Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle

Seated Cable Rows are great for the lats muscles, and it also exercises the trapezius, rhomboids and rear deltoids. It will give you wider lats if done correctly, but may result to lower back pain if not done correctly.

Below are the steps on proper way of doing seated cable rows:

1. Sit at the pulley row machine. Anchor your feet against the foot platforms, with your knees slightly bent.
2. Keep your back straight, lean forward slightly and grasp the handles with a narrow grip.
3. Pull the handles high toward your chest, keeping your spine straight. Your elbows should point behind you. Don’t lock your knees.
4. Hold for a second, then return to the starting position.

To target more on the trapezius, pull the handles or bar through a high trajectory towards the middle chest; a low trajectory toward the abdomen works more on the latissimus dorsi.

Remember to keep your back straight and torso upright, to prevent injury to your lower back and you are contracting the right muscles (lats and traps). Squeeze the shoulder blades together to maximize muscle contraction.

Below is a video demonstrating the proper execution of seated cable row:

Abdominal knee raises also is a good overall workout for the abs. The main abs muscles (rectus abdominis) and the obliques are exercised and resistance is provided by your body weight.

Doing correct Abs knee raises:

1. Place your elbows on the pads. This will support your upper body.
2. Keep back pressed to the back pad, so it will be a guide to make your body straight and don’t jerk.
3. Slowly lift knees into chest.
4. Keep the movement slow. Feel the flexing of your abdominal muscles on the move way down and up.

Here is a good training video by Frank Sepe to demonstrate how:

an interview by Geovanni Derice with Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Geovanni Derice, of 4evertoned.com. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it…I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of that stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abs that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike Geary to 4everToned’s Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself.

MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 15 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning. At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 30 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.

I decided earlier in my 20’s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.

I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.

GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work…if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is…after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat. In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is…are you ready for this? They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!

GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book).

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing…and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains. Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.

The point is to not fall for some gimmick like low carbs, low fat, high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another. Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several nuggets of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don’t already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system I’ve developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!

Here are some exercise tips you might find useful in the gym or elsewhere. I will be giving these short tips so it will be easier to read and remember.

1. Split Cardio.
Spread your cardio to double your gains. A University of New Hampshire study found splitting a 30 minute session into two halves led to a 29% rise in workout capacity. Reap the benefits by cycling to and from work.

2. Rest to Grow.
A Taiwanese study found that performing heavy bicep curls with sore muscles did not slow muscle recovery - as long as there had been at least a 48-hour rest period. So hit the gym four times a week, working the same muscles every other session.

3. NO Floor-gazing.
Looking down when you squat can cause an injury, say scientists at Miami University. Floor-gazing during the move causes your body to lean forward, increasing the strain on your lower back. Keep your head straight by looking at your image in a mirror.

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.

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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!