Bodyflex bodyflex 15 minute workout with Greer Childers

Bodyflex is the most successful attempt to sell ordinary women the idea of doing exercises every day. This is a hybrid of yoga breathing “nauli”, simple stretches and static poses. The goal of the class is to lose weight exclusively in problem areas and facial rejuvenation.

Gymnastics was invented by American housewife Greer Childers. In Russia, media fitness instructor Marina Korpan is promoting the technique. Any exercise is better than lying on the couch, but can bodyweight training really help you lose 6 sizes without dieting, get rid of wrinkles and folds and speed up your metabolism?

How did bodyflex appear and who is its creator?

The history of the emergence of gymnastics can be gleaned from the book by Greer Childers. And you can see the author herself on Youtube. Greer also has a website, although it is in English. She was a doctor's wife and suffered greatly from idleness. More precisely, from the hard life of an American housewife. She didn’t get enough sleep, overeated, felt disgusting and gained weight up to size 16. So that you understand, Russian size 46 is 8.

What did the poor thing do, except for a balanced diet and strength training. Greer went to aerobics, but her legs only became thicker, and if her stomach decreased, it was only slightly. She ate only vegetables and did not eat at all, but then she went off the diet. By the way, Childers’ favorite dish is shawarma, that is, a burrito, which explains a lot.

The husband left, and the joy of life went with him. And if it weren’t for a trip to some esoteric guru and learning breathing exercises “for the price of a Cadillac,” Greer would have remained in a dress from “Omar the Tent,” as she herself calls outfits for plus-size people.

After some time of breathing practices, Childers lost weight. And then I created a 15-minute morning complex, included in it exercises only for problem areas and the face, and followed the established info-business scheme. First - seminars in US cities. Then - a book about weight loss, which became a bestseller. Next is “Dzhimbar”. This is not a very convenient expander for static exercises at home. Afterwards – sales of videotapes and books. And finally, everything is the same, but through the website.

Bodyflex is when a person first exhales sharply, then draws in his stomach due to the vacuum and takes some kind of static pose. After standing like this for 8 slow counts, he can inhale and perform the next repetition.

Gymnastics itself looks even stranger than the Russian Instagram craze – vacuum. But it sells great.

True, Marina Korpan, an instructor of group programs and the creator of an entire school of breathing exercises, writes that if you continue to eat buns, no bodyflex will help. But he continues to teach it.

The Secret of Greer Childers Shape

At sixty years old, Greer Childers looks great, as if 20 years have not passed since the release of her best-selling book, “Gorgeous Figure in 15 Minutes.”

So what is the secret of such a great shape? Greer Childers herself claims that it was the new Shapely Secrets system helped her keep her figure toned and free of excess fat. Moreover, unlike the previous bodyflex system, it is not necessary to perform simple exercises in the morning before breakfast.

Let's look at the secret feature of the new Shapely Secrets program.

The main idea of bodyflex

The official idea is simple - oxygen burns fat in problem areas. Allegedly, when you hold your breath, a deficiency of it is created in the working muscle, then it is sharply “pumped” into the problem area and begins to burn.

In addition, static exercises, according to Greer, are many times more effective than aerobics:

They do not lead to muscle hypertrophy, which means that the legs and arms will not grow in volume.
Statics does not burden joints and ligaments, and can be practiced with sore knees and back.
They are a metabolic activator that causes the body to burn calories faster at rest.

This is all great, but the process of fatty acid oxidation is not so simple. Our body cannot “get started” with fat burning if there are simpler sources of energy, such as liver and muscle glycogen. Or maybe, but if the liver and muscles are empty and the body is experiencing an energy deficiency. Normally, the human body stores about 400 g of glycogen. This amount is obtained by adding up two average daily rations of a woman with normal nutrition. That is, switching the body to burning fat is not so easy.

The second point is that you need to activate certain receptors in adipose tissue for the fat burning process to begin. And they begin to work only if a person is in a state of calorie deficit .

15 minutes of exercise in the morning will burn approximately 50-100 kcal, and this is only if the person exercising is heavy. All bodyflex exercises are regional and low intensity. It is unlikely that anyone will be able to exceed these numbers with them.

What does bodyflex do for weight loss? Teaches you to suck in your stomach and trains the transverse abdominis muscle. It is thanks to this that saggy bellies are drawn in and waists are reduced. Fat is not burned without dieting. As for the rest of the paraphernalia, it can only tone the muscles a little if the person has not done anything before.

