May 10th, 2010 Milan
The winning six pack abs achiever is the one who has become comfortable at being uncomfortable.
Strength training is one of the best things you can do for your body, your health and your own six pack-flat abs.
With strength training you build lean muscle.
Every extra pound of muscle you build will use that fat you have around your waist for energy.
If you don’t see your six pack-flat abs clearly on your stomach, you have fat storage that can be used for energy.
Fallowing a good nutrition you learned in first 5 Six pack-flat abs principles, doing your cardiovascular exercise and strength training regularly, will cause that energy to disappear and your abdominal muscles to appear.
How often should you strength train?
To achieve your own six pack-flat abs and great health with it, you need to strength train intensively 2 times per week.
Unlike cardiovascular exercise, it is very important what days you do your strength training.
Since you will be strength training intensively all your large muscle parts in one session, you will need to keep 2 to 3 days between your strength training sessions.
2 days are better than 3 days, but 3 days are fine.
My favorite strength training days are Tuesdays and Fridays or Mondays and Thursdays.
With this kind of weekly schedule you can do fun cardiovascular activities on weekends plus you will not miss important strength training session when you go camping.
When you add your strength training to your six pack-flat abs program, your week will look something like this:
Monday – Whole body strength training
Tuesday – Run 45 minutes
Wednesday – Swim 45 minutes
Thursday – Whole body strength training
Friday – 1.5 hour Tennis or 1 hour Elliptical trainer, or 45 min Spinning class
Saturday – 4 hours Hiking
Sunday – Off or some kind of other fun activity
What kind of exercises should you do?
You need to employ major muscle parts in your body.
Mainly large muscles of your legs, back and chest.
The best exercises for your six pack-flat abs are those that workout more muscles at the same time.
These are mainly exercises that employ 2 to 3 joints in your body at the same time.
They are also called Multi-joint or Core exercises.
Typical example of Multi-joint Core exercise is Push up.
You use your elbow joint and shoulder joint to perform push up – employing mainly your large chest muscles – Pectoralis major and arm muscles Triceps.
People often make a big mistake and focus on mainly abdominal exercises to loose fat around their waist.
Many of them don’t work out their leg muscles at all.
This is understandable, considering, that you carry most of your fat around your waist and non on your legs.
But this also shows a poor knowledge on how our body really works.
Because you can not spot reduce fat, focusing on relatively small abdominal muscles with abs exercises is the exactly wrong thing to do.
Yes, you need to do some abdominal exercises, but just a few sets are enough.
As I said before, you need to focus mainly on big muscle parts like Quads and Hamstrings on your thighs and back and chest muscles.
Here are some great simple intensive strength training plans with right strength exercises I do in my weekly routine. You should try them too:
Outdoor workout plan (intermediate to advanced):
Highly functional workout – somewhere just behind your house
Gym workout plans (beginner to intermediate):
Workout plan #1 – simple, effective and safe all-body-machine-resistance workout
Workout plan #2 – more extensive intermediate all-body-workout with combination of machines and free weights
Home workout plan (beginner):
Home workout plan for elderly people and beginners
Office workout:
Office workout – beginner # 1
Office workout – beginner # 2
Office workout – intermediate # 1
Office workout – intermediate # 2
Office workout – advanced # 1
Office workout – advanced # 2
If you are a beginner:
Start slowly. Lift light weight first.
You have to deserve to strength train intensively, otherwise you will injure yourself.
Your body needs to get slowly used to lifting heavy weight.
How do you deserve it?
By consistently showing up and not missing your weekly workouts and slowly increasing the load for 7 weeks.
Then, you can go for it, push the limits and workout super intensively.
And that’s exactly, what you need to do to achieve your six pack-flat abs.
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May 3rd, 2010 Milan
Never confuse movement with action. – Ernest Hemingway
By now, your diet is perfect. If not, get back to my first 5 six pack-flat abs principles about eating perfect diet and start applying it.
And you are on the fast track to your own six pack abs and great health.
Right diet is critical for that.
To achieve a six pack abs and great health, you also have to exercise regularly.
Add cardiovascular exercise to your weekly routine. Do it regularly and stick with it.
From now on, start doing your cardiovascular exercise 4 times per week.
It doesn’t really matter right now which days you will do your cardio, but the ideal would be to spread it throughout the week.
I for example do my cardio on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
If you can do that, great! If not, like I said, it doesn’t matter when, just do it 4 times per week.
What kind of cardiovascular exercise should you do?
There is a wide variety of cardiovascular exercises you can do. And you don’t have to join the gym for it.
I prefer doing my cardio outdoors.
If you prefer doing it in gym environment or home, that’s fine. You have plenty of choices.
My favorite cardiovascular activities are: Running, bicycling (uphill), swimming, rowing, surfing, playing soccer, playing tennis.
