Friday 5 July 2013
workout tips
The Only 3 Ab Exercises You Will Ever Need
The simple fact of the matter is that if you are already performing a variety of compound exercises (and you should be!), your abs and core are already being worked and strengthened, albeit indirectly.
For example, your abdominals are a major stabilizer during the squat. A sufficiently strong core is necessary to move any significant amount of weight. Think about it this way – if your core is unable to support the weight you place on your back – your body will simply fold.
However, I still do recommend working your abs directly. Next, I will go over the 3 basic types of abdominal movements, and my favorite exercise for each one. These movements cover all of the major muscles of the abdominal region. Strengthen your abs by progressing in these exercises and you will both reap the practical benefits listed above as well as build stronger, bigger ab muscles, allowing them to become visible at a higher level of body fat.
I suggest doing just 2-3 sets of each exercise per week. You may complete them all on the same day or on separate days. I work out three to four days per week and perform one ab exercise per workout, at the end of the workout.
1. Flexion And Extension: The Hanging Leg Raise
The most common type of ab exercise. You flex and extend your core to work your abdominal region, with a focus on the rectus abdominis (aka. the six pack).
Progression (Advance when you can perform over 10-15 repetitions at a given level)
1. Raise your knees in a dip station, where your back is supported.
2. Raise your knees, hanging from a pull up bar.
3. Raise your extended legs, hanging from a pull up bar (pictured above).
4. Raise your extended legs, with a dumbbell in between your feet.
Other flexion/extension exercises: Decline sit-up, sit-up.
2. Rotation: Plate Twist
Rotational exercises work your whole abdominal region but focus on the obliques (internal and external). Sitting down, simply hold your hands together, or a weight, above your torso, lift your feet off the floor, and move the weight side-to-side, almost touching the floor on each repetition. Progress by both adding repetitions and weight.
Other rotational exercises: Cable Rotation, side dumbbell crunch.
3. Stabilization: Plank
Stabilization exercises work your entire abdominal region, but the stress is placed upon the transverse abdominis – the deepest abdominal muscle that wraps around your spine. This muscle is responsible for a the majority of your overall balance and stability, so it must not be neglected. Progress by planking for longer durations, and then planking on a stability ball.
General Guidelines
1. Draw in your navel (ie. pull your belly button towards your spine) throughout each movement. It increases pelvic stabilization and transverse abdominis activation (4).
2. Brace your core (ie. flex/tighten your core/abs). Helps properly recruit and activate the core muscles (3)
The simple fact of the matter is that if you are already performing a variety of compound exercises (and you should be!), your abs and core are already being worked and strengthened, albeit indirectly.
For example, your abdominals are a major stabilizer during the squat. A sufficiently strong core is necessary to move any significant amount of weight. Think about it this way – if your core is unable to support the weight you place on your back – your body will simply fold.
However, I still do recommend working your abs directly. Next, I will go over the 3 basic types of abdominal movements, and my favorite exercise for each one. These movements cover all of the major muscles of the abdominal region. Strengthen your abs by progressing in these exercises and you will both reap the practical benefits listed above as well as build stronger, bigger ab muscles, allowing them to become visible at a higher level of body fat.
I suggest doing just 2-3 sets of each exercise per week. You may complete them all on the same day or on separate days. I work out three to four days per week and perform one ab exercise per workout, at the end of the workout.
1. Flexion And Extension: The Hanging Leg Raise
The most common type of ab exercise. You flex and extend your core to work your abdominal region, with a focus on the rectus abdominis (aka. the six pack).
Progression (Advance when you can perform over 10-15 repetitions at a given level)
1. Raise your knees in a dip station, where your back is supported.
2. Raise your knees, hanging from a pull up bar.
3. Raise your extended legs, hanging from a pull up bar (pictured above).
4. Raise your extended legs, with a dumbbell in between your feet.
Other flexion/extension exercises: Decline sit-up, sit-up.
2. Rotation: Plate Twist
Rotational exercises work your whole abdominal region but focus on the obliques (internal and external). Sitting down, simply hold your hands together, or a weight, above your torso, lift your feet off the floor, and move the weight side-to-side, almost touching the floor on each repetition. Progress by both adding repetitions and weight.
Other rotational exercises: Cable Rotation, side dumbbell crunch.
