Strelnikova’s gymnastics for weight loss: breathing exercises for losing weight in the abdomen

Specific exercises help in the treatment of bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis and sinusitis, and many other diseases . The patients themselves responded to this treatment - their weight began to decrease against the backdrop of normalization of appetite and the functioning of the entire gastrointestinal tract. Breathing exercises according to Strelnikova for weight loss can only act as an additional method; diet and sports must be present in any case.

Strelnikova argued that the most important thing in her breathing exercises is to learn how to inhale and exhale correctly. The first should be short and sharp through the nose, the second should be long and drawn-out through the mouth. With a sharp and short inhalation, oxygen from the air penetrates to the very “bottom” of the lungs and begins to quickly move through the bloodstream throughout the body. This provides:

acceleration of blood circulation;
supply of a full amount of oxygen to all tissues and organs;
increasing the speed of all life processes at the cellular level.

Correct inhalation during breathing exercises
Strelnikova’s gymnastics for weight loss does not speed up metabolism, does not burn fat, but provides the body with proper functioning.

When performing exercises, it is important not to grimace, not to raise/lower your shoulders, not to throw your head back, not to use facial muscles . Breathing should be natural, only then will there be a positive result from the “training”. Strelnikova recommends first working on the breathing itself in front of a mirror and making sure that everything is being done correctly, and only after that moving on to any exercises.

Rules:

In breathing exercises, the most important thing is to take the correct breath: noisy, sharp, with a sound like a clap.
Exhalation is natural, it begins immediately after inhalation, holding your breath is unacceptable. But you can’t forcefully push air out of your lungs.
All exercises are performed while inhaling, and the overall breathing rhythm should resemble a clear marching step.

We must remember that weight loss according to Strelnikova consists of a basic complex and additional exercises specifically aimed at solving the problem of excess weight. It is necessary to perform 4 approaches to each, between them you need a rest of 3 - 5 seconds, breaths with each approach - exactly 8 (no more, no less). Every day you can increase the number of repetitions of the exercises performed and develop your respiratory system.

In the first 3 - 5 days you need to perform only the basic Strelnikova gymnastics complex:

"Palms" . Stand up straight, head slightly raised, arms bent at the elbows, palms together in a straightened position. As you inhale, force is applied, the palms press against each other - you will feel tension in the muscles of the shoulders and chest. As you exhale, relaxation follows, but the original position is maintained.
"Epaulettes" . In a standing position, you need to bend your arms at the elbow joints, clench your fists and rest them on your stomach. As you inhale, your arms drop sharply down - you need to reach them towards the floor, but at the same time you cannot lower your shoulders, they must be as tense as possible. As you exhale, the upper limbs return to their original position.
"Pump" . Stand up straight, spread your feet wider than shoulder-width apart. A bow is performed, after the body reaches half the “path”, an inhalation is made - the bow continues, then you need to rise a little (the back does not straighten) and the inhalation is repeated while lowering. The upper body does not assume a straight position.

Exercise “Pump”
You can add to it the exercise for losing belly fat “Cat”:

stand up straight, place your feet slightly narrower than your shoulders;
you inhale and at the same time lightly squat and move your arms, simulating grasping objects, with the body turning to the side;
exhale - return to the starting position;
repeat with a turn in the other direction.

Exercise “Cat”
Squats (half squats) should be light, a little springy, the exercise is performed at a fairly fast pace.

For weight loss, 2 more exercises from the breathing exercises complex will be useful:

"Hugging" . In a standing position, raise your arms to chin level, not fully bend your elbows and spread them to the sides. While inhaling, a movement is made with the upper limbs - they “hug” the shoulders, positioned one above the other. As you exhale, return to the starting position. The exercise is performed energetically and quickly, breathing is noisy and as deep as possible.
"Big Pendulum" . Stand up straight, press your hands with your fists to your stomach. As you inhale, bend over (not completely), while exhaling, lift your body and move your arms, as in “Hugging.” You need to alternate breaths/exercises, you cannot bend too low or allow your back to arch.

A complex of breathing exercises should be performed daily for 10 - 20 minutes.

Without diets and additional exercises, weight loss will occur by 2-3 kg per month and it is not a fact that this will happen at all.

Read more in our article about Strelnikova’s gymnastics for weight loss.

Is it really possible to lose weight with Strelnikova?

Breathing exercises were developed by a vocal teacher, and then they were actively used in the treatment of diseases of the respiratory system. Official medicine confirms that specific exercises help in the treatment of bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis and sinusitis, and many other diseases.

The patients themselves responded to this treatment - their weight began to decrease against the backdrop of normalization of appetite and the functioning of the entire gastrointestinal tract.

