Do You Have "Gym Abs"? Why These Aren't the Kind of Abs You Want

By Daniel Stowers Daniel Stowers Level: Platinum Daniel has a variety of interests. He enjoys writing about finances, weight loss as well as a bunch of other things as you'll see from ...

Toned and Chiseled Abs are on every gym-goers to-do list, yet very few actually achieve them. Instead, many who workout consistently end-up with the conversely unattractive "gym abs". While they may see definition in many other body areas, such as arms and thighs, the abs never seem to firm up, despite heavy-training with exercises like crunches or weighted ab machines. So, what are "gym abs" exactly?
The term "gym abs" refers to the look of a person who is otherwise fit and toned, but has a mid-section that is extended significantly forward, often past the pectoral muscles, and has very little definition. This condition is caused by building the abdominal muscles through heavy ab workouts, while not reducing the fat that sits on top of them by the same rate. In essence, as you build ab muscle, the muscle pushes the fat outward causing the belly to look distended, which is the opposite of the flat, chiseled ab look you are likely looking for. If the fat around the waist is not being reduced by the same amount as the muscle being built, your waist-size will actually expand rather than shrink. People with "gym abs" have a nicely-toned set of abdominal muscles covered by a thick layer of fat.

To determine if you have the "gym abs" we are referring to, stand erect but do not suck in your belly. Look down, and take note of whether your belly extends significantly beyond your chest. Next, take two fingers and press into the skin covering your abdominal area. Do you feel rock hard muscle an inch or so underneath your skin? Does your belly extend beyond your chest? If so, you may have "gym abs", but there is hope.
It is commonly accepted that definition in the abdominal region will not begin to show until the individual drops below 15% body fat. Thus, the best method to counter-act "gym abs" and get the six-pack you want, is to focus on fat loss. Determine how many calories you need to eat to maintain your body weight, and then cut them by 20%. Also, immediately stop doing targeted abdominal exercises, such as crunches, and use that time on the treadmill or running intervals. Core work, such as yoga, is still needed for stability and overall conditioning, but ab-specific exercises without fat loss will give you the opposite of the look you crave. You can still build ab definition with compound-body exercises, such as push-ups and squats. Remember, six-packs are found in the kitchen, not in the gym.

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Compound Exercises Are Vital For Muscle Growth

By Jim Whiteside

Compound exercises are an essential component of a complete and effective fitness strength training program. These are the exercises that work the body at insane levels of intensity and are responsible for huge gains in muscle mass and strength. In fact, science has proven that these exercises are responsible for the largest increase in strength and muscle growth. This article discusses the benefits of incorporating compound exercises in your routine along with some of the considerations in their use.

To get an idea of why compound exercises are so effective, it helps to firstly define the exercise. A compound exercise is an exercise that requires multiple different muscle groups from different parts of the body to work at the same time. Isolation exercises on the other hand, only use a single muscle during a weight lifting exercise. They are also known as multi-joint exercises.

There are a number of different types of effective multi-joint exercises that can be used. Two of the best, and most common, exercises are the squat and the bench press. Other great exercises include the pull up (weighted) and the clean and press. Compound exercises can be used within any strength training program however they are better performed at the start of a workout session. This is due to the massive energy needs of the exercises and the build-up of lactic acids. All serious bodybuilders and dedicated athletes use this technique to ensure they get the most out of each workout. These results have been scientifically proven and will ensure your workouts are conducted in the most efficient manner.

A great side effect of multi-joint exercises is they burn huge amounts of calories. This will see you shredding fat in no time. While you can't convert fat into muscles, the combined mass building and fat burning properties of compound exercises will make it feel like your fat is turning into muscle.

If time is short, or you want to mix up your program, compound exercises can provide an excellent complete workout on their own. A number of the Olympic power-lifting programs are designed using only one compound exercise per workout. In this type of program, you use only one compound exercise and perform 5 slow, heavy, reps per set. Rest between each set is also increased to ensure maximum recovery before completing the next set.

