The Best 3 Requirements For Defined Abs

If you had that elusive six-pack, that apparently unachievable flat stomach, you wouldn't be reading this, would you? There's nothing mysterious about getting ab muscles firm and fit, though there are many myths about working the abdominal area. It is true that there's a lot more to muscular, sharp abs than simple crunches. There are several probable causes if your abs aren't all you would like them to be:

1. Body fat percentage
2. Incorrectly practicing abdominal movements
3. Genetics

You can't spot reduce. Men usually store fat around their waists, while women generally keep it around their hips. The best way to get and keep a washboard stomach is by following a low fat diet and doing plenty of aerobics. Crunches and side leg raises will build and strengthen the muscles, but will not make them appear through the layer of fat between them and the skin.

The first requirement for getting defined abs is setting your goals. Once a goal is decided upon there are three components that will need to be addressed: resistance training, cardiovascular exercise and nutrition. Resistance training includes lifting free weights with barbells, dumbbells, weight-resisted machines, or resisted bands. When resistance training, muscle groups should be trained 1-3 times per week with at least 48 hours break between workouts.

The next important part of the equation is cardiovascular exercise. This is any exercise that stresses the heart, lungs and circulatory system, and includes walking, running, swimming or biking.

You also need a good weight-training routine, which takes several variables into consideration. The existing condition of your health should be the most important concern as this can have an effect on secondary factors like recovery ability, vulnerability to injury and overtraining, and physical limitation.

For instance, if a 35-year-old guy with a history of back trouble were to build a weight-training program the effectiveness of heavy squats in his leg program or deadlifts in his back program would be dubious. Abdominal workouts do not need to be done in the gym, contrary to what many believe. The best abdominal workouts you can possibly get are right in your own home, in fact. However, the solution to making your self-crafted ab workout turn your jelly belly into a blazing six-pack is the big "V." Variation. Blending several different movements and exercises with all sorts of variations in motion, speed and resistance can shock your midsection into the washboard of your desire.

The last and most important component for getting defined abs is nutrition. It doesn't matter how many hours you spend sweating in the gym – if you fail to adjust your eating behavior, poor food choices and amounts will bring your progress to a screeching halt. Buying food for you and your family appears easy enough. However, many people don't really know what they're eating, because they don't know how to read a food label and are fooled by the claims on the front of the package. The main mistake people make is not looking at the serving size. You can find the serving size listed directly under the "Nutrition Facts" on the food label.

Eating "smart" is not just about eating ONLY "healthy" food, eating a smaller amount of food, or eating certain kinds of food in certain combinations. A smart and healthful eating plan is one that highlights fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat or fat-free milk products.

Fruits: vary your fruit intake – it's okay to eat fresh, frozen, canned or dried fruit.

Vegetables: think "color" – and take in more dark green and leafy dark green vegetables, and orange vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, squash and even sweet potatoes.

Calcium/milk products: try to get 3 cups of milk per day, or have the equivalent in low-fat yogurt or cheese.

Grains: go for at least 3 oz. of whole grain breads, cereals, rice or pasta each day.

Meat: protein is a very important part of your daily eating plan.

Why Are Flabby Abs A Problem In The USA?

Foodstuff is MUCH cheaper here.

No one walks or bikes anywhere.

People eat a lot of processed food.

Marketing forces are powerful, especially in the form of TV ads.

Practice conquering your urge to eat by opening the refrigerator and saying out loud, "I just can't stop myself from eating this food," and then close the door and walk away. Consequently you will show yourself that you can break your snacking tendency, and the more you do this little exercise, the more routine the act of shutting the fridge door will become.

Family obligations, full time employment and life in general can at times hinder your fitness, but with good planning you can still make time for training. Riding your bicycle or walking to work or school can be the best way to make time for keeping fit. It may be hard to get up for the additional travel time but the physical and psychological boost you will experience from it will pay big dividends.

Believe it or not, unsuccessful people are just as disciplined as successful people. You see, we always "intend" to take action when the idea strikes us. But if we don't convert that intention into real action fairly quickly, the urgency starts to weaken. So take action! You need to take the first step in the direction of your aspiration when your passion is soaring and the inspiration is strong, clear, and powerful.

