The Reason Your Abdominal Workouts Stop Working...
By David Grisaffi
www.flattenyourabs.net
Did you know that your body can adapt to an exercise program in as few as 4-5 workouts or less?
It's true - it's a scientific fact.
What exactly does this mean? Well, it's quite simple:
You develop muscle and strength (abs included) as an adaptive response to a specific stimulus (a workout or exercise routine).
You "ask" your body to perform a certain exercise or workload, and if it hasn't been asked to perform this type of work before, your body says to itself, "what the heck is this??? We've never had to do THIS before. We'd better prepare ourselves for the next time this happens by adapting and getting stronger and adding some more muscle."
And that, in a nutshell, is how muscles develop: Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (also known as the S.A.I.D. Principle)
Once the adaptation has taken place, your body is prepared to handle it the next time. And so if you repeat that same exercise again, in the same volume and intensity, since you have already adapted... guess what...
NO FURTHER MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT TAKES PLACE!
At this point, you're just doing maintenance.
To continue to develop the muscles further, you must impose another, NEW stimulus which will again cause another adaptive response
It makes perfect sense, right?
So my questions to you are:
(1) How often do you change your workout programs?
(2) When you change your workouts, to you advance (use progression) to the next higher level of difficulty?'
(3) Are you satisfied with maintaining your abs and waistline the way they look right now, or do you want to take them to another level?"
If you haven't been changing your workouts often, or if you have been changing them but you're not sure if you're using progression properly, and if you're NOT satisfied with maintaining your abs the way they look now, then here's what you need to do:
You must keep "surprising" your body with new, and progressively more challenging workouts.
I can't emphasize this enough. You must change your workouts regularly. The more advanced you are (the longer you've been training), the more often you must change your workouts and continue to challenge yourself.
Until now, the trouble has been that most people don't know how to progressively increase the difficulty of their workouts. Most people also don't know very many exercises.
If you survey 100 people about their ab exercise programs, 95% of them will tell you that they do crunches, leg raises sit ups and maybe some ab machines as their primary exercises.
Yes, a few people have started catching on to core training and swiss balls, but even they don't realize there are DOZENS more exercises you can do for core and on the ball.
The solution is twofold:
1. Exercise variety (you need a "menu" of exercises to choose from)
2. Progression (including progressive overload)
The reason I created my program Firm & Flatten Your Abs was to help provide both of these two variables which will ensure that you get the ab development you want.
Firm and Flatten Your abs contains 7 levels of ab exercise workout programs, each a little more difficult than the one before. After that, the possible combinations are endless.
Firm and Flatten Your Abs also contains nearly 50 ab and core conditioning exercises - and I can assure you - you have probably never even seen most of these unless you are a fitness professional by trade.
Here's the best part of all:
Not long ago I launched the 2nd edition of the Abs ebook.
The Firm And Flatten Your abs ebook has increased in size from 60 to 180 pages and includes more information, more questions answered, more photographs, and more exercises than ever before.
The program comes with an ironclad 8 week, money back guarantee which is more than enough time for you to try these exercises and see for yourself how much of a difference they really make in helping you carve out a rock hard midsection and strong core.
When you have this many exercises to choose from, you not only can keep making steady progress, you can also keep your workouts fresh and interesting and say goodbye to boring sit up and crunch routines.
Again, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to vary your workouts and have the ability to progressively advance your exercises in degree of difficulty if you want to keep getting better and better results in your abdominal development. You now have the tool to do just that right at your fingertips.
To get your copy of the new 2nd edition of Flatten your abs, with 7 levels of exercises and nearly 50 abdominal and core exercises, visit
http://www.flattenyourabs.net
Sincerely,
David Grisaffi
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
About The Author
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the prestigious CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Movement Sufficiency NOT Calorie Deficiency
Movement Sufficiency NOT Calorie Deficiency
By David Grisaffi
www.flattenyourabs.net
Do you want to reduce your body fat? If so, then you must focus on getting a sufficient amount of exercise rather than only decreasing your food intake. This is critically important! Studies published in Internationally recognized scientific journals as well as my own personal experience from years of exercise and nutrition counseling have led me to understanding an interesting and significant relationship between lack of physical activity and body fat. Not surprisingly, the more sedentary you are, the more body fat you will carry.
I strongly recommend that if you want to lose weight, you should increase your activity as your first strategy. Even being more physically active in general (such as climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, mowing your lawn with a push mower instead of a riding mower, moving around instead of sitting still, sitting instead of lying down and even showing some excitement and enthusiasm instead of boredom), will all help to burn calories and reduce body fat more effectively than slashing your food intake with crash diets.
Consider this: A half-hour aerobic workout accounts for far less energy expenditure than our minute-to-minute movement patterns that accumulate over a daytime in the office or at home, including things as simple as washing your dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher. It all adds up.
It seems that almost everyone has lost sight of the value of being physically active. What happened? I'll tell you - the diet industry happened!
Millions of Americans are trying to lose weight, spending approximately $30 billion plus a year on diet programs and diet products. Often, they do lose some weight. But if you check with the same people five years later, you will find that nearly all of them have regained whatever weight they lost! I recently read about a national panel that sought data to determine if any commercial diet program could prove long-term success. Not a single program could do so.
Being overweight, and especially being obese, predisposes you to a number of diseases and serious health problems, and it's now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive, guess what happens to the excess? It's stored as body fat.
Elevated blood sugar is one of primary culprits, because most people are sedentary while eating an excess of carbohydrates, of both the simple and complex variety. When this happens, a cascade of hormonal actions occur in order to maintain balance in the body. The more this eating pattern continues, the more fat you accumulate and the more difficult the fat becomes to remove. I cannot emphasize enough the need for human movement - exercise sufficiency - above calorie deficiency!
The lack of movement has many negative effects on your body. For example: a lack of movement causes many negative effects on your joints, ligaments, bones, muscles and your heart such as shrinking of the joint capsules, increased compression loading on your joints, decreased thickness of collagen fibers for failure rate of your ligaments, decreased bone density and bone spurs, decreased muscle mass, decreased mitochondrial content, decreased thickening of collagen fibers for your muscles, decreased maximal heart rate decreased the O2 Max for your heart.
According to Seaman and the Journal of medical physical therapy, "The two main promoters of degeneration are repetitive strain and sedentary lifestyle."
People who diet without exercising often get fatter over time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss can usually be attributed to elimination of excess fluid. As stated above, when the weight returns, it comes back as fat and more stubborn fat.
As you lose weight via diet only, your body's calorie burning furnace is reduced. What happens is your physiology interprets the dramatic decrease calories and moves on its innate starvation instincts. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising regularly.
In one of my recent articles, I talked about walking as one of the best exercises for strengthening bones, controlling weight, toning the leg muscles, maintaining good posture and improving positive self-concept. Increasing your daily movement can be as simple as walking more.
Another great way to reduce body fat is by resistance training. There are many types of resistance training that are very effective at building muscle (and muscle burns body fat). These programs can be fun and engaging at the same time.
One program I highly recommend is what I call" the spin routine." The routine incorporates all different movement patterns, aerobic and interval training in addition to fat burning.
Here is an example of a level one spin routine:
Spin Training Routine One
Exercise Rest Intensity Tempo Repetitions Sets
A1 Squat 90's BW/60%1rm Slow 12-15 1-3
A2 Bench Press/Push Ups 60% 1rm 313 12-15 1-3
A3 Dynamic Lunge BW 313 12-15 L/R 1-3
A4 Chek Press 60% 1rm 333 8-12 1-3
A5 Lat Pull Down 60% 1rm 313 12-15 1-3
Perform all exercise one after the other with no rest
Ex: A1-A2-A3-A4-A5 rest 90's repeat for desired sets
Core Routine
4 point transverse abdominis vacuum BW slow BW 10 H - 10 R 15 1
Floor Crunch 60s BW slow 8-12 1-3
Cardio Workout: 15 minutes hard after the above resistance training session. You have a choice of which activity you would like to do. Choose from: Exercise Bike, Elliptical machine, Treadmill, Stair climber, Versa climber.
Circuit training is performed without any rest between exercises. Only rest after each circuit of exercises in this case 1 and ½ minutes or 90 s.
You can also put together your own routine using the exercises in this section. Just make sure you can do the exercises in proper form and never go to failure (muscular fatigue) like in bodybuilding. Always do core conditioning last. This prevents stabilizer fatigue and possible injury.
All exercise should follow the basic protocol as described below.
Exercise: The exercise to be performed in the core routine. Each exercise is placed in order of execution.
Rest: This is the period of time you rest between exercises or if given more then one set between sets of the same exercise. Min or sec can display the number.
Intensity: This is the amount of workload or how hard you are going to work. BW indicates bodyweight. You will find out what intensity you should use with regard to the amount of weight by the repetition number. If you see -2 then this means stop two reps before your maximum effort.
Lifting Speed or Tempo: This indicates speed of movement. The first number indicates the first movement of the exercise, the second number indicates isometric part of the exercise and the third number indicates the final part of the exercise. For example: 323 simply means three seconds on the first movement, hold for two seconds and three seconds on the final part of the movement. Also there are times when it will be displayed in 10-second hold (H) and 10-second rest. Plus there will be times when you see slow, medium and fast.
Reps: This is the amount of muscular action you do within a set. When you can complete more then the described amount of reps with no muscle soreness, increase the weight by five percent. A - sign may be in front of some repetition suggestions in the exercise table. The - sign indicates to not go to the maximum amount of reps. A - 2 simply means do not go all the way to 10 if the rep window is 8-10.
Sets: This is the amount of workload for a given exercise sequence. For example: if you see an exercise that says sets 1-3, then begin with one set of the exercise. You can add sets as long as you have no muscle soreness at the next scheduled workout date.
When it comes to good health and weight loss, exercise and diet are inter-related. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining inactive. However, decreasing calories taken in from food is not the same thing as increase calories burned through exercise. Movement sufficiency, not calorie deficiency has far greater power to get you lean and healthy for life.
About The Author
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the prestigious CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
By David Grisaffi
www.flattenyourabs.net
Do you want to reduce your body fat? If so, then you must focus on getting a sufficient amount of exercise rather than only decreasing your food intake. This is critically important! Studies published in Internationally recognized scientific journals as well as my own personal experience from years of exercise and nutrition counseling have led me to understanding an interesting and significant relationship between lack of physical activity and body fat. Not surprisingly, the more sedentary you are, the more body fat you will carry.
I strongly recommend that if you want to lose weight, you should increase your activity as your first strategy. Even being more physically active in general (such as climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, mowing your lawn with a push mower instead of a riding mower, moving around instead of sitting still, sitting instead of lying down and even showing some excitement and enthusiasm instead of boredom), will all help to burn calories and reduce body fat more effectively than slashing your food intake with crash diets.
Consider this: A half-hour aerobic workout accounts for far less energy expenditure than our minute-to-minute movement patterns that accumulate over a daytime in the office or at home, including things as simple as washing your dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher. It all adds up.
It seems that almost everyone has lost sight of the value of being physically active. What happened? I'll tell you - the diet industry happened!
Millions of Americans are trying to lose weight, spending approximately $30 billion plus a year on diet programs and diet products. Often, they do lose some weight. But if you check with the same people five years later, you will find that nearly all of them have regained whatever weight they lost! I recently read about a national panel that sought data to determine if any commercial diet program could prove long-term success. Not a single program could do so.
Being overweight, and especially being obese, predisposes you to a number of diseases and serious health problems, and it's now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive, guess what happens to the excess? It's stored as body fat.
Elevated blood sugar is one of primary culprits, because most people are sedentary while eating an excess of carbohydrates, of both the simple and complex variety. When this happens, a cascade of hormonal actions occur in order to maintain balance in the body. The more this eating pattern continues, the more fat you accumulate and the more difficult the fat becomes to remove. I cannot emphasize enough the need for human movement - exercise sufficiency - above calorie deficiency!
The lack of movement has many negative effects on your body. For example: a lack of movement causes many negative effects on your joints, ligaments, bones, muscles and your heart such as shrinking of the joint capsules, increased compression loading on your joints, decreased thickness of collagen fibers for failure rate of your ligaments, decreased bone density and bone spurs, decreased muscle mass, decreased mitochondrial content, decreased thickening of collagen fibers for your muscles, decreased maximal heart rate decreased the O2 Max for your heart.
According to Seaman and the Journal of medical physical therapy, "The two main promoters of degeneration are repetitive strain and sedentary lifestyle."
People who diet without exercising often get fatter over time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss can usually be attributed to elimination of excess fluid. As stated above, when the weight returns, it comes back as fat and more stubborn fat.
As you lose weight via diet only, your body's calorie burning furnace is reduced. What happens is your physiology interprets the dramatic decrease calories and moves on its innate starvation instincts. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising regularly.
In one of my recent articles, I talked about walking as one of the best exercises for strengthening bones, controlling weight, toning the leg muscles, maintaining good posture and improving positive self-concept. Increasing your daily movement can be as simple as walking more.
Another great way to reduce body fat is by resistance training. There are many types of resistance training that are very effective at building muscle (and muscle burns body fat). These programs can be fun and engaging at the same time.
One program I highly recommend is what I call" the spin routine." The routine incorporates all different movement patterns, aerobic and interval training in addition to fat burning.
Here is an example of a level one spin routine:
Spin Training Routine One
Exercise Rest Intensity Tempo Repetitions Sets
A1 Squat 90's BW/60%1rm Slow 12-15 1-3
A2 Bench Press/Push Ups 60% 1rm 313 12-15 1-3
A3 Dynamic Lunge BW 313 12-15 L/R 1-3
A4 Chek Press 60% 1rm 333 8-12 1-3
A5 Lat Pull Down 60% 1rm 313 12-15 1-3
Perform all exercise one after the other with no rest
Ex: A1-A2-A3-A4-A5 rest 90's repeat for desired sets
Core Routine
4 point transverse abdominis vacuum BW slow BW 10 H - 10 R 15 1
Floor Crunch 60s BW slow 8-12 1-3
Cardio Workout: 15 minutes hard after the above resistance training session. You have a choice of which activity you would like to do. Choose from: Exercise Bike, Elliptical machine, Treadmill, Stair climber, Versa climber.
Circuit training is performed without any rest between exercises. Only rest after each circuit of exercises in this case 1 and ½ minutes or 90 s.
You can also put together your own routine using the exercises in this section. Just make sure you can do the exercises in proper form and never go to failure (muscular fatigue) like in bodybuilding. Always do core conditioning last. This prevents stabilizer fatigue and possible injury.
All exercise should follow the basic protocol as described below.
Exercise: The exercise to be performed in the core routine. Each exercise is placed in order of execution.
Rest: This is the period of time you rest between exercises or if given more then one set between sets of the same exercise. Min or sec can display the number.
Intensity: This is the amount of workload or how hard you are going to work. BW indicates bodyweight. You will find out what intensity you should use with regard to the amount of weight by the repetition number. If you see -2 then this means stop two reps before your maximum effort.
Lifting Speed or Tempo: This indicates speed of movement. The first number indicates the first movement of the exercise, the second number indicates isometric part of the exercise and the third number indicates the final part of the exercise. For example: 323 simply means three seconds on the first movement, hold for two seconds and three seconds on the final part of the movement. Also there are times when it will be displayed in 10-second hold (H) and 10-second rest. Plus there will be times when you see slow, medium and fast.
