Finding the best abdominal exercise for your ab workouts

Finding The Best Abdominal Exercise for Your Ab Workouts

Since I am a personal trainer, I am often asked… What is the Best Abdominal Exercise?

And my answer is often it depends on the goal.

Now, I know most people want to know what is the best abdominal exercise to get rid of fat on their stomach, but unfortunately ab exercises by themselves do very little to help you get rid of stomach fat.

This is known as the spot reduction myth. Because of the powerful marketing companies, consumers continually think that they can work a spot on their body and magically melt fat away from that spot, but that is not how the body works.

Abdominal Exercises are useful for supporting good posture, preventing lower back pain, and improving function and sports performance. Abdominal Exercises are not good for spot reduction of belly fat.

Okay, back to the best abdominal exercise.

There was a study done called finding the safest abdominal challenge measuring work to compression ratio. This study looked at 9 ab exercises and compared the muscle work in the abs to the pressure in the lower back during each exercise.

According to this study, the exercise that worked the abdominal muscles the hardest while putting the least pressure on the lower back was crunches with the feet on a bench or ball. When the feet are lifted it takes away some of the arch in the lower back and takes some pressure off the joints.

In addition, the exercise that worked the abdominal muscles the hardest also put the most pressure on the lower back and that exercise was double hanging leg raises.

To determine which exercise is the best you must take into consideration the fitness goal. For example if someone has a slightly achy lower back, crunches with the feet up may be the best abdominal exercise because it works the abs really hard but does not put a ton of pressure on the lower back.

However, if you are an athlete looking for serious core strength, double hanging leg raises might be the best abdominal exercise for you.

And what about the oblique muscles. The external and internal oblique muscles actually work really hard when you move forwards, like in crunches or sit ups, but in order to maximize the muscle work in the obliques you must incorporate twisting, rotation, or side bending.

So if you wanted to find the best exercise to strengthen the obliques you might do side planks, bicycle crunches, or oblique crunches.

Nearly all exercises have a benefit, so the most important thing is to be active and exercise. The best exercise for you may be the one that you like the most because you can consistently do it.

Whatever ab exercise you choose, keep good form and stay consistent!

Breathing for exercise energy: jump starting your heart

Breathing For Exercise Energy: Jump Starting Your Heart

Many people will give excuse after excuse for not exercising during the day. While the number one excuse is not having enough time, the second excuse used most often is not having enough energy. Energy will remain low as long as the mind is in the avoidance mode. Once you convince yourself that exercise is fun and you WANT to do it, the exercise will return, like MAGIC! In order to jump start those energy levels, exercise breathing can help.

Exercise breathing is like a warm up for the lungs. It gets the body moving and the lungs working in a similar way to how they will be working during the fitness routine. Once the lungs are moving briskly, the heart will kick in and the energy levels of the body will rise.

If you have ever noticed during an exercise routine that after the first 10 or 15 minutes, the exercise does not seem so hard and the energy levels needed to continue are there you understand the forces behind exercise breathing. There are four steps to breathing for energy and they are:

* Take deep breaths. Kind of like stretching the lungs, you want to begin your exercise breathing with long inhales and slow exhales. These will warm up the lungs for the volume of oxygen they are about to experience. These slow breathing exercises should be repeated for 10 to 15 repetitions.

* Rate your energy level. As you are deep breathing, mentally rate your energy level. This will give you a guideline by which to compare your energy level after the breathing exercise. As you slowly breath in and out, notice any changes in energy level. Toward the end of the warm up, you should feel a bit more energized than before you began.

* Moving to abdominal breathing. Now you will move the breathing exercises to the abdomen. As you breath in, fill the abdomen with air and do not move the shoulders. This is all about the tummy. Count the amount of seconds it takes to fill the tummy and exhale at the same rate. You want to breathe in and out just deep enough to not become dizzy from the process. We are not filling a balloon here, just warming up the body. Continue this exercise for three minutes.

* Rate your energy level again. After the three minutes, there should be a marked change in energy level. Your lungs are now warm and ready to move to the music of exercise. This practice can be used at any time during the day when you need a boost of energy, but especially when you are too tired to exercise. These tips can be repeated as a cool down after exercising.

