I bet most people think that your stomach muscles only consist of the muscles making out your six pack. In fact, that is only the outer abdominal muscles, the part that you can see. The six pack muscles are called rectus abdominis. You also have deep stomach muscles, those muscles behind the rectus abdominis called the transverse abdominis or TVA.
These transverse abdominis muscles are one of the muscle groups that is mostly overlooked when exercising, because most people don’t even know about them. Stomach vacuum exercises target these TVA muscles and strengthening them plays a big part in building up a strong core.
So how do I work out my transverse abdominis?
Now this kind of exercise can be quite tricky, especially for beginners. When you pull in your stomach, you activate your transverse abdominis. The trick is to pull it in and keep it there for as long as you can. In the beginning you probably wouldn’t be able to pull it in very deep and for long. But don’t be discouraged, practice makes perfect.
Starting out for the first time:
First you must learn how to breath correctly; The correct way of breathing is using your diaphragm. Your diaphragm is a flat dome-shaped muscle at the base of your lungs and just above your stomach. Inhale through your nose and pull the air down to your stomach. Then you exhale through your mouth. Diaphragmatic breathing is also called stomach breathing. When you inhale your stomach rises/expands instead of your chest pulling air into the bottom of your lungs. When you do shallow/chest breathing you neglect the bottom part of your lungs and stale toxic air never escapes the lungs making the lungs partly ineffective.
For the first few weeks it is advisable to use something like a desk or tabletop for support until you get the hang of it.
Put your hands on the platform, breath deep through your nose and exhale through your mouth. When your lungs are empty pull your belly button to your spine as hard as you can. Hold your position like this for at least 15 seconds. Repeat the exercise 5 times. The more you do it the longer you will be able to do it, also build it up to 10 sets trying to hold your pose for 20 seconds or more.
The more advanced version of this exercise is doing it standing up with no support. Stand in a comfortable stance, breathe in deep and exhale. When your lungs are empty pull your belly button towards your spine and hold it for as long as you can. Repeat 10 times.
Benefits of doing stomach vacuum
Doing stomach vacuums does not burn fat and will not get rid of belly fat. Exercising your deep core muscles stabilizes your spine and leads to a better posture. Strengthening your transverse abdominis will help you support and protect your spine and keep everything tight in the stomach area. Doing it long enough will make your waist appear smaller and give you a better-looking waistline, because it prevents the transverse abdominis from becoming slack. Instead, it pulls everything tight. Stronger transverse abdominis will reduce lower back pain in general and reduce the risk of back injury.
Conclusion
Stomach vacuums is an exercise you can do daily for quicker results. If you want to work on reducing belly fat you first need the right diet. You need to eat less calories than your body needs which means smaller portions when you eat, but this is a topic for another time. The best time of the day to do stomach vacuums is in the morning when your stomach is empty. You can actually do it in bed, rolling on your back with your knees flexed and your feet flat on the mattress. Doing it on a full stomach will have an uncomfortable feeling and maybe discourage you from doing it at all.