Breathing exercises according to Strelnikova for weight loss can only act as an additional method; diet and sports in any case should be present in the life of a person who is struggling with obesity. There are recorded and described cases where the technique in question led to a decrease in body weight and volume without any adjustments to diet and lifestyle. But this is a rarity, which occurs only after many years of training.

A striking example of the fact that it is possible to lose weight with Strelnikova is the developer of the program herself - at the age of “deeply” 70 years old, she was distinguished by her slim, toned figure and at the same time did not adhere to any food restrictions.

We recommend reading the article about Tibetan gymnastics for weight loss. From it you will learn about the rules of exercise, contraindications and results. And here is more information about Bubnovsky’s exercises for weight loss.

How does weight loss happen?

Strelnikova’s breathing exercises for weight loss are represented by several exercises that are based on a special breathing technique and certain physical loads. The distinctive characteristics of this method of combating excess weight are the extreme simplicity of the exercises and their accessibility to every person, regardless of age. You only need to read the relevant literature, articles on the Internet, or buy a video course for clarity.

How exactly are the gymnastic exercises invented by Strelnikova capable of making kilograms melt away? The whole secret is that these exercises speed up your metabolism. Short and sharp breaths allow the air to penetrate the entire depth of the lungs. This type of breathing significantly enriches your body with oxygen. As a result, the process of burning fat cells is activated, as a result of which the figure decreases in volume and, accordingly, body weight.

The author herself illustrated the effectiveness of the method. She was already 70 years old, but she continued to wear size 46 clothes. She did not adhere to any diets or food restrictions and remained in excellent health.

The essence of breathing exercises

Strelnikova argued that the most important thing in her breathing exercises is to learn how to inhale and exhale correctly. The first should be short and sharp through the nose, the second should be long and drawn-out through the mouth. And if you figure out what happens in the body with this method of breathing, then it immediately becomes clear what the essence of the weight loss method in question is.

With a sharp and short inhalation, oxygen from the air penetrates to the very “bottom” of the lungs and begins to quickly move through the bloodstream throughout the body. This provides:

acceleration of blood circulation;
supply of a full amount of oxygen to all tissues and organs;
increasing the speed of all life processes at the cellular level.

Strelnikova’s gymnastics for weight loss does not speed up metabolism or burn fat, but it ensures the body works properly - this, as you know, is half the success in losing weight.

When performing exercises, it is important not to grimace, not to raise/lower your shoulders, not to throw your head back, not to use facial muscles. The developer emphasizes that even according to her method, breathing should be natural and only then will there be a positive result from the “training”.

The hardest thing is to learn not to think about your own breathing, not to imagine where and how oxygen will flow - only the natural conditions for the functioning of the respiratory system!

Therefore, Strelnikova herself recommends first working on the breathing itself in front of a mirror and making sure that everything is being done correctly, and only after that moving on to any exercises.

A set of breathing exercises by Strelnikova

Exercise 1

Stand up straight, stretch your arms in front of you, first practice clenching your hands into fists and stretching your fingers, as if spreading your palms, and pushing an imaginary object away from you. Now bend your elbows, bring your forearms towards your body and clench your hands into fists while taking short but aggressive breaths through your nose. Exhalations occur arbitrarily, as you relax your hands and stretch out your fingers, you exhale; you should not force the exit of air from the lungs.

Exercise 2

From the previous starting position, bend your hands into fists and place them at waist level. Take a sharp breath, push your hands down until the elbow joint extends. Try not to “beat” with your elbows so as not to cause pain. This exercise also trains inhalation and focuses attention on it. Those who know the bhastrika technique should focus on the sensations in it. After a series of breaths, you may feel slightly dizzy, creating a feeling of “intoxication with oxygen.”

Exercise 3

Stand up straight, imagine that your body can only bend at the hip joint, and not at the shoulders, knees and lower back. Tighten your stomach slightly and try to perform several forward bends, concentrating solely on the sensations in the hip joint. Add breathing as soon as you can completely isolate the movement in the lower back, eliminating deflection and twisting of the spine. The mechanics are as follows: “tilt forward-inhale-return to i.p. – exhale.” If there are injuries to the lower extremities, it is better to sit on a chair and carefully perform hip flexion while sitting.

Exercise 4

Stand straight, arms at waist level, elbows bent, forearms perpendicular to the body. Perform a slight rotation of your body to the right, while bending your knees just a little. Your task is to eliminate bouncing, hyperextension of the knees, and movements of the pelvis. Actually, the body should rotate along the waist axis, as if on a hinge. Try this movement, and now repeat it again, turning to the left. Next, according to the mechanics you know, when we “turn” we take an aggressive breath, while we turn back, a soft exhalation occurs on its own, by inertia. As soon as they began to turn to the left, inhale again, and so on.

