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The Diet Solution Program Reviewed

lewis — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:12:02 +0000

The Diet Solution Program Review

By line: Lewis Wolk
URL: www.yourdietsolution.com

Watch this amazing video by Isabel De Los Rios !

Review of The Diet Solution Program: The Program that Promises Fat Loss along with an incredible amount of Health and Vitality.

The Diet Solution Program promises a complete and comprehensive weight loss program that will not only help you lose body fat, but guarantees you increased energy, health and vitality all at the same time.

With so many weight loss programs out on the market and on the internet today, what makes this program any different than all the rest?

Before we get to the program, let's take a look at the expert behind this program. Isabel De Los Rios is a nutrition and exercise specialist with 10 years of experience helping clients reach their ideal weight and tackle conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and high cholesterol. Isabel has a very extensive educational background in nutrition and exercise physiology. Her personal experience with her own weight struggles and her mother's severe diabetes led her search for the BEST nutrition information available today. The Diet Solution Program is a result of her 15 year study and research.

Click Here to Download The Diet Solution Program now

I've also talked to Isabel about her training and education background, and I'll be honest, it was impressive, unlike other so-called "health experts", who are just following main stream nutrition programs. Isabel provides her readers with the truth: the facts most people have never taken the time to research, read and decipher.

Plus, Isabel has been a nutrition and exercise specialist for the past 10 years and has personally worked with hundreds of clients in her own private facility, overseeing successful weight loss programs. This hands on experience with real people solidified the facts and principles she had learned in books, journals and from other health professionals. The proof was really in the results of real people.

In fact, Isabel's articles are pretty radical when it comes to her nutrition principles which is why her approach works when main-stream nutrition fails. So if you are looking for the same old nutrition theories taught in every other book and program on the market today, this is not the program for you.

Now one of the biggest questions about the program is simply, "What is The Diet Solution Program?" Well according to Isabel, it is the most comprehensive and detailed nutrition manual available on the market today. Not only does it teach you exactly what principles you need to follow to finally reach your ideal weight, it gives you the meal plans, shopping lists and recipes to do so. It does not push some extreme, unreasonable way to lose weight. It actually teaches you how you can make this healthy way of eating into a lifestyle. And if you have ever attempted to lose weight in the past, you know that the only way to maintain it is to make it a way of life. The best part about Isabel's program is that this new way of life is not some torturous eating regimen. She really shows you that you can eat delicious food, combined the right way, to lose weight and maintain it.

One of the best side effects of the whole program is the increased health and vitality that every participant experiences. Decreases in blood sugar levels, lowered cholesterol, increased energy, elimination of digestive discomfort and cleared skin conditions are just some of the few benefits other people have already experienced.

Frankly, I've used the program myself and recommended to many others. Why? Because I was sick and tired of following nutrition plans that either did not work or made me lose weight but feel terrible. Yes, I want to be at my ideal weight but I also want to maintain a healthy body at the same time and not have to resort to extreme, radical methods. The Diet Solution Program helped me lose weight and feel healthy and energized at the same time.

Now realize that some effort from you will be required, but Isabel has really done all the hard work for you. Included in her program is:

Step by step action steps telling you exactly how to put the principles in place
Detailed daily meal plans that make everyday eating easy
Shopping Lists to make food shopping a snap
Delicious Recipes to make everyday meals tasty

Click Here to Download The Diet Solution Program now

The manual is comprehensive. Jam packed with incredible and valuable information. But you don't need to wait to get through the whole thing before you can start. You can use Isabel's Quick Start Guide to start the program ASAP. Some people have even just used the quick start guide and lost 10-15lbs in a little as 6 weeks.

The Diet Solution Program is not just another weight loss scheme or extreme diet. It is truly the only way to lose weight and enjoy a lifetime of health. The Diet Solution Program is perfect for people who have struggled with their weight their whole life and are sick and tired of programs that just don't work long term. The DSP is also perfect for people who want to take control of their health and reverse health conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.

If you're in the slightest bit curious, I recommend you look closely at Isabel's program. I was very impressed with all of The Diet Solution Program meal plans, the bonuses, the guarantee, and Isabel's expertise. For the money, it's the best deal in the weight loss industry – so much better than diet pills! And remember…

Website link again is : http://yourdietsolution.com

Isabel De Los Rios's The Diet Solution Program is backed by a 90 day money back guarantee. And this is a real guarantee… if you are not completely satisfied, you will receive your money back, no "ifs," "ands," or "buts." So you really have nothing to lose.

your PECS will be dialing 9-1-1 after this…

lewis — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:10:56 +0000

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your PECS will be dialing 9-1-1 after this…

By Jeff Anderson
http://www.combatyourownfat.com

When was the last time you really had that "chest poke pain"

You know…like when 24 hours after your chest workout, you can’t
stop poking your pecs with your finger to marvel at how much it
hurts?

Yeah, it’s a secret pleasure of mine too! (ha ha!)

If it’s been a while, then here’s a "Quick Tip" I did last week
that will have YOU pokin’ away by tomorrow evening:

=====================================

"Quick Tip" For Pec-Poking Pain…

=====================================

(Warning to "skimmers": This will LOOK like a simple, giant
"tri-set", but there are a few twists so READ EACH STEP!)

1. First, you’re going to be using the bench press for this
exercise (your favorite, right ?

2. Choose a weight that you can do for about 12 reps before hitting
failure BUT (and this is IMPORTANT!) load up the bar with either
10lb or 25lb plates so that you can quickly take off 50% of what
you have loaded on each side.

(Sure, you’ll look like a whuss! But ARE you? Hell no…so "grab
‘em" like you got a pair and don’t give a sh*t what the other guys
think!

3. Now, do a traditional set on the bench press until you reach
full muscular failure.

4. As soon as you rack the weight, jump up and strip 50% off each
side.

5. NEXT…with no rest, grab the bar with a WIDE, WIDE grip (up to
12 inches past your shoulders) and knock out your reps to failure.

=====================================

Side Note: This works by really taking your burned out triceps out
of the picture as much as possible and give you a WICKED PUMP in
your chest!

Read on…

=====================================

6. LASTLY…as soon as you hit failure and rack the weight, with no
rest, grab a dumbbell (just about 30-50 lbs will do nicely) and do
a set of Dumbell Pullovers, keeping your arms VERY, VERY STRAIGHT
(to take your triceps out of the movement even more) and feel a
good stretch in your chest at the bottom.

This will allow you to really burn out your Type 1 muscle fibers
for a serious Growth Hormone response and a massive pump!

Once you hit failure, give yourself a good 2-3 minute rest to
recover and run through this giant set one more time.

That will give you 6 total "chest sets" and the next day all your
co-workers will be wondering why you keep poking your chest and
wincing!

Enjoy !

Your "Champion For The Average Joe & Jane"
The "Muscle Nerd" Jeff Anderson
http://www.combatyourownfat.com

=============================================
Lewis, Publisher
Sarah, CPT

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3 Unusual Tips to Build Bigger Arms

lewis — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:31:19 +0000

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3 Unusual Tips to Build Bigger Arms

By Mike Geary
http://truthaboutabs.atozfitness.com

1. Do more heavy squats and deadlifts!

Yes, I know this sounds crazy since squats and deadlifts don’t directly work your arms (except for the grip and forearm strength needed to deadlift heavy weights)… but it’s true that regularly performing heavy squats and deadlifts can indirectly help to make your arms bigger and stronger.

The reason is that heavy squatting and/or deadlifting forces the body to release muscle building hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone depending on the resistance level, rep range, rest period, etc.

Generally, heavy weights, lower reps, and longer rest periods stimulate testosterone release, whereas moderate weights, higher rep ranges, and shorter rest periods help to stimulate Growth Hormone release. Therefore, combining both styles of training into your routines on either different days of the week or different cycles, can help to maximize both of these important muscle building hormones.

2. Try my arm-blasting, hormone-maximizing combo sets!

In theory, I think this style of combo I’m going to show you can work well to stimulate some new growth in your arms if you’ve been stuck at a plateau. In practice, I’ve actually SEEN it produce results!

My technique involves combining a heavy squat or deadlift (in a very heavy weight and low rep range) with a single-joint exercise for the biceps or triceps (in a higher-rep "pump" style fashion).

So here are 2 ways this could work in separate workouts for example:

Alternating sets (exercise 1a, rest 30-60 seconds, exercise 1b, rest 30-60 seconds, repeat for all sets)

1a. Barbell back squats — heavy challenging weight – 5 sets of 3-4 reps/set
1b. Barbell or dumbbell curls (or any bicep single-joint exercise) — 5 sets of 12-15 reps/set; going for "pump"

So you can see how this unusual style of supersetting (or rather, alternating sets), actually combines a testosterone stimulating full body exercise done at a heavy weight with a single joint (isolation) exercise that has the intention of creating more of a bodybuilding "pump".

The other reason this style of alternating sets works is that the single-joint exercise is almost like an "active rest" while your entire body and CNS recovers from the demands of doing heavy, heavy squats.

The same style can work with deadlifts combined with a triceps exercise… for example:

1a. Barbell deadlifts — heavy challenging weight – 5 sets of 3-4 reps/set
1b. Triceps single-joint exercise (lying dumbbell extensions, cable pressdowns, etc) – 5 sets of 12-15 reps/set; going for "pump"

Again, this seems like an unusual combo for alternating sets, but actually works out quite well, because after deadlifting very heavy weights, performing a high rep "pump" exercise for the triceps is a welcome relief for your body and your mind to help recover and get ready for the next set of heavy deads.

3. Food, food, food!

Remember that the title of this article meant that your goal was to add more muscle SIZE to your arms, and in order to add muscle to your body, you need to be in a slight caloric surplus.

Ok… so the first 2 tips might have been a little unusual, but this one should be obvious.

Although it IS possible for some people (especially beginners) to add muscle mass while reducing calories below their maintenance levels, it is extremely hard for any type of hardgainer to build any muscle at all if your calories aren’t high enough. Remember, we weren’t talking about a fat loss routine here… we were talking about gaining muscle and getting bigger arms… so that is going to require some extra calories above your maintenance.

Don’t go crazy and think this means eating tons of junk food… you should still stick to clean healthy foods.

I wouldn’t obsess over exact ratios of carbs, protein, or fats either… your body needs all 3 for different reasons… protein as the building blocks of muscle; carbs for muscle glycogen, energy during the workouts, and insulin response post-workout; and healthy fats to help maximize your muscle building hormones.

This is more than just about arms and pecs though… if you’re dedicated to building a ripped, strong, powerful body from head to toe, I HIGHLY recommend my good friend and colleague Vince delmonte’s program.

Check it out here : http://vincedelmontefitness.atozfitness.com

Hope you enjoyed the article and have fun with the training!

