I did it last night where I didn't hold my breath, and I'm still sore today. I don't think you actually have to hold your breath

You don't have to hold your breath, just take shallow breaths and exhale as much as possible each breath.

Those of you practicing the vacuum try this:

1) Sit up as tall as you can, a natural arch should form in your back.
2) Pull your belly button as far in as you possibly can and hold it there.
3) Exhale until all the air is gone.
4) Take a very shallow breath in, and exhale again as much as possible. Repeat 10-15x.
5) Rest for 20-30 seconds
6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 for 3 sets.

Be aware of your back position, as your abs tighten you will want to lean forward and crunch up, resist it and stay tall throughout. You can also do this lying down once you learn how to position your spine properly.

Practice this 2 or 3 times a week. If you do not already have a tight TA muscle, you can take an inch or 2 off your waist with this. Have fun!

how do you do it then? i cant hold my breath as long as i normally can when i do the stomach vacuum, does that mean im doing it wrong?

sounds like a good thing to do at skool yay

interresting crazylegs, in some of the articles i read it said that you should crunch when you do it.
so i basicly keep my back straight? i really feel it kinda hurts in there when i do it

No, don't keep your back straight, keep it in neutral spine. See 1) "Natural arch". You can crunch when you do it, but you are recruiting bigger muscles when you crunch, which takes some of the work away from the TA. Which is the focus for the flat tummy.

okay, so basically, just sit normal and suck it inn

I was just trying this exercise and then I realised it has a simalarity with some Asanas yoga. Were you expel air from your lungs and then from your stomach. Inhaling air into your stomach and then your lungs, repeating the process.
I noticed inbetween breaths that I was holding the belly button in as far as possible. I found combining both worked well.
Anybody know any abdominal exercises for the area of muscle directly below the sternum?

directly below the sternum as in inside it or below it?

When I do this exercise, I feel soreness directly below my sternum

would any of you recommend me to use this exercise if i wanted to get flat-cut abs like brad pitt in fightclub and snatch? i do alot of cardio and dieting so i kinda figured that the running would be working the abs anyway. or is this exercise mainly for makin teh abs bulge out?

this exersice isent for making the abs more visable or anything as it works the muscle which lies on the inside of your 6pack, though it will make your waist smaller, i think its a good exersice.

ok im not totally clear on this.
from what iv gathered, this is the way to perform this exercise
1) maintain a good posture
2)inhale as much as you can through the nose
3)bring your stomach in so its tryin to touch the spine
4)hold the breath for 20 seconds
5) after 20 seconds exhale through the mouth.
then repeat the procedure.
is that basically what it is?

i think you are suppose to have as little air as possible in your lunges when you hold the gut inn, so you exhale asmuch as possible then trough the exersice you take some very shallow breaths inn and out

ive been doing it but i havent seen results maybe im doing it wrong can someone tell me how to do it step by step

I havent been following this thread but by looking at this your pretty much set (look at the video)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ms-fit5.htm