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The TRUTH About Empty Stomach Cardio
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By Joel Marion
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/cheatyourwaythin.html

Over the weekend I hit the gym with my buddy John for a morning cardio workout.

Now, I say “cardio”, but really it was a metabolic resistance training session.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the simple definition for metabolic resistance training is “cardio with weights”. We’ll cover this more in detail in another update so as not to get too off topic.

So we’re about 10 minutes into the workout and John looks like he’s in pretty bad shape (despite being in really GOOD shape). So I asked him what the deal was.

“I didn’t eat anything for breakfast.”

Me: Why the heck not?

“I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to burn the most fat from your morning workouts.”

Uh oh.

Perhaps you’re still believing this old myth just like John, so allow me to take a moment to dispel it.

The theory behind empty stomach is cardio is simple: supposedly, by doing cardio on a empty stomach, you tap directly into fat stores since glycogen (carbohydrate) stores are somewhat depleted after an overnight fast.

Seems to make sense, but research has proven this to be wrong.

Several studies have shown no difference in substrate utilization (glycogen vs. fat) for those working out on an empty stomach vs. those who eat a small meal prior to their morning workouts.

In fact, one study showed the exact opposite—those who had a small meal first burned more calories and more fat than the empty stomach group.

How can this be? The reason is rather simple if you think about it. I was kicking butt and taking names with my workout, and John was barely able to get through his. Even if not eating beforehand allowed you to burn more fat (which it doesn’t), the major trade off is performance.

And why does performance matter? Well, if you can’t perform at an optimal level and put forth maximal effort, then you are not going to be burning an optimal amount of calories–period.

The truth is, empty stomach cardio is an outdated philosophy whose theory was proven incorrect by research. Still, there are plenty of people who hold on to the theory despite the available research. Perhaps they’re not aware of it, perhaps they just go by what the fitness and bodybuilding magazines tell them (bad idea); I’m not sure.

Whatever the reason, popular philosophy doesn’t always mean correct philosophy, and this is one such instance.

So I’ll leave you with some practical recommendations:

At the very minimum, have a couple scoops of whey before any morning “cardio” workout.

That said, if it’s still negatively affecting your performance, you need to go a bit further. The meal doesn’t have to be large, but it should contain some complex carbs (oatmeal, etc) along with a small serving of protein.

Give it about a half hour to begin digesting and then hit your workout.

Better performance = more calories burned = more fat loss = improved cardiovascular functioning = even better performance = even more calories burned = even more fat loss.

Don’t be like my friend John and have a crappy workout because you didn’t eat. As I shared with you, the research shows that’s not going to make a difference anyway. Instead, eat your Wheaties and then dominate your workout!

Alright, now it’s comment time.  If you are one of our 5,000 new customers, we like to comment here.  Get involved; participate; that’s what this site is all about.

I want to know:  Do you still do empty stomach cardio? Will you give it up based on this post? Do you notice your performance suffers?

Or maybe you do REALLY well with empty stomach cardio.

Either way, let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!

Chat with you below!
Your friend,
Joel

Here's to loving your diet (and the results) with with Cheat Your Way Thin

To your success,
Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
AtoZfitness.com Google's #1 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.com
Follow me on Twitter for updates from my blog....
http://www.twitter.com/atozfitness

If you have any questions, you can contact me sending an
e-mail to me at atozsupport@atozfitness.com .

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How To Build Muscle Fast: 41 Ways to Gain 41 Pounds Of Rock-Solid Lean Muscle Mass in 6 Months
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By Vince DelMonte - Author of No-Nonsense Muscle Building

This article will give you at least 41 tips and ideas for gaining more muscle and getting more ripped than you can imagine.

Muscle building expert Vince DelMonte has helped over 20,000 skinny guys and consults with fitness experts all around the world on the most critical and supporting elements to build muscle mass and to experience consistent muscle growth. 

In this article, Vince unmasks his own secrets that he used for building 41 pounds of steel-solid muscle in only six months – without any drugs or steroids, without bogus supplements, and while training less total hours than before. 

In just weeks, you can make the same life-changing transformation.  Find out his advanced muscle building strategies on how to build muscle, fast!

Whether you approach your physique as a hobby or a job, you should not leave any element to chance and hope it works.  In order to defeat plateaus and forge a ripped and muscular body you need all the tips and tricks you can get.  None of these techniques will work alone but by combining as many together as possible you’ll see a huge difference in your muscle growth – faster than before.

1. Begin with 3 full body weight training workouts every 48-hours.

2. Take your body weight in pounds and multiply it by 15 to determine your daily caloric intake if you want to gain weight.

3. Perform only 1 exercise per body part each full-body workout but perform a different exercise for each body part every workout.  By the end of the week you’ll have hit each muscle group three times from three different angles.

4. Consume carbohydrates in a 2:1 ratio to protein after your workout in liquid form.

5. Perform each set to muscular failure.

6. Use a training journal and track your progress.

7. Drink at least 4-6 liters of water each day.

8. Vary your rep and set schemes more frequently than any other training variable.

9. Focus on exploding up on the concentric portion of your movement and taking 3-4 seconds for the eccentric portion of your program.

10. Aim to build at least 5-6 pounds of lean muscle mass each month.  Anything more will be fat gain.

11. Eat at least 10-15 serving of fruits and vegetables each day.

12. Focus on compound movements for 80% of your workouts.

13. Alternate between dumbbells and barbells every 2 weeks.

14. Only change an exercise when you plateau on two workouts in a row.

15. Enter a fitness model or bodybuilding show or transformation contest to keep you motivated.

16. Follow a program for at least 12-16 weeks before trying your next one.

17. Pyramiding your sets to consistently increase your strength 5% each week.

18. Consume a variety of whole eggs, chicken, lean beef, fish and whole-milk throughout the day for high quality (bioavailable) muscle building protein.

19. Use a training partner for motivation and an extra push to experience faster muscular growth.

20. Never train hungry if you want to build muscle fast.

21. Concentrate your carbohydrates when your body needs them most – breakfast, pre workout and post workout.

22. Ensure you do the squat and the deadlift each week to increase the release of growth hormone and testosterone.

23. Hire a personal trainer if you have never received professional coaching on technique and form.

24. Stretch at least half the amount of time that you lift.  If you lift 3 hours a week, schedule at least 1.5 hours of yoga or static stretching. 