3. Stabilization: Plank
Stabilization exercises work your entire abdominal region, but the stress is placed upon the transverse abdominis – the deepest abdominal muscle that wraps around your spine. This muscle is responsible for a the majority of your overall balance and stability, so it must not be neglected. Progress by planking for longer durations, and then planking on a stability ball.
General Guidelines
1. Draw in your navel (ie. pull your belly button towards your spine) throughout each movement. It increases pelvic stabilization and transverse abdominis activation (4).
2. Brace your core (ie. flex/tighten your core/abs). Helps properly recruit and activate the core muscles (3)
workout tips
The Best Cardio Workouts You've Never Tried
Drills that are way more interesting than pounding the treadmill
Does your treadmill workout make you feel like a rat on a wheel? Then it's probably time to change up your routine. And not just because you're bored. "The human body wasn't designed for conveyor-belt training or repetitive, one-dimensional movement," says Dan John, a fitness coach in Burlingame, California, and the author of Never Let Go. So try one of John's novel cardio drills below. Or better yet, try all three. You'll blast fat and improve your fitness quickly. And the best part: You won't have to find ways to distract yourself during these workouts—you'll be too busy getting in shape.
The "55" workout
Start by doing one body-weight squat and 10 pushups. Rest for 30 seconds, and then do 2 squats and 9 pushups. Gradually work your way up to 10 squats and down to 1 pushup. You'll complete 55 reps of each exercise by the time you're done—and reap both the cardiovascular benefit of aerobic training and the muscular pump of a strength session. (And if you like this routine, you'll love The World's Most Efficient Workout.)
10-meter sprints
Find an area in your gym where you can sprint for 10 meters. Once you've covered the distance, pause just long enough to inhale and exhale once through your nose. Sprint back and pause, this time inhaling and exhaling twice through your nose. Continue the drill—breathing normally as you sprint, and adding an additional nose inhalation and exhalation when you pause—until you can no longer breathe through your nose. "It takes more effort than breathing through your mouth—even during rest—which increases the intensity of the exercise," John says. The result: more gain in less time (and distance) than on a treadmill. (Don't undermine your fitness efforts: Make sure to avoid The Worst “Free” Restaurant Foods in America.)
Jumping-jack pyramid
Do as many jumping jacks as you can in 10 seconds. Rest for an equal amount of time. Next, do as many jumping jacks as you can in 20 seconds, and rest 20 seconds. Then do 30 seconds of jumping jacks followed by 30 seconds of rest. Now work your way back down the pyramid (30, 20, 10). Repeat three times. This will change the way you think about jumping jacks forever.
Drills that are way more interesting than pounding the treadmill
Does your treadmill workout make you feel like a rat on a wheel? Then it's probably time to change up your routine. And not just because you're bored. "The human body wasn't designed for conveyor-belt training or repetitive, one-dimensional movement," says Dan John, a fitness coach in Burlingame, California, and the author of Never Let Go. So try one of John's novel cardio drills below. Or better yet, try all three. You'll blast fat and improve your fitness quickly. And the best part: You won't have to find ways to distract yourself during these workouts—you'll be too busy getting in shape.
The "55" workout
Start by doing one body-weight squat and 10 pushups. Rest for 30 seconds, and then do 2 squats and 9 pushups. Gradually work your way up to 10 squats and down to 1 pushup. You'll complete 55 reps of each exercise by the time you're done—and reap both the cardiovascular benefit of aerobic training and the muscular pump of a strength session. (And if you like this routine, you'll love The World's Most Efficient Workout.)
10-meter sprints
Find an area in your gym where you can sprint for 10 meters. Once you've covered the distance, pause just long enough to inhale and exhale once through your nose. Sprint back and pause, this time inhaling and exhaling twice through your nose. Continue the drill—breathing normally as you sprint, and adding an additional nose inhalation and exhalation when you pause—until you can no longer breathe through your nose. "It takes more effort than breathing through your mouth—even during rest—which increases the intensity of the exercise," John says. The result: more gain in less time (and distance) than on a treadmill. (Don't undermine your fitness efforts: Make sure to avoid The Worst “Free” Restaurant Foods in America.)
