Getting Bulked Up And Shredded

Advise, Articles and Information for Building Muscle Mass and Sculpting Six Pack Abs

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Archive for the 'abs' Category


Washboard abs - How To Get Washboard Abs

Posted by muscled1 on 9th August 2008

If you’re getting ready to bare your mid-section for the summer months or potentially escaping the cold for a warm vacation, getting washboard abs is probably something you would love to take with you. Potentially the top request personal trainer’s hear  everywhere is with regards to tightening these muscles. Face it, washboard abs not only look great, but, they also signify the holy grail of fitness.

For the complete article click here:  Washboard abs - How To Get Washboard Abs

Posted in Ab Exercises, Bodybuilding, Exercise, Fitness, Muscle Building, Weight Lifting, Weight Training, Workout, abs, build muscle, muscle | No Comments »

Six-Pack Abs - How To Get Six Pack Abs

Posted by muscled1 on 5th August 2008

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By Vince DelMonte
One of the most popular requests among people in the gym is to get six pack abs. There is no doubt about it, obtaining this elusive goal not only takes hard work, but also demonstrates that you clearly know what you are doing in the gym. Learning how to getsix pack abs is definitely not the easiest thing in the world but it’s also not the hardest, as long as you follow the right steps.

So, what should you be doing to get results?

1. Focus on your diet.

Without a clean diet, six pack abs will never be yours. One thing you must realize is that while exercise is important, it’s only going to take you so far. No matter how many crunches or sit-up variations you perform, if you’ve got a solid layer of fat covering your stomach, your muscles are not going to be seen.

Try and focus on consuming enough protein to keep your appetite under control, supplemented with healthy fats for satiety and fruits and veggies for energy. It is important, however, that you are running a calorie deficit, because regardless of the food you eat, if you are consuming more than you burn off that day, you aren’t going to lose weight.

2. Perform a variety of exercises

Next up on your quest for six pack abs, you need to make sure you change up the exercises you perform on a regular basis.

While it’s fine if you have some that you generally like to stick with as you really feel it when you do them, try and alternate between at least a few from week to week.

The main reason for this is because your abdominal muscles adapt to change very quickly. As soon as they are finished adapting, you are going to stop seeing results - this is the truth about six pack abs.

By keeping them guessing as to what’s coming, you keep the results coming as well. Don’t make the mistake of doing the same boring workout, day in, day out.

3. Get Your Cardio In Line

Finally, step three for getting a nicely chiseled stomach is performing cardio properly. This isn’t to say you should run out and start doing hours upon hours on the treadmill. We aren’t aiming to turn you into a hamster here.

All you really need is a few quality sessions of cardio work a week. What’s high quality? Sprint sessions. Skipping. Hill running. Anything your body is not efficient at.

Yes, these are going to be much more intense than plodding along at a moderate pace while you read the fitness magazine of the week, but trust me, you will get results a thousand times faster.

Crank that intensity up for twenty to forty seconds and then back it down again for another minute. Repeat this process eight to ten times and you’ll have a workout that’ll shed that body fat in no time.

So, next time you’re admiring your physique in the mirror and are still longing for a better mid-section, take these three factors into consideration and you’ll discover this is the truth about six pack abs.

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About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of Your Six Pack Quest found at http://www.YourSixPackQuest.com

He specializes in helping chubby guys and gals get six pack abs without gimmicks, supplements or dieting.

Posted in Ab Exercises, Bodybuilding, Exercise, Fat Loss, Workout, abs, build muscle, muscle | No Comments »

Power-Foods for Perfect-Abs

Posted by muscled1 on 1st August 2008

To have the perfect “Abs Diet” you need to need eat the proper foods. Eat the wrong foods or worse yet eat them at the absolute worst time and you could destroy the workout you just completed or behave like a turtle at your next workout.

If you want to perform at your best stock your cupboards with these powerfoods to perform at your best and slim down if you are a women or get ripped if you are a man.

For the complete article please…..CLICK HERE

Posted in Bodybuilding, Diet, Exercise, Fitness, Workout, abs, muscle | No Comments »

Celebrity-Trainer Jillian Michaels On Abs

Posted by muscled1 on 13th July 2008

Jillian Michaels, one of the celebrity trainers from the “Biggest Loser” TV how,gives her advice on burning the last bit of belly fat to help you get flat abs…

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“Crunches don’t equal abs.

You can’t do crunches and expect to see abs if they’re trapped under a layer of fat.

