When you train abs…what does your exercise selection look like?

Probably something like this…

Crunches
Sit-Ups
Leg Lifts
V-Ups
Russian Twists

Those are all great moves… but they are far from the most effective. The best ab exercise on the planet… is probably the most UNKNOWN. 

Have you ever seen anyone do this?

It looks like I’m just sucking in my stomach, doesn’t it?
But this is actually an ab training technique.

In fact, it’s probably THE MOST EFFECTIVE thing you can do to take inches off of your waist (fast) ….

If you want a smaller waist and tighter midsection, you need to start vacuuming!

No, I don’t mean your floors .. you need to learn how to STOMACH VACUUM!

When done with the correct form and CONSISTENCY .. many people see drastic results in as little as a couple of weeks … from this ONE exercise …  and nothing else!

WHAT IS A STOMACH VACUUM?

Stomach vacuums are a weightless exercise that improves the strength of your core and your pelvic floor. They work the layer of muscle that is hiding BEHIND your six-pack and are not easy to isolate.

You may have never heard of this technique, but the art of stomach vacuuming has been around for a long time!

Yogis did them in India CENTURIES ago, but they became “famous” in the fitness space by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

WHAT MAKES STOMACH VACUUMS SO SPECIAL?

To better understand… let me give you a quick ab anatomy lesson.

Your abs are divided into different muscle groups. For the purpose of this article, you really only need to know about one of them.

TRANSVERSE ABS

These are your inner ab muscles. They are not talked about very much and don’t get much work when you do typical ab exercises like sit-ups and crunches (unless you are using this technique WHILE performing them.)

Your transverse abs are VERY IMPORTANT. They run horizontally under your abs/obliques and sort of help hold everything together. It kind of acts like a corset and ultimately helps keep your waistline tight.

The vacuum targets inner abs specifically.
Not many other exercises can do this. 

HOW TO PERFORM STOMACH VACUUMS

Vacuums take a little practice… but once you figure it out and do them daily … the changes can be pretty drastic.

If you are doing them right, they WILL NOT be as easy as they look!

They will BURN and leave your abs really SORE! 

To execute:

• Take a deep breath
• Exhale all of the air out of your lungs completely. 
• Expand the chest and bring the belly button into the SPINE.
• Visualize your belly button trying to touch your backbone!
• You are doing an ISOMETRIC HOLD. This iS NOT the same as holding your breath.
• You can (and should) breathe while doing these. Again .. this takes practice! 

Having a VISUAL of someone doing vacuums IN ACTION helps. Check out our video above! 

For your first few attempts, try holding the vacuum for at least 10-20 seconds. Then advance up in time… 30sec, 45sec, 1min, 90 seconds – and so on.

You want to hold as long as you can before “relaxing” and setting up for another round. Whatever your MAX time is .. do at least 3 sets of that time .. at least once a day.

The best thing about the vacuum is that you can do them anywhere!!

While you brush your teeth
While you are in the shower.
While you are stuck in traffic.
When you are sitting at your desk.

Just get them in … Every. Single. Day. 

In addition to being a stand-alone exercise .. you should use the stomach vacuum technique when doing ALL your regular abdominal work.

Always focusing on pulling in with every single rep instead of just crunching up and down will drastically change your ab workouts!

Stomach vacuums can often yield results even with no other changes….

But unless you have some crazy genetics, if you want a shredded midsection, you need to have pretty low body levels of body fat.

The best way to know if your genetics will make you more (or less) prone to a six-pack (or excess belly fat), you need to know your body type!

CHECK OUT THIS FREE QUIZ! In just a few questions, it will tell you what your body type is and tell you how you need to eat and train so that you can see optimal results in the least amount of time!