STOMACH FLATTENING
by Doug Setter, BSc.
www.2ndwindbodyscience.com Phone: 778-837-3528
Stomach Flattening e-book
© 2008 by Doug Setter, Bachelor of Human Ecology
From the Six-Pack, Steel Back course
Published by Resilience Press
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Quick Stomach Test 3
WHR
Chapter 2: Posture : The Structure of Strength 5
Posture and Health
Chapter 3: Breathing: Our Greatest Mistake 7 Importance of breathing. Breathing exercises.
Chapter 4: Abdominal Exercises : Less Work, Better Results 10
Vacuum gut. Technique. Proper sequence.
Crunch variations. Lower back.
Chapter 5: Power Fuel 21
Eating for energy. Foods to avoid.
Chapter 6: The Secrets of Internal Health 28
Chapter 7: Brain Training for a Flatter Stomach 29 Positive reinforcement. Punishment.
Chapter 8: About the Author 31
You must read this first! (Disclaimer)
As with any new fitness activity, you must start out slowly. Although this book is about fitness, the author and publisher disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects arising from extreme exercise and dieting without the appropriate medical supervision.
Chapter 1: A Quick Stomach Test
One of the quickest ways to determine the state of your midriff is to periodically measure your WHR or Waist-to-Hip Ratio. It is a scientific fact that excess weight around the middle (apple shaped) is worse than excess weight around the hips and thighs (pear shaped). A wider waist than hips indicates a higher than normal risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even some forms of cancer.[1]
Test your WHR by dividing the narrowest circumference of your waist with the widest part of your hips. For instance, a 32 inch waist divided by 36 inch hips equals .8. Guys are allowed a maximum ratio of 1.0 and the ladies are allowed up to .8.
Examples:
40” waist/48” Hips = .83 (O.K. WHR)
58” waist/48” Hips = 1.2 (Unhealthy WHR)
Chapter 2: Posture: The Structure of Strength
POSTURE AND HEALTH
A strong posture allows the human spine to curve naturally and pulls the abdomen in. To check your own posture, place your back and head against a wall. With these points in contact with the wall, there should be approximately a hand thickness of space between the small of your back and the wall.
Maintaining good posture is far easier when the back and stomach muscles are strong and flexible. According to the
You can reduce your waistline in 5 seconds just by pulling back your neck and shoulders. Notice how your chest goes out and your stomach draws inward. A good posture naturally flattens your stomach and improves your strength, digestion, confidence and appearance.
Chapter 3: BREATHING: OUR GREATEST MISTAKE
To make the most of your effort, during most abdominal exercises, breathe out while contracting your abdominals. This will give you deeper contractions and harder, more defined muscles. You will also be getting better results for your efforts than the red-faced beginner who grunts through a basic routine.
Try the following experiment: take a deep breath and then hold it while performing a crunch[2] or sit up. Not much fun is it? Now try letting your breath out as you do a crunch or sit up. It might feel strange, but it should be easier. Note: It is too much carbon dioxide rather than not enough oxygen that causes fatigue. This is why it is essential to breathe out stale air during exercise.
Deep breathing is a long-lost ability for most people. With the exception of singers, public speakers, marksmen, martial artists and some athletes, most people gobble down bits of air mostly through their upper and middle lungs. This restricted breathing uses as little as one-tenth of one’s own natural lung capacity![3]
For those who would like a little more formal breath training, consider the following techniques that can be practiced just about anywhere. However, do not be fooled by the simplicity of these exercises; they are simple, but effective. Try them and reap the benefits.
BREATHING EXERCISES
1. Take a deep breath and then force all of the air out of your lungs. When you think that you cannot exhale any more, tighten your abdominals and force out a little more air and then a little more again. Then relax your abdominals and let your lower lungs fill up with air. Then expand your rib cage and fill up your upper lungs with more air. Repeat this exercise three or four times throughout the day with a few hours break in between. At first, it will feel like you are running out of air and you might start coughing and feel a bit dizzy. If performed correctly, you should feel this deep in the lower abdominals. Usually it takes about five to ten sessions to learn to do this properly and then it becomes a habit.
