How to Get Six Pack Abs

Strengthen your abdominal core muscles and lose your body fat. The concept may sound simple, but putting it into action can be quite challenging. It will take dedication, time and patience to get a six pack; but in the end, the effort is well worth it. To get six pack abs you need to do two things: lose fat and Build muscle . You get this by dieting and exercising daily. You can have the most toned and muscular abs, but it will not show if there is a layer of fat over them. This article will discuss ways in which you can accomplish both of these goals.

 

 

Steps

Lose Fat

1. Do cardio workouts. Important step to get six pack abs: There is no way to target fat loss in any area of your body. You need to lose some of that extra fat over your abs. Even if you workout and get gigantic ab muscles, if there is still a layer of fat over them no one will ever get to see them. Cardio workouts are workouts that raise your heart rate for a given set of time. Some examples would be running, jogging, bike riding, dancing and rowing.
2. Eat smaller dinners. Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most people aren't very active after dinner. This is the basis for advice along the lines of "don't eat anything within a certain number of hours before going to bed". The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat isn't entirely true. The process is more complicated than that, but the fact you don't move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause. You can offset this by eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits. A handful of nuts might do the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.
3. Eat breakfast. Many people skip breakfast because they don't have time for it. The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch since your body hasn't had anything in the past 12 (or more) hours. When you eat a huge lunch you get that after meal drowsiness so now you're both unproductive and inactive. Cereals don't take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthy nowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast bars or a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Some breakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fiber. Even an apple or a yogurt is better than nothing. Ideally, your breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day, lunch the second, and dinner the smallest.
4. Lift weights. The more muscle your body has, the more calories your body burns, even at rest. Plus, resistance training is important to limit the amount of muscle mass lost whilst reducing your calorie intake. If you only do cardiovascular exercises (running, playing basketball, football) without weight training then you may lose the muscle mass, including the muscle in your abs.
5. Keep metabolism steady. Eating one small meal every three hours that you are awake will not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going. Your metabolism goes and slows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep that metabolism burning calories and will help you lose weight. Every meal should include lean protein, so that your body won't need to break down your muscles for fuel, which would shrink your abs as well as slow down your metabolism.
6. Drink more water every day. To find out how much water you need to drink as a minimum per day, halve your weight (in pounds) and that is how many ounces of water you need to drink. So a 150lb person would need to drink a minimum of 2.2 liters a day. It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but you get water from the food you eat, and you can drink teas and pure fruit juices to make up some of the quota.
   
   • Drinking too much water (several liters, especially while sweating) can dangerously dilute certain salts and minerals. If you are exercising heavily and sweating a lot, you will need to replace your salts as well as fluids. Supplement your water drinking with a sports drink or potassium rich fruits such as bananas and apples.
7. Switch out refined grains for whole grains. In a scientific study, people who ate all whole grains (in addition to five servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy, and two servings of lean meat, fish, or poultry) lost more belly fat than another group that ate the same diet, but with all refined grains. A diet rich in whole grains changes the glucose and insulin response in your body, which hastens the melting of fat, and visceral fat, that deep layer of fat, is easier for your body to burn than the subcutaneous fat under your skin (the fat that you can see and grab).

Build Muscle

1. Do crunches. Lie on the floor (with or without a mat) with your arms in front of your chest or with your hands lightly touching your temples (never behind your head). Bend your knees. Raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles. It is very important to not lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain, and the extended movement does not help you develop six pack abs any faster. The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs as you lift your shoulders off the floor. As soon as you begin lifting off the floor exhale through your mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor. Then pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while flexing your abs. Now lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the ground.
2. Do sit ups. Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and hands crossed on your chest. Have someone hold your feet down, or wedge them underneath something heavy. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades. Keep your back straight (no hunching). Lower yourself down. Repeat. Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges. Find an incline bench. Do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest while you do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights.
3. Train your entire core. To build really great abs it's important to first understand what abs do. Their full name is 'rectus abdominis'. The 'rectus' bit, is Latin for 'straight, proper, upright'. Contrary to popular opinion, the abs' primary job is not to curl you up into a ball, but they work together with the back muscles to maintain correct posture and stabilize the spine. These muscles are not just for show! So the best exercises for abs are ones that force your entire core to go into overdrive to support your spine. Some exercises that do this are squats and deadlifts. These exercises will train your entire core to work together to do what it is designed to do. At the same time they will also train a lot of other muscles (e.g. glutes and quads).
4. Do leg lifts. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all) until they're at a 90 degree angle (or close). Lower your legs and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor. For more challenge there is equipment at most gyms that will allow you to raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle your legs. If you're using this piece of equipment, you can make it easier by just raising your knees to your chest. It's more difficult to raise your legs to a horizontal position with your legs straight. This helps firm up the lower abdomen. If you're truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or, hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar.
5. Do jackknife sit ups. Lie down flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold bringing your feet towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. "spread out") and repeat. Place a weight between your feet when you think you can handle it.
6. Do static holds. Put your body into the push-up position but with your elbows on the floor, and your whole body flat. This position is known as the static hold position, or the plank, and it trains your core (including your abs) to hold the body in place which is the real purpose of your abs. Hold this position for as long as possible. Beginners should be aiming to start off with at least 45 seconds, while seasoned ab workers are known to achieve over 5 minute static holds. To perform the side static hold, roll onto one side of your body and lift into the same position as before, but this time only one arm will be on the ground with the other arm pointed straight up the air and your non weight bearing leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, hold this for as long as possible.
7. Train your oblique muscles. It's not as important to work on your oblique muscles at first, but eventually you'll want to start working these too. These are the muscles to either side of your stomach. There are multiple ways to do this and anything that includes twisting your torso against a resistance counts. There are twisting machines at gyms, you can twist while you do sit-ups, you can do side bends, you can twist side to side with a medicine ball in hand, etc. Be aware though, that many beginners tend to have weak obliques compared to their abs (it simply isn't used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides at first.
   
   • Do bicycle crunches. Lift your feet off the ground while doing the crunches by alternating each leg in the air. Bring your left knee up toward your right shoulder and then your right knee toward your left shoulder.
8. Find new ways to crunch, bend and twist in your daily life. Some possibilities include:
• Use a stability ball. Do your crunches on the ball to introduce instability to your workout, which will improve your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises that can be done with a stability ball. You can also use a small bubble used for physical therapy.
• Duck and twist during your daily routine. Reach with your left hand to things on your right and vice versa. If you feel like turning around to face something, see if you can do it with keeping your hips in place and twisting at the waist. (This is awkward when talking to other people, use only against inanimate objects.) While walking or standing, pretend that something is coming toward you and you have to duck to get out of the way. Do this as often as you are comfortable or at times when it won't look weird. You can bend forward from the hips or, if you're really into it, bend at the knees too and really "sink" out of the way.
• Add complex core-movements to your workout. That will boost your overall body constitution tremendously. For example, combine push-ups with rows. Go into a push-up position on two dumbbells. Now don't do a push-up, but instead start to row alternating dumbbells. See how much power you need only to hold balance? Combine exercises! Be creative. Tension is your friend.

The #1 Way to Get a Six Pack

Are you tired of wasting your time with extreme diets and exercise to achieve that six pack you have always dreamed of?  Do you want to be able to take your shirt off at the beach and be confident?  Have you been doing crunches and sit ups for as long as you can remember with little to no results?  If you answered yes to any of these three questions then you NEED to check out this post.