The ones you can do in the gym are great too. This includes all cardiovascular machines like: elliptical, treadmills, rowing machines, spinning machines.
All kinds of different hard physical work activities apply too. for example: Working intensively in your garden, digging or moving.
If you are a beginner:
Start with walking, but don’t get stuck walking for very long.
Increase speed, and than start running and doing other more intensive activities.
Learn here, how to move from walking to running.
Start slowly and keep increasing intensity over time.
How long should you do your cardiovascular exercise?
If you are a beginner - start with 30 minutes walking 4 times per week.
After 2 weeks increase it to 45 min. to an hour and than start increasing the speed and intensity.
If you are experienced and you are already doing your cardiovascular exercise regularly: perfect it to 45 min. to 1 hour, 4 times per week.
How intensively should you do your cardiovascular exercise?
To achieve your six pack-flat abs and superior health, you need to add intensity to your cardiovascular exercise.
Most common ways how to measure cardiovascular intensity is through heart rate or how many times your heart beats per minute.
Your heart rate should be between 70 – 80 % of your maximum heart rate.
Here is the formula: Your heart rate range = 220 – your age x 0.7 and 0.8
For example: I am 33 years old. My six pack-flat abs heart rate zones are:
220 – 33 = 197 – that’s my maximum heart rate. To find my right zone I multiply 197 by 0.7 and 0.8.
197 x 0.7 = 137 and 197 x 0.8 = 158. My six pack-flat abs heart rate zone is between 137 and 158.
Here is how to find out more about how to calculate your target heart rate zones and right cardiovascular intensity.
If you are serious about you six pack-flat abs and superior health with it, cardiovascular exercise has to be part of your weekly routine.
Sometimes you might get bored by it.
Here are some tricks I use, to make it more interesting and fun:
Mondays – I play tennis for 1 1/2 hour
Wednesdays - I run for 45 minutes
Thursdays – but not every Thursday, I swim for 45 minutes, or surf for 2 hours
Fridays – I play soccer for 1 and 1/2 hour or run for 1 hour.
Saturdays – I surf for about 3 hours
As you can see, I turned my cardiovascular exercise into fun activities. And you can do it too.
You don’t have to do it as long as I do. I sometimes go overboard and surf for 4 hours, but that’s not necessary.
Pick activities that interest you. And do them. But make sure, you do them intensively enough for the best benefits.
Your heart rate needs to increase and stay elevated to your six pack-flat abs levels for extended period of time.
Sometimes you will have a days, when you really don’t feel like doing your cardiovascular exercise, or you have something more important to do.
That’s OK. As long as you get back to your schedule as soon as possible.
Few missed workouts are fine as long as you get back on track.
You probably already heard about interval training. Maybe you are already doing it. But for right now don’t worry about intervals.
You will start including them to your six pack-flat abs program later.
For right now, focus on your regular 4 times per week 30 minutes to 1 hour cardiovascular exercise.
Six pack-flat abs principles:
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April 26th, 2010 Milan
Tofu+vegetables+2 spoons of olive oil = Perfect six pack-flat abs meal.
When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it. – M. Fisher
If you are already applying first 4 six pack-flat abs principles, you made a huge step toward your own six pack abs.
You are eliminating the wrong foods from your diet and eating the right nutritious foods.
Now is the time to apply few simple rules to your daily eating.
You should eat 5 times per day – 3 main meals and 2 snacks.
Your meals:
1. When preparing your meal, start with the protein, using the palm of your hand as a guide. That’s about one chicken breast or 4 ounces of sliced turkey.
It could be much less protein. You don’t have to eat always as much protein as you can fit into your palm of your hand.
You should eat always the amount of protein your body requires. And you need to spread this protein throughout the whole day.
Here is how you can figure out your daily protein requirement.
2. Have some carbohydrates with your protein and use only carbohydrates from the first six pack-flat abs principle about carbohydrates.
You can eat as much of these carbohydrates as you want. No limit.
Try to eat wide variety of these carbohydrate choices for their great vitamins and minerals content.
3. If your protein source is low fat, and it should be – than you should add fat to your meal by adding some olive oil, few nuts, peanut butter, little bit of salad dressing or a few olives.
Don’t be afraid of good fats. They are important for your body and critical for achieving six pack-flat abs. Read here, why eating fat is important for loosing fat.
Just don’t overdo it.
Your snacks:
Your snacks should be combined of protein, carbohydrates and fats the same way as your meals are, but smaller.
For example, you can just have a small yogurt or peace of fruit with tofu and peanuts.
Other rules for eating right way everyday to achieve your six pack abs:
1. I will repeat it again – know how much protein your body needs. Never consume more protein than your body requires. And never consume less.