Reps: This is the amount of muscular action you do within a set. When you can complete more then the described amount of reps with no muscle soreness, increase the weight by five percent. A - sign may be in front of some repetition suggestions in the exercise table. The - sign indicates to not go to the maximum amount of reps. A - 2 simply means do not go all the way to 10 if the rep window is 8-10.
Sets: This is the amount of workload for a given exercise sequence. For example: if you see an exercise that says sets 1-3, then begin with one set of the exercise. You can add sets as long as you have no muscle soreness at the next scheduled workout date.
When it comes to good health and weight loss, exercise and diet are inter-related. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining inactive. However, decreasing calories taken in from food is not the same thing as increase calories burned through exercise. Movement sufficiency, not calorie deficiency has far greater power to get you lean and healthy for life.
About The Author
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the prestigious CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Multi Dimensional Ab Training
Multi Dimensional Ab Training
By David Grisaffi
www.flattenyourabs.net
In some of my previous articles, I've written about why you need to change your ab programs frequently to avoid muscle adaptation, repetitive pattern overload injury, muscle imbalance and of course, boredom!. But those aren't the only reasons you need exercise variety.
The functions of the abdominal and core muscles are so numerous, so varied and so complex, that entire textbooks have been written on functional anatomy and kinesiology without even scratching the surface.
What this means to you is that since there are more actions and functions of the abs and core than any other body part, there are more possible exercises you can do for abs and core than for any other body part.
With literally hundreds of ab and core exercises to choose from, the irony is that most people are STILL doing workouts that revolve around only a few exercises such as crunches, sit ups, leg raises and maybe some ab machines...
This is what I call "training in only one dimension"... and that can spell "trouble"
One dimensional training leads not just to progress plateaus and muscle adaptation, but also failure to engage all the functions of the core region, to strengthen thoroughly in every plane of movement, or to develop the proper neurological link to the muscle.
The end result is muscle weakness, muscle imbalances, injuries, a distended lower abdominal area and or and a not so impressive midsection.
The Firm And Flatten Your Abs program includes about 50 exercises which allow you to train every muscle in your core region in every "dimension." These dimensions include:
Flexion
Extension
Stabilization
Rotation
Side flexion
Prone
Supine
Seated
Standing
Quadruped
Stable
Unstable
One way to enter a whole new "dimension" of abdominal training is to start using a Swiss ball - also known as a stability ball because a ball is an unstable surface. Training on an unstable surface flips the switch on your nervous system and activates stabilizing muscles that are weak in most people due to sitting at a desk all day long and or doing too much machine training.
Here are 5 of my favorites (includes illustrations and exercise instructions):
http://www.flattenyourabs.net/swissball5.html
I realize if you're not familiar with Swiss ball and core training, that some of these exercises may look unusual or even "weird" at first.
You might look at the pictures and say, "David, it looks to me more like "rolling around on a beach ball than training."
Yup... that's what a lot of people said... until they tried them and their abs started showing for the first time!
By expanding your arsenal of ab and core exercises and working them in every capacity and function for which they were designed, you will...
* Increase your strength
* Decrease the odds of ever having back pain
* Improve sports performance
* Avoid plateaus and muscle adaptation...
And maybe best of all..
* Get an impressive "six pack"
You can learn more about this concept of multi dimensional training and also see dozens of new core and ab exercises in the Firm And Flatten Your Abs Ebook:
http://www.flattenyourabs.net
About The Author
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of, Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
By David Grisaffi
www.flattenyourabs.net
In some of my previous articles, I've written about why you need to change your ab programs frequently to avoid muscle adaptation, repetitive pattern overload injury, muscle imbalance and of course, boredom!. But those aren't the only reasons you need exercise variety.
The functions of the abdominal and core muscles are so numerous, so varied and so complex, that entire textbooks have been written on functional anatomy and kinesiology without even scratching the surface.
What this means to you is that since there are more actions and functions of the abs and core than any other body part, there are more possible exercises you can do for abs and core than for any other body part.
With literally hundreds of ab and core exercises to choose from, the irony is that most people are STILL doing workouts that revolve around only a few exercises such as crunches, sit ups, leg raises and maybe some ab machines...
This is what I call "training in only one dimension"... and that can spell "trouble"
One dimensional training leads not just to progress plateaus and muscle adaptation, but also failure to engage all the functions of the core region, to strengthen thoroughly in every plane of movement, or to develop the proper neurological link to the muscle.
The end result is muscle weakness, muscle imbalances, injuries, a distended lower abdominal area and or and a not so impressive midsection.
The Firm And Flatten Your Abs program includes about 50 exercises which allow you to train every muscle in your core region in every "dimension." These dimensions include:
Flexion
Extension
Stabilization
Rotation
Side flexion
Prone
Supine
Seated
Standing
Quadruped
Stable
Unstable
One way to enter a whole new "dimension" of abdominal training is to start using a Swiss ball - also known as a stability ball because a ball is an unstable surface. Training on an unstable surface flips the switch on your nervous system and activates stabilizing muscles that are weak in most people due to sitting at a desk all day long and or doing too much machine training.
Here are 5 of my favorites (includes illustrations and exercise instructions):
http://www.flattenyourabs.net/swissball5.html
I realize if you're not familiar with Swiss ball and core training, that some of these exercises may look unusual or even "weird" at first.
You might look at the pictures and say, "David, it looks to me more like "rolling around on a beach ball than training."
Yup... that's what a lot of people said... until they tried them and their abs started showing for the first time!
By expanding your arsenal of ab and core exercises and working them in every capacity and function for which they were designed, you will...
* Increase your strength
* Decrease the odds of ever having back pain
* Improve sports performance
* Avoid plateaus and muscle adaptation...
And maybe best of all..
* Get an impressive "six pack"
You can learn more about this concept of multi dimensional training and also see dozens of new core and ab exercises in the Firm And Flatten Your Abs Ebook:
http://www.flattenyourabs.net
About The Author
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of, Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
How To Lose Weight With Walking
How To Lose Weight With Walking
By David Grisaffi
www.flattenyourabs.net
Three universal goals nearly all of us share are: (1) to live longer, (2) to live free of illness and (3) to control our weight. Amazingly, walking lets us achieve all three. In fact, walking may be your best medicine for slowing the aging process, reducing your chances of illness and slashing your body fat. For anyone out of shape or not athletically-inclined, walking is the no-stress, no-sweat answer to lifelong conditioning. All you need is a good pair of shoes, a little time, some common sense, a few guidelines from a fitness professional and you're ready to go.
Unfortunately, there's more misinformation floating around today about fitness walking and weight loss than ever before. Some experts even say walking is not effective for weight loss at all and they insist that only higher intensity forms of cardio will do anything to improve your body composition. Others fitness experts believe that you should not do cardiovascular exercise every day - even walking.
There may be a little truth in each of those statements, however, walking always was and still is one of the best exercises for strengthening your bones, controlling your weight, toning the muscles in your lower body, maintaining good posture and improving your self image.
Walking uses almost every muscle in the body, it improves circulation of blood to the joints and massages the blood vessels, keeping them more elastic. Walking also helps you maintain muscle and an efficient metabolism as you get older (not to mention keeping you young "in spirit.")
Walking is incredibly convenient too. Since you don't need a gym or any special equipment, you can walk any place, at any time and that allows you to lose weight and get fit with little or no interruption to your busy schedule.
People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, weight loss from low calorie and especially low carb diets consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, you must increase your metabolism by exercising daily.
To get the maximum benefits of a walking program, you need make it more challenging than a leisurely "walk in the park." Walking at a steady and brisk pace burns more fat simply because it burns more calories. Just remember to begin slowly to avoid muscle soreness, and increase your pace over time as you become more fit.
To lose weight, it's ideal to alternate your walking sessions between high intensity and lower intensity days. For example, on one day walk for 30- 45 minutes as a steady and moderate pace. On the next day, walk at a faster pace. You could even do "road work" like the boxers do, where you break up your walk along the route with some sets of squats, lunges, bench push ups or other body weight or callisthenic exercises to make it a real cardiovascular and muscle blaster of a workout! It doesn't have to be boring or the same thing every day. Make it fun and keep it up consistently, leading an active life-style 365 days a year.
Slow and casual walking has benefits, but you will not get as much out of walking at a very slow pace because we all have a built-in mechanical advantage for walking long distances at normal speeds.
Our bodies, via the spinal column, muscle attachments and bony structures, reserve energy in the musculoskeletal system and release it back to us without asking for additional energy output. In other words, as you walk, your spinal column keeps energy in reserve because of the way you straighten and extend your spine during normal walking.
As you step, your spine is stretched, and as you take another step, the energy reserved in the spine is used in propulsion. The spine acts very much like rubber band as your walk, harnessing this reserve energy.
To get substantial cardiovascular, muscular and weight loss benefits, this is why you must walk briskly or create extra movement patterns beyond casual, slow walking in order to optimize your walking program for weight loss and cardiovascular fitness.
Walking the right way will also improve your posture and tends to help keep you upright (because you must see where you are going). Just hold your chin up and shoulder slightly back.. Walk with your heels hitting the ground first and your feet pointed forward. Swing your arms fully and make lengthy strides.
To lose weight and achieve optimum health, exercise and diet are both necessary and interrelated. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining a couch potato.
Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement and help raise internal body metabolism. They're also satisfying. The key is to avoid adding high-fat and high calorie toppings to your carbohydrates. Also be sure to focus on fruits and vegetables and do not eat the majority of your carbohydrates from the starch category such as bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. These type of carbs can create an insulin spike, which in turn feeds your fat storing system.
Fruits and vegetables are the ideal health, diet and fat loss foods for many reasons. They're relatively low in fat and calories, high in fiber and rich in essential vitamins and minerals. The National Research Council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Your everyday habits will determine your long term body weight and body composition. Make sure you get enough sleep, drink enough water to expel toxins, avoid processed food as much as you can, eat your fruits and veggies, eat organic when ever possible and work hard.
Just one last thought: taking a three-minute walk after each meal is worth a four pound reduction in body fat in a year's time. Climbing two flights of stairs a day burns off half a pound of body fat in a year. On the other hand, one candy bar eaten daily will cost you 20 pounds annually.
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the "David Grisaffi Walking Guide," which is a complete walking exercise plan that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at www.flattenyourabs.net
About The Author
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the prestigious CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
By David Grisaffi
www.flattenyourabs.net
Three universal goals nearly all of us share are: (1) to live longer, (2) to live free of illness and (3) to control our weight. Amazingly, walking lets us achieve all three. In fact, walking may be your best medicine for slowing the aging process, reducing your chances of illness and slashing your body fat. For anyone out of shape or not athletically-inclined, walking is the no-stress, no-sweat answer to lifelong conditioning. All you need is a good pair of shoes, a little time, some common sense, a few guidelines from a fitness professional and you're ready to go.
Unfortunately, there's more misinformation floating around today about fitness walking and weight loss than ever before. Some experts even say walking is not effective for weight loss at all and they insist that only higher intensity forms of cardio will do anything to improve your body composition. Others fitness experts believe that you should not do cardiovascular exercise every day - even walking.
There may be a little truth in each of those statements, however, walking always was and still is one of the best exercises for strengthening your bones, controlling your weight, toning the muscles in your lower body, maintaining good posture and improving your self image.
Walking uses almost every muscle in the body, it improves circulation of blood to the joints and massages the blood vessels, keeping them more elastic. Walking also helps you maintain muscle and an efficient metabolism as you get older (not to mention keeping you young "in spirit.")
Walking is incredibly convenient too. Since you don't need a gym or any special equipment, you can walk any place, at any time and that allows you to lose weight and get fit with little or no interruption to your busy schedule.
People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, weight loss from low calorie and especially low carb diets consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, you must increase your metabolism by exercising daily.
To get the maximum benefits of a walking program, you need make it more challenging than a leisurely "walk in the park." Walking at a steady and brisk pace burns more fat simply because it burns more calories. Just remember to begin slowly to avoid muscle soreness, and increase your pace over time as you become more fit.
To lose weight, it's ideal to alternate your walking sessions between high intensity and lower intensity days. For example, on one day walk for 30- 45 minutes as a steady and moderate pace. On the next day, walk at a faster pace. You could even do "road work" like the boxers do, where you break up your walk along the route with some sets of squats, lunges, bench push ups or other body weight or callisthenic exercises to make it a real cardiovascular and muscle blaster of a workout! It doesn't have to be boring or the same thing every day. Make it fun and keep it up consistently, leading an active life-style 365 days a year.
Slow and casual walking has benefits, but you will not get as much out of walking at a very slow pace because we all have a built-in mechanical advantage for walking long distances at normal speeds.
Our bodies, via the spinal column, muscle attachments and bony structures, reserve energy in the musculoskeletal system and release it back to us without asking for additional energy output. In other words, as you walk, your spinal column keeps energy in reserve because of the way you straighten and extend your spine during normal walking.
As you step, your spine is stretched, and as you take another step, the energy reserved in the spine is used in propulsion. The spine acts very much like rubber band as your walk, harnessing this reserve energy.
To get substantial cardiovascular, muscular and weight loss benefits, this is why you must walk briskly or create extra movement patterns beyond casual, slow walking in order to optimize your walking program for weight loss and cardiovascular fitness.
Walking the right way will also improve your posture and tends to help keep you upright (because you must see where you are going). Just hold your chin up and shoulder slightly back.. Walk with your heels hitting the ground first and your feet pointed forward. Swing your arms fully and make lengthy strides.
To lose weight and achieve optimum health, exercise and diet are both necessary and interrelated. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining a couch potato.
Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement and help raise internal body metabolism. They're also satisfying. The key is to avoid adding high-fat and high calorie toppings to your carbohydrates. Also be sure to focus on fruits and vegetables and do not eat the majority of your carbohydrates from the starch category such as bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. These type of carbs can create an insulin spike, which in turn feeds your fat storing system.
Fruits and vegetables are the ideal health, diet and fat loss foods for many reasons. They're relatively low in fat and calories, high in fiber and rich in essential vitamins and minerals. The National Research Council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Your everyday habits will determine your long term body weight and body composition. Make sure you get enough sleep, drink enough water to expel toxins, avoid processed food as much as you can, eat your fruits and veggies, eat organic when ever possible and work hard.
Just one last thought: taking a three-minute walk after each meal is worth a four pound reduction in body fat in a year's time. Climbing two flights of stairs a day burns off half a pound of body fat in a year. On the other hand, one candy bar eaten daily will cost you 20 pounds annually.
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the "David Grisaffi Walking Guide," which is a complete walking exercise plan that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at www.flattenyourabs.net
About The Author
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the prestigious CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Stubborn Fat: Does it affet you? Part Three
Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you?
Part Three
By David Grisaffi, CHEK
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist
Golf Biomechanic Certified
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach
As you know from reading parts one and two of this series, your hormones can be a liability when it comes to getting rid of stubborn body fat. For example, the hormone estrogen has a unique relationship with the fat cell. Fat cells can release signals that enable your body to synthesize estrogen and to regulate the reproductive cycle. In turn, estrogen has an effect upon fat cells. An influx of extra estrogen into the body from food sources can cause fat cells to grow and become stubborn.
A similar situation occurs during pregnancy and in mothers who are breast-feeding, as this causes the fat cells in the body to swell so that they are able to absorb and store more fuel. The estrogen is telling them that they need to stock up on extra fat, so the fat cells prepare to do so. This is why a lot of women gain weight when starting birth control pills or when entering menopause when levels of progesterone fall and estrogen becomes the dominant hormone.