Coordination between the muscles is synchronized leading to greater overall muscle strength. This is a necessity in that when a multi-joint exercise is used with multiple muscles and areas of the body involved, a greater level of synergy is created between the muscles. Being able to get the muscles to synchronize with one another is an effective way to improve overall muscle strength and ensure maximum strength and size gains are achieved.

Getting stronger muscles is not the only thing that will result from these exercises in a fitness strength training regimen. You will also get a healthy cardiovascular workout as well. This is thanks to the greater level of physical intensity that is needed when carrying out these exercises. Your heart rate will be elevated during and after the workout while your body recovers and re-builds itself after such an intensive workout.

In summary, it is vital to include compound exercises as part of your strength training program. These exercises work multiple muscles at once providing the high levels of intensity necessary for shredding fat and gaining muscle. Unfortunately so many people don't include these exercises because they are tough on the mind and body! However, there is no reason not to include compound exercises in your strength training program today.

Jim is a former Elite Special Forces soldier with over 20 years of experience. After years of research and training his fellow warriors and athletes in how to achieve elite levels of fitness, he has decided to release these training secrets to the public. You can visit Jim's Fitness Strength Training program today to download your copy of his amazing program.

photo taken here.

Train Like an Olympian

Do You Have What it Takes?

By Paige Waehner

Every couple of years, many of us spend time glued to our television sets to watch one of the most amazing examples of athletic prowess in the world; the Olympics. We will watch in awe as elite athletes perform seemingly impossible feats and we'll wonder, how the heck do they DO that? Maybe it's too late for us to become Olympic skiers or figure skaters, but there's no reason we can't train like them.

Train Like an Olympian

No, I'm not saying you should wake up every morning and run 12 miles or swim for three hours in preparation for your day. However, even if you're not training for the Olympics, you can emulate the best athletes in the world to get the most out of your exercise:

• Train every day. Many people fall victim to the weekend warrior syndrome: after sitting on a couch all week, you try to make up for it by killing yourself with a hardcore Saturday workout. Instead of setting yourself up for injury, think like Olympic athletes who train every day in order to compete with the best. Exercising regularly will help you achieve endurance and strength that carries over into your every day life. Exercising sporadically can cause injury, soreness and the urge to never exercise again.
• Keep your eyes on the prize. Olympic athletes have a specific goal; to compete with the best athletes in the world and win. Us regular exercisers need goals too, something to get us out of bed each day to exercise. When setting a goal, keep it simple, specific and, most importantly, reachable. Remind yourself every single day what your goal is and how you're going to achieve it.
• Be specific in your training. An Olympic marathon runner has to have incredible endurance and strength in order to complete a marathon. To compete, he will have to incorporate specific training such as long runs, speed work and strength training. Whatever your goal, make sure your training fits. If you're trying to build muscle, eat more calories and lift heavy weights. If you're goal is to run faster you should practice running fast. See how easy this is?
• Fuel your body for peak performance. We all worry about food and whether we're eating too much fat, or too many calories. An Olympian, however, worries about getting the right nutrients and calories to fuel an incredible race. Instead of looking at food like its the enemy, turn your thinking around and ask yourself, what is the best thing I could eat right now for my workout? What will put my body at it's very best? Its probably not that donut you're holding so put it down and go get some fruit.
• Know when to rest. Olympians walk a fine line between peak performance and burnout and they know when to throw in a few extra recovery days. Overtraining for an Olympian can mean the difference between winning and losing; for the rest of us it means the difference between a great day and a crappy one. Know the signs of overtraining and when to take a break.
• Have perfect form. Have you ever seen Carl Lewis run? He ran like a thoroughbred with long, loose strides and a tall body. In whatever activity you do, make sure your form is perfect. If you're running, stand tall and relax your upper body. If you're lifting weights, do each exercise slowly to reduce momentum and don't swing your weights. Having perfect forms requires you to focus on what your body is doing, rather than trying to distract yourself from the pain. Note: if you're in pain, you're working too hard!