=============================================
Lewis, Publisher
Sarah, CPT

www.articles.atozfitness.com
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The Best Arm Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of Reviewed

lewis — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:07:07 +0000

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The Best Arm Exercises You've Never Heard Of Review Page

The Best Arm Exercises
You've Never Heard Of
Reviewed

Title:The Best Arm Exercises You've Never Heard Of
Author: Nick Nilsson
Reviewed by Lewis – AtoZfitness.com
Website: http://bestarmexercises.atozfitness.com
Sample Copy : http://www.atozfitness.com/downloads/best-arm-exercises.pdf

Review

So what's the first thing you think of when you think of "arm training" – if you're like a lot of trainers, you immediately think barbell curls and pushdowns. Or dumbell curls and dips, etc. The "standard" exercises, right?

Well, it's time to think outside the box! Or as Nick Nilsson (the author of "The Best Arm Exercises You've Never Heard Of") puts it…time to make a NEW box and think outside of THAT one!

"The Best Arm Exercises" is a very interesting book…68 unique exercises for the bicep, triceps and forearms ONLY. This is thing has NO fluff – it's just packed with training information.

So Why a book on JUST Arms?

That's the first question I asked Nick when he first sent this book along to me for a review. After all, the trend right now is more towards functional and "total body" styles of training. Direct and/or isolated arm work seems to take a back seat to that type of approach these days.

Basically, is this just for fun or just fluff training?

So here's his reasoning as to why direct arm training should be done…as he was telling me this stuff, it really made a lot of sense.

1. Direct Arm Training Can be Useful as Assistance Work for the "Big" Exercises

Let's say your bench press has been stuck in a plateau because you have trouble fully locking the bar out at the top. That top range of motion is a primarily triceps. By directly working the triceps with effective "assistance" exercises, you can immediately see results that carry over to your big movements.

Obviously, any pressing movement is going to have a substantial tricep component. What about biceps? Bicep strength plays an important role in rowing and pulling exercises, like chin-ups, bent-over rows…even deadlifts.

Remember…your body is only as strong as it's weakest link.

If you're doing a bench press and your triceps are relatively weaker than your chest, it's going to LIMIT the amount of weight you can push. By directly strengthening your weak links, you can improve your total strength in the big lifts.

Same for an exercise like chin-ups. Your back may be strong, but if your bicep (or even forearm!) strength limits your training, you'll never maximize your performance in that exercise.

A targeted application of direct arm training can really make a big difference in your lifting.

And, of course, you need to use EFFECTIVE exercises for this purpose, otherwise you're wasting your time.

"The Best Arm Exercises" has some EXTREMELY targeted stuff that certainly fits the bill as big exercise "assistance" exercises.

2. Training Variety

Obviously, a book full of 68 new exercises is going to give you a LOT of variety to choose from. Your body thrives on variety and change…you still DO need to maintain a level of consistency to achieve a training effect, but something as simple as a new exercise or a new way of doing something can really spark results.

Nick actually acknowledges this as well – in his own training, he tells me that it's about 75% "normal" stuff…squats, deadlifts, bench press, that kind of thing. The other 25% is a rotation of the unique exercises you see presented in his books and on his sites.

You really do HAVE to keep some consistency in order to see results – perform random exercises without regard to adaptation just won't get you anyway. When I asked Nick about this specific point as it relates to his book, he said…

"Here's the approach you have to take with this type of resource – take your time with it and pick out a few exercises you want to try. Use them the next time you train arms and see how they work for you. Generally speaking, if an exercise is going to work for you, you'll feel it pretty quickly. Stick with the ones you get the biggest effect from then gradually work in OTHER exercises on a rotational basis like a continuous audition process at a soap opera.

As good as these exercises are, I'm quite sure there will be ones that don't work equally as well for everybody. You have to experiment and find out what works best for YOU. Then work it HARD!"

3. Deloading

Let's say you've been training the "Big 3" lifts (squat, bench, and deadlift) a LOT and for a LONG time. There comes a time when you need to back off and "deload", reducing your training volume for recovery purposes. If you keep hammering away at heavy exercises, your body breaks down…muscle, connective tissue and nervous system. That's when injuries happen.

And this is the perfect time to work in some unique exercises like the ones Nick has in his book – you can use this time to build strength in your weaker muscle groups and really target your weak points.

4. Compound Exercises For The Arms

One of the nice things Nick has done with this book is include plenty of compound exercises for the arms…not hard to find for the triceps in the scope of normal exercises (think of dips, close grip bench press, etc.) but generally a bit tougher to find for biceps…it's usually all curls.

Several of the exercises are variations of pull-ups or rows that make adjustments in setup and/or execution in order to change the focus from back to biceps. They're VERY simple to execute and WOW do they really have potential.

The real standout exercise in that department is the Nilsson Curl, which can be best described as a chin-up with your forearms braced against a bar set about a foot lower than the one you're gripping on.

As Nick explains it, this bracing keeps you from being able to pull your body straight up, which normally engages the lats. By blocking your forearms like this, it forces you to pull yourself up and around in an arc with the elbow as the pivot. This is almost ALL biceps (80 to 90%) with assistance being provided by the lats instead of the other way around.

You can actually SEE this exercise in action as one of the sample exercises on Nick's site for the book. It's a very cool exercise and it's a great twist on a classic exercise to really shift the focus to the biceps and work them with a compound exercise.

5. FUN

Yes, arm training IS fun and SHOULD be fun! The real "meat and potatoes" work is done under the squat bar and at the deadlift, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying training those "mirror" muscles from time to time, too.

A few Things That Could Be Improved About the Book…

When you get this book, you're obviously getting a book about exercises. But One thing that would be a nice addition would be some targeted sample workouts for working those exercises into a program.

These exercises are so unique, that it might be hard some trainers to figure exactly how to best use these in a program.

I asked Nick about this and he said he's actually got several unannounced bonus gifts for people when they pick up the book that will address this exact thing. He wanted to keep it as a surprise, as a way of saying "thanks" but if it's the lack of programs really shouldn't be something that should hold you back from getting this book.

The other thing that I can see is that there aren't that many forearm exercises in the book (5 for the forearms as compared to 33 for the biceps and 30 for the triceps). Nick told me he's going to be addressing this in updates to the book as he definitely knows the forearm stuff needs to be built on.

Here's the thing…

When you get the book, you'll also get free updates for life, so those forearm exercises are going to be something you'll be getting soon enough…as if the other 63 exercises aren't plenty to keep going for a long time anyway!

The last thing I should mention is that if you're limited on equipment, there will be a few exercises that you won't be able to perform…there are a few that require cable machines (though creative use of training bands/elastics would be a good substitute) and a few that require a power rack.

But even with fairly BASIC equipment like a bench and some free weights, you'll be able to perform the VAST majority of these exercises just fine. Several of them require no equipment at all or things that can very easily be improvised.

CONCLUSION:

Now, if you've seen the exercises that Nick has created before, you'll know exactly what this book is all about…very cool, very effective exercises that will have everybody in your gym coming up and asking you what the heck you're doing.

These exercises are very well thought out and have a lot of potential both for improving your arms AND for helping improve your "big" exercises through assistance training.

Plus, the exercises are just plain fun!

To learn more about this book and to grab your copy right now:

http://bestarmexercises.atozfitness.com

=============================================
Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
The best fitness articles by the webs greatest writers.

AtoZfitness.com Google's #1 fitness site.
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Free Sample of Nick Nilsson’s Best Arm Exercises you Never Heard of !

lewis — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:08:08 +0000

www.AtoZfitness.com
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- AtoZfitness Special Announcement -

Nick Nilsson’s Best Arm Exercises
you Never Heard of !

Yesterday I emailed my subscribers about my buddy Nick’s new book, which goes into some crazy exercises for getting massive arms.

I’ve persuaded him to let me give you 34 pages of this new book.

You can download it here: (Note it has also been uploaded to the Atozfitness downloads members area )

Direct download link :

Check it out, I’ve seen a lot of exercises in my time, but just about all of these were brand new to me.

And remember if you want a copy of Nick’s book, you can get a massive discount for the next couple of days:

http://bestarmexercises.atozfitness.com

Guys…Want Big, Ripped Arms Stretching Your Shirt Sleeves?

CLICK HERE

Ladies…Want Tight, Sculpted Arms That Look GREAT With NO Sleeves at All?

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Sample Video Demonstrations

1. On Barbell Tricep Extension-Presses This one is a mash-up of two bodyweight tricep exercises that, when combined, will pump your tri’s up like CRAZY. Very little equipment required, which is nice for home-gym trainers like myself.

2. Barbell Leverage Curls Do this exercise once and you’ll NEVER look at an EZ curl bar the same way again. It uses a unique leverage method that will have your arms screaming by the time you’re done.

3. Incline Face-Away Pushdowns and Presses

This unique pushdown variation will set your triceps on fire! The angle of your body combined with the continuous tension of the cable will light ‘em up from top to bottom.

4. Nilsson Curls

I named it after myself because this exercise is just so freaking cool . It’s a bodyweight exercise for biceps that LOOKS like a chin-up but forces almost ALL the resistance directly onto your biceps. It’s insane.

Right now, Nick’s just released this book and is only charging $29.95 for the full 68-exercise book. This is just DIRT CHEAP for the sheer volume of innovative exercises you’ll find in it. Exercise descriptions, pictures, even an entire VIDEO LIBARY that you’ll have full access to so you know exactly how to perform every exercise.

If you’ve got access to free weight and bodyweight and a few basic pieces of equipment, you’ll be able to use the VAST majority of these exercises.

But here’s the thing…he’s only keeping it at this price until Friday, Sept. 25th at midnight. Then he’s kicking it up to the regular price of $49.95. So if you want to get these exercises for cheap, you’ve gotta act fast.

Sincerely,
Lewis

P.S. When you get to the site and poke around the sample exercises, you’ll notice he’s got a sign-up box where you can actually get three ADDITIONAL exercises. Definitely sign up for this – he told me he’s also going to be sending out even MORE sample exercises to the people who do.

http://bestarmexercises.atozfitness.com

the BEST cardio machines…

lewis — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:04:52 +0000

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the BEST cardio machines…

By Sean Nalewanyj
http://howtoburnyourfat.atozfitness.com/

———————————————————————-|

Set foot in any traditional gym across the country and you’ll find an endless array of different cardio machines… from treadmills to stationary bikes to stairclimbers to ellipticals.

A well structured cardio program obviously plays an important
role in any effective fat burning workout plan… but which
cardio machines are best and what criteria should we use to
determine which machines to focus on?

It need not be a complicated process, but here are the 2 main
factors that I would suggest looking out for when deciding which
machines to include in your program…

1) The machine should not require very much skill to use.
In other words, stick to cardio machines that are simplistic and
mechanical in nature. Your goal during a cardio session is not to
aimlessly slave away for a marathon session lasting an hour or
more, but rather to keep the session short, concise and highly
intensive.