2. Next, repeat the first exercise, but exhale while pressing your lips against your teeth allowing only a small slit for the air to escape. This will force your transverse abdominal muscles to contract. It should feel like you are trying to blow up a water bottle. Some yoga textbooks claim that this also helps remove toxins from the blood.[4]
3. The next exercise, called the Complete Breath is a bit more advanced. First, inhale into your lower lungs (this will make your abdominal wall actually swell a bit). Next, expand your ribcage and lastly, raise your collarbone. By contracting the abdominals, THEN the ribcage and FINALLY the upper chest, you can achieve a wave-like motion. Although it may feel awkward at first, the Complete Breath can be learned within a week and has been used to treat serious breathing conditions such as asthma.[5] In one variation, asthmatic children are taught this technique by having them lie on their back with a rubber duck on their stomach. They are then encouraged to perform the Complete Breath by making a wave with their abdominals. If you want to try this at home and are missing a rubber duck, a paperback book will do the trick. Eventually, you will find that you can do this exercise sitting up at your desk or in your car.
4. Cyclic Breathing. Inhale for the count of 8, hold for 8 and then exhale for another 8 count. Sounds easier than it is. Try it while walking and inhale for 8 steps, hold for 8 steps and exhale for 8 steps. You will eventually develop better recovery and relaxation. But, avoid doing this on a busy street near traffic. This breathing can bring on dizziness.
Chapter 4: Abdominal Exercises
Vacuum Gut (Drawing-in-the-abdomen)
This is an instinctive exercise when on the beach. It also often happens sub-consciously when a guy is wearing swim trunks in the presence of females. While it might look and feel a bit foolish, it is highly under-rated as a stomach toning exercise. For those of you who are familiar with yoga, it is basically the same exercise as the hatha yoga asana, Uddiyanna-bandha and it is goes like this:
1. As with the first breathing exercise, while standing or sitting upright, take a deep breath and exhale fully.
2. While holding your breath, draw in your stomach (i.e. suck in your gut).
3. Now hold it for a few seconds (try a slow count of ten).
4. Relax and inhale.
You can start out standing, sitting or kneeling, then later progress to arching your back while pressing down on your thighs. A more advanced technique is to exhale while bending forward at the waist.
Only practice this exercise on an empty stomach. Start out two or three times per day and increase your repetitions gradually. As this movement tones the internal organs, it often causes another kind of movement. So, expect more regular trips to the washroom as your body might be doing a bit of house cleaning.
This is a great exercise for the abdominals and internal organs. Once you have mastered this technique, it will stay with you for life and you can practice it almost anywhere. In fact, you should be able to do it right where you are while reading this book. It really is that simple.
BASIC ABDOMINAL WORKOUT
Sequence
The following routine is very basic, simple and most effective when you work out the abdominals in the sequence provided here:
For optimum training, there should be no more than three seconds in between exercises. Otherwise, each subsequent group of abdominal muscles will recover and end up “sharing the load” with the other abdominal groups. This means less work and less results. It is better to do less repetitions, with NO rests in between, than perform more repetitions, but have long rests in between sets. The no rest method means more work for each set of muscle groups, but also superior results in less time.
If you are a beginner, start with one set of 3-5 repetitions of each movement and work your way up to three sets of 20. Then, and only then, increase the difficulty of the exercise. Remember that the objective here is to improve your life, not shorten it.
The Crunch
When done correctly, this exercise is very beneficial. Start out lying down with your knees bent and feet flat on the mat. There should be about a fist’s width of space between your knees. Press your spine into the mat and cradle your head or just reach with straight arms and curl your upper body forward until your shoulder blades clear the mat. Exhale on the way up and inhale on the way down.
To really make each movement count:
· Squeeze the abs and exhale fully when you curl forward and up. Imagine that you are trying to crush a basketball between your rib cage and hips.
· DO NOT rest your shoulder blades on the mat between repetitions. Instead, just barely touch the mat and curl up again, so as to keep tension on your abs.
· Keep about the width of a fist between your chin and chest to avoid straining your neck.
Variations
1. Lie on your back, bend and swing your knees over to one side. Bring your torso up like a normal crunch. This works the upper abdominals and the obliques.
2. While lying on your back, prop your legs up on a chair, a bed or up against a wall. With your hands facing palms down, slide your hands up towards your knees as far as you can go. This inverted position will take pressure off your back and give your leg arteries and veins a rest from working upwards all day long.
3. Twisting crunch with the legs raised. Keep the elbows wide without pulling on your head. Twist your body like you are trying to bring your shoulder to the opposite hip, THEN pull your torso off of the mat. Exhale (of course), lower your torso and then un-twist. Unlike the diagram, it is most important to keep the elbows wide, so that you are forced to twist the upper body and work the obliques (“handles”) better.
LOWER BACK
All abdominal workouts should include at least a few lower back exercises and the benefits are more than worthwhile. For not only will back exercises strengthen your core area, they also tighten up and enhance your overall physique and in many cases, give you a firmer butt in the process. Two simple lower and upper back exercises are the superman and the dolphin flex.