  Whatever you're training for, thinking like an Olympian can help you get the most out of each and every workout. When you find yourself losing momentum or motivation, just remind yourself how much discipline it takes for an athlete to make it to the Olympics. Just a fraction of that discipline can help keep you going every day.

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3 Useful Techniques For Developing Muscle, Strength and Power

3 Useful Techniques For Developing Muscle, Strength and Power By Royce Gardiner

1. On any exercise you are performing, be sure to contract for a 3-4 second count and explode for no more then 1 second. To get a real balance of strength and size do anywhere from 3-5 sets and increase your weight and lower your rep cont with each set.

For example, start your set#1 with 12 reps @ 50% intensity, set#2 10 reps @ 70% intensity, set#3 8reps @ 80% set#4 6 reps @ 85%, etc. You can play around with this to see what gives you the best results.

2. Eat 5-6 meals per day. Ideally to bulk up you want to eat 2g per lb, 3g per lb carbs and 0.5g per lb fat. If you are adding cardio to your workouts, you will want to ensure you are eating higher carbs to ensure adequate glycogen levels.

A usual bulking, strength gaining cycle includes a diet anywhere from 3000-5000 calories depending on your bodyweight and of workouts per week.

If you are training 5 or more times per week you can be more generous in your portions.

3. For the best results try split training. Doing 2 workouts, training 1 muscle group, 1 each session will isolate each muscle group and improve muscular gains and recovery time. If you decide to use this type of training, do not train any longer than 45 minutes each session. And if you add cardio to your workouts you could do 20-minute sessions post workout.

These are just a few strategies to give you 1 plan how to build muscle and add a few variations to give you strength at the same time.

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Aqua Fitness

Aqua Fitness By Kate Steplton

Aqua fitness is used quite often by people looking to get in shape in this day and age dominated by the fitness craze. There are many reasons why aqua fitness is so popular, and there are many redeeming qualities for the body when it comes to aqua fitness, but the best feature about aqua fitness is the fact that for most people, it is fun. There is little in the universe that is more fun than swimming, and quite frankly, swimming is one of the best forms of exercise for the muscles in the human body, but there's much more to an aqua fitness workout than JUST SWIMMING.

Of course swimming laps isn't all that there is to aqua fitness routines, though swimming laps in a concentrated effort with varied strokes is certainly a part of any routine. Many muscles can be strengthened, toned, and stretched by swimming a number of laps, depending on your level of fitness, with different strokes. The butterfly, for instance, as an excellent way to workout your upper body torso, including your pecs and your lats. Even the doggie paddle strengthens your neck, back, arms, and legs. The biggest benefit of aqua fitness can come from simple static exercise. Herschel Walker, the famed Heisman Trophy winner, used aqua fitness techniques to build the endurance and strength in his legs by simply running under water. The resistance from the water itself helped build those oak trees that Herschel called legs. There are plenty of resistance and isometric exercises that can be used to build strength and muscles, from simple flexing and movement to more advanced routines involving light weights under water.

There are plenty of enjoyable water sports as well that can be used to help build the body. Sports such as water polo, water soccer, and water volleyball, while competitive and fun, are very good for building muscle. The great thing about aqua fitness is that it tends to use the whole body as you train and exercise. Bodybuilding in typical fashion generally requires exercises involving free weights and machines that focus on a primary and secondary muscle structure. For instance when you do curls with either a dumbbell or a barbell, you are using the resistance of the weight to strengthen the bicep as you curl the weight up, and you are stressing the triceps as you lower the weight back down. Two muscles are exercised, and unhealthy strain is placed on the back which supports the exercise as there is little to no support behind it. The same exact exercise done under water with far less weight is more effective and is safer as well. First of all, the back is reinforced by the water itself. Secondly you can use far less weight, putting less pressure on the back, because of the resistance of the water, which exercises the muscle. In the water, all of the back muscles and abdominal muscles are utilized as well, due to the resistance of the water, so it is a far more effective work out.

photo taken from here and here.

