetics is all about the illusion you create with you own body; everybody would agree that the V taper look, that's having broad shoulders in relation to the waist, is all that matters because it makes them look like althletes. 

Most of the time, though, you see people focus more on training their abs and iblequrs more than anything else; doing countless reps of crunches, v ups, hanging leg raises, windshield wipers, planks, and the list goes on. 

What they fail to realize, however, is that they might be adding more thickness to their midsection instead of slimming it down. They see big defined abs and obleques coming, but the belly is still sticking out... 

Well, let me break it down to you, the wrong muscles are being trained, or to make it sound less harsh, the right muscle isn't trained, because abs and obliques need to be worked on too, but not excessively. 

How to Perform the Stomach vacuum (With the right muscle) 

The stomach vacuum was very popular during the golden era of bodybuilding, late 1970's and early 1980's. Professional bodybuilders back then like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Zane had very small waist lines because they made this exercise a staple routine. 

Yet, there are some prerequisites to consider as you decide to bring down your waist, like keeping your body fat below 15% and eating clean food.

The muscle which is responsible for keeping the midsection tight is called the transverse abdominis and it lies just underneath the abs (rectus abdominis) and obliques. 

This muscle is like a wall that covers the whole torso and it's highly active during the big lifts; so it's a smart thing to work it if you want to progress with those lifts. 

You can perform the stomach vacuum by exhaling all the air in your lungs, then sucking in your stomach and expanding your chest. Think about touching your navel to your spine and keep in that posion for no less that 15 seconds and that's one set. 

If you can do more, then go ahead, but for a bigginer 15 seconds would be the maximum tolerable time. Do 3-4 sets increasing the time every week or fortnight. 

You will start to notice good results during the first month, but that's not it; keep doing it and I promise you that you'll see the smallest waist of your life. 

As I mentioned somewhere above, this muscle is vast; covering the whole torso, so it needs time to shrik. Keep consistent with it folks. 

You can do this exercise standing, seated, kneeling, or laying on your back. I recommend kneeling for bigginers as it's relatively easier to suck in your stomach properly.