Taking off the last problem pounds requires discipline. You’re fighting you’re body’s natural chemistry. Your body wants to keep on an extra 10-15 pounds and losing the last 10 pounds isn’t always about getting healthy in the same way losing 30 or 40 is.

Sometimes, it’s about vanity, and for vanity, you have to make sacrifices. Your body doesn’t want to shed that weight just because you are a narcissist and want to wear size two jeans.

You have to trick your body into thinking it’s a safe weight, and that means plowing through the program without giving your body the chance to rebound back to its old weight.

If you can read In Touch on the treadmill, you aren’t working hard enough.”

********
I couldn’t agree more.

Jillian has one more recommendation for you on how to get flat abs.

Don’t miss what one of the world’s top trainers is saying,

Listen to what she has to say here:

Posted in Ab Exercises, abs, jillian michaels | 1 Comment »

Burn Away Ab Fat

Posted by muscled1 on 29th June 2008

Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat

I often get asked, “What’s the best way to burn fat and lose my belly?” People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals.
Well, to say I’ve done them all would be an understatement.

With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I’m pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.

For the complete article please…..CLICK HERE

Posted in Ab Exercises, Bodybuilding, Build Muscle Mass, Exercise, Fat Loss, Fitness, Lose Fat, Lose Weight, Muscle Building, Muscle Mass, Nutrition, Strength Training, Weight Lifting, Weight Loss, Weight Training, abs, build muscle | 1 Comment »

Exercise of The Day

Posted by muscled1 on 2nd June 2008

Exercise of The Day: Slant Board Leg Lift

movie_0440male_slant_board_leg_lift.jpg          movie_0440male_slant_board_leg_lift3.jpg

Starting Position: Lie on your back on a flat slant board and grip the support pad behind your head with arms outstretched. Raise your legs straight up.

Movement: Exhale as you lift your hips off of the bench and press your legs up as high as you can. Inhale as you slowly return your legs back down to the starting position. Repeat as required.

Brought to you by: PHIL’S FITNESS FOUNDRY - Get the body that you deserve!

Posted in Ab Exercises, Bodybuilding, Bodybuilding Exercises, Core Training, Exercise, Exercise Instructions, Fitness, abs, exercise of the day, online personal training | No Comments »

The Ultimate Muscle Meal… a Salad on Roids

Posted by muscled1 on 28th May 2008

Today, I just wanted to share with you my special muscle meal of the week, and it actually comes in the form of a salad.

I know the ladies will love this idea, but for all of you guys out there that think eating a salad makes you less of a man… Well, you haven’t tried the ultimate “salad on roids” yet!

Keep in mind that this salad is not low in calories. It’s not low in fat. It’s not low in carbs.

And guess what…that’s the whole point!

It’s not low in anything, but it sure as hell is HIGH in everything under the sun that’s good for your body… just about every vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, and phytonutrient on the planet! And that means your body will receive all the nutrition it needs to maintain optimal hormonal balance, function at it’s highest capacity, keep your appetite satisfied for hours, and prevent any unwanted cravings.

Keep in mind that last point… when you fill your body with all of the nutrients it needs on a daily basis, you pretty much totally eliminate cravings! This happens because your body is satisfied and doesn’t need to crave any more food, because it has all of the nutrients it needs.

I’ve experienced this myself. Years ago, I used to crave sweets ALL THE TIME. But now that I eat the balanced diet that I do these days, I can’t say that I’ve had a craving in at least 5 years! No joke.

Alright, here’s the recipe:

The Ultimate Muscle Salad

* approx 1 cup spinach leaves
* approx 1 cup mixed leaf lettuce
* shredded carrots
* 1/2 of a ripe avocado, diced
* 2 hard boiled eggs, diced (preferrably organic, cage free)
* 3 Tbsp chopped pecans
* 1/4 cup dried cranberries
* top with homemade dressing made of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo’s Choice Oil Blend (3/4 of total liquid should come from the vinegar)

Mix it all together and you’ve got one delicious and ridiculously nutritious salad. For an extra shot of antioxidants, wash it all down with some homemade iced green/white/oolong tea lightly sweetened with the natural sweetener Stevia or a little touch of raw honey.

Alright, now let’s look at the approx macronutrient breakdown:

Prot: 23 g., Carbs: 46 g., Fiber: 12 g., Fat: 45 g., Calories: 640

Now before you throw your arms up in disgust and call me crazy for recommending such a high fat, high calorie meal, keep in mind to scale back the portion sizes for your own caloric goal. The portions above are simply the portions that I use considering that my maintenance caloric intake is around 3000 calories/day. If your maintenance is 2000 calories/day, then scale back the portions accordingly.

