ULTIMATE WORKOUT GUIDE

I’d like to introduce you to of one of the better fitness programs that I’ve encountered to date, by writing a review of the actual plan itself. You may have already heard about ‘The Truth About Abs’, and encountered a lot of sales pitches and ‘is this a scam?’ baiting ads. What I’d like to do is give you some actual information about the science behind the plan, because in my opinion this program is definitely more than hype, and offers sound fitness and nutritional information that will help anyone who is trying to get fit and lean.

While the book by Mike Geary, “The Truth About Abs”, is branded as a manual to creating 6 pack abs, it’s really much more of a lifestyle manual. The Truth About Abs is an easy to follow guide to changing how you eat and how you exercise in order to achieve the results you have always dreamed of. Mike’s 161 page book is broken down into 3 broad sections which are as follows:

1. Introduction, important information on what it means to be lean, factors affecting your metabolism, a review of body fat percentage, training your abs, and lean vs fat body mass.

2. Effective workout plans, information about more efficient ways to exercise, what multi-joint vs single joint exercises mean, as well as a collection of total body work outs. An explanation of why your current cardio program IS NOT helping you lose weight the way you expected; and

3. Information on diet and nutrition, details about insulin and blood sugar, the Glycemic Index and how it affects your diet program, and food’s thermic effect – ie calorie burning properties.

The Truth About Abs training program has two parts : Interval training and Resistance and Weight training. The fitness schedules are easy to follow and are time effective. The program explains how sessions longer than 45-60 are not a good use of your time. The program calls for 3-4 sessions per week, each about 45-6- minutes.

If you really want to get your body toned and in shape, then you should easily be able to find time for this schedule. The bonus is you don’t need a gym or a lot of equipment. However, Mike suggests having a set of dumb bells and an exercise ball to most effectively perform the workouts. This shouldn’t be a huge investment, $30-40 at the most – way cheaper than a gym, and it means you have created your own gym right at home.

This program advises eating 5-6 smaller meals per day. Mike suggests eating every 3 hours during waking hours. He also suggests that you plan your meals for an entire week, and once per week go shopping only for the items you need for those meals.

Outside of planned, smaller, more often eating patterns, Mike also explains how to figure out your daily calorie requirements. This is used as a guide for figuring out your overall food plan. I have to say that this part of the book was inspiring – part of this losing weight program actually recommends regular and tasty meals – definitely not a restricted, imbalanced, fad diet. There is an entire section of this book explaining why crash diets actually cause weight gain.

In fact you should never feel hungry if you follow this plan. HOWEVER, this will probably be a change from your regular eating patterns, and so you need to be disciplined and make sure to follow the recommended diet plans. The book is quite clear that the nutrition part of the plan is a FULL 50% of your success – if you only train and still eat poorly, then you will not get the optimum results. Making sure to combine the exercise and nutrition plans described by Mike will ensure that you will progress towards your weight and fitness goals.

If you’re like me, you’ve procrastinated on starting a real plan for losing weight for a long time. Mike’s program was just the incentive I needed to get started, and he provides so much information and detailed workout and meal plans, it was a lot easier to stick with my goals.

Please visit this new diet plan site, or find more information by clicking here.

Everyone wants to know if aerobics is better than strength training or cardio better than intervals. The main question is “What is the best way to lose my belly fat?”

I have to say, I’ve tried them all!

With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I’m pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.

Time. Do you have it? For those of you who can’t spend 90 minutes per day exercising I want to talk to you.

That’s why there is a huge disconnect between some of the information found in magazines and the ability of the reader to apply it to their lives.

For someone who is not a triathlete and just wants to tone and lose weight you don’t need to work out 6-8 hours/week.

Therefore to get a better body, you need…

Use bodyweight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I’ve structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.

You’ll do 5 minutes of bodyweight exercises to warm-up. This is a much more efficient approach than spending 5 minutes walking on a treadmill, which really doesn’t prepare you for anything except more walking on a treadmill.

Next are strength training supersets. What is this? Use two exercises, with minimal rest between each, back to back. This will give us top results and cut workout time. Take about 20 minutes for this step. Depending on your goal you should use basic exercises and if you would like add more bodyweight exercises.

Last but not least, interval training for 18 minutes. It is important to warm up. Next do six short intervals at your skill level while using short periods of low intensity recovery.

That will be a much more effective workout than running, cycling, or a cardio machine for 45 min straight. Sure they all burn calories but they don’t build a better body.

In fact, long slow cardio has a downside. We already know results are different. But overusing muscle groups leads to injuries and it is an inefficient form of exercise. When are you going to build your muscles and sculpt that beautiful body if you are on a cardio machine for 30-45 min straight?

The best way to burn belly fat is fast and fun and it works using a combination of strength training and interval training

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. To learn more please visit Craig Ballantyne’s Website here.