For this reason, you don’t want to have to divert your focus
onto balancing yourself on the machine or maintaining a specific
form throughout the workout.

Instead, you should pick a cardio exercise that is basic and
straightforward to execute so that the majority of your focus can
be placed on generating a high level of intensity.

2) The machine should minimize the risk of injury. One of your primary goals when it comes to both weight training and cardiovascular exercise is to keep your joints and connective
tissues strong and healthy at all times.

For this reason, you should try to stick to machines that
produce low impact on your joints and that also don’t aggravate
any existing injuries you may have.

Experiment with different machines to see how they feel for you.
If any specific machine causes you discomfort, make sure to steer
clear of it.

Here are a few of the machines I specifically recommend using
based on the above criteria…

***Upright Stationary Bike
This machine is extremely straightforward to use and will allow
you to place all of your focus on generating a high level of
intensity without having to worry about your form.

It is also a very low impact exercise and will keep the stress
off of your joints. Stationary bikes are also easily programmable
and are ideal when performing interval-style training, which is
the kind that I most highly recommend.

***Recumbent Bike
This is the same as a stationary bike, only your body is in a
seated position. The seated position will take some of the stress
off of your lower back, which is a nice advantage for those who
have previous lower back problems.

***Treadmill
Another great choice when implementing an interval-style of
training. Treadmills are a great alternative to running outdoors,
because the platforms are designed to produce less impact on the
joints. If you want to increase the difficulty you can also raise
the platform up on an incline.

***Stairclimber
A stairclimber can be used by anyone from beginners to advanced.
It is another low impact movement and allows you to keep the
majority of your focus on putting forth a hard effort. Make sure
to avoid leaning on the handle bars as this will reduce the
intensity of the workout.

Hopefully this has helped you understand which cardio machines
are the safest and most effective fat burning solutions to
include in your program.
Sean

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This is a complete fat loss system that teaches people how to burn fat and tone their bodies without supplements, fad diets or fancy training equipment. The full package contains the main e-book ,"The Truth About Burning Fat", along with a full collection of support modules and bonus items.

http://howtoburnyourfat.atozfitness.com/

=============================================
Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
The best fitness articles by the webs greatest writers.

AtoZfitness.com Google’s #1 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.comm

The TRUTH About Empty Stomach Cardio

lewis — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:33:01 +0000

———————————————————————————– |

The TRUTH About Empty Stomach Cardio

———————————————————————————– |

by Joel Marion
http://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

Content-wise,Cheat Your Way Thin e-book features a very easy-to-follow 3 phase program including a priming phase, core phase, and maintenance phase.

It also features everything you’d expect from a first-class, New York publication house including a weekly meal plan, a fat burning interval training plan, and 12 weeks of daily menus, including my 75 recipes.

And speaking of the recipes…I’m pretty proud of them. But I’m not alone – even Publisher’s Weekly loved them, stating that "no matter what kind of diet readers are looking for, the (non-cheating) recipes in the back of the book will appeal: a tasty Tomato-Basil Omelet, filled with herbs and garlic, creamy Pumpkin Pancakes and luscious Lamb Chops with Beet-and-Orange Salad are good enough to make "cheating" an afterthought."

So if you’ve struggled with fat loss plateaus in the past and are interested in learning how to "cheat" to "lose", check out the brand new The Cheat To Lose Diet.

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/atozfitnesss

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

Online Personal Training – 5 Step Formula

lewis — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:39:48 +0000

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Online Personal Training – 5 Step Formula
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by Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri, CSCS, HFS
Physical Therapist & Kinesiologist
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/abstrengthguide.html

Online personal training can be an incredibly rewarding experience or exactly the opposite. This is dependent on many factors, including personality, technological comfort, fitness level, exercise experience, & goals. When you begin your online personal training program, there are a few things you’ll need to know. Follow this 5 step formula when you begin online personal training to ensure you get incredible results.

Step 1: Evaluate yourself.

Are you the type of person that benefits from having others around while you work out or are you someone who does better in a quiet atmosphere without distractions? It’s important that you keep this in check when choosing your workout environment and online personal training program. For example, when you work out in a gym environment, it is a bit easier to stay motivated while watching others exercise around you. However, some people find themselves in the middle of social hour if they join a gym, which means that they would be better off choosing an online personal training program that can be done at home.

It’s important that you honestly evaluate yourself to determine whether or not you’d prefer to work out at home, not based on convenience necessarily, but based on goal achievement. Either way, there are programs available online, but the first step is recognition of your personal style and potential blockades from your success. If you choose a gym-based program, I recommend that you find a program that features exercises downloadable to an iPod, in order to be able to watch the exercise demonstrated properly while you are actually in the gym. If you choose to work out at home, DVD’s or online video may be the better option.

Step 2: Evaluate your future personal trainer.

The internet can be a scary place when you first begin your online personal training program. How do you know that someone is truly qualified to give you advice when you’ve never met them and training certifications seem to be given out like Pez on Halloween?

Actually, it’s quite easy. If your trainer says that s/he has graduated from a particular university or academic program, it should be pretty easy to ‘google’ her background and determine whether or not this true. Also, it’s a good idea to search one or two of the people’s names who are in the testimonials area and confirm/disconfirm that this person indeed lives in the area your trainer is suggesting. Hopefully, you’ll find out that nothing was contrived and you’ll be ready to get started in minutes.

Next, take a look at the number of years of experience, both online and offline. When you train with me online, for example, I realize that there are certain limitations from offline training, and I’ve had to address these over time with question and answer videos that provide a similar level of interaction to speaking in person. How will you go about asking questions when they come up? Is there a system in place?

Step 3: Evaluate your workout environment.

Workout environment can be the key to your success. What equipment will you need? Does your gym/home have it? If not, what can be substituted successfully, and what cannot?

By answering these questions before you start your online personal training program, you will be much more prepared for success, and you’ll have less barriers preventing you from exercising. Remember, once you start training, you’re going to want to create as positive of an experience surrounding exercise as is possible. The more positive your exercise experience, the more likely you are to return for more.

I recommend you find a program that gives you the option of using a lot of gym equipment for exercise variety, but provides you with exercise alternatives at home for the workouts when you cannot make it to the gym. With this level of diversity in your program, you are sure to see phenomenal results.

Step 4: Evaluate your weaknesses.

Evaluating your weaknesses can be the most important step you’ll ever take. By honestly charting out what your weaknesses are surrounding diet and exercise, you are much more likely to overcome them. Additionally, you’ll begin to realize where you are/are not willing to compromise and act accordingly. The most important thing is knowing…

When you understand your weaknesses, albeit motivation, intensity, frequency/scheduling, etc. you’ll be able to create compromise and improve your results. For example, if you first recognize that you only can get to the gym two days per week, then it would stand to argue you should create an exercise area at home where you can do body weight training at the very least. Understanding this before you begin your exercise program will drastically change the program you choose, how you think about your exercise program, and your rate of success.

Are you someone who benefits from regular interaction with your trainer? If so, is there a blog or forum where you can participate and hear other opinions? This is a must for most people, so please be sure you’ve found a program that allows you to participate with your trainer and ask questions from time to time. Not only will this help you stay motivated, but it will help them stay motivated to help you.

Step 5: Evaluate your strengths.

Now for the fun part! When charting out your strengths and weakness, I recommend you place them in separate, opposing columns on a piece of paper. It’s amazing what this exercise will do for you once you can plainly see your barriers to success and failure all in one place.

Are you someone who already has strength but is looking to lose weight? Do you have many years of exercise experience? Do you work out well, but you’d like to gain an education in fitness so that you’ll prevent plateauing for years to come?

By properly identifying your exercise strengths, you’ll be able to choose a program that can both be challenging and motivating at the same time. It’s important that you find some common ground to your exercise knowledge and experience, or your mind will constantly be fighting the efficacy of your exercise program. That said, if you keep doing the exact same thing you’ve done for years, it would be difficult to expect any lasting results.

Before you join an online personal training program, be sure to take some time and perform this 5 step exercise in order to ensure your future success. You’re going to want to remember what you’ve written here when enrolling in the online personal training program that provides you with better results than you ever expected possible. After doing this exercise, please be sure to take a look at Lift Hard Play Hard and take the one month trial offer to see if it’s a good fit for you.

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 .

Foods That are Promoted as Healthy, But are not in Reality

lewis — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:14:55 +0000

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Foods That are Promoted as Healthy, But are not in Reality
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By Mike Geary
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/truthaboutabs.html

Just yesterday, I was at the grocery store (supermarket) and had to shake my head at all of the clever deceptive labels with everything claiming all sorts of things that are supposedly "healthy", but aren't really. This is food marketing deception at it's worst.

One of the things I noticed over and over that really disturbed me was that I saw several examples of healthy foods in their natural state, but I saw counterfeit overly processed versions of these original foods claiming that they were healthier than the natural version...

However, in reality, all of these counterfeit versions were actually MUCH worse for you than the original... and they still have the balls to claim that their overly processed "junkified" versions are better.

I wonder if these companies are really clueless enough about nutrition that they legitimately think their products are healthier than the natural version? Hmm.

Example #1: Product claiming to be "Better than peanut butter"

This product is ridiculous! I can't believe anyone would ever believe that this processed junk is better for them than natural minimally processed peanut butter.

First of all, if you buy a good natural organic peanut butter, it is usually nothing but two ingredients... peanuts and salt. And they don't add much salt so it's not a high sodium product.

However, this fake peanut butter which claimed it was "better than peanut butter" (trying to seem healthier than natural peanut butter based on its label claims) had a list of processed junk in it you wouldn't believe. First of all, they strip all of the natural healthy fats out of the peanuts so that it is a "low fat" product. Alright, now you have just taken away one of the healthiest parts of the peanut butter... the appetite satisfying healthy fats that you need to control cravings and manage more stable blood sugar levels
in your body.

To make things worse, the healthy fats were replaced with 2 different types of sugar-based syrups as well as additional dehydrated cane juice (aka SUGAR), in addition to added refined starches (in case you didn't get enough blood-sugar spiking refined carbs yet).

This product has taken something as simple and natural as peanut butter, and turned it into what should really be called some sort of processed junk candy. Yet, they claim that it is healthier for you than peanut butter. And somehow they get away with deceiving the masses like this on their label. Do not be their fool!

Example #2: Product claiming to be "better than eggs".

I won't get as detailed on this one because I recently went into good detail on this entire topic in another newsletter.

Basically, this product was just egg whites with a bunch of added chemical colorings, flavorings, and other nonsense, including artificially added vitamins.

Again, this product has essentially ruined a good thing by removing the healthiest part... the YOLKS! And yes, the yolks ARE the healthiest part of the egg. Anybody that tells you different does not understand much about real nutrition. The important thing to look for in quality whole eggs are cage-free and organic.

