Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle

Strategies You MUST Know if You Ever Want to Stand a Chance of Getting a Flat Stomach with 6-Pack Abs

by Mike Geary, author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs, interviewed by Craig Ballantyne - CSCS, Men’s Health Magazine Training Advisor

Below is an interview that I did with world-famous trainer and Men’s Health Magazine Training Advisor, Craig Ballantyne as he grilled me on the top secrets for fat loss and six pack abs. Check it out…

CB: Mike, give us a brief background about yourself

MG: Sure Craig. Well, I’m currently a Certified Nutrition Specialist and a Certified Personal Trainer. I’ve been dedicated to improving my knowledge of fitness, both training techniques and nutrition aspects, for over 15 years now, and I never stop trying to learn more each and every day. I’ve also been a contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Hers Magazine, and I’m the author of the popular internationally-selling book, “The Truth about Six Pack Abs” which has had tens of thousands of readers in over 150 countries currently.

I just love helping people with this area of their lives, as not only does it improve their outward appearance and confidence, but more importantly, improves how they feel and their internal health, helping them to live longer and healthier lives. It’s something I’m very passionate about.

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

MG: Ok, 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.

CB: And finally Mike, 1 or 2 of your top secret nutrition tips for carving 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 do use sprouted grain breads fairly regularly too.

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 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 and deep fried 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.

Every time we flip through a magazine or newspaper, it seems another nutrition article guaranteeing to fix our body’s ills, or improve our overall health and performance. Yet where does the truth lie? A recent edition of Newsweek says the mixed messages we are receiving from the so-called nutritionists and media often leave us confused than enlightened. Do we all need these vitamins, and in what form and amount?

There is no doubt that Vitamins are essential for good health. In fact, our bodily functions greatly depend on nutrition to keep it going - these vitamins and minerals are essential nutrition, and are referred to as micronutrients. The body only needs small amounts of micronutrients because it uses them without breaking them down, unlike carbohydrates and other macronutrients (proteins and fats). They are used by our body to function normally or to repair or rejuvenate. Most of us know that vitamin A is good for the eyes, and vitamin C is good for fast healing of wounds.

In times of stress, or illness, and in polluted environents, our body’s vitamin requirements change and we may just need to add a daily supplement to insure ourselves against illnesses. When we are training hard, for example, most of us would supplement our intake of protein with protein powder.

But the pertinent question: if one has a healthy diet, would it still be necessary to consume supplements? Until recently, nutritionists would have said no. However, today, according to The Harvard School of Public Health, there’s good evidence that taking a daily multivitamin makes good sense. There’s also a growing evidence that many vitamins do more than ward off the so-called diseases of deficiency, like scurvy and rickets. Intake of several vitamins above the minimum daily requirement may prevent heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases. If one often feels tired and lethargic, unwell and stressed, an extra vitamin B may help the process of recharging the body.

Yet high doses of vitamins can be detrimental to our health. At high doses, vitamins start to behave like drugs, not supplements. To help ensure that people do not overdose on vitamins, authorities have dispensed with recommended levels of consumption.

Discretion
So my own advice, much as we would like to rely on pills, our wellbeing requires that we have regular exercise and a healthy diet - one that’s rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, along with smaller amounts of fish, nuts and dairy. Everything should be done in moderation, including the intake of vitamin supplements.

I find this article very interesting from Mike Geary.

Excess Abdominal Fat is Not Only Ugly, but Extremely Dangerous to Your Health - This is More Than a Vanity Issue!
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don’t realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly determined that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that “beer belly” appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase the risk your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There’s just no way around it. Besides, a side effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for “miracle” fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can’t spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn’t work that way.

The only solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I’ve actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise & diet combined group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I’ve spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it “in the trenches” with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

The entire solution… all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program.

Keep in mind that the point of this whole program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.

If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork… it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply these strategies. If you apply it, the results will come. It’s really that simple.

The only reason most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

Don’t waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem by reading more details about the program at the Losing Dangerous Abdominal Fat home page

Train hard, eat right, and enjoy life!

A major new study suggests that regular exercise and a healthy diet may be an effective remedy for erectile dysfunction (or commonly known as impotence) and the heart disease that often accompanies it. This is according to researchers at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Although this is not a surprising news, it’s good addition to the number of benefits of exercising. With a physically fit body, being muscular and with good cardiovascular health, normal sexual function naturally follows.

