Do You Need A Hardgainer Workout Routine? If You Only Want To Tone Muscles And Shed a Little Of That Excess Fat, No-Nonsense Muscle Building Is One Of The Most Popular Choices.

If You Are Really A Hardgainer, Click Here To Get Your Free Report And Discover A Hardgainer Workout Routine That Will Trigger Explosive Muscle Growth.

Technorati Tags: hardgainer, Muscle Building, Vince DelMonte

It may seem like I am devoting an awful lot of time recently to abs. Well, I am and there are a couple of reasons for that.

First, some of the top fitness expert have brought out new or updated abs programs and these need to be looked at and discussed.

Second, the most common fitness questions I receive from people all over the world have to do with their struggles with shedding that flabby stomach fat that sticks to them no matter what they do.

Well, fellow fitness professional Mike Geary of TruthAboutAbs.com is a well-known expert who deals exclusively with the most effective strategies for losing stomach fat so that you can finally uncover those hidden six pack abs that everyone tries to find. So I thought I would see what his upgraded program had to offer.

Some of Mike’s strategies deal with nutrition aspects and others deal with training techniques, but I was impressed to see that Mike has put together one of the most comprehensive resources for dealing with all of the aspects necessary to finally get rid of that nasty belly fat for good.

The key is that Mike focuses on the REAL techniques that are going to get you lasting results, and teaches you how to avoid all of these “quick-fix” scams and gimmicks that are all over the infomercials and the internet these days.

Several of the mistakes that Mike see’s every day where people are going wrong in their fat loss attempts are:

Mistake #1
Most people are wasting way too much of their time doing hundreds of reps of ineffective crunches, situps, and other “abs pumping” exercises in their attempt at losing stomach fat.

Mike has discovered that there are certain highly effective exercises that stimulate your metabolism much better, and increase your fat burning hormone levels much more. These exercises that Mike outlines are the best of the best for getting a lean, chiseled body.

Surprisingly to most, the majority of these most effective exercises for stomach fat loss are NOT “abs-specific” exercises. Not only that, but Mike shows you how to combine and sequence them to get the best metabolic and fat loss results possible, changing the shape of your entire body.

Mistake #2
Most people are wasting way too much time doing hours upon hours of boring monotonous cardio routines.

Mike has researched this topic extensively, including an entire course he’s taken comparing different modalities of cardiovascular exercise. After all of this research, we’ve come to the conclusion that the majority of people out there are not doing the right types of cardio exercise. In fact, most people may actually be inadvertantly decreasing their metabolic rate by doing too much of the wrong types of cardio!

The strategies that Mike reveals in his program go beyond “interval cardio” too.

Mistake #3
Most people are failing miserably with fad diets.

Mike reveals exactly why most low-carb or low-fat diets are actually working against what your body needs to become lean and ripped and maintain it for life! Mike shows you exactly how to stop falling for the gimmick diets and finally develop a truly healthy eating style that you can actually enjoy for life without being overly restrictive. It’s actually easier and more enjoyable than you believe!

Go to Mike’s Truth about Six Pack Abs site today and discover the exact system that Mike is using to help thousands of his clients from all over the world get leaner than they’ve ever been before. This system will help you to lose that stubborn stomach fat that has plagued you for years, so you can finally get that sexy six pack that you’ve always wanted. Here’s the site:

Truth About Abs

Don’t forget to visit Mike’s site today, as he’s giving away some great free bonus reports and other tools that might not be available much longer.

To a lean, strong, and healthy body for life!

Technorati Tags: Abs Exercises, Mike Geary, Six Pack Abs, truth about abs

Is there such a thing as “too much protein”? Not if you subscribe to a few bodybuilding mags, stop by the shake bar at your gym or visit the health food store.

Protein bars, shakes and supplements are the grease that turns the axles on many muscle building machines – and muscle empires.

But I am sure you must have stopped and asked yourself at some time, “Is this really doing me any good? Am I taking in too little or maybe too much protein?”.

Well, I am happy to have found a pretty definitive article by the Muscle Nerd that sheds a little light on the subject. I know that Jeff Anderson always has something to sell but he really does back up everything he tells you with studies and science. That’s why he is referred to as the Muscle Nerd!

Following is his article intact, with no editing. Enjoy while chomping down that protein bar.

How Much Protein Is “Too Much” Protein For Bodybuilders?

Protein supplements are a staple in any bodybuilder’s supplement arsenal.

Depending upon who you listen to, you’ll get different answers for “how much protein” you should consume in order to build muscle.