This is a great program that will melt the fat away from your stomach region so fast you won't believe your eyes.  Getting that coveted six pack you have always wanted will be very easy if you follow.  This program, Ripped Abs, was created by John Alvino, a fat loss expert, master trainer, and strength & conditioning coach.  Basically, this program describes the myths that all of the other workout and diet routines claim should work.  But the truth is, they don't work.  Here are five different reasons why those other workout programs and diet routines don't work and why people can't achieve the sculpted abs they want.

Reason #1 - Performing ab exercises such as crunches and leg raises do more HARM then good.  Thats right, all of those crunches you have been doing aren't doing a thing!  If you want to learn what exercises do help your muscles, check out this amazing program.

Reason #2 - Eating "health" foods!! Yes you heard me.  Those "health" foods are definately not healthy for you and should be avoided.  They are more like carefully named and marketed junk foods.

Reason #3 - Doing cardio exercises.  Cardio is NOT a good way for you to lose belly fat and reveal that six pack you want.  If you do a ton of cardio, hitting a plateau can't be avoided.  You might get slight results, but not nearly the results you could achieve by following this program of unique workouts.

Reason #4 - Dieting.  Dieting will not help you achieve that six pack you want, in fact 95% of dieters fail in the long run.  That is why you need to get Ripped Abs.  You will learn the nutritional key to losing all of that stubborn belly fat and reveal the six pack of your dreams.

Reason #5 - Tradition weight lifting programs do nothing the remove the fat surrounding your abs!  That is why most body-builders and weight-lifters have big muscles but a big belly.

If you really want a slim and trim midsection then you must check out Ripped Abs.  I will promise that you will see the results faster than you can imagine.  In fact, Ripped Abs will burn fat up to 300% faster than any other program.

Men: Do you really want that sculted and ripped six pack that will leave the ladies breathless?
Women: Do you really want that flat stomach that you have always wished you had?

If you said yes then please, do yourself a favor and go to FastSixPacks and you will not be disappointed.  I guarantee it.

Dessert tips for 6 pack hunters

My Delicious and healthy recipe for reduced-sugar, nutrient-dense, peanut-butter chocolate fudge (takes less than 5 minutes to make).
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Today, I have one of my never before released delicous Lean-Body desserts or snacks that always helps to satisfy my sweet tooth while at the same time getting TONS of quality nutrition.
It's my own special version of a healthy peanut-butter-fudge! If you don't like nuts or peanut butter, you can simply leave out those ingredients and make a chocolate-only version. Pay attention, because there are specific ingredients that make this a LOT healthier for you than typical fudge.

I will say that this dessert / snack is not low-calorie per se, but it is loaded with quality healthy fats, some protein, LOTS of antioxidants, and is relatively low in sugar (compared with typical fudge or other desserts), while also containing a decent dose of fiber.
Overall, it's a great snack or dessert that helps curb your appetite, fuel your muscles, loads you up on protective antioxidants, and quells that sweet tooth that often makes you overeat on refined sweets.

Geary's Lean-Body Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe:

• 3/4 cup organic coconut milk (NOT the watered down "light" version which just replaces some of the healthy coconut fat with water...use the real full-fat version)
• 1 bar (3-5 oz. bar works well) of quality extra dark chocolate (look for at least 70-75% cocoa content on the label to minimize sugar content)
• 4-5 tablespoons of peanut butter or your favorite nut butter (almond butter, cashew butter, macadamia butter, etc)
• 3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
• 1/2 cup whole raw almonds or other nuts (optional)
• 2 Tbsp raw wheat germ
• 2 Tbsp rice bran (usually only available at health food stores)
• 2 Tbsp whole oats or oat bran
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A little stevia powder to sweeten

Note on coconut milk: don't be afraid of the fats in this... coconut fat is mostly medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) that are more readily used for energy and also contain a special fat called Lauric Acid, which is extremely healthy and supports the immune system.
Start by adding the coconut milk (cans of organic coconut milk are available at most health food stores and possibly even your grocery store) and vanilla extract to a small saucepan on VERY low heat. Break up the extra dark chocolate bar into chunks and add into pot. Add the nut butter and the stevia, and continuously stir until it all melts together into a smooth mixture.
Then add the raisins, almonds, wheat germ, oat bran, and rice bran and stir until fully blended. Spoon/pour the fudge mixture onto some waxed paper in a dish and place in the fridge until it cools and solidifies together. Place in a closed container or cover with foil in fridge to prevent it from drying out.
Enjoy small squares of this delicious healthy fudge for dessert and for small snacks throughout the day. This is about as good as it gets for a healthy yet delicious treat!
Even though this is a healthier dessert idea that's lower in sugar and higher in nutrition than most sweet treats, keep in mind that it is still calorie dense, so keep your portions reasonable.
btw, feel free to email the link for this page with the special healthy fudge recipe to any friends and family that you think might enjoy it.

How to eat healthy at the restaurant

I've been traveling a lot for business in the last year, and I've noticed that most people totally fall off their fitness routines while traveling...
In fact, eating out at restaurants frequently is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while traveling. It's almost damn near impossible to eat healthy when you dine out, UNLESS you follow a couple simple tricks that I use to make every restaurant meal healthier, reduce calories, and not lose control.
Here's a few tricks you can use to eat healthier and stay lean even while traveling on business or eating out any time for that matter...
The 3 most important things to avoid that are EVERYWHERE at restaurants are:

• the deep fried foods
• the refined starchy foods
• and any sodas, juices, or other sugary foods (except whole fruits, which are great)

This eliminates the major food sources that do the worst damage in our food supply - the evil trans fats, refined vegetable oils, refined starches, and processed sugars.
This means trying to skip the table bread, skipping the french fries (that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man), and reducing all of the heaping portions of rice and pasta that are often loaded on the plates as well.
Instead, try to order just meat, side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical fries, rice, or pasta that the meal probably comes with.
Almost every restaurant I've ever been to will always allow me to substitute veggies or a side salad for the fries or chips that almost always come with sandwiches or burgers.
Side note: It always amazes me how many people scrutinize me because I substitute veggies for fries by telling me that I'm "not living" because I won't eat fries...
Yet they are always the first to complain that they are overweight and have "tried everything", yet can't get in shape. I'm not sure why so many people think eating french fries equals "living it up"... I'm all for moderation with many things, but if there's 2 things that should be totally removed from everyone's diet because these foods are simply that evil... it's fries and sodas!
Take a look at the typical difference this simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most people do...
Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

• Sandwich or burger
• fries or chips
• soda or other sweetened drink

A MUCH smarter alternative for a leaner, healthier body is very simply this:

• Sandwich or burger
• veggies or salad
• unsweetened iced tea or water (no diet drinks -- unless you like to drink poisonous artificial sweetener chemicals that actually make you fatter).

These 2 simple substitutions save at least 400 - 900 calories EACH time you dine out (depending on drink refills and fries portion sizes)... AND you're cutting out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding the trannies and high fructose corn syrup.
Also, it may be rare to find this in most restaurants, but if you can find some that offer much healthier grass-fed beef burgers, it's a much smarter decision compared to grain fattened beef.
Side note: a little-known way to eat full portions of rice, pasta, and breads and actually get away with it without packing on the bodyfat is to make sure to schedule a high intensity full body resistance training workout before your scheduled meal time.
Sometimes it may be hard to fit the workout into your schedule right before the meal event, but if you can, the meal can be your "post-workout meal", in which case, your body can handle a higher amount of carbs than normal to help replenish the muscle glycogen depletion you had during the intense workout.
A cardio workout WON'T cut it for this... it must be high intensity resistance training to deplete enough muscle glycogen to handle restaurant portions of carbohydrates.
I hope these dining out tips help you choose smarter and healthier next time you eat out.