SOURCE : http://www.illpumpyouup.com

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5 Scientific Reasons to Eat More Carbs

Why Athletes Need Carbohydrates

The battle over whether or not carbs are essential for athletes is still very much alive. There's a strong case to be made that power-based athletes should eat moderate to high amounts of carbohydrate to maximize performance. This includes every team sport athlete, every powerlifter, every bodybuilder, every CrossFitter, and every serious recreational lifter. Here's why.

1 – Maintaining Optimal Thyroid Function

The thyroid gland is a very powerful moderator of energy production, growth, body temperature, heart rate, and more. There are several studies, some dating back to the 1970's, that show impairment of thyroid expression with low-carb dieting.

Since the thyroid gland works in harmony with our central nervous system (CNS), it's in a power-based athlete's best interest to make sure he or she is consuming adequate carbs to prevent any pitfalls. Our CNS drives athletic performance, and without a strong functioning thyroid you're doomed to perform poorly, especially if you're a female prone to potential thyroid disease or ESS (euthyroid sick syndrome).

As examples, consider some of the Paleo diet people who, after adopting the controversial diet, soon exhibit symptoms that are similar to thyroid deficiency. They're tired, their muscles are flat, and they're as cold as cavemen in a blizzard without a mastodon fur cape. T3 drops off the scale. It's not good.

On the other hand, consider the pro-bodybuilders that have bucked the age-old practice of preparing for competition by going low-carb. A few years ago, Branch Warren and Jay Cutler consumed between 750 and 1000 grams of carbs a day in preparation for the Olympia. Both looked full and hard thanks to well-functioning thyroids and carbs in general.

2 – Proper Hydration and Keeping Muscles Looking Full

Dr. Edmund Burke discusses in his book the value of ingesting enough carbs after an intense training session to help offset inevitable fluid depletion and electrolyte losses. Burke writes:

"Research has shown that carbohydrate and sodium work together to increase water absorption in the intestinal wall. Carbohydrate's component glucose molecules stimulate sodium absorption, and sodium, in turn, is necessary for glucose absorption. When these two substances are absorbed by the intestines, they tend to pull water with them, thus facilitating the absorption of water from the intestines into the bloodstream."

Moreover, carbs are inherently hydrophilic, or water loving, and a lack of them affects different pathways in the human body responsible for regulating our hydration levels. For example, for each gram of glycogen (stored glucose) in our muscle and liver tissue, we store approximately three grams of water. Muscle and liver glycogen stores are pretty substantial so you could see how this could affect water balance. Want to look totally flat as if you've never worked out a day in your life? Cut out carbs and flush out all that stored water.

Also, when we deplete carbohydrates, there's a concurrent decrease in insulin production that can cause the kidneys to excrete more water. Lastly, if you cut carb intake down low enough to induce ketosis, you create a natural diuretic effect, and a decrease in hydration of just 2-3% can impair athletic performance.

Muscular Body

3 – Insulin Production

When you ingest carbs, your pancreas secretes insulin. Moronically, insulin sometimes still gets flack for its role in energy storage, specifically, fat storage. But insulin is powerfully anabolic, too, as it ferries nutrients (including protein) to muscles. No carbs, very little insulin. No insulin, very little muscle.

Additionally, insulin interferes with cortisol's inhibition of leucine, an amino acid that plays a powerful role in muscle protein synthesis. Moreover, insulin activates and influences several key pathways involved in muscle growth, including the mTOR pathway, which pretty much determines how big your muscles can grow.

4 – Avoiding Gluconeogenesis

This metabolic process involves the production of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources. This process can occur from a number of substrates, but let's focus on gluconeogenesis as it relates to specific amino acids. If your carb intake is low, you force your body to produce sugar from amino acids (among other things), which could result in muscle loss and declines in performance, especially if high-intensity activity is being performed on a regular basis.

Of course, gluconeogenesis and the loss of muscle doesn't much matter for obese individuals or endurance athletes, as low-carb diets have a minimal impact on them. However, this doesn't apply to muscular and explosive team sport athletes who need a steady flow of carbohydrates to maintain an awesome physique and superlative performance. It also doesn't apply to those WANTING to get muscular and explosive.

