What are Experts Saying About Stomach Vacuum Exercises?

An old form of exercise resurfaced as stomach vacuum exercises are sweeping the internet. With this recent surge in popularity, we wonder what is this exercise. Is this anything new and what are experts saying about these stomach vacuum exercises? Is it beneficial and worth the hype or not? Let’s read about it and get some real answers.

What are stomach vacuum exercises?

The stomach vacuum is the core muscle strengthening exercise in which transversus abdominis, the body’s deepest abdominal muscle, is isometrically contracted. This contraction is isometric, which means it involves the static tensing and contraction of the muscle without any visible movement of it. Stomach vacuum exercises are also called stomach vacuuming, hollowing, or abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM).

This exercise sounds new, we wonder what are experts saying about it.

What do experts say about stomach vacuum exercises?

The experts believe that these stomach vacuum exercises target the core abdominal muscles by using the isometric contraction technique and strengthen the core. It also helps with posture, says John Morton a bariatric surgeon in New Haven.

It is true that vacuum exercises strengthen your abdominal muscles according to Gleyzer, but it is not a quick fix for a slim belly and waistline by losing fat. Also, if you really want to burn belly fat, you gotta prefer doing confined contracting stomach exercises. In this way, you actually fire up the stomach muscles.

Gentilcore and research say that when it comes to good lower back and spine health, it requires the working of all muscles together. It is more effective if you learn how to accurately engage the whole core by doing pilates, or any other ab-strengthening exercise like planks, etc. Also, if a person does something simple like bracing the core by lifting heavy weight, it can help stabilize everything including the transversus abdominis.

Though stomach vacuum is an excellent exercise for good abdominal strength, in order to get the benefits of this exercise, it requires a person to be very consistent with the process. Whatever you are planning to do, either it abs or other gains, you need to not stick and restrict yourself to only one exercise.

With all the hype about this new exercise, what are its health benefits?

Benefits of Stomach Vacuum

There are certain health benefits to doing these stomach vacuum exercises.

1- Helps with back pain

These exercises reduce back pain by strengthening the core transversus abdominis which is directly related to back pain

2- Lowers the risk of back injuries

When you learn how to rightly contract your core, it helps you in reducing any injury related to lifting heavy objects.

3- Helps with the postural problems

These exercises strengthen the core and stabilize the spine, which helps with the lower back problem and correcting the posture.

4- Stability and coordination

This lower back strengthening improves stability and helps in coordination in the lower body. It activates abdominal muscles and stabilizes spinal muscle

5- Your waist may look smaller

A strong and strengthen transversus abdominis results in a small appearing waist with a clinching effect.

Conclusion

Experts believe that these vacuum exercises are good for strengthening the abdominal core and spine muscles but they don’t miraculously shrink your belly fat and waistline overnight. So, whatever you plan to do, whether it is abs or other gains, you need to be consistent with the process to get benefits. Also, it’s not wise to stick and restrict yourself to only one exercise when you can strengthen and stabilize everything including the transversus abdominis by bracing the core with other exercises.