Heard of vacuums??

[semag]

Saw the recent men's fitness magazine like a month ago or so, and there was this article about stomach vacuums. Basically, it's where you breathe out all your air, and suck your stomach in as hard as you can for 10 seconds. Do 3 sets of 10 of those....

I was wondering if anyone had heard anything about those? It's an interesting change that's not really mentioned anywhere...

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by semag
Saw the recent men's fitness magazine like a month ago or so, and there was this article about stomach vacuums. Basically, it's where you breathe out all your air, and suck your stomach in as hard as you can for 10 seconds. Do 3 sets of 10 of those....

I was wondering if anyone had heard anything about those? It's an interesting change that's not really mentioned anywhere...

Of course I've heard of them. They don't help much though, just keep training your abs and cutting properly.

 

[semag]

k... thanks bud

 

[Soshyopathe]

Hey hey, wait a minute, Newb. There is a place for vacuums, so allow me to give some background first.

The stronger a certain muscle group gets, the tighter it is when not in use, and the more it pulls on the antagonistic group. You see guys with weak backs and strong pecs who have a rounded back. Some guys have strong abs and weak backs, so they get back problems because they are unstable.

Now, I noticed a problem while I was training abs with heavy weights. My stomach started to become more of a gut. This was gay, because I obviously wasn't putting on fat. But here's the deal, there's an external abs, and there's an internal abs. My external abs were too strong from weighted crunches and extensions, so they were pulling out, giving me a gut.

Vacuums, along with squats, deads, hacks, leg press help strengthen the inner abs, because it's your source for power. If you practice vacuums, and do heavy lifts, your belly will get to be concave while at rest. There is a use for men's fitness yet!

 

[Sentrility]

Vaccuums wouldn't do anything! It has been proven time and time again that resistance is needed to stress the muscle enough to cause ANY significant gains!!

 

[regulus]

you activate your transverse abs when you do that. vacuums are an isokinetic contraction. they're important because they stabilize your spine and protect your back when you lift things. It also affects your posture which can lead to injuries if you don't have a neutral spine.

 

[KiLLer]

Originally posted by Soshyopathe
Hey hey, wait a minute, Newb. There is a place for vacuums, so allow me to give some background first.

The stronger a certain muscle group gets, the tighter it is when not in use, and the more it pulls on the antagonistic group. You see guys with weak backs and strong pecs who have a rounded back. Some guys have strong abs and weak backs, so they get back problems because they are unstable.

Now, I noticed a problem while I was training abs with heavy weights. My stomach started to become more of a gut. This was gay, because I obviously wasn't putting on fat. But here's the deal, there's an external abs, and there's an internal abs. My external abs were too strong from weighted crunches and extensions, so they were pulling out, giving me a gut.

Vacuums, along with squats, deads, hacks, leg press help strengthen the inner abs, because it's your source for power. If you practice vacuums, and do heavy lifts, your belly will get to be concave while at rest. There is a use for men's fitness yet!

Amen, vacuums have been around for as long as weight-lifting have. It's old.

 

[KiLLer]

Originally posted by Sentrility
Vaccuums wouldn't do anything! It has been proven time and time again that resistance is needed to stress the muscle enough to cause ANY significant gains!!

Every excercise benefits you, vacuums have its own place. Just like pushup, you won't get any gain, but you'll get a better struction of definition.
Don't jump to conclusions because he never stated the intention of vacuums, he just wanted to know if it actually exist or if we ever heard of it.

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by Soshyopathe
Hey hey, wait a minute, Newb. There is a place for vacuums, so allow me to give some background first.

The stronger a certain muscle group gets, the tighter it is when not in use, and the more it pulls on the antagonistic group. You see guys with weak backs and strong pecs who have a rounded back. Some guys have strong abs and weak backs, so they get back problems because they are unstable.

Now, I noticed a problem while I was training abs with heavy weights. My stomach started to become more of a gut. This was gay, because I obviously wasn't putting on fat. But here's the deal, there's an external abs, and there's an internal abs. My external abs were too strong from weighted crunches and extensions, so they were pulling out, giving me a gut.

Vacuums, along with squats, deads, hacks, leg press help strengthen the inner abs, because it's your source for power. If you practice vacuums, and do heavy lifts, your belly will get to be concave while at rest. There is a use for men's fitness yet!

Yes, you're right. I was talking about him training his abs only with vacuums though.

 

[semag]

yes... I didn't state an intention, because I wanted to see what the general consensus of:

A) what they are good for (if they were good for anything)

B) what the intention of them is meant to be...

You see, from reading the H&F forum a lot, I noticed that if I posted an intention, without knowing a lot about them, I'd prolly get flamed like most of the people on this board for asking a question with an ingrained opinion....

thanks for the input.

 

[Soshyopathe]

They aren't entirely useful unless you want to look a little slimmer or you want to bust out a vacuum pose in competition. As long as you are squatting, the transverse abs should be developed enough for superior abs.