Breathing exercises from Marina Korpan


How bodyflex came about with Marina Korpan

Marina Korpan tells her story in a book about bodyflex. Gymnastics was not her “most favorite activity since childhood.” On the contrary, the girl, losing weight in traditional ways, developed an eating disorder and came to breathing exercises as her last hope. Before bodyflex there were traditional aerobic exercises and a rather starvation diet with a pronounced withdrawal effect. In general, gymnastics based on holding your breath helped Marina herself. Somehow it happened that the girl began to study this issue more deeply, received a coaching education instead of basic economics, and opened a school. Apparently, as it is fashionable to say today, circumstances helped.

For Marina herself, bodyflex was an alternative to such simple and accessible actions that millions of good-looking people perform every day. It's about counting calories and macronutrients and doing strength training in the gym. You can talk for a long time about whether this is an alternative in reality or not, but here we have a case where a person preaches exactly what has personally helped him.

Marina became famous thanks to the first domestic fitness channel ZhiVi TV, on which a program about weight loss with Marina’s participation appeared. Gymnastics became popular quite quickly.

Oxysize

A completely original method by Marina Korpan, developed in early 2009. Research has confirmed its effectiveness. Despite the fact that both Bodyflex and Oxysize are breathing-based gymnastics, they differ greatly. This one does not involve noisy exhalation or holding your breath, but rather strength exercises. As a result, Oxysize has a minimum of contraindications (stones, diabetes, asthma) and is available to more people.

Peculiarities

  • The main principle is breathing: it is diaphragmatic. It involves the diaphragm and lungs, as well as the abdominal cavity. It is unusual that you need to breathe with your stomach (inflating and drawing it in) and your nose. Only by following this technique can you get results.
  • Studies have been conducted that analyzed the amount of oxygen received and calorie expenditure during standard exercise and at Oxysize. The energy consumption of the latter is significantly higher.
  • Marina Korpan’s breathing exercises are not only for weight loss. Oxygen supply to tissues is more active, loads are gentle - an improvement occurs in the body. Blood circulation and digestive system function improve, muscles become toned.

Oxysize Principles

  1. You can study at any convenient time.
  2. The exercises are static. It is necessary to tense a certain muscle group and fix the position.
  3. Training time is no more than 20 minutes.
  4. The result is noticeable after a couple of weeks (provided you exercise every day).
  5. Some nutritional correction will be required: 4-5 meals; fatty, fried foods are not allowed; consume more fruits, vegetables, grains.
  6. Feet slightly wider than shoulder width, knees slightly bent.
  7. Move the pelvis forward, as if twisting. Tighten your buttocks. Not mandatory, but desirable stage.
  8. Inhale calmly through your nose with a smile. This is strange, but the author focuses on this, believing that in this way the amount of inhaled oxygen increases. Smile without teeth, just stretching your mouth. At the same time, inflate your stomach.
  9. Take 3 short, quick breaths – “dovdoha”. With each inhale, gradually draw in your stomach.
  10. Exhale forcefully. Through the mouth. The lips should be folded flat and slightly elongated. You need to feel the tension of the air coming out. Not a “tube”.
  11. Take 3 quick short exhalations - “pre-exhalation”, tensing your abs.
  12. Repeat all steps 3 more times.

Breathing in the Oxysize system

Since breathing in this gymnastics is multi-stage and not habitual, it is better to first practice without performing exercises. Go through the stages without thinking about them, concentrating on the exercises. Their implementation can easily be found on YouTube, the author of the technique, Marina Korpan, shows. For free. It’s better to study together with the author. It’s clearer and clearer this way.

Which breathing exercises by Marina Korpan to choose for weight loss is a matter of personal preference. Both of them are effective.

The main thing is to do it DAILY! The results will be 100%.

What is bodyflex and why should it help?

Let us immediately note that, if you believe normal sources on sports medicine, biology, and fitness, it should not help for particularly long. Bodyflex is gymnastics using your own body weight as a weight. We all know that such gymnastics are effective only as long as our body movements are so complex that we cannot remain under load for more than 40 seconds. There are a sufficient number of such gymnastics in the world that allow you to progress with body weight almost endlessly. The same workout and Ashtanga yoga, for example. But our bodyflex is designed for a completely different category of citizens.