Also, I don’t care about the high fat content of this meal… because every last gram of the fat in this meal is VERY healthy… from the pecans, the olive oil, the Udo’s oil, the fresh avocado… and yes, even the fat from the egg yolks is good for you!

All of this healthy fat makes it a very hunger-satisfying meal, causing you to eat less for the remainder of the day (that’s right… no cravings later that night!).

How about the carbs? Well, out of a total of 46 grams, you’ve got approx 12 grams of fiber. That’s a pretty good ratio. Also, the healthy fats and protein in this meal will slow down the carbohydrate digestion, giving you a healthy glycemic response and steady controlled blood sugar.

Alright, so you’re probably also wondering why there isn’t a larger amount of protein. After all, protein is all the rage with bodybuilders, right.

Well, actually 23 grams isn’t too shabby, especially considering 14 grams of that comes from the highly bioavailable protein from the hard boiled eggs. Also consider that this meal has a whole lot of healthy fats, which increases the utilization of your protein. This happens because your body does not need to use your protein for energy, and can instead use it for muscle building & maintenance, and all of the other various functions that amino acids are needed for in the body.

Overall, with this meal, you’ve got a great mix of healthy fats, good fibrous carbs, quality protein, and a huge diversity of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other trace nutrients.

If you enjoyed this idea today, feel free to fwd this link to your friends, family, and coworkers that might enjoy it.

If you liked this healthy lean-body meal idea, there are 84 other healthy and quick meal ideas in my popular Truth about Six Pack Abs Manual. If you don’t already have a copy, check out some of the Truth About Abs reader reviews right now.

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
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com & Busy Man Fitness .com

Posted in Ab Exercises, Bodybuilding Exercises, Diet, Exercise, Exercise Instructions, Fitness, Lose Fat, Lose Weight, Muscle Building, Muscle Mass, Nutrition, Strength Training, Weight Lifting, Weight Loss, Weight Management, Weight Training, abs, metabolism, online personal training | No Comments »

Meal Planning 101: Variety Sucks

Posted by muscled1 on 23rd May 2008

By: Marc David
www.nobullbodybuilding.com

In the next 2 minutes you are going to learn why meal variety sucks and how that can be the single factor that leads you away from your goals.

Pull up a chair and hear me out please.

“Variety Sucks!” - he said.

My eyes were wide open like a kid who just heard his first swear word when I heard that. In fact, stunned because many people who I’ve run across told me that variety in my meals is the KEY to success.

You know what I mean don’t you?

“No not that kind of variety,” he said. “Meal variety. When you change your meals all the time. Everything has to be new for each meal. You get bored right? So you always have to have something different. That sucks.”

Again, I couldn’t believe my ears and yet, he was right.

You probably already know this…

What if you continually change your meals all the time, so it’s always a new meal every day. Of course you won’t be bored but what you will find impossible to do is stick with your plan and maintain a steady goal.

Obviously you can understand that makes perfect sense!

You’re probably wondering if most professional bodybuilders and those who you admire have pretty boring diets.

Let’s take an example of Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or any number of other commercial diets on the market today.

Okay, you’re probably wondering…

What do they all have in common?

Face it… they are all using pre-planned meals!

Don’t miss a word of this…

You are never guessing at what to eat or making hasty choices without full well knowing exactly how many calories are in that meal, the protein, carb and fat contents too.

Knowing this is critical to keeping your meals targeted towards your goals. The more variety you have, the harder it will be to stick with a set meal plan to ensure you are getting the proper nutrients as well as enough calories.

And now you begin to realize that variety does suck.

Do you ever try and create a meal on the fly?

No planning just go to a restaurant and pick something off the menu only to track your meal later and find out you were way over your goal or you aren’t close to your calories for the day and have to literally stuff yourself later?

Here’s my confession…

My greatest success in terms of nutrition have come from a variety of pre-planned meals. 7 day meal plans where I know what I’m going to eat, what to shop for and all of them laser targeted towards my goal.

You see, variety in the food choices isn’t a bad thing at all. Variety ensures we are getting the proper nutrients and ratios. It helps to have several pre-planned meals so that you aren’t too bored but you know what’s ahead.

Pre-planning your meals for the week lets you go shopping for the foods you need as well.

