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 Ab Training From the Inside Out by John Romaniello

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Date d'inscription : 28/05/2005

Ab Training From the Inside Out by John Romaniello Empty
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MessageAb Training From the Inside Out by John Romaniello

Ab Training From the Inside Out
by John Romaniello


Breathing isn't one of those things we normally think about. Being
the morons that we are — according to the general public, at least — bodybuilders
generally prefer to devote our limited brain power towards things which
seem more pertinent, such as calculating food intake or figuring out
which tank top will make our guns look the biggest (okay, maybe that
one's just me).
Actions like breathing, blood flow, and the like are functions of the
autonomic nervous system, which places them under the category of "Cool
Stuff My Body Does When I'm Not Looking." I know, I know... that
sounds very scientific, but try not to get too lost in the industry jargon.
The take home message is that breathing isn't generally a topic
on the forefront of most minds... unless you suddenly stop, in which
case you probably start thinking about it a lot. It's kinda' like that
chick you keep on the back burner and only call when you're really
desperate — not really a concern until it seems like a life or
death situation, is she? Wait... I think we're talking about
me again.
Moving on, if you guessed that this is the part where I tell you how
important breathing is, you're right. Yes, yes, very good, Cap'n
Obvious. You probably also know that breathing is pretty essential for
life, so I guess I should just skip that part, too, huh? But, fear not,
my ever so deductive friend. I am not going to discuss "cleansing breaths" or
anything. I shall leave that to Yoga teachers and Lamaze coaches. Instead,
this writing will be concerned with something called Power Breathing.
Yeah, that sounds a lot more manly, doesn't it? We'll be discussing
breathing methods that'll get you strong, stable, and build some
abs you can use to grate cheese. (If you're lactose intolerant, you can
grate something else. Carrots, probably. I think people grate carrots.)


Power Breathing: What It Be
The phrase is used in various circles to describe how to structure breathing
patterns to enhance the performance of a specific task. While the task
will generally vary greatly with the group, it seems that the terminology
doesn't. A few keystrokes on virtually any internet search engine will
reveal that singers use their methods of power breathing to enhance projection,
range, and even depth of voice. Similarly, alternative medicine gurus
recommend their brand of power breathing to promote relaxation and an
overall sense of well being.
While these goals and usages of different types of power breathing are
certainly worthy of note, they are decidedly not reasons which would
influence the people of T-Nation to incorporate such a practice into
their overall training methodology. I make mention of these uses only
because "power breathing" is a fairly generic term. As such, it's one
that can be applied to different methods (depending on the group), and
it's necessary to realize that not all "power breathing" is the same.
Brief acknowledgement of such use also serves as a way to clarify that
while power breathing can and does have relevance in innumerable circumstances,
we'll focus exclusively on its applications to weight training and physique
enhancement.
With regard to our purposes, power breathing is essentially a method
of breathing through resistance, sometimes punctuated by brief periods
of breath-holding (known as the Valsalva maneuver). Often prescribed
by Russian strength coaches and other mad scientists, the goal of power
breathing has generally always been to allow for increased power output
during a lift. This occurs by way of improved stability resulting from
the intra-abdominal pressure created when the technique is applied.
For the duration of a power breath, nearly all lower trunk muscles contract
with significant force as oxygen leaves your body. The tightening begins
internally, with the transversus abdominus and diaphragm contracting
dynamically as you "push" the air out. Externally, your rectus abdominus
and spinal erectors simply contract isometrically. Keep in mind you're
applying resistance, so the breathing itself is actually quite a workout
for those internal muscles. This is actually one of the primary uses
of power breathing and I'll discuss it later in greater detail.
Overall, the practice will strengthen all of the muscles used for trunk
stabilization. This is true to such an extent that world renowned sport
biochemist Vladimir Zatsiorsky has said that he considers power breathing
to be the best "core" exercise. We'll give ol' Vlad the benefit
of the doubt and assume he meant "core specific," which is why he mentions
breathing over squats and deads in terms of effectiveness.