All bodyflex gymnastics exercises are borrowed from Pilates, yoga and callanetics. Moreover, they were borrowed according to the principle “uncomplicated, accessible to everyone, works on women’s problem areas,” and not according to any other. Breathing was allegedly invented by American Greer Childers. But even Greer herself admits that she borrowed the breathing part of the gymnastics from another instructor, who, in turn, learned from yoga practitioners. In general, bodyflex is an exercise with your own body weight, performed while holding your breath. And the technique of delays is taken from yogic pranayamas.

How effective are simple bodyweight exercises? Considered from the point of view of fatigue, recovery and muscle growth, they are effective for a beginner who has not trained at all before, and for no more than 12-14 weeks. Further, the potential of trying to complicate the exercises in the series of “tighten the muscle harder” is lost, and you need to add weight training to progress. By the way, Greer Childers also writes about the benefits of strength training in his book.

How effective are bodyflex workouts for strengthening the cardiovascular system? Frankly speaking, there is no research on this topic, and the question remains open. Of course, both Greer and Marina write about the benefits, but do not provide any specific data. Based on general recommendations, to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system, you should add at least 30 minutes of light aerobic activity per day to your gymnastics.

It can be noted that gymnastics will be a good choice for those who need to improve coordination and flexibility, at least to a level that allows them to engage in regular types of fitness.

Bodyflex for face and body

Weight loss and illness...

Weight loss began on October 5th. I can’t explain to you why exactly October 5th - probably on this day something happened in the Universe for me. I clearly remember that when I woke up in the morning, I said to myself: I will never be like this again.

I came to the kitchen, gathering all my will into a fist, and announced to everyone that I was no longer eating from the common pot, and the path to a slim figure began.

I honestly went on a diet for 2 weeks, managed to lose about 5 kilograms, and after that it was as if they had replaced me. Yes, I forgot to say that the starting weight was 75 kg with a height of 160 centimeters.

I started throwing myself into all the diets, buying all the books on nutrition. I went to the shops with my mother, and while she was choosing groceries, she ran like crazy to the racks with glossy magazines and looked at what was new about nutrition, diets and training.

How much money was spent on these magazines... horror.

I came to understand the need to connect training. Here the situation was more complicated. To be honest, I, like many other people, was not particularly aware of what they do in fitness clubs and what it is in general. My brother's wife came to the rescue. She went to the gym and once offered to join.

It was somehow sad to see huge men lifting weights and women pumping their abs to the point of insanity.

Having learned that I wanted to lose weight, the trainer told me to lie down, pump up my abs and lift my legs up from a lying position as much as I could, and then pedal on an exercise bike.

I went to the fitness club three times, and that was all. From then until today, the gym has not seen me.

A little later, my brother’s wife got a job as a massage therapist at a fitness club and invited him to come to step aerobics classes.

What an interesting thing this step is!.. I really liked the classes, the ligaments were grasped on the fly - my dancing background helped. But it was scary to fall or stumble on the platform. True, this also didn’t last long, but not because it was hard or I didn’t like it, but because I was unlucky with my mentor.

There was no energy coming from the coach. There was a complete feeling that she was training only to admire herself for the entire hour. We (there were many chubby people in the group) were complete nonentities for this woman.

Having become a coach, I swore to myself that I would never be like this lady in my life: I would only look at the people who came to train with me, and not in the mirrors.

This was the end of group training. There was nothing left to do but start studying fitness disciplines myself.

The main criterion for choosing a particular workout was the number of calories that can be lost during exercise. If it was an impressive figure, the option was accepted. We started purchasing various CDs on fitness, aerobics and shaping.

I can’t explain why or how, but without understanding anatomy, physiology, or fitness itself, I managed to feel and understand what needed to be done to pump up this or that muscle.

It’s not for nothing that they say that we live several lives. Everything seemed so familiar, as if once in the distant past I had already done something similar.

When training on my own, I had to imagine myself as a trainer leading a class. This helped spur myself on. A particular favorite was the disc on shaping, where there was only one trainer, and not three, which gave different loads. The program was for advanced people: complex and difficult. But no one was going to give up.