Most people don't realize that almost all of the quality nutrition of an egg is found in the yolks. The majority of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and trace nutrients are found in the yolks, not the whites. Even the protein in the whites isn't as high quality in terms of bioavailability without the amino acid profile of the yolk that complements the amino acid profile of the whites.

And no, the cholesterol in eggs is not bad for you... it actually raises your good cholesterol more than bad cholesterol improving overall profile. And the fats in whole eggs are balanced and healthy for you as well.

Bottom line... whole eggs are healthier than egg whites. The label claims are just another example of food marketing deception.

Example #3: A product claiming to be "better than butter".

This was essentially crappy margarine loaded with highly processed and deadly trans fats, yet it had the nerve to claim it was "better than butter".

Heck NO!

Even low quality butter is better for you than any margarine. One problem with butter are the pesticides and hormones frequently found within from improperly raised cows.

For this reason, it's always a good choice to go with organic butter, and if you can find grass-fed butter, then I would even say it can be healthy for you. Grass-fed butter is higher in beneficial conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). In fact, adding a little butter to your steamed vegetables helps your body to absorb more of the vitamins and minerals in the veggies.

Also, due to the content of stable saturated fats in butter, this makes butter one of the best oils to cook with. Oils high in polyunsaturated oils such as soy, corn, safflower (and even flax) are the worst to cook with due to the highly unstable nature of their chemistry. I have a fully comprehensive article on which oils are healthiest for cooking and which are not based on their chemistry.

Another point... the saturated fat in butter is NOT bad for you. We've already beaten a dead horse with that topic in previous articles, but again, more detailed articles about that topic are found at my site.

You can find dozens more articles about all of these controversial topics at my website below. Enjoy!

Learn more about the truth about nutrition & training, and grab a free metabolism boosting report at Workouts for abdominal fat loss & six pack abs

Mike Geary is a Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer, and author of the internationally best-selling book, The Truth about Six Pack Abs, with tens of thousands of readers in over 150 countries.

Free e-book download :

Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body
By Mike Geary

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 .

How To Determine If You Are a Hardgainer + Free e-book Shape up Now

lewis — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:19:23 +0000

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How To Determine If You Are a Hardgainer
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By Hugo Rivera
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/hugorivera.html

Definition of a Hardgainer

The popular definition of a hardgainer is a person that works out hard with weights but has a hard time putting on muscle. Six weeks of working out can go by and no significant changes in muscle size are noted other than perhaps a bit of an increase in muscle tone.

According to this popular definition of a hardgainer, all of us are "hardgainers" because for the most part, putting on muscle is not an easy endeavor. The easiest period to gain muscle is during puberty. After that, gaining muscle becomes progressively harder as we age due to the fact that hormonal production starts declining between the ages of 25 and 30.

Ectomorph Somatypes

My definition of a hardgainer is the naturally skinny person, who no matter what he or she eats, always seem to remain the same body weight.

This is what Dr. William H. Sheldon referred to as an "ectomorph" somatotype when he came up with the theory sometime in the 1940’s. Sheldon’s theory states that human bodies are divided into three main somatotypes; the ectomorph, the endomorph and the mesomorph.

In a nutshell...

The ectomorph is the naturally skinny person who has trouble gaining weight, whether in the form of muscle or fat.

The endomorph on the other hand has the opposite problem, it is too easy for a person with this body type to gain weight.While endomorphs are easy muscle gainers, provided they diet and train correctly, they are cursed with a slow metabolism, which makes it imperative that they be strict with their diet year round if they wish to have any abdominal definition.

The mesomorph, however, is the naturally muscular person, who also has a higher metabolism than the endomorph. Mesomorphs make excellent bodybuilders and for them, gains in muscle and reduction in body fat come rather easily provided they maintain a great training and nutrition program; life is not fair.

So You Have Determined That You Are A Hardgainer - Now what?!

Now, having said this, is a hardgainer doomed to stay looking the same way forever?

Not at all. Basically, all the hardgainer has to do is modify the training and nutrition program to suit his/her unique metabolism.

While most people will do best on a diet consisting of 40% carbohydrates, 40% proteins and 20% fats, the hardgainer will benefit most from a diet consisting of 50% carbs, 25 % proteins and 25% good fats.

While the typical person will do best on a caloric intake that equals their lean body mass times 12, the hardgainer is better served by taking in as much as 24 calories per pound of total bodyweight (as opposed to lean body mass). Therefore, if you are a hardgainer and weigh 150 lbs, your caloric intake will be 3600 calories (150 x 24). Your total amounts of carbohydrates per day will be in the order of 450 grams of carbs, your protein will be 225 grams and your fats will be 100 grams of good fats per day.

You can take all of this in 6, 7 or even 8 meals. The key thing for a hardgainer to be successful is to minimize their caloric expenditures and maximize their caloric intake. This is necessary as the hardgainer metabolism is a furnace that burns calories at all times and if not enough are supplied at one time or the other, then muscle will be consumed by the body for energy purposes. After all, this metabolic issue is what makes a person a hardgainer.

Hardgainer Training

Three to four sessions per week of periodized weight training, lasting for 60 minutes at the most, is all a hardgainer can get away with. Cardiovascular exercise should be limited to a couple of light walks on the days off lasting no more than 20 minutes. Remember that the hardgainer needs to limit caloric expenditure. Because of this, he/she needs to get in the gym, stimulate the muscle and get out.

The Benefit of Being a Hardgainer

If you are a hardgainer that does not mean it's the end of the world. Many determined hardgainers that have achieved their bodybuilding goals (and even won competitions) through a ton of determination and very hard work. The beauty of hardgainers is the fact that it is very hard for them to gain body fat, so therefore, any muscle gains that they make are highly visible due to the amount of muscle definition that the hardgainer has.

If you are a hardgainer, plan your meals ahead of time, pack them in a cooler and ensure that you never run out of food. When in the gym, get in, and get out. At night, get plenty of rest, and if you follow all of this day in and day out, then get ready to grow!

If your interested in more information about my complete Body Body Building & Fat Loss Program check out : http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/hugorivera.html

Author Bio
Hugo Rivera CFT, SPN, BSCE. is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, multi certified personal trainer, industry consultant and fitness expert who not only knows training and nutrition theory, but also applies it on a daily basis as evidenced by the fact that he's always in shape and by his awards and high placings at numerous national level bodybuilding competitions. He is also an internationally known best selling fitness author with a very successful franchise of books called "The Body Sculpting Bibles" which collectively have sold over a million copies. Hugo is also author of the very popular “Body Re-Engineering” e-book, which teaches you how to gain lean muscle mass and get lean without drugs, or fancy expensive supplements, using the secrets he devised after many years of weight problems as a child.For more information on Hugo’s Muscle Building / Fat Loss Program please click on the link below:
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/hugorivera.html

Free e-book download :

Shape Up Now
By Hugo Rivera

When to do conditioning

lewis — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:31:30 +0000

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When to do conditioning
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By Jason Ferruggia Author of
Muscle Gaining Secrets - The Hardgainers Guide to Getting Big and Ripped. http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/musclegainingsecrets.html

With summer rapidly approaching I've been getting lots of questions about which conditioning methods will help you get ripped and in playing shape without compromising your size or strength, and exactly when should you do them.

First of all, I recommend a strength training schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This leaves Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday or Sunday for conditioning and/or playing. To start you should be training on a four way upper/lower split. This means that you have two upper body days and two lower body days. You train three days per week rotating through the four workouts; so some weeks you will do upper body twice and other weeks you do lower body twice.

As summer nears and you are doing more conditioning and running you may want to switch over to an upper/ lower/ upper split. Therefore you will train upper body on Monday and Friday and have only one leg workout per week, on Wednesdays. This will be plenty since you will be doing a lot of sprinting which will take care of your leg work. Any more than one direct leg workout per week when you are sprinting multiple times per week, will lead to overtraining.

The best fat loss/ conditioning methods are hill sprints, sled sprints and Prowler pushes. These are safer and less taxing on the body than regular flat ground sprints and require less preparation, warm up and mastery of technique. Simply head outside and do a brief warm up of mobility work, dynamic flexibility and some basic running drills and progressions and you will be good to go. These conditioning workouts should last about 20-40 minutes total. Over time, try to increase the number of sprints you do and decrease the rest periods.

If you're an athlete or have some athletic ability, you can definitely do flat ground sprints, just be prepared for them to make you quite sore if you haven't done them in a while. The risk of injury is also far greater.

If you squat every Wednesday, Tuesday is the only day that I wouldn't recommend sprinting. You could do it any other day with no problem, though. If you want to do conditioning on Tuesday I would opt for the battling ropes or jumping rope. Start out with two conditioning days and work your way up to three to four over the next month or two.

Remember, that sprinting for fat loss and conditioning is different than sprinting for speed. The latter requires specific timing, longer rest periods, etc. But to drop body fat and just bring up your conditioning without compromising your strength gains, you don't have to get too anal about this. Just do the sprints.

That's all that matters.

Here is a sample schedule:

Monday- Upper body strength training
Tuesday- foam roll, mobility work or day off
Wednesday- Lower body strength training
Thursday- Prowler pushing
Friday- Upper body strength training
Saturday- Hill sprints
Sunday- off or Sled sprints

Train hard,
Jason Ferruggia

PS. For more info on how to get big, strong and ripped, please visit http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/musclegainingsecrets.html

Download a great e-book written by Jason .

The Top 20 Mistakes That Kill Your Muscle Gains and How to Avoid Them .

The Stomach Vacuum The Forgotten Exercise

lewis — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:15:08 +0000

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The Stomach Vacuum The Forgotten Exercise
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By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
Author of Iron Dolls - Women's Bodybuilding Secrets
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/irondoll.html

The vast majority of people who engage in countless sets and repetitions of abdominal exercises such as crunches, leg lifts, and twists fail to see dramatic improvement, as if something is lacking. Are you among those who religiously train your abdominals, yet still fight the distending gut syndrome?

I can teach you a simple technique to reduce your midsection in as little as three weeks! By incorporating this technique, with your regular abdominal training and proper diet, it will reduce the size of your waist, and help to give you a carved midsection!

Prerequisites for The Stomach Vacuum

This is exciting news, but it does come along with some prerequisites which are, pre-established clean eating habits, adequate water intake, and a low to moderate body fat percentage. Depending on how you hold your weight, anywhere from 12 to 15% is acceptable.

Some Background on The Stomach Vacuum

Before we jump in over our heads let's discuss the reason behind this specialized technique. This exercise I am speaking of is called the stomach vacuum. Relax, we are not going to pump or vacuum your stomach. This isn't a liposuction technique. The stomach vacuum was widely used in the early days of bodybuilding with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Corey Everson and has become what I refer to as, "the forgotten abdominal exercise."