25. Train a muscle group through it’s entire range of motion to stimulate muscle size.

26. Use a 3-day a week 20-minute interval cardio plan, post-workout, to maximize the muscle to fat ratio while bulking.

27. Train your most underdeveloped muscle group first in each workout.

28. Avoid processed food, packaged food and fast food.

29. Avoid protein bars and any muscle building supplement that has sucrulose, aspartame, or other artificial or natural sweeteners. 

30. Get at least 8-hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

31. Don’t be afraid to overload your muscles with maximal resistance and miss your goal reps.

32. Consume a combination of olive oil, fish oil, coconut oil, mixed nuts and natural peanut butter each day to make sure you get ample healthy fats for testosterone and other muscle building hormone production.

33. Take a complete week off after 12-16 weeks of training.

34. Get a spotter to help you with your heaviest set.

35. Have a training program.  Never go to the gym without a plan.

36. Perform 5-10 minutes of dynamic stretching before each weight training workout.

37. Schedule regular ART-therapy or massage therapy to avoid injuries.

38. Cold shower after every intense weight training workout.  It sucks, but it works.

39. Eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. 

40. The core of your workout should revolve around squats, deadlifts, rows, presses, pull ups, dips and weighted core work. 

41. Train with someone bigger and stronger than you. You'll be challenged and motivated to work out harder.

To read more about how Vince DelMonte’s natural solution on how to build muscle fast without drugs, supplements and training less hours than before...

Click here to start building lean ripped muscle mass the right way

OR

Click here to learn the secrets of getting ripped chiseled six pack abs
 

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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  The Fire Workout
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by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri, CSCS, HFS
Physical Therapist & Kinesiologist
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html

Note: Check out the bottom of this article for some great free gifts Dr.Kareem has put together for you.

This workout has to be the favorite of this week, but you’ve been warned - you WILL be sore if you put yourself through this (not for beginners):

The Fire Workout:

Set up 4 stations (I use cones) - between the top 2 stations, place 2 mats next to one another, long ways.  The 4 stations, collectively, will make a square.  In the center of the square, place the heaviest med ball you can find (or a 20 pound kettlebell)

Station 1:  A low chair (i.e. for military press) and a 10 pound medicine ball

Station 2:  Just a marker (no equipment needed)

Station 3:  Just a marker (no equipment needed)

Station 4:  A 12 pound medicine ball

Now that you’ve got everything set up… here we go:

Step 1) Perform “Side Step on Forearms” side to side for 10 reps on the two length-wise mats that are next to one another.  This means that you will assume a plank position, gently lift your left arm and left leg as you move to the left and place them back down.  Repeat until you reach the other side.  This = 1 repetition.  Repeat for 10.

Step 2) Go to Station 1 - Now, with the medicine ball pressed up in the air (i.e. above your head, slightly in front of you), slowly squat down and back until you can feel the chair at your bottom.  Stand quickly.  Repeat for 10 reps.

Step 3) Sumo walk (squat until you have right angles at your knees and walk forward in this position) until you reach Station 2

Step 4) Do 10 Mountain Climbers (hands on the floor, right knee up towards your chest, left knee back, switch back and forth to equal 1 rep)

Step 5) Sumo walk to Station 3

Step 6) Perform 10 Burpees (squat to hands on floor, donkey kick back, do a push up, bring knees to chest, and jump, landing with your knees bent for safety) - This equals 1 rep

Step 7) Sumo walk to Station 4

Step 10 repetitions of Side Step Squat with a Med Ball Press - start feet together, take a generous step to your left, squat down, as you stand step towards your left foot and press the medicine ball from chest height to overhead.  Repeat in the opposite direction.  This equals 2 repetitions.  Repeat for 10.

Step 9) Go to the center of the square - Squat with a med ball pick up - Stand with a med ball/kettlebell between your legs, squat down and back until you can pick up the med ball with a straight torso, stand, squat down and back to set the med ball down, stand.  This equals 1 rep.  Repeat for 10 reps.

Rest 2-5 minutes.  Repeat circuit for 40 minutes.

Look out - Be sure you’ve warmed up, and be sure you have experience exercising.  This is tough stuff!

Good luck!

Ok the good stuff ....
Visit the link below for some great gifts including ,
 

• 8 free fitness video courses

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All available here....
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html
 

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

A Shocking Protein Supplement Discovery!
By The Muscle Nerd, Jeff Anderson
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Yours in fitness,
Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
AtoZfitness.com Google's #3 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.com

Idiotic Mistakes Using Superset Training To Build Muscle!
 

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By Jeff Anderson "The Muscle Nerd"
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/advancedmassbuilding.html

By now you should know that "superset" training is the best training method for any fitness goal, whether you want to build muscle or burn fat.

Unfortunately, I see WAAAAAY too many people using this technique incorrectly...and it's time to set the record straight!

By now you should know that "superset" training (where you perform one exercise back-to-back with another exercise) is NOT just an "advanced" training technique for the gym.

It's actually the best training method for any fitness goal, whether you want to build muscle or burn fat.

Unfortunately, I see WAAAAAY too many people using this technique incorrectly...and it's time to set the record straight!

Here's the deal...

Your muscles have 7 "types" of fibers which can be broken down into 2 "main" types (fast-twitch and slow-twitch)

And each set of fibers has it's own purpose...AND it's own preference for how it likes to be trained.

Depending upon your goal, you'll want to train a bit differently.

You see, slow-twitch muscles are used mostly for endurance activities and prefer to be trained with lower weights and higher repetitions.

On the other hand, your fast-twitch muscles are the ones you use for strength and power and like heavy weights with lower reps.

But since both types have the ability to grow, you'll want to attack BOTH in your workouts.

That means higher reps and lower weights for your slow-twitch muscles and lower reps and higher weight for your fast-twitch muscles.

Here's an example of how to train your chest for size...

(And then I have a little "suprise" that blows any method you've EVER seen out of the water!

But first...

Superset For Bigger Muscles

Exercises Used:

Superset Incline Dumbbell Press with Pushups

Execution:

With an incline bench at about 30 degrees, knock out a HEAVY set of about 4-6 reps.

