Work out smarter - four training myths debunked!

There are lots of views and opinions out there about working out; what is right, what is wrong; and plenty of mis-information to scare anyone away from training, keeping fit, exercising and getting on the road to getting back in shape. Recognising this I went back to my trusted source and found several articles which I'll happily share with you - there may be some repetition in these, but no matter as long as you can be best informed and it helps you in some small way then the advice and guidance will have been worth it. From 'ezine articles' (http://EzineArticles.com/3000557) and written by Sophie Armstrong (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sophie_Armstrong) - a writer for 'Working Out Smarter' and therefore worthy of note. Always remember too that there are plenty of personal trainers, fitness instructors and exercise coaches out there who will gladly give you some free advice and show you where you are going wrong, so there should be no excuse for not doing the right thing and gaining the maximum benefit from it.


If you spend any amount of time working out in a gym, you've probably heard one or more of the following fitness myths. To make sure your workouts haven't been affected by misinformation, read on for corrections of these four common misconceptions.

Myth #1: You shouldn't work out with weights if you're trying to lose weight, because lifting weights will just cause you to bulk up.
This is unfortunately a very widespread misconception. In reality, working out with weights is one of the best things you can do if your goal is to lose fat. This is because only by building lean muscle mass by weight lifting can you raise your baseline metabolic rate (the amount of calories you're burning while you're at rest). It's far easier to lose weight if you incorporate both strength and aerobic exercise into your fitness regimen, because the aerobic exercise will cause your body to burn extra calories during the period of time your heart rate is elevated, and the strength exercises will cause your body to burn extra calories for the whole 36 hours after you've lifted weights.

Myth #2: If you're not sore afterwards, you didn't have a good workout.
While it's true that muscle soreness after a workout indicates that you had a challenging workout (which is good), it's untrue that the absence of muscle soreness indicates you had a bad workout. What's important is whether you worked out with high intensity and productivity, and how you feel during the workout. If you felt challenged during the workout and energised afterwards, it was a good workout!

Myth #3: If you're an athlete, you shouldn't lift weights because that will make you slow and tight.
A well-designed, progressive strength training program that uses functional free weights exercises (i.e. exercises that mimic the motions an athlete performs on the field, track, or court) is actually one of the best things an athlete can do to improve performance. This myth comes from the fact that weight training using non-functional exercises (like resistance machines that limit the exercise to a single plane of motion) can build muscle mass without producing any strength gain that translates to real-life athletic performance.

Myth #4: You need a fancy machine to get well-defined abs.
Many basic floor and standing exercises can be used to strengthen the abdominal muscles, and one of the most effective pieces of fitness equipment for targeting the abs is a basic exercise ball, which you can use to provide back support while you perform crunches and other reclining abdominal exercises. You don't need any fancy machines to target the abs. Indeed, the biggest factor affecting the appearance of your abdominal muscles is how thick the layer of fat is covering those muscles. No matter how many crunches you do, if you don't lose belly fat by doing the hard work of losing weight, you'll never have well-defined abs.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Two solid abs exercises for you for quick results!

With just a day left to Christmas Day here are a couple of short YouTube clips to keep you focused on those abdominals and help with a flatter stomach even with the potential excesses of the festive season. Check these out in conjunction with the other Posts this week that have all concentrated on the abdominals and with a combination of all of these you'll be well on your way as the clock counts down on New Years Day, and your renewed focus for 2015. You can do these at home, in the back yard, at the gym, in the park or at the beach. Merry Christmas and happy flat stomach!

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Working the abdominals - more advanced exercises.

I'll close with this final word on abdominal exercises for the time being with some more high level routines to take you to the next level. Of course, the Internet is full of helpful advice, guidance and similar articles, bur here at 'WhyWeight' I'll always attempt to condense the 'best of the best' for you here in one beautiful Blog that can be your single source of everything you need to reach your fitness, health and wellbeing goals. And so it is with this article found at 'ezinearticles' (http://EzineArticles.com/4178330) and written by Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-RetFitness Boot Camp Instructor, Personal Trainer and Author (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_R._Weinstein) that I think is worth a quick look to catapult your abdominals to that next stage.


Here are some advanced abdominal exercises to take those abs to the next level.

SIT-UPS
Don't you think about getting up! We're not done, yet. The next exercise is the sit-up. This exercise is one of the events in the Army Physical Fitness Test. If you're not used to doing a sit-up, those muscles will need some developing. Your motion should be smooth, no jerking your body up. If you can't go all the way up, start out by going as far as you can. You're on your back with hands clasped behind your head and feet a little less than shoulder width apart with bent knees and feet on the ground. Curl your body up to the point where you have brought your body out of the range of exertion. When you're out of the range of exertion and it becomes easy, then lower it back down in the starting position with the same smooth motion. That's one repetition. Perform 10 to 50 reps per set. If you are having difficulties, use a slow count until you develop those muscles.