Enormous efforts were spent on shaping, changes occurred in the body, but it was very difficult. I had to start watching my diet, but it was hard to imagine where this could lead in the end.

The coach—her name, by the way, was also Marina—had just a stony face. There was a feeling that she did not get tired of what she was doing. And this pushed me even more. I told myself: I’ll be like her, I’ll achieve my goal, I’ll be just as thin and I’ll be able to do all the exercises just as easily.

Something switched in my head, and I just started going crazy from counting calories, from foods, from labels on jars. It's real hell in life. Having practically stopped eating, I began to go from one extreme to another, from one diet to another: in a word, I really went crazy.

Now I don’t remember exactly how many kilograms I managed to lose per month, but the weight loss was quite rapid. When I came to college, I really wanted to pounce on all these pizzas, pies, and rolls, and I had to convince myself that I shouldn’t do this.

Probably the only thing that was easy to deny myself was chocolate and sweets - it was rare luck not to like them. Things were more complicated with cookies.

Before I started losing weight, I never paid attention to how slim people eat. But during diets, out of nowhere, a feeling of anger towards thin people appeared because they eat so little. The first time this feeling appeared in my head was when a close friend and I went to lunch at the institute. Hungry like a wolf, I really understood that I couldn’t afford anything except vegetables. And from all the abundance of food, she chose a small cutlet and stewed cabbage. For such a choice, with unlimited possibilities, you can simply kill.

The case ended with a cry: “Can’t you eat properly!” The answer was surprising: “I don’t eat a lot, but I eat what I want. This is quite enough for me.”

A friend really helped me survive the diet. She said: “Is food really so important to you? Why eat so much? You can eat a little, and then, if you want, you can eat more.”

It was a shock: I starve myself, don’t eat anything, do fitness like crazy, and my friend just eats a little bit of what she wants all her life, without making any cult out of food, not doing fitness, and at the same time she looks like everything one hundred.

Olya often came to visit, and when we sat down at the table, she was always surprised at the size of the dinner. I justified myself by saying that my mother is a good cook, so soup is not enough for lunch. But then it was time for tea, and then her friend’s eyes widened even more. A huge amount of sweets, cookies, jam, etc. were laid out on the table. Yes, how can you not get better here when there is so much delicious stuff!

The hardest thing was to give up curd with dried apricots. How I loved her and still love her! I could eat 250 g and follow up with sandwiches.

I remember how Olya discouraged the desire to abuse this yummy food for the rest of her life. We sat down to drink tea, and I began to almost meditate over this pack. She looked at me and said: “Yes, Marinka, what a weakling you are.”

Am I weak? My eyes literally became bloodshot at that moment. And she continued: “Can’t you really not eat this rubbish? She's so fat. Imagine how you swallow spoon after spoon of this mixture of cottage cheese with the fattest butter and sugar, and all this fat is deposited on your body.” You know, Olya didn’t seem to say anything special, but I got up, took a pack of this mass and threw it out of my life forever.

This is how stereotypes about food slowly began to be broken. To be honest, it was very difficult. I had to take a container of chopped vegetables with me to college. She sat and gnawed carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, and Beijing salad with bran for a bite from under her desk.

There was so much literature about weight loss, diets, healthy lifestyle, training!.. The entire home library turned into a collection of books about diets. The calorie content guide for foods was memorized. The labels on packages and food labels were easy to understand, as if they were being read by a nutritionist. I tried all the diets on myself.

Can you imagine the stress my body was under?

Diets and fitness were addictive. When you watch all these programs about girls who lose weight without a head and they go crazy, you think that this is complete nonsense and this does not happen. But when you plunge into this environment of losing weight, you realize that you can become even worse than these unfortunate people.

Why bodyflex is for weight loss

Bodyflex with Marina Korpan is recommended as gymnastics for “improving metabolism and losing weight.” Note that metabolism cannot be improved with the help of gymnastics. And in general, the term “improve” is quite difficult to apply to a simple mechanism for converting nutrients into energy. If there are too many substances, in any case, an excess of energy is obtained. It is more correct to talk about increasing calorie consumption.