2. Spread your protein requirement throughout the day in three small meals and two snacks.
3. Never let more than 5 hours pass without eating your meal or snack.
4. If your protein requirements are exceptionally high (for instance, if you are a bodybuilder), you’ll have to eat more than 3 meals and 2 snacks per day.
5. Don’t drink anything sweet or flavored. Stick only with water, mineral water, teas and coffee – all o sugar.
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April 19th, 2010 Milan
“Life is a do-it-yourself kit, so do it yourself. Practice. – Phillis Diller
A lot of people make this huge mistake.
They really think, that drinking orange juice they bought at Safeway is good for them.
This makes me grab something made from the glass an throw it against the wall.
Yes, it says 100 % orange juice and I don’t care if it is from concentrate or not from concentrate.
Because that concentrate or whatever it is mixed from is often sweeter than plain sugar.
And I am only talking about orange juice.
Other sweetened drinks and soda are much worst.
If you are serious about your six pack-flat abs, health and your overall well being, you are going to have to get use to drinking the “boring stuff”.
It is actually exciting stuff for your body and great for your health.
Because your body needs some plain fluid and not some liquid candy.
Here are your only six pack-flat abs drinking choices:
- Water – plain, from the sink or bottle – nothing added
- Mineral water – no sugar, no flavor added
- Teas – all kinds you like – herbal, black – no sugar, no honey, nothing, just the tea and hot water
- Coffee – no sugar added but skim milk is OK
- OK, you can make an exception and have a little bit of wine occasionally.
I don’t even recommend you to drink fresh squeezed orange juice.
The reason for this is, you already got rid of all fiber that was in it.
And that’s the good stuff that slows the entry of sugar, that orange contains, to your blood.
Orange juice and any other juices, no matter how fresh they are, are processed foods.
And by processing in this case, you got rid of good stuff – fiber.
Have a whole orange or 3 if you like, but don’t just squeeze that juice out of it.
The other bad stuff you need to stay away from:
- Lemonades and other artificially sweet manufactured fluids
- Energy drinks like red bull and all other kinds
- Other fruit and vegetable juices
By drinking only a plain water, unsweetened teas and coffees you are keeping your hormone insulin under control and lowering your daily caloric intake.
And that’s a huge step toward your six pack-flat abs.
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April 12th, 2010 Milan
Too much of a good thing can be wonderful. – Mae West
Fat is important nutrient. It’s necessary to overall healthy diet.
Believe it not, you need fat to loose fat and to achieve your six pack-flat abs.
Here are the great benefits you get from eating right fat choices:
1. Just like fiber, fats slow the entry rate of carbohydrates into the bloodstream, making your sugar levels stable and that’s a huge benefit.
2. Fats make foods taste better.
3. Fat content in meal causes the release of a hormone called cholecystokinin from the stomach. That hormone tells the brain that you’re satisfied, and to stop eating.
So don’t be afraid of fats:
They are essential for reducing excess body fat and achieving your six pack-flat abs, as well as generating overall good health.
You must pay careful attention to the kind of fat you eat.
There are good fats and bad fats.
You should eliminate or keep saturated fats on minimum.
Saturated fats are found in animal protein sources and in whole-fat dairy products.
The good fats for your six pack-flat abs and you health are mainly monounsaturated fats.
Here they are:
- Olive oil
- Almonds
- Macadamia nuts
- Avocados
- Canola oil
- Cashews
- Peanuts
- Walnuts
- Peanut butter (unbleached and unsalted)
- Almond butter (unbleached and unsalted)
Eat only these fat choices. That means nothing else from fats to achieve your six pack-flat abs.
A diet rich in monounsaturated fats is sometimes called a Mediterranean diet.
People who fallow Mediterranean diet are skinny and very healthy.
How much fat should you be eating?
Spread the fat intake evenly throughout the day and have a little bit of it with every meal.
Example:
1 teaspoon of olive oil, or 5 macadamia nuts, or 1 teaspoon of peanut, or almond butter, or 7 almonds.
You don’t have to be very strict about how much of these fats you eat, just don’t overdo it.
As a rule of thumb you shouldn’t have more than 2 teaspoons of either olive oil, canola oil, or peanut or almond butter. And don’t have more that 7 pieces of nuts per meal.
Other six pack-flat abs principles:
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April 5th, 2010 Milan
It is the mind that makes the body. – Sojourner Truth
I am sure, you had a meal before where you didn’t have any protein in it. It was probably tasty meal full of processed carbohydrates like bowl of pasta, muffin with coke, or some bread with jam.
Did you notice how fast you got hungry again? Within an hour or less, you were hungry like a wolf again.
Why is it?
The reason is hormone insulin.
Insulin makes you hungry and fat!
As soon as you eat lot of processed carbohydrates, your pancreas releases insulin into your blood stream to reduce that glucose (sugar) from your blood.