Most of the time, women have a more difficult time losing body fat than men. However, men are quickly catching up in this day and age due to the estrogenic foods being consumed in our modern Western society, rife with environmental pollution and refined foods. Ironically, one reason women have a harder time with fat loss than men, is because at any given time, women are more likely to be on a severely restricted diet in order to attain the coveted thinness that’s been established as a standard of beauty and attractiveness in our culture.
Unfortunately, severe and prolonged dieting shuts down the metabolism, sending the body into starvation mode. The fat cells begin sending out even more fat storing enzymes and a significantly smaller amount of fat releasing enzymes. Because the fat cells are afraid of being starved to death and depleted of their stores, they will hold on to the fat they have to the best of their ability, causing the body to start burning lean muscle mass to get the amount of fuel it needs.
Lean muscle mass, located in the skeletal muscles and the organ systems, is the metabolically active part of the body. This means that after the diet is over and your body is out of starvation mode, your metabolism will still not be functioning as well as before the diet, because you have lost some of your muscle mass, which was the engine driving your metabolism.
In addition, the effects of restrictive dieting on your fat storing and releasing enzymes can be permanent. Though the levels will return to closer to a normal level after the diet, the fat releasing enzymes will almost always be at a little lower level than before the diet and the fat storing enzymes will almost always be at a slightly higher level. Even worse: The effects are cumulative. This means that after each successive bout of dieting, it will be harder and harder for you to lose fat and control your weight for the long term.
It sounds hopeless, but it’s not, so don’t panic just yet! This doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with unwanted fat and excess weight for the rest of your life. It only means that you don’t have to diet anymore. Even if you “tortured yourself” with deprivation diets that left you hungry, anxious, and unhappy in the past, what we know about hormones, enzymes and fat cells can actually be great news. You can lose your unwanted fat through good old-fashioned nutrition, calorie-burning and metabolism-stimulating exercise and anti-estrogenic foods.
What I am suggesting to you is not a magic bullet solution, and if you’ve been a long term chronic dieter, it might take a lot longer to lose the amount of fat you want to lose. But by putting an end to the quick-results, crash-diet approach and taking the weight loss gradually, you will not only avoid the feelings of deprivation that sabotage many diets, but also, the weight you lose will be three times more likely to stay off.
To improve your results in losing stubborn fat and to reduce estrogenic effects on your body, there are a few steps you must take to ensure your success. Your success will be dependent on your understanding of how to detoxify your liver, eat foods that aid reducing estrogen and exercise.
On this stubborn fat reduction plan, you are going to consume as many anti-estrogenic foods as possible and eliminate as many estrogenic foods as possible. In addition to stimulating greater fat loss, this type of eating will also aid in the detoxification of your liver. Without cleaning out the liver and reducing the chemical build up, your liver becomes overburdened and your fat loss can hit the wall.
There are a few stages in stubborn fat removal, so here we go
First and foremost you must eat unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds and occasional wild salmon. This starts the detoxification of the liver as you eliminate all processed foods, grains, farm fed livestock and chemically altered foods. Try to eat as much organic food as possible.
The base of your anti-stubborn fat plan is to consume an enormous amount of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts, as these vegetables are very anti-estrogenic. Include citrus fruits such as grapefruit, orange and pineapple as they have enzymes in cofactors that help your body against the radical damage and help your liver detoxify.
Supplement your diet with omega-3 fatty acids from wild caught salmon and flaxseed. You can also take an omega-3 fatty acid supplements such as Carlson's oil available at mercola.com.
Eating raw nuts and seeds, avocados, and olive oil also improves your body’s function. In addition, eating green leafy vegetables, whole oats and barley, legumes (no soy), and spices such as turmeric (cancer fighter), milk thistle (liver detoxer), dandelion root (natural diuretic) and ginger increases loss of stubborn fat by decreasing estrogen in your body
There are many estrogen inhibitors that can help you decrease body fat quickly. According to Ori Hofmekler, author of The Warrior Diet, consuming these foods will greatly improve your ability to remove stubborn fat and decrease estrogenic effects. Hofmekler says there are additional estrogenic inhibitors such as chrysin (passion flower), Apigene (chamomile), Quercetin (onions, garlic) and all of these cofactors can work together to detoxify your liver and get the stubborn fat off.
To simplify, systemize and organize this information, Hofmekler has developed an anti-estrogen, anti-stubborn fat program into three stages:
Stage 1 Defense (Eat Anti-Estrogenic Foods)
Eat Anti-Estrogenic Foods Estrogen inhibitors
Cruciferous vegetables Passion flower
Citrus fruits Chamomile flower
Omega 3 oils
Wild catch salmon
Organic Dairy
Stage 2 Defense (additional foods that promote anti-estrogenic hormones).
Raw nuts and seeds
Avocado
Olives and Olive oil
Rice Germ Oil
Wheat Germ Oil
Stage 3 Defense (Foods that as cofactors and promote liver detoxification)
Green Vegetables
Spices (turmeric, oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage)
Fruits (citrus, berries, apples, pineapple
Whole oats and barley
Legumes (NO SOY)
Herbs (dandelion root, ginger, alma berries, milk thistle)
Three week plan:
Outlined below is a very simple three week plan that will produce good initial results in just three weeks. After this initial three week phase, you can then to rotate the stages to get continued and even better. You can also alternate the stages by the day. After the first 3 weeks. To gain more information on to set up a plan on a day to day bases just e mail me at
As this part is out of the scope of this article.
Stage 1 for a week
Detox liver
Stage 2 for a week
High Fat for fuel change over
Stage 3 for a week
Food reintroduction
In addition to eating the proper anti-estrogenic foods to remove stubborn fat, it goes without saying that a very important part of any program is exercise. Diet alone is not enough. Regular exercise is not only beneficial for fat loss, but also for your overall health. Exercise lowers body fat, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. You need to set some goals and plan to exercise on a continuous basis.
If you attempt to lose weight without exercise, you should expect only temporary success and expect to succumb to the rebound effect. This simply means that sooner or later, you will eventually gain back the fat and the harder it will be to remove the next time around.
Instead of using the diet-only approach, emphasize the diet and exercise combination and focus on increasing your daily activity level overall (refer to my article titled, “movement sufficiency, not calorie deficiency” for more information on exercising more rather than just eating less, and here are a few quick and practical suggestions:
Walk to the store instead of driving, go for a bike ride, walk upstairs in office buildings rather than using the elevator, and park your car at the end of the parking lot instead of looking for the front row spot. Take short walk during daily breaks or after you get home. Mow your lawn with a push mower, vacuum your carpets every other day, tidy up you backyard, basement or garage, iron your clothes, wash your windows, and play with your kids. These activities are usually not looked at as “exercise” or “workouts,” but all the activity adds up at the end of the day and it can work wonders as it accumulates over the long haul.
Naturally, of course, you should also have a more structured and formal exercise program to achieve maximum reductions in body fat. Even mowing your lawn has health benefits and burns some calories, but for really making inroads into those stubborn fat stores, more intense and focused exercise is a must.
A great type of routine for stubborn fat loss goals is a circuit training program. This style of training not only raises your metabolism, improves your cardiovascular ability, and increases strength, it is also time efficient. Put together a routine that uses large body parts such as legs, chest, back and shoulders into groups and perform all of the exercises nonstop. You can also mix cardio interval training into your circuit workouts or in addition to your circuit workouts to increase the fat burning effect.
Here is an example of an effective and time efficient circuit program that can easily be performed at home with nothing but dumbbells and a swiss ball.
A1 - Swiss ball Squats (ball up against the wall)
A2 - Dumbbell Cleans
A3 - Dumbbell Flys on a Swiss Ball
A4 - Lunge
A5 - Dumbbell 3 Matrix (side laterals, bent laterals, front laterals)
A6 - Dumbbell Row
Do each exercise with perfect form for 6-8 reps and then get on your cardio equipment and go hard for 1-2 minutes. Rest about 90 seconds between before repeating the circuit 2-3 more times, as your schedule and fitness level dictate.
You can easily take one or two ideas out of this series, put them to work and immediately begin to see improvements in stubborn fat reduction. However, the real “secret,” if there is one, is putting all the pieces together into a comprehensive healthy lifestyle overall.
The lifestyle below suggestions may seem basic and general, but when combined with what you’ve learned in this article series, they will have a profound impact on your outcome.
1. Don’t diet – Eat reasonably but do not starve or deprive yourself; avoid yo-yo dieting
2. Avoid empty calories and processed refined foods like sodas and sweets
3. Eat many smaller meals – eat light at every meal to keep blood sugar steady and metabolism stoked
4. Eat healthy fat- Eat omega 3 fatty acids such as those found in salmon to promote proper hormone function and balance
5. Eat a LOT of vegetables, focusing on the cruciferous variety,
6. Drink lots of water - What can you say other than, “without it, you will die!” Drink a 1⁄2 and ounce for very pound you weigh
7. Get sufficient quality and quantity of sleep
8. Keep stress to minimum
9. Avoid excessive and chronic use of stimulants
10. Exercise – Just a little increase in daily activities will go a long way towards improving your health; add circuits and intervals to knock off the most stubborn fat.
11. Have a little fun – find an exercise program you enjoy and do it
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the
David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise plan
that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
David Grisaffi, C. H. E. K. II, CFT, PN
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist II
Golf Biomechanic
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach II
mail to:david@flattenyourabs.net
http://www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Part Three
By David Grisaffi, CHEK
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist
Golf Biomechanic Certified
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach
As you know from reading parts one and two of this series, your hormones can be a liability when it comes to getting rid of stubborn body fat. For example, the hormone estrogen has a unique relationship with the fat cell. Fat cells can release signals that enable your body to synthesize estrogen and to regulate the reproductive cycle. In turn, estrogen has an effect upon fat cells. An influx of extra estrogen into the body from food sources can cause fat cells to grow and become stubborn.
A similar situation occurs during pregnancy and in mothers who are breast-feeding, as this causes the fat cells in the body to swell so that they are able to absorb and store more fuel. The estrogen is telling them that they need to stock up on extra fat, so the fat cells prepare to do so. This is why a lot of women gain weight when starting birth control pills or when entering menopause when levels of progesterone fall and estrogen becomes the dominant hormone.
Most of the time, women have a more difficult time losing body fat than men. However, men are quickly catching up in this day and age due to the estrogenic foods being consumed in our modern Western society, rife with environmental pollution and refined foods. Ironically, one reason women have a harder time with fat loss than men, is because at any given time, women are more likely to be on a severely restricted diet in order to attain the coveted thinness that’s been established as a standard of beauty and attractiveness in our culture.
Unfortunately, severe and prolonged dieting shuts down the metabolism, sending the body into starvation mode. The fat cells begin sending out even more fat storing enzymes and a significantly smaller amount of fat releasing enzymes. Because the fat cells are afraid of being starved to death and depleted of their stores, they will hold on to the fat they have to the best of their ability, causing the body to start burning lean muscle mass to get the amount of fuel it needs.
Lean muscle mass, located in the skeletal muscles and the organ systems, is the metabolically active part of the body. This means that after the diet is over and your body is out of starvation mode, your metabolism will still not be functioning as well as before the diet, because you have lost some of your muscle mass, which was the engine driving your metabolism.
In addition, the effects of restrictive dieting on your fat storing and releasing enzymes can be permanent. Though the levels will return to closer to a normal level after the diet, the fat releasing enzymes will almost always be at a little lower level than before the diet and the fat storing enzymes will almost always be at a slightly higher level. Even worse: The effects are cumulative. This means that after each successive bout of dieting, it will be harder and harder for you to lose fat and control your weight for the long term.
It sounds hopeless, but it’s not, so don’t panic just yet! This doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with unwanted fat and excess weight for the rest of your life. It only means that you don’t have to diet anymore. Even if you “tortured yourself” with deprivation diets that left you hungry, anxious, and unhappy in the past, what we know about hormones, enzymes and fat cells can actually be great news. You can lose your unwanted fat through good old-fashioned nutrition, calorie-burning and metabolism-stimulating exercise and anti-estrogenic foods.
What I am suggesting to you is not a magic bullet solution, and if you’ve been a long term chronic dieter, it might take a lot longer to lose the amount of fat you want to lose. But by putting an end to the quick-results, crash-diet approach and taking the weight loss gradually, you will not only avoid the feelings of deprivation that sabotage many diets, but also, the weight you lose will be three times more likely to stay off.
To improve your results in losing stubborn fat and to reduce estrogenic effects on your body, there are a few steps you must take to ensure your success. Your success will be dependent on your understanding of how to detoxify your liver, eat foods that aid reducing estrogen and exercise.
On this stubborn fat reduction plan, you are going to consume as many anti-estrogenic foods as possible and eliminate as many estrogenic foods as possible. In addition to stimulating greater fat loss, this type of eating will also aid in the detoxification of your liver. Without cleaning out the liver and reducing the chemical build up, your liver becomes overburdened and your fat loss can hit the wall.
There are a few stages in stubborn fat removal, so here we go
First and foremost you must eat unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds and occasional wild salmon. This starts the detoxification of the liver as you eliminate all processed foods, grains, farm fed livestock and chemically altered foods. Try to eat as much organic food as possible.
The base of your anti-stubborn fat plan is to consume an enormous amount of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts, as these vegetables are very anti-estrogenic. Include citrus fruits such as grapefruit, orange and pineapple as they have enzymes in cofactors that help your body against the radical damage and help your liver detoxify.
Supplement your diet with omega-3 fatty acids from wild caught salmon and flaxseed. You can also take an omega-3 fatty acid supplements such as Carlson's oil available at mercola.com.
Eating raw nuts and seeds, avocados, and olive oil also improves your body’s function. In addition, eating green leafy vegetables, whole oats and barley, legumes (no soy), and spices such as turmeric (cancer fighter), milk thistle (liver detoxer), dandelion root (natural diuretic) and ginger increases loss of stubborn fat by decreasing estrogen in your body
There are many estrogen inhibitors that can help you decrease body fat quickly. According to Ori Hofmekler, author of The Warrior Diet, consuming these foods will greatly improve your ability to remove stubborn fat and decrease estrogenic effects. Hofmekler says there are additional estrogenic inhibitors such as chrysin (passion flower), Apigene (chamomile), Quercetin (onions, garlic) and all of these cofactors can work together to detoxify your liver and get the stubborn fat off.
To simplify, systemize and organize this information, Hofmekler has developed an anti-estrogen, anti-stubborn fat program into three stages:
Stage 1 Defense (Eat Anti-Estrogenic Foods)
Eat Anti-Estrogenic Foods Estrogen inhibitors
Cruciferous vegetables Passion flower
Citrus fruits Chamomile flower
Omega 3 oils
Wild catch salmon
Organic Dairy
Stage 2 Defense (additional foods that promote anti-estrogenic hormones).
Raw nuts and seeds
Avocado
Olives and Olive oil
Rice Germ Oil
Wheat Germ Oil
Stage 3 Defense (Foods that as cofactors and promote liver detoxification)
Green Vegetables
Spices (turmeric, oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage)
Fruits (citrus, berries, apples, pineapple
Whole oats and barley
Legumes (NO SOY)
Herbs (dandelion root, ginger, alma berries, milk thistle)
Three week plan:
Outlined below is a very simple three week plan that will produce good initial results in just three weeks. After this initial three week phase, you can then to rotate the stages to get continued and even better. You can also alternate the stages by the day. After the first 3 weeks. To gain more information on to set up a plan on a day to day bases just e mail me at
As this part is out of the scope of this article.
