Anyway, last week the interview I sent was about the various training aspects you should consider to get rid of that stubborn belly fat and uncover those six pack abs that everyone wants. The continuation of that interview deals with the best nutrition secrets that anybody can apply if they want to have any chance of getting lean enough to see visible abs on themselves.

Without further ado, I hope you’ll benefit the interview as much as I did.

CB: And finally Mike, 1 or 2 of your top secret nutrition tips for losing body fat to carve out those abs. Open your vault of info!

MG: Well Craig, I think you’d agree that there has never been a more confusing time regarding proper nutrition for consumers. Every so called “expert” out there seems to disagree and contradict each other on what’s the best way to eat for fat loss and overall good health.

One of the most important messages I try to teach my readers in this world of heavy confusion is that your diet doesn’t need to conform to any of the fad diets… you don’t need to go “low carb” or “low fat”, or high or low anything for that matter to be successful in losing enough body fat to get lean enough to be able to see your abs.

I like to try to simplify things for my readers. I think that balance is the key to success along with eating a diet that is made up of nutrient dense foods in their natural state (as unprocessed as possible).

In general, it is the heavy processing of foods that makes it wreak havoc inside our bodies. Most foods in their natural unprocessed state are inherently good for us. Of course there are always exceptions… a salad of poison ivy leaves is “natural and unprocessed” but certainly would not be good for us!

I’ll leave your readers with a couple of the most important aspects of nutrition that help to get you lean for life…

1. Get enough quality protein in the daily diet - not only does it have a higher thermic effect than carbs and fat (so you burn more calories digesting it), but it also creates satiety so your hunger is satisfied longer. Plus it’s a building block for maintaining and building lean muscle… And remember that the amount of lean muscle you carry is one of the main factors for controlling your metabolism.

2. Think fiber! When it comes to carbs, make sure that almost all of your carbohydrate intake is from higher fiber sources like vegetables, fruits, and high fiber unrefined grains. Try to avoid refined sugars and refined grains as that is one of the main reasons so many people struggle with body fat.

I personally don’t eat many grains as I prefer to get most of my carbs from veggies and fruits, but I’ll admit I am a bit of a fan of sprouted grains. I generally recommend looking for carbohydrate sources that have at least 2-3 grams of fiber per each 10 grams of total carbs. Remember that fiber helps fill you up and also slows down the glycemic response of the foods you eat, all beneficial for getting super lean.

3. Don’t be afraid to eat fat! Many people try to go way too low on their fat intake and this can negatively affect hormone levels in your body as well as causing more cravings. Try to eat enough healthy fats daily.

Good sources are all nuts and seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, organic meats and eggs, coconuts and virgin coconut oil. On that note, saturated fats from tropical oils are VERY misunderstood, even by many nutritionists and other health professionals. Yes they are composed highly of saturated fats, but are actually beneficial (but that’s way beyond the scope of this article).

4. Avoid the two worst things in our food supply at ALL COSTS:

*artificial trans fats from margarines, shortening, and hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods

*high fructose corn syrup, which is in almost all sweetened products on the market

Again, if you avoid processed foods, it becomes easy to avoid these two worst offenders in our food supply.

I always contend that once you get a handle on these 4 main points of your diet detailed above, the rest starts to take care of itself as you gain control over your appetite, blood sugar levels, hormone levels, etc. It all falls into place, and you eventually gain total control over how lean you want to get.

CB: Thanks Mike!

For more info, be sure to check out:

Mike’s site: The Truth About Six Pack Abs

Craig’s site: Turbulence Training

Cheers guys!

To make it up for it, I have an interview conducted by Men’s Health Magazine writer Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training who grilled the Abs expert Mike Geary, who is the author the internationally popular book, The Truth About Abs on the topic of abs training and the biggest myths and mistakes he sees in this field.

Before that, a few days ago, a friend of mine recommended me Mike’s book. To my surprise it’s totally different to what I’ve been blogging about in this blog, different to all the stomach exercises that I’ve been telling you all this while. It’s different from all those other abs expert been telling you about. And there I was thinking that I’m an abs expert. To make myself clear, I’m not saying that my methods don’t work, I do know my methods work however for being in this field long enough I know that Mike’s methods really work and I can vouch for that. You’ll find out soon enough when you’re done reading the interview.

So, if you’ve been doing your abs training and achieve no results, this interview is a must read. This is the first half of the interview which they talked about the training aspects of it. In the next few days, I promise to send you the second half of the interview in which they covered on the nutrition aspects that we need to consider to get rid of that stomach fat and get that hidden abs to show.