The Superman
To begin, lie on your stomach and inhale deeply. Now, raise all four limbs off the floor while reaching outwards and exhaling slowly for a count of four. You should keep your neck straight by looking forward about a foot in front of you to avoidance hyper-extending your neck. Return to your starting position and repeat. Work up to ten repetitions per set.
Dolphin Flex
The Dolphin Flex is also known by many people as “swimming”. To begin, lie on your stomach and (as with the superman) raise all four limbs off the mat. While keeping your hips on the mat, raise the right arm and left leg at the same time that you are lowering the left arm and right leg and then alternate. This will produce a fluttering, swimming effect. You will find out in a hurry if you are raising the arm and leg on the same side of the body as you will tend to fall over. As in the superman, keep your neck straight by looking about a foot in front of you. Do not look up at the ceiling, as this can hyper-extend your neck.
KICKING FOR A SLIMMER GUT
I have personally met people who were able to strengthen their midriffs and overcome back pain just by practicing martial arts kicking. As a supplement to, or a break from, calisthenics, kicking is an interesting method for developing abdominal and leg strength, balance and flexibility.
The front kick will mainly develop lower abdominal, butt (gluteus maximus, medius and minimus) and thigh (quadriceps) muscles, as well as the hip flexors. For a front kick using the right leg, start with your left leg forward, slightly bent. Keeping your balance, bring your right knee up to your chest and thrust your foot forward. The kick must be a thrusting motion to go through something, rather than a punting motion like kicking a football. For added strength, balance and muscular development hold the kick out for one to two seconds before returning your foot to the ground.
The side kick will mainly develop the obliques, butt and thigh muscles. For a right side kick, shift weight onto your left foot. Pivot on the ball of the left foot, so that the left heel is pointed to the right, in the direction of your kick. Bring your right foot up to your left knee and kick out with the edge of your right foot. Your upper body should almost be backwards to the target. It should feel almost like a back kick, but with your foot turned sideways. Most beginners extend their toes towards the target. This is wrong. By forcing the edge of your foot towards your target, you will get a more solid kick and better leg and butt development. If balance is a problem, begin by holding onto a stationary object such as a wall.
Once you have the knack of kicking air, try kicking a heavy punching bag without losing your balance, (falling on your butt and losing the respect of your peers). Try it. It looks much easier than it is. If this kind of activity suits you, try a few months at a reputable martial arts club and get a flat gut while learning new skills.
Running
When it comes to running, the biggest hurdle for many people, beginners and athletes alike, is to actually get out there and do it. When you start to feel fatigued or bored, a good trick is to focus on an object up ahead such as a mailbox and tell yourself that you can make it just to that object. When you reach that object focus on another object and run to that. By the time you’re done, this series of short distances can add up to a good healthy run. However, even if you only make it to the end of the street, congratulate yourself for just getting outside and doing it.
If I do not feel like running, I follow the 15 minute rule. Get dressed for running and then get out and start running or jogging or walking for 15 minutes. If you still feel too sore or tired then, you can cancel the run. Usually, you get warmed up and well, since you are there anyway, you continue your run and the rest of your training.
Also, remember to start out gradually. I have known too many people, (including yours truly) who have run beyond their capabilities and then spent several weeks recovering from injuries rather than increasing their training gradually. Listen to your body.
SKIPPING
Skipping is a fantastic physical conditioner. A few minutes of skipping is equivalent to four times the exertion of jogging and rope jumping will also burn more calories than most other aerobic activities.[6]
Other Abdominal Exercises:
Cycling, canoeing, kayaking, skating, rock climbing, skiing, shoe snowing, surfing, swimming, etc. are activities that involve some twisting and stabilizing of the abdominal areas. Even hiking, most team sports and regular walking will trim your midriff. You just have to consistently do it. We will cover how to keep doing this in the Brain training chapter.
Chapter 5: Power Fuel
The four-letter word “diet” conjures up images of deprivation, pain and starvation. The basic strategy over the decades has been to lose weight by eating less calories and exercising more. By this rationale, eating anything low-calorie is O.K. for weight-loss (and anything high-calorie for weight gain). But, it does not work that way for most people. When I was in university, we had to design specific numbered calorie diets. I lost time (and marks) trying to design vitamin-rich, high-protein diets. It was too complicated and time-consuming. It was far easier just to design a diet with the bare minimum nutrients and then make up the difference with empty calorie foods. (eg. Bread, rice and apple juice.)