Energy drinks, do they work?

Alright, today I have a little rant on energy drinks...
I receive a ton of questions about all of these new "energy" drinks that have hit the market over the last few years. They seem to be all the rage, especially with the youth, and they promise you the world with outrageous claims of all of the super energy that you are going to have, and how you'll be crushing the competition.
So a couple questions arise:
Are these "energy" drinks really any good for you?
Do they actually increase your energy?
Do they really have some sort of magical energy formula?
Will they help you lose weight?
First of all, let's look at what most of these energy drinks are usually made of. Most of them are simply carbonated water loaded with gut-fattening high fructose corn syrup (or other added sugars), caffeine, the amino acid taurine, and some crappy vitamins added for show to trick you into thinking there's something healthy about these concoctions.
Let's start with the high fructose corn syrup. Well, here we've got empty calories that will go straight to your belly fat, and that are possibly even WORSE for you than plain old refined sugar (although that's up for debate, but semantics in the big picture).
Ok, so you say that they have low-sugar or sugar-free varieties as an alternative to the HFCS-laden energy drinks. Yes, but now you have the problem of the harmful chemicals in the artificial sweeteners.
Another problem with artificial sweeteners is that there are some researchers that believe artificial sweetener use leads people to inadvertently consume more calories and gain more weight in the long run. I won't go into the details on that because that would fill up an entire discussion by itself. Just trust me that artificial sweeteners and artificial chemicals in food in general, are all bad news for your body!
What about the caffeine? Well, first of all, caffeine doesn't in itself provide "energy". Technically, the only substance that actually provides energy is calories (from carbs, protein, and fat).
However, caffeine can be an aid for livening or waking some people up, by means of stimulating the central nervous system. Keep in mind though, if you're a regular coffee drinker, you're probably addicted to caffeine and probably wouldn't receive too much benefit from the caffeine in an energy drink.
(Tip: try to drink more tea and reduce your coffee intake to only a couple days per week max to reduce your dependency on caffeine).
Besides, instead of caffeine added to some carbonated drink, I'd rather get my caffeine from a natural source like green, white, or oolong teas, which actually provide healthful antioxidants too!
Now what about that so called magical blend of taurine and B-vitamins that they load into these energy drinks? Well, big deal...you can get taurine in almost any protein source. And the vast majority of those B-vitamins are simply coming right out into the toilet in your pee. Vitamins are best obtained naturally from a real food source, not artificially added to some carbonated drink. Your body just doesn't use fake sources of vitamins as readily as natural sources from real food.
So as you can see, in my opinion, I give all of these energy drinks a big time THUMBS DOWN! If you remember, in an ezine issue a couple weeks back, I gave you my special Geary-formula... pre-workout energy drink that you can make yourself at home.
Well, I hope today's email cleared up some of the confusion about these energy drinks that are being so heavily marketed. I'm simply looking to protect you from all of these supplement scams that are ripping people off left and right these days.
Once again, the real secrets to full body leanness and getting rid of that stubborn belly fat comes from a naturally healthy nutrition plan and a smart, progressional training program as found in my Truth about Six Pack Abs Program
As usual, feel free to fwd this link by email to anyone you know that would enjoy it.
I'll be back in touch soon. In the meantime...train hard, eat smart, have fun, and enjoy life!
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Author of the books Truth about abs and "Fat burning kitchen."

Unusual Tips and Foods to Lose Your Stomach Fat

FREE Fat Loss Tips Presentation:
In this FREE presentation below, you'll find:

• Shocking foods that burn belly fat
• 2 so-called "health" foods that you should NEVER eat (they can actually increase stomach fat)
• Motivation secrets for lifelong fitness success
• 1 unique "trick" to reduce junk-food cravings
• Weird workouts that burn abdominal fat faster than typical "cardio"
• The TRUTH about getting flat abs without bogus "fat burner" pills
    
  5 Facts You MUST Understand if You Are Ever Going to Lose Your Belly Fat and Get Six Pack Abs
  1. Many so-called "health foods" are actually cleverly disguised junk foods that can actually stimulate you to gain more belly fat... yet the diet food marketing industry continues to lie to you so they can maximize their profits.
  2. Ab exercises such as crunches, sit-ups, and ab machines are actually the LEAST effective method of getting flat six pack abs. We'll explore what types of exercises REALLY work in a minute.
  3. Boring repetitive cardio exercise routines are NOT the best way to lose body fat and uncover those six pack abs. I'll tell you the exact types of unique workouts that produce 10x better results below.
  4. You DON'T need to waste your money on expensive "extreme fat burner" pills or other bogus supplements. I'll show you how to use the power of natural foods in more detail below.
  5. Ab belts, ab-rockers, ab-loungers, and other infomercial ab-gimmicks... they're all a complete waste of your time and money. Despite the misleading infomercials, the perfectly chiseled fitness models in the commercials did NOT get their perfect body by using that "ab contraption"... they got their perfect body through REAL workouts and REAL nutrition strategies. Again, you'll learn some of their secrets and what really works below.
   

Does diet cola make you fat?

We all know by now that soda (aka "pop" in some areas) is one of the most evil things you can put in your body... the nasty chemicals, the gut-fattening high fructose corn syrup, and a myriad of health problems caused by this carbonated cocktail worshipped by those that don't care about their health or body.

Surprisingly, many people falsely believe that "diet" soda is in some way a good thing for losing body fat. In fact, I hear people all the time proudly state that they eat so healthy and only drink diet soda.

So let's set the record straight...

There is NOTHING even remotely healthy about drinking diet soda. In fact, I've even seen several studies that showed dedicated diet soda drinkers got even FATTER than their regular soda drinking counterparts.

Here's some findings from an 8-year University of Texas study that I had read...

An excerpt from the study author:

"What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity," Fowler tells WebMD. "What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher."

"There was a 41 percent increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day," Fowler says.

Ok, as if we didn't already know how bad regular soda was for us, and now they're showing us studies that diet soda makes us even fatter than the already bad stuff!
There's a lot of complicating factors as to why this occurs...

One reason is that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas create a negative hormonal response in the body that increases fat storing hormone production and increases cravings for more sweets and refined carbohydrates in the time period after consuming the diet drink.

Another reason is that people may subconsciously think that because they are drinking a diet soda, that gives them more leeway to eat more of everything else, hence consuming more calories overall.

I've said this all along, but the bottom line is that if you're serious about your health and body, soda of any kind (and artificial sweeteners in anything for that matter!) should be avoided at all times, except for very rare occasions when you can't avoid them.

So what is a good alternative to diet sodas?

The best alternatives are good old water with lemon or unsweetened iced teas... you have plenty of options with teas - green, white, black, oolong, red... be creative in making your iced teas and you'll enjoy it more. Plus you'll get a more diverse array of antioxidants.