So, How's It Done?
With all that basic, introductory information out of the way, it's
time to discuss the proper execution of a power breath. You can actually
do this at your computer right now to get a feel for it. Here is how
it's done: Stand up. Now sit down. Good, now stand up again. Touch
your nose. Put one hand on your head. Okay, okay, none of that is related
to power breathing, it's just more evidence that if I ever took
over the world I'd make everyone dance the Macerana for my own sick
amusement.
Here is the real way to do it. In either a standing or sitting position,
take a deep breath into your abdomen. Place your tongue along the ridge
in your mouth just behind your teeth. Next, flex your abs and your glutes,
and contract your rectal sphincter; then exhale forcefully through the 'blockage' created
by your tongue and teeth; you should hear a noise that sounds like, "hsssst." You
should feel a contraction internally, and if your deep abdominal muscles
are relatively untrained, it won't be long before a burning sensation
sets in. Continue to exhale until all of the air is expelled.
You've just completed one power breath!
Be sure to inhale into your belly, not your throat — a
good way to spot yourself on this is to practice in front of a mirror.
If when you inhale your shoulders rise, you're breathing into your
chest and throat. When you exhale, the air will travel back the same
way; unfortunately, forcefully exhaling in that manner may actually cause
your head to explode. Seriously; I saw it in a movie once.


Who Can Benefit?
Now you know what power breathing is and how it's done. All we
have left to cover is who power breathing benefits and how to incorporate
it into your training regimen.
There are a multitude of reasons to incorporate power breathing into
your training, but we'll just focus on some of the more impressive
ones.


1) Imbalanced? Fix it!
Abdominal imbalances occur quite frequently in bodybuilding, much more
often than would be expected. The most common of these imbalances results
from years of improper training and usually shows up in people who used
to be overweight. Sadly, many misinformed overweight people mistakenly
believe that by doing hundreds of crunches and sit-ups, or by using ab
do-dads with fancy "resistance bands," they'll lose the gut. Obviously,
we know this will never work out the way these people want it to, as
spot reduction is impossible without a bit of surgical aid. One unfortunate
side effect is that (in many people) such training will — over
time — create an imbalance between the rectus abdominus and transversus
abdominus.
Without getting too far into an anatomy lesson, we'll just give
a basic (very, very basic) overview of how this happens. The visible
muscle of the abdomen, the rectus abdominus (RA), lies just superficial
to the internal muscles of the abdominal cavity. The most important of
these is the transversus abdominus (TA), to which the rectus is partially
attached to and supported by. So over the years, all those crunches and
the like (which target only the RA) will have a cumulative hypertrophic
effect. The RA will grow bigger, stronger, and heavier, while
the TA remains relatively unchanged. The result is that, eventually,
the RA will be so overdeveloped that the TA simply cannot support the
weight of its superficial counterpart — a sort of sagging is
the final consequence.
The majority of individuals who experience this phenomenon never notice;
however, those that finally get their training and nutrition in order
certainly will. Once these trainees lose a considerable amount of fat,
they find that no matter how lean they get, they still have a distended
belly. That's right, folks: a GH gut without the GH; pregnant with
a six pack. Normally, these people would have one of two choices: circus
freak or professional bodybuilder... well, that's actually one
choice. However, in this situation, power breathing earns its stripes
and can be of great use.
As mentioned earlier, power breathing places great emphasis on the TA
and other inner abdominal muscles, but not much on the RA. Applied properly,
power breathing can be used to strengthen the transverse abdominal wall,
correcting the imbalance by allowing the formerly weak TA to hold up
that hypertrophied rectus. Neat, eh? Now you'll finally be able
to leave the circus! No one will ever call you "Cletus the pregnant dog
boy" again!