Restrictive diets will often cause people to lose body fat, but also muscle, bone density and skin tone. Do not starve yourself for long periods of time to lose weight. A well-nourished person will usually not have food cravings. They do not have “hidden hungers” that come from nutrient-deficiencies.
Regular exercise, with good nutrition, will beat out the yo-yo diets over the long term. In one experiment (and my own observations), people who only followed a strict diet lost more weight that people who did not diet, but exercised regularly. The exercisers had more muscle tone, better figures and had more enjoyment.
Without much more discussion, I am only going to advocate what I have seen work. Basically, eat foods that are fresh and high in protein and minimize the junk. For instance, Lynn, a female body builder, who trained in my kick-boxing class, regularly ate high protein and complex carbohydrates. Her breakfast was egg whites and oatmeal. She was not bulky. She had an awesomely strong, solid figure.
After much frustration with a trendy pasta-based diet, a friend asked me to design a more effective diet for her. Within two (count ‘em) weeks, on a higher protein diet, she looked leaner and told me that she felt much better. (I saw her a year later. She had dropped: several more inches, her old boyfriend and a job that she hated. She also started instructing Pilates and started a new career.)
Here is a sample of a High Protein meal plan:
Breakfast
Choice of:
Water, juice or herbal tea
Eggs x 2 (or just the whites), poached, scrambled or omelet.
Or lean hamburger, chicken, beef. Or oatmeal.
Fruit. Crackers
Snack
Peanut or almond butter or cheese on crackers
Lunch
Water, juice or herb tea
Chicken, lamb, beef, fish, tofu (any high protein food)
Salads, stir-fried or steamed vegetables
Brown rice
Fruit (optional)
Snack
-Same-
Supper
-Same as Lunch-
Evening Snack
Oatmeal or turkey breast.
(No sugar! Read about foods to avoid)
Do you get the idea? Go high on the fresh foods and low on starches like pasta, potatoes and pastries. Try to include a protein food at the beginning of each meal. It takes a few days to get used to, but you will feel the difference if you start eating too many carbohydrates again.
One of the short comings of high protein consumption, is the extra water required to process this kind of food. You can tell when your body is too dry when you get a dry mouth, constipation, sluggishness and muscle cramps. Keep hydrated. Best to drink water an hour before or after a meal. Water consumed with meals, tends to dilute digestive fluids and interferes with digestion.
If you are going to follow one kind of diet, it is important to know what you are doing. Take a close look at the people you know who are on the diet already and how their lifestyle relates to your own. Then try the diet for a few days and note the changes in your body and mood. When you become healthier, your body will actually crave certain foods and reject others and you will start eating when you are hungry and not out of boredom.
EATING FOR ENERGY
High protein, some fats (fish oils) and high complex carbohydrate diets have worked for several of my clients. However, in most cases if you simply try to eat regularly and stay clear of dairy, wheat and sugar, you will find that you can keep your energy levels fairly high. Being human, I still have the odd beer, ice cream or cheesecake. This is why I will talk about guidelines, so that you can have some kind of flexibility and still have a life. That way too, you don’t need to worry about a guilt trip if you occasionally “fall off the wagon.” Most people can eat the following:
Couscous
Kamut
This list is merely a guideline to nutrient-rich foods. When you eat nutrient-rich foods, such as broccoli or fish, you are saving yourself time and energy. By eating nutrient-rich foods you are giving yourself a greater energy return than if you eat low-value foods such as doughnuts or cake. (By the way, beer and nacho chips are not food groups.)
If you are not satisfied with the foods on the given list of foods, look up other foods in a reputable nutrition book like Nutrition Almanac.[7] You might be surprised at what you thought were nutritious foods. For instance, broccoli contains more potassium than bananas and black currents have over twice the vitamin C as oranges. Also, keep in mind that most organic foods are superior to genetically modified foods. But, “organic food” can also be outrageously over-priced.
Try to eat food that is fresh. This ensures the maximum amount of nutrients and the best taste. And while raw foods are superior to cooked foods in many ways, you still have to use some common sense. For instance, grains and many vegetables require cooking to break down the cellulose wall. Although this will result in some vitamin loss due to cooking, there is almost NO nutrient absorption if the grain or cellulose-rich vegetable remains hard and raw. Just try choking down uncooked rice or another grain and you will feel like you swallowed ball-bearings.