Stage 1 for a week
Detox liver
Stage 2 for a week
High Fat for fuel change over
Stage 3 for a week
Food reintroduction
In addition to eating the proper anti-estrogenic foods to remove stubborn fat, it goes without saying that a very important part of any program is exercise. Diet alone is not enough. Regular exercise is not only beneficial for fat loss, but also for your overall health. Exercise lowers body fat, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. You need to set some goals and plan to exercise on a continuous basis.
If you attempt to lose weight without exercise, you should expect only temporary success and expect to succumb to the rebound effect. This simply means that sooner or later, you will eventually gain back the fat and the harder it will be to remove the next time around.
Instead of using the diet-only approach, emphasize the diet and exercise combination and focus on increasing your daily activity level overall (refer to my article titled, “movement sufficiency, not calorie deficiency” for more information on exercising more rather than just eating less, and here are a few quick and practical suggestions:
Walk to the store instead of driving, go for a bike ride, walk upstairs in office buildings rather than using the elevator, and park your car at the end of the parking lot instead of looking for the front row spot. Take short walk during daily breaks or after you get home. Mow your lawn with a push mower, vacuum your carpets every other day, tidy up you backyard, basement or garage, iron your clothes, wash your windows, and play with your kids. These activities are usually not looked at as “exercise” or “workouts,” but all the activity adds up at the end of the day and it can work wonders as it accumulates over the long haul.
Naturally, of course, you should also have a more structured and formal exercise program to achieve maximum reductions in body fat. Even mowing your lawn has health benefits and burns some calories, but for really making inroads into those stubborn fat stores, more intense and focused exercise is a must.
A great type of routine for stubborn fat loss goals is a circuit training program. This style of training not only raises your metabolism, improves your cardiovascular ability, and increases strength, it is also time efficient. Put together a routine that uses large body parts such as legs, chest, back and shoulders into groups and perform all of the exercises nonstop. You can also mix cardio interval training into your circuit workouts or in addition to your circuit workouts to increase the fat burning effect.
Here is an example of an effective and time efficient circuit program that can easily be performed at home with nothing but dumbbells and a swiss ball.
A1 - Swiss ball Squats (ball up against the wall)
A2 - Dumbbell Cleans
A3 - Dumbbell Flys on a Swiss Ball
A4 - Lunge
A5 - Dumbbell 3 Matrix (side laterals, bent laterals, front laterals)
A6 - Dumbbell Row
Do each exercise with perfect form for 6-8 reps and then get on your cardio equipment and go hard for 1-2 minutes. Rest about 90 seconds between before repeating the circuit 2-3 more times, as your schedule and fitness level dictate.
You can easily take one or two ideas out of this series, put them to work and immediately begin to see improvements in stubborn fat reduction. However, the real “secret,” if there is one, is putting all the pieces together into a comprehensive healthy lifestyle overall.
The lifestyle below suggestions may seem basic and general, but when combined with what you’ve learned in this article series, they will have a profound impact on your outcome.
1. Don’t diet – Eat reasonably but do not starve or deprive yourself; avoid yo-yo dieting
2. Avoid empty calories and processed refined foods like sodas and sweets
3. Eat many smaller meals – eat light at every meal to keep blood sugar steady and metabolism stoked
4. Eat healthy fat- Eat omega 3 fatty acids such as those found in salmon to promote proper hormone function and balance
5. Eat a LOT of vegetables, focusing on the cruciferous variety,
6. Drink lots of water - What can you say other than, “without it, you will die!” Drink a 1⁄2 and ounce for very pound you weigh
7. Get sufficient quality and quantity of sleep
8. Keep stress to minimum
9. Avoid excessive and chronic use of stimulants
10. Exercise – Just a little increase in daily activities will go a long way towards improving your health; add circuits and intervals to knock off the most stubborn fat.
11. Have a little fun – find an exercise program you enjoy and do it
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the
David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise plan
that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
David Grisaffi, C. H. E. K. II, CFT, PN
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist II
Golf Biomechanic
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach II
mail to:david@flattenyourabs.net
http://www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Stuborn Fat: Does it affectyou? Part Two
Stubboorn Fat: Does it affect you?
Part Two
By David Grisaffi, CHEK
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist
Golf Biomechanic Certified
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach
When it comes to the physical make-up of men versus women, many of the differences are obvious. Men, on average, are 10-15% larger than women, weigh 20% more, and are 30% stronger (especially when considering upper body strength). Testosterone is one of the major hormones active in a man’s body. Men also produce more HGH (human growth hormone). Testosterone stimulates muscle enlargement and bone growth and also raises the level of red blood cells in a man’s blood stream.
What you may not know, however, is that all of these factors combine to make oxygen much more available to a man’s cells than a woman’s cells. That means a man could be working at 50% of his capacity during physical activity, but a woman would have to be working at 70% of her capacity in order to keep up. It is not as easy for her cells to absorb oxygen.
This is due partly to the fact that women have a smaller percentage of lean tissue (muscle, organs, etc.) and a much higher percentage of body fat. Though this is detrimental in a short sprint, a higher percentage of fat means that women can power their cells longer from their body’s reserves without stopping to eat or drink in order to refuel. This may translate into greater endurance. Studies comparing men and women in running, swimming, and speed skating have all shown that the differences in time vs. distance decreased between men and women as the length of the event progressed.
Hundreds of studies have showed some interesting differences between men and women in nearly every area. Looking through the research, you would discover all kinds of facts such as how much more likely women are to wear a seatbelt than men (2 times more likely), to how often they are the sexual initiators in a monogamous relationship (65% of the time).
As interesting as those facts may be, let’s concentrate on the differences between men and women that have an effect on women’s physical fitness. These differences are primarily found in the functioning of a woman’s hormones and the construction and function of her fat cells. These two factors influence everything from the way a woman’s metabolism functions; to how likely she is to suffer from stubborn fat and other health related diseases such as osteoporosis.
Though the construction of the male and female fat cell is basically the same, they differ vastly when is comes to size and function. To begin with, a women’s fat cell is five times larger than a man’s! In addition, not only are women’s cells capable of holding more fat, they are genetically programmed to do so. It all comes down to enzymes:
Lipogenic- Fat Storing Enzymes
Lipolytic- Fat Releasing Enzymes
Though these enzymes are present in both men and women, women’s bodies have two times the number of Lipogenic (fat storing) enzymes, and only half the number of Lipolytic (fat releasing) enzymes. This is the genetic legacy of women’s role as the childbearing and nurturing gender of the species. Nature wanted to ensure that women were carrying around enough fat cells to nurture their growing babies and to breast-feed them once they were born. A baby in-utero requires the mother to burn at least 300 extra calories a day and breast-feeding can require as much as 500 extra calories.
In addition to the normal caloric needs of a baby, our foremothers also held onto extra body fat in case of a drought or famine. This extra fat was stored in the hips, thighs, and buttocks. Therefore, the females who survived famine and drought to pass down their genes were the women whose bodies were adept at storing fat. Skinny thighs in the past were a serious liability, serving only to increase the risk of death when food supplies became scarce. These enzymes tend to be balanced in a healthy person. Too much l of either develops an unbalanced system develops and leads to insulin resistance, leading contributor to stubborn fat.
Other contributors to stubborn fat are estrogenic compounds called xenoestrogens. These chemicals are a byproduct of fertilizers, plastics, soy isoflavones, certain herbs and petroleum products. These compounds in our food and water supply mimic estrogenic functions and aid in binding to estrogenic fat receptors. This produces induced aromatase influence. Aromatase is an enzyme which helps convert androgens (male hormone) to estrogenic compounds.
When this occurs, it enhances the production of estrone, which is the main culprit in stubborn fat gain in both men and women. Look at many children today and you can see that they take on some very feminized features such as breast fat.
To benefit from a program that reduces stubborn fat, you must first recognize that estrogenic compounds are all around us (and in us). To combat this problem, you need to look at the food you consume and the liquids you drink, as there are many culprits that cause stubborn fat gain.
You move in the direction of gaining stubborn fat when you develop bad eating and lifestyle habits, which cause insulin resistance, a toxic overburden on the liver and elevated estrogen. These all contribute to the fat that will not go away. To open these cells, you should start by heading down the food chain. Minimize or eliminate all refined foods, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables (preferably organic), and exercise.
In the third and final part, you will learn more about how specifically to get this stubborn fat out of you life forever.
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the
David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise plan
that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
David Grisaffi, C. H. E. K. II, CFT, PN
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist II
Golf Biomechanic
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach II
mailto:david@flattenyourabs.net
http://www.FlattenYourAbs.
Part Two
By David Grisaffi, CHEK
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist
Golf Biomechanic Certified
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach
When it comes to the physical make-up of men versus women, many of the differences are obvious. Men, on average, are 10-15% larger than women, weigh 20% more, and are 30% stronger (especially when considering upper body strength). Testosterone is one of the major hormones active in a man’s body. Men also produce more HGH (human growth hormone). Testosterone stimulates muscle enlargement and bone growth and also raises the level of red blood cells in a man’s blood stream.
What you may not know, however, is that all of these factors combine to make oxygen much more available to a man’s cells than a woman’s cells. That means a man could be working at 50% of his capacity during physical activity, but a woman would have to be working at 70% of her capacity in order to keep up. It is not as easy for her cells to absorb oxygen.
This is due partly to the fact that women have a smaller percentage of lean tissue (muscle, organs, etc.) and a much higher percentage of body fat. Though this is detrimental in a short sprint, a higher percentage of fat means that women can power their cells longer from their body’s reserves without stopping to eat or drink in order to refuel. This may translate into greater endurance. Studies comparing men and women in running, swimming, and speed skating have all shown that the differences in time vs. distance decreased between men and women as the length of the event progressed.
Hundreds of studies have showed some interesting differences between men and women in nearly every area. Looking through the research, you would discover all kinds of facts such as how much more likely women are to wear a seatbelt than men (2 times more likely), to how often they are the sexual initiators in a monogamous relationship (65% of the time).
As interesting as those facts may be, let’s concentrate on the differences between men and women that have an effect on women’s physical fitness. These differences are primarily found in the functioning of a woman’s hormones and the construction and function of her fat cells. These two factors influence everything from the way a woman’s metabolism functions; to how likely she is to suffer from stubborn fat and other health related diseases such as osteoporosis.
Though the construction of the male and female fat cell is basically the same, they differ vastly when is comes to size and function. To begin with, a women’s fat cell is five times larger than a man’s! In addition, not only are women’s cells capable of holding more fat, they are genetically programmed to do so. It all comes down to enzymes:
Lipogenic- Fat Storing Enzymes
Lipolytic- Fat Releasing Enzymes
Though these enzymes are present in both men and women, women’s bodies have two times the number of Lipogenic (fat storing) enzymes, and only half the number of Lipolytic (fat releasing) enzymes. This is the genetic legacy of women’s role as the childbearing and nurturing gender of the species. Nature wanted to ensure that women were carrying around enough fat cells to nurture their growing babies and to breast-feed them once they were born. A baby in-utero requires the mother to burn at least 300 extra calories a day and breast-feeding can require as much as 500 extra calories.
In addition to the normal caloric needs of a baby, our foremothers also held onto extra body fat in case of a drought or famine. This extra fat was stored in the hips, thighs, and buttocks. Therefore, the females who survived famine and drought to pass down their genes were the women whose bodies were adept at storing fat. Skinny thighs in the past were a serious liability, serving only to increase the risk of death when food supplies became scarce. These enzymes tend to be balanced in a healthy person. Too much l of either develops an unbalanced system develops and leads to insulin resistance, leading contributor to stubborn fat.
Other contributors to stubborn fat are estrogenic compounds called xenoestrogens. These chemicals are a byproduct of fertilizers, plastics, soy isoflavones, certain herbs and petroleum products. These compounds in our food and water supply mimic estrogenic functions and aid in binding to estrogenic fat receptors. This produces induced aromatase influence. Aromatase is an enzyme which helps convert androgens (male hormone) to estrogenic compounds.
When this occurs, it enhances the production of estrone, which is the main culprit in stubborn fat gain in both men and women. Look at many children today and you can see that they take on some very feminized features such as breast fat.
To benefit from a program that reduces stubborn fat, you must first recognize that estrogenic compounds are all around us (and in us). To combat this problem, you need to look at the food you consume and the liquids you drink, as there are many culprits that cause stubborn fat gain.
You move in the direction of gaining stubborn fat when you develop bad eating and lifestyle habits, which cause insulin resistance, a toxic overburden on the liver and elevated estrogen. These all contribute to the fat that will not go away. To open these cells, you should start by heading down the food chain. Minimize or eliminate all refined foods, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables (preferably organic), and exercise.
In the third and final part, you will learn more about how specifically to get this stubborn fat out of you life forever.
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the
David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise plan
that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
David Grisaffi, C. H. E. K. II, CFT, PN
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist II
Golf Biomechanic
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach II
mailto:david@flattenyourabs.net
http://www.FlattenYourAbs.
Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you? Part One
Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you?
Part One
By David Grisaffi, CHEK
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist
Golf Biomechanic Certified
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach
Everyone walking on the face of this earth has an abundance of fat cells throughout their bodies.
In fact, if you’re a healthy adult with normal body composition, you have approximately 30 billion fat cells. This is an astronomical number when you think about it. Did you ever wonder why you have so many? Have you ever wondered what those fat cells are for?
The answer is, fat cells are part of our genetic code and they allowed us to use stored energy when food was scarce. This survival mechanism is very much the same today as it was 10,000 years ago. However, today our needs have changed. There is an abundance of food in modern society today.
When you consume too many calories, your body goes into storage mode for that “rainy day,” so to speak, but the “rainy day” does not happen. So your body simply stores those extra calories as fat. When you eat less calories then your body demands your cells release stored fat for energy. Pretty simple equation, however it does not appear that all fat is the same.
The placement of fat deposits on our bodies varies depending on each person’s genetic influences, lifestyle choices and nutritional intake. Men tend to store their body fat around their bellies and chest. Women tend to store it around there hips, buttocks, thighs and back of their arms. A complete discussion of hormones and fat storage would be beyond the scope of this article, but let it suffice to say that certain hormonal process do determine body fat distribution.
There is one major factor that many people do not realize when they are attempting to lose body fat and this can be a stumbling block in anyone’s long term success. Many people approach fat loss and fitness with great enthusiasm and determination. With this attitude, they lose body fat and feel great, but even so, they just do not seem to get rid of ALL they fat they want to. They lose fat successfully for a time, but ultimately get stuck just before all of the fat is completely gone.
This is commonly known as a plateau and this plateau phenomenon causes many people who were previously successful to lose their enthusiasm and return to their old ways. When old habits take over again – and this happens to the majority of dieters - the body fat comes back with a vengeance. This is due to programming of the fat cell. Each time you try to lose body fat again, it seems to take longer and require more effort.
So what is the real solution? It’s simple – you must understand how fat cells work and how to get past the plateau phenomenon and defeat this last bit of body fat, that we often call stubborn fat.
I have worked with many clients and I would say most of them have a good amount of stubborn body fat. This fat is literally “programmed” to be very difficult to lose. It seems to remain on our bodies no matter what we do, hence the word stubborn fat. Modern diets and weight loss programs almost all seem to work in the beginning, but then they never really address this crucial part of fat loss – the last bit of stubborn fat.