Exercise 5

Stand up, hands to your shoulders, lower your shoulders, and relax your posture a little, so that your shoulders do not fall back to your ears and you stand softly, without hyperextending your knees. Now hug yourself by the shoulders, arching your chest a little inward and rounding your back. You should feel a pleasant stretch in the thoracic region, but the navel should be pulled slightly toward the spine to compensate for the force in the lumbar region without causing too much strain. A slight tightening of the buttock muscles will also help keep the pose safe. Now, during the “hug” deflection, you inhale, and during relaxation, you exhale by inertia.

Exercise 6

Now you have to combine deflection and slope. Before you begin, make sure that you can bend specifically at the hip joint, without reaching your back to the floor with your lumbar region, and without performing any unnecessary sudden movements. Perform a backbend-hug and gently bend forward, working only with the hip joints. Straighten up. Repeat. Now, while bending over, add an active breath through your nose. Do not do this exercise if you currently have high blood pressure or a headache.

Exercises should not cause you pain or discomfort, so repetitions/approaches are done according to how you feel. A pronounced effect is achieved with 5-10 repetitions of each movement.

Rules

Before you start performing gymnastics, you need to familiarize yourself with the theory - the author has developed clear rules for its implementation:

In breathing exercises, the most important thing is to take the correct breath: noisy, sharp, with a sound like a clap. You just need to imagine that you are “sniffing” your nose or sharply inhaling some kind of aroma from the air.
Exhalation is natural, it begins immediately after inhalation, holding your breath is not permissible. But you can’t forcefully push air out of your lungs - the naturalness of the process will be the key to success in achieving positive results.
All exercises are performed while inhaling, and the overall breathing rhythm according to Strelnikova’s system should resemble a clear marching step.

Exercise “Big Pendulum”
You also need to remember that weight loss according to Strelnikova consists of a basic complex and additional exercises specifically aimed at solving the problem of excess weight. It is necessary to perform 4 approaches to each, between them you need a rest of 3 - 5 seconds, breaths with each approach - exactly 8 (no more, no less). Every day you can increase the number of repetitions of the exercises performed and develop your respiratory system by increasing the number of breaths.

Expert opinion

Yulia Mikhailova

Nutrition expert

In any case, there should be 8 inhalations and 4 exhalations. You can increase them by the same amount.

A set of gymnastic exercises

"Palms"

Stand up straight. Each arm should be bent at the elbow, with the palms facing away from you.
Squeeze each palm into a tight fist and at the same time inhale sharply and noisily 8 times (exhalation is voluntary).
After finishing a session of 8 breaths, you need to stop and then repeat it again. A total of 20 repetitions will be required.

"Epaulettes"

Stand up straight. Place your feet a little narrower than the width of your shoulders.
Place your hands on your waist and make a fist with both palms.
At the moment of inhalation, you need to throw your arms down as quickly as possible, straighten your palms and spread your fingers. But the shoulder girdle and hands need to be tensed as much as possible. We perform 8 such breaths one after another.
You will need to perform the exercise 8 times.

"Pump"

The starting position is the same as in Pogonchiki.
Inhale loudly and at the same time gradually bend down. If you do the exercise correctly, it should look like you are pumping something with a pump in your hands. We perform 8 such breaths one after another.
You will need to do the exercise 8 times.

"Kitty"

The starting position is the same as in Pogonchiki. Additionally, you need to lower your arms along the body and relax your body as much as possible.
Inhale into your nose and at the same time gradually squat with your body turned to the left. Your arms should be kept slightly bent at the elbows, but your palms should be held in fists. Repeat the inhalation while squatting, but this time turn your body to the right side. Do 8 squats on each side.
Exhalation should be done in the interval between turns.
The exercise must be repeated 12 times.

"Embrace"

The starting position is the same as in Pogonchiki. You need to bend your elbows and raise your clenched fists in front of your face.
Inhale sharply and noisily, while moving your hands one towards the other. At the end point, the elbows should touch. You can't strain your muscles. The body should be as relaxed as possible. It will take 8 breaths in a row.
You should do 8 repetitions of the exercise.

You should spend at least 10-15 minutes doing gymnastics every morning and every evening. This is not at all burdensome, but you will see the result not only in the numbers on your scales, but also in the condition of your body - it will improve significantly.

Exercises for losing belly fat

In the first 3 - 5 days, you need to perform only the basic complex of Strelnikova’s gymnastics - you need to hone your actions almost to the point of automatism. The “base” includes three exercises:

"Palms." Stand up straight, head slightly raised, arms bent at the elbows, palms together in a straightened position. As you inhale, force is applied, the palms press against each other - you will feel tension in the muscles of the shoulders and chest. As you exhale, relaxation follows, but the original position is maintained.
"Epaulettes." In a standing position, you need to bend your arms at the elbow joints, clench your fists and rest them on your stomach. As you inhale, your arms drop sharply down - you need to reach them towards the floor, but at the same time you cannot lower your shoulders, they must be as tense as possible. As you exhale, the upper limbs return to their original position.
"Pump". Stand up straight, spread your feet wider than shoulder-width apart. A bow is performed, after the body reaches half the “path”, an inhalation is taken - the bow continues, then you need to rise a little (the back does not straighten) and the inhalation is repeated while lowering. It turns out that when performing the exercise, the upper body does not take a straight position.

