The Essentials of Abdominal Tone

You don’t hear many people talking about the importance of abdominal tone, but it’s really critical, especially when it comes to proper breathing.

Oxygen is the primary nutrient for producing energy in the body. Whatever people do to disrupt the efficiency of their breathing mechanism creates energetic deficits for which they compensate by drinking and eating bad food sources of quick energy.

In my video, I’ll describe how to recognize some of these very basic problems with abdominal tone and how to correct them.

The most common problem people experience with abdominal tone is their tendency to hold their abs tightly inward like they’re bodybuilders.

You see it everywhere from guys showing off poses in gyms to women being conditioned to do this by the fashion industry (creating all sorts of head, neck and jaw disorders).

One of the first problems I see with my clients who have these problems: They aren’t breathing properly because they’re holding their abs inward all the time.

I recognize this immediately when I test their core functions and they won’t let their abdominals go. Then, when I show clients how to breathe properly, they won’t expand the abdomen because they’re programmed to hold them in tightly to achieve a certain aesthetic standard (that no one really understands).

Breathing is one aspect the nervous system must orchestrate at all costs. Anything that gets in the way creates compensations that can work against you and in your other physical systems in the long run.

Remember, the first two-thirds of your breathe should come from the abdomen, expanding your belly without your chest moving. It’s only in the last third of your breath that your chest should move.

Here’s a simple test: Try breathing deeply and naturally while holding in your abs. You can’t do it. Then, try to take a full breath, and you’ll probably experience lots of tension in your accessory respiratory muscles like the levator scapulae and the upper trapezius and neck extensors.

This leads to headache tension syndromes and decreases the blood circulating to the brain.

If you’re experiencing abdominal tone issues and want to learn how to correct them, consider taking a look at my Scientific Core Conditioning and Scientific Back Training programs.

Love and chi,

Paul