Bodybuilding magazines and supplement manufacturers tell you you should consume at least “2 grams of protein per pound of body weight” because you need all that protein to recover from your workouts and increase muscle mass.

But are they blowing these dosages way out of proportion?

I mean, supplement companies who promote massive dosages (I’ve seen up to 5g/lb of body weight!) couldn’t POSSIBLY be trying to get you to consume more of their product so you’ll go and buy another tub, right?

Fact is, I’ve caught a LOT of hell over the years from so called “experts” for my statements in my Optimum Anabolics (www.OptimumAnabolics.com) program where I’ve said that the body CAN’T use more than 20-30g per meal.

Well a recent study looked at just how much protein is “enough” and how much is “too much”.

Protein Study: How Much Protein Should You Consume?

A group of highly trained athletes consumed one of five different doses following a bout of resistance exercise.

* Og: The “control” group
* 5g
* 10g
* 20g
* or 40g

Following exercise, ALL groups increased muscle-protein synthesis, but the 20g dose produced nearly DOUBLE the amount of muscle-protein synthesis than the control group!

The 40g dose was even higher, but not by all that much. Therefore, it appears that even after resistance training, your body can only USE so much protein (somewhere between 20g and 40g) and then the rest gets burned up as fuel.

Even in Optimum Anabolics, I recommend way less protein than most people take in (1.17g/lb of LEAN body weight) with about 25% of your daily protein requirement taken IMMEDIATELY after training.

By not consuming “too much” protein, your body can focus on burning FAT for fuel instead of the excess protein which is why OA is considered more of a “build and burn” bodybuilding program.

So stop overdosing on protein, will you?

Consume about 20g in 5 meals throughout the day and add a separate 30-40g serving immediately after your workouts to ensure full muscle-protein synthesis when you need it the most.

What’s your take? Are you goijng overboard or are you actually using all of your protein shake to build muscle mass?

Technorati Tags: Bodybuilding Supplements, Diet, Jeff Anderson, muscle building supplements, Optimum Anabolics

Ab workouts and ab routines are one of the most looked for fitness workouts on the internet. And it’s easy to see why. Our waste lines continue to grow and hide that six pack we have.

There are several good abs programs to choose from and many that really don’t do the job at all. I have asked one of the top fitness experts, Vince DelMonte, to give us his take on all of the confusion. Here is what Vince had to say:

———————–

When trying to achieve the illusive six pack, it’s easy to get confused by all the “best ab workouts” available. You’ll likely notice that there is a multitude of ab workouts to choose from, so deciphering which ones will work the best can be tricky.

The thing to remember is that whenever you are trying to work your core, everything works, for a certain period of time. Everything from high reps, low reps, weighted work, bodyweight work, stability ball exercises, and BOSU ball exercises – it all works until your body adapts and says, “This is easy, I’m not going to change unless you give me a new reason to adapt.”

Your ab training should be progressed from stable floor work with your body weight to a unstable surface with weighted work. Progressing to movements that will reduce your base of support as much as possible are the best ab workouts because they will call into play all the muscles within the core, especially those really deep that stable floor work can not target.

Such examples of floor ab exercises that would do this would be crunches, sit ups and leg raises. Eventually you want to do these same exercises against gravity, then a load and then on unstable surface like a stability ball. Body weight exercises like “front planks” and “side planks” should be the foundation of a core program and progressed to one arm planks in the frontal and side planes and then eventually on a stability ball or BOSU ball for further recruitment.

The best ab workouts to make your abs “pop” would be a variety of weighted movements. I’m sure you’ve skinny guys with a flat stomach but no “eye popping” abs, which is because they have not developed the actual abdominal muscle, just like every other body part. Part of getting nicely chiseled abs is going to be developing the muscles underneath the fat, and weighted ab crunches with cables or on a stability ball with a heavy dumbbell will do this best.

During all your ab workouts be sure to get a full stretch during the eccentric phase of your ab exercises. Going through an entire range of motion on the way up (if doing a crunch on the floor or ball) is not necessary, however, you should be “crunching” your upper abs onto your lower abs during each rep to maximize the burn, recruitment and full development.

The one weighted exercise you will not find in my programs is weighted side bends, as this could make you look wider in the waste, distracting from creating a lean image.

One concerning question most people have is regarding lower ab workouts, typically the most troubling spot. Yes, hip flexion (emphasis more so on lower abs) is important to perform and should be done first in the workout but the reality of the matter is that you cannot specifically separate your abs into upper and lower components. Whenever you perform any type of ab movement you should automatically be focusing on working both the upper and lower portion at the same time.