Exercise Palms
Strelnikova recommends practicing in front of a mirror - it will immediately become clear whether the conditions for maintaining the correct body position are met, on which the effectiveness of gymnastics depends. As soon as the basic complex is performed correctly, you can add to it the exercise for losing belly fat “Cat”:

stand up straight, place your feet slightly narrower than your shoulders;
you inhale and at the same time lightly squat and move your arms, simulating grasping objects, with the body turning to the side;
exhale - return to the starting position;
repeat with a turn in the other direction.

Squats (half squats) should be light, slightly springy, and the exercise is performed at a fairly fast pace. During execution, the oblique abdominal muscles and abs are worked out.

For weight loss, 2 more exercises from Strelnikova’s breathing exercises complex will be useful:

"Hugging." In a standing position, raise your arms to chin level, not fully bend your elbows and spread them to the sides. As you inhale, a movement is made with the upper limbs - they “hug” the shoulders, they are not held in a lock, but are positioned one above the other. As you exhale, return to the starting position. The exercise is performed energetically and quickly, breathing is noisy and as deep as possible.
"Big Pendulum" Stand up straight, press your hands with your fists to your stomach. As you inhale, bend over (not completely), while exhaling, lift your body and move your arms, as in “Hugging.” You need to alternate breaths/exercises, you cannot bend too low or allow your back to arch.

A complex of breathing exercises should be performed daily, for which you will have to spend 10 - 20 minutes.

Watch the video about Strelnikova doing breathing exercises:

Basic exercises

After you have studied and memorized the basic rules, you can move on to the gymnastics itself. Breathing exercises for weight loss include a number of simple but effective exercises. By doing them regularly, you can achieve amazing results and surprise everyone around you with your slim figure. So let's get started.

"Palms." Standing straight, bend your elbows - as if you are showing your palms to an invisible spectator. As you inhale, clench your palms into fists with force, performing grasping movements. Take eight sharp breaths, then rest for 3-5 seconds. Perform four sets. Make sure that your shoulders are not involved in breathing. It's better to practice in front of a mirror first.
"Epaulettes." Place your hands at waist level and clench them into fists. As you inhale, forcefully push your arms down and unclench your fists. During breathing, your shoulders should be tensed, but not raised. The number of breathing movements and approaches is the same as in the first exercise
"Pump". To perform the next exercise, place your feet slightly narrower than shoulder width. Tilt your body slightly forward so that your hands are located just above your knees. As you inhale, bend down. In this case, the back should be round. Exhale as you straighten up. Imagine that you are inflating a ball using a pump. Don't bend too low or too sharply. The slopes should be slightly noticeable.
"Cat". The “Cat” exercises work the lateral abdominal muscles very well, which is very important for losing weight. Stand straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart. As you inhale, squat slightly and turn to the side. In this case, the hands must make grasping movements. As you exhale, return to the starting position. Then, while inhaling, squat down and turn in the other direction. Squats should be light and springy. Turn your head and body to the right and left, do not lift your feet off the floor.
“Hug your shoulders.” To perform the following breathing exercise, raise your arms to chin level. Bend your elbows and spread them out to the sides. As you take a short, sharp breath, hug yourself by the shoulders. You should not cross your arms - they should be one above the other. You also cannot change the position of your hands. In this case, it does not matter which hand will be on top and which will be on the bottom. As you exhale, spread your arms, but not too wide. Movements should be easy and natural.
"Big Pendulum" This breathing exercise for weight loss combines the “Hug your shoulders” and “Pump” complex. Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. When you first inhale, lean forward slightly, clenching your hands into fists - as in the “Pump” exercise. On your next inhalation, straighten up and hug yourself by the shoulders. Alternate the exercises with each breath. Again, perform 4 sets of 8 breaths each. You can rest for a maximum of five seconds between sets. Do not forget that you should not bend down too deeply or, on the contrary, arch your back.

Once you have mastered the basic breathing exercises well, you can move on to a more complex complex. “Advanced” exercises should be introduced gradually, adding one every day.

Breathing according to the Buteyko method

It involves periodically holding your breath and exhaling slowly. The scheme is like this:

2 seconds inhale;
4 seconds holding your breath with full lungs;
4 seconds exhale.

This breathing is optimal not only for the development of the lungs, but also for stabilizing the nervous system and increasing calm. It, only with longer stages, can be used by those who suffer from insomnia and cannot relax before bed. About 7-10 approaches will help you get ready to relax.