Before being governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger was known as the Austrian oak. He was huge. In his heyday as a bodybuilder, the five-time Mr. Universe and six-time Mr. Olympia were 1.80 m tall, weighed between 225 and 235 pounds and had 22-inch biceps, 57-inch chest and 28.5-inch thighs . And your waist; can you guess?
Only 30 inches.
Like many old school bodybuilders, Schwarzenegger got that hourglass-shaped torso using a special technique based on a common pose used in physical competitions in the 1970s, known as the “vacuum pose”. Bodybuilders like Frank Zane, Lee Haney, Arnold and others shrink their bellies to emphasize their breasts in competition. But the vacuum pose is a great exercise for the rest of us, too, even if we just pose in front of the bathroom mirror. The exercise, called “stomach vacuum” or more precisely, the “internal abdominal vacuum” has been credited with relieving back pain, strengthening the core and reducing the waist by an inch or more in just three weeks.
“Your internal abdominal muscles, called transverse sit-ups, act like a natural weight belt, like the kind you see workers wearing at Home Depot, “explains the exercise researcher Ellington Darden, PhD, a pioneer of the Nautilus Training System. “When you contract the muscles that are horizontally deep under your abdomen, the internal abdominal pressure increases to support your spine.”
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These muscles are also responsible for good posture and for keeping your organs in place. So, by strengthening them you automatically pull your belly up and back, reducing its apparent size.
Darden says that doing this simple movement a few times a day, in addition to a strength training program and a healthy diet, can help anyone reduce their waist size. Darden devotes an entire chapter to the slimming technique in his book Flat belly revelation for women. Here is an abbreviated tutorial. Keep reading and, to learn more about how to eat healthily, avoid these 100 most unhealthy foods on the planet.
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