Stubborn fat develops when your hormonal pathways are broken down. Age does play a role in this: Fat deposits increase and become more resistant to fat loss methods as you get older. This you have little control over, but some things that lead to stubborn fat development are under your control. Yo yo dieting is one of them. Losing weight on crash diets and then regaining it – often known as the “rebound effect” – will only increase stubborn fat in the long run. A decrease in exercise and activity level also compounds the stubborn fat problem. This is why people who crash diet on low calories and refuse to exercise and move their bodies, often have the worst stubborn fat problems of all.
Our ancestors really never had to deal with this problem because they moved and engaged in physical labor as a regular part of daily life, whereas technological conveniences and the modern lifestyle have caused many of us to become lazy and inactive.
Stubborn fat is metabolized extremely slowly and is resistant to the hormonal process that takes place while the fat burning process is started up. To burn fat, the adrenal hormones better known as adrenaline and noradrenaline, attach to the fat cell receptors and essentially “open them up” so the fat can be used in the energy pathways. There are two kinds of receptors in your fat cells: one is alpha and the other beta. The beta receptors are much more active and respond to adrenal hormones. To lose body fat, the adrenal hormones switch on and the body begins to use fat as energy. However, in the case of people with stubborn fat, this does not occur, so no body fat is lost.
According to my good friend and colleague Ori Hofmekler, author of the warrior diet, "stubborn fat” has a lower ratio of beta receptors to alpha receptors." Therefore, your body’s hormonal “fat dissolver,” adrenaline, will not be able to enter the fat cell and open the door. Ori also points out that “to make these matters worse, stubborn fat has more estrogen receptors which cause even more stubborn fat.”
If all this sounds bad enough, what makes it even worse is that if you indulge in the typical modern diet and sedentary lifestyle, this often results in reduced insulin sensitivity (read my past article on Insulin Sensitivity for more information). Added on top of everything else, your fat tissue becomes so incredibly resistant to your attempts to lose it, it seems like you will be stuck with it forever.
Diets fail because they only look at the caloric reduction side of the equation. You need to understand the other variables in the equation – exercise and lifestyle. You need to understand the deeper issues you are really dealing with. Getting rid of stubborn fat is not nearly as simple as just slashing calories and dieting. Stubborn fat is the result of a complex interplay of biological and hormonal processes – all of which are affected by how you eat, how you move and the type of lifestyle you lead.
Now that you understand why you have stubborn fat, right down to the hormone and receptor level, the question is “How do you alter your nutrition, exercise and lifestyle to get rid if this resistant body fat?” The answer will be found in part two. Stay tuned.
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the
David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise plan
that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Part One
By David Grisaffi, CHEK
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist
Golf Biomechanic Certified
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach
Everyone walking on the face of this earth has an abundance of fat cells throughout their bodies.
In fact, if you’re a healthy adult with normal body composition, you have approximately 30 billion fat cells. This is an astronomical number when you think about it. Did you ever wonder why you have so many? Have you ever wondered what those fat cells are for?
The answer is, fat cells are part of our genetic code and they allowed us to use stored energy when food was scarce. This survival mechanism is very much the same today as it was 10,000 years ago. However, today our needs have changed. There is an abundance of food in modern society today.
When you consume too many calories, your body goes into storage mode for that “rainy day,” so to speak, but the “rainy day” does not happen. So your body simply stores those extra calories as fat. When you eat less calories then your body demands your cells release stored fat for energy. Pretty simple equation, however it does not appear that all fat is the same.
The placement of fat deposits on our bodies varies depending on each person’s genetic influences, lifestyle choices and nutritional intake. Men tend to store their body fat around their bellies and chest. Women tend to store it around there hips, buttocks, thighs and back of their arms. A complete discussion of hormones and fat storage would be beyond the scope of this article, but let it suffice to say that certain hormonal process do determine body fat distribution.
There is one major factor that many people do not realize when they are attempting to lose body fat and this can be a stumbling block in anyone’s long term success. Many people approach fat loss and fitness with great enthusiasm and determination. With this attitude, they lose body fat and feel great, but even so, they just do not seem to get rid of ALL they fat they want to. They lose fat successfully for a time, but ultimately get stuck just before all of the fat is completely gone.
This is commonly known as a plateau and this plateau phenomenon causes many people who were previously successful to lose their enthusiasm and return to their old ways. When old habits take over again – and this happens to the majority of dieters - the body fat comes back with a vengeance. This is due to programming of the fat cell. Each time you try to lose body fat again, it seems to take longer and require more effort.
So what is the real solution? It’s simple – you must understand how fat cells work and how to get past the plateau phenomenon and defeat this last bit of body fat, that we often call stubborn fat.
I have worked with many clients and I would say most of them have a good amount of stubborn body fat. This fat is literally “programmed” to be very difficult to lose. It seems to remain on our bodies no matter what we do, hence the word stubborn fat. Modern diets and weight loss programs almost all seem to work in the beginning, but then they never really address this crucial part of fat loss – the last bit of stubborn fat.
Stubborn fat develops when your hormonal pathways are broken down. Age does play a role in this: Fat deposits increase and become more resistant to fat loss methods as you get older. This you have little control over, but some things that lead to stubborn fat development are under your control. Yo yo dieting is one of them. Losing weight on crash diets and then regaining it – often known as the “rebound effect” – will only increase stubborn fat in the long run. A decrease in exercise and activity level also compounds the stubborn fat problem. This is why people who crash diet on low calories and refuse to exercise and move their bodies, often have the worst stubborn fat problems of all.
Our ancestors really never had to deal with this problem because they moved and engaged in physical labor as a regular part of daily life, whereas technological conveniences and the modern lifestyle have caused many of us to become lazy and inactive.
Stubborn fat is metabolized extremely slowly and is resistant to the hormonal process that takes place while the fat burning process is started up. To burn fat, the adrenal hormones better known as adrenaline and noradrenaline, attach to the fat cell receptors and essentially “open them up” so the fat can be used in the energy pathways. There are two kinds of receptors in your fat cells: one is alpha and the other beta. The beta receptors are much more active and respond to adrenal hormones. To lose body fat, the adrenal hormones switch on and the body begins to use fat as energy. However, in the case of people with stubborn fat, this does not occur, so no body fat is lost.
According to my good friend and colleague Ori Hofmekler, author of the warrior diet, "stubborn fat” has a lower ratio of beta receptors to alpha receptors." Therefore, your body’s hormonal “fat dissolver,” adrenaline, will not be able to enter the fat cell and open the door. Ori also points out that “to make these matters worse, stubborn fat has more estrogen receptors which cause even more stubborn fat.”
If all this sounds bad enough, what makes it even worse is that if you indulge in the typical modern diet and sedentary lifestyle, this often results in reduced insulin sensitivity (read my past article on Insulin Sensitivity for more information). Added on top of everything else, your fat tissue becomes so incredibly resistant to your attempts to lose it, it seems like you will be stuck with it forever.
Diets fail because they only look at the caloric reduction side of the equation. You need to understand the other variables in the equation – exercise and lifestyle. You need to understand the deeper issues you are really dealing with. Getting rid of stubborn fat is not nearly as simple as just slashing calories and dieting. Stubborn fat is the result of a complex interplay of biological and hormonal processes – all of which are affected by how you eat, how you move and the type of lifestyle you lead.
Now that you understand why you have stubborn fat, right down to the hormone and receptor level, the question is “How do you alter your nutrition, exercise and lifestyle to get rid if this resistant body fat?” The answer will be found in part two. Stay tuned.
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the
David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise plan
that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Friday, October 15, 2010
Why Almost Everyone Is Wrong About Stomach Exercises And Abdominal Muscles
Why Almost Everyone Is Wrong
About Stomach Exercises
And Abdominal Muscles
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
“Stomach exercise” is the most frequently asked about and searched on (via internet) yet misunderstood subject in the entire field of health, fitness and exercise. And it's no wonder. Regardless of age, experience or gender, everyone wants a flat "stomach" because the abdominal region is the true showcase of your physique. Since the abs are usually the last place to “shape up” and “lean out,” then most people would say that if you’ve got abs, you’ve got it all.
Well, in my way of thinking, this is only partially true. There’s more to a complete physique than “abdominal exercises” and “six pack abs” and most people are completely wrong about “stomach exercises” and “”stomach muscles.” (you'll find out why in just a moment)...
The Difference Between "6-Pack Abs" And Truly "Fit Abs"
Having a great looking set of abs is very much a matter of low body fat. But make no mistake, just being lean and seeing a “six-pack” doesn’t mean you are strong, fit or conditioned. Real fitness means more than visible muscle development, it means strength, endurance, and stability, and this type of true functional fitness does not come from merely eating the right foods or reducing your body fat.
Nutrition is so important that you could even say that “abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym” and you would not be telling a lie. But this clever maxim is not telling the whole truth either. Great abs come from nutrition AND training, not one or the other. The training develops them. The nutrition uncovers them.
Don Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in America in 1493 looking for a fountain of youth and today in the “stomach exercise” marketplace, it seems that far too many people are looking for a “magic fountain” in order to flatten their waistlines.
Ponce never found the fountain of youth and you will never find a magical solution for flat abs. There are no short cuts. It takes a change in lifestyle to get a change in health, physique and performance. That includes nutrition AND training.
There's No Such Thing As "Stomach Exercises"
this is your stomach
THIS is your stomach!
Proper choice of exercise is a critical factor in your quest for a firm and flat waistline. But you will never get a great “stomach” from ANY "stomach exercise" because your stomach is a part of your digestive tract, not your skeletal muscular system! So let’s get the terminology straight, shall we?
The area of you body you really want to improve is called your “core region.”Many people refer to it as the “abdominal region.” However, training only with “ab exercise” is NOT the optimal approach.
The abdominals only include the front (anterior) side of your body and if the only type of training you do is abdominal training, you may be unwittingly setting yourself up for lower back problems. If you don’t think this is serious, then consider this statistic:
According to the American Chiropractic Association, more than 31 million Americans are suffering from low back pain at any given time.
So would you like to trade great abs for a bad back?
I didn’t think so. The good news is that you can kill two birds with one stone. You can develop great abdominal muscles, great core muscles and a strong, pain-free back by using exercises that focus not on the “stomach,” (which is not a muscle you train at all), not on the “abdominals,” (which is only part of the muscles you need to target), but on the entire core.
The core is the key to your success.
The core is the entire complex of muscles around your hip and waist region from your lower rib cage to the bottom of your pelvis. If you just focus on “abdominal exercises” alone (or “stomach” exercises, LOL), you will develop what I refer to as a “one dimensional body.” I focus on training the body as a whole, or “multi-dimensional training” to develop a complete person and to develop effective and powerful athletes.
What every program I write has in common is that I do not attempt to “isolate” the abdominals (or train the “stomach muscles!”) It’s all about the core and about integrating your body as a unit so you function better in daily life.
As you do core-focused exercise programs you not only train your muscular system but also the system that drives your muscular system – that is, the nervous system. This may very well be the most important secret for getting better results in your workout programs.
The more efficiently your nervous system works, the better your results will be. Core workouts that improve both muscular strength and conditioning while also improving neural drive will develop stronger neural control of the associated muscles.
This type of training for your core may very well be the most important secret for getting better results in your workout programs.
* THIS is why my “brand” of core training gets results in women who have had C-sections, or other abdominal surgeries when nothing else worked
* THIS is why the core exercises I recommend will flatten out a “pooching” belly, which is a result of deep muscular weakness and lack of neuromuscular control (It's NOT just a body fat problem!)
* THIS is why my clients have overcome agonizing lower back pain when all else failed
* THIS is why my workout program have helped men and women recover from embarrassing incontinence
* THIS is how I have helped hundreds of new moms regain their flat and firm midsections after having their babies
* THIS is why my clients remain injury free, while so many other training programs are actually the CAUSE of injuries
* And THIS is why my type of training – PROGRESSIVE CORE TRAINING – develops amazing athletes – top wresters, PGA golfers, and pro boxers with powerful punches and abs of steel.
The purpose of this article was not to give more workout routines (I’ve written an entire book about core training that's FULL of workouts (“Firm And Flatten Your Abs) and there’s plenty of Free sample workouts to be found on this site and lots more to come in upcoming issues of my newsletter. The purpose of this article was to "install" 3 incredibly important lessons into your brain:
* You can’t train your “stomach” because your stomach is an internal organ of digestion not a skeletal muscle!
* You can’t totally “isolate” your abdominals because your abdominals do not work in isolation, they work in conjunction with the rest of your body (and "isolation" as with only doing crunches, is not the optimal approach anyway).
* You get more by training your core! You become a better athlete, you help prevent injuries, you get stronger and you get that coveted 6-pack abs look.
I hope the “morals” of these lessons have already sunk in and will become a part of your own fitness philosophy... and the next time you hear someone talk about “stomach exercises”, you’ll now be able to get a good chuckle out of that.
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About Stomach Exercises
And Abdominal Muscles
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
“Stomach exercise” is the most frequently asked about and searched on (via internet) yet misunderstood subject in the entire field of health, fitness and exercise. And it's no wonder. Regardless of age, experience or gender, everyone wants a flat "stomach" because the abdominal region is the true showcase of your physique. Since the abs are usually the last place to “shape up” and “lean out,” then most people would say that if you’ve got abs, you’ve got it all.
Well, in my way of thinking, this is only partially true. There’s more to a complete physique than “abdominal exercises” and “six pack abs” and most people are completely wrong about “stomach exercises” and “”stomach muscles.” (you'll find out why in just a moment)...
The Difference Between "6-Pack Abs" And Truly "Fit Abs"
Having a great looking set of abs is very much a matter of low body fat. But make no mistake, just being lean and seeing a “six-pack” doesn’t mean you are strong, fit or conditioned. Real fitness means more than visible muscle development, it means strength, endurance, and stability, and this type of true functional fitness does not come from merely eating the right foods or reducing your body fat.
Nutrition is so important that you could even say that “abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym” and you would not be telling a lie. But this clever maxim is not telling the whole truth either. Great abs come from nutrition AND training, not one or the other. The training develops them. The nutrition uncovers them.
Don Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in America in 1493 looking for a fountain of youth and today in the “stomach exercise” marketplace, it seems that far too many people are looking for a “magic fountain” in order to flatten their waistlines.
Ponce never found the fountain of youth and you will never find a magical solution for flat abs. There are no short cuts. It takes a change in lifestyle to get a change in health, physique and performance. That includes nutrition AND training.
There's No Such Thing As "Stomach Exercises"
this is your stomach
THIS is your stomach!
Proper choice of exercise is a critical factor in your quest for a firm and flat waistline. But you will never get a great “stomach” from ANY "stomach exercise" because your stomach is a part of your digestive tract, not your skeletal muscular system! So let’s get the terminology straight, shall we?
The area of you body you really want to improve is called your “core region.”Many people refer to it as the “abdominal region.” However, training only with “ab exercise” is NOT the optimal approach.
The abdominals only include the front (anterior) side of your body and if the only type of training you do is abdominal training, you may be unwittingly setting yourself up for lower back problems. If you don’t think this is serious, then consider this statistic:
According to the American Chiropractic Association, more than 31 million Americans are suffering from low back pain at any given time.
So would you like to trade great abs for a bad back?
I didn’t think so. The good news is that you can kill two birds with one stone. You can develop great abdominal muscles, great core muscles and a strong, pain-free back by using exercises that focus not on the “stomach,” (which is not a muscle you train at all), not on the “abdominals,” (which is only part of the muscles you need to target), but on the entire core.
The core is the key to your success.