3 advices that make you build muscles fast

Let's face it... building muscle is not the easiest thing to accomplish even despite regular hard workout schedules and trying every type of workout and supplement.
I struggled for years to gain any significant muscle mass, but over the years in my personal training business and with my own experimentation have found some important things that have helped make significant muscle gains possible even for hardgainers.
So, I'm going to give 3 important tips here so you can start building lean muscle mass faster and easier.
1. Make sure that 95% of the exercises you perform regularly in the gym are big multi-joint compound exercises. It doesn't matter if your goal is fat loss or building muscle... big multi-joint exercises should comprise 95% of the exercises you do in your workouts if you want to get lean, ripped, and powerful.
It's easiest to think of it in terms of the major movement patterns such as these (focus 95% of your workouts on these):

• upper body horizontal press (bench press, pushups, dips),
• upper body horizontal rows (1-arm dumbbell rows, seated cable rows, bent over barbell rows),
• upper body vertical pull (lat pulldowns, pullups, chinups),
• upper body vertical press (overhead dumbbell and barbell presses, barbell or kettlebell clean & presses)
• lower body squatting movements (front squats, back squats, overhead squats, bodyweight squats, etc)
• lower body deadlifting movements (regular deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts)
• lower body single leg movements (lunges, step-ups, jump lunges, etc)
• abdominal and core exercises (these are important, but still are 2nd priority after all of the major upper body and lower body multi-joint movements... your abs and core will be worked from most major multi-joint exercises anyway)

The other 5% of your exercises can focus on single joint exercises (isolation exercises) such as bicep curls, tricep presses, calf presses, shoulder shrugs, shoulder lateral raises, pec flyes, etc, etc. However, these exercises are only accessory exercises to do after the main focus has been the multi-joint drills.
2. Train hard and intensely 3-4 days/week for 45-60 minutes per weight training workout. Keep your workouts to no longer than 60 minutes as training too much beyond this point can trigger excess catabolism. You want to stay anabolic, but you still need to train your body hard and intensely enough to trigger muscle growth.

Try a super-set style of workout program to maximize the intensity that you can train. My favorite combinations are opposing upper and lower body movement patterns that don't interfere with each other, such as squats coupled with pullups as a superset, or bench press coupled with deadlifts as a superset.
Don't underestimate the effectiveness of these types of upper/lower body supersets done with heavy weights and a high intensity. The first time in my life that I experienced significant muscle mass gains were when I started doing these types of workout combos regularly (although still mixing up my training variables).
These are mainstays of almost any effective workout program -- caloric intake can simply be adjusted whether your goal is fat burning or gaining muscle mass.
3. Eat clean with quality whole foods... REAL foods instead of highly processed over-hyped supplement powders and bars.
The quality of protein (and additional nutrition from vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants) are best assimilated by the body from real whole food such as eggs, meats, dairy (preferably raw), fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc. instead of from processed protein powders, chemical-laden bars, and meal replacements.
Forget about the hyped up workouts in the muscle mags that only work for pro bodybuilders or people on steroids. Forget about the over-hyped supplement "stacks" that pay the bills for almost every muscle mag... Instead, make these tips in this article part of your lifestyle, and you'll see muscle gains and a leaner, ripped body like you've never seen before!

If you want to get a lean chiseled body, check out these tips to Get Ripped Abs the right way.
Enjoy, and good luck!
Mike Geary
Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs

Ideas for home training

This day and age it can be very difficult indeed to go to the gym. Life is very hectic and busy, which

will create a serious challenge for remaining consistent with exercise each day. Exercise is

however, just what we all need to reduce stress, and give the body the extra energy it needs to carry

out normal living.

The best results of exercise are achieved through the use of refined techniques, functional exercises,

cardio, the right nutrition, variety, awareness, consistency, and motivation over a period of time.

The refined techniques mean correct form to isolate muscles or to target areas of the body. Efficiency

is need to ensure stimulation of the muscles. With weight lift training, which is also known as

resistance training, you'll need to eliminate any type of momentum.

It is also important to move the weight about using a full range of motion. Full range of motion causes

the muscle to contract for the right amount of time and help to ensure the right length of the tendons.

The goal here is to strengthen the joints of your body by stimulating the muscles.

Cadence is also helpful, as it is a term that refers to the rate in which the resistance or the weight

moves. The best results with cadence are gained by slow movements which will cause the muscle

to contract for a longer period of time. You can mix in a series of fast and slow cadence,

which is very beneficial with sports type training.

Using the correct angles will achieve muscle isolation in target areas and help to decrease

the risk of injuries, which is great for those using heavy weights.

Functional type exercise is a popular technique that will stimulate the core and torso of your

body while you work on another muscle group at the same time. As an example, when you perform

a dumbell press while lying on an exercise ball.

Your abdominal muscles and the core muscles will contract to hold your body into this position,

while your chest and tricep muscles will push the dumbells up. This type of exercise and challenge

will cause maximum stimulation to your body and keep the workout interesting and refreshing.

Cardio is another exercise that is great for the heart and lungs. The total number of calories

you burn is very important along with maintaining the right heart rate. The formula for your

heart rate is 220 minus your age times 60 for the lower number, then 220 minus you age and

times 80 for the upper number.

This is also known as fat burning zone. Cardio will also de-toxify the body and help to strengthen

the immune system along with other benefits. The muscles will contract and pass the lymph along,

which will allow the immune system to clear away dead cells and bring new ones in.

Anytime you exercise, warming up is very important, as it will prepare your body for the more

demanding workout of cardio. You should always allow 15 - 30 minutes prior to weight lifting and

10 - 15 minutes prior to cardio exercises. You should also stretch as well, as this will help

get the blood flowing through your musles and get them limber as well.

An ideal schedule for working out is to warm up then follow with cardio. You can lift weights on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday then cardio only on Tuesday and Thursday.

Even though you may think your schedule is simply too busy to maintain a schedule for working out,

you'll find that adding exercise will actually add more time, as you'll have a lot more energy in

your normal everyday life. You can think of exercise as the batteries that will help to give

your life power.

Free Weights VS Machine exercise

Something you need to keep in mind and never forget
is that when you exercise, you are training for
life. You still may spend an hour a day in the
gym, although that will still leave another 23 hours
or so for your muscles to function without using
any fancy equipment.

Whenever you do any type of exercise, the movement
of your body during the exercise is known as the
range of motion. The more difficult the range of
motion is, the more effective the exercise will be,
because your body has to work twice as hard to
perform the movement.

Take for the instance the classic dumbbell bicep
curl. If you aren't familiar with the exercise,
it is performed by standing up straight with your
palms facing forward, and a pair of dumbbells held
down by your sides. You'll contract your biceps
to bring the dumbbells up to your shoulder height,
then repeat the exercise as many times as you wish.

Using that same movement for exercise on a bicep
curl machine, you should sit down, brace your
upper arms on a pad, grasp 2 handles that are in
front of you, then perform the same movement as
above to move the handles in an upward motion.

Now, looking at the muscle contractions in this
exercise, you are contracting essentially your
biceps if you are using the curl machine, and
that is pretty much all you are doing. When you
use the machine you are sitting down, which will
limit just how much your shoulders give. The
machine has several muscles used in this
exercise limited to the biceps, as well as
the muscles in your forearms and fingers.

Most of the time, when using machine weights, you
will always be limited as to what type of exercise
you can perform. You must always follow a strict
procedure, which is pretty much the same with
free weights. Unlike free weights, machine
weights offer a certain degree of resistance.

One of the best thing about free weights is the
fact that you move a little chuck around to
select the weight you want to use. Instead
of dragging it over to your exercise area,
you simply select it on the machine. When
you are tired during a workout, this can be
a blessing.

A lot of people argue in the fact that free
weights are the best for your body. While this
is normally true, many people out there feel that
machine weights are the best. There are pros
and cons with both machines, although free
weights have been around a lot longer and have
been proven time after time to achieve dramatic
results.

Body builders for example, have used free
weights over the years to build very impressive
bodies. If you ask most of them about machine
weights, they would probably laugh at you and
tell you that you need to quit joking around.

