To put on muscle and lose fat you need to overload the muscles sufficiently to promote muscle growth. This means exercising all muscle groups at least twice each week and preferably three times a week.
Now if you find yourself at a plateau after several months of this program, try to squeeze in another session, making it 3 or 4 sessions each week if you feel your constitution can take the extra training. Bear in mind that at this point you should still be exercising to failure or thereabouts, at 12 repetitions for 3 sets for the set number of exercises in the program. You may have adjusted the weight load upward to account for strength gains.
Posts Tagged ABS/CORE
Load up those muscles
Dec 7
This may seem obvious, but not to everyone. Girls, you can’t get rippled abs within a few months of giving birth; and guys, ten years of booze does not a quick six-pack make. Get real, get to work, learn to love small gains and log, log, log.
Make a note of your progress so that you know exactly when your weight loss, muscle enhancement or waist size reduction starts to plateau. This is important because unless you note it or chart it, it’s easy to imagine things are better or worse than they are.
Want firmer abs and a stronger back? Start incorporating stability balls into your regular workout routine.
Balls come in various sizes, but as a general rule, your knees should form a 90 degree angle if you’re sitting on a ball and your feet are flat on the ground.
Choose the ball that best suits your height for optimal results:
- If you are 5’–5’7’’, choose a 55-centimeter ball.
- If you are 5’8’’–6’2’’, choose a 65-centimeter ball.
- If you are 6’3’’ or taller, choose a 75-centimeter ball.
Here are three moves you’re probably familiar with already, but are extra challenging – and extra beneficial – when performed on a stability ball:
- Abdominal crunch: Sit on the ball with feet on floor. Cross your arms across chest and keep back straight while you tighten your abdominal muscles. Lean back until you can feel the movement in your abs, and hold. Return to start and repeat.
- Plank: Modify your usual plank with a stability ball. Lie down on your stomach on the ball with feet still on floor. Lean forward and touch the floor with your hands, then walk hands away from the ball until the ball is under your thighs. You’ll be balanced on your hands and the ball, with your shoulders directly above your hands. Hold as long as you can. Return to start and repeat, building up the time you can balance.
- Push-up: Work in some arm-toning while you’re engaging your abs! Start with your chest on the ball with hands at the sides of your chest. Place toes on the floor, with legs straight. Push yourself up until your arms are almost straight. Hold and balance, then slowly return to start and repeat.
If exercising with a ball seems like too big a step, work your way up by swapping out your office chair for an appropriately sized stability ball. Just sitting on a ball keeps your abs engaged while you work! Just remember, as with any office chair – no slouching!
Check my favorite NUTRILITE® Logo Stability Balls and more great fitness equipment to keep you moving and fit!
Abdominal Workouts
Oct 28
Proper technique is key for safe and effective abdominal workouts. One must lift and lower in a slow, controlled manner and never use momentum. Focus should be on contracting the abdominals as you slowly roll your shoulders up off the floor. This should be accompanies with exhaling as you contract and inhaling as you release.
Lose the Beer Belly
Oct 25
Most men fasten their belts below their waists. It’s just another way of avoiding the truth about that gut. Grab a tape measure and put it around your body at the level of your belly button. That number should be less than half your height. So for my 5’10″ frame, I need to keep my waist under 34.5″. If avoiding heart attacks and diabetes isn’t enough motivation to eliminate that gut, consider this: For every point your body mass index is over 25, your testosterone drops 3 percent, which isn’t very manly.