Jumping-jack pyramid
Do as many jumping jacks as you can in 10 seconds. Rest for an equal amount of time. Next, do as many jumping jacks as you can in 20 seconds, and rest 20 seconds. Then do 30 seconds of jumping jacks followed by 30 seconds of rest. Now work your way back down the pyramid (30, 20, 10). Repeat three times. This will change the way you think about jumping jacks forever.
nutrition tips
Cook This: Grilled Caesar Salad
Caesar salad may be the most misleading food in America. We transform it with a light vinaigrette dressing, sundried tomatoes, and olives
Caesar salad may be the most misleading food in America—it's the type of dish you order when you want to be good to your body, only to find out it's eating up half of your day's calories. This recipe transforms the high-calorie dressing into a lighter vinaigrette and adds substance, flavor, and nutrition in the form of sundried tomatoes and olives.
You'll Need:
DRESSING:
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
2 anchovies (soak in milk for 10 minutes if you want to mellow the flavor)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
6-8 turns of a black-pepper mill
1/2 cup olive oil
SALAD:
4 hearts of romaine
2 English muffins, split
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6-8 oz each)
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup black or green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
How to Make It:
*Preheat the grill. Combine all the dressing ingredients except the oil in a food processor and pulse to blend. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil.
*Cut the romaine down the middle lengthwise, leaving the root end intact so the leaves hold together. Brush the romaine, English muffins, and chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When the grill is hot, add the chicken and grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side until firm and caramelized. Remove the chicken and allow to rest.
*Place the lettuce and English muffins on the grill. Cook the lettuce for 1 to 2 minutes, just enough to lightly char and wilt the leaves. Cook the English muffins until brown and crispy.
*Slice the chicken into thin strips. Cut the muffins into bite-size pieces. Arrange both, along with the olives and sundried tomatoes, over the individual lettuce halves. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with cheese.
Makes 4 servings
Cost per serving: $3.76
410 calories
29 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
610 mg sodium
Not That!
Quiznos Chicken Caesar Flatbread Salad (with bread)
Price: $5.89
1,000 calories
64 g fat (14.5 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
2,380 mg sodium
Save! 590 calories and $2.13!
Caesar salad may be the most misleading food in America. We transform it with a light vinaigrette dressing, sundried tomatoes, and olives
Caesar salad may be the most misleading food in America—it's the type of dish you order when you want to be good to your body, only to find out it's eating up half of your day's calories. This recipe transforms the high-calorie dressing into a lighter vinaigrette and adds substance, flavor, and nutrition in the form of sundried tomatoes and olives.
You'll Need:
DRESSING:
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
2 anchovies (soak in milk for 10 minutes if you want to mellow the flavor)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
6-8 turns of a black-pepper mill
1/2 cup olive oil
SALAD:
4 hearts of romaine
2 English muffins, split
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6-8 oz each)
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup black or green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
How to Make It:
*Preheat the grill. Combine all the dressing ingredients except the oil in a food processor and pulse to blend. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil.
*Cut the romaine down the middle lengthwise, leaving the root end intact so the leaves hold together. Brush the romaine, English muffins, and chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When the grill is hot, add the chicken and grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side until firm and caramelized. Remove the chicken and allow to rest.
*Place the lettuce and English muffins on the grill. Cook the lettuce for 1 to 2 minutes, just enough to lightly char and wilt the leaves. Cook the English muffins until brown and crispy.
*Slice the chicken into thin strips. Cut the muffins into bite-size pieces. Arrange both, along with the olives and sundried tomatoes, over the individual lettuce halves. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with cheese.
Makes 4 servings
Cost per serving: $3.76
410 calories
29 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
610 mg sodium
Not That!
Quiznos Chicken Caesar Flatbread Salad (with bread)
Price: $5.89
1,000 calories
64 g fat (14.5 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
2,380 mg sodium
Save! 590 calories and $2.13!
best tips to get the max muscle mass
How Many Reps To Build Muscle? Depends On The Type Of Muscle You Want To Build!
by Kevin McMillian
When it comes to building muscle mass there are quite a few different approaches and techniques out there. Quite a few of them work and quite a few don’t work. If you want to build muscle, you need to know how many reps to build muscle and how to do those reps. You can luck out and build muscle without even knowing how you’re doing it, but it’s nice to know what works and what doesn’t so you can build muscle efficiently!
Basically, determining how many reps to build muscle depends on the type of muscle that you hope to build.
For example, there are guys that have an amazing amount of muscle mass but they look really bad. A lot of the time they look soft and bloated. That’s not the type of muscle that you should be trying to build.
But what about the really skinny guys? Even though they could still benefit greatly from adding even some of that “soft” muscle the huge guys have, here are a few things to consider.