Think of how impossible it will be to just “eat” if you don’t give some thought into the meals you are having to reach your goals.

Grocery shopping would be a nightmare if I didn’t already know my meals well in advance.

I know your boring alarm is going off right now but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Plan out your meals. The more pre-planned meals you have, the easier it will be to shop. The faster you can put together something that meets your needs.

The people who simply must have a new breakfast, lunch and dinner so they don’t get bored with foods, are the ones always counting calories. They are always guessing at what meal they are about to eat if it fits their goals. They find out AFTER they have eaten it.

The successful people know before the food hits their mouth what the meal is doing for them. They already know how many calories. They know the portions. Calorie counting only had to happen once.

Think about this for a minute.

If you want variety in everything you eat and you don’t want to have pre-planned meals because that just sounds too boring, then realize that might be why you aren’t reaching your goals.

I’m not saying meals have to be boring and bland but you should know before hand what you are going to eat.

That’s a pre-planned meal.

That’s why variety in one sense of the meaning sucks!

About the Author

Marc David is an innovative fitness enthusiast and the creator of the “NoBull Bodybuilding System” method on www.nobullbodybuilding.comHe can show you how to reduce your body fat thru diet, how to gain weight or create more muscle thru an abundance of workout tips by training LESS, not more!

Once a self-confessed skinny, “135-pound weakling.” Today Marc is a 200 pound bodybuilder who teaches thousands of people to gain weight, build muscle and reduce body fat with a workout and nutrition system so simple that even a complete beginner can understand it!

Marc dispels many “bodybuilding myths”, tells you what most people never realize about nutrition, and what the drug companies DON’T WANT YOU to know. visit www.nobullbodybuilding.com

Posted in Bodybuilding, Bodybuilding Workout, Build Muscle Mass, Strength Training, Weight Lifting, Weight Management, Weight Training, Workout Programs, abs, bodybuilding routines, build muscle | No Comments »

Combat Core Advanced Torso Training

Posted by muscled1 on 20th May 2008

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“Combat” All the Myths About How to Develop Real Strength!

The goal of Combat Core is to “combat” all of the myths and misconceptions that you’ve been told about abdominal training. It is one of the most complete torso training references you’ll ever find! It outlines the musculature that is responsible for stabilizing, supporting and engaging movements of the torso. Unfortunately, trainers across the country are missing the boat. They submit the people or athletes they train to endless sets of worthless exercises. They also tell them them to “suck in” during heavy squats, deadlifts or compound movements.

They Couldn’t Be More Wrong!

Real strength is developed by engaging in compound, ground-based exercises that require balance and coordination. Long, boring workouts are a thing of the past. Combat Core shows you the exercises to increase the intensity of your workout, shorten the time and IMPROVE your RESULTS!

Combat Core Advanced Torso Training for Explosive Strength and Power Combat Core is an instantly downloadable e-book, jam packed with the most innovative, never-before-seen, arsenal of abdominal strength training exercises. There is no fluff, no BS - just all content. Whether you are an athlete or want to train like an athlete at the highest level, Combat Core will help you to achieve strengh levels you’ve never imagined…..CLICK HERE

Posted in Ab Exercises, Bodybuilding, Bodybuilding Exercises, abs, bodybuilding routines | No Comments »

Exercise of The Day

Posted by muscled1 on 12th May 2008

Exercise Of The Day: Cable/Ball Diagonal Crunch

contralateral-pullover-on-ball-start.jpg          contralateral-pullover-on-ball-finish.jpg

Starting Position: Lying supine with low back on a ball grasp the handles with a pronated grip on one side of the Vortex. Extend arms overhead in full shoulder flexion toward the resistance. Knees should be flexed with feet flat on the ground in neutral position.

Movement: Initiate the movement by flexing and rotating the the trunk maintaining the initial arm position throughout the movement. The ascent should be to full abdominal flexion and rotation sitting up on the ball. The arms should remain fully extended and shoulders fully flexed throughout the movement. The ball will role slightly. Descend to the starting point keeping the abdominals contracted.

Brought to you by: PHIL B’s ONLINE PERSONAL TRAINING AND FITNESS PROGRAMS The place to go for personalized training programs, real exercise demonstration videos, diet plans, grocery lists, fitness reports, healthy recipes, fitness articles, and an online fitness magazine. Make fitness and good nutrition your way of life.

Posted in Ab Exercises, Core Training, Exercise, Exercise Instructions, abs, exercise of the day | No Comments »