5 – Maintaining Healthy Levels of Vitamins and Minerals

When you avoid an entire category of macronutrients (carbs), as many anti-carb people are wont to do, you deprive your body of a tremendous treasure chest of micronutrients. 'Nuff said.

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Bodybuilding: 3 Exercises That Kill Your Knees

Better Ways to Lunge, Run, and Hit the Quads...

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Bodybuilding: 3 Exercises That Kill Your Knees

Better Ways to Lunge, Run, and Hit the Quads

Here's what you need to know...

The leg extension machine stresses out the knees. Use blood flow restriction training to increase its efficacy by creating cumulative stress in the muscle using less weigh.

Standard lunges cause knee pain for many. Either use stationary lunges or reverse lunges to remove stress from the knee and activate the glutes.

Running is hard on the knees. Swap it for incline treadmill walking or add variety using sprints and Fartlek-style running.

If the exercises you love are wrecking your body, swap them out. Or at least be open minded enough to try these modifications. Here are three swaps for the most notorious knee-crushing exercises.

1 – Leg Extensions

The leg extension machine has been demonized in the fitness industry for the last two decades. It's accused of creating chronic knee irritation by creating highly compressive forces at the patella-femoral joint, leading to breakdown of the joint surfaces. It's even called out by coaches, physical therapists, and biomechanists because it's an "open chain" exercise unlike a squat or deadlift.

These are all valid points, but the leg extension is also responsible for helping build some of the most impressive quads in bodybuilding. It continues to be a staple in many programs because it produces results for those wanting muscular hypertrophy. So what's the answer if you want tree trunks for legs AND knee health? Modification. And maybe even replacing it with something to protect the knees for the long haul.

A Better Exercise – Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat

While fatiguing muscular fibers in the quads is guaranteed on the leg extension machine, that same recruitment can be possible through split stance loaded variations such as the lunge or split squat. If you've proved the ability to dominate a static split squat and earned the right to progress, try the rear foot elevated split squat.

2 – The Alternating Forward Lunge

The lunge is a foundational exercise, but the most popular variation – the alternating forward lunge – is the most butchered. A rule of thumb is to never load (use weights) during a dysfunctional movement pattern. But many people don't have the ability to complete a single bodyweight lunge with proper mechanics. And in a society that views more as better, that shitty form becomes even more heinous when loads are introduced.

A lack of hip and core stability translates into valgus (collapsed) knee positions, increased degrees of anterior translation of the knee extending over the foot, and the use of momentum and compensation creating unstable shear forces through the spine, hips, and just about every other joint in the body. The smart thing to do is fix your form. And if you depend on the lunge to round out an epic leg day, there's a simple movement modification to help you keep lunging without the unwanted compressional stress on the knee cap.

A Better Exercise – Static Split Squat

The forward lunge is a dynamic movement meaning that the foot stepping ahead requires movement to step, complete the lunge, and return back to neutral. Any dynamic movement that's just begging for injury can be simplified into a static variation. The static split squat is a good replacement for the forward lunge until you earn the right to progress once again.

Static split squat

Place your feet in a split stance, hip width apart. If your position is sound, you'll be able to drop down to the floor in a half-kneeling position and your hips and knees will create 90-degree angles. From this position, stay on one leg in non-alternating fashion and complete sets of full-range split squats. This will target the same musculature of the dynamic forward lunge but keep compensation and poor technique to a minimum.

If you find yourself struggling to keep your balance, then adding a dynamic component isn't the right variation for you. Go inside a rack or up against a wall and monitor your balance with your fingertips, enhancing your balance each session, ultimately working your way back to free standing.

How to Keep the Alternating Lunge, If You Must

The reverse lunge will activate the posterior chain musculature significantly more than its forward counterpart. It will achieve a slightly (10-15 degree) higher front side hip flexion angle when the lunge is completed in split stance position.

The reverse lunge:

This higher hip flexion angle will allow the rectus femoris (a quad muscle in your thigh) to be slightly slackened when the back foot is placed behind the front and when you're doing the eccentric portion of the lunge. Without the strain from this muscle, the patella is more likely to respond favorably to the training forces through the quads rather than the strain on non-contractile tissues such as the patellar ligaments and fascia on the front side of the knee.