This is where mysteries, myths and legends begin. Marina herself mentioned a couple of times that bodyflex burns up to 1000 kcal per hour. Then why does “another author” of gymnastics, Greer Childers, write that it is completely ineffective for fitness and bodybuilding enthusiasts with experience? So does it burn or not? Judging by the heart monitors and pulse readings, it’s unlikely. Most likely, depending on the intensity of the exercises themselves, something on the order of 200-350 kcal per hour.

“Delayed effect of burning calories” is also not about bodyflex. It is usually attributed to resistance training. There is also no evidence that body weight training in this style increases resting calorie expenditure.

And yet they lose weight from bodyflex. Why? There are several reasons:

  • the author of this type of gymnastics actively promotes dietary restrictions. True, in some rather strange style. Half of Marina Korpan’s book is dedicated to her own journey from diets and eating disorders to “normal eating.” Moreover, if you count the calories in Marina’s same published diets, you get a rather restrictive diet. By the way, the book does not contain any nutritional specifics. You will be offered more vegetables and fruits, less buns and sausages, and reduced portions, and also not eat without feeling hungry. It’s worth considering that intuitive eating in this style is not suitable for all people, and many will need additional knowledge on calorie calculations and diet planning in order to really lose weight;
  • Greer Childers, for those interested, accompanies his creativity with a diet of about 1500-1600 kcal, quite balanced, if not for one “but” - for some reason you can’t eat after 17.00. Those who read the original book and followed this diet write positive reviews about that diet;
  • many simply combine bodyflex with some alternative diet control technique.

There is a lot of controversy about whether bodyflex “reduces” or “does not reduce” the stomach. Marina Korpan herself mentioned this myth several times, but it is worth noting that nothing depends on the size of the stomach as such. The stomach is a hollow muscular organ, the muscles tend to contract, the stomach shrinks; if we eat, it stretches. In the end, what matters most is the caloric content of food, and not any other factors. Another thing is that warming up in the morning helps us feel energetic and healthy, and not overeat at breakfast. In addition, exercise in the morning has proven psychological benefits. Those who complete them tend to adhere more closely to dietary recommendations. Naturally, they are more likely to lose weight than those who stick to a diet somehow.

What bodyflex exactly does is allow you to “pump up” the transverse abdominal muscle and “draw in” the stomach, therefore it gives a quick visible effect of reducing the waist.

Marina Korpan bodyflex - reviews

This review will focus on Bodyflex

. It was this system that changed my whole idea of ​​losing weight. I used to think that in order to lose a few kilos and get in shape, grueling workouts and dieting were required. Now there is no room in my head for such nonsense.

I can’t say that my weight has ever made me seriously think about the problem of losing weight. But I always wanted to lose a few extra pounds. I scoured the Internet in search of effective exercises. But mostly I came across only those that helped give shape to shape by building muscle. And this has absolutely no use for me. The body part that worried me the most in this regard was the legs. And then one day, once again, looking for exercises to lose weight in my legs, I came across a website that talked about bodyflex. But there was only theory and description of exercises without video materials. Without much inspiration, I copied the information for myself and one evening I decided to master it in practice. My disappointment knew no bounds... The basis of bodyflex is proper breathing

. And in the source I found, details about how to breathe correctly were described in a broken, incomprehensible language. Somehow I mastered this stage. And I moved on to exercises...same story. Not really understanding how to do them correctly, I thought that this was just another nonsense. Frustrated and angry, I went to bed.

I had already completely forgotten about my bad experience with Bodyflex when I came across a site on the Internet with video lessons from Marina Korpan

.
And then I decided - “an attempt is not torture,” I carefully watched the video, and then, watching it for the 2nd time, I repeated all the exercises. It turned out that it is not at all difficult. Marina Korpan
performs exercises with a group of girls and comments on them along the way. Later I downloaded a video for myself, and every time I did everything with the girls. Now, of course, I do everything on my own, to my favorite music, adjusting my load and the pace of the exercises.

I won’t go into much detail about the Bodyflex theory - all this can be found on the Internet. The main thing about bodyflex is that it is a program based on the principles of burning fat deposits in specific places

, thanks to anaerobic respiration in combination with special exercises:

isometric

– cause tension in one muscle group;
- isotonic
- involves several muscle groups;
- stretching
- exercises for elasticity.

These are the advantages of Bodyflex

that I noted for myself:

1.