Then IMMEDIATELY after you're done, get on the floor and do as many pushups as you can do before crashing to the ground in a pile of your own drool!

Here's why it works...

By hitting your muscles with that heavy compound exercise set first, you blast away at your fast-twitch fibers.

But then you come in and really destroy your "slow-twitchers" by extending your set with a massive "pump" that fills your chest up with blood and muscle-building hormones and nutrients!

Jeff Anderson

Jeff Anderson's Related eBook

Advanced Mass Building Program

Scientific secrets For Fast Muscle Gains!

You're Not A "Beginner" Anymore...So Stop TRAINING Like One! Why 95% Of Guys Are DEAD WRONG In How They Train To Gain Muscle Mass...

...And How To INSTANTLY Correct The 5 Biggest Mass Building Mistakes For Thick New Growth NOW!

Get Advanced Mass Building Program now!

Yours in fitness,
Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
AtoZfitness.com Google's #3 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.com

Conditioning and fat loss

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By Jason Ferruggia
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/musclegainingsecrets.html

Lately I have gotten a lot of questions about conditioning and what the specific guidelines of a conditioning workout should be. When discussing conditioning the first thing that needs to be asked is what is your primary training goal at the moment?

If it is to get huge and strong, then conditioning must be limited and can not interfere with your main workouts.

If you are training for a sport and need a mix of both strength and conditioning, that is another story.

And if you are just looking to get shredded that is a whole other scenario.

For athletes, which is how everyone in my gym trains, you will do power workouts MWF and conditioning 1-3 other days (usually two). Maybe Tues and Thurs or Thurs and Sat. Whatever. Depends exactly what is more of a weakness and what is a main priority, strength or conditioning.

When you are choosing this option, the conditioning workouts shouldn't interfere greatly with the strength days, but the fact is they will have some small negative impact. Unless you are just looking to become a big, fat, unathletic powerhouse, any conditioning will have some negative impact on strength and explosiveness. The key is to get the conditioning you need while limiting the negative impact. If your diet is perfect and you have great genetics you could become big, strong and explosive while doing absolutely no conditioning and remain quite lean. You won't have great conditioning, though. Which is fine if you're ok with that. Some sports, like shotput and hammer throwing,  don't require it. Most of us, however will need to do some sort of conditioning to stay lean and in shape.

In this case you don't want to do a lot of heavy sandbag work or bodyweight circuits that will interfere with your strength training. You don't want to get sore from your conditioning workouts. Also, if you are stressing the CNS on MWF, you should back off a bit on your other training days.

Conditioning days could make you very slow and sap your power in no time if you use the wrong loading parameters. The duration of each set, round or circuit you do should be fairly short with a short break in between. The best way to turn fast twitch fibres slow is to drown them in lactic acid for 20-30 minutes straight. Do that and watch your vertical jump (one of the best tests of power) and plummet in no time.

What you need to do is hit it hard for 20-30 seconds and then take a brief rest. You can do this for 15-30 minutes but it has to be done intermittently in interval style. Doing intervals on a bike are terrible for power athletes because the lactic acid build-up is too severe. If you wanted to you could sprint on the bike, hop off, rest for 10-30 seconds, then jump rope, rest, swing a sledgehammer, and then get back on the bike and repeat in that fashion for 15-30 minutes. But you can't just pump away on the bike non stop and not expect it to effect your explosive power output.

Also, remember that the human body is not designed for doing any sort of repetitive steady state exercise for any long duration. So you are better off mixing up your conditioning workouts and using a variety of drills.

As I said, for most athletes, I like to keep the duration of each drill rather short. But depending on the individual and the exercise, you could go up to 2-3 minutes per interval. For example, you could jump rope hard for 2-3 minutes straight and then take a minute break and continue on for 20-30 minutes. I find that jumping rope is a great way to improve your conditioning, foot speed, coordination, etc. without draining your power or making your sore and highly recommend it to everyone.

Now, if you are training strictly for fat loss, all bets are off and the rules basically go out the window. I wouldn't let your power drop off significantly but it's not your main focus at the time so don't obsess over it. You still need to get your strength work in but the rest of the time should be spent jacking your metabolism and burning calories.

Hopefully that clears up some of the confusion.

For more great training information check out http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/musclegainingsecrets.html

Yours in fitness,
Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
AtoZfitness.com Google's #3 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.com

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Exercise Toxicity
by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri
Doctor of Physical Therapy & Kinesiologist
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html 

This is an interesting topic...

Some people try too hard when they work out, not realizing they are actually sabotaging their own efforts.  There is a such thing as overtraining, and it doesn’t only lead to injury.  Overtraining can absolutely lead to decreased fat loss, less definition, and greater cardiac risk.  I know that this sounds odd, but bear with me as I explain the 3 principles of overtraining that make exercise toxic when you do too much.  These principles are:

1.    Poor Heart Rate Recovery

2.    Acidic State In The Body

3.    Second Session Syndrome (TM)

Let’s take a closer look at each one of these...

Poor Heart Rate Recovery:

By maintaining your max heart rate over a prolonged period of time, as would happen with anaerobic exercise and too little rest, you will actually be training your heart to respond to exercise in an over-exaggerated way.  Your body will begin to learn that your ‘Fight or Flight’ response is an ‘All or None’ response, and react to exercise accordingly.  I believe this is best illustrated by a story of one of my previous clients:

You see, when I first started personal training I wasn’t convinced that overtraining was a legitimate problem, so long as someone maintained mobility, wasn’t 9 out of 10 sore, etc.  I was accustomed to two-a-days from water polo and swimming for so many years, that I hadn’t given a whole lot of thought to the idea of my client riding horses for 2 hours a day, riding her bike for an hour, and then training with me to the max 4 days a week.  She didn’t get hurt.

In fact, it was nothing like that.  She got into ridiculous shape, and, to this day, I’m so proud of her accomplishment.  Instead, Juliane (my client), began to notice that within the first minute of walking on the treadmill her hear rate would go up to 155 bpm, without a whole lot of exertion.  Naturally, this got me thinking...