The core is the entire complex of muscles around your hip and waist region from your lower rib cage to the bottom of your pelvis. If you just focus on “abdominal exercises” alone (or “stomach” exercises, LOL), you will develop what I refer to as a “one dimensional body.” I focus on training the body as a whole, or “multi-dimensional training” to develop a complete person and to develop effective and powerful athletes.
What every program I write has in common is that I do not attempt to “isolate” the abdominals (or train the “stomach muscles!”) It’s all about the core and about integrating your body as a unit so you function better in daily life.
As you do core-focused exercise programs you not only train your muscular system but also the system that drives your muscular system – that is, the nervous system. This may very well be the most important secret for getting better results in your workout programs.
The more efficiently your nervous system works, the better your results will be. Core workouts that improve both muscular strength and conditioning while also improving neural drive will develop stronger neural control of the associated muscles.
This type of training for your core may very well be the most important secret for getting better results in your workout programs.
* THIS is why my “brand” of core training gets results in women who have had C-sections, or other abdominal surgeries when nothing else worked
* THIS is why the core exercises I recommend will flatten out a “pooching” belly, which is a result of deep muscular weakness and lack of neuromuscular control (It's NOT just a body fat problem!)
* THIS is why my clients have overcome agonizing lower back pain when all else failed
* THIS is why my workout program have helped men and women recover from embarrassing incontinence
* THIS is how I have helped hundreds of new moms regain their flat and firm midsections after having their babies
* THIS is why my clients remain injury free, while so many other training programs are actually the CAUSE of injuries
* And THIS is why my type of training – PROGRESSIVE CORE TRAINING – develops amazing athletes – top wresters, PGA golfers, and pro boxers with powerful punches and abs of steel.
The purpose of this article was not to give more workout routines (I’ve written an entire book about core training that's FULL of workouts (“Firm And Flatten Your Abs) and there’s plenty of Free sample workouts to be found on this site and lots more to come in upcoming issues of my newsletter. The purpose of this article was to "install" 3 incredibly important lessons into your brain:
* You can’t train your “stomach” because your stomach is an internal organ of digestion not a skeletal muscle!
* You can’t totally “isolate” your abdominals because your abdominals do not work in isolation, they work in conjunction with the rest of your body (and "isolation" as with only doing crunches, is not the optimal approach anyway).
* You get more by training your core! You become a better athlete, you help prevent injuries, you get stronger and you get that coveted 6-pack abs look.
I hope the “morals” of these lessons have already sunk in and will become a part of your own fitness philosophy... and the next time you hear someone talk about “stomach exercises”, you’ll now be able to get a good chuckle out of that.
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Why You Ahoulsn't Train Abs To Failure And The 3 Keys to Smarter Ab Training
Why You Shouldn't Train Abs To Failure
And The 3 Keys to Smarter Ab Training
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
Smart trainees know that progression is the name of the game in fitness and strength training. However, as you continually test your limits of accomplishment, whether that’s reaching a new level of leanness, increasing your muscle mass or obtaining a new strength maximum, you often fall prey to the belief that you must push yourself to the point of complete “failure.” This is the point where you reach a level of fatigue and exhaustion that causes your muscles to literally give out (“fail”) and you can’t complete another rep.
Training with progression and intensity is important, but unless you’d like to trade a nice set of abs for a bad lower back, I’d strongly urge you to re-evaluate the concept of training to failure, especially when it comes to core and abdominal workouts and especially if you’re not a bodybuilder.
Why do so many people believe in failure training?
Training to “failure” became popular in part, because of bodybuilding culture and bodybuilding gurus such as Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones, and then the information filtered into the mainstream fitness world. Athletes, who tend to be as competitive with themselves as they are with their opponents, also sometimes push themselves as far as they possibly can in their quest for sporting excellence.
This approach may be misguided and possibly even dangerous.
There may be a small place for taking some sets to the point of failure in low volume bodybuilding programs. But even bodybuilders who train to failure too often may be gaining less benefit than they think, while increasing their chances of overtraining or even injury.
I believe strongly that the added stress of training to failure or total fatigue can cause more problems than it’s worth and the potential benefit is not worth the risk. I have rehabilitated many back pain patients because of their stubborn beliefs in “pushing it to the limit.”
Stimulate, Don’t Annihilate
Exercise places a stress on muscles, joint structures and the entire body. Exercising to failure places extreme stress on the muscles, body and the nervous system. There is positive training stress and negative training stress. Properly applied, training stress is “stimulation” which prompts an adaptation in the muscle – strength, stamina, size, or power. Improperly applied, training stress is damage beyond the point of necessarily stimulation. Even some of the top bodybuilders understood this, as former Mr. Olympia Lee Haney used to say, “Stimulate, don’t annihilate.”
Out of all the muscles and movements in particular, it is very important to stimulate your core and abdominals and not “annihilate” them. Be very careful not to over-train or over-stress your abs and core and this means, do not train your abs to failure.
One of the biggest problems with training the core and abs to failure is that the more fatigued you become, the more your form begins to break down. When your form breaks down, that is when injuries are most likely to occur. This is true for any exercise, but it may be truer for abs and core than any other type of exercise due to the susceptibility of the lower back.
Research by Dr. Laurence Morehouse of University of California at Los Angles found that when doing abdominal exercises, especially sit-ups, you over-work your hip flexor muscles - the psoas and the iliacus. When the exercises are performed quickly (form breaks) or all the way to failure (form breaks), the hip flexor’s pull on the lower back is increased.
When performing your core exercises, always be conscious about form, especially as you begin to get tired toward the end of a set. You should terminate your set at or before the point where you notice that your form breaks in the slightest, and that is usually a couple of repetitions before reaching muscular failure.
Progression Can Occur Without Failure
If you believe that stopping short of failure will hold back your progress, think again. Progress is a function of progression and progression can take place without failure. You can continue to improve your workouts and thereby your physique and performance by increasing repetitions and or resistance or even density… without ever training to failure.
Don’t Teach Your Nervous System “Bad Habits”
One point about proper form that few people realize is that if you train to the point of failure, which leads to a breakdown in form, this can lead to the development of poor motor engrams. Your nervous system can develop “bad habits” so to speak, as your body tends to automatically revert to what you practice the most. If the last repetitions of every set are usually done with poor form, then repeating that motor pattern is much more likely to occur in the future, leading to additional muscle and joint damage.
I design core conditioning programs in a specific way so you train smarter and avoid temptations that lead to poor form and potential injury. And that leads us to…
The 3 Keys To Smarter Ab Training
First, I recommend that exercises are performed in a certain order
By placing the more neurologically demanding and form intensive exercises first in a carefully planned sequence, I help my clients avoid a situation where fatigue and form breakdown would be as damaging. If you attempt the opposite, you increase the chance of over fatiguing the segmental stabilizers of the spine and you produce poor motor engrams.
More details on exercise sequencing are beyond the scope of this article, but you can learn more in my Firm and Flatten Your Abs program and in my Six Weeks to Six Pack abs report (visit www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html for more information).
Second, I constantly emphasize form and control
Nowhere is strict form more important for your safety and results than in core and abdominal training. The simple advice of slowing down the tempo and focusing on form will increase results and help keep you out of the doctor’s office.
There are times when you may want to perform core exercises at a higher rate of speed with more velocity or explosiveness. This is often the case with athletic, sports-specific training. But speed and form are not mutually exclusive and the same rules about fatigue and failure still apply to explosive training.
I train elite boxers and when they first show up at my studio, they are often set in their old ways of failure, fatigue and overtraining. I’ve seen it over and over again: A new client’s routine consists of “workout till you drop” and then 1000 flat board sit-ups. I simply ask: “How is your lower back”? The answer usually is, “It’s sore” at best, or “It’s injured” at worst. Even if they’re simply experiencing unnecessary soreness, that gets in the way of sport-specific training and their progress is slowed all around or grinds to a halt.
Third, you must get clear about the desired outcome of your training
Many strength trainers and bodybuilders are convinced that the outcome of a workout should be “burn,” fatigue and failure. If you think that aching muscles is the desired outcome, then why even go to the gym? Come over to my garage and I’ll whack you a few times with my sledgehammer then sit you up on my barbecue grill. You’ll “ache” and “burn” alright!
Joking aside, you must get clarity about your real training objectives – they’re NOT pain, fatigue and failure. If you begin with the right end in mind, you’ll set about reaching that end more intelligently.
Your training objective is to strengthen your core region for support, stabilization and protection of your spine and body organs, and your ultimate outcomes are to be healthier, perform better and look better (perhaps in that order of priority!)
These objectives are best accomplished by performing your exercises with strict, controlled form, and by using movement patterns such as flexion, extension and rotation. However, any one of those movement patterns taken to extremes can eventually cause damage to joint structures, which can put you on the sidelines and only take you further away from your true objectives.
Train hard, but also train smart
Progression and intensity are often confused with the need to train to failure. From this day forward, I suggest you re-evaluate the scientific facts as well as your mindset towards your training. Get clear about your true objective and train to succeed, not to “fail.”
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
And The 3 Keys to Smarter Ab Training
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
Smart trainees know that progression is the name of the game in fitness and strength training. However, as you continually test your limits of accomplishment, whether that’s reaching a new level of leanness, increasing your muscle mass or obtaining a new strength maximum, you often fall prey to the belief that you must push yourself to the point of complete “failure.” This is the point where you reach a level of fatigue and exhaustion that causes your muscles to literally give out (“fail”) and you can’t complete another rep.
Training with progression and intensity is important, but unless you’d like to trade a nice set of abs for a bad lower back, I’d strongly urge you to re-evaluate the concept of training to failure, especially when it comes to core and abdominal workouts and especially if you’re not a bodybuilder.
Why do so many people believe in failure training?
Training to “failure” became popular in part, because of bodybuilding culture and bodybuilding gurus such as Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones, and then the information filtered into the mainstream fitness world. Athletes, who tend to be as competitive with themselves as they are with their opponents, also sometimes push themselves as far as they possibly can in their quest for sporting excellence.
This approach may be misguided and possibly even dangerous.
There may be a small place for taking some sets to the point of failure in low volume bodybuilding programs. But even bodybuilders who train to failure too often may be gaining less benefit than they think, while increasing their chances of overtraining or even injury.
I believe strongly that the added stress of training to failure or total fatigue can cause more problems than it’s worth and the potential benefit is not worth the risk. I have rehabilitated many back pain patients because of their stubborn beliefs in “pushing it to the limit.”
Stimulate, Don’t Annihilate
Exercise places a stress on muscles, joint structures and the entire body. Exercising to failure places extreme stress on the muscles, body and the nervous system. There is positive training stress and negative training stress. Properly applied, training stress is “stimulation” which prompts an adaptation in the muscle – strength, stamina, size, or power. Improperly applied, training stress is damage beyond the point of necessarily stimulation. Even some of the top bodybuilders understood this, as former Mr. Olympia Lee Haney used to say, “Stimulate, don’t annihilate.”
Out of all the muscles and movements in particular, it is very important to stimulate your core and abdominals and not “annihilate” them. Be very careful not to over-train or over-stress your abs and core and this means, do not train your abs to failure.
One of the biggest problems with training the core and abs to failure is that the more fatigued you become, the more your form begins to break down. When your form breaks down, that is when injuries are most likely to occur. This is true for any exercise, but it may be truer for abs and core than any other type of exercise due to the susceptibility of the lower back.
Research by Dr. Laurence Morehouse of University of California at Los Angles found that when doing abdominal exercises, especially sit-ups, you over-work your hip flexor muscles - the psoas and the iliacus. When the exercises are performed quickly (form breaks) or all the way to failure (form breaks), the hip flexor’s pull on the lower back is increased.
When performing your core exercises, always be conscious about form, especially as you begin to get tired toward the end of a set. You should terminate your set at or before the point where you notice that your form breaks in the slightest, and that is usually a couple of repetitions before reaching muscular failure.
Progression Can Occur Without Failure
If you believe that stopping short of failure will hold back your progress, think again. Progress is a function of progression and progression can take place without failure. You can continue to improve your workouts and thereby your physique and performance by increasing repetitions and or resistance or even density… without ever training to failure.
Don’t Teach Your Nervous System “Bad Habits”
One point about proper form that few people realize is that if you train to the point of failure, which leads to a breakdown in form, this can lead to the development of poor motor engrams. Your nervous system can develop “bad habits” so to speak, as your body tends to automatically revert to what you practice the most. If the last repetitions of every set are usually done with poor form, then repeating that motor pattern is much more likely to occur in the future, leading to additional muscle and joint damage.
I design core conditioning programs in a specific way so you train smarter and avoid temptations that lead to poor form and potential injury. And that leads us to…
The 3 Keys To Smarter Ab Training
First, I recommend that exercises are performed in a certain order
By placing the more neurologically demanding and form intensive exercises first in a carefully planned sequence, I help my clients avoid a situation where fatigue and form breakdown would be as damaging. If you attempt the opposite, you increase the chance of over fatiguing the segmental stabilizers of the spine and you produce poor motor engrams.
More details on exercise sequencing are beyond the scope of this article, but you can learn more in my Firm and Flatten Your Abs program and in my Six Weeks to Six Pack abs report (visit www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html for more information).
Second, I constantly emphasize form and control
Nowhere is strict form more important for your safety and results than in core and abdominal training. The simple advice of slowing down the tempo and focusing on form will increase results and help keep you out of the doctor’s office.
There are times when you may want to perform core exercises at a higher rate of speed with more velocity or explosiveness. This is often the case with athletic, sports-specific training. But speed and form are not mutually exclusive and the same rules about fatigue and failure still apply to explosive training.
I train elite boxers and when they first show up at my studio, they are often set in their old ways of failure, fatigue and overtraining. I’ve seen it over and over again: A new client’s routine consists of “workout till you drop” and then 1000 flat board sit-ups. I simply ask: “How is your lower back”? The answer usually is, “It’s sore” at best, or “It’s injured” at worst. Even if they’re simply experiencing unnecessary soreness, that gets in the way of sport-specific training and their progress is slowed all around or grinds to a halt.
Third, you must get clear about the desired outcome of your training
Many strength trainers and bodybuilders are convinced that the outcome of a workout should be “burn,” fatigue and failure. If you think that aching muscles is the desired outcome, then why even go to the gym? Come over to my garage and I’ll whack you a few times with my sledgehammer then sit you up on my barbecue grill. You’ll “ache” and “burn” alright!
Joking aside, you must get clarity about your real training objectives – they’re NOT pain, fatigue and failure. If you begin with the right end in mind, you’ll set about reaching that end more intelligently.
Your training objective is to strengthen your core region for support, stabilization and protection of your spine and body organs, and your ultimate outcomes are to be healthier, perform better and look better (perhaps in that order of priority!)
These objectives are best accomplished by performing your exercises with strict, controlled form, and by using movement patterns such as flexion, extension and rotation. However, any one of those movement patterns taken to extremes can eventually cause damage to joint structures, which can put you on the sidelines and only take you further away from your true objectives.
Train hard, but also train smart
Progression and intensity are often confused with the need to train to failure. From this day forward, I suggest you re-evaluate the scientific facts as well as your mindset towards your training. Get clear about your true objective and train to succeed, not to “fail.”
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Fitness Fads Come And Go, But The Swiss Ball Is Here To Stay
Fitness Fads Come And Go, But
The Swiss Ball Is Here To Stay
By David Grisaffi
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
swiss balls What’s hot in the world of abdominal and core training today seems to change as fast as the latest clothing styles. New gurus, new infomercials, new machines – today’s fitness marketplace is all about “what’s new.” I often write reviews about the latest, greatest ab and core training gadgets, usually debunking most of them, but this time I'm actually going to do the opposite.