Have you ever noticed how slim, trimmed, hard, and defined the physiques of bodybuilders were in the late 1970's and early 1980's? Many of today's top-level bodybuilding competitors have a distended midsection. This could be due to the drug abuse problem and growth hormone, but it is also connected to the fact that many bodybuilders have simply skipped over an important training tactic.

Get Even MORE Advanced Female Bodybuilding Information!

The Inner and Outer Abdominals

The abdominal region is composed of internal and external muscles. The external muscles are known as the rectus abdominus and the external obliques.

Crunches cause the rectus abdominus to flex. Crunching forward a third of the way up targets the entire rectus abdominus. Once the movement goes past this active zone your hip flexors come into play, taking emphasis off your abdominals.

Your obliques are targeted to a greater degree when any twisting action takes place, such as twisting crunches where you bring your elbow to the opposite knee.

The Real Inner Abdominals

The transversus abdominus and lumbar multifidus are the inner abdominal muscles. These muscles are rarely discussed, and are the most neglected. These muscles lie beneath the rectus abdominus, and external obliques.

The inner abdominal muscles support posture, and control deep breathing during power movements, such as heavy squats. They are the muscles responsible for back support. Since they are rarely targeted they are often weaker.

By building a stronger inner abdominal wall you can limit and relieve back pain, improve posture, create a tighter midsection, and add explosive power to your training.

The Benefits of The Stomach Vacuum

The stomach vacuum is an isometric contraction of the transversus abdominus. As previously stated, a stronger transversus abdominus can create a stronger valsalva maneuver (the powerful exhale necessary to contract a muscle during an intense workload).

The stomach vacuum is one of the best exercises you can perform to shrink your waistline in a very short amount of time. Many people can knock an inch or two off their midsection in a little as three to four weeks with this technique, provided the prerequisites are met. Also, building this area of the abdominal muscle will help you gain more control over your abs, and assist you better in explosive lifts. Stomach vacuums take practice, but they are extremely effective.

How to Execute The Stomach Vacuum

To execute the stomach vacuum stand upright and place your hands on your hips or over your head, and then exhale all the air out of your lungs, completely. As you exhale, expand your chest and bring your stomach in as far as possible, and hold it in. Do Not Hold Your Breath! To be blunt, simply suck in your gut. Visualize trying to touch your navel to your backbone.

This is an isometric contraction, like flexing your biceps. You breathe normally while flexing your biceps and you should breathe normally while executing the stomach vacuum.

There's No Substitute for REAL Information

Sets and Reps for The Stomach Vacuum

Counting reps with this exercise is bit different. One isometric contraction of "X" seconds is one repetition. For example, if you suck your gut in for 10 seconds, that's one repetition. If you do that two more times, that's 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Now, before you go saying things like, "you can't spot reduce," "it won't affect skin elasticity," and "you can't get abs by holding your breath," you have mistaken the point of this article. This article is not claiming to do such miraculous things. It's not about holding your breath or spot reduction. What this exercise CAN do is strengthen and stabilize your core so you have more control over your abominals, and prevent the loose belly hangover from an underdeveloped transversus abdominus.

There are macho men out there who think since this exercise doesn't require slinging hundreds of pounds of iron that it's not effective. Nonetheless, the transversus abdominus is a muscle and it needs to be trained. Just because it doesn't take a fancy machine or an ego-boosting exercise to do it doesn't mean it's less effective. Effective training is about intensity and form, not macho egos, and grunting under a stack of plates.

Training Guide for the Stomach Vacuum:

Training days for the stomach vacuum are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or every other day. While the abs can be trained more than other muscle groups, they still need their rest. Therefore, doing them daily won't be as effective as you may think it would be.

Week	Seconds	Sets
Week #1	20 Seconds	3 Sets
Week #2	30 Seconds	3 Sets
Week #3	40 Seconds	3 sets

The idea is to keep progressing in seconds (reps) or sets. You can set your own start point and progression phase. Eventually try to work up 4 sets of a full minute.

As an added bonus, you can use the stomach vacuum when doing your regular abdominal work. Focus on pulling in on the transversus abdominus as you do your abdominal work. Simply do this by pulling in your stomach as far as possible and flex your groin muscles, as if you are trying to stop the flow of urine.

Conclusion to Stomach Vacuums

Once mastered, the stomach vacuum can be performed in a standing, kneeling, seated, and lying position. Now you don't have an excuse to avoid abdominal training if you are stuck in traffic or can't get away from your desk.

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

P.S. Want to discover additional advanced training techniques that will create an AMAZING physique, check out Iron Dolls - Women's Bodybuilding Secrets..., the female guide to advanced bodybuilding.

About the Author

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves. www.Iron-Dolls.com

Are Abs Machines Necessary?

lewis — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:00:14 +0000

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Are Abs Machines Necessary?
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By David Grisaffi
http://flattenyourownabs.com

I’ll be honest… the average person doesn’t possess the patience required to develop a great set of abs or the work ethic to maintain it.

They lack the discipline and determination needed to achieve their goal. Many people go on “quick fix” fad diets to reduce their midsection. Others buy every
ab training gizmo and gadget advertised on TV only to end up folding them up and sliding them under the bed or using them as “expensive clothes hangers.”

Based on the amount of email I get on the subject, I know how fixated most men and women are about finding the “Holy Grail” of abdominal development in some type of machine advertised on TV.

Read on to see my answer to Are Ab Machines Needed?

Here’s A Question Sent In By A subscriber:

“David, I understand from reading your e-book and newsletters that diet is the most important aspect of ab development. I also would like to know your opinion of ab machines that are advertised on TV. Some of these products seem a bit overpriced. However, I’ve been thinking about buying one of them because I have had some problems with my back, which has caused me to give up
some abdominal exercises I used to do with no problem. Do you think any of these machines will help some merit for someone in my circumstance?”

ANSWER: The answer is yes and no; but I’m definitely leaning more toward the no when it comes to any of these infomercial products such as the Ab-doer, Ab Dominator, Ab Swing, Ab Roller Plus, Torso Track, Torso Tiger, Smart Abs (and I could go on and on):

Typically, any machine that involves gripping handles out to the side, and in front for support aren’t good because once you begin to get tired, your body will naturally have a tendency to use the arms to force the abdominal motion, taking the abs out of the picture almost completely and asking your back to do more work, which sets you up for an injury.

I’ve tested similar gym equipment, which use handles in almost the same position as these machines. It shouldn’t differ that much. Even though you’re sitting upright as with the AB-DOer or lying prone as with the torso track. Each tend to focus on a specific area to the detriment of full range of motion.

If you are absolutely dead set on buying some type of TV-advertised abdominal product, get the Ab Swing (although I will recommend something cheaper and more versatile at the end of this email)

The trouble with almost ALL of these ab machines is that you are only moving your body in one direction or plane of motion. As you increase strength in that area, you will create a pattern overload syndrome and set your self up for muscle imbalances that may cause injury.

Another example is the AB-DOer. If you were to turn this product clockwise, you would clearly be able to see this. I understand the AB-DOer uses a circular rotating motion, but 50 percent of that exercise doesn’t even incorporate abdominal muscles. The other 50 percent uses the lower back muscles.

Now, a product like this may feel better on your back (regarding my yes answer), but I doubt it. Here’s a self-test you can try: Sit in a chair with your back pressed against the chair’s back. Pretend to have your arms out to the side, just as the AB-DOer displays. Now contract and crunch your abs. You probably felt a slight lower back strain because the body is naturally designed to slouch down
when you try to crunch the abs from an upright position.

This lower back strain can actually feel more acute if you add the resistance of the AB- DOer. There’s one exception to the rule: Sometimes, gym abdominal equipment will have the same range of motion as the AB-DOer, using weights, but no hand grips. The difference is the fact that you’re pushing a padded weight forward with your chest.

This range of motion naturally keeps your back straight mainly because you must push the weight forward. You can do a test to see what I mean by finding an adjustable chair, lowering it so that a desk edge is at chest level, and pressing against it. Your upper body is “forced” to stay straight in order to push the weight forward. It won’t allow you to slouch down, as the AB-DOer will.

One piece of simple exercise equipment that I highly recommend you invest in is called a Swiss ball (also known as a stability ball). The Swiss ball is more versatile than any piece of infomercial ab equipment ever will be. It’s also safer and more effective. My abdominal and core conditioning course, Firm And Flatten Your Abs teaches you exactly how to use the Swiss ball, including dozens of photographs. You’ll also learn simple but powerful abdominal exercises that require no equipment whatsoever.

“FITNESS INSIDER REVEALS CLOSELY GUARDED SECRETS TO GETTING ROCK SOLID ABS WITHOUT TAKING INEFFECTIVE FAT BURNING PILLS, BUYING EXPENSIVE EXERCISE EQUIPMENT OR DOING HUNDREDS OF PAINFUL SITUPS...”

If you’ve ever wanted to FINALLY get rid of that belly fat, then read every single word of this message. I’m going to reveal secrets to you that could get me in HUGE trouble with the “fat cat” pharmaceutical companies.

But, you know what? I don’t care! Because after 13 years of helping REAL people get rock hard abs without silly exercise equipment, doing hundreds of sit-ups and blowing money on fat burning pills, I’m going to tell you the TRUTH about what it takes to get rock hard abs!

Check it out here -> http://flattenyourownabs.com

Doberman Dan Barks Bench Press Pyramiding Bites!

lewis — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:43:45 +0000

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Doberman Dan Barks Bench Press Pyramiding Bites!
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By Daniel Gallapoo "Doberman Dan"
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/dobermandan.html

"How You Can Add Up TO 50 Pounds To Your Bench Press IMMEDIATELY By NOT Pyramiding!"

From my very introduction to the Iron Game over 20 years ago, (geez, that makes me sound old!) all of the literature, books, and courses I've read or followed advocated "pyramiding" your weights on the basic exercises.

If you don't know what "pyramiding" is, here's an example using the bench press:

Set 1: 12 reps with 135 lbs.

Set 2: 10 reps with 185 lbs.

Set 3: 8 reps with 225 lbs.

Set 4: 6 reps with 250 lbs.

Set 5: 4 reps with 265 lbs.

Set 6: 2 reps with 285 lbs.

Even as a novice bodybuilder, after a few weeks of "pyramiding" I thought that it was kinda stupid. After all, if the goal of doing all this work in the gym is to get stronger and bigger...and we're supposed to constantly strive for pushing more and more weight in the basic exercises...then all this "pyramiding" stuff seemed to me to be a lot of wasted energy on lighter unproductive sets. Plus it seemed like I would be able to do more weight on the heavier sets if I hadn't have burned up so much energy on the lighter sets. This was (and still is) just my humble observation.