You see, heart rate recovery is one of the greatest predictors of cardiac disease.  I hated the thought of my client who was in such incredible shape having an increased risk of cardiac disease.  Over a couple of months, we were able to correct the issue, but her heart rate ‘spike’ was a result of overtraining.  That was the bottom line.

Acidic State In The Body:

According to Eastern medicine, any decrease in the pH of your body (i.e. making it more acidic) will result in increased probability of infection.  Dr. Mike Gorman, a chiropractor and applied Kinesiologist in the Bucks County area, has explained to me that he balances pH in order to cure cancer.  Crazy, I know!

If you constantly tax your body in ways that make it interpret the stress as illness, it will always be trying to recover.  During this entire recovery process, your body will be more stressed, and you will also have a large build up of lactic acid.  Remember, any prolonged increase in acidity may lead to bigger diseases than just injury. 

Don’t worry, I’m not saying that lifting weights causes cancer, or anything like that.  I’m just explaining that a prolonged acidic state in your body makes it difficult to recover.  By allowing the pH to return to normal, you are creating a stronger body, and a body more capable of fighting outside infection.  It just makes sense. 

Second Session Syndrome (TM):

Overtraining can lead to prolonged recovery time, as is explained above.  It’s a fact that you will be unable to perform at the same level every day over the course of a month if you overtrain.  The following are ways that you can overtrain, leading to decreased efforts on all subsequent visits to the gym: 

1.    Frequency - how often do you work out?  Do you rest at least 1 day per week?

2.    Duration - how long do you work out?  Are you dosing exercise correctly if are building up to a higher exercise tolerance?

3.    Intensity - how hard are you working?  Are you taking ample rest periods to recover between exercises, sets, or circuits?

4.    Mode - are you mixing it up a bit?  Do you constantly do the exact same form of exercise?  Do you need help with program design?

Within a few weeks of overtraining, you are sure to suffer from Second Session Syndrome.  This awful ‘disease’ is when you plateau or decrease strength the day after a workout.  This shouldn’t be the case.  If you are working out correctly, you should be able to feel just as strong today as you did yesterday.

Overtraining is dangerous in more ways than one.  Exercise truly can be toxic.  By understanding the 3 principles listed above, you are sure to have a competitive advantage in your six pack abs exercise program. 

If you’d like a free trial of an incredibly effective ab strengthening program that only takes 10 minutes per day, please go to: http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html

Sincerely,,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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Six “Little-Known” Muscle Building Tips Part 2
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By Vince DelMonte
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/vincedelmonte.html

So you think you have heard everything there is to know about muscle building? If you have read everything, tried everything and heard everything about muscle building but still resemble the silouette of a Calvin Klien model instead of a buff fitness model than I promise these next three 'little-known' muscle building tips will accelerate your muscle gains immediately!

4. Never Train More Than 2 Days Consecqutively

But the bodybuilding magazines say to split up my program into 5 seperate days... Yes, I am more than familiar. I call these 5 day splits 'drug programs.' They treat your body simply as a 'muscular system' and neglect the other systems such as your central nervous system, hormonal system and immune system. Each of these systems have a unique part in muscle growth. Not to mention that these 'drug programs' only work if coupled with a few thousand dollars a month on drugs.

Just because you trained your chest on Monday does not mean your immune system, or hormonal system or central nervous system has FULLY recovered. What happens when you return to the gyn NOT FULLY recovered? Will you be able to lift more weight?

If you are not able to lift more weight than guess what happens to your level of fitness? It certainly will not go up because you will be depleting your energy reserves further into a deep, dark hole called 'over-training.' If you can not lift more weight or 'out-do' yourself from your previous workout than how do you expect to create any NEW muscle? It is literally impossible. Taking a full rest day every two days will minimize the chance of overtraining and ensure your energy reserves are replenished.

5. Go Home If You Are Not Stronger Than Last Workout

Multiple choice question:

Q. You train your chest on Monday and you averaged 4 sets of 8 with 225 pounds on bench press. This workout would be considered a personal best. Your following chest workout, let's say five days later, you come to the gym with great anticipation to out-do your last workout. To your disappointment you discover that you can barely do 4 sets of 8 with 185 pounds this week. What happened?

A. Your body had not fully compensated from the previous workout and required a longer recovery period.

B. Who cares! You toughed it out and made the most of the workout.

C . Complain to the gym owner that his weight plates are messed up and you want a refund on your gym membership.

If you picked A than say hurray and pat yourself on the back. The rational decision would be to admit the recovery error, assess the factors that could of resulted from not fully recovering (did you take all your supplements, did you sleep enought, did you follow your nutrition plan etc) and plan for success next time. This is the 'trial and error' process.

The emotional and irrational trainee would take option B and slug it out. Consider what is actually happening when you take this approach to your workouts:

1. You will be using weights within your threshold so your muscles will simply laugh back at you because there is no new unaccumstomed stress on your muscles. Remember, your muscles only grow if you give them a reason to.

2. You will be training in the hole and prolong the period of time that it takes to come out of the hole and supercompensate.

3. You will have no new muscle to work with because you have not fully recovered or grown bigger so it will be literally impossible to lift more weight or more reps.

4. You will be using your precious energy reserves, that could be going towards building muscle, instead to fueling an useless workout.

5. You will lose motivation and grow frusturated and confused because of your lack of progress.

This is a very tough and mature training decision one must face. After commencing a workout, if you discover after a few sets that you are on tract for a crappy worout than I would suggest to drop the workout and go home. Plan to come back the next day. If your goals are to simply train to train, than you will probably not follow this rule. However, if your goal is to get huge muscles and pack inches of new muscle onto your frame than this is a critical training decision.

To ensure your trip to the gym does not go in complete vain – have a flexibility session to make use of the time and than try and pick up the cute receptionist phone number on your way out!

6. Find a mentor

What does this have to do with muscle building? Everything – finding a mentor can make all the difference in how much muscle you build! If you plan on becoming successful in the gym than surround yourself with someone who has already walked the path. Would you agree that the quickest way to achieve success is to find someone who has gone before you and done what you want to do – and model them.

So why do millions of fitness enthusiasts wander aimlessly following generic advice in text books, magazines or websites? Although these methods of learning can provide a theoretical perspective, they are absent in accountability, a formal system, time and financial commitment and assessment of performance.