FOODS TO AVOID:
WHITE SUGAR
One of the most damaging sweet-tasting substances over-consumed in the North American diet is white sugar, also known as sucrose or table sugar. Not only is it highly addictive, but it actually depletes the body of B vitamins, magnesium, chromium and other minerals. This leads to tooth decay, nervousness, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), allergies and mood swings.[8] Depressed people are often suffering from low blood sugar and vitamin B deficiencies.[9] The over-consumption of sugar inhibits the immune system especially when it is consumed just before sleep.[10]
WHITE FLOUR
Bleached wheat flour is easy to store, has a long shelf life and is easy to work with. It is the main ingredient in bread, pastries, pizza dough and, oh yeah, paste for papier mâché. So, you can image your stomach trying to break down paste.
MILK
A number of famous body builders and athletes have been known to drink gallons of milk and remain physically powerful. At the same time, there are many, many more people whose bodies cannot tolerate the milk sugar called lactose. This makes most of the population lactose intolerant. As well, many people’s bodies cannot break down the large milk protein.
Except for some fermented dairy products like cheese, yogurt and kefir, I have consumed very little milk for the past 25 years. My bones have not shattered, nor have my teeth fallen out. My sinuses are much clearer than they were in my high school years and I am sick less often.
Chapter 6: Internal Health
Keeping the colon clean and happy is very important for overall health. When the body’s exhaust system is not working, the toxins start backing up into both the bloodstream and the lymphatic system. If you do need a laxative, the formulae with psyllium seeds are quite reliable as the ground seeds are high in fiber and expand to absorb a lot of water. Of course, for this reason, be sure to drink plenty of water when you use them.
The cheapest and simplest way to keep your colon healthy is to avoid white flour and eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Fresh air, rest and exercise also keeps your bowels in good working order. You really want a healthy colon (and avoid having to wear a colostomy bag). .
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -- Aristotle
How do you develop the stomach flattening habit? How do you adapt a flat stomach life style as easily as you might wash your face, tie your shoes or drive your car?
Answer: You stop treating exercise like bitter medicine and work it into your daily routine. You can do this with psychological behaviorism. Stomach Flattening gives you over 10 proven methods to change your behavior.
One of the methods is through positive-reinforcement, otherwise known as a reward system. Whenever we are rewarded for doing something, we will tend to repeat the behavior.
Two of the biggest mistakes when using the reward system:
A typical method of motivating yourself to exercise is to arrange a small reward for every time that you do exercise. Put some pressure on yourself and NOT turn on the television until you have done at least 5 minutes of the abdominal routine. I used this reward system to help me study better. I allowed myself no television watching until I read a text book chapter or typed a page for a report. Then and only then, I REWARDED MYSELF with television.
PUNISHMENT
Obviously, if cigarettes tasted bad or booze caused instant hangovers, there would be fewer people smoking and drinking. Punishment for bad behavior is effective, but it has its limitations. First of all, the punishment has to be immediate otherwise there is no link between the punishment and the activity. That is why you should not emotionally beat yourself up a day or so after missing exercise or eating too many desserts.
One way of teaching the mind negative consequences is through avoidance conditioning.[11] This is accomplished by causing some kind of mild pain during the unwanted activity. I tried this with a friend of mine who wanted to quit smoking. To help him quit, I got my friend to do 20 push ups before every cigarette he smoked. Though he did get in better physical shape, he also found more and more excuses not to smoke.
CHAPTER 8: About the Author
Hi, I’m Doug Setter. I hold a Bachelor of Foods and Nutrition from the
See my website: www.2ndwindbodyscience.com
For other similar books and courses, visit:
REFERENCES
[1] Borugian, M.J, Sheps, S.B, Kim-Sing, C, Olivotto, I.A., Van Patten, C, Dunn, B.P., Coldman, A.J., Potter, J.D., Gallagher, R.P. &Hislop, T.G. (2003) Am. J. Epdemiol Nov. 158:963-968. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Note: High insulin levels have been associated with increased risk of breast cancer and poorer survival after a breast cancer diagnosis. Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a marker for insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia.
[2] An abdominal crunch is performed by lying on your back and curling your upper body forward so that the shoulder blades are off of the ground.
[3] Yesudian, Selvarajan and Haich, Elisabeth (1953) Yoga and Health. Harper and Row Publishers:
[4] Ibid. p.117.
[5] Christensen,
[6] Null, Gary, PhD (1999) Gary Null’s Ultimate Anti-Aging Program. p. 297-298.
[7] Kirschmann, John D. with Dunne, Lavon J. (1984) Nutrition Almanac. McGraw-Hill:
[8]
[9] Ibid.
[10] Pearson, Durk and Shaw,
[11] Ibid. p.177-178.