In a nutshell, free weights will use more of your
muscles than the machines do, which makes them
more effective overall. This doesn't mean
that the machines are a waste of use, as they
offer some great advantages. In some cases,
it is best to stabilize the muscles that are
being used in a movement, which is where machines
are the best to use.

The decision on which to use for you should be
based on what you hope to achieve with lifting
weights and where you plan to use the equipment,
such as home or at a gym. Both systems are
great for your body, although the free weights
are best to use if you want the best possible
workout, and always ensure that your muscles
are getting the right workouts they need.

Exercises Back Pain Away

According to past research and studies, nearly 80% of all Americans will experience some type of back
pain in their lives. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons believes this as well, as they
say 80% of us out there will encounter some type of problem with our back before we die.

Traditionally, the treatment for lower back pain is increasing core strength to increase flexibility on
muscles that are tight, which will provide better stabilization of the spine and exercises to correct
the imbalances of the muscles. The muscles that surround the spine will provide stability and support
of the spinal column.

Every muscle between the hips and shoulders are included as well, as these muscles are referred to
as the core muscles. Back pain can be a result of muscle imbalances caused by any of these core
muscles. If the back of your thighs are weaker than the front of your thighs, there will be an uneven
pull on the front of your spinal column.

There are some effective ways that you can integrate core strength training exercises into all of the
exercises you perform, rather than doing just the traditional crunches and sit-ups. One such way
is by breathing effectively. Deep breathing will utilize your diaphragm muscles which will help
support the spinal column and lengthen the spine, which is great for your lower back and supporting
you when you walk or run.

The tummy tuck and bridge lift can also help you to reduce back pain and strengthen the core
muscles as well. The tummy tuck exercise is a simple pelvic tilt that draws the abdominal muscles
away from the floor. Do perform a tummy tuck, simply lie face down on the floor and squeeze
your glutes to strengthen your spine.

Instead of pressing into your thighs, you should instead reach your tailbone down towards your
heels. Perform 15 reps of each exercise and alternate them until you have completed a couple
of sets.

For the bridge, place your feet on a bench or on the floor and scoop your pelvis upward, as your
rib cage should stay low to reduce any irritation to your spinal muscles. The bridge will help to
relieve stress on your back and focus the muscle contractions into the glutes and the hamstrings.

Other exercises for lower back pain are the lumbar side stretch, hip flexor stretch, and calf
stretches, as all three can help to alleviate pull on your spinal column.

Hip flexor stretch When doing a hip flexor stretch, bring one foot
forward in a bent knee, 90 degree angle, while your other leg is on the floor behind you with your
foot pointed upwards toward the ceiling. The hip flexor stretch will help to open up the
muscles of your back on the side of the spine near your hips. You can also squeeze your glutes as
well to deepen the stretch with each breath you exhale. You should begin to feel a stretch in your
back leg, in the thigh front and the hamstrings on your front leg.

Lumbar side stretch This stretch will bring your legs wide with your
knees bent while you sit or stand. Simply bring one hand down towards your foot on the inside of
the thighs and your other hand behind your head.

The last stretch will open up your Achilles tendon , which is the most distant pull on the spine. For
this, place an object under your foot and lean the weight of your body forwards. Maintain a fluid
breath while you hold stretches for 30 seconds or so. After a while, you should begin to feel a
stretch behind your knee and shin.

Exercise And Stress

Even though exercise may not be the most exciting
word in your vocabulary, it sure is a word with a
lot of benefits. Participating in daily exercise
will not only make you healthier in general, but
it can also diminish the effects of stress on your
body as well.

Think about all the times you have heard someone
say "the doctor says it's stress related". Normally
people will laugh it off, concluding that doctors
say that when they don't know the real answers or
diagnosis. The truth of the matter is that too
much stress will play a role in many diseases.

To help increase your immune system and decrease
your stress level as well, try exercise, as movement
is the key word here. Bending, stretching, reaching
and walking. There's really no need to buy any
expensive equipment either, as you can implement
more movement into your daily routine and reap
the benefits.

If you like aerobic exercise, you should grab a
partner and have a blast with one of the basic
aerobic videos. Or, you can simply go out for a
walk and enjoy spending time together. As you
may have heard, walking really is the best overall
exercise you can do for your health. As long as
you have a pair of walking shoes, you'll be
fine.

As you go through your daily activities, make it
a point to walk a little farther, bend down and
pick something up without using a pick up stick
or moving the item towards you with your foot.
While you are sitting, you should also do some
simple and quick stretches for your neck and
shoulders.

If you enjoy sitting around watching television,
you should consider buying a jogging board.
These padded boards will make running, jumping,
or walking in place less stressful on your knees
and joints. They are easy to store as well and
also very portable.

In many people's opinions, jogging boards are
the best pieces of equipment you can buy. They
are also far cheaper than bulky treadmills and
stationary bikes.

There are several different exercises that you
can do to help you eliminate the stress in
your life. Walking is by far the best, as you
can easily lose yourself and your troubles by
walking. Even if it is just around the block,
walking can do wonders for your health as well
as stress.

If you have a lot of stress in your life, you
may want to consider a gym. Working out then
sitting in the sauna is also a good way to
relieve tension. If your gym has a pool, you
may find swimming to be very beneficial as well,
as it helps you to relax.

Exercise And Sleeping Better

The amount of physical exercise that you exert during the day is one of the key ingredients to helping you
get a good sleep at night. The more active your body is during the day, the more likely you are to
relax at night and fall asleep faster.

With regular exercise you'll notice that your quality of sleep is improved and the transition between the
cycles and phases of sleep will become smoother and more regular. By keeping up your physical activity
during the day, you may find it easier to deal with the stress and worries of your life.

Research and studies indicate that there is a direct correlation between how much we exercise and how
we feel afterwards.

You should try and increase your physical activity during the day. The goal here is to give your body
enough stimulation during the day so that you aren't full of energy at night.

Your body requires a certain amount of physical activity in order to keep functioning in a healthy
manner. It is also important to note that you should not be exercising three or four hours before you go
to bed.

The ideal exercise time is in the late afternoon or early evening. You want to make sure you expend
your physical energy long before it is time for your body to rest and ready itself for sleep.

You should attempt to exercise at least three or four times a week for a period of 30 minutes or so.
You can include walking or something simple. If you prefer, you can include strenuous activities
such as running as well.

The goal here is to increase your heart rate and strengthen the capacity of your lungs. By adding
a regular exercise activity to your daily schedule will help you to improve your overall health and
help you emotionally as well.

Along with running and walking there are several other physical activities that you can add to your
daily life to increase your level of physical activity. If you are battling not sleeping, you'll
find aerobic exercise to be the best.

Your goal with exercise is to increase the amount of oxygen that reaches your blood stream. Overall,
there are many types of aerobic exercise for you to choose from. The activities include running,
biking, using a treadmill, dancing, and jumping rope.

There are some non aerobic exercises that you may find beneficial to help you solve your amnesia
problem.

Yoga
Yoga is an exercise that has a stimulatory effect on your nervous system, especially the brain. Yoga
utilizes breathing techniques and yoga postures to increase the blood circulation to the brain, promoting
regular and restful sleeping patterns. The regular practice of yoga will help you to relax as well
as relieve tension and stress.

Tai Chi
Tai Chi is an ancient art of breathing and movement that was developed by the Chinese monks. The
movements involved are slow and precise, which is ideal if you have joint pains or you are unable
to participate in high aerobic exercises. Research has shown that Tai Chi can help with insomnia by
promoting relaxation.