Changing Fat Into Muscle

Can You Change Fat Into Muscle?
By Doberman Dan



OK... to be quite honest, it's simply NOT possible to change body fat into muscle. But it has become a popular saying. What it REALLY means is to lose body fat while retaining and/or gaining muscle mass.

In this article I would like to share the basics of a training protocol advocated by Charles Poliquin and many other bodybuilding gurus called German Body Composition (GBC).

GBC uses weight training for fat loss. Aerobic training is not utilized -- at all! The primary goal of this method is fat loss while preserving hard earned muscle. Contrary to popular opinion, aerobics usually cause a LOSS of muscle tissue.

Also, as an added little perk, many trainees will also add lean tissue during the course of a GBC cycle.

Results normally seen from this type of training average a loss of approximately one-half a percent of body fat per week.

The basic premise behind GBC is the promotion of fat loss by increasing lactic acid levels in the body, which in turn produces higher growth hormone levels. This puts the body in an optimal state to burn fat and build lean tissue.

So how do you go about attaining this state with your workouts?

The following is a bullet point list of what you need to do:

Full Body Workout Utilizing Upper and Lower Body Supersets -- By alternating between upper and lower body exercises it is possible to keep the rest intervals short, even with big compound movements like the squat and bench press. This allows you to accomplish a large amount of work in a relatively short time.

Can You Change Muscle Into Fat? High Reps (10-15) Stopping Short of Failure -- Studies have shown that high reps sets with a time under tension of 40 to 75 seconds produce an appropriate amount of lactic acid for the purposes of GH release and fat loss. You should stop about two reps short of concentric (positive) failure. Training to failure has little benefit and potential drawbacks with this protocol.

Remember, the goal is to create the environment within your body to burn fat.

Also, if you train to failure it would be highly unlikely you would last until the end of the workout. The volume of work is pretty high (at least for a natural trainee).

Short Rest Intervals (30-75 seconds) -- By alternating between upper and lower body exercises, you will be able to cut down on needed rest intervals greatly compared to repeating the same movement in a straight set fashion. These short rest intervals accelerate the accumulation of lactic acid and create our desired state.

Workout Duration Less Than One Hour -- Studies have shown that weight training sessions lasting over one hour tip the anabolic/catabolic scale in the negative direction. Fifty minutes seems to be the ideal time frame. This does not include warm-ups, stretching, or cool-down. Sample Workouts

Below are three sample workouts based on the GBC protocol. These three workouts can be alternated throughout the week. Frequency of workout sessions depends on training age and starting condition. The minimum is twice a week and the maximum that I would recommend would be five per week.

In these examples I use the notation system developed by Charles Poliquin because it provides a good amount of detailed information on each of the workout variables.

There are a few notations that you might not be familiar with. These are used to denote supersetting and tempo.

Supersetting is designated by the use of letters and numbers i.e. A1 and A2 or B1 and B2. First perform the A1 movement. Rest the prescribed amount of time and then perform the A2 movement. Continue alternating between the two exercises until all the recommended sets of each are complete.

Tempo (the speed at which you perform the movement) is designated with a three-digit number in units of seconds i.e. (301). The first number is the eccentric or lowering portion, the second number indicates the isometric or pause, and the final number is the concentric or positive portion. For example, on a bench press with a 311 tempo you would lower the load for three seconds, pause on the chest for one second, and then extend to the start in one second. Note: "X" denotes explosive effort.