I remember when I was fat and my belly is actually covering my “thing”, I literally have to stoop down to see it, it brings down my confidence level to perform sexually. But now, being flat on the stomach, and with excellent cardio health, I can say that my confidence level shoots up and this helps me combat my own thinking of being “not able to”. As you may know, ED is almost always 50% psychological, you have to defeat your own self saying your too old or getting old. Of course, it has to do also with physical health, when your exercising or building muscle, your testosterone level normally goes up and this hormone is needed too for improved sexual performance. But for me, the way that exercising helps is mostly psychological - it gives me superior confidence that I can do it and do it longer

I was in the same boat recently when I stopped lifting weights for almost 6 months. I could not find time during those months when I shifted to a new house and took me some time to resume my previous routines. What is the best strategy when returning to lifting weights again after returning from a long layoff?

According to a study by Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, anyone returning from a layoff of six months or more should at first limit their lifting to one set per exercise. This applies too for those beginning to lift weights. The researchers reviewed 16 studies and determined that single-set programs yield gains similar to those produced by multiple-set programs at the start.

“You’re actually better off beginning with a light training regimen to acclimatise your body to additional stress”, says Linda LeMura, Ph.D., a co-author of the study. So there’s no need to break-in your body with doing multiple sets for one to 4 weeks. I actually followed this advice, and re-conditioned my body to adapt to perform more sets after 1 month of doing one set only. This would also prevent injuries or “pulled” muscles, especially when attempting to lift the weight you can do easily before.

Do one set first of approximately 65 percent of your one-repetition max, for one month. One set is 8 to 10 repetitions. After that, resume your multiple sets as you did before your layoff, 3 to 4 sets of about 80 percent of your one-rep max. Take it easy at first and you will be on your way to getting shape again.

Three steps to sleeping soundly — with great tips on how to wake early!

It is outlined on the article 3 tips to conquer insomnia - exercise, wake up early, and just go to bed. These are simple and practical tips, but it works! I used to exercise in the evenings, after that my body aches on the muscles that I have exercised. I just lie on the bed, and before I know it, I am sound asleep. Note that before I had insomnia too, eventhough I’m already in bed, I just could not sleep. As an alternative, you may opt to wake up early and exercise early in the morning, having the same effect of being tired in the evening to have a good night sleep.

Add to the benefit of exercise is it’s relaxing effect on our mind. I have covered before in my previous article that exercise makes us feel good. After a workout session, I usually experience a sense of well-being - because I feel good about myself. Eventhough I don’t have the trimmest body in the world - in fact, I’m far from that - I felt good since I know I have exercised for that day and won that ‘battle’ to keep fit. That ‘accomplishment’ gave me a sense of satisfaction - in turn gave me more reason to rest, relax, and sleep better.

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This is one of the most important benefit of exercise: it makes us feel good.

Sure there are the long-term benefits like lowering blood pressure, improved strength and endurance, a trimmer physique and the confidence that follows, increasing mental alertness, and reducing your odds of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. But exercise simply makes us feel good.

Two primary chemicals involved in making exercise feel good are cortisol and endorphins.

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the body under stress, such as anger, anxiety or fear, and it ultimately inflames and damages our organs. Exercise burns cortisol, and thereby makes us healthier and happier.

Endorphins are morphine-like hormone molecules that enter the brain’s neurons and park on receptors that normally send pain-signaling molecules back to other parts of the brain. Some say endorphins are even more powerful and yield a more euphoric feeling than opiate drugs such as morphine and opium, which park on the same receptors when introduced to the body.

Exercise stimulates the brain’s pituitary gland to release endorphins, an abbreviation for endogenous (meaning “produced within”) morphine, in the bloodstream.

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Even with a stagnant gym membership or so-so discipline, individual episodes of intense exercise provides psychological boosts aside from the harder-to-see, harder-to-acquire physical and disease-fighting benefits of exercise.

A single exercise session lasting 20 or 30 minutes at 80 percent of your capacity brings on pain-relieving endorphins, according to work by Robert G. McMurray of the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Fitness machines. Learn More.

Even one session makes you feel better and clears your head. Once you make a commitment to exercise then you are motivated to keep feeling good every day. After about two weeks of exercise you stay on course.

I truly find exercising as one way to de-stress and clear my mind. After only one hour of exercising, I feel relaxed. Having a nice hot shower and steam bath after the exercise at the gym adds more to the calm state of mind. Not only my muscles are at-ease, but also it helps to clear the worries of the day.

However, it is also important to keep varying the exercise, as our body easily adapts to hormones (endorphins and cortisol) over time. It is important to realize that routine deadens the heart, and you have to change up your exercise regimen. The body always adapts and you need to challenge it. So, vary the intensity, cross train, take dance classes, try a new sport, use a personal trainer for a few sessions, etc. Keep it fresh, and you will get that high!