If you discover that you don't have any time to exercise on a regular basis, you should try to

sneak moments of activity into your schedule. Whenever possible, you should take the stairs instead

of the elevator, as little things like that will do wonders for your body.

You should also park your car around the corner and walk that extra block or two to get to your
destination. As you may know, there are many small things you can add to increase the activity in
your life. Your overall goal here is to have a healthy and well balanced life - with plenty of
sleep.

Exercise And Asthma

If you suffer from asthma, you probably think that you
can't exercise properly or safely. Contrary to what
many think of this subject, there are ways that you
can get in shape and exercise, even if you suffer
from asthma.

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that is marked by
characteristics such as coughing, wheezing, shortness
of breath, and chest tightness. Asthma tends to occur
with people who are genetically or environmentally
presdisposed to the condition.

Some of the triggers that may start or make an attack
worse include exposure to allergens, viral respiratory
infections, airway irritants, exercise, and exposure
to things such as dust mites or cockroaches.

You can prevent asthma attacks by doing the following:
1. Bathe your pets weekly.
2. Don't smoke or permit smoking in your
home.
3. When mold or pollent counts are high,
you should stay inside with air conditioning.
4. Wash your bedding and any stuffed toys
at least once per week in hot water.
5. Wash your hands every chance you get.
6. Get a flu shot.
7. Wear a scarf over your mouth and nose in
the winter months.
8. Be proactive and know your triggers and
how you should avoid them.

Now that you know what you know about asthma, you
may be wondering where exercise fits in. As most
doctors will tell you, you shouldn't give up on
sports or exercise at all. You just have to be
smart about how you play and take special pre
cautions to avoid attacks.

Almost all doctors agree that the best way to
prevent attacks during exercise is to keep your
inhaler and medication close by. You should never
use the inhaler more than 3 times during a game
or exercise session. If you are up the previous
night with coughing and wheezing, it's always best
to go light with your exercise the next day.

For something known as IEA (Exercise Induced Asthma),
the symptoms are somewhat different, in the fact
that they appear after 6 - 10 minutes of exercise
and will often be worse in cold or dry air.

If you have IEA, there are several activities that
you can enjoy such as swimming, walking, biking,
downhill skiing, and team based sports. There are
many activities for you to choose from, to ensure
you get the exercise you need as well.

Keep in mind that the condition of asthma isn't
"all in your head", it is a real physiological
medical treatment that will require treatment to
prevent and treat. Even though your doctor will
be your best friend in treating asthma, you are
the one who can prevent your symptoms.

Always be smart, take your medication, and be
proactive. Don't let it put you in a life of
misery - as you can enjoy exercise just like
everyone else.

Eating Vs Exercise

Anytime you exercise, you do so in order to try and
maintain good health. You also know that you have to
eat as well, so your body will have the energy it
needs to exercise and maintain for the everyday tasks
of life. For making the best of your exercise, what
you eat before and after you workout is very important.

No matter if you are going to be doing a cardio
workout or a resistance workout, you should always
make it a point to eat a balanced mix of protein and
carbohydrates. What makes that determining percentage
of carbs and protein you consume is whether or not
you are doing cardio or resistance exercise and the
intensity level that you plan to work at.

The ideal time for you to eat your pre workout meal
is an hour before you start. If you plan to work
at a low intensity level, you should keep your pre
workout meal down to 200 calories or so. If you
plan to exercise at a high level of intensity, you
will probably need your meal to be between 4,000
and 5,000 calories.

Those of you who are doing a cardio session will
need to consume a mix of 2/3 carbs and 1/3 protein.
Doing so will give you longer sustained energy from
the extra carbs with enough protein to keep your
muscle from breaking down while you exercise.

For resistance exercise, you'll need to eat a mix
of 1/3 carbs and 2/3 protein, as this will help
you get plenty of energy from the carbs to perform
each set you do and the extra protein will help
keep muscle breakdown to a minimum while you
exercise.

Eating after you exercise is just as important as
your pre workout meal. Anytime you exercise,
whether its cardio or resistance, you deplete energy
in the form of glycogen. The brain and central
nervous system rely on glycogen as their main
source of fuel, so if you don't replace it after
you exercise, your body will begin to break down
muscle tissue into amino acids, and then convert
them into usable fuel for the brain and the
central nervous system.

Keep in mind that mostly during resistance
exercise, you'll break down muscle tissue by
creating micro tears. What this means, is that
after a workout, your muscles will instantly go
into repair mode. Protein is the key here for
muscle repair, as you don't want muscle breaking
down even further to create fuel instead of
lost glycogen.

Once you have finished a cardio session, you'll
need to consume mainly carbohydrates, preferably
those with high fiber. Rice, oatmeal, whole wheat
pasta, and northern fruits are excellent sources.
Also, try to consume 30 - 50 grams of there
types of carbs after you exercise. After your
cardio workout, it is fine to eat within 5 - 10
minutes.

Once you've finished a resistance workout, you
will need to consume a combination of carbs and
protein. Unlike cardio workouts, resistance
workouts will break down muscle tissue by creating
micro tears.

You'll need protein as this happens to build up
and repair these tears so that the muscle can
increase in size and strength. The carbs will
not only replace the lost muscle glycogen, but
will also help the protein get into muscle cells
so it can synthesize into structural protein, or
the muscle itself.

After your resistance exercise, you should wait
up to 30 minutes before you eat, so that you won't
take blood away from your muscles too fast. The
blood in your muscles will help the repair process
by removing the metabolic waste products.

Power bar or junk food?

You see them all over the place these days... nutrition bars that claim to be healthy and good for weight loss or muscle building, but when you read the label, you see an endless list of chemicals, sugars, processed trans fats, and other harmful overly processed ingredients.
There are so many types of "health bars" and "protein bars" on the market today, how do you know if you are actually getting something healthy or just junk food in disguise?
Again, just as I've talked about grocery store food choices, you really need to know how to read labels if you're going to stand a chance at finding a truly healthy food bar.
To be quite honest, most of the bars out there are pure junk... candy bars disguised through labeling as a health food bar.
Just a couple weeks ago, I was going on a bike ride with a friend and needed a quick bar to make sure I had enough energy for the bike ride.
Well, I didn't have any bars on me, so my friend gave me an extra slim fast bar he had.
Keep in mind that these slim fast bars are marketed as health foods for losing weight.
These things are just a flat out joke...there's nothing even remotely nutritional about them. In my opinion, these slim fast bars are WORSE for you than candy bars!
The first ingredient in this bar that my friend gave me was corn syrup! Then the second ingredient was sugar (hooray more sugar!), followed by hydrogenated oils (source of deadly trans fats). After that, the list went on with nothing but junk such as artificial flavors, colors, evil artificial sweeteners, more hydrogenated refined oils, and rounded out with some highly processed soy protein isolate (which despite popular belief, processed soy is NOT healthy for you... I'll talk in detail about that in a future article) just to give your body some more junk.
So not only are these "weight loss" bars a disaster nutritionally for you, but the bar tasted absolutely horrible! It tasted like chemicals and was way too overly sweetened (not a surprise with all of the sugar, corn syrup, sugar alcohols, AND artificial sweeteners). This is a prime example of "over-engineering" of food.
So how do you determine a healthy protein bar or energy bar?
I look for simplicity in a good bar. Many of the healthiest and tastiest bars I've found have only a couple basic ingredients such as nuts, seeds, and fruit. I also look for organic ingredients and raw ingredients if possible.
A couple of my favorite truly healthy bars:
1. Organic Food Bars - This is actually the brand name.
Depending on which flavor, these are usually a base of organic almond butter (or cashew butter) with a certain type of fruit, organic seeds, organic biosprouts (quinoa, etc), and some organic rice protein. Some flavors include an organic dark chocolate as well. They also have a line of bars that use exclusively raw ingredients.
Not only are these bars extremely nutritious, but I think they are delicious as well and have a lot of flavors to choose from such as chocolate chip, blueberry, cranberry, high protein, and more.
You won't find these bars at your local grocery store, but I have found them at several health food stores.
2. Larabars - These are even simpler in ingredients than organic food bars. Usually larabars are just 2 or 3 ingredients, and mostly raw... a blend of crushed nuts along with a type of fruit is the usual combination, but they have a lot of different flavors so it can vary.
These are also delicious and you will NEVER see a list of chemicals a mile long in their ingredient list... usually just nuts and fruit, and that's it! Simple IS better. This is a very high quality bar. Again, you probably won't find these at your local grocery store, but I've found these at various health food markets.
When you actually find truly healthy bars like these examples above, they make great quick snacks while you are traveling or while you are at work.
I carry some on me almost atall times, just to make sure I have healthy options to eat whenever I need a quick snack, so that I am not tempted by fast food joints or junk food vending machines. Good luck and be sure to read those labels to make sure you're getting a health food bar and not a candy bar in disguise. See below for 5 unique tips to help you lose your stubborn belly fat.