This system of exercises allows you not only to lose weight, but also to tighten your figure and remove cellulite in a short time (I noticed the first results after just a week of daily exercise).
2.
By doing Bodyflex, you lose weight exactly in the places where you need it.
3.
All exercises are simple and easy to remember.
4.
The Bodyflex technique speeds up metabolism.
5.
Exercises have a tonic effect on the body, after exercise I always feel a huge surge of energy.
6.
Bodyflex eliminates the possibility of stretch marks appearing on the surface of the body, due to the fact that the skin tightens during exercise.

Separately, I would like to clarify and supplement the point №4

about
metabolism
.
After just a week of daily exercise, I began to notice that I could not eat the same portion size as before. This is all due to the fact that Bodyflex exercises reduce the volume of the stomach
. When you breathe using Bodyflex, at a certain stage you need to pull in your tummy very strongly. If you master breathing using this method, you will understand everything yourself. But that is not all. Now I no longer deny myself, as I did before, dinner and more often allow myself various goodies, and my weight remains normal.

On the Internet you can find both supporters of this system and its opponents. The latter claim that bodyflex is dangerous because it is based on oxygen starvation and also increases blood pressure. But reviews from supporters and some doctors say that “Like any gymnastics, Bodyflex is unlikely to cause serious harm to health. And it really has a weight loss effect.”

I completely agree with this.

I would also like to cite interesting facts:

- jogging for an hour burns 700

kilocalories;
— aerobics (1 hour) burns 250
kilocalories;
— doing exercises using the bodyflex method (1 hour) eliminates 3,500
kilocalories.

Exercises using the Bodyflex method are an excellent, if not the best, way to enrich the body with oxygen.

. Your lungs will be cleared day after day, and your skin will gain elasticity. It has been scientifically proven that the more oxygen in the body, the less you will want to smoke (if, of course, you have this bad habit). I've never smoked, so I can't confirm or deny this.

Bodyflex is indicated not only for those who are overweight. You can do it to build a beautiful, slim and strong body. A very important point for me was that Bodyflex classes helped improve the general condition of my body

. For about five years I was bothered by not severe, but fairly regular pain in the heart muscle. Examinations by doctors and diagnostics indicated that everything was fine. I've been doing bodyflex for about six months now. And all my worries about my heart disappeared, I no longer have any pain.

I combine exercises using the Bodyflex method with long-loved exercises from Yu. Bordovskikh

, featured in her book
Fitness with Fun
. I do them almost every morning on an empty stomach. It is when practicing Bodyflex that it is very important that your stomach is empty, otherwise you simply physically will not be able to pull your stomach in strongly. For me, these exercises, which fill my body with strength and energy, are the Best Start to a New Day.

Useful tips that I could give to those who are planning to start doing Bodyflex are: The most important thing is to do the exercises regularly

.
Take a good look at the essence of the exercise, feel the muscle you are working on, CONCENTRATE ON IT
.
Don’t do it (by the way, this applies not only to Bodyflex) if you don’t feel like it at all, because it happens that you’re not in the mood. Such activities will not bring any benefit. If you still decide to take up Bodyflex, then do it with full confidence that “BY PERFORMING THE EXERCISES, YOU WILL BECOME SLINNER AND MORE BEAUTIFUL EVERY DAY!
Don’t even think that exercise may not help you.

Well, that's probably all. In general, I could probably talk endlessly about Bodyflex...))))) I am attaching several photos to the review. I found things from my wardrobe that I wore before taking Bodyflex. My nutrition system was practically no different (at the time the photos marked “Before” were taken, I ate the same as now). Of the physical activities in the photo marked “Before,” there were only very irregular exercises according to the book by Yu. Bordovskikh. It was Bodyflex that made me look at these exercises differently. And now I simply cannot imagine that I once did not know about such a Miracle)))

Useful links:

What are the differences between bodyflex with Marina Korpan and other options?

Marina Korpan significantly modified and improved the original gymnastics:

  • classes with Marina follow the principle of load progression. The student progresses from simple to complex exercises from lesson to lesson, and this gives him the opportunity to progress a little longer than the classic 12 weeks;
  • classes with Marina Korpan also contain other exercises performed without breathing, which allows you to use target muscle groups more actively;
  • training with Marina Korpan is varied, this instructor has an express course and longer classes, everyone can choose something to their liking; Marina improved her breathing. Before taking a breath after holding your breath, she recommends using muscle force to “push away” the anterior abdominal wall, this allows you to get rid of increased pressure in the body cavity and reduces the load on the heart;
  • Those who wish can also do bodyflex for the face.