REACH FOR THE TOES
You're on your back. Raise both your legs together as high as you can. With your arms extended, palms facing down and hands close together, reach for your toes and then back to the starting position with shoulders and back on the ground. If you can touch your toes, that's great. If not, do the best you can and keep working and don't give up. The muscles are still enjoying the benefit of being worked. Make sure you are raising the shoulders ever so slightly when reaching for your toes.

ALTERNATING ELBOW CRUNCH
Here's another great abdominal exercise. We'll call it the alternating elbow crunch. You're on your back. Your hands are clasped behind your head. Your left leg is bent with the foot on the ground. Cross your right leg over your left knee. Take your left elbow and reach for your right knee and back down. That is one rep. Use a smooth motion. Don't be concerned if you can't reach your leg with your elbow. Do the best you can. Remember, by performing the exercise you are working those muscles even with a partial motion. Now switch off by crossing your left leg over your right knee, reach for your knee with your right elbow and do it again.

ATOMIC SIT-UPS
It's time for atomic sit-ups. Yeah. That's right! We're going nuclear! Lay down on your back with legs extended and arms extended to your sides. The starting position is with legs six inches off the ground. Now pull your knees and your chest to the middle where you are in a position balanced on your butt. Your body is briefly in that jack-knifed position. As you move into this position, bend your elbows so that your hands are at your shoulders. Now lower your legs back out to the extended position six inches off the ground with your arms extended. That's one rep. Perform 10 to 40 reps per set.

Your Action Plan: Get to work on improving your abdominal strength by performing these exercises five to six days per week. If that's too challenging, start out with three days per week.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Abdominal exercises - some alternatives.

Sticking with abs and your quest to get a tighter, tauter, toned and flatter stomach here are three more considerations for you that will also help the cause and create more variety in your routine . . . and variety is important when exercising to ensure that your body doesn't get stuck in a rut and can predict what's coming next. I sourced this from 'ezinearticles' (http://EzineArticles.com/2412511) and it's scribed by Jessica S. Monrol (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jessica_S._Monrol)

Let's face it: No one likes to have a fat stomach. Thanks to our society's standard, the notion of having a bulge does not go well with that fashionable ensemble created by an idealistic designer, to say the least. That is why when you look at the models these days, you will definitely see an absence of a fat midsection, and a flatter and more muscular stomach that can stop any bullet from traversing their paths.

It sounds unfair, but it goes much deeper. Sometimes, having a lot of fat in your stomach can indicate poor health. And having a belly can mean that your weight is distributed unevenly, too.

If you are serious about losing all that fat on your midsection, here are some steps to help you get started:

First, eat healthy. What are healthy foods? They are the ones that are free from processed ingredients and saturated fats. Focus on eating natural foods that are high in fiber and low in fat. Good choices include vegetables, fruits, whole wheat, lean meats, and legumes.

Second, make sure to include some form of exercise in your daily routine. I cannot stress enough how important this is in your life. If you are really serious about losing that abdominal fat, here are some exercises to help you get started.

Kickboxing and Martial Arts
These activities are is of the best workout for abs. It's about time you give your boxing and Taebo DVDs a run for their money. Use them! What's good about these activities is that they involve two great movements that are good for toning the abs: pulling down your arm motion, while at the same time using the upward motion of your legs (like you are doing crunches). Aside from this, kickboxing uses all your abdominal muscles, which are usually tightened to incorporate balance when executing a movement. No wonder a lot of martial artists have the best-looking abdominals around.

Stationary Bike Crunches
Also one of the best workout for abs, this type of crunches is quite intense, and usually employs all the muscular regions of the stomach: lower abdominals, oblique abs, and rectus abdominals. The proper way to do this is to lie on the floor, with your back rounded and hands behind your neck. Make sure that you don't strain neck and back muscles while doing this. Then, lift your knees up to from a 90 degree angle. Make sure that your upper abs are fully engaged, and your lower abs will do most of the work in lifting your knees up. Move to your center while touching your opposite elbow to your knee.

Torso Twists
These movements tighten your abs as you move your body from side to side, especially when you do it in short, rapid movements. One good way to do this is to do the broomstick twist. You do this by standing and doing a sweeping movement on one side and then to the other side. Remember to stand with your knees bent and your arms fully extended on both sides. To make sure that you are working your abdominals, try to keep your hips motionless as you perform the exercise.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Easy workouts for abs.