Go to the following site to get a free report about belly fat and why even the best abdominal exercise will never help you lose stomach fat.
Mike Geary is the author of the fitness e-book "Truth about abs" the nutrition guide "Fat burning kitchen"

Cardio Exercise

Everyone has wondered at some point in time which
cardio exercise is better. To put it in simple
terms, both low and high intensity exercises will
help you to burn off body fat. The question here
is which is the most effective to burn off more
body fat.

When scientists first discovered that during
intensive exercises, your body burns glycogen, which
is a form of stored carbohydrates that are stored
in your liver and muscles for energy. During low
intensity exercises, your body will burn a lot of
fat.

If your wondering whether or not it works, the
answer is no because there are so many obese people
still around. Even though they are working out
with low intensity routines, it still makes you
wonder how it can be.

The scientists were right when they said the human
body burns more body fat during low intensity
exercises like walking or swimming. During a
high intensity exercise such as running, the body
will burn a lot more calories. Even if some of
the calories burnt are from glycogen, there are
still many fat calories burned as well.

To put the icing on the cake, when your store of
glycogen gets low, the carbohydrates from your
food you eat will later get converted into
glycogen to fill up the store and won't be
converted to body fat when they are left unused
for energy.

High intensity cardio exercise will juice up your
metabolism even after you have completed your
workout. What this means, is that your body will
continue to burn body fat hours after you have
left the gym. This effect is nearly non existent
in low intensity cardio or aerobic workout.

Accumulatively, your body will burn up more and
more calories during and after you have finished a
high intensity cardio exercise that it will with
low intensity.

You can inject high intensity exercises into your
cardio workout by introducing some interval
training. You can walk for 5 minutes or so, then
break into some jogging for another 5 minutes or
so. Then, walk briskly again until you have
caught your breath and then sprint for a minute
before you walk again. From this point, simply
alternate your running and walking for the
next 15 minutes until you are finished.

One of the best things about cardio is the more
you do it, the more energy you'll have. Cardio
will help you to burn calories, although its more
useful for keeping your energy levels high.

If you've never tried cardio before, you should
give it a shot. If you like to exercise, you'll
find cardio the best way to boost your energy and
keep in top shape. If you are just starting out,
you'll want to go slow and keep your cardio
exercise in track - as it is very easy to over
exert yourself.

Chosing The Right System

These days, more and more people are turning away

from memberships to gyms and instead choosing to

invest money in a home gym. You can put a home

gym in a spare corner of your home, or even in the

basement if you wish. Along with helping you save

money by combining several different types of

equipment into one machine, these types of equipment

can easily fit in small spaces and type up a lot

less weight than their individual counterparts.

When you are considering to buy an all in one piece

of exercise equipment, you should first think

about your goals. You should consider what you

hope to achieve from exercising and just how well

this piece of equipment will benefit you.

There are several types of all in one equipment for

exercise on the market and almost all of them are

advertised well on television, in magazines, and

on the internet. The most popular types on the

market are those types that are geared towards

individuals who are interested in lifting weights.

Right now, the two most popular types of all in

one exercise systems are the Bowflex and Total Gym

brands. The Bowflex system uses resistant bows

that bend instead of the traditional weights that

simply lift. Bowflex is designed to fit a wide

variety of budgets and needs, it's widely

adaptable and extremely popular as well.

To make things even better, you can store the

basic Bowflex system in small and tight places,

even under a bed if you choose. The larger and

more expensive Blowflex system competes with

the types of professional equipment that you can

find in gyms, which allow you a quality workout

on quality equipment.

The Total Gym system is great as well, as it

is advertised by martial arts legend Chuck Norris

and supermodel Christie Brinkley. It is less

expensive than the Bowflex and uses gravity

and resistance instead of traditional weights.

By using this system, you have the ability to

adapt the machine to a wide variety of exercises

that will work many different areas of your body.

When you make that decision about buying an all

in one exercise system, you must also decide

on price, features, brand, and just who will use

the machine. If your family plans to use it as

well, then you'll need to get a system that

everyone will agree on. You obviously wouldn't

want a machine that is too complicated for

others in your home.

Even though Bowflex and Total Gym are the 2 most

popular types of all in one equipment, there are

several others out there as will, from brands

such as Weider and many others. Before you

make your choice, you should look at several

to see which one offers you more for your money

Alcohol And Exercise

On Friday afternoon after you leave work, you probably
think about going out and having a few drinks with
friends to relax and wind down. Even though you
may think you deserve to go out and have a few drinks,
there are some things that you should certainly keep
in mind.

Like any other day, tomorrow is going to be a day
for exercise, and since you are exercising on a
regular basis, a few drinks of alcohol won't really
hurt anything, right? Before you decide to rush out
to the local bar, there are a few things below that
you should think about before you make your choice
about going out to drink some alcohol.

Research has proven that even small amounts of
alcohol with increase muscular endurance and the output
of strength, although these types of benefits are
very short lived. After 20 minutes or so, the
problems will begin to surface. All of the negative
side effects associated with alcohol will easily
outweigh any possible benefits that it can have.
No matter how you look at it, alcohol is a poison
that can really harm your body if you aren't careful.

The negative side of alcohol can reduce your
strength, endurance, aerobic capability, recovery
time, ability to metabolize fat, and even your
muscle growth as well. Alcohol will also have an
effect on your nervous system and brain. If you
use it long term, you can cause severe deterioration
of your central nervous system. Even with short
term use, nerve muscle interaction can be reduced
which will result in a loss of strength.

Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it can and
probably will damage them. With alcohol users,
inflammation of the muscle cells is a very common
thing. Over periods of time, some of these cells
that have been damaged can die which will result
in less functional muscle contractions. Drinking
alcohol will also leave you with more soreness of
your muscles after you exercise, which means that
it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.

Alcohol will also have many different effects on
your heart and circulatory system as well. When
you drink any type of alcohol, you may begin to
see a reduction in your endurance capabilities.
Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase,
due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels
to dilate. The loss in heat can cause your
muscles to become quite cold, therefore become
slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.