But after that carbohydrate loaded meal, pancreas releases too much of that insulin and takes too much of that blood sugar away.
That makes you lightheaded and you are not able to think clearly, your performance goes down and since your carbohydrate storage liver and muscles are already full, you store that excess carbohydrate as fat.
Than you’re hungry again and you crave more sugar.
And than you eat similar meal and vicious cycle continues.
To put it another way, too much carbohydrate means too much insulin, and too much insulin helps you put on more excess body fat and you can’t get rid of it.
How do you prevent this?
You are already applying the first six pack-flat abs principle about carbohydrates and eating only these carbohydrates, which are great and they don’t raise you insulin too much.
They are natural, not processed.
To make it even more effective and keep blood sugar levels stable longer – critical for achieving your six pack abs, you need to eat some protein in every meal you eat. That means always protein with right carbohydrates.
Protein slows down the entry of carbohydrates to the blood stream, making you not hungry for several hours, keeping you mentally alert and feeling great.
In this stage you energy expenditure is more natural, which means that you are burning glycogen (carbohydrate) and stored excess fat and slowly replenishing that used glycogen in your liver and muscles.
All that while keeping your sugar levels not too high and not too low. Exactly how you want them.
This is a fantastic feature of protein you can’t afford to miss if you want to achieve you six pack abs.
As much as one-half of your dry body weight – including most of your muscle mass, skin, hair, eyes, and nails – is made up of protein.
You must constantly provide protein to your body for new protein formation that’s constantly happening.
What protein is best for you?
The one, low in saturated fat.
Here are the only protein choices you should eat from now on to achieve your six pack-flat abs:
- Cod fish
- Haddock fish
- Crab meat
- Milk (skim – low fat)
- Mackerel
- Lobster
- Salmon
- Sardines
- Scallops
- Sea bass
- Tuna
- Turkey breast (skinless)
- Chicken breast (skinless)
- Cottage cheese (low-fat)
- Shrimp
- Soybeans (boiled)
- Soybean imitation meat products
- Soy cheese
- Tofu
- Trout
- Yogurt (low fat)
- Protein powder (100% whey or soy protein)
From today on, no more eating hamburgers, bacon, stakes, sirloins, sausages if you are serious about your six pack abs.
And do only grill your chicken, turkey or fish. Don’t fry it!
How much protein should you eat?
You should eat smaller portions of protein 4 – 5 times per day.
As a rule of thumb, don’t eat more protein in one meal than you can fit into your palm.
And have some good carbohydrate with it. No limit on that. But they have to by only the right carbohydrates from the six pack-flat abs principle # 1 – eat the right carbohydrates only.
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March 29th, 2010 Milan
Quality is never an accident. It’s always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution.
I am not going to tell you to don’t eat carbohydrates like many lousy diet books do.
I’m going to tell you to eat right – healthy – nutrition packed carbohydrates.
To achieve a six pack-flat abs, you have to eat only these carbohydrates that are on the list below.
The Only here is very important.
It means nothing else from carbohydrates. If you don’t see it on the list below, you don’t eat it.
But if you see it on the list, you can eat as much as you want to of it. No limit!
Here is the list of the right carbohydrates you can eat to achieve your six pack-flat abs.
They are mainly fruits and vegetables:
- Yellow squash
- Grapes
- Kidney beans
- Leeks
- Mushrooms
- Navy beans
- Onions
- Pears
- Tangerines
- Zucchini
- Cauliflower
- Barley
- Bell peppers
- Black beans
- Cabbage
- Eggplant
- Fennel
- Grapefruit
- Green beans
- Brussels sprouts
- Kiwi
- Lentils
- Nectarines
- Oats (steel-cut)
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Broccoli
- Kale
- Lettuce (Arugula, Butterhead, Romaine)
- Mustard greens
- Raspberries
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Swiss chard
- Kohlrabi
- Turnip greens
- Apricots
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Bok choy
- Okra
- Oranges
- Plums
- Radishes
- Tomatoes
- Apples
- Wine (moderately, no more than 1 glass per day, no more than 4 per week)
- Apples
- Celery
- Chickpeas
- Cucumbers
- Cherries
From today, if you are serious about your six pack abs, you should stop eating bread, bagels, pasta, rice, sweets, chocolate, baked goods, candy bars and any kind of sugar. They are the bad carbohydrate choices.
You can only eat carbohydrates that are on the list. Period!
You really have a pretty good selection. If you want to get the best out of these healthy and nutritious carbohydrates choices, mix them up. Eat the whole variety of them.
They will not only help you get your six pack abs, but also provide fiber, vitamins and antioxidants so important for your overall health.
Immediately after applying this first six pack abs - carbohydrate principle, you will start feeling better, more energized. And you will start loosing fat weight emediatelly.
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