GREAT ABS! NO CRUNCHES, START PLANKING!

                             I sware by planking for Best abs and results
By Strength Specialist and Consultant: “Trainer CHAOS aka C4”

                No matter how fit you are it really is not defined until you have what is called washboard abs with a V-cut obliques. From the everyday soccer mom to your favorite actor or actress on television, they are not defined by their sex appeal until they have washboards abs. This is what keeps your body posture upright, reduce injuries, strengthen your core and assist with what I think are your most important muscles, your stabilization muscles.

                When searching for what will actually work you run into a lot of non-sense. So you have to cipher through it all to find what works for you. To start no matter what you read, the most important thing element as far as fitness is concerned is your diet. Physical Fitness makes up only 40 percent of how you should live and your diet 60 percent. You can work out all day and night yet the way you eat will hinder your workout and cause you to develop health issues despite your workout efforts such as diabetics. Most do not know that they way you eat made up for 33 percent of your chances to become diabetic and your genetics only make up for 3 percent.

                Back to ABS! You are subject to run into the “Miracle methods” where you must be high off life to even believe that it can be so easy. If it was that easy everybody in Hollywood would have washboard abs and be a million dollar sex symbol.  These are you 5 minute, 10 minute abs like a ROCK STAR. Or you run into the “I’m training to be Mister Olympia” workout so it must work. Now me (CHAOS aka C4), this is the kind of workouts I love and thrive off of so I commend all who can keep up and do not look for the easy way out. I am my only competition! Let’s get it! However I learned that there are some normal people in this world that do not want to train for Armageddon. “Weaklings”!

                So since there are more of them then of us Armageddon trainers, I want to let them know what I learned from reading Men's Health's Mike Wunsch, C.S.C.S., and Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S. says of course there is and a study has been done to authenticate it. They state “That’s exactly how we make our living.”

                Most of Corporate America is too busy and on the go. They want to work but more than the workout, they want and need the results. Like I learned from doing music, modeling, training women and “MEN”, sex sales, women want to be with you and men want to be like you and just being honest that statement can be interchangeable.

Million dollar question: WHAT IS THE PERFECT ABS WORKOUT!!!

                To start, it takes only 30 to 40 minutes a day, and only 3 days a week for you on the go lawyers, doctors and busy executive. Yes it is breaking all of the conventional rules however my workouts does to and that is why they work so well so when I first read up on their methods I had no doubt in my mind that they were going to be implemented into my daily formulas.

Best way to burn fat!!!

                You do not want to target your abs to burn fat. You have large muscles and you target your larger muscle because it takes more energy to work them which means it will burn more fat during and after the workout is over. It is a complete misconception that most people have that you burn more fat from running than you do weight lifting. “THIS IS FALSE!” The body’s primary fat burner is the muscle so it is only wise to work them to burn the most fat and to get the most results. A lot of women shy away from this method because they do not want to look like a man from too much weight lifting. This is where your trainer authority is being tested and where I will tell you “If you know what to do you would not be paying and if you want to do what you want do somewhere else but here we are going to do what works and what will get you the best results… mam” (with a smile).  As a trainer you have to be a counselor, preacher, teacher, listener, parent, friend etc so that is why I refer to my trainers as “Life Coach”.

                A study was done at the University of Virginia by their scientists to say that in order to burn a pound (just one pound) of fat from doing crunches and sit-ups you will have to do 250,000. Personally I really do not have that type of time and since I get bored pretty easy this would not be my method of choice. Although you keep on crunching, quitters never prevail (in my sarcastic voice). It is kind of humorous though, to think that the least efficient way is the most popular way used in efforts to get the six-pack to show.

Why weights instead of cardio

                When running or cycling the body lunges work hard and yes some muscles are working as well. However when weight lifting or performing resistant workouts the body work purpose is to work the muscles, the muscles only way of working is to process oxygen and during this scenario the body muscle fibers are tearing to significantly which causes a lot of rebuilding to take place. The entire process is a fat burning fiasco that continues to take place long after the workout is over. The more muscles your work, the more energy that is needed and the more fat that will be ciphered and expended from throughout the body to be used for energy for the work to be done and for the repairs to be completely. So notation to self: your metabolism can be increased for a couple of days just from a single total body weight training session.