Drinking alcohol can also lead to digestive and
nutrition problems as well. Alcohol cause a
release of insulin that will increase the metabolism
of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss
of fat very hard. Due to alcohol interfering
with the absorption of several key nutrients, you
can also become anemic and deficient with B type
vitamins.

Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies
alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver
has to work. The extra stress alcohol places on
your liver can cause serious damage and even
destroy some of your liver cells.

Since alcohol is diuretic, drinking large amounts
can put a lot of stress on your kidneys as well.
During diuretic action, the hormones are secreted.
This can lead to heightened water retention and no
one who exercises will want this to happen.

If you must drink alcohol, you should do it in
moderation and never drink before you exercise, as
this will impair your balance, coordination, and
also your judgement. Think about your health and
how you exercise - and you may begin to look at
things from a whole new prospective.

Top 3 Fat Burning Foods - Surprising Hidden Gems

In all of my years as a professional Nutrition Specialist, I've noticed that most people are shocked to hear some of my picks for the top fat burning foods that are best for weight loss and good health.
I won't bore you with all of the typical "healthy foods" that you hear about all of the time such as fruits and veggies... everybody knows those. Instead, I'm going to show you some shockers that most people don't realize are super healthy foods for fat loss.
1. Egg Yolks - yes, that's right... full fatty egg yolks with all of their fat and cholesterol. By the way, you've been mislead about the cholesterol in egg yolks -- it actually raises your GOOD cholesterol and helps balance proper ratios, so don't be afraid of the fat and cholesterol in these little nutrition power packed gems. And if you choose cage-free eggs from free roaming hens, the omega-3 content is higher with a more balanced fat profile.
Egg yolks are also one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet in terms of vitamins, minerals, and trace nutrients. Trying to list all of the vital nutrients in egg yolks would take up an entire page so I won't even try that here. Just realize that egg yolks should NOT be avoided in favor of egg whites. Even the protein is more bioavailable when you include the yolks!
So don't be afraid to eat those delicious and healthy eggs and start burning belly fat faster.
2. Avocados - This is yet another "fatty food" that is also one of the best fat burning foods! Not only that, but avocados make just about everything creamier and more delicious. They are also power-packed with healthy fats, fiber, and antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals. The healthy fat in avocados also helps control appetite and fat burning hormones in your body.
Try adding avocado slices or guacamole to everything from morning eggs, salads, sandwiches, and burgers, and starting burning body fat faster! I would definitely consider avocados one of the best healthy super foods.
3. Grass-fed beef - While most beef you see at the grocery store is grain fed beef from cattle that are in poor health and has lower nutrition values and omega-6 to omega-3 fat ratios that are far out of whack, there is a better option... and that is Grass-Fed Beef!
Grass-fed beef is known to have much higher levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and lower omega-6 fats (which most people get too much of anyway). Grass-fed beef also contains higher levels of many vitamins and minerals, as well as containing high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is a healthy fat that is known to help muscle building and fat burning.
So don't be afraid to live it up a little and eat more beef, as long as you choose healthy grass-fed beef instead of grain fed beef. Enjoy and start burning more body fat with these so called "fatty" foods!

If you want to lose body fat faster, check out these 5 tips to Burn Stomach Fat the smart and effective way.
Enjoy, and good luck with your fitness endeavors!
Mike Geary
Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs

2 Vital Secrets to Lose Belly Fat Fast with Real Fat Loss

Do you struggle to lose belly fat? I bet you're thinking that you've tried every technique in the world to try to lose your stubborn belly fat, but it just never seems to budge... right? I'm sure you see TONS of commercials and ads making all kinds of miracle claims that you can lose your belly fat overnight with their magic pill or wildly-hyped snake-oil supplement. How about all of the bogus infomercial gadgets out there claiming you can reduce your belly fat in a matter of days just by strapping some worthless "ab-belt" around your waist, or sizzle away the stomach fat by using their patented "ab-roller-rocker" do-hicky.
Come on now! I hope you've been insulted by all of these fraudulent marketers and the gimmicks and scams that they are pushing down your throat by trying to get you to believe that a belly-fat reduction miracle is possible overnight.
So let's get past all of the scams and gimmicks and get right down to the hard science and reality behind what techniques and strategies really do help you to lose your stubborn belly fat and keep it off for life!
1) The first important principle we'll discuss is how you structure your workouts. In order to stimulate fat-loss from your stomach, you need to stop wasting so much of your time doing all kinds of abdominal exercises and hundreds of reps of crunches, leg lifts, and torso twists in the hopes of "spot-reducing" your belly and love handles.
I'm sure you know by now if you've read any reputable fitness publications over the last decade that spot-reduction DOES NOT occur. It's a myth that just won't seem to go away. The truth is, you don't lose belly fat by doing exercises that target the stomach area. Unfortunately, even though most people by now do understand this (or at least they should), they still spend WAY too much of their training time trying to target the stomach with tons of abs exercises.
Now don't get me wrong, a certain amount of abdominals exercises are great and they do help to strengthen your core and help you maintain a healthy back. But the fact is that direct abs exercises should only be a small portion of your workout routines. The majority of your time should be spent focusing on multi-joint exercises that work the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, chest, and back.
Now that is one of the REAL secrets for ridding yourself of that sloppy belly fat for good. Focusing on big multi-joint exercises for the largest portions of your body greatly increases your metabolic rate both during the workout, and for 24-48 hours after the workout. In addition, this also stimulates an increase in fat-burning hormones within your body. You simply don't get this type of metabolic and hormonal response by wasting most of your time with "abs-pumping" exercises.
Want to lose belly fat... Well, get your butt under a barbell and do some squats, do some deadlifts, some lunges, step-ups, some back and chest work. It doesn't matter per se if it's barbells, dumbbells, or even bodyweight exercises... the focus needs to be on big multi-joint exercises at a high intensity. That means no 5-minute rest periods between sets while you flap your gums with half of the people at the gym. Losing your belly fat for good requires some focus and intensity in your workouts! Anybody who tells you that you can do it while sitting on your couch watching TV with some "ab-belt" strapped to you, or doing only 2-minutes of crunching with your "ab-rocker-roller" is flat out lying to you!
2) The second important principle to rid yourself of that flabby belly revolves around your nutrition. The first thing you need to realize is that "diets" only work against your body in your effort to lose the stomach fat. You see, if you follow any of these fad diets like low-carb, or low-fat, or the grapefruit diet, the soup diet, or anything else that restricts 1 or more of the macro-nutrients (protein, carbs, and fat), most of the time you will actually lose lean muscle and lower your metabolic rate. This only makes you fatter in the long run, when you start to eat normal again!
I could go into all kinds of details, but essentially you are messing up processes related to your hormonal balance in your body, the muscle glycogen process, insulin, blood sugar, etc., and this stops your fat loss dead in its tracks!
It's important to stop falling for the fad diet gimmicks, and understand that as humans, we are meant to eat a balanced diet full of a diverse array of foods from healthy natural sources of carbohydrates, proteins, AND fats. This gives your body all of the macro-nutrients as well as all of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes that your body needs to run as a well-oiled fat-burning machine!
I could go on and on with dozens more strategies for losing your belly fat fast, the natural way, but this article can only be so long, so see below to download a free report detailing some of my best fat-loss strategies for helping you to flatten that belly and uncover those hidden abdominals of yours.

If you're interested in discovering over 27 more of my secret training and nutrition strategies for helping you to FINALLY lose all of that stubborn belly fat fast, grab your FREE e-report at How to Lose Belly Fat Fast
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally best-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs. If you're interested in fast but effective workouts go to Fast Fat Loss Home Workouts