2) Slice n' Dice
Keeping on the topic of using power breathing purely for the purposes
of achieving physique goals, we come to our next use. As stated previously,
the act of performing a power breath causes the transversus abdominus
to contract dynamically while the rectus contracts isometrically
or statically. For vain guys like us, this works out perfectly. You see,
regardless of whether you suffer from the aforementioned ab imbalance,
having a strong TA will improve the over all appearance of your precious
six pack, as it will help you achieve a more muscular midsection.
That aside, the important thing here is the static contraction of the
RA. You may not think of this as "work" for the very visible rectus,
but in actuality the reverse is true. While the RA will certainly receive
little to no hypertrophy-inducing stimulus from power breathing, it will
be exposed to a substantial amount of time in a flexed state. Why does
this matter? Well, because it'll help you get so ripped you'll
have to scotch tape your skin on, that's why.
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Ab Training From the Inside Out by John Romaniello :: Commentaires

Maximally, statically (isometrically) contracting a muscle will improve
its neurogenic muscle tone through two pathways. First, by sensitizing
the alpha and gamma motor neurons communicating with that muscle; and
second, by improving the intensity at which that muscle will be able
to contract isometrically. Resultantly, contractions of this type have
been shown time and again to greatly improve vascularity, density, separation,
and overall appearance in muscles which are highly exposed to them. While
static holds have a host of benefits, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention
this one: assuming you're already lean, isometric training is second
to none for bringing out the cuts!
This is exactly the reason practically every pro bodybuilder incorporates
intense posing into his contest prep regimen — the constant tension
being applied isometrically helps immensely with getting into stage-worthy
shape. Not that I often put much stock in training tips from the pros,
but if there is one thing these guys DO know about, it's flexing
in the mirror!
Having said that, a few sessions of power breathing each week can help
build some purty lookin' abs, so all you narcissists out there should
be happy. I'm not getting down on you — a little narcissism
never hurt anyone. Uh, except that Narcissus guy... but other than
that it never hurt anyone.
In addition to all that jazz, though, power breathing can greatly increase
strength, which brings us to...


3) Stability as Strength
As previously alluded to, the main — and most traditional — use
of power breathing is for increased strength. It's been long known that
power breathing can be used as one method of increasing poundages in
lifts which require stabilization from the core. Off the top of my head
I can think of two: the squat and the deadlift. Heard of 'em?
It's already been mentioned several times over, but it should be reiterated
that frequent power breathing will increase the strength of just about all core
muscles. These muscle work to stabilize the trunk during our favorite
lifts and also serve as protection for the spine. Since you'll be able
to handle greater loads for longer periods of time, there will be a concurrent
increase in the amount of weight that can be used in various exercises
requiring a great deal of trunk stabilization.
Power breathing increases not only the strength of the core muscles,
but also allows you to increase overall strength by making use
of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). By creating and lifting under increased
IAP, we can greatly amplify both stability and strength. This phenomenon
occurs by way of reflex action taking place due to the excitation of
various receptors in the abdominal and thoracic cavities. This in turn
sends signals to your brain to increase muscular tension throughout your
body. All of this ultimately culminates in you lifting more weight and
feeling pretty spiffy about it. This is a good argument for using power
breathing and the Valsalva maneuver during a lift, although that
topic has been hotly debated. Overall, though, it should be pretty obvious
that incorporating power breathing into your training should yield some
strength gains.
So, in short, who can benefit from power breathing? If ya got abs, you
can.


Ninjas Beware!
I just want to offer the caveat that performing power breathing or the
Valsalva manuever may not be the best idea for people who practice certain
types of martial arts, particularly those that involve a lot of grappling.
In a recent interview with T-Mag, Coach Scott Sonnon said the following:

"I have no doubts that 'power breathing' allows
people to put on more pounds to their lifts. However, try Valsalva in
Judo or Jiu-jitsu and you're more easily choked unconscious; try
it in wrestling or Sambo and you lose kinesthetic sensitivity and reactive
strength; try it in boxing or NHB/MMA and it'll slow punch speed as well
as increase your susceptibility to knock-out; try it in baseball, basketball,
or football and you'll decrease your swinging, shooting, and throwing
accuracy."
The extent of my martial arts experience is pretty much limited to whuppin'
some serious ass on my Xbox, and while I know how impressive that is,
I'd have to say that I am not really qualified to speak much about martial
arts. That being the case, you'd probably want to take Coach Sonnons'
advice.