By moving through the reverse variation of this exercise, you'll be able to train the quads and legs just as effectively as the forward version, minus the chronic stress and poor positions. And anyways, who doesn't need a little extra booty emphasis on leg day? That's a win-win.

3 – Running

If you're a runner, you're either one of two people: A natural born runner with impeccable gait mechanics, or a pretender who's slogged through just enough miles to call yourself a runner, but not enough to finally break your body.

If your goal is to stay fit and healthy for the long run, prioritizing road work at sustained mid level threshold outputs for hours on end isn't your fast track to fat-loss or body recomposition. But on the plus side, it may help you finally tap into that health insurance plan. Here's how to make some intelligent modifications to your training if and when you're ready to break up with running.

A Better Exercise – Incline Treadmill Walks

The intelligent movement modification for running is to... wait for it... stop running. Granted, going for a jog once or twice a month isn't going to kill your body. But adhering to a multiple-day-a-week running schedule at moderate intensity and mid-mileage is the norm, and something that's in need of modification if your goal is staying healthy.

Training your cardiovascular system effectively involves more options than just running. As long as the specific energy system is targeted properly through heart rates and oxygen thresholds, cardio is cardio and your body can't discern the difference. Even if you plan on taking part in one long steady-state run a week, you can supplement in a more joint-friendly cardiovascular activity another few days a week to match your cardio output and keep your levels of conditioning up. My top recommendation is incline treadmill walks.

More on the incline treadmill walk:

Do them 2-3 days a week, and if you're dead-set on keeping your heart rate elevated at a sustained level, match your outputs on the runs with your systemic outputs on the walks. Just increase the speed and incline enough to reach those specific variables, minus the high impact rates associated with running.

How to Keep Running, If You Must

There's just something about running that captivates people both physically and mentally. So if you're not going to supplement incline walks into your cardio program a few days a week, at least vary your runs enough to avoid the stagnation and plateaus of training effects commonly associated with steady state cardio. This can be done through two different types of programming: traditional interval style runs, or sprints and Fartlek-style training:

You're familiar with intervals, where a faster running speed is completed for a duration followed by a slower speed to tap into heart rate variability and cardiovascular response. Likewise, Fartlek runs allow the variability in heart rate, but also the challenge of constant variances of speeds, inclines, and training variables to produce a more novel training stimulus compared to a steady state run.

Start off simply with the Fartlek runs, determining a specific time or distance for the run, and listen to your body. Challenge yourself with tempo runs, slower jogs, or periods of incline running if you're on a treadmill. Because it's randomized, every Fartlek run will be different. When it comes to improving the orthopedic response to a highly repetitive sport or activity such as running, the more variability in gait stride, speed, and ground reaction forces, the better.

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Train Hard And Dedicate Yourself. Don't Blame Genetics

Genetics make a difference, but don't lose hope. Smart training and eating will maximize what your parents gave you. Here's the deal....

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Train Hard And Dedicate Your Self. Don't Blame Genetics

Genetics make a difference, but don't lose hope. Smart training and eating will maximize what your parents gave you. Here's the deal.

Research shows that genetics do impact our ability to build muscle, lose fat, and display athleticism. We all have issues with genetics that we have to work around. Some of us are predisposed to carrying excess fat, some of us are lean but have stubborn areas of fat deposition, some have trouble building muscle, and some are muscular but have weak body parts. Some of us have all of this combined, and nobody has perfect genetics!

We all need to do our own research, tweak the variables, and figure out our optimal programming methodology. Some people respond best to variety, some to volume, some to intensity, some to frequency, and some to density. You have to discover the best stimuli for your body, which will evolve over time.

I've spoken to colleagues about this issue and we're all in agreement: we've never trained any individuals who didn't look better after a couple of months of training, assuming they stick with the program. All of them lose fat and gain some muscular shape. While some lifters have a much easier time than others developing an impressive physique, I've yet to see one train in an intelligent manner and fail to see any results.

So even if you're a "hard gainer" and you don't respond well, you can and will see results as long as you're consistent and as long as you continue to experiment. Of course, the rate and amount of adaptation is highly influenced by genetics, but sound training methods will always account for a large portion of training effects.

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BODYBUILDING: Find Out If You're Insulin Sensitive

Take control of this hormone to make sure you're staying lean and building only muscle. Here's how....

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