Good exercise to definitely direct a little more force into the lower area would be the progression of lying leg raises, lying leg raises on a incline and eventually hanging leg raises fully vertical. Lying leg raises on a stability pull is also an extremely challenging and advanced exercise to create razor sharp abdominals.

Finally, the last thing to consider is when you are going to perform your ab workout is training frequency. Again, generally speaking, the more the better assuming your abdominals have recovered. Whether you want to perform it at the end of your workout, before your workout, during your workout or on a day of it’s own is up to you.

My ab workouts incorporate all methods depending on if you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced. Some theories of that warn you not to start with abs is because abs work as a synergistic muscle for so many of the other exercises you’ll do, if you pre-fatigue them before the start of the workout, you may not progress as much during the rest of your workout. I don’t agree with this and if you’re abs are your weakest link then they should be given first priority when you are the most fresh, the start of your workout.

Incorporating a specific ab workout is only a small part of the battle – diet, lifestyle and overall caloric expenditure through weight training and cardio are the true building blocks to creating a sexy and desired mid section.

———————————-

A little about Vince DelMonte:

Vince is the author of http://www.YourSixPackQuest.com and his top selling fitness program No Nonsense Muscle Building.

He provides chubby guys and gals with the best ab workouts to get a six pack without gimmicks, supplements or dieting.

Try him, you’ll like him – and so will your body!

Technorati Tags: Abs Exercises, Six Pack Abs, Vince DelMonte

You’ve been there. No matter how hard you try you just can’t seem to squeeze out an extra pound on the bench press.  Sometimes we defeat ourselves by trying too hard.

Trying too hard? You probably thought in the mental game you weren’t trying hard enough. But it is not about “how hard”, but just “how”.

How we think about what we are trying to accomplish is equally as important, if not more so, than the effort we are putting into the routine.

Jeff Anderson, aka The MuscleNerd, has come up with 4 tips to help tip the scale in our favor. Understand, he makes no promises but says,

“these 4 powerful little mental “tricks” COULD help you add an IMMEDIATE 20% more to your bench press and break a new personal record!”

BENCH PRESS POWER TIP #1: Focus on your BODY…not the BAR!

When you’re benching, try to actually push your BODY away from the bar…NOT the bar away from your body.

This trick works for the same reason when doing pullups, you focus on pulling your elbows down.

Your brain sees the bar as an inanimate object OUTSIDE of your control and it understands that the bar may “win”.

But your brain sees your BODY as an “ally” and “WITHIN your control”…

…and is much more CONFIDENT in your strength when focusing on moving your BODY.

BENCH PRESS POWER TIP #2: “Pull” The Bar Apart!

As you’re lifting the bar, try “pulling” it apart as if your hands were moving away from each other.

Your hands don’t actually move…you just want to grip hard and imagine “stretching” the bar longer.

This calls into play more “stabilizer muscles” to give you extra power in your upward movement.

BENCH PRESS POWER TIP #3: Visualize The Bar Going UP!

Do you know this “spotter” trick?

Whenever you’re spotting someone on the bench press and they’ve hit a sticking point, most of the time all you have to do is place 2 FINGERS under the bar and it MAGICALLY seems to raise again.

No…you DON’T have the world’s strongest fingers!

It’s simply a total mental “mind f’er” where the lifter “thinks” he’s getting help with the rep…but is actually doing it all on his own.

You can do this by yourself (or with a partner) just by VISUALIZING the bar constantly moving upwards.

When you reach that sticking point, play a mental movie in your mind and vividly SEE the bar raising.

Your body will “believe” what you see and respond by making your “movie” a REALITY!

BENCH PRESS POWER TIP #4: Look To Your Dominant Hand!

Another “sticking point” destroyer…

Once you reach the point where the bar stops its ascent and you think you’ve been defeated, look (WITHOUT turning your head) toward your dominant hand (the one you write with).

This is yet another mental “trigger” for your brain to associate strength and power with what it perceives as your strongest assets in your “bench press battle”.

Well, there you go!

Bring your brain to your next chest workout and load up a few extra plates because you’re guaranteed t leave your wimpy old record in the dust once you try these easy tips!

If you just can’t wait to get to your gym to try, and keep trying out these tips, it may be time to invest in your own home gym equipment and save the gas and wasted time it takes to get there.

Technorati Tags: bodybuilding tips, Jeff Anderson, Muscle Nerd