Training should be done every day on an empty stomach. The point here is to make it easier to draw in your stomach while holding your breath.

Contraindications

Bodyflex exercises, despite their high effectiveness, may be prohibited if:

The person performing it suffers from hypertension. When you hold your breath, the body feels stress. Physical activity at this moment forces the heart to work faster. In this case, blood pressure inevitably increases.

On topic: Pneumatics for practical shooting training

The main contraindication is hypertension.

Classes take place during pregnancy. When breathing practice is performed correctly, constant compression and “massaging” of the abdominal walls occurs. Such compression negatively affects the condition of the fetus in the womb. If desired, you can leave the stretching exercises, provided that they are done slowly and carefully.
Recently had surgery or injury.
At the time of performing the exercises, an exacerbation of a chronic disease occurred.
The body has thyroid disorders or dysfunction.
Spinal surgery was performed.

The role of oxygen and carbon dioxide in respiration

Biology textbooks don’t write about the fact that oxygen burns fat during breathing. The role of oxygen in the body is to participate in oxidation on cell mitochondria (in relation to fats). But fatty acids must still reach these mitochondria. They will only get there if the hormonal response typical of a calorie deficit is created.

Carbon dioxide is nothing more than a metabolic product that is obtained as a result of cellular respiration and released into the environment. If you hold your breath, oxygen will not be “absorbed in a larger volume.”

By contracting or stretching a muscle, a person accelerates blood circulation in the work area. This is where blood and oxygen rush. This theoretically speeds up local metabolism. But there is no scientific data as to exactly how much.

Greer wrote that you can burn 6,000 kcal in an hour of exercise. Then, according to the requirements of the US FDA, this statement was removed from books and speeches as unproven scientifically. Although the author of the technique refers to research from the University of California in his book, they say that scientists approve of bodyflex. But there is no evidence that it changes local metabolism and causes fat burning in problem areas . It simply works like regular gymnastics to improve muscle tone and prevent physical inactivity.

Doctors' opinion about the method

Photo: https://pixabay.com/photos/nurse-medicine-doctor-hospital-2019420/ Breathing exercises for losing weight in the abdomen, hips, buttocks, and strengthening all the muscles of the body are very popular.
The technique really works and has many fans, but doctors are in no hurry to share the enthusiasm of those losing weight. And that's why. Bodyflex is absolutely useless for those who have a trained body. If the muscles are initially toned, then they do not receive the necessary stress that triggers the fat burning process.

During exercise, the muscles are stretched and tensed, while being enriched with oxygen. After training, “excited” muscles require additional nutrition, water and oxygen, using the body’s internal reserves and reserves. It is during the recovery processes after training that fat burning occurs.

Trained muscles do not need to be restored; the body spends calories only during a short twenty-minute exercise, and this is not enough for weight loss. It is for this reason that fitness trainers and athletes do not like the technique.

Traditional bodyflex is recommended exclusively for beginners. As soon as the weight loss process stops, and this happens after 3-5 months, it is necessary to switch to other trainings, but under no circumstances give up physical activity, otherwise the lost kilograms will quickly return.

The technique may not be useful for those taking antidepressants and hormonal contraceptives. In this case, it is necessary to combine bodyflex with cardio exercise, limit yourself in salt, sweets, tea and coffee.

Bodyflex will not help you achieve ideal shape if there is no excess fat. It's better to do regular fitness. And only the gym will help you build muscle mass and achieve definition.

Most doctors believe that breathing exercises can be harmful if done incorrectly. Holding your breath for more than ten seconds leads to saturation of the blood with oxidation products, which does not benefit the liver and kidneys. In addition, holding your breath is strictly prohibited for many diseases, in particular for hypertensive patients, heart patients, and epileptics.

Bodyflex technique

Below is a set of exercises for beginners.

Before you begin, you need to learn how to breathe:

Take a stance: feet shoulder-width apart, relax your stomach and face, place your hands on your hips and bend slightly at the hip joints.
Slowly exhale all the air from your lungs.
Inhale sharply.
Also quickly exhale, making a “popping” sound “groin”.
Draw your stomach in and count to yourself to 8.
Push your abdominal wall forward and inhale.

How breathing exercises for weight loss work

Photo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-doing-yoga-2294353/ Bodyflex for beginners is always based on mastering proper breathing, otherwise the classes will not give the desired effect. First, practice how to breathe correctly, bring the technique to automaticity, and only then start doing the exercises.

