Shrink Your Waistline With Stomach Vacuums

The ability to control one’s abdominal muscles plays a major role in creating a smaller waistline, helping to develop abdominal definition and allowing you to avoid the unsightly ‘ab bulge’ that can occur the moment you relax and stop contracting your abdominals.

While vacuums are often done for the aesthetic reasons I mentioned, they can also enhance overall core strength and stability.

Technique:

Stomach vacuums are a simple exercise that can be performed anywhere. The key to seeing long-lasting results is consistency. Performing vacuums 3 - 4 times a week are a great starting point to training your abdominal muscles to remain tight and engaged without you having to consciously tense them.

1. Exhale completely.
2. Suck in your abdominals as much as you can - imagine drawing your bellybutton inward toward the spine.
3. Hold for 20 - 30 seconds.
4. Relax for a few moments.
5. Repeat 3 - 4 times.

Progression:

As you progress you should be able to hold a full vacuum for a minute and longer. The easiest way to perform this exercise is from all fours. From here, you can progress to a kneeling, seated and lying position to increase difficulty.