A wise mentor will guide you step-by-step of the way with a formal system that includes a higher level of commitment and accountability on your part. You will be required to fulfill tasks, change habits, meet deadlines and perform at a higher level than you would without a mentor.

The premise of having a mentor is that he has been there and done that. He has walked in your shoes and will give you the appropriate advice in a timely fashion. If you do not perform and follow the advice than you are wasting the mentor's time and he will 'fire' you! If you do perform and follow his advice than you will be successful and build the muscle you deserve in less time!

Seriously consider hiring a fitness coach, a personal trainer or anybody who has done what you wish to do and be prepared to elate the same results!

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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Six “Little-Known” Muscle Building Tips Part 1
---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
By Vince DelMonte
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/vincedelmonte.html

So you think you know everything about building muscle? If you have read everything, tried everything and heard everything about muscle building but still resemble the silhouette of a Calvin Klein model instead of a buff fitness model than I promise these three 'little-known' muscle building tips will accelerate your muscle gains immediately!

1. Body Weight Training

This was once a popular muscle building technique but is very commonly ignored. Why? Perhaps because most body weight training is simply hard and can put a dent in your precious ego! As far as I am concerned, if you can not work with your own body weight than you have no freaken business using external loading such as barbells and dumbbells.

It’s incredible how many attempt to use heavy weights with a microscopic range of motion but can’t do a set of push ups, a squat to the floor or even one chin up. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a place for external loading with heavy weights but not until you have the ability to master the following bench marks:

Males should aim for 1 set of 80 push ups, 1 set of 20 chin ups, 1 set of 20 1-leg squats, 1 set of 40 dips and 1 set of 20 pull ups.

Females should aim for 1 set of 40 push ups, 1 set of 5-10 chin ups, 1 set of 10 1-leg squats, 1 set of 10-15 dips and 1 set of 3-5 pull ups.

These standards will ensure a solid foundation of general fitness and muscular endurance and lead to building muscle mass more easily in the following stages of your weight training program.

2. Flip Your Program Upside Down Every 3 Weeks

This is an extremely powerful tip to building muscle mass, not to mention one of the easiest tricks to ensure your body side-steps plateaus forever. Consider that you have been training your chest shoulders and triceps every Monday. In you next phase, three weeks later, you should do the complete opposite. You will train your triceps, shoulders than chest on Friday. This will prevent plateaus because each muscle group will have an opportunity to train completely fresh.

Let's say you are training your back, biceps, forearms and abs on Friday. Than you will train your abs, forearms, biceps, and back on Monday (in the opposite sequence). You will literally switch everything upside down. Again, this will ensure that these muscles receive an opportunity to train first in the week when your body is the most fresh.

You will curse my name when you blow the heck out of the smaller muscles first and than train the larger muscle groups last. Yes, I know this months issue of Bodybuilders Digest said to never train the smaller muscle groups before your larger muscle groups. I have heard it before so stop analyzing, trust me and give it a try. You be the judge and don't be surprised if you see new levels of muscle mass and strength after this one technique.

3. Spend More Time At The Grocery Store

If you are serious about building muscle, accept the fact that you will need to spend more time than you do right now in the grocery store. Have you ever opened the fridge for something to eat and all you found was Aunt Wilma's Thanksgiving turkey leftovers with mold on it? Ever gone into the cub boards and discover only a few leftover bags of potato chips from last weeks Super Bowl party?

To ensure a optimal environment for building muscle and fat loss you must ensure your cub boards and fridge are constantly stocked. This will mean more frequent trips to the grocery store. Chuck the crap that is in your kitchen right now and replace it with good stuff and keep on replacing it. Don't ever let that supply of good food run low.

PS. Don't forget my good friend and fellow fitness author Vince DelMonte is GIVING AWAY two of the most supporting resources that will lead to muscle growth and carving out a ripped six-pack.  It's a F.REE opportunity to get better results in the next 2.5 weeks than most people experience in 2.5 months.

This is perhaps one of the most valuable giveaways EVER.

Yes, 100% F.REE stuff!

But there is a catch... it's only available until Friday March 20th at midnight

Each gift you'll find at the below address are retailed at $57 US, but today you can grab them for the best price ever - zero.

Click here for your F.REE gifts:

-->http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/vince_dvd_series.html 

Why is Vince doing this?? 

On Tuesday April 7th at 12pm EST Vince is releasing his highly-anticipated, high quality No-Nonsense Muscle Building & Six-Pack DVD Series which is the most complete muscle-shredding, belly-busting and ab-sharpening solution and DVD resource to make a huge difference in your physique.

And he wants to mail you a copy to your front door when it comes available.

The problem is that he only replicated 480 kits.

I am not a psychic but a sell out is expected in just hours considering over 800,000 people are being notified about this as you read this.

DATE- Tuesday April 7th at 12pm EST

...there's more.

Vince wanted me to reassure you that there is ZERO pressure to try out his No-Nonsense DVD's when they are ready to be mailed out launch date and you are more than welcome to get INSTANT ACCESS to his two F.REE gifts right now.

... FOLLOW THIS ADVICE ...

#1 - Check out the link below.

-->http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/vince_dvd_series.html 

#2 - Watch the entire Video (It's a tad long but Vince explains everything)

#3 - Enter your name and email to get on the Early Bird VIP list to be notified before the public which means you will be able to buy before the site goes live.  You'll also be given INSTANT ACCESS to Upside Down Training and Razor-Sharp Abdominal Cardio Workouts.

So make sure to follow ALL 3 STEPS to ensure you're one of the lucky people to get access to your F.REE gifts plus first shot to try out Vince's No-Nonsense Muscle Building & Six-Pack DVD Series on Tuesday April 7th 12pm EST.

Check it out here:

-->http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/vince_dvd_series.html   

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

P.P.S.  This page really is coming down Friday March 20th at Midnight EST. If you don't grab your gifts today, you WILL miss out (not a marketing ploy, just the honest truth).  There is NO CATCH at all. Nothing for you to buy so take advantage and start building some head turning muscle and carving your six-pack, compliments of my good friend Vince.