Exhale through the mouth

The first step is to completely empty the lungs of stagnant air by exhaling sharply through an open mouth. At the same time, fold your lips into a “tube”. All air should come out without any residue.

Inhale quickly through the nose

Now close your lips tightly and inhale sharply and quickly through your nose, filling your lungs to capacity.

Imagine that you have been underwater for a long time, you are short of air and, having emerged to the surface, you take a long-awaited deep breath. Mentally imagine how oxygen fills the respiratory system from top to bottom.

This is a very important stage, since a sharp nasal inhalation activates aerobic processes. If you inhale correctly, you will definitely make noise.

Exhale sharply through the mouth

Once your lungs are full, lift your head slightly and purse your mouth as if you were applying lipstick to your lips.

Now you need to exhale sharply, achieving a whistling sound “groin!” The exhalation should be deep and start from the diaphragm itself.

Holding your breath (pause)

After all the air has left the lungs, you need to close your mouth and hold your breath for as long as possible. At the same time, the head bends, and the stomach retracts so that it “sticks” to the spine, and the entire contents of the abdomen “move” under the ribs.

This movement massages and stimulates the functioning of the internal organs and is an important part of exercises for reducing waist size; after exhalation, a kind of vacuum is created inside.

If at this moment you put your hand on your stomach, you can feel that it is sunken and resembles a concave bowl. Since the abdominal muscles of most people are very weak, it will be easier to pull the stomach up if you tilt your head, pointing your chin to your chest.

Try to hold in the tummy tucked position for 8-10 seconds. It is at this moment that the main bodyflex exercises are performed.

Relax and breathe

When you feel like you are short of breath, you can inhale air (usually with a whimper) and relax your abdominal muscles.

Exercises for the face and neck

"Ugly Grimace"

Stand in the stance in which you learned to breathe, and while holding your breath, push your chin up so that your neck tenses. Perform 3 to 5 repetitions; while holding your breath, you should feel a stretch in your neck. This movement should, according to the author’s idea, remove wrinkles from the neck and relieve cervical osteochondrosis.

"A lion"

Now you can straighten up or even sit down if you can hold your breath while sitting. We stretch our lips forward like a tube and stick out our tongue. You need to stand with such a face for 8 counts of delay and repeat the exercise 3-5 times.

Reviews from those who have lost weight

Bodyflex exercises are effective for some, but for others they are not suitable at all, which is why reviews can be very contradictory.

“Only fifteen minutes a day, and the result is visible after the first three sessions. The best part is that the “ears”, “breeches”, double chin gradually disappear, and the fat on the inner thighs decreases.”
“It fights cellulite and extra pounds well, the figure is tightened, but they say that oxygen starvation is dangerous for the brain. I decided not to risk it and quit.”
“After giving birth, the “pregnant” belly disappeared almost effortlessly!”
“The effect, of course, is amazing, but my gastritis worsened and my heart began to beat like crazy. I had to quit."
“In two months I lost 7 kg, but I still ate right, so the combination of gymnastics and a healthy lifestyle helped.”
"Tedious and difficult."
“In three weeks I haven’t lost an ounce of weight, but my figure has become more toned and my volume has gone away. True, I ate as usual. But I won’t do bodyflex anymore, I’d rather sign up for the pool - I love dynamic training.”
“You don’t need to wait for a miracle - the fat won’t go away, although the body does become slimmer.”
“Visible results only at first - I lost 5 cm in my hips, and no more than two in other parts of my body. And then no more results, the weight did not decrease at all.”
“Very effective gymnastics, but it’s not my thing. At first everything was fine, but then I had to quit classes. I gained weight right before my eyes, and when I started working out again, I couldn’t lose anything.”
“Regular exercises bring good results, but frightening sounds when breathing make my husband and children laugh. I had to switch to yoga.”

Exercises for chest, waist, buttocks, legs

"Diamond"

The only exercise for arms and chest in the entire Greer complex. You need to sit on your heels on the mat, bend your knees, and clasp your hands in front of your chest, spreading your elbows to the sides. You need to squeeze “finger to finger”, forming a semblance of a diamond in front of you. You have to press hard, all 8 counts. Repetitions – 5.