Making it Happen
One of the greatest things about power breathing is its utter simplicity.
Once you have it, you have it. Because you need no equipment and the
exercise is pretty unobtrusive, you can do these nearly anywhere at any
time; at your desk, at the gym, or while you're stuck in traffic.
Now you'll never have an excuse to be unproductive again.
However, many people prefer to take a much more structured approach.
That being the case, I've included a few programs below. These sessions
should be done on off days, or following workouts where you performed
squats and/or deadlifts. As a general rule, don't do a full power
breathing session the day before one of these movements; your core will
be too fatigued for you to perform properly. That being said, here are
some programs to help get you strong, stable, and shredded.


Beginner

Sets/Reps/Duration: 5x5x5

Frequency: Three times per week

Rest: 30-60 seconds between sets
This is pretty self-explanatory. If you're just beginning power breathing,
perform three sessions each week, with each session consisting of 5 sets
of 5 breaths, each lasting 5 seconds. You should be exhaling fairly forcefully,
but not at full intensity. You'll probably still have some wind left,
but terminate each breath at the 5 second mark.


Intermediate

Sets/Reps/Duration: 5x10x5-7

Frequency: Twice per week

Rest: 60-90 seconds between sets
Basically, the same as above, except that each session will be 5 sets
of 10 breaths. You should be exhaling with enough force to last until
around 7 seconds towards the beginning of the session and as you progress,
you'll probably start to "fail" at around 5 seconds.
Advanced

Sets/Reps/Duration: 10x5x[X]

Frequency: Once per week

Rest: As needed
This program is very difficult and is best suited for the purposes of
getting those shredded abs we discussed earlier. You're to perform 10
sets of 5 reps, but the duration is as short as possible. Essentially,
you should expel the air with as much force as possible, which will cause
both the TA and RA to contract maximally. Keep in mind this is an advanced program
and should only be undertaken when you've really mastered the form. If
you're still relatively new to power breathing, you may wind up
breathing into and out of your throat rather than your belly as you begin
to tire. This could be potentially dangerous, so you must be certain
to maintain perfect technique the entire time.


T-Man Modifications
After you've done all of the above routines a few times, you may feel
that you have outgrown them and want something more challenging. Rather
than simply increasing the volume and or frequency with which you perform
any of the programs, it's much more effective in terms of strength gains
to increase the difficulty. Essentially, you must add resistance.
Although you can probably find a host of gadgets which will add resistance
to your breathing, it's much cheaper and more practical to just use something
that's abundant and effective: water. To make use of this complicated
bit of training equipment, you may have to visit your local hardware
store.
Remember when you were a kid, and your parents never let you blow bubbles
in your chocolate milk? Well get ready to taste sweet revenge! Get yourself
a piece of piping, rubber hose, or the like, and simply immerse it in
a bucket of water or even your bathtub. This technique is exactly the
same, except that you're breathing through a hose rather than through
your teeth. Generally speaking, the longer and thinner the pipe or hose
you're using, the harder it will be to blow.*

*Author's
note: I am quite aware of the opportunity for some pretty terrible
humor here, but the editors have placed a limit on the amount of completely
predictable and unfunny jokes I may use per article. I used up the
last of them with that chocolate milk thing. That is all.


Conclusion
If you're not satisfied with the rate at which your numbers are
(or aren't) going up, or the general look of your midsection, add
some power breathing into your training and you'll be pleased with
the results. Give the above a try, even if you're skeptical — especially if
you're skeptical. At the very least, it'll take your mind off
trying to pick out a tank top to wear, ya' bloody narcissist.


About the Author
John Romaniello may actually be the biggest loser, ever. It was recently
revealed to the Testosterone Inquisitor that Romaniello actually
took up weight-training in an attempt to look more like his Advanced
Dungeons & Dragons
character, "Fangor the Barbarian" so the Harry
Potter fans would stop taking his lunch money. What a dork! You may email
insults to FatSnooky@aol.com


References


1. Leonard, Charles. 1998. The Neuroscience of Human
Movement
. Mosby, Inc. St. Louis.

2. Tortora, Gerard J., and Sandra Reynolds Grabowski.
Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. New York: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 2000.

© 1998 — 2003
Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
 

Ab Training From the Inside Out by John Romaniello

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