Breathing is the ideal way to give your body back that little spark it needs to move on with the daily exercise routine. Life is all about balance and when we balance our workouts to include our entire body, they will help us to become a healthier person all around for now and tomorrow.

Best flat stomach exercises and tips to flatten your stomach

Best Flat Stomach Exercises And Tips To Flatten Your Stomach

Sit ups and crunches are not the best way to get a flat stomach. Actually, walking and running are the best stomach flattening exercises. So many people make the mistake of slaving away on the floor doing thousands of crunches everyday in the hopes that it will give them a flat stomach. However, stomach exercises only play a small role in actually giving you a flat stomach.

The #1 myth in fitness is that you can spot reduce fat by exercising the muscles in the area that you want to lose fat from. This is known as the spot reduction myth. Our bodies naturally store more fat is some areas based on gender and genetics. Women tend to store excess fat on the thighs, hips, and stomach, and men tend to store excess fat on the abdomen.

The reason we store more fat in certain areas is that there is a higher number of fat cells in that area. There are not many fat cells in the hands, so you rarely see someone with fat hands unless they are really obese. So despite what the marketers try to convince you, you cannot spot reduce fat by doing targeted exercises for any area of your body, including your stomach.

Here’s just a quick distinction between spot reduction and toning muscles or building muscles. You can definitely tone muscles or build lean muscles with targeted exercises. Let’s say that your arms are not well developed and a little flabby. If you started doing arm exercises you would definitely tone and build your arm muscles. The problem that many gym-goers face is that they have built their muscles through weight training exercises, but they still have a layer of fat covering up those muscles.

In order to get a flat stomach you need to take a comprehensive approach to fitness and perform weight training, aerobic exercise, stomach exercises, and eat a healthy diet. After eating a healthy diet, aerobic exercise might be the most important thing to focus on if you want to get a flat stomach because aerobic exercise burns tons of calories.

Walking and running both burn tons of calories and this helps you to lose stomach fat. I have never met someone who runs on a regular basis that was significantly overweight. And if you think about athletes, running is the secret to how they keep and get flat stomachs. Every track and field athlete (with the exception of throwers like shot putters and discus throwers) has a flat stomach because they run all the time for exercise. Basketball players, soccer players, and tennis players run all the time and generally speaking they all have flat stomachs.

Running burns tons of calories and it is the best stomach flattening exercise. Running is way better than sit ups for burning calories. If you run at a 6 minute per mile pace, you can burn about 500 in 30 minutes. If you wanted to burn 500 calories doing sit ups, you have to do more than 2500 sit ups. Assuming that you could do 50 sit ups every minute, it would take you 50 minutes to do 2500 sit ups-and that’s straight with no rest. I don’t know of any athletes that can do 2500 sit ups in a row or even in a day, but I do know quite a few people that can burn 500 calories in 30 minutes running.

Now, if you have bad knees or can’t run fast, don’t fret. Walking is also a great exercise for people who want to get a flat stomach. Getting a flat stomach is all about burning calories and losing body fat. Walking 5 miles a day will burn about 500 calories. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather walk 5 miles a day than do 2500 sit ups.

Okay, let’s recap. You can’t magically burn off stomach fat and get a flat stomach simply by doing stomach exercises. If you want to get a flat stomach, you have to lose body fat and lose weight. In my opinion walking and running are some of the best stomach flattening exercises, so aim for 20-60 minutes a day of aerobic exercises 3-5 days a week.

Burn the fat feed the muscle review – does it work or is it a scam

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Review – Does it Work Or is it a Scam?

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is a weight loss program forged by Tom Venuto, a long-time health and fitness professional who is also a professional, drug-free bodybuilder and motivational coach. Rather than making unrealistic promises and quick fixes, Venuto’s program is based on good-fashioned work: eating healthy, natural foods and an exercise regimen. The program does not require any drinks, shake mixes or supplements.

