WHY BELLY PULSES?

Belly Pulses are an integral part of the intermediate and advanced levels of the HYPOXiX workouts and an essential pillar to the Breathography Technique!

I first began incorporating Belly Pulses into clients workouts years ago when I was employing various strategies to more effectively teach a client HOW to engage their DEEP CORE (aka transversus abdominis, pelvic floor, obliques). What turned out to be one of the top methods was telling a client to cough or laugh...thats right! The quick, stacatto, forceful BREATHWORK (yes laughing and coughing are breath-work), created a high level of activity in these areas. BUT, the issue was...drumroll...people don't really like coughing during their workouts...so, in came the belly pulses and using PURSED LIPS to increase resistance on the abs.

I want you to pretend as though you are blowing air through a straw forcefully and quickly through fairly tight pursed lips (your facial muscles also get a BIG workout in the HYPOXiX method...tell your dermatologists!)

Belly Pulses traditionally happen at the conclusion of an Engaged Exhale, so you are very contracted in your deep abdominals and at the end of your breath to begin. You should never FULLY release in your abs when performing your Belly Pulses, so this is a KEY point to remember and something that differentiates Belly Pulses from a yogic breath such as Breath of Fire where there is more of a release in the deep core and a bigger breath in between the BELLOWS breathing. I strategically designed Belly Pulses in this way in order to avoid hyperventilation during exercise and to keep a high level of core contraction...yes, it will BURN!