Now I agree that warming up is important...but geez, how "warm" do you wanna get? So warm you're fried???

So I think I've discovered a better way. Well, it's been better for me. But who knows? It could work for you, too!

As I was just now getting ready to describe my system for the basic exercises, I realized that I don't have a name for it! I guess I gotta call it sumthin'!

Hmmmmmm...since I'm not really in a creative mood let's call it... (insert drum roll here)

"Doberman Dan's Non-Pyramid System For Maximum Muscle Growth"

OK, I admit that kinda sucks. I tried to think of something cute and creative but couldn't. I tried to think of a word that means "opposite of a pyramid" but I don't think that word exists. So for now we're stuck with this non-creative name.

So instead of the pyramid thing (wouldn't it actually be a "triangle?" Pyramids are 3 dimensional) let's try training on the bench press like this:

Warm-up Set 1: 20 reps with the empty bar (Get a little blood flowing and work on your technique. Do these slowly like you really have weight on there. Just don't ask someone to spot you on this set lest you look like a wuss!)

Warm-up Set 2: 12 reps (Select a weight in which you can EASILY complete 12 reps without even being remotely close to temporary muscular failure. This is an easy set just to get you warmed up. Do NOT select a weight which will tax the muscles.)

Warm-up Set 3 (if needed): Same as set 2 Set 4 "Weight acclimation" Set: 4 reps (Use a weight that you could do about 10 to 12 reps with if you went to temporary muscular failure. You're not trying to tax the muscles, just getting used to the feel of the heavier weights.)

Set 5 - Your 2nd "weight acclimation" set: 1 to 2 reps (Use a weight that you could do about 6 to 8 reps with if you went to temporary muscular failure. Again, you're not trying to tax the muscles, just getting used to the feel of the heavier weights.)

Set 6 - Your first actual "work set": 6 to 8 reps (Use a weight that allows you to do at least 6 reps but no more than 8 reps to temporary muscular failure. If you can't do 6 reps, the weight is too heavy. If you can do 8 or more reps, the weight is not heavy enough.)

Set 7 - Your 2nd "work set": Same as Set 6 (Due to fatigue from the first work set you might not be able to get 6 reps. If you only get 4 or less, lighten the weight a little for the final set.)

Set 8 - Your 3rd "work set": Same as Set 6 When you start your actual work sets, rest 2 to 4 minutes in between sets. You want plenty of recuperation time. We're trying to hoist big iron here.

If you're a relative newbie to the Iron Game stick with the 6 to 8 rep range on the work sets.

If you've been training a while and consider yourself an intermediate or advanced bodybuilder, you might want to try the 4 to 6 rep range for the work sets. I've made some really good size and strength gains within the past 3 months by working in the 4 to 6 rep range on the basic exercises.

If you have good recuperation-ability and are intermediate to advanced, you could add a 4th work set. But for most folks I think 3 is plenty.

Now go try it on your next bench, deadlift, or squat workout. I'll bet if you've been "pyramiding" you'll be amazed at how strong and fresh you are on the work sets while following my "non-pyramid" system. I added 25 pounds to my incline press the first time I tried this system.

Maybe you'll do the same!

If you liked this article check out my ebook as well.

Hyper Growth Muscle Mass Training E-book

A step-by-step guide that teaches you the secrets, tips, and techniques you need to know to build a chiseled, muscular, ripped, head-turning physique...FAST! The "Hyper-Growth Muscle Mass Training" course is an extremely effective natural human growth hormone stimulator and packs on muscle mass, strength and power faster than you would've ever thought possible...while burning off body fat like crazy! This guide covers it all, and makes it easy for you to get started building rock-solid muscle size and power while burning off ugly body fat. Written by our good friend Doberman Dan.

Read all about it.

Build Muscle Mass With The "Hyper Growth Muscle Mass System" by Daniel Gallapoo known in bodybuilding circles as Doberman Dan. A step-by-step guide that teaches you the secrets, tips, and techniques you need to know to build a chiseled, muscular, ripped, head-turning physique...FAST! You have to experience these German Volume Training techniques first hand.

When is it OK to eat Sugar?

lewis — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:17:49 +0000

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When is it OK to eat Sugar?
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By Isabel De Los Rios
http://yourdietsolution.com

One of two things happens when you even mention the word Sugar...people either jump up for joy, salivating for their next sugar fix or they go running in the opposite direction and avoid it like the plague (Hmm Lewis, which one are you?)

The sugar lovers, well, they just love their sugar and would probably sprinkle it on broccoli if that was socially acceptable. While others are so afraid of it they are even scared to eat foods like bananas, carrots and onions because of their high sugar content..huh?

I'm pretty sure we can blame crash and extreme diets like the all protein, no carbohydrate diets (author will remain nameless but I'm sure you know who I'm talking about) for people's fear of certain fruits and vegetables. When a diet tells you to stay away from veggies and fruit, you have to wonder how healthy it is. (What's next? You can't drink water?)

The real question here is:

Is all sugar created the same? And...Is there ever a time when sugar can be good for us?

Let's start with the first.

No, all sugar is not created equal. Table sugar (sucrose) responds very differently in your body than fruit sugar (fructose - not the same as high fructose corn syrup). Both are metabolized into glucose (the sugar in your blood stream), however it matters a great deal in how that process happens.

When you eat a food that contains sucrose (ex. Cakes, cookies, candies) your blood sugar is elevated very, very quickly and your body's response is to release a lot of insulin to control the blood sugar spike. As you have probably read in your Diet Solution Manual, insulin control is the name of the game as far as fat loss is concerned, and the better we can control your insulin levels, the faster you will be able to shed off unwanted fat. So eating a food that will elevate your insulin levels fast and high is exactly what you don't want and want to stay away from.

Fructose (fruit sugar), on the other hand, does not create the same response. Yes, your body knows it's sugar, but it will elevate your blood sugar and insulin levels much, much slower than sucrose (this is also reflective of how low it is on the Glycemic Index. For more info on the Glycemic Index refer to the Calories chapter, the Grains chapter, and the Glycemic Index Chart in the Diet Solution Manual). This is a good thing because it gives your body more time to respond to the sugar you have just ingested, many times not resulting in a high insulin rise, but a steadier, controlled one.

You can also think about it this way...Would it be easier for you to catch a sprinter (sucrose) or a jogger (fructose)? Choosing sweet foods that allow for a slow and steady blood sugar rise will help your body "catch" and use the sugar more easily and more efficiently.

Now, when can sugar be good for you?

Anyone who has ever tried any "no carb" crash diet before can testify that after just a few days you really start to feel pretty lousy: groggy, lethargic, and possibly even constipated. This is because your body does function much better when you make good healthy carbohydrates and sugars available to it. Now let's not take that sentence and go on a pasta free for all, but including foods that turn into glucose slowly in your blood stream helps your body function much better. Yes, your smart body does have the ability to make glucose even if you don't eat any carbs. However, healthy foods like bananas, apples, carrots and onions do NOT need to be eliminated to control your blood sugar, control your insulin levels and see long term fat loss.

Here are a few sugar tips you can begin to apply to your healthy meal plans right away:

1. Avoid the most deadly forms of sugar (Deadly? Yup, it's really that bad for you.) Refined white sugar really has no place in anyone's diet. Unfortunately, I'm sure you've noticed, it's everywhere! Cakes, cookies and candies are the most obvious, but many cereals, breads, and "so called" health foods (snacks, crackers, and frozen foods) now contain high amounts of processed sugar. Make sure to read the ingredients list carefully and if high fructose corn syrup, refined corn syrup, sucrose or cane sugar (even organic evaporated cane juice is still a bad sugar) are listed, re-assess your choice and look for something without these forms of sugar in the ingredients label.

2. Make foods that raise your blood sugar levels slowly (those low on the glycemic index) your staples when it comes to carbohydrates choices and sweet craving foods. Grab some berries instead of a cookie, cut up a sweet apple instead of a piece of cake, or go for some frozen grapes instead of candies. Not only will you have chosen a much healthier option, but your sweet cravings will quickly diminish the less you feed into them.

3. Save your sweet treats for the special occasions in your life. There's no need to skip your birthday cake or a well deserved dessert on a Saturday night. I usually indulge myself in the sweet treat of my choice on the weekends when I am out with my family. I keep my portion within reason, enjoy it and then continue on with my healthy eating plan from there (no guilt, beating myself up or throwing in the towel). As I have said before, telling yourself you can NEVER have this or that is a sure fire way to make healthy eating feel like torture.

Learn “The Top 5 Essential Truths You Must Know Before You Go on Any Diet Ever Again” from Isabel De Los Rios at http://yourdietsolution.com. Isabel is a nutrition, exercise and lifestyle coach who has helped hundreds of people lose their unwanted weight and take complete control of their health. She is the author of The Diet Solution Program, a complete and comprehensive nutrition program that is helping people all over the world finally reach their ideal weight. For more information on The Diet Solution Program and how it can help to change your life, visit http://yourdietsolution.com.

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 .

FAQ: No-Nonsense DVD Series

lewis — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:29:15 +0000

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FAQ: No-Nonsense DVD Series
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By Vince DelMonte - Author of No-Nonsense Muscle Building

Your Questions Answered

I’ve been getting swamped with questions about the release of my No-Nonsense DVD Series for the past 2-weeks, but especially in the past 24-hours.

First off, it’s great to hear you and I don’t mind the questions.

In fact, you should write me more often.

Anyway - I know you want answers, and you’ll get them.

I put together a FAQ for you below.

If I didn’t answer your question, please post it below BEFORE FRIDAY AT MIDNIGHT and I will answer it in another FAQ before I fly out Saturday morning.

1. Why Do You Only Have 480 Copies?

The minimum requirement from my fulfillment house was 500. I gave 20 copies away to some of the world’s top fitness guru’s to review in exchange for their help to get the word out about my system. If you hear from anyone other than myself next week it means they liked it and it got the thumbs up.

2. What Happens If you Sell Out?

You’ll be put on a waiting list until my fulfillment house replicates another 500 sets. The price will go up on the second batch when they become available. I will be paying shipping and handling for the first 480 action-takers as well so take advantage, especially if live outside the US.

3. How Many People Are Being Notified About This?

As of a few days ago, we had over 17,000 people on the Early-Bird VIP list.

I’m pretty sure this is going to result in a sell out.

An no, I’m not trying to hype you up here.

It’s either right for you or it isn’t.

But if you’re thinking, “Yeah, I have a good feeling this is exactly my next step to ramping up my physique,” then please be ready when the site goes live on Tuesday April 7th at 12pm EST.

4. Will Your Books Be Available In Hardcopy Too?

No. But between you and me, I’m seeking out a book agent to get it published and into local book stores. I’m aiming for early 2010. Next week, you’ll be able to own the exact system responsible for the photos of me on my website as well as the exact system responsible for the dramatic before and afters of my success stories.