As new products push their way into the fitness scene, some truly legitimate, cost effective devices get pushed out, forgotten, or even worse – dismissed as “fitness fads.” Such is the case with the swiss ball (also known as a “exercise ball”, “gym ball” or “stability ball”)
Why Some Fitness Experts Condemn The Swiss Ball
Swiss balls have been around a long time in physical therapy and rehab settings and when they crossed over into the mainstream fitness world, they were probably hyped a bit too much. It’s not that they didn’t deserve the attention, its that many fitness “experts” placed the swiss ball up on a pedestal as the end-all be-all of abdominal, core and fitness training, rather than representing the ball for what it really is - a single training tool among many– just like barbells, dumbbells, cables or any other fitness equipment.
As a result, entire training systems were built around the swiss ball (neglecting other forms of training), and people misused and overused the ball. Some trainers used the ball for “exercises” that were nothing more than circus acts. I’ve seen it all – everything from standing on top of the ball and squatting to bench pressing on the ball with 400 pounds..
As a result of the over-hyping and misuse of the swiss ball, some coaches and trainers have recently spoken up and publicly renounced the ball as a " gimmick." This has caused a flood of emails to pour into my office as consumers and fitness enthusiasts have become more confused than ever.
It’s no wonder: Trainer A says, “The ball is the best thing since sliced bread” and trainer B says “the ball is and always was a gimmick.” I believe the ball is a very valuable training tool and that the truth is somewhere in the middle, so I’d like to help put things back into proper perspective.
Swiss balls are powerful, portable, inexpensive and versatile training tools
I use swiss balls nearly every day in my own workouts and in workouts for my clients. The versatility of the swiss ball is simply unmatched as proven by the fact that I can use a swiss ball to help a 65 year old sedentary woman overcome muscle weakness and improve balance or use the same ball to help a professional boxer build stamina and add power to his punches. I can also show you how to use the swiss ball to develop "six pack abs" as well as train literally every muscle in your entire body.
New Research Reveals That The Swiss Ball Can Make
Abdominal Exercise Up To 104% More Effective
swiss ball crunchTo give you a research-proven example of just how effective a swiss ball can be, let’s focus on one of the most basic and well-known of all abdominal exercises: The Crunch
As most people know, the crunch is a modified (partial) sit up that involves raising the head, neck and shoulder blades up off the floor. Many personal trainers believe that the crunch is highly overrated and overused. I won’t argue, as I agree there’s a lot of truth to that. However, the crunch can be greatly improved with one simple change: Do your crunches on a swiss ball.
Electromyography (EMG) studies have demonstrated that the swiss ball crunch (unstable surface) effectively recruits more muscle fibers than the floor crunch (stable surface). This leads to greater strength, stability and muscle development in your core region.
In 2000, a study by Vera-Garcia and colleagues showed a significant increase in muscle activity in the core area while performing a crunch on the swiss ball, as compared to a floor crunch. The swiss ball improved the level of muscular activity as well as the co-recruitment of spinal stabilizers. The researchers said:
“Performing the curl over the gym ball with the feet on the floor doubled activity in the rectus abdominis muscle, and activity in the external oblique muscle increased approximately fourfold.”
Although research results have been mixed in the past, the studies showing no increase in abdominal muscle activity using a swiss ball may have been due to the exercise technique used on the ball, including velocity and body placement on the ball. Earlier this year, Dr. Eric Sternlicht and colleagues at UCLA designed a study to test this hypothesis and they measured for differences in muscle activity while using different positions on the ball.
The EMG analysis confirmed their hypothesis and demonstrated that body position on the swiss ball could decrease or increase the amount of muscular activation. When the ball was positioned with the upper back high on the ball (just below scapulae), the muscular activity was less than a floor crunch. But by strategically positioning the ball so it was firmly placed at the lower lumbar region, there was a 66%, 93% and 104% increase in upper abdominal, lower abdominal and external oblique activity, respectively.
More Proof That Form Is Everything And Little Things Make A Big Difference
For years I have preached about proper form on all abdominal and core exercises and I have taught my clients “little tweaks” and “tricks” in technique that look minor, but which can lead to huge improvements in results. This new research is proof. It also reveals how the ball is a versatile tool for exercise progression: The high on back position is easier, while the ball lower on the back is more difficult, accommodating for different strength and fitness levels. Further progression can be added by using resistance (dumbbell or weight plate held on chest or at arms length from chest).
Swiss balls are only one of many training tools, but in my opinion, when used properly, they are one of the best of the bunch. I created an entire core training system that uses the ball for many of the exercises, I put all my clients on swiss balls and I highly recommend that you use the ball as well. Just remember, the swiss ball is only a tool – it’s not the “end all be all” of core training and it can’t work miracles. It will also not burn fat off your stomach – you need a caloric deficit to achieve body fat reduction.
Use the ball as one part of a balanced training program that includes other tools such as free weights, cables and your own body weight. Forget the potentially dangerous ”circus act” swiss ball stunts, use good exercise form, purchase only quality, high-strength exercise balls, use them in a clear area, clean them often, check them for leaks and I promise you will have a fantastic versatile training aid that will last you for years and never go out of style. Fitness fads will always come and go, but the swiss ball is still a winner.
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
References:
1. Vera-Garcia F, Grenier S, McGill S., Abdominal Muscle Response During Curl-Ups On Both Stable and Labile Surfaces, Physical Therapy, 80:6, 2000
2. Sternlicht E. Et al, Electromyograhpic comparison of a stability ball crunch with a traditional crunch, Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 21(2), 506-509, 2007
The crunch can be an effective exercise, especially when performed on the Swiss Ball. However, it’s extremely important to incorporate variety into your abs and core routines and not to depend on any one exercise alone. Your body adapts to every exercise in time, so you must put constant variety into your programs. To learn how to perform dozens of other unique core and abdominal exercises using a swiss ball (some of which I guarantee you have probably never even seen before), then visit my website home page to learn more about the Flatten Your Abs training course: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs, an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
The Swiss Ball Is Here To Stay
By David Grisaffi
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
swiss balls What’s hot in the world of abdominal and core training today seems to change as fast as the latest clothing styles. New gurus, new infomercials, new machines – today’s fitness marketplace is all about “what’s new.” I often write reviews about the latest, greatest ab and core training gadgets, usually debunking most of them, but this time I'm actually going to do the opposite.
As new products push their way into the fitness scene, some truly legitimate, cost effective devices get pushed out, forgotten, or even worse – dismissed as “fitness fads.” Such is the case with the swiss ball (also known as a “exercise ball”, “gym ball” or “stability ball”)
Why Some Fitness Experts Condemn The Swiss Ball
Swiss balls have been around a long time in physical therapy and rehab settings and when they crossed over into the mainstream fitness world, they were probably hyped a bit too much. It’s not that they didn’t deserve the attention, its that many fitness “experts” placed the swiss ball up on a pedestal as the end-all be-all of abdominal, core and fitness training, rather than representing the ball for what it really is - a single training tool among many– just like barbells, dumbbells, cables or any other fitness equipment.
As a result, entire training systems were built around the swiss ball (neglecting other forms of training), and people misused and overused the ball. Some trainers used the ball for “exercises” that were nothing more than circus acts. I’ve seen it all – everything from standing on top of the ball and squatting to bench pressing on the ball with 400 pounds..
As a result of the over-hyping and misuse of the swiss ball, some coaches and trainers have recently spoken up and publicly renounced the ball as a " gimmick." This has caused a flood of emails to pour into my office as consumers and fitness enthusiasts have become more confused than ever.
It’s no wonder: Trainer A says, “The ball is the best thing since sliced bread” and trainer B says “the ball is and always was a gimmick.” I believe the ball is a very valuable training tool and that the truth is somewhere in the middle, so I’d like to help put things back into proper perspective.
Swiss balls are powerful, portable, inexpensive and versatile training tools
I use swiss balls nearly every day in my own workouts and in workouts for my clients. The versatility of the swiss ball is simply unmatched as proven by the fact that I can use a swiss ball to help a 65 year old sedentary woman overcome muscle weakness and improve balance or use the same ball to help a professional boxer build stamina and add power to his punches. I can also show you how to use the swiss ball to develop "six pack abs" as well as train literally every muscle in your entire body.
New Research Reveals That The Swiss Ball Can Make
Abdominal Exercise Up To 104% More Effective
swiss ball crunchTo give you a research-proven example of just how effective a swiss ball can be, let’s focus on one of the most basic and well-known of all abdominal exercises: The Crunch
As most people know, the crunch is a modified (partial) sit up that involves raising the head, neck and shoulder blades up off the floor. Many personal trainers believe that the crunch is highly overrated and overused. I won’t argue, as I agree there’s a lot of truth to that. However, the crunch can be greatly improved with one simple change: Do your crunches on a swiss ball.
Electromyography (EMG) studies have demonstrated that the swiss ball crunch (unstable surface) effectively recruits more muscle fibers than the floor crunch (stable surface). This leads to greater strength, stability and muscle development in your core region.
In 2000, a study by Vera-Garcia and colleagues showed a significant increase in muscle activity in the core area while performing a crunch on the swiss ball, as compared to a floor crunch. The swiss ball improved the level of muscular activity as well as the co-recruitment of spinal stabilizers. The researchers said:
“Performing the curl over the gym ball with the feet on the floor doubled activity in the rectus abdominis muscle, and activity in the external oblique muscle increased approximately fourfold.”
Although research results have been mixed in the past, the studies showing no increase in abdominal muscle activity using a swiss ball may have been due to the exercise technique used on the ball, including velocity and body placement on the ball. Earlier this year, Dr. Eric Sternlicht and colleagues at UCLA designed a study to test this hypothesis and they measured for differences in muscle activity while using different positions on the ball.
The EMG analysis confirmed their hypothesis and demonstrated that body position on the swiss ball could decrease or increase the amount of muscular activation. When the ball was positioned with the upper back high on the ball (just below scapulae), the muscular activity was less than a floor crunch. But by strategically positioning the ball so it was firmly placed at the lower lumbar region, there was a 66%, 93% and 104% increase in upper abdominal, lower abdominal and external oblique activity, respectively.
More Proof That Form Is Everything And Little Things Make A Big Difference
For years I have preached about proper form on all abdominal and core exercises and I have taught my clients “little tweaks” and “tricks” in technique that look minor, but which can lead to huge improvements in results. This new research is proof. It also reveals how the ball is a versatile tool for exercise progression: The high on back position is easier, while the ball lower on the back is more difficult, accommodating for different strength and fitness levels. Further progression can be added by using resistance (dumbbell or weight plate held on chest or at arms length from chest).
Swiss balls are only one of many training tools, but in my opinion, when used properly, they are one of the best of the bunch. I created an entire core training system that uses the ball for many of the exercises, I put all my clients on swiss balls and I highly recommend that you use the ball as well. Just remember, the swiss ball is only a tool – it’s not the “end all be all” of core training and it can’t work miracles. It will also not burn fat off your stomach – you need a caloric deficit to achieve body fat reduction.
Use the ball as one part of a balanced training program that includes other tools such as free weights, cables and your own body weight. Forget the potentially dangerous ”circus act” swiss ball stunts, use good exercise form, purchase only quality, high-strength exercise balls, use them in a clear area, clean them often, check them for leaks and I promise you will have a fantastic versatile training aid that will last you for years and never go out of style. Fitness fads will always come and go, but the swiss ball is still a winner.
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
References:
1. Vera-Garcia F, Grenier S, McGill S., Abdominal Muscle Response During Curl-Ups On Both Stable and Labile Surfaces, Physical Therapy, 80:6, 2000
2. Sternlicht E. Et al, Electromyograhpic comparison of a stability ball crunch with a traditional crunch, Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 21(2), 506-509, 2007
The crunch can be an effective exercise, especially when performed on the Swiss Ball. However, it’s extremely important to incorporate variety into your abs and core routines and not to depend on any one exercise alone. Your body adapts to every exercise in time, so you must put constant variety into your programs. To learn how to perform dozens of other unique core and abdominal exercises using a swiss ball (some of which I guarantee you have probably never even seen before), then visit my website home page to learn more about the Flatten Your Abs training course: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs, an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net
The Belly Fat - Stress Connection
The Belly Fat - Stress Connection
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
Most people look at body fat as an enemy and they should to a certain extent. However, in understanding how to beat belly fat, it helps to understand the genetically engineered reasons that we store body fat the way we do and the differences between modern life and the way our ancestors lived. It all started with simple survival. Without the ability to easily store fat some of us would not even be here on this earth today, so thank your ancestors for improving the hardiness of your family's gene pool and keeping you in the mix.
Despite fat's value in the evolutionary scheme of things, excess belly fat can cause many problems and I'm not talking about whether you can tie your shoelaces. Belly fat - which refers largely to visceral fat, not just the subcutaneous fat below your skin - has been associated in recent years with all kinds of health problems ranging from heart disease, to strokes to diabetes. Fat can be cosmetically frustrating, but belly fat can also be deadly.
Gender is one factor that affects where you store your fat. Men store most of it in their belly, while women store more fat in their hips and thighs. Women store body fat in the lower body because of childbirth and hormonal reasons. After menopause when hormones change women also tend to begin storing more fat in the abdominal region.
But why does the fat go there so quickly and easily?
Why doesn't it just even itself out all across the body rather than concentrating in one unsightly area? And why do we get belly fat in the first place? Obviously, the first reason is caloric excess. That is always true in males and in females, so before you start pointing your finger at genetics, gender, hormones, adrenergic receptors or anything else, look at how much you're eating every day first.
At the risk of continuing to state the obvious, the second reason is not enough exercise. In today's modern technologically advanced society, we do not work like our grandparents did, and our waistlines show it. I also believe that in our society today, we are much more stressed out than our ancestors were. Sure, there were fight or flight situations in the natural environment which we no longer have today, but those occasional natural phenomena have now been replaced by continuous daily stress from our regular daily workload. Combine that with the reduced exercise and increased portion sizes and availability of food, and could this be a third reason for belly fat?
Experts argue about whether stress "causes" fat, but there is no question that stress correlates highly with fat and it creates a situation - both environmentally and hormonally - that is highly conducive to increasing fat. Because of the nature of stress hormones such as cortisol, combined with metabolic syndrome, excess insulin and insulin resistance that is the common result of sedentary lifestyle combined with refined foods, the caloric surplus is stored as visceral body fat and our bellies begin to bulge.
More and More Research Is Proving the Connection
More and more research is starting to explain, scientifically, how high levels of stress ultimately lead to increased body fat. In a paper published in the journal Hormonal Metabolic Research (Kyrou July 2007) Greek researchers said that stress may affect the thyroid by inhibiting the enzymatic conversion of T4 into the biologically active form, T3. They also noted that while stress causes a generalized catabolic state, the extended action of the glucocorticoids on the metabolic pathways eventually leads to increased visceral body fat accumulation and insulin resistance. In fact, numerous researchers now point at central obesity as the distinguishing factor in metabolic syndrome.
So although we may not be able to say that "stress causes belly fat" literally, there is very clearly a strong association between the two. How are your stress levels? What does your diet look like? How does your exercise regimen stack up? How does you belly look? Add high stress levels onto a sedentary lifestyle with an excess of calories and you have a textbook formula for gaining belly fat.
The belly fat, in turn can lead to more health problems than you ever thought. "Hundreds of studies have led to the conclusion that any fat can be problematic," said obesity expert Jeffrey S Flier, MD, "But it's much, much more dangerous when it's accumulated in the abdomen.," He added that pound for pound, fat that builds up in the abdomen is much more likely to cause diabetes and heart disease. His research is published in the Dec. 7 issue of Science.
