Lets learn how to breathe not only in abs workouts but all exercises. Breathing is an abs workout. You need your abs to help.
Place your hands around your ribs at the side or if you can your thumbs on either side of your spine at chest height with fingers spreading around to the front.
If you have a theraband wrap it flat around the bottom of your shoulder blades and hold it together with one hand in front.
Inhale through the nose slowly and feel the ribs expand sideways away from the spine. Try not to lift into the front of your chest or raise your shoulders.
All you want is the ribs expanding across the back and out sideways to get maximum air intake. This might be quite small at first if your rib muscles are not used to this. Does not matter. Keep at it. They will get stronger.
Raising your shoulders cuts off your windpipe. So keep them down. Try to pull them down from under your armpits.
Do not use your lower abs to breathe in. The breath can not go there only into the lungs!!!!! That is not deep breathing. It is not the lower abs that help the diaphragm to come down. It is the pelvic muscles.
Deep breath is maximum expansion of ribs out!!! This also gives the spine a stretch.
Now you have held that breath all that time, the joys of reading an exercise, you can exhale through your mouth. Let it out. Let the ribs drop to the pelvis and NOW use those lower abs to help push the diaphragm back up and the air out. Pull them in. Go on.
YES. You did it.
Keep practicing til you can do it. You can practice this anywhere. The more you do it the stronger those rib muscles will get and those abs will start pulling in to as you use them to push the breath out. The first step to flat abs is to learn to flatten them rather than expand them out.
Did you know you can develop your outer abs two ways: outward or flattened? Which way do you want your abs? Pushing out or flat? Silly question. So easy answer. Do not expand them out when you breath in and flatten them across and up when you breathe out.
I have seen abs develop both ways and I know which I prefer to look at.
Good luck.
Louise Forscher is a trained Pilates and dance instructor with a specialty in rehabilitation. She provides practical instructions one can apply.
http://www.pilates-exercise-and-equipment.com
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