Continuing the abdominal theme, below is some advice on what you can do at home, what you can do in the gym, and what you can do in a structured class that will help get you that flatter, toned stomach that you're looking for. A quick read that carries on the theme, and will quickly get you that flatter mid-section when combined with your diet, exercise routine and the staying power to continue what you started. I found this at 'ezinearticles' (http://EzineArticles.com/3510105) and it's written by Abe Dominga (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abe_Dominga)


While a tight stomach and flat abs may be your goal, not everybody will be successful with the same exercises. The equipment and workouts required to get your abs muscles to the next phase may be different from one to another person. Your focus should be to find out which workouts for abs will work for you.

1 - Pilates

While there are many various exercises for building your abs that will work for you, using variety in your exercises is important for obtaining an all around workout. Continuing to use the same routines that keep building up the same muscles won't work for anyone. There are many ways for people to find great workouts for abs. Some individuals may base their workout for abs on basic exercises that tend to target all the different abdominal muscle groups, and can be performed without any special equipment from home. The secret to getting an excellent ab workout is to target all of your core ab muscles. The Pilates method has proven itself to be extremely effective for targeting the abs and achieving the desirable flat abs that women look for. Pilates offers several basic workouts for abs that normal exercises can't target. Pilates movements are fairly easy to perform, from home as well as from the technical stand point.

2 - Gym Machines

Other individuals will build their workouts for abs around the gym. When you join a gym, it will grant you access to different cable machines that will help you to work your abs muscles through a many different angles. In addition, there are a variety of other types of weight machines that are designed to focus on your abs in various ways to provide you with a full workout. Joining a gym will additionally grant you access to instructors and trainers that will give you suggestions for good workouts for abs.

3 - Swiss Ball

Somewhere between the workout equipment at the gym, and doing workouts for abs on your own are the exercise balls. A lot of folks have found these balls extremely productive in their workouts for abs, and have seen fantastic changes to their bodies because of these balls. With typical workouts for abs done from the home, you are only exercising one section of the abs each time as you do the movements. With the exercise balls, you can target a bigger mass of muscles at once. The exercise balls can be implemented in various ways. One way is to sit upon it and do abdominal curls. You can also lay flat on your stomach on top of the ball to gain access to working your obliques, the rectus abdominis and the hip flexors. Or you can place the ball under your feet as you lay on your back in order to perform a variety of exercises as well.

Some people have found that one of these workouts for abs is effective for them and they will stay twith it. Other people have discovered that several different workouts for abs with different techniques will give them the abs they desire. Either way, being diligent with your workouts and being certain that you are targeting the ab muscles properly will get you the flat stomach others will be envious of.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Four great abdominal exercises!

For much of last week this Blog talked about recipes for health, vitality, energy and as part of you weight loss programme - whether juices, smoothies, energy drinks, snacks or meals, This week in the lead up to Christmas, the focus returns to exercising to ensure that we don't lose sight that diet and weight loss go hand in hand. So here are some great tips on working on that stomach, those abdominal muscles to and that mid-section which is where most people want to notice the first change when shedding the kilo's and toning up. Here is a great article therefore to get started which I found at 'ezinearticles' (http://EzineArticles.com/8845943) with four simple must-do's to help achieve your goal. Written by Ben Van Delwijnen it's a simple and short read (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_Van_Delwijnen)


There are a lot of exercises to train your abs. But what are the most effective exercises to train your abs?

1. Plank
The plank is a much discussed exercise in the fitness scene. You won't get a six pack fast when you perform the plank. With this exercise you only train the innermost layer of your abs. Therefore, you can't have fast results in getting toned, but you will notice quickly because you have built a strong core. By doing this you will perform other ab exercises much easily so that you will build your six pack much faster.

You can perform a base plank by having a push-up position and your forearms must lie down flat on the floor while you keep each of your hands folded. By doing this your body forms a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders. Then you hold for a while.

2. Abdominal hold
This exercise looks easy, but it isn't! This is how to perform it: Sit down on a chair without wheels and move slowly and thoughtfully. Go sit on the front edge of the chair and hold the edge with your hands beside your hips. Keep your back straight, tighten your abs and lift your feet two inches from the ground. Then lift your bottom from the chair and hold this position as long as you can.

3. Crunch
The crunch is also one of the most standard ab exercises you'll encounter. Although there are many variations of it, the exercise in it's original form is a very effective way to train your abs. Perform it this way: Lie with your back and feet flat on the floor and your knees folded. Hold your hands on your neck, tighten your abs and lift your shoulders from the floor (only your shoulders, not your whole back). Hold this position for a while and go back down. This is one crunch.

4. Leg raise
This exercise is not only good for your abs, but it also gives you better balance. You will perform this exercise by laying with your back flat on the floor. Keep your feet two inches from each other and lift them two inches from the ground. Keep your arms beside your body with your palms on the ground. Then tighten your abs and lift one leg by bending your knee. Keep in mind that your lower leg must be horizontal. Hold this position for a while and then straighten your leg back (keep your legs a couple of inches above the ground).

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-