Hi everyone!

I've recently been considering returning to Oxycise! (especially since my 18th birthday is ten weeks today). I'm not considerably overweight or anything:

Height - 5'2"
Weight - About 135lbs/140lbs (not totally sure)
Waist - 26.5"/27"

Thing is, I'm chubby, and really want to tone up.

I'm particularly concerned about my tummy, because when I do the 'lift' I don't seem to get a good 'scoop' effect. Although I can feel my muscles tensing, it doesn't really feel like I've pulled them in and up (if that makes any sense).

I'm worried that if I don't do the lift correctly, my tummy won't flatten.

Can anyone tell me if they've acheived a flat tummy using Oxycise! or/and whether they've had a similar problem with the lift and how you solved it?

Thanks!

Maybe I can offer a little encouragement.

Many of our customers have commented about gaining tighter abs with Oxycise! and the Lift is the main reason for that. If you browse through the "Success Stories" you will probably notice many comments about tighter abs... and I know that even some of our male customers (including a body builder) have mentioned better abs with Oxycise! (find "Success Stories for Men Only" at
www.oxyciseplus.com/Success/index.htm )

Here are a few tips that may be helpful:

When you inhale, be sure to relax your "belly" and breathe in deeply (Do NOT try to tighten or scoop in during the inhale... or you won't be able to get much air in!)Imagine the air sinking right to the bottom of your lungs, and filling up your lungs like liquid being poured into a glass.

Right AFTER your nice, big inhale is the time to tighten those abs and "zip up" (tighten and pull IN, don't push out) with your lower abdominal muscles. Then try to top off your lungs with 3 more little sniffs of air. They will already be full, so you may not be able to get much in... but go through the motion anyway. Trying to take in more air with tight ab muscles is hard to do... that's what makes it a great ab exercise.

Now exhale through flattened lips (as if blowing out through a straw -- meaning you are "pushing" the air through a small space so you have to use some muscle power). Really work your abs... push the air out by lifting MORE and scooping even MORE! Try to blow out every last bit of air...

Then KEEP working your abs as you try to blow out even MORE air -- 3 more little puffs.

You should be able to FEEL your ab muscles working. When I do the Lift and scoop with lots of "gusto" I may even feel a little cramping and aching during the exhale and extra puffs as my muscles let me know they are working hard (by
"complaining" a bit!)

Hope this is helpful!

I mentioned "filling up" your lungs during the inhale, as if you are filling a glass of water...
from the bottom up.

For those who like visualization:
it may help to think of the exhale as squeezing or compressing the air upward from below the lungs.

You might visualize a toothpaste tube standing on end, with the opening at the top. Imagine the tube being rolled upward starting at the bottom...

Or perhaps an accordion standing on end, that is being compressed from the bottom so that the air is forced upward like a bellows.

You may be able to come up with a better visual aid, but I think you get the idea!

It's the ab muscles that do the "pushing" or "squeezing" or "compressing."

Not to rip off Kanga's question site or anything, but I find it almost impossible to "tighten" abs while trying to sniff in more air. Anytime air is being pulled in, the diaphragm should be extended and to extend that and pull in abdominally at the same time seems near impossible. Is it all the same if I inhale (totally relaxed and concentrating on expanding my diaphragm), take in 3 sniffs and then pull my ab in before I exhale? (This works much better for me. I can't imagine results will be any different--?)

Hi,
You're right -- it IS very hard to tighten and do 3 extra sniffs at the same time. But Jill designed the Basic Breath that way on purpose.

Don't worry about it too much -- as long as you "hold on" to the air in your lungs and just try to add three more little sniffs, that's fine.

Just the action of trying to take in 3 extra sniffs will cause your diaphragm to contract... you can actually feel the motion if you put your fingertips just below your ribcage, in the middle.

If you can tighten your abs even the slightest little bit, you will be getting a great INTERNAL
isotonic exercise -- in other words, your diaphragm will be working against your ab muscles.
That's what makes this step so effective at helping to tone your abs!

Thanks, Julie, for your reply. I'd bought the EDI original tapes and never bothered looking at the instructional b/c it goes so in depth about the breathing technique and I've already got that down. However, tonight I watched the whole thing just for the mere enjoyment of it, and would you believe at the end of it Jill says the whole Lift/Tuck thing is optional and has nothing to do with the essence of the program--which is getting the oxygen in. (She even went so far as to say--with a big smile--that if that part was too confusing, "Just leave it out!") I was glad to hear that, b/c it confirmed my idea that regardless of lifting b4 or after the 3 sniffs, results would probably be the same.

I agree with you, though, that doing the lift at ALL will help with ab tightening.

Hope all this helps KangaMaLoo.

Katherine

Live like there's no tomorrow
Eat like no one's watching
And Breathe like you're on a respirator!