Day One

A1 - Step Ups 4 x 12 (20X) 60 sec
A2 - Chin Ups 4 x 10 (311) 60 sec

B1 - Lunges (dynamic) 3 x 12 (311) 45 sec
B2 - Incline Dumbbell Chest Press 3 x 10-12 (411) 45 sec

C1 - Seated Leg Curl 3 x 10 (401) 45 sec
C2 - Barbell Shoulder Press 3 x 12 (311) 45 sec

D1 - Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curl 2 x 10-12 (411) 30 sec
D2 - Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 2 x 10-12 (422) 30 sec

Day Two

A1 - Deadlift 4 x 10-12 (311) 60 sec
A2 - Swiss Ball Push Ups 4 x 12-15 (222) 45 sec

B1 - Leg Press 3 x 12-15 (411) 60 sec
B2 - Seated Cable Row w/rope to Neck 3 x 10-12 (321) 45 sec

C1 - Single Standing Leg Curl 3 x 10 (411) 45 sec
C2 - Lateral Raise 3 x 12 -15 (221) 45 sec

D1 - Barbell Curl 2 x 10 - 12 (311) 45 sec
D2 - EZ Bar French Press (seated) 2 x 10- 12 (311) 30 sec

Day Three

A1 - Squat 4 x 12-15 (401) 60 sec
A2 - Bench Press 4 x 10-12 (411) 60 sec

B1 - Lunge (static) 3 x 15 (311) 60 sec
B2 - Barbell Rows 3 x 12 (311) 60 sec

C1 - Good Mornings 3 x 10 (312) 60 sec
C2 - Standing Alt. Dumbbell Press 3 x 12 (201) 45 sec

D1 - Reverse Barbell Curls 2 x 12 -15 (212) 30 sec
D2 - Triceps Pushdowns (underhanded) 2 x 12 -15 (312) 30 sec

I hope you find this program effective in achieving your goals. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes for you.



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The Importance of Practicing Patience in Bodybuilding

by Dane C. Fletcher

In body building patience can be said to be the greatest virtue that any one in bodybuilding should follow. This is because the practice is not a one day event and everyone wishing to join must be ready for a life time routine whether he likes it or not. Many people fail and quit in body building because of the rash on the different issues that they may have wished for. Almost every thing in bodybuilding is all about waiting.

Growth of muscles in body building happens to be the major purpose for everyone venturing in this field. However people tend to be in a hurry to attain the huge muscles as they are displayed in television adverts and magazines. In the process people fall victim to the wrong approaches of bodybuilding. There are very many commercial products that are advertised, promising people of a strategy to gain muscles in the shortest time possible, but this should not mislead people and everyone should understand that without exercises body building can never become real. This tendency of looking for short cuts has led many people in hating bodybuilding for no reason. It is important to practice patience in the routine work outs set for gaining muscles and eventually this will make one feel proud of the success.

Human beings have a tendency of loving the easy way out to everything. Straining is what many people hate even if it works for their own good. The duration or intensity of work outs in body building is one avenue that has become the greatest enemy to starters in body building. This is because no one wants to be patient on the time set for exercising and we are always busy to move and attend to the favorites. But this will never work in body building, it is either one quits or sticks to the plan for the wok out. When setting the time everyone knows how long they can manage to exercise, therefore patience should be the guiding factor. At other times challenges face people especially on weights, and this is especially when new weights are being introduced. The muscles develop fatigue and the body experiences more pain than before, but this is for your own good. If at all one could be patient enough the muscles eventually adapt to the situation and the routine works out to be the easiest.

There is a very crucial time in body building and this is during the recovery process. Whether it is due to an injury or fatigue, this time remains very relevant. However, many people have failed to give their bodies time to recover and are in haste to go back to the gym for exercises. It should be clear that one may be adding more salt to injury when risking this kind of a situation. The body when injured is usually very weak and if subjected to more energy loss one might be even endangering his own life which is not alright in body building.

Always have a vision that keeps you going, so that one has a hope for the future to work for and this is what will encourage someone in body building however rough the profession may become.

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.

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