Attention WOMEN! (Not all but the you know who you are)

                So please stop coming into the gym trying to target only what you want to target by telling your “Life Coach” what you are not going to do because generally what you do not want to do is what will bring you the best results for what you want. Oh and yes… you will sweat!

Leg workout

                By now you know how important doing resistance training is now let’s talk about the legs. Your leg workout is twice as important as the rest, mainly because they are twice as big as the rest of the muscles in your body. A lot of guys work on their Uncle Tooth Pick Legs without knowing it. You body id like a cool aide jar. If you put a cool aide jar in the fridge, when you come back to the fridge all of the sugar (testosterone) would have settled to the bottom of the jar. So if your testosterone is in the lower extrimatives then you must pump them throughout your body to get the best results within your workouts. Second your body largest group of muscle are the quads so by working total body every other day 3 to 4 days a week it keeps your body metabolism rate going to maximize your fat burning machine. This theory was proven by researchers at the Syracuse University stating: “A person burn more fat the day after a lower body resistance training then the day after an upper body resistance training session. So the get the most out of your instant on the go corporate workout it is best to incorporate a total body resistance workout to get the most out of your time cause who know when you will be back up in the gym again or when you will be able to sneak some me time in again for your healthy appetite.

Stronger CORE! No Crunches!!!

                Your core does not just consist of your abdomen, it consist of your hips, the muscles that resist your spine from rounding, enable to you to transfer your chi (energy) from your supreme force from your lower body to your upper body like a pitcher within his pitch, a boxer within his punch, a tennis player with their swing is no different than the strong core needed for a golfer within their swing. Authentic core movements target these areas to support the backs transference of this energy equally while staying stable as the sway bars on a race car.  Crunches only targets the muscles that enables you to flex which are around your lower spine (this is not a bad thing just we want results) and I’m sure you have seen many people with guts flex but they do not help show definition and work the entire abs cage. Just to add insult to injuries, there are new finding stating that crunches and sit-ups are the least affective methods out there. Even pushups are considered to be better or simply holding the pushup position which is my segway into planking.

Best way to start a workout!!!

                The best way to start your day is with breakfast and the best way to start your workout is with core strengthening exercises. The idea is the similar to my reason for always starting your workout with your weakest limb (arm, leg) which is to get the most out of it. The reason you start with core strengthening exercises is so you can strengthen it faster and get the best results plus these movement are total body which means they alone incorporates your legs, lower abdomen, shoulders, flexibility, back, complete abdomen cage, chest, oblique’s, hips, etc. to complete what it takes to strengthen your core as a whole. This is what I (Trainer CHAOS) call stirring up the cool-aide jar.

Wasting time during workout

                After 5 minutes of core work, you are ready to go. No more! It is a waste of time to simply exhaust your core looking for results. You have worked them now move on. Plus now you gotten your core ready to react with your workout and interact with the rest of your body at its highest peak for maximum results:

·         Embrace planking

o   Planking appears very easy to the naked eye and is extremely easy… if you are doing it wrong. There are a lot of methods, motions, exercises, movements, etc to planking. Some are posted here in my blog, even how to spot a cheater.

o   I do five minutes before and five minutes after workout and it is the only thing that I have done where I personally have seen my own results. Now when I do other abs workouts I make sure they incorporate the stabilizing properties of planking such catching a medicine ball from different angles while descending on a decline bench. Click here to watch ab video being performed by Trainer CHAOS

Biggest waste of time

                Get off treadmill! Think about it you have 30 to 40 minutes and back to Corporate America why are you wasting it on the treadmill only doing cardio. Get off the treadmill now!!! University of Southern Maine did a study and found that a single set of a weight-training exercise torches just as many calories as running a mile in 6 minutes for the same amount of time. Resistance training has a larger metabolism boost than long distance running does. Now we cannot dispute fact so that is why I add them into my write ups so your next fact is that University of North Dakota states that lifting weights with a full range of motion can increase flexibility better than static stretching does.

Please follow your “Life’s Coach” instructions and “Get your PLANK on!”

By Strength Specialist and Consultant Trainer “CHAOS”