Pulling the leg back

The exercise is familiar to everyone from school, but here you need to do it statically. We get on all fours, move the straight leg back, contract the gluteal muscles, raise the leg up and stand. You need to feel a burning sensation in the muscle and perform a static pose 3 times on each side.

Abdominal exercise

Side stretch

Stand up straight, step your right leg into a side lunge, turn your toes to the side, bend your leg at the knee, move your hip so that it drops parallel to the floor, lean on it with your hand, and raise your opposite arm up to the side, leaning towards your hip. The second leg remains straight. The stretch is performed 3 times on each side.

Abdominal Press

This is a normal straight static twist. From a lying position, you hold your breath, contract your stomach and hold it for 8 counts. The goal is to simultaneously tighten your stomach and contract your abs.

"Scissors"

From a supine position while holding your breath, perform regular leg scissor swings. The lower back is pressed to the floor; if the lordosis is too great, hands are placed under the buttocks.

All abdominal exercises are done for 3 repetitions.

Exercises for hips

"Boat"

You need to sit on your buttocks, spread your straight legs to the sides and bend between them, performing the usual stretching of the inner thigh while holding your breath.

"Seiko"

We get on all fours, move the bent leg to the side. According to Greer, this is how you can burn “breeches,” fat on the side of the thigh. In fact, a very small muscle works here, which abducts the thigh, and partly the buttocks.

"Pretzel"

This is a sitting stretch: one leg is bent at the knee and placed on the heel at the level of the other knee, the opposite hand rests on the knee, the body turns away from the raised leg.

All hip exercises are performed for 3 repetitions on each side.

The complex can be performed on all parts of the body every day or you can choose only exercises for the face and your problem areas.

You can watch a version of the program from Greer Childers herself in this video:

Recommendations for beginners

Start your classes by watching the video “Bodyflex with Greer Childers” - you will learn a lot of new and interesting things about the system itself and learn how to breathe correctly.
The main condition for the effectiveness of training is regularity. Those who have chosen bodyflex as their main area of fitness should not be allowed to take breaks in their classes.
Do exercises consciously with love for yourself and your body. Praise yourself for your workouts.

Those who have chosen bodyflex as their main area of fitness should not be allowed to take breaks in their classes.

Who is this gymnastics suitable for?

Bodyflex, as a way to lose weight throughout the body, has had its ups and downs. Now he has come to Instagram. Gymnastics is designed for young mothers who have gained weight during pregnancy - there is no time for full-fledged training, nor the skill to practice. There is a lot of movement during the day, but the stomach after childbirth still doesn’t look very good, and you can’t lose weight.

What is so special about bodyflex for overweight beginners? I believe in myself and the first results with simple gymnastics. It is not suitable for athletic girls. Although instructor Katya Buida says that she lost weight like this once, but gave up, they say, her metabolism accelerated so much that there was nothing left of Katya.

Bodyflex gymnastics is not designed for those who have good physical training. Both Marina Korpan and Greer Childers speak directly about this. Marina teaches her own type of gymnastics, diluting the exercises discussed above with movements from callanetics and Pilates.

Is it possible to lose weight by 6 sizes using bodyflex? Yes, if a person maintains a calorie deficit and eats rationally. By the way, Greer offers her followers a diet of 1200-1600 kcal in a typical American style. There are burritos there too, only in low-calorie pita without yeast and with chicken breast instead of fried beef.

However, you need to take into account that going to a fitness club, where you should combine strength and aerobic training, would be much more effective (in terms of an alternative to bodyflex rather than a diet) .

Why did Anna Sedokova start doing bodyflex?

The famous singer Anna Sedokova gained a little weight after the birth of her child. She urgently needed to lose seven kilograms in order to go on stage again and captivate the audience.

Why Anna Sedokova started doing bodyflex

First, the singer tried a diet specially designed for her. But it didn’t help her, it only harmed her, adding another 1.5 kg. Then Anna decided to find out reviews and results about bodyflex in order to get herself into proper shape. Having tried this type of fitness, she said that she would never go on grueling diets again, because this unique breathing program for weight loss made an unforgettable impression on her.

The show business star quickly lost weight. Reviews about bodyflex for weight loss helped her a lot , because it was they who convinced the singer to take up such a sport. Anna now herself advises everyone about bodyflex and helps them master it.

The beauty did not stop eating her favorite dishes, but her figure became simply stunning, the audience was completely delighted. She convinces all women who are overweight not to resort to extreme types of weight loss, because there is bodyflex.