5. How Long Will It Take To See Results?

The answer to that:

IT DEPENDS.

It depends on you, your efforts and so forth.

For me, my stuff took effect on my body immediately. It took me 6-months to gain 41-pounds of muscle using one program. It took me 10-weeks to lose 23-lbs of fat on another program.

But that was me.

According to the dramatic before and after pictures you’ll see on Tuesday, it worked just as fast for some, a tad slower for others and even faster for the majority.

7. What If It Doesn’t Work For Me?

You are more than welcome to return the DVD’s 5-minutes after you order or 55-days after you order. I give you a rock-solid 100% money back guarantee. If for some reason you don’t like my stuff or feel you made a mistake, you’ll be provided my personal email so I can reverse the charges immediately. We’ll give your copy to someone on the waiting list.

8. 12-Hours Of Workouts? Do I Really Need All That?

No. In reality, you’ll probably achieve your goals with just one of the ten programs you get. Each plan ranges anywhere from 4-weeks to 6-months and is laid out in explicit detail and has me charging through the workout with real weights and real effort.

You might fall in love with one of the programs and stick to it forever. You might start with the cutting program and then use the bulking plan. You might start with a 3-day plan then progress to the 5-day. You might want to specialize on your arms or abs for a bit. You might travel and need to train in your hotel room for a stint.

Long story short, I got you covered no matter who you are, where you’re starting, where you’re going and what you want to look like. You just need to decide where to start first.

9. Do I Have To Be In The US To Sign Up?

NO! Currently there are No-Nonsense members all over the world. And the best news is that I’m covering the shipping and handling until Friday April 10th at Midnight EST, to reward the first 480 people who transform their body. It’s something like $30-40 to ship internationally so take advantage.

10. You Still Haven’t Addressed The Price Issue…

I know that has been a popular topic in my Inbox and I can understand why. Thousands of people are ready to sign up but they’re unsure of the investment.

I can say, you’re not going to need $5,000 like you’d pay a trainer to train a few times a week for 6-months.

You’re not going to need $2,500 like you’d pay on a “super high tech” home gym that collects dust…

You’re not going to need $1,000 that you could end up paying for a years worth of garbage supplements…

So PLEASE STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE PRICE!

This will be seriously affordable, if you act fast. I am awarding the first 480 people with a TON of extra value so make sure you’re ready when the doors open Tuesday at noon so that you can also be on the receiving end of some seriously cool things…

They’re called FAST ACTION BONUSES and each one is so valuable that they could be their own fitness product in itself.

Remember, everything next week is VERY LIMITED so if you want a shot at anything, you’re going to need to be ready at 12pm EST on Tuesday April 7th. That’s my only advice to you.

Vince

P.S. As you know, Vince DelMonte sold out of his No-Nonsense DVD Series last Friday night and he just dropped me a line that he has another batch of 500 DVD sets available and has something like 564 people on the waiting list.

I don't know the exact number but the bottom line is that more people want them than he has available.

If you want a shot at this life-changing system, you better make a move today because I wouldn't be surprised if he sells out again this week:

Head on over to this site if you're ready for the most beneficial workouts you've ever done and to build a jaw dropping physique this summer:

--> http://www.vincedelmontedvd.com

Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

How To Build Muscle Fast: 41 Ways to Gain 41 Pounds Of Rock-Solid Lean Muscle Mass in 6 Months

lewis — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:54:22 +0000

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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

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

Sincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

5 Reasons Why Elliptical Machines and Treadmills are Useless Exercises

lewis — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:15:38 +0000

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5 Reasons Why Elliptical Machines and Treadmills
are Useless Exercises
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By Mike Geary
Author: Truth About Six Pack Abs

I know that all of the elliptical and treadmill worshipers are probably fuming at me now after that article headline, but the fact is, ellipticals and treadmills are one of the least effective methods of working out in existence. With this article, I'll show you how to get a much more effective fat-burning workout without wasting time mindlessly exercising on a boring elliptical machine or treadmill.

Now first let me state that if you really honestly enjoy your elliptical machine workouts and treadmill exercise routines, then I give you my blessing to keep doing what you love. The reason is that even though ellipticals and treadmills are relatively ineffective compared to other types of exercises, whatever you actually enjoy doing the most is going to benefit you most in the long run because you will be more likely to stick with it more consistently.

However, don't say that I didn't warn you that you might be wasting your time with all these boring mindless cardio machine workouts.

I've talked about this previously with my ezine subscribers... I actually do not believe in cardio machines as a good form of working out at all. This might surprise you coming from a fitness nut such as myself, but I don't think I've personally used an exercise bike, treadmill, elliptical, or any other cardio machine for at least 8 years or more.

In fact, I don't even use cardio machines anymore for warm-ups before my workouts. I actually think it's a much more effective warm-up to do dumbbell and/or kettlebell swings, snatches, clean & presses, etc, mixed with bodyweight exercises as a great full-body warm-up before working out.

Why do I think cardio machines are so awful? Well, here's 5 reasons:

1) Treadmills and ellipticals are just a very ineffective way to workout compared to other options. Why should you do treadmill or elliptical workouts when you can get better results by doing more interesting forms of training that actually stimulate a fat-burning hormonal response and stimulate your metabolism to a greater extent.

2) Elliptical machines and treadmills are insanely expensive and a waste of money for people that work out at home... there are so many better things for home workouts you could have spent your money on rather than wasting it on an elliptical machine, treadmill, or exercise bike.

You'll see plenty of ideas below for better home workouts if you don't like going to a gym to work out.

3) I have seen several studies that indicated results that treadmill running may be less effective than outdoor running for various reasons such as stride abnormalities on treadmills vs natural running, slightly less caloric burn compared to outdoor running, and so on.

(although I never recommend just "jogging" anyway... variable intensity walking/running or sprinting are much more effective, training your heart rate in a much wider range instead of the same heart rate range the whole time).

4) Steady state exercise (that doesn't require concentration on what you're doing) while watching tv or reading a newspaper or magazine creates a mind/body disconnect resulting in extremely poor results compared to exercise that requires focused attention.

5) Elliptical and treadmill workouts are just mind-numbingly boring!

So what are some good alternatives to elliptical machine and treadmill workouts? Some of my favorites are:

Outdoor wind sprint workouts - This is the ultimate workout for a rock hard lean body... just look at the powerful yet super-lean and ripped bodies of world class sprinters, and compare that to the withering weakling physiques of typical marathoners... what would you rather look like?
Jumping rope - incredible mind/body connection and actually fun (you can try speed jumping, crossover jumps, and double jumps once you get good at it)
Kettlebell workouts - nothing will get your heart pounding and sweat pouring like high rep kettlebell swings and/or snatches (or clean & presses)! These can be done with dumbbells too, but I prefer kettlebells as they have a better "feel" to them and the unbalanced nature of KBs makes you work harder)
Bodyweight exercises - mountain climbers, bodyweight squats, push-ups, jumping drills, lunges, bear crawls, plank holds, and so on.
The good old fashioned rowing machine - I don't really lump this in as a "cardio" machine per se like elliptical machines and treadmills... Rather, I think the rowing machine is actually a great full body workout that actually uses real resistance)
Hill sprinting - running as hard up a hill as possible, followed by walking down and repeating as many times as you can for a full workout (yet another classic drill for a rock hard lean body)
Shadow boxing... a killer workout, but if you are shy, this is best done at home since you will get some crazy looks doing this at a typical gym!
Swimming sprints - a more muscle toning workout compared with steady pace distance swimming... I actually love the upper body pump I get from sprint swimming (instead of swimming slow and steady, with sprint swimming, you swim as fast as you can exerting as much force as you can for 1 lap. Then rest for 15-20 seconds before doing another swim sprint).
Heavy bag punching/kicking workouts, speed bag, rebounding bag... all are tremendous workouts and much more fun than boring cardio machines (requires an very intense mind/body connection which increases results).

I hope this article gives you lots of ideas you can use to go out right away and bring some more variety into your workouts instead of relying on the same old dull elliptical machine and treadmill workout routines. Have fun!

Click-here to visit Mike's website here and as his thanks for visiting his site , he would like to offer you 4 FREE BONUSES that you can receive immediately:

1. The e-Book, Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body (a $17.95 value), by Mike Geary -- loaded with tons of lean-body training and nutrition strategies you can start to use right away...He guarantees you will find some new ideas you never thought of before!

2. Your own personalized metabolic rate calculator -- takes your own body characteristics and activity level into account.

3. Five of his secret hard-body workout routines. He guarantees these are WAY different than anything you've ever tried before.

4. A free subscription to his Lean Body Fitness Secrets E-zine (a $47 value) , with loads of weekly non-traditional exercise tips and creative dietary ideas to take your body to a whole new level!

SSSincerely,
Lewis & Sarah
Publisher - AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

check this out … How To Get Ripped During A Recession!

lewis — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:37:12 +0000

www.AtoZfitness.com
Your Internet Fitness Resource Site

- AtoZfitness Special Article -
How To Get Ripped During A Recession…

I just got some great news via email from muscle and six-pack expert Vince DelMonte via email. His subject line was something like, "Screw the recession and get ripped!"

Until Friday night at midnight, you can now get the body needed to turn every head in the gym… on the streets… and on a hot night out – with the No-Nonsense DVD Series and supporting bonuses with RECESSION PROOF PAYMENT PLANS:

–> http://www.vincedelmontedvd.com

===========================

My Disturbing Phone Call…

===========================

But let me tell you about a quick phone call that disturbed me and ties into the email Vince just sent me…

I just got off the phone today with a friend who was depressed and finding the recession particularly difficult. I myself have have few close friends that are losing their jobs or finding their job at stake…

I started to sympathize until my friend start saying some disturbing things that turned me the wrong way…

"I’ve done my best to plan for the future but the recession has hit me really hard and it seems like my health and physique is suffering now too…"

"WHY?" I almost scream and didn’t let my friend finish because although I love my friend, I hate hearing excuses. I am not the kind of friend to let my friends off the hook easily. I know how important a fit and sexy body is to my friend so I challenged my friend…

I replied firmly, "I agree that the truth is that coping with job loss is very unpleasant BUT that’s NO excuse to let your fitness go downhill."

Silence on the other end.

I continue, "During a recession, your body is the ONE thing YOU CAN control. A recession should not affect your ability to lose body fat, bulk up and get into your best shape ever."

"So what do I do?"

"You need a step-by-step blueprint that you tells you EXACTLY what to eat and how to train so you start seeing visual changes on your body immediately… You need to get motivated and inspired. Check out Vince’s site tonight because he’s giving you the keys to unlocking the door to your sculpted physique buried inside of you."