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Abs Mastery
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by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri, CSCS, HFS
Doctor of Physical Therapy & Kinesiologist
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html 

Mastering your abs is a process that tends to either take years or seems to come from childhood... at least until now.  Abs mastery comes down to three principles:

1.    Burn fat around your whole body

2.    Shock your system

3.    Momentary muscular failure (MMF)

Let’s take a closer look at each one of these principles.  But, before we do, it’s important that you understand that there will always be conflicting information out there regarding fitness, science, and any other evidence-based practice in the world.  There are many reasons for this, but, fundamentally, the main reason is because of flaws in the research process.  After years of education in understanding and interpreting research, I very often am able to find huge flaws in the methodology of research studies, thereby completely disqualifying the study and its outcomes.  Before you trust ‘what a study says,’ be sure you trust the author.

Burn fat around your whole body:

Spot reduction is a myth.  Sure, you can ‘tone’ muscle during an exercise program be causing it to inflame a bit and draw more blood to the area.  You see, that’s what the ‘pumped up’ feeling you get when working out is all about:  more blood in the muscle.  If you want to truly increase definition, you’ll need to lose fat from all of the places in your body you may never realize it exists.  For example, before you get six pack abs, you’ll lose fat from your:

•  Fingers

•  Toes

•  Wrists

•  Ankles

•  Cheeks

•  Lower legs

•  Forearms

•  ...then, and only then, will you begin to lose fat from the ‘trouble spots’

Knowing this, it kind of disqualifies all ab machines, ab rollers, and other ab devices, doesn’t it?  Sure, you can feel a great ‘burn,’ but that may never add up to anything when we are measuring results based upon six pack abs development.

Shock your system:

Shocking your system really comes down to one thing:  do something different every time you eat and every time you work out.  By constantly changing the demands placed upon your body, you are sure to get results.  Your body consistently seeks ‘homeostasis,’ or equilibrium, in order to function with the least energy use possible.  That’s your body’s job, so you’ll need a bit of creativity to stop this from happening.  I recommend that you constantly change:

•  Exercises in your workout program

•  Tempo in your workouts

•  Eating habits (allow cheat days, just to throw your system off)

•  Workout volume (some days do more than others)

•  Workout intensity (how much you put into a given exercise or circuit)

•  Joint angle or position

•  Muscles involved (preferably, unless lifting weights for size, work everything every time you workout)

Understanding how to properly ‘shock your system’ is the magic behind the results all of my clients get.  Understand this principle and six pack abs are yours to have.

Momentary muscular failure (MMF):

MMF is the ability for you to take a given exercise up to the point just before breaking form, thereby stimulating the maximal amount of muscular recruitment with a given exercise.  By maximally stimulating a muscle tissue, you are requiring that it undergo a repair process.  This repair process often takes up 72 hours, depending on which source you read, and forces your metabolism to be higher throughout.  Naturally, with increased metabolic demand comes more calories burned and less body fat. 

The repair process mentioned above is referred to as ‘Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption’ (EPOC for short) and is the most important aspect of any exercise program that is intended to be progressive in nature.  Without EPOC taking place, you are limited to the number of calories you can burn in the gym, rather than throughout the entire day (and days to follow.)  By keeping MMF and EPOC in mind, your six pack abs exercise program is sure to reap improved results.

All of this information may seem a bit overwhelming in the beginning, but, with time, you’ll see the results and better understand.  I recommend getting involved with an expert resource you can trust when it comes to six pack abs development.  Leave the science with the scientists, and just get moving for now.  You’ll be well on your way before you know it!

If you’d like a free trial of an incredibly effective ab strengthening program that only takes 10 minutes per day, please go to: http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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Do You Know How To Gain Muscle Fast?
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By Vince DelMonte
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/nononsense.html

Could you teach me how to gain muscle fast? Could you teach me how to pack on an extra ten to fifteen pounds of muscle mass before my next vacation? Could you help me get ready for my first bodybuilding or fitness model competition? Could you help you look like someone who actually lifts weights? Could you help me build a body that turns heads and demands respect?

As a skinny guy muscle building expert, I get approached these questions daily in my office. Every single hard gainer I consult with wants to know how to gain muscle fast and how to do safely and effectively.

Hard gainers, please listen up! There is hope for you. I am happy to say that learning how to gain muscle fast is not as hard as some would make you believe but it also not as easy as you might think. But you must be prepared to train smarter and not harder. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about wimping out during your workouts. I am referring to the big picture of training more intelligently.

Here is some of the most popular advice I give to the hard gainer when he wishes to gain muscle fast.

1. Never Perform More Than 10 Reps.

If you are lifting weights beyond 10 reps than you are emphasizing your slow-twitch muscle fibers which have the smallest opportunity for muscle growth. You are a hard gainer and you need recruit the maximal amount of muscle fibers in every set. Always choose your weights knowing that a 11th rep is forbidden and trespassing into 'skinny land.'

If you really want to gain muscle fast than get your mind into heavy lifting mode. Every single set and every single exercise. Keep the weights heavy and never more than 10 reps. Approach every workout knowing that you are going to be venturing into new territory and waging war on your skinny genetics. I recommend these workouts with a workout partner so you can eliminate any safetey issues, not slack off and push your limits every inch of the way.

2. Reduce Your Workout Time

Perform more work in less time and you have increased your work capacity. Work refers to the number of sets, reps and poundage within your workout. Who is fitter? The guy who can do 4 sets of 185 pounds bench press with 30 second rest or the guy who can do 4 sets of 185 pound bench press with 90 second rest? The one who can do the same amout of work in less time. Guess who is more muscular? The one who has a higher work capacity.

Next time you enter the gym, try to complete your current workout in less time. Take shorter rests. Move from one exercise to the next much quicker. Don't be surprised if you feel out of shape! This is one of the easiest tips you can take away to increase your muscle density and take your fitness to a new level. Be prepared to humble yourself and get out of your comfort zone.

3. Do Only One Exercise Per Muscle Group

Only one? Yes, only one, unless you want to buy into the notion that you must mutilate a muscle for over an hour to get any growth out of it. Consider this typical day in the gym. Today is your chest day. Your first exercise is bench press. You perform your first set with 185 lbs, second set with 205 lbs, third set with 225 lbs and fourth set with 245 lbs.