Otherwise there are almost no differences. You need to train the same way as with Greer, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. True, unlike the American, the domestic instructor recommends abstaining from food for an hour after finishing the workout. Such recommendations are, of course, quite controversial, but many praise them as they help develop a sense of control.

You can advance from lesson to lesson as you master gymnastics. Marina herself first advises working out in complexes for the whole body, and then moving on to the so-called polishing of problem areas. She also recommends combining bodyflex exercises with oxysize, or rather, alternating both.

Breathing exercises by Marina Korpan

  • 1. Take the starting position, standing straight, feet shoulder-width apart, knees soft. Roll your shoulders and exhale through your mouth. Imagine as if you are blowing out candles on a cake or blowing on hot soup - stretch out your lips with a straw and exhale quite energetically. At the same time, you should pull the anterior abdominal wall towards the spine. In a normal exhalation, we are used to “dissolving” the stomach, relaxing it. Here the technique of reverse diaphragmatic breathing of yoga is used - the stomach is drawn in precisely as you exhale.
  • 2. After exhaling, take a short pause and take a noisy, sharp breath in through your nose “into your stomach.” Inflate the anterior abdominal wall like a balloon; you can even imagine how the air goes directly into the stomach, and not just into the lungs. Marina herself calls this movement the “effect of a drowning man,” and in hatha yoga they teach at the same time how to “inflate to the sides” the lower ribs from the back in order to relieve excess tension from the spine.
  • 3. Next comes the “groin” exhalation, well known from bodyflex with Greer. Purse your lips, open them and push the air out of your lungs, your stomach should “fly up” under your ribs, Marina throws her head back a little.
  • 4. Breath retention begins with retraction of mula bandha, pull-up of uddiyana bandha and closing of jalanhara bandha. First, tighten your perineum, pull in your stomach, then lower your chin to your chest. This is where the “signature” abdominal retraction occurs. Count to 8 or 10, holding your breath and not relaxing your locks.
  • 5. Before inhaling, relax the locks and slightly push the front abdominal wall away from the spine. Then lift your chin, open your glottis and allow air to enter your lungs. Marina advises avoiding squelching sounds when inhaling, as this can create increased stress on the heart. Remember to release the locks and push away from the abdominal wall before inhaling.

The Russian trainer has a different attitude towards nutrition for weight loss. If Greer advises sticking to a standard fitness diet with plenty of vegetables, lean protein and complex carbohydrates, then Marina recommends completely abandoning restrictions on types of food. Eat what you did before, but with a “teaspoon” - eat slowly, stop overeating and living “under the threat” of another diet, and you will definitely lose weight. This approach will be good if you are disappointed in weight loss diets and tired of a monotonous diet.

Cons and contraindications of bodyflex gymnastics

It is commonly said that if bodyflex does not work for you, you are doing something wrong. Meanwhile, it is quite possible that your breathing technique is ideal, but your weight is just normal, and you cannot reduce it by doing gymnastics that does not contribute to creating a significant energy deficit. And in most cases, the problem lies not in the bodyflex itself, but in the fact that someone is doing it and is not following a diet that would contribute to weight loss.

Contraindications for gymnastics are pregnancy, the recovery period after childbirth, changes in intraocular pressure, high blood pressure, diseases of the heart, kidneys, blood vessels, and nervous system, as well as all diseases for which holding your breath is contraindicated.

In addition, it should be understood that bodyflex exercises can be an adequate solution only to the problem of “general weight loss”, but will in no way contribute to the “restructuring” of the figure. Moreover, they are not able to help you build muscle or gain athletic relief. Disappointed reviews of bodyflex are written by those who simply want to look like they are lifting weights, but at the same time make do with home gymnastics.

Rating
( 2 ratings, average 4 out of 5 )
Did you like the article? Share with friends:
For any suggestions regarding the site: [email protected]
Для любых предложений по сайту: [email protected]