FOOTNOTES

8  Zatsiorsky (1995)

9  Zatsiorsky (1995). In some Russian sources, e.g. Ilyin (2003), it is referred to as the viscero-motor reflex.

10 “IAP increases during muscular efforts, especially during a Valsalva maneuver. As a result of internal support [from increase IAP], the pressure on intervertebral discs can be reduced by up to 20% on average and up to 40% in extreme cases. Internal support of the spinal column can be compared to the mechanical action of a ball located in the abdominal cavity.” (Zatsiorsky, 1995)

11 Floyd & Walls (1953), Cardus et al (1963), Scott et al. (1964). These and several other references to Western research in these footnotes can be traced to Basmaijan, JV and De Luca, CJ. Muscles Alive: Their Functions Revealed by Electromyography (5th ed.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1985.

12 Sapsford et al. (2001)

13 Bors & Blinn (1965)

14 The “Darth Vader breath” of the kind used in the study cited by Zatsiorsky (1995) appears to be more appropriate when one is practicing stabilizing a neutral spine, as in the plank. It is not used in Hardstyle Abs because it does not recruit the rectus abdominis sufficiently.

15 Sarti et al. (1996)

16 Seropegin (1965)

17 Karst & Willett (2001)

18 The technical name for what we are doing is “counternutation of the sacrum”. This means your “tail tucks in” underneath the pelvis. Do not confuse it with a posterior pelvic tilt, which is a grosser movement—tipping the whole “bowl” of the pelvis back. While helpful in promoting a stronger abdominal contraction, at this point a posterior pelvic tilt would just distract you from a much subtler sacral counternutation.