The way you start the program is by buying Venuto’s 340-page eBook, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, which has been ranked the world’s No. 1 diet and fitness eBook in the world. It is all text minus some charts in the appendix – no pictures. If you do not like to read, this is not the program for you!

The book contains a list of foods you should eat on the program to build fat and lose muscle in addition to a list of foods to avoid. Venuto says some weight loss programs claim to help you lose weight while still eating sugary junk food, but they are unrealistic and unhealthy. His program does not provide a magic bullet, but is a detailed guide to an overall healthier lifestyle.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle also contains an exercise regimen, including both cardiovascular activity and weight training. The book describes which type of physical activity you need to be doing, how intensely, how frequently, and how long. The program even provides a plan for people who can commit to working out only two to three times a week.

Lastly, the book has a component on motivation, mental training and the importance of goal setting. Those are very important elements to weight loss, though some other weight loss programs neglect to include them.

How soon can you lose weight on the program? Venuto cautions against quick weight loss; he says the instant gratification may feel rewarding, but losing weight too quickly can cause your metabolism to slow down and can also cause muscle loss. On the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program, you will lose on average two pounds of fat a week. In order to assure that you are indeed losing pure fat and not water or muscle, you are encouraged to check your body fat composition. By losing weight slowly and steadily, you are more likely to keep it off in the long run.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle works by changing your lifestyle, not by eating special weight loss foods or swallowing supplements. It requires healthy eating and frequent exercise. The weight comes off gradually instead of melting off you. But if you can put in the hard work and stick to the plan, you will be set to keep the weight off in the long run. While it may be harder than a plan that promises you weight loss in a pill, Venuto’s program comes with a motivational and goal-setting aspect to help you stay on track. This program will provide results and success to those who choose to put in the work required – just take a look at Venuto’s testimonials.

Fitness diachronic tips and secrets(2nd part)

Fitness Diachronic Tips And Secrets(2Nd Part)

Tip/secret no 8

Challenge yourself! Try always for a personal record.

Avoid the hamster mentality a.k.a. endless walking or slow jogging on the treadmill etc.

Go for the H.I.I.T!!

Tip/secret no 9

No fancy fitness gadgets!

No fad diets!

No magic pills, potions and powders!

You ‘ll have to try hard!

You ‘ll have to sweat!

Don’t fall prey to the fitness charlatans’ deceitful promises!

Tip/secret no 10

Do you want to try the best ever work out?

Find it here: FITNESS: THE BEST WORKOUT EVER.

Tip/secret no 11

Do you want the best info on abs training?

Read it here: PERFECT ABS: THE ABSOLUTE ARTICLE ON ABS.

Tip/secret no 12

There is no best time for fitness activities.

The best time is this that better serves your schedule!

Tip/secret no 13

Don’t engage into endless repetitions looking for definition. Definition is a pleasant side-effect of fat loss.

Tip/secret no 14

The most important meals are the breakfast and the post workout meal (only after really tough workouts). If your workout is not challenging, don’t bother.

Tip/secret no 15

You can control insulin excretion by spreading your caloric intake into 6 meals/day. Do prefer food with a low glycemic index (and load of course).

Tip/secret no 16

You absolutely don’t need a gym (Except if you want to socialize or flirt!).

Try bodyweight circuits or dumbbell circuits in your home. You will save money and time!

See again Tip/secret no 10.

Tip/secret no 17

Never, ever quit. Time spent for better physique is a valuable investment. You will remember this well when you catch your 40s.

Tip/secret no 18

Mind beats body! Make your mental preparation.

Fight to be consistent, disciplined and self motivated!

Tip/secret no 19

Best nutrition in only few words:

– quality protein

– vegetables

– monounsaturated and omega-3 fats

– unprocessed, natural foods

– foods high in antioxidants

– minimal sugar and hydrogenated fats

– no fad diets!

– no exaggerations!

Tip/secret no 20

Don’t follow the herd. Use your imagination. Try non conventional, functional exercises.

Don’t get obsessed with perfection!

Get obsessed with perpetual progress!

Chris Strogilis

.http://totalfitness-christos.blogspot.com