Flier and his colleagues looked at a stress hormone called cortisol - the "fight or flight" hormone that kicks in during stressful situations. When the body produces excess cortisol, it tends to cause a build-up of belly fat.
So what do we do about all this?
In addition to the usual prescription of eat less and exercise more, it looks like we have to add something else: reduce stress… Relax and enjoy life. Stop worrying and start taking care of yourself. Consider taking up meditation. In light of the recent evidence about the stress-belly fat connection, this no longer seems like a "new agey" type of thing to do. Even of 5-10 minutes of breathing exercises daily could work wonders.
Many people are failing to reach their fat reduction goals because they have not considered the possible effect of stress on their weight as well as their health. This is one of the reasons I included a stress relief course along with my Flatten Your Abs Program.
When you combine the calorie deficit from nutrition with muscle building exercises, fat burning exercises AND stress relief exercises (which in my course include yoga and mind body relaxation techniques of Tai Chi And Qigong), you may very well have the most complete approach to a flat stomach that has ever been created.
You can learn more about the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program as well as the bonus courses, including the stress relievers program on the home page at:
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
Most people look at body fat as an enemy and they should to a certain extent. However, in understanding how to beat belly fat, it helps to understand the genetically engineered reasons that we store body fat the way we do and the differences between modern life and the way our ancestors lived. It all started with simple survival. Without the ability to easily store fat some of us would not even be here on this earth today, so thank your ancestors for improving the hardiness of your family's gene pool and keeping you in the mix.
Despite fat's value in the evolutionary scheme of things, excess belly fat can cause many problems and I'm not talking about whether you can tie your shoelaces. Belly fat - which refers largely to visceral fat, not just the subcutaneous fat below your skin - has been associated in recent years with all kinds of health problems ranging from heart disease, to strokes to diabetes. Fat can be cosmetically frustrating, but belly fat can also be deadly.
Gender is one factor that affects where you store your fat. Men store most of it in their belly, while women store more fat in their hips and thighs. Women store body fat in the lower body because of childbirth and hormonal reasons. After menopause when hormones change women also tend to begin storing more fat in the abdominal region.
But why does the fat go there so quickly and easily?
Why doesn't it just even itself out all across the body rather than concentrating in one unsightly area? And why do we get belly fat in the first place? Obviously, the first reason is caloric excess. That is always true in males and in females, so before you start pointing your finger at genetics, gender, hormones, adrenergic receptors or anything else, look at how much you're eating every day first.
At the risk of continuing to state the obvious, the second reason is not enough exercise. In today's modern technologically advanced society, we do not work like our grandparents did, and our waistlines show it. I also believe that in our society today, we are much more stressed out than our ancestors were. Sure, there were fight or flight situations in the natural environment which we no longer have today, but those occasional natural phenomena have now been replaced by continuous daily stress from our regular daily workload. Combine that with the reduced exercise and increased portion sizes and availability of food, and could this be a third reason for belly fat?
Experts argue about whether stress "causes" fat, but there is no question that stress correlates highly with fat and it creates a situation - both environmentally and hormonally - that is highly conducive to increasing fat. Because of the nature of stress hormones such as cortisol, combined with metabolic syndrome, excess insulin and insulin resistance that is the common result of sedentary lifestyle combined with refined foods, the caloric surplus is stored as visceral body fat and our bellies begin to bulge.
More and More Research Is Proving the Connection
More and more research is starting to explain, scientifically, how high levels of stress ultimately lead to increased body fat. In a paper published in the journal Hormonal Metabolic Research (Kyrou July 2007) Greek researchers said that stress may affect the thyroid by inhibiting the enzymatic conversion of T4 into the biologically active form, T3. They also noted that while stress causes a generalized catabolic state, the extended action of the glucocorticoids on the metabolic pathways eventually leads to increased visceral body fat accumulation and insulin resistance. In fact, numerous researchers now point at central obesity as the distinguishing factor in metabolic syndrome.
So although we may not be able to say that "stress causes belly fat" literally, there is very clearly a strong association between the two. How are your stress levels? What does your diet look like? How does your exercise regimen stack up? How does you belly look? Add high stress levels onto a sedentary lifestyle with an excess of calories and you have a textbook formula for gaining belly fat.
The belly fat, in turn can lead to more health problems than you ever thought. "Hundreds of studies have led to the conclusion that any fat can be problematic," said obesity expert Jeffrey S Flier, MD, "But it's much, much more dangerous when it's accumulated in the abdomen.," He added that pound for pound, fat that builds up in the abdomen is much more likely to cause diabetes and heart disease. His research is published in the Dec. 7 issue of Science.
Flier and his colleagues looked at a stress hormone called cortisol - the "fight or flight" hormone that kicks in during stressful situations. When the body produces excess cortisol, it tends to cause a build-up of belly fat.
So what do we do about all this?
In addition to the usual prescription of eat less and exercise more, it looks like we have to add something else: reduce stress… Relax and enjoy life. Stop worrying and start taking care of yourself. Consider taking up meditation. In light of the recent evidence about the stress-belly fat connection, this no longer seems like a "new agey" type of thing to do. Even of 5-10 minutes of breathing exercises daily could work wonders.
Many people are failing to reach their fat reduction goals because they have not considered the possible effect of stress on their weight as well as their health. This is one of the reasons I included a stress relief course along with my Flatten Your Abs Program.
When you combine the calorie deficit from nutrition with muscle building exercises, fat burning exercises AND stress relief exercises (which in my course include yoga and mind body relaxation techniques of Tai Chi And Qigong), you may very well have the most complete approach to a flat stomach that has ever been created.
You can learn more about the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program as well as the bonus courses, including the stress relievers program on the home page at:
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Lower Abdominals
The Lower Abdominals
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
The lower abdominals may be the single most popular subject among fitness enthusiasts today. This is due to the fact that having flat, tight, lower abdominals is a highly desired look, but a very difficult look for most people to achieve. Many fitness professionals insist that there is no such thing as "lower abdominals", While others propose that exercises like crunches work the upper abs more and exercises such as leg raises or reverse crunches work the lower abs more.
Before continuing, first keep in mind that no abdominal exercise can "spot reduce" lower abdominal fat. Many people feel a need to perform special "lower ab" exercises, not realizing that the real reason they can't see their lower abs has nothing to do with their choice of abdominal exercise, and everything to do with an excess of fat and possibly digestive problems
Because of genetics and hormones like estrogen - the lower abdominal region is simply one of the first places most people store body fat. Therefore the same is true in reverse - lower ab fat is the last place to come off. Removal of lower abdominal body fat is a separate issue than lower versus upper abdominal muscle recruitment and body fat problems can only be addressed by creating a caloric deficit and addressing lifestyle factors. This requires proper nutrition, not special "lower ab" exercises.
Second, it's true that you cannot isolate the upper and lower abdominals from one another. Both upper and lower abdominals are activated during the performance of any abdominal exercise. The rectus abdominis is one long muscle, not two separate muscles. However, the nerve innervation of the upper and lower portions is different.
Although you cannot completely isolate upper and lower abs, research has used electromyography (EMG) testing to try and determine whether certain exercises can emphasize one section of the abs more than another. Results have shown very clearly that the obliques can be recruited more with specific exercises. However, data on lower versus upper abs is mixed.
For example, a 2001 study by Lehman and McGill published in the journal Physical Therapy said, "Differences between the portions of the rectus abdominis muscle are small and may lack clinical or therapeutic relevance." On the other hand, a study by Willett and colleagues at the University of Nebraska said, "our findings support the concept that abdominal strengthening exercises can differentially activate various abdominal muscle groups." A 2007 study by Eric Sternlicht found major increases in EMG activity (93%) of the lower abdominals simply by changing body placement on a swiss ball during the crunch exercise.
I believe it is very possible that the upper and lower abdominal areas can be emphasized to a greater degree by the choice of exercise. The abdominal region is somewhat unique because unlike muscles such as the bicep, the abdominals are divided by tendinous intersections which correlate to various segments of the spinal column. It has been proposed that these segments may be under separate neurological control.
As I learned in my internship from the Paul Chek Institute, as early as 1934, Joel E. Goldthwaite in his book "Body Mechanics in Health and Disease," determined that there was a difference between the control mechanisms of the upper abs versus the lower abs. In other words the "electrical system" that controls each section is innervated by different wiring.
Some years ago a TV special filmed a belly dancer rolling a few quarters up, down, sideways and diagonally across her belly. I have seen a similar feat with my own eyes as my brother can do a "belly roll" - an impressive feat of abdominal muscle control somewhat akin to a caterpillar inching its way across the floor, by rolling one segment of its body a time. Although this may simply be an individual trait and or a well-practiced skill, it's suggestive that different segments of the abdominals can function independent of each other, indicating that they may be on different neurological circuits.
Evidence of separate innervation may also be seen when a person with great upper abdominals experiences distention in the lower abdominal region, commonly known as a "pooch belly," despite low body fat. Explanations include gastrointestinal issues, bloating or food intolerances that allow the lower abdominal wall to protrude as a result of inflammation inside the gut. However, there may be a neuromuscular explanation as well. If the muscles that hold in the gut contents are weak or suffer from poor neural connections, the lower abdominal wall may bulge outward, independent of body fat levels.
There are many opinions on this controversy, as well as conflicting research data. Some experts believe strongly that "lower ab exercises" are just another fitness myth and that the case is simply closed. However, the abdominal and core region may be much more complex than just one long sheet of muscle running from the sternum to the pubic bone that contracts completely along its length or not at all. I believe we should keep an open mind to the possibility of being able to emphasize the upper or lower area to a greater degree, as some of the EMG studies suggest.
Assuming that the lower abdominals can be stressed to a greater degree with choice of exercise, this has significant implications for creating highly effective and individualized training programs. Lower abdominals should be trained with (1) proper exercise sequence (lower abs first), (2) proper selection and (3) proper progression. A common mistake is when a beginner with weak lower abs attempts to do advanced exercises such as hanging leg raises. This demonstrates improper exercise selection and progression and will do nothing but build muscle imbalances. These imbalances will manifest in poor posture and lead to injury and low back pain.
Upper and lower abdominals can be tested and I outline two easy assessments to find out your level of lower abdominal conditioning in my Firm and Flatten Your Abs e book. When you take the upper and lower abdominal tests before starting the program, you will easily see the difference between the two and then you will know which areas to prioritize the most, which exercises you can safely begin with and how to get the best results possible from your training program. You can get more information on the Firm And Flatten Your Abs home page at http://www.flattenyourabs.net
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
The lower abdominals may be the single most popular subject among fitness enthusiasts today. This is due to the fact that having flat, tight, lower abdominals is a highly desired look, but a very difficult look for most people to achieve. Many fitness professionals insist that there is no such thing as "lower abdominals", While others propose that exercises like crunches work the upper abs more and exercises such as leg raises or reverse crunches work the lower abs more.
Before continuing, first keep in mind that no abdominal exercise can "spot reduce" lower abdominal fat. Many people feel a need to perform special "lower ab" exercises, not realizing that the real reason they can't see their lower abs has nothing to do with their choice of abdominal exercise, and everything to do with an excess of fat and possibly digestive problems
Because of genetics and hormones like estrogen - the lower abdominal region is simply one of the first places most people store body fat. Therefore the same is true in reverse - lower ab fat is the last place to come off. Removal of lower abdominal body fat is a separate issue than lower versus upper abdominal muscle recruitment and body fat problems can only be addressed by creating a caloric deficit and addressing lifestyle factors. This requires proper nutrition, not special "lower ab" exercises.
Second, it's true that you cannot isolate the upper and lower abdominals from one another. Both upper and lower abdominals are activated during the performance of any abdominal exercise. The rectus abdominis is one long muscle, not two separate muscles. However, the nerve innervation of the upper and lower portions is different.
Although you cannot completely isolate upper and lower abs, research has used electromyography (EMG) testing to try and determine whether certain exercises can emphasize one section of the abs more than another. Results have shown very clearly that the obliques can be recruited more with specific exercises. However, data on lower versus upper abs is mixed.
For example, a 2001 study by Lehman and McGill published in the journal Physical Therapy said, "Differences between the portions of the rectus abdominis muscle are small and may lack clinical or therapeutic relevance." On the other hand, a study by Willett and colleagues at the University of Nebraska said, "our findings support the concept that abdominal strengthening exercises can differentially activate various abdominal muscle groups." A 2007 study by Eric Sternlicht found major increases in EMG activity (93%) of the lower abdominals simply by changing body placement on a swiss ball during the crunch exercise.
I believe it is very possible that the upper and lower abdominal areas can be emphasized to a greater degree by the choice of exercise. The abdominal region is somewhat unique because unlike muscles such as the bicep, the abdominals are divided by tendinous intersections which correlate to various segments of the spinal column. It has been proposed that these segments may be under separate neurological control.
As I learned in my internship from the Paul Chek Institute, as early as 1934, Joel E. Goldthwaite in his book "Body Mechanics in Health and Disease," determined that there was a difference between the control mechanisms of the upper abs versus the lower abs. In other words the "electrical system" that controls each section is innervated by different wiring.
Some years ago a TV special filmed a belly dancer rolling a few quarters up, down, sideways and diagonally across her belly. I have seen a similar feat with my own eyes as my brother can do a "belly roll" - an impressive feat of abdominal muscle control somewhat akin to a caterpillar inching its way across the floor, by rolling one segment of its body a time. Although this may simply be an individual trait and or a well-practiced skill, it's suggestive that different segments of the abdominals can function independent of each other, indicating that they may be on different neurological circuits.
Evidence of separate innervation may also be seen when a person with great upper abdominals experiences distention in the lower abdominal region, commonly known as a "pooch belly," despite low body fat. Explanations include gastrointestinal issues, bloating or food intolerances that allow the lower abdominal wall to protrude as a result of inflammation inside the gut. However, there may be a neuromuscular explanation as well. If the muscles that hold in the gut contents are weak or suffer from poor neural connections, the lower abdominal wall may bulge outward, independent of body fat levels.
There are many opinions on this controversy, as well as conflicting research data. Some experts believe strongly that "lower ab exercises" are just another fitness myth and that the case is simply closed. However, the abdominal and core region may be much more complex than just one long sheet of muscle running from the sternum to the pubic bone that contracts completely along its length or not at all. I believe we should keep an open mind to the possibility of being able to emphasize the upper or lower area to a greater degree, as some of the EMG studies suggest.
Assuming that the lower abdominals can be stressed to a greater degree with choice of exercise, this has significant implications for creating highly effective and individualized training programs. Lower abdominals should be trained with (1) proper exercise sequence (lower abs first), (2) proper selection and (3) proper progression. A common mistake is when a beginner with weak lower abs attempts to do advanced exercises such as hanging leg raises. This demonstrates improper exercise selection and progression and will do nothing but build muscle imbalances. These imbalances will manifest in poor posture and lead to injury and low back pain.
Upper and lower abdominals can be tested and I outline two easy assessments to find out your level of lower abdominal conditioning in my Firm and Flatten Your Abs e book. When you take the upper and lower abdominal tests before starting the program, you will easily see the difference between the two and then you will know which areas to prioritize the most, which exercises you can safely begin with and how to get the best results possible from your training program. You can get more information on the Firm And Flatten Your Abs home page at http://www.flattenyourabs.net
Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net
About the Author:
david_grisaffi.gifDavid Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
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