Click here for your RECESSION PROOF PAYMENT PLANS

–> http://www.vincedelmontedvd.com

==================================

Back to the email Vince sent me…

==================================

With 60-hours left, Vince only has 144 DVD sets left and wants to give you an EXTRA REASON to let his system work for you and build a near-perfect physique.

Even though you have an opportunity to get THE EXACT SYSTEM Vince used to become a fitness model champion and the the IDENTICAL SYSTEM responsible for the dramatic before and after pictures on his site, we understand the No-Nonsense DVD Series is at a little higher price point.

I know that you’re sitting behind your computer thinking of how badly you want to get started and how much easier and faster it would be to build a world-class body if the initial investment was a little more manageable.

And that’s totally cool so we’re making this as accessible as possible for you. Vince and I really want to get you started so we’re going to do something SPECIAL for you – but ONLY for the last 144 DVD sets on the shelf:

Click here for your RECESSION PROOF PAYMENT PLANS

–> http://www.vincedelmontedvd.com

So in Vince’s words, "Tell your friends to screw the economy. This is their last chance to go from regular-to-ripped in the next 90-days."

On top of the high-quality DVD series that allows you to be a fly on the wall to duplicate his muscle-shredding and belly-busting success, here are 11 more things you’re getting to make your success full-proof:

-> No-Nonsense Muscle Building Book

-> Your Six Pack Quest Bookk

-> Step-by-step printable workout sheets

-> Online workout videos to start right away

-> Online exercise database with alternate exercises

-> Email support

-> 84-day meal plans for cutting and bulking

-> Supplement recommendations and guides

-> Membership community with thousands of members

-> 12-week transformation challenges with $1,000 cash to winners

Hey %PERS_NAME% see the highlighted PPS at the bottom for my own bonuses I am throwing in

Heck, if you just applied 1/10th of the info here, you would get the results you’re looking for! As a personal trainer myself, I’ve had personal clients spend up to

The good news it that you don’t need to pay nearly that much but he is raising the price $50.00 tonight so take advantage of this complete muscle-shredding, belly-busting and ab-sharpening system.

Click here for your RECESSION PROOF PAYMENT PLANS

–> http://www.vincedelmontedvd.com

To your best body ever,

P.S. So if you want a shot at this life-changing system, you better make a move now because their are only 144 DVD sets left; the price goes up; the supporting bonuses disappear and the s/h will not be covered. There is also a few spots left in Vince’s Get Ripped Club that includes 6-weeks of group phone coaching.

Hurry! Click here for your RECESSION PROOF PAYMENT PLANS

–> http://www.vincedelmontedvd.com

Hurry! This offer might be sold out by now…

PPS.If you should decide to purchase this unbelievable deal through my mailing let me add to your fitness collection. After you purchase fire off a copy of your e-mail receipt to atozsupport@atozfitness.com with a title I WANT MORE and I will send you download links to my complete AtoZfitness Total Body Makeover system with all the included bonuses as well as my Retired All Star Trainer Secrets and all it’s bonuses. This will give you 21 chapters of workouts and dieting tips by some of the biggest internet names including Tom Venuto , Nick Nilsson , Jeff Anderson and many more.

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

Free fatloss course and book!

lewis — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:48:36 +0000

www.AtoZfitness.com
Your Internet Fitness Resource Site

- AtoZfitness Special Announcement -
Freee fatloss course and book!"

Wow.

This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time.

Fitness pro Jon Benson released a bombshell last week on the fat-burning world.

He is giving away a book’s worth of material in his freee 7-Day Personal Fat Loss Certification Course.

Freee… and get this: Anyone who completes the course gets his book "The Radical Fatloss Blueprint" freee as well.

So there’s nothing to buy at all… in fact you get tons of freee stuff AND you can even earn bucks in the program.

It’s just too cool for words.

So go see it for yourself:

http://sn.im/fit365 <— freee fatloss Course and book

Here is a short review:

The Course is for anyone who wants to become their own "personal" fatloss expert. It is complete with a quiz each day and more material than most people sell in a book… and it’s totally freee.

After the course, you get his "Radical Fatloss Blueprint" freee too. This is all about how he and a group of "guinea pigs" experimented with natural techniques and got up to 21 lbs of unwanted bodyfat off in just 21 days.

The average was 17.5, but some people got as much as 30 lbs off.

All with little to no muscle lost.

It then outlines the ‘exact’ workout and supplement "feeding" schedule Jon still uses to get into top shape in 21 days.

This is down to the ‘hour’… and it includes home workouts or gym workouts. Your choice.

This is his gift to my readers, and I am thrilled to share it with you.

Here you go:

http://sn.im/fit365 <— freee fatloss Course and book

Enjoy the course!

Yours in fitness,
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 .

Idiotic Mistakes Using Superset Training To Build Muscle!

lewis — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:26:33 +0000

Idiotic Mistakes Using Superset Training To Build Muscle!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
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

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

Are your food tastes making you fatter?

lewis — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:22:19 +0000

Are your food tastes making you fatter?

----------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mike Geary
http://truthaboutabs.atozfitness.com

Are you "addicted" to overly aggressive food tastes? Is this making you fatter over time? Let's take a look...

You've probably noticed that I like to talk about food... and healthy eating in particular. I've always said that healthy eating does NOT have to be boring and bland, and if you know a few preparation tricks, can actually be exciting and delicious.

Many people seem to falsely believe that they'll never be able to get lean if they don't eat what is thought to be typical bodybuilder fare -- dry plain chicken breasts, plain broccoli, tuna fish, oatmeal, etc. If you've read my newsletters for some time, you know that I'm against this type of boring menu, and like to give healthy meal ideas that have a little more appeal.

However, here is one of the most important things you can do for yourself if you want to eat healthier for life and make it a HECK OF A LOT easier to get lean and stay that way permanently...

LEARN TO ADJUST YOUR TASTE BUDS TO ENJOY THE NATURAL UNADULTERATED TASTE OF REAL FOOD... UNPROCESSED FOOD

This is one of the main problems that I see so many people face with being able to control their eating... they have grown up with processed foods and additives that are excessively AGGRESSIVE TASTES.

*So many foods have excessive added sugars, corn syrups, artificial sweeteners, etc

*So many foods have excessive added trans fats, refined vegetable oils, and other processed fats

*So many foods are laden with excessive (and potentially dangerous) flavor enhancers such as MSG and processed commercial salt

All of this massive onslaught of overly aggressive tastes have rendered most people's taste buds senseless when it comes to the natural taste of real unprocessed foods.

I was having brunch with a couple friends recently and I noticed one of them dumped this huge heaping spoonful of sugar into their coffee. I can't even imagine being able to gag down a coffee that was so heavily loaded with sugar.

Even diet drinks (which I'd never drink because of the harmful artificial sweeteners) are so excessively sweet these days, they're not even refreshing. I can't understand how people can drink something that tastes like pure syrup.

Here's a quick quiz to see if you're officially addicted to overly aggressive tastes:

1. If given the choice, would you choose:

a. sausage or hot dog

b. steak, burger, or chicken breast

2. Do you prefer:

a. sweetened tea or coffee (with added sugar or artificial sweeteners)

b. unsweetened tea or black coffee

3. If given a choice for dessert, do you prefer:

a. cake, pie, or ice cream

b. a piece of fruit

4. If you like chocolate, do you prefer:

a. milk chocolate

b. extra dark chocolate

I could think of more, but that'll do for now... If you answered a's more than you answered b's, then you may be addicted to overly aggressive tastes, and that could be making you pack on more lbs indirectly.

One of the main problems is that needing to eat aggressive tasting foods means that all of that extra salt, MSG, added processed fats, sugars, and artificial sweeteners are playing havok with your hormones, and making you crave extra calories that your body doesn't need.

Don't worry though, it CAN be easy to wean yourself off of these aggressive tastes. I've successfully done it.

About 5 years ago, I'd have called you crazy if you said I'd ever be drinking unsweetened tea or black coffee... I always needed to add a sweetener back then... but now, I actually PREFER to drink them both unsweetened.

What I did was just slightly reduce the amount of sweetener I added over time, and eventually I got used to using none, and actually started to prefer the natural taste of coffee or tea instead of just tasting the sweetness.

Now you can start to see how this all ties back into enjoying the REAL taste of food (or drink) instead of the ADDITIVES in food!

My recommendations for your leaner healthier body:

*Enjoy the taste of real meats, such as grass-fed steaks, fish, chicken breasts, pork tenderloin... instead of needing the aggressive tastes of the additives in sausages, hot dogs, deli meats, and other processed meats.

*Start to enjoy the taste of the actual coffee or tea instead of the taste of the sugar or artificial sweetener.

*Start drinking water or unsweetened tea with meals (instead of soda or sweetened drinks) at least every other day, and try to increase that to every day eventually.

*Use herbs and spices in your cooking instead of heavy use of salt.

*Try to wean yourself off of cakes, pies, candies, and other sweets... Eat mostly fruit or small amounts of super-dark chocolate instead.

*Avoid any and all deep fried foods and processed starch-based side dishes - mac & cheese, scalloped potatoes, etc.

Even doing just some of these simple tips can help you to change your tastes over time and help to overcome your addiction to the overly aggressive tastes that food marketers have pushed on us our entire lives.

I hope these ideas help you to eat healthier in 2009!

**One more note for today...

I wanted to congratulate all of my readers who have achieved phenomenal results and changed their body and mind by using my TruthAboutAbs program. I get stories in all the time about these successes.

Anybody can get great results too... you're not "cursed with a slow metabolism"... that's a lame cop-out from people that are too lazy to take action and change their body.

I'm really proud of one of my readers who just recently sent me his latest pictures...

Click-Here to Check out the 3 pictures of Leith on this page showing his transformation:

You can see that these aren't any kind of "staged" before/afters... these are simply his legit pics which even show the dates automatically from the camera readout.

These are the kind of results that you can get if you actually take action on REAL workouts and REAL nutrition and stop searching for some kind of miracle pill (which will never exist).

If you liked these training ideas, my internationally best-selling ebook The Truth about Six Pack Abs contains hundreds of more innovative training ideas to lose stubborn body fat and carve out a rock hard set of abs and a flat stomach.

Feel free to email this link on to any friends or coworkers that you think would like to try these types of unique quick daily workouts. Heck, try to get your co-workers to do these with you if you can!

Yours in fitness,,
Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
AtoZFitness Total Body Makeover
AtoZfitness.com Google's #3 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.com

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

Exercise Toxicity

lewis — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:23:58 +0000

----------------------------------------------------------------------
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

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

Six Little-Known Muscle Building Tips Part 2

lewis — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:29:35 +0000

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Six “Little-Known” Muscle Building Tips Part 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

Six Little-Known Muscle Building Tips Part 1 + FREE gifts till Friday.

lewis — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:30:45 +0000

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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.

If you have any questions, you can contact me by clicking here.

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