Also, be sure to check out Mike’s site at:

The Truth About Abs

and Craig’s site at:

Turbulence Training

Without further ado, I present you the must read interview:

CB: Okay Mike, so where does the average man or woman go wrong when it comes to training abs?

MG: Most people are probably going to be surprised with this answer. In their quest for ’six pack abs’, the biggest mistake I see people making is wasting WAY too much of their time training their abs directly… pumping away with all kinds of different abs-specific exercises.

I’m sure you know what I’m referring to. The person is trying so hard to get those abs to show, that they’re spending almost all of their time in the gym with hundreds of reps of various crunches, leg raises, twisting exercises, etc. Meanwhile, all of that wasted time directly training the abs could have been better spent on a properly designed full body workout program that would elicit a much better metabolic response and increase the fat-burning hormone levels in their body as well.

After all, losing the stomach fat that is covering the abs is the MOST important aspect for most people to finally be able to make their abs visible. Unfortunately, pumping away with hundreds of crunches and leg raises does NOT cause much of a metabolic or fat burning hormonal response.

This is the main focus of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book… full body training programs and proper nutrition to strip off that stubborn belly fat and reveal the six pack that’s hiding underneath!

Of course it wouldn’t be an abs book if I didn’t focus on ab development too, but I make sure firstly that the most important concepts for lasting body fat reduction are understood.

CB: Do you see any gender differences in mistakes they make? And more importantly, do you see any gender differences in the response to various types of ab training?

MG: To be honest, I don’t really see any need for men or women to train differently. Bottom line… the best exercises are the best exercises regardless of gender.

However, in regards to mistakes I see between genders… Yes, I tend to see women more often are deathly afraid to use weight training with anything but really light weights. That is a shame, because THE most effective way to gain control over your body fat for life, is to maximize your lean muscle that your body carries, as well as working that muscle hard through intense resistance exercise regularly.

It’s important for women to realize that regular strength training using heavier resistance will NOT “bulk them up” (as long as caloric intake is controlled), but rather is one of the key secrets for losing body fat and staying lean year-round. As a matter of fact, some of the leanest females that I’ve trained over the years are the ones that aren’t afraid to work hard with the weights.

I also notice that most women (and a lot of guys too) spend way too much time with slow cardio exercise. This is simply not necessary, and the way I combine high intensity resistance training into full body routines provides enough of a “cardio” workout in itself usually. We’ll get back to this in a minute though.

CB: What about ol’ school sit-ups? Do you use these? Are they good, bad, or does it “depend”?

MG: Sit-ups are a controversial topic. I don’t think they’re good or bad per se, but rather “in between”. I didn’t include them in my program. I simply don’t feel they are necessary, and I think there are much more effective abs exercises to focus on. Personally, I almost never do sit-ups except occasionally for a little variety every now and then.

CB: Give us a weekly sample ab training program. How many days per week? What are a couple of the best exercises you’d pick? How many sets? Reps? Rest?

MG: Well, first I’d like to point out that the full body movements that make up the majority of my programs indirectly work the abs and the entire “core” area to a fairly decent extent. However, I do include abs-specific exercises into the routines generally about twice per week. The “abs-specific” portion of the workouts generally only take about 5 minutes at most with very little rest between exercises.

Once people are past the beginning phase of gaining some initial ab strength, I try to get them away from the exercises that are too easy, where someone can do 50 or 100 reps, as is frequently common with standard crunches. Instead, I like to focus on higher resistance exercises that actually stimulate the muscle fibers to a much greater degree.

One example of a higher resistance abs exercise is hanging leg raises with a proper “pelvic curl up”. It’s funny but usually someone that has been wasting so much time with hundreds of reps of crunches can usually only do a few solid reps when they first attempt some of these higher resistance exercises.

We also make sure not to neglect some rotational movements, as well as some work for the deeper muscles like the transversus abdominis.

CB: What do you use for burning fat, intervals or slow cardio? Or both? Any gender differences here? Or differences between fitness levels (beginner vs. advanced)?

MG: In most cases, my answer is definitely intervals… or as I like to call it “variable intensity training”. In general, I think slow steady pace cardio is a waste of time, especially if the goal is lasting fat loss.

I think people need to get away from this thinking about “fat burning zones” and calories burned during the actual workout, and look at the bigger picture of what you’re doing in your workout to stimulate the greatest metabolic response in your body… and the best metabolic and hormonal response is achieved through variable intensity training and strength training, not slow steady-pace cardio.

Now I will say that if someone is really deconditioned and can’t handle higher intensity exercise routines just yet, this still doesn’t mean that they can’t simply use lower intensity routines, but still use it in a “variable intensity” fashion, by alternating between higher and lower exertion levels throughout the workout.