Assuming this is your max weight for the desired number of reps, is it not safe to say that you have used the maximal number of muscle fibers? Your goal is to simple spark your muscles into growth. Not exhaust them to death. Once they experience a unknown assalut (stimulus), your body will be forced to adapt and create new muscle to prevent future assaults! Therefore, your take home lesson is this: Once you have out performed your last workout, it is time to move onto the next exercise.

4. Do No More Than 3-5 Sets Per Muscle Group

I question a hard gainers workout intensity if they must do more than 3-5 sets per muscle group. Now if you are using anabolic steroids or have muscle friendly genes than you can safely dismiss this advice. Remember, learning how to gain muscle fast for the hard gainer requires following a new set of rules.

Consider the first 1-2 sets at 85% maximal effort. The third set at 95% maximal effort and the fourth (and sometimes fifth) set at 100% maximal effort. It is only this last all out set that contributes to the greatest muscle growth. Anything over and above this last go till you blow set simply exhausts the muscle beyond reason and delays your recovery ability to hit the muscle again. It is this last set that you should perform at least 1-2 extra reps or 5-10 extra pounds than last workout. Mission accomplished. You have sparked your muscles into growth. Time to move on.

5. Increase Your Strength 5% Every Two Weeks

One of the biggest mistakes I see hard gainers make in the gym is not track there progress. They return week-after-week to simply reherse the same workouts with the absense of progress. How do you expect to gain muscle fast if you continue to lift the same weights each workout? Your body is designed to tolerate stress. Assault it and let it get bigger. Assault it and let it get bigger. It's a simple concept.

So your take home message is to aim for a minimum of 5% strength increase every two weeks. You might progress a little quicker with larger muscle groups like back and legs versus smaller muscles like biceps and triceps. Just think, in six months from now, you will be over twice as strong as you are now! I would actually recommend writing down your strength goals for six months from now and than work backwords. If you are currently dead lifting 135 lbs, aim to be deadlifting 270 lbs over the next few months!

Conclusion

I know these five tips were not your typical Muscle and Fitness 101 advice and not your typical generic bodybuilding advice. I learned a long time ago to question everything you read and hear. Learn for yourself by doing and not by talking about it. As a skinny guy once myself, 149 lbs to be exact, I defeated my skinny genetics and learned how to gain muscle fast by not following the herd and training smarter and not harder Will you?

About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com

He specializes in teaching skinny guys how to build muscle and gain weight quickly without drugs, supplements and training less than before.

© 2006-2008, Vince DelMonte Fitness. All rights in all media reserved. You may reprint this article so long as the article and author bio are reprinted intake and all links are made live. This article may never be sold individually or as part of a package.

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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Exercise And The Brain
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[ Editor's Note:  Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

If you ever needed another good reason to exercise, I've got one for you:

Exercise makes your brain bigger.

Actually this isn't entirely accurate. To be more specific, exercise was found to increase brain size slightly, but far more important to increase "spatial reasoning."

This is the ability to recognize patterns, remember phrases, numbers, and so-on. This was discovered by researchers at the Universities of Chicago and Pittsburgh.

It is also one of the most important factors to the prevention of Alzheimer's and dementia.

My mom suffered with dementia the last ten years of her life. But unlike most dementia patients she was fully functional thanks to exercise. She drove and had a mind that was unbelievably sharp right up until an accident injured her beyond the ability to exercise.

After that, she mentally went downhill rapidly. Thankfully, she passed in peace... and she had ten wonderfully active years thanks to her willingness to take up weight training at the age of 71.

She eventually walked up to 3 miles per day and trained in the gym 3 days per week.

That kept her mind sharp, along with fish oil and N-Acetyl L-Carnitine, a wonderful brain nutrient.

Once again, we see the power of exercise. It increases the QUALITY of your life.

Quantity is no where near as important to me as quality.

The links at the bottom of this newsletter are to my books on exercise. Pick the one that appeals to you most and take action.

Your brain will thank you, as will the rest of your body.

One of the best ways to start exercising when you are over 40 is by using the routines covered in "Fit Over 40".

This book profiles 53 different men and women, age 40 to 80, all sharing their workouts, nutrition plans, and mental empowerment techniques.

It is a MUST-HAVE for anyone wanting to begin exercising or improve their level of fitness after the age of 40.

For a freee fat-burning course from Fit Over 40, go here --

http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/fitover40.html <--- Freee Fatburning Course

S Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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Carbohydrates and Fat Loss: What's the Deal?
---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
by Mike Roussell PhD(c)
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/warpspeedfatloss.html

Carbohydrates play an important role in any fat loss diet. You need them to help you recover from your workouts but you need to limit them so that they don't inhibit your fat loss. So what is the right balance of carbohydrates in your diet? When you eat carbs and what kind of carbs you eat depends on your body type and the time of day. Let's look at this idea a little more closely.

The degree in which your body does not 'handle' carbohydrates well is known in sciency terms as insulin resistance. While there are many factors that impact insulin resistance; the most important is your body fat. Lots of Visceral body fat (the kind that sits inside your gut surrounding your organs) leads to increased insulin resistance. The greater your insulin resistance the worse your body is at processing carbohydrates.

The best way to deal with insulin resistance from a dietary standpoint is to use lower impact carbohydrates. The 'impact' of a carbohydrate is the degree in which it effects your blood sugar levels. This can be measured in terms of 'glycemic load' (higher glycemic load leads to greater effect on your blood sugar levels). One of the world's top glycemic load researchers, David Ludwig, discovered in one of his research studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that people with insulin resistance lost more weight when they were on a low glycemic load diet vs. a low fat diet.

Low glycemic load diets are typically lower in total carbohydrates and higher in protein and fat than a typical low fat diet. This is the perfect kind of diet for weight loss. You can easily eat this way by switching out rice, pasta, potatoes, breads, etc for spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, green beans, chick peas, etc. These are the kinds of carbs that you want to focus on eating throughout the day as they are low in total carbohydrates and sugars but higher in fiber.