Knowing the type of muscle you need to build, whether it’s flat out size or if it’s harder, more angular muscles, determines how many reps to build muscle. Through Visual Impact Muscle Building I’ve learned quite a bit about the number of reps it takes to build different types of muscle and even how perform each rep.
For a quick answer as to how many reps to build muscle here is an overview.
1-3 reps – Pure strength & definition
4-6 reps – Mostly strength & definition with little gains in size
7-10 reps – Mostly size with little gains in strength & density
11-15 reps – Pure size
Now let’s see why these rep ranges work the way they do. We’ll look at the two main types of muscle training — mass and density.
How Many Reps To Build Muscle Mass?
Building overall mass is probably the most traditional type of muscle building. When you are focusing on building muscle mass, that type of muscle growth is known as “Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy.” What this means is that your muscles will fill up with fluid.
To create the maximum amount of Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy, you are going to need to focus on a high volume of reps. Stay in the higher rep and set ranges.
A Workout To Build Muscle Mass
A good muscle mass workout should target one muscle group per week so that you can really blast that muscle and still allow sufficient time for it to repair and grow. A common and effective approach to doing this is the 3 day split.
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps – 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Back and Biceps – 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Legs and Abs – 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Pick 2 or 3 exercises for each muscle group — two if you’re starting out, three if you’ve been lifting a while. So your total number of sets would be anywhere from 8-12.
What I like to do is to focus on two main exercises like incline dumbbell press and flat dumbbell press (for chest) and do 4 sets of 12-15 reps for both exercises. After that, I might head over to the cables and do 2 sets of low cable chest flys.
During this phase you should limit cardio. No more than two separate cardio routines of no more than 30 minutes done on non-workout days.
Pros: The upside to this type of workout routine is that you can really pack on some decent size.
Cons: The downside to this routine is that the type of muscle you are building isn’t good for a whole lot except for size.
How Many Reps to Build Muscle Density?
Muscle density and muscle mass are two completely different things. When you see guys pounding out 10-15 reps per set you know that they are not building dense muscles.
In fact, you can usually tell the rep range someone prefers just by how their muscle looks. For a dense muscle, you need to focus on building the actual muscle fibers and not so much the fluid in side of the muscle.
To build hard and dense muscles, focus on a low volume of reps. In order for your muscle fibers to grow, your workouts are not going to be damaging the muscle as you would when shooting for Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy.
A Workout To Build Muscle Density
Here’s the rep range for a good muscle density workout. Not only are the amount of reps to build muscle different, but the amount of time you work each muscle each week is different.
Since you are not going to be damaging the muscle you can workout each muscle group twice per week. I go into greater detail in another article purely on muscle definition workouts, but here is an overview.
Chest & Back – 3 sets of 5 reps
Shoulders & Arms- 3 sets of 5 reps
Abs
Chest & Back – 3 sets of 5 reps
Shoulders & Arms- 3 sets of 5 reps
Abs
Rest / light-medium cardio
For these workouts, I like to do 3 different exercises per muscle group. So I do 3 sets of 5 reps for 3 different exercises per muscle group.
Pros: By staying in this rep range you can build functional and dense muscles which still have decent size. Also, you will get stronger by doing these types of workouts versus the muscle mass workouts which focus more on size and less on strength.
Cons: Since density and mass are completely different, muscle density workouts will not give you much in the way of size.
What Type Of Muscle Do You Want To Build?
Really I am just scratching the surface here. What I hope though, is that this quick overview will show you that there are two main types of muscle and that the amount of reps you do determines the type that you’ll build.
There is a lot that determines how effective your workouts are. The best info I’ve found was from Rusty Moore’s Visual Impact Muscle Building. He goes into detail on not just how many reps to build muscle, but also rep tempo, type of rep, rest periods. Each phase you will focus on a different set and rep scheme to maximize the effectiveness of the routine.
What is cool is that by mixing up how many reps you do, you can not only train for pure muscle mass or pure muscle density, you can also train for mostly mass, mostly density and everywhere in between.
by Kevin McMillian
When it comes to building muscle mass there are quite a few different approaches and techniques out there. Quite a few of them work and quite a few don’t work. If you want to build muscle, you need to know how many reps to build muscle and how to do those reps. You can luck out and build muscle without even knowing how you’re doing it, but it’s nice to know what works and what doesn’t so you can build muscle efficiently!