That wraps up our training portion of the interview. For more info about whether the Truth about Six Pack Abs Program is right for you, be sure to check out the following sites:

Mike’s site: The Truth About Six Pack Abs

Craig’s site: Turbulence Training

I’ll be back in a few days with the portion of the interview where they discussed the common nutrition mistakes most people make while trying to reduce body fat.

Cheers!

I know that some learn better by watching than reading. Though I don’t mind writing about it, I’m sure you’ll find this video very interesting. There are 4 great exercise ball instruction illustrated in the video that you can do at the comfort of your own home and they are great exercises for your hamstring, lower back, upper body and abs.

First of all, as you may already know, resistance bands come in many colours, and these colours indicate the level of difficulty or levels or resistance for example, red for difficult, yellow for medium and green for easy or little resistance. To begin with, you should choose a resistance level that is the most appropriate for you. You can easily move up when necessary. It is important to note that you should never overdo it by choosing the most difficult level, as this can lead to serious injury. And as always, with any workout routine, do consult with a professional before you begin, and always warm up adequately to avoid injury.

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Below are three stomach exercise with resistance bands routines that you can do now.

Seated Crunch
The seated crunch will give you the same benefits and results as the abdominal crunch. However, this is recommended as it puts less strain on your neck and without the discomfort of lying on the floor, since you are using the resistance band instead of gravity. To begin this routine, first sit in a straight back chair with the resistance band looped over your body and the chair. Sit straight and place your feet flat on the floor, slightly apart. Now contract your abdominal muscles and slowly bend forward to about a 45 degree angle. Make sure your feet stay flat on the floor and your back is as straight as possible. Repeat for an entire set.

One Arm Band Pull
In this exercise, start with standing with your feet about hip width apart. Place your hands above your head and hold the band about 18 inches apart. Now while keeping your left hand overhead, slowly bring your right hand to your side, with your elbow bent at about a ninety degree angle. Keep your left arm in place while you contract your abdominal muscles and lower your right arm until it is in line with your chest. Hold this position for a while and then slowly return to your starting position. Repeat this for an entire set, before switching hands. Make sure you keep your back straight and try to avoid leaning or bending at the waist. If you want more of a challenge, you can try to do this while on one foot. First, stand on your right foot, and then try to do it all again on your left foot.

Twisting Roll Back
First sit on the floor. You can opt to use a mat or towel to cushion the strain on your tail bone. Bend your knees and have your heels on the floor. Your toes should point upwards, and your feet should not be flat on the floor. Now loop the resistance band around your feet and put one end in each hand. Put your hands together. In a rolling motion, lower your body towards the floor about 45 degrees. While doing this, twist to your right and spread your hands to the sides. Now hold this position for a few seconds, and then rotate back and raise your body to starting position. Remember to keep your heels to the floor throughout the routine. Do a full set and switch to the other side.

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For other exercises with resistance bands, I suggest that you check out the video below:

As you go along you will build more endurance and strength. Once you find it easier to do the exercise, you can add more resistance by wearing water gloves. You could also try to do the exercises faster and finishing more reps in the three minutes. However, always remember to stay in form. It is not wise to sacrifice form for speed as it is much better to do an exercise properly than to do it quickly. Set your own fitness goals and gradually work towards them. You may want to see instant results but do remember that you should never push yourself too hard in such a short time. Getting injured is no way to a great stomach. Start small and work gradually towards your goal. Be realistic.

In exercising to trim and tone your tummy, do keep these tips in mind. Firstly, remember that a proper diet is essential in any fitness routine. What good is a good hard workout when it will all be negated by unhealthy diet. Secondly, drink lots of water during your work out and in your everyday life. How much liquid should be enough to keep you hydrated? Simple, just take your body weight in pounds and divide it by two, and drink that many in ounces of water everyday. Drinking enough water will help your body to function properly. Thirdly, get plenty of rest. This means get good sleep. Sleeping on your tummy which will give you a sore back the next day is definitely not the right kind of sleep. And lastly, make sure you have off days in your fitness routine so that your muscles get a chance to rest and rebuild. What more are you waiting for? Go get that flat toned tummy now!

I was just mucking around the other day with Windows Media Player and thought to myself, “Hey, maybe I should try and make a promo video to this blog and post it on YouTube.” Below is the result of the video. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s not professionally done, but I got 125 views so far as of this writing after 4 days it went live. Come on, be a sport and comment on the video below or you can also do that at YouTube. Any comments are welcomed, good or bad.

So, enjoy guys.

Keep working that abs guys!

Cheers,

Tommy