What is bodyflex and does this technique really help you lose weight?

What is bodyflex?

This is a weight loss technique invented by American housewife Greer Childers in the early 90s.

In her book, Gorgeous Figure in 15 Minutes a Day, Childers says she couldn't lose weight until she attended a class with a San Francisco-based sports physiologist who teaches "Rolls-Royce" breathing exercises. Expensive classes helped her lose those extra pounds. After that, Greer combined one breathing technique with constant abdominal tension and static exercises copied from yoga asanas, and presented the technique to the general public.

Bodyflex classes last 15-25 minutes, do not require equipment and significant physical effort, which greatly captivates those who want to lose weight without shortness of breath, sweat and serious stress.

Bodyflex was popular in the late 90s - Greer's technique was sold on videotapes and shown on television. Now he is practically forgotten in the USA, but he is quite famous in Russia.

Does bodyflex really help you lose weight?

In his book, Greer says that the main thing in losing weight is oxygen access.

Whether you lift a barbell, ride a bike or do something else, you are always straining or stretching certain parts of the body and you create a great need for blood in these places. Blood is the oxygen transport system, and oxygen is the fat-burning ingredient that our body needs. To burn fat more efficiently, we just need to increase the availability of oxygen to the body.

Greer Childers an excerpt from The Magnificent Figure in 15 Minutes a Day

Oxygen does help. The effect of physical activity on metabolic processes in patients with metabolic syndrome is the production of energy from glucose or fatty acids. But for this energy to be required at all, the muscles must contract. Physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness: definitions and distinctions for health-related research. … Why else would the body waste its resources?

The more muscle groups you work and the more intensively and longer this happens, the more calories you burn during your workout. The energy costs for 15 minutes of static positions are very small, which means they are not able to provide significant fat loss.

Childers also claims that constant abdominal tension, combined with breathing, helps remove fat from the abdomen.

Let's say your exercise is directed at your stomach. The brain center sends blood there. If you do deep aerobic breathing at this time, you can burn fat in the abdomen and at the same time strengthen its muscles … Only breathing according to the "Bodyflex" method, if you do it every day, will speed up the metabolism. The exercises in Chapter 6 of this book will help you burn fat and strengthen muscles in your most problematic areas.

Greer Childers an excerpt from The Magnificent Figure in 15 Minutes a Day

However, muscle tension is not able to destroy fat locally - this is a myth.

As for scientific research, we managed to find the only Influence of breathing exercises using method of Body Flex by Greer Childers on to the selected somatic traits of women with overweight and obesity experiment on 25 people conducted by Polish scientists. According to its results, two months of body flexing helped obese women lose an average of 3, 64 kg, and an overweight group - 2, 29 kg. Participants with a body mass index (BMI) within the normal range did not lose any weight at all.

Given the small size of the group, one study in 20 years of the method's existence and modest results, the effectiveness of bodyflex for weight loss has not been proven.

But it helps someone. Why does it work for them?

Bodyflex is based on breathing exercises. And, unlike Childers' method, they are fairly well researched. They are useful A Single ‑ Participants Investigation of the Effects of Various Biofeedback ‑ Assisted Breathing Patterns on Heart Rate Variability: A Practitioner's Approach, Breathing at a rate of 5.5 breaths per minute with equal inhalation ‑ to ‑ exhalation ratio increases heart rate variability for cardiac vascular system capable of The effect of mental stress on heart rate variability and blood pressure during computer work, reduce stress levels Abbreviated Resonant Frequency Training to Augment Heart Rate Variability and Enhance On-Demand Emotional Regulation in Elite Sport Support Staff, Effect of short-term practice of breathing exercises on autonomic functions in normal human volunteers and improve the emotional state of a person.

Perhaps this is what determines the small positive effect of body flex.

Chronic stress interferes with weight loss. In the body, the A Link Between Sleep Loss, Glucose Metabolism and Adipokines decrease the amount of the hormone adiponectin, which is involved in the breakdown of fats. This increases the level of cortisol, a hormone that slows down this process and retains water in the body.

Breathing exercises reduce stress, and with it extra pounds go away. For example, in one study, Effect of 12 weeks of slow breathing exercise practice on anthropometric parameters in healthy volunteers, 12 weeks of daily 20 minute breathing sessions reduced participants' BMI by 10%.

The same 10% lost weight in the body flex experiment. With the difference that obese women participated there, and here - young and healthy students of both sexes.

We can conclude that just breathing deeply is no less, if not more useful for losing weight than something while straining and stretching.

Will bodyflex help to strengthen the muscles?

Isometric exercises are really capable Do isometric, isotonic and / or isokinetic strength trainings produce different strength outcomes? increase strength and muscle mass. Maybe a little worse than isotonic ones - those in which you move, but still.

The only downside to these exercises is that you do not develop functional strength, which will come in handy in real life. If you train your body in static position, you will become stronger Effect of Static and Dynamic Exercises on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy in a stationary position. In movement - and this is how muscles work in everyday life - your options remain modest.

If you have a very low level of fitness, bodyflex will help to strengthen the muscles, but you should not wait for further progress. For relief and increased functionality, you need to move, and even better - do it with weights.

Is it worth doing body flex at all?

It all depends on your goals and capabilities.

It is definitely worth trying bodyflex if you are overweight and have a hard time tolerating any physical activity. Static positions will not be taken too hard, so you can train yourself to exercise regularly and burn more calories than without exercising at all. In addition, regular breathing exercises can help relieve stress and lose a few pounds.

It is also worth trying the technique if you sit a lot and do not plan to play sports. Gentle stretching combined with breathing can help reduce the harm from a sedentary lifestyle, stretch clogged tight muscles a little, and strengthen weak and stretched muscles.

If you want to lose weight faster and significantly increase muscle strength and volume, do cardio, strength training, and high-intensity interval training. You can supplement them with body flex or just breathing exercises and get only benefits, moreover, both for the figure and for the psychological state.

Who is not allowed to do body flex?

In her book, Greer Childers warns that you need to consult a doctor before starting training.

There are no specific contraindications for classes. But since all exercises include a deep breath, a delay on expiration and strong tension of the abdominal muscles, be sure to consult with a therapist for respiratory diseases, pregnancy, or problems with organs and muscles of the abdominal region.

How to do body flex?

Try the 12 Easy Movements in Childers' book. This workout takes about 15–20 minutes and does not require much flexibility or special skills.

Each exercise begins with the same five-step breathing technique:

Exhale completely through your mouth.
Inhale quickly and deeply through your nose.
Breathe out sharply through your mouth to create a "ha" or "groin" sound.
Hold your breath, pull your stomach to the spine and hold this position for 8 seconds (counting to yourself).
Breathe in and relax.

You take the first four steps, then do the exercise with a hold of eight counts, then relax and repeat the movement two more times. If the exercise involves working to one side, such as bending to the right, do it three times in each direction.

a lion

Place your feet at a distance of 30–35 cm from each other, tilt your straight body forward and rest your hands on your hips just above your knees.

Perform a breathing exercise in this position, while holding, pull your stomach as close to the spine as possible, collect your lips in a circle and pull them down to the chin so that the space between the nose and lips stretches. Then stick out your tongue as far as you can and roll your eyes up.

Ugly grimace

Take a pose, as in the exercise "Lion", and do the breathing technique. On hold, push your chin forward so that the lower teeth are in front of the upper ones, and fold your lips with a tube.

In this position, straighten your body, take your shoulders back, as if swinging for a jump, and lift your head up. Feel the stretch in your neck and upper chest muscles. Hold this position.

Side stretch

Take the starting position with your hands on your knees, do the breathing part.

On hold, lower your left elbow to your left knee and extend your right leg to the side. Transfer your weight to your left knee and extend your right arm over your head, extending your side. Hold this position.

Do an equal number of times on both legs.

Pulling the leg back

Get on all fours, do breathing exercises. While holding your breath, draw your stomach in and lift one straight leg. Pull the toe towards you so that the toes of the raised foot point to the floor.

Hold the position, then return to all fours and repeat on the other leg. Do three times each.

Seiko

Get on all fours, straighten one leg to the side. Do a breathing exercise, draw in your stomach and, while holding, lift your straight leg to the side.

Do an equal number of reps on both legs.

Diamond

Stand up straight, do a breathing exercise, draw in your stomach, bend your elbows while holding, close your fingers in front of your chest and press them strongly against each other. Hold the tension for 8 seconds, do not raise your shoulders to your ears, do not press your arms to your chest.

Boat

Sit on the floor, spread your straight legs to the sides, pull the toes of your feet over yourself, put your hands on the floor behind your body. Perform a breathing exercise, tilt your head while holding, draw in your stomach and place your hands on the floor in front of you. Continue to slowly slide your hands forward, stretching your hips.

Pretzel

Sit on the floor with your legs extended forward. Then bend your right leg at the knee and place your foot on the outside of your left thigh. Press your palms to the floor behind your body.

Do a breathing exercise, draw in your stomach and, while holding, turn your body to the left. Place your right hand on the floor behind your body, with your left hand press your knee to your chest. Look at the wall behind you, turn your body, straighten your back.

At the end of the interval, follow the opposite direction.

Back of the thigh stretch

Lie on your back, do a breathing exercise, draw in your stomach and, while holding, raise your legs perpendicular to the floor, pull the toes of your feet towards you. Wrap your hands around the top of your calves or thighs if there is not enough stretch, and pull your legs towards you.

Do not bend your knees or lift your buttocks off the floor. Hold this position.

Exercise on the press

Lie on your back, bend your knees at a right angle and place your feet on the floor, hip-width apart. Stretch your arms along your body on the floor.

Do a breathing exercise, while holding in your stomach, and lift your shoulders and shoulder blades off the floor. Stretch your arms against the wall in front of you without releasing the tension in your abdominal muscles.

This exercise can also be done with the arms extended upward. The rules of execution do not change: you do it on hold, pull your stomach in, but reach with your hands not against the wall opposite, but towards the ceiling.

Scissors

Lie on the floor on your back, straighten your legs, stretch your arms along your body, or place your palms down under your buttocks.

Perform a breathing exercise, draw in your stomach and press your lower back to the floor. On a hold, raise your straight legs 10 cm from the floor and perform the “scissor” swings, alternating the position of the legs.

Cat

Get on all fours. Do a breathing exercise, hold your breath and draw in your stomach.

Tilt your head and arch your back in an arc, lifting it up like an angry cat. Hold this position.

How often can you do body flex?

Exercise every day or even twice a day - 15-20 minutes in the morning and evening.

Since the stress on the muscles is minimal, you don't need recovery time. Stretching in the morning will help you wake up and stretch your body; in the evening, breathing exercises will relieve the stress accumulated during the day.