Basically, determining how many reps to build muscle depends on the type of muscle that you hope to build.
For example, there are guys that have an amazing amount of muscle mass but they look really bad. A lot of the time they look soft and bloated. That’s not the type of muscle that you should be trying to build.
But what about the really skinny guys? Even though they could still benefit greatly from adding even some of that “soft” muscle the huge guys have, here are a few things to consider.
Knowing the type of muscle you need to build, whether it’s flat out size or if it’s harder, more angular muscles, determines how many reps to build muscle. Through Visual Impact Muscle Building I’ve learned quite a bit about the number of reps it takes to build different types of muscle and even how perform each rep.
For a quick answer as to how many reps to build muscle here is an overview.
1-3 reps – Pure strength & definition
4-6 reps – Mostly strength & definition with little gains in size
7-10 reps – Mostly size with little gains in strength & density
11-15 reps – Pure size
Now let’s see why these rep ranges work the way they do. We’ll look at the two main types of muscle training — mass and density.
How Many Reps To Build Muscle Mass?
Building overall mass is probably the most traditional type of muscle building. When you are focusing on building muscle mass, that type of muscle growth is known as “Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy.” What this means is that your muscles will fill up with fluid.
To create the maximum amount of Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy, you are going to need to focus on a high volume of reps. Stay in the higher rep and set ranges.
A Workout To Build Muscle Mass
A good muscle mass workout should target one muscle group per week so that you can really blast that muscle and still allow sufficient time for it to repair and grow. A common and effective approach to doing this is the 3 day split.
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps – 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Back and Biceps – 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Legs and Abs – 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Pick 2 or 3 exercises for each muscle group — two if you’re starting out, three if you’ve been lifting a while. So your total number of sets would be anywhere from 8-12.
What I like to do is to focus on two main exercises like incline dumbbell press and flat dumbbell press (for chest) and do 4 sets of 12-15 reps for both exercises. After that, I might head over to the cables and do 2 sets of low cable chest flys.
During this phase you should limit cardio. No more than two separate cardio routines of no more than 30 minutes done on non-workout days.
Pros: The upside to this type of workout routine is that you can really pack on some decent size.
Cons: The downside to this routine is that the type of muscle you are building isn’t good for a whole lot except for size.
How Many Reps to Build Muscle Density?
Muscle density and muscle mass are two completely different things. When you see guys pounding out 10-15 reps per set you know that they are not building dense muscles.
In fact, you can usually tell the rep range someone prefers just by how their muscle looks. For a dense muscle, you need to focus on building the actual muscle fibers and not so much the fluid in side of the muscle.
To build hard and dense muscles, focus on a low volume of reps. In order for your muscle fibers to grow, your workouts are not going to be damaging the muscle as you would when shooting for Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy.
A Workout To Build Muscle Density
Here’s the rep range for a good muscle density workout. Not only are the amount of reps to build muscle different, but the amount of time you work each muscle each week is different.
Since you are not going to be damaging the muscle you can workout each muscle group twice per week. I go into greater detail in another article purely on muscle definition workouts, but here is an overview.
Chest & Back – 3 sets of 5 reps
Shoulders & Arms- 3 sets of 5 reps
Abs
Chest & Back – 3 sets of 5 reps
Shoulders & Arms- 3 sets of 5 reps
Abs
Rest / light-medium cardio
For these workouts, I like to do 3 different exercises per muscle group. So I do 3 sets of 5 reps for 3 different exercises per muscle group.
Pros: By staying in this rep range you can build functional and dense muscles which still have decent size. Also, you will get stronger by doing these types of workouts versus the muscle mass workouts which focus more on size and less on strength.
Cons: Since density and mass are completely different, muscle density workouts will not give you much in the way of size.
What Type Of Muscle Do You Want To Build?
Really I am just scratching the surface here. What I hope though, is that this quick overview will show you that there are two main types of muscle and that the amount of reps you do determines the type that you’ll build.
There is a lot that determines how effective your workouts are. The best info I’ve found was from Rusty Moore’s Visual Impact Muscle Building. He goes into detail on not just how many reps to build muscle, but also rep tempo, type of rep, rest periods. Each phase you will focus on a different set and rep scheme to maximize the effectiveness of the routine.
What is cool is that by mixing up how many reps you do, you can not only train for pure muscle mass or pure muscle density, you can also train for mostly mass, mostly density and everywhere in between.
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