While low 'impact' carbs are important for controlling insulin levels and increasing your rate of fat loss, fast acting carbs are also an important part of a fat loss diet. A 2006 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology showed that when people drank a sugary shake during their workout over the course of 12 weeks, they lost just as much weight as the ones that did not drink anything. Carbohydrates during your workout will allow you to train harder, burning more calories, and thus losing more fat. Fast acting carbs during your workout will also allow you to recover from your workouts faster, allowing you to continue training hard and losing weight fast.

The final important point that needs to be made is that when low carbohydrate diets are compared to low fat diets, the people on low carb diets consistently lose more weight after 6 months on the diet and they do not need to focus on cutting calories - they just eat however much they want. People on low fat diets need to focus on restricting calories and they don't lose as much weight. Which diet would you rather be on?

If you are truly serious about losing weight as fast as possible then you need to adopt a low carb approach during the day but allow for a fast acting carb workout shake when you train.

About the Author/More Info:
Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit WarpSpeed Fatloss. Mike Roussell is a nutrition doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. Mike's writings can be found in magazines such as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and Testosterone Nation. Mike specializes in fat loss nutrition and diets for busy men and women who need to lose weight fast without it interfering with their lives. Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint that gives you exactly everything you need to eat to lose weight in record time.

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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How Long To Rest Between Sets
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By Jon Benson
http://your7minutemuscle.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Editor's Note:  Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

A lot of my readers ask me how long to rest between sets while exercising.

The answer is: It depends on your goals.

If you are training to increase strength, I recommend resting a bit longer - up to two minutes for exercises like squats and heavy dumbbell work. But if you want to burn the most amount of bodyfat and gain lean muscle, I recommend resting for very short periods of time.

"The Iron Guru" Vince Gironda used to recommend leaving your hands on the bar between sets -- now THAT is short rest intervals!  He would frequently rest only 15-20 seconds between sets.

This is similar to the strategy I use in 7 Minute Muscle -- very short rest intervals and very intense training. Smart, short, efficient. That's the way to go.

A good place to start is simply reducing your rest intervals by 10 seconds. No matter what workout you're using, decrease your rest by 10 seconds between sets. You may not be as strong on the last few sets (if you are training traditionally... if you use 7 Minute Muscle your rest is "built-in" and not an issue.) Over time you will work your way back up to the same amount of sets and reps but done in far less time.

This means more work output, which means more muscle if your nutrition is good.

This is the best way to train most of the time:  Limited rest, intense sets, and short workouts.

They are the ones that produce results.

Go here for more information --

http://your7minutemuscle.com <--- Short, effective workouts

SSincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

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Six Pack Abs Success Formula - Miss This And You Might Blow Your Whole Program

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri
Physical Therapist & Fitness Professional
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html 

Building six pack abs takes strategy.  There are many conflicting opinions about the best method to six pack abs, but one thing that all top fitness professionals recognize is that it’s not about ab machines, ab devices, or ab exercises.  For any of you who have followed Mike Geary for any length of time, he’s someone who preaches about this on a regular basis.  Per Geary, the truth about six pack abs is that you need to exercise your entire body and stop wasting time with spot reduction, extreme dieting, and temporary fitness fads.  I agree with Mike Geary.

But let’s take things one step further... what area of your body should you work the hardest in the beginning of your voyage to six pack abs?

The answer is easy:  your legs through core-based exercise.

By strengthening your legs and trunk, you are providing a foundation for all future movements to the rest of your body.  It’s most important to focus on trunk strengthening, in order to stabilize your spine during any other exercise.  That said, most of the best trunk strengthening exercises involve your legs.  Here is a brief list of great trunk strengthening exercises that will lead to increased spinal stability, stronger abs, and a better body:

•  Barbell Squat

•  Dumbbell Bent Leg Deadlift

•  Clean & Press (a bit more risk, but a lot more reward)

•  Squat, C.url & Triple Press (medicine ball or dumbbells)

•  Spider Plank on Ball

As you can see, 4 of the 5 exercises listed above are lower body dominant exercises.  However, they are also the exact same exercises that ‘load the spine,’ meaning they place more weight directly through your spine, and thereby cause your low back and abdominal muscles to contract and stabilize the increased force or demand being placed upon them.  This means that your abs are working, but you’re also performing compound movements that will raise many local metabolisms in many joints.

The effect:  Raising local metabolic activity at each joint yields a higher global (or overall) metabolism.  Therefore, you’ll be able to eat more and lose weight.

In example 5, ‘Spider Plank on Ball,’ we chose a trunk or core-based exercise on an unstable surface.  The unstable surface and dynamic movement naturally create a stimulus to all of your ‘stabilizing muscles,’ including:

•• Transversus Abdominus

••  External Oblique

•  Internal Oblique

• Iliopsoas

•• Quadratus Lumborum

•  Multifidus

•  Pelvic Floor Musculature

•  Gluteals

••  Hip Internal & External Rotators

• 

Clearly, when it comes to building a stable base for future exercise, these are the key muscles for success.  Many of these are muscles that are very often missed in workout programs.  By targeting the muscles listed above, you are not only preventing injury, but you are also creating a strong body and a higher exercise tolerance.  Muscle balancing always leads to improved exercise tolerance, meaning more work gets done every time you work out. 

Build a strong foundation for movement by choosing lower body, trunk-based exercises and you will reap the benefit.  Your abs will be screaming, but you’ll drop body fat faster than you ever thought possible.  Remember, when training for six pack abs, it’s important to have a strategy for success.  As a doctor of physical therapy and fitness professional, I can’t help but want to strengthen joints while burning fat in order to create a potential for long-term fat loss success. 

If you’d like to learn to dominate your workout program and get six pack abs as fast as possible, I’m currently offering a free trial of Ab Strength Guide.  You are more than welcome to give it a try and keep all of the bonuses, either way.  Feel free to shoot me an email or post on the blog if you have any questions...

About the Author: Dr. Kareem Samhouri is the president and owner of Global Fitness LLC. Through his company people are able to realize complete wellness, as they serve nutrition, massage, physical therapy, and personal training. Dr. K is a graduate of the University of Miami Doctor of Physical Therapy program and has earned a bachelor’s of science from the Pennsylvania State University in Kinesiology. Additionally, Dr. K is a licensed physical therapist and holds a Health and Fitness Instructor certification from the internationally recognized American College of Sports Medicine.

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover