Archive for June, 2022

After 8 years of gradually worsening lower back pain I was 100% convinced I needed surgery.

I was sure I needed my lipomas cut out from above my hip. At times the pain has been excruciating. The lumps are right there where the pain is. What else could it possibly be?

I saw doctors, physios, chiropractors – no solution.

I tried all kinds of exercises, stretches and treatments – no solution.

Finally a couple of weeks back purely by chance I started doing some stomach vacuums just messing around.

My back pain immediately decreased dramatically. Now I do it frequently during the day – my back pain is greatly reduced.

How can this be?

Well its related to having a pot gut. Walking around all day with a bloated full stomach. Having a bit too much belly fat.

This in turn weakens the core, abdominal & lower back muscles. One of which is the Transverse Abdominus. This is like your natural corset all around your waist. Its the weakening of this muscle that causes the back pain.

The lower back muscle & fascia can rupture and result in lipomas.

So stomach vacuums seem to be the best exercise for this problem. They are not the only one – there are many exercises such as planks or the ab wheel. The pullover exercise for rib cage expansion also hits this muscle.

In yoga this exercise is called Uddiyana Bandha. A more advanced stage is called Nauli Kriya.

Here is how to do Uddiyana Bandha:

Exhale completely. Notice that you do this pressing in with both your chest and abdomen. You can pretend to be blowing up a balloon as much as possible with one breath.

The best time for practice is early in the morning, with empty stomach and bowels. The contraindications for uddiyana bandha are high blood pressure, hiatal hernia, ulcers, pregnancy, and menstruation.

You may not think these are good instructions as you are not able to do a vacuum by relaxing. Initially you have to tense & actively suck the abs in using force. Really you must contract the transverse abdominal to suck in the gut. Also you dont want to do a valsalva. You can keep breathing while holding the contraction

Despite this I recall as a kid I could suck in my gut more in the way they describe. Using a vacuum rather than a muscular contraction. This is a finer part of the exercise after the initial contraction. Lets not over analyze. Maybe after doing it via contraction you can lose some fat and gain more nerve control then explore the yogic methods. Certainly to begin with its unlikely you will be capable of Nauli Kriya.

Dont be afraid to strengthen & thicken the Transverse Abdominal using contraction.

By the way I can do 1000 consecutive stomach crunches quite easily – this is a different muscle so just having strong abs or spinal erectors is not enough.

Just read an article about a village in India where they all train to be bouncers. Really its a city of 50000 but anyway they are also plant based eaters.

They workout with weights & do yoga for 2-3 hours daily.

The diet:

“My suggestion is they drink at least three to four liters of milk a day,” said Vijay. “A dozen bananas and around half a kilo of fruit. During lunch, they also consume 1.5 to 2 kilograms of yogurt with three to four pieces of flatbread. In the evening, they should have two pieces of flatbread and one to 1.5 kilograms of almond-infused milk.”

The great Gama reportedly consumed 15 liters of milk, three kilograms of butter, mutton, nine kilograms of almonds and three baskets of fruits daily. That’s highly unlikely of course. I think 3-4 liters is doable but two max is enough surely.