My First Time

I was about 26 years old and very very flabby at the time and I remember it like it was clear as day…

“We have some time to kill.  Let’s hit the gym together,” my friend said to me. She just came back  from  vacation  and she was itching to hit the gym

Before then I’ve never set foot in a gym or even picked up a dumbbell as they say in the Army, “I was green”

“Sure…” I said hesitantly not knowing what to expect. “Don’t worry, we’ll go light.  Just work up a sweat, ” my friend said.

“Okay sounds good!” I said.  I was a bit relieved, because after all it was my very first time ever working out.  To make things worse, when I couldn’t finish a set the trainer would scream at me in his  commanding voice and belittle me in front of everyone at the gym

My first experience in the gym was an hour of pure hell.  For one whole year I would avoid all types of physical activity after that traumatizing experience. Thankfully since then I’ve gotten over that fear to build my body to the way it is right now.But quite honestly, my results would have been much much faster if I had someone there that was actually on my side, coaching me the whole way through instead of pummelling my body to the ground.

And I’m pretty sure with the current obesity epidemic facing us a lot more people can use that type of coaching to point others in the right direction.

Have you ever been told that all you have to do in order to lose fat is to burn more calories than you eat? The trainer then proceeded to blast my body with the most painstaking workout I’ve ever experienced to this day.

CRUNCHES!

The crunch is one of the most common abdominal exercises. It primarily works the rectus abdominis muscle. Crunches are a lot like sit-ups, except that instead of lifting your entire back off the floor, you only lift your upper back. This isolates (“crunches”) the dominal muscles without engaging muscles in your hips.

A crunch begins with lying face up on the floor with knees bent. The movement begins by curling the shoulders towards the pelvis. The hands can be behind or beside the neck or crossed over the chest. Injury can be caused by pushing against the head or neck with handsWhile many people strive toward six-pack abs, the most common exercise they’re using may be more effective at increasing back pain than building muscle. Exercise physiologist Pete McCall explains why crunches may result in more bad than good, and offers five new alternatives that sculpt abs while strengthening the entire core.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems as if the first question I’m asked by most clients is “How do I get a six-pack?” or how do I become “Lepacious”  meaning “slim” It could be because so much media and advertising feature models baring lean midriffs. And don’t get me started on all of the late-night TV products designed to “ABSolutely, positively” provide the user with a sculpted midsection. Anyone who has worked in fitness for more than a few minutes knows that one reason why many people start exercising is to create a flat and sculpted stomach. Walk around most gyms and two of the most common core exercises you’ll see are the plank and the crunch. The plank can help tighten your tummy while reducing low-back pain. Crunches, on the other hand, can actually make back pain worse.

Why Do Crunches Make Back Pain Worse?

While the crunch is one of the most popular exercises in the gym, it is also one of the wors exercises to do if you have a history of low-back pain. Lying face-up on the floor and curling the trunk to do a crunch or sit-up can exacerbate low-back pain for two reasons:

Crunches can place a lot of pressure on the intervertebral discs of the lumbar spine. As the spine flexes to lift the trunk, the discs are compressed at the front (ventral portion), which pushes the back (dorsal) directly into the hard surface of the floor. This pressure can be even greater for people who exercise in the morning, because lying down all night reduces the gravity’s pull on the body, resulting in more fluid in the discs, which makes them more susceptible to injury if compressed during a crunch movement.One of the primary muscles that causes spinal flexion when pulling the upper body off the floor during a sit-up is the iliopsoas (the hip muscle) whose primary job is creating flexion at the hip. If you’ve been sitting all day in a hips-flexed position (shortening the iliopsoas), doing an exercise that uses the hip flexors can make the muscle tighter and pull the lumbar attachments forward, causing more discomfort in the lower back.

Which Muscles Make Up the Core and What Is Their Purpose?

There are many ways to describe which muscles make up the core, but here is the definition I use: any muscle that attaches to the pelvis or spine. From this point of view, core muscles can either provide stability to the spine or produce strength to create movement at the hips and trunk. When you look at the anatomical structure, the muscles of the human body are designed to be most effective when standing on the ground.

What Exercises Should I Do to Enhance Strength and Definition?

If your current training goal is to enhance strength and definition in your core muscles, instead of doing crunches or sit-ups, try the following exercises. They use all of your core muscles together, resulting in higher caloric burn.

•Medicine Ball Lift

With Rotation

The core has been described as being all of the muscles connecting the hips and spine to the pelvis. Based on this definition, the medicine ball lift with rotation uses most of those muscles together at the same time. Start with a medicine ball (or dumbbell held length-wise between the hands), sink back into your hips with the ball by your right hip, while keeping the spine straight. Press both feet into the ground to return to standing, while rotating the right foot to internally rotate the right hip. The ball should travel in a diagonal pattern from the right hip to above the left shoulder  during the move. Repeat for 10 to 12 reps then switch sides, rest for 30 to 45 seconds and repeat for two to three sets total.

•Standing 2-arm 

Cable Press

This exercise is an advanced progression for the plank and has been identified by researcher Dr. Stuart McGill as an excellent way to improve strength in ALL of the core muscles at the same time. Using a cable machine  or multi station machine in a standard gym, set the pulley at approximately chest height, stand with your left shoulder facing the pulley and grab the handle with both hands and fingers wrapped around the handle.

Sink back into your hips, press your feet into the floor and brace your abs (contract your muscles like someone is going to punch your tummy), then slowly press the handle away from your chest for eight to 12 reps. Switch sides and repeat. Rest for 30-45 seconds and repeat for two to three sets.

•Rotational Shoulder Press

The external (on the front side of the body) and internal (on the backside of the core) obliques help control rotation of the upper body. Oblique crunches lying on the floor do not involve the hip or shoulder muscles, which all work together when the body is upright and moving over the ground. This standing rotational press is an excellent way to use the hips, obliques and shoulders together as one unit, but it is not recommended for someone with recurring shoulder or upper-back pain.

Stand holding one dumbbell in each hand right with the elbows pointing forward (pictured). Rotate to the right and reach the right hand up in the air. This will lengthen the right-side obliques, creating an eccentric action, which is an effective way to train and strengthen the muscle. Rotate to the left side and repeat with the left arm; continue for eight to 10 reps on each side. Rest for 30 to 45 seconds and do two to three sets total. It is EXTREMELY important to maintain a straight and tall posture during this movement to reduce the stress on the shoulders.

•Single-leg Romanian

Deadlift

This exercise is GREAT for the posterior chain, specifically the butt, hamstrings and inner-thigh muscles responsible for extending the hip. Balance on the left leg, while holding a dumbbell in the right hand. Hinge forward on the left hip while extending the right leg and slowly lower yourself to a comfortable level. To help create stability, push your left foot into the floor and point the toes of the right foot, while bracing (contracting) your abs.

To return to standing, think about pulling the bottom of your left glute down and in toward the back of the left thigh (this will focus on the adductors of the inner thigh). Do six to 10 reps on one leg, then switch legs. Rest 30 to 45 seconds between sets (no rest between switching legs) and perform two to three sets total.

•Reverse Crunch

The rectus abdominis (six-pack muscle) attaches from the rib cage to the pelvis, so strengthening the muscle requires either pulling the rib cage toward the pelvis (often done incorrectly) or the pelvis toward the rib cage. The reverse crunch is an excellent way to do the latter because it uses the muscle without having to push the vertebrae into the ground by flexing the lumbar spine. Lie on a bench (holding on to the bench helps with support), lift the legs in the air and draw the belly button toward the spine, while pulling your pelvis up toward your rib cage. Slowly lower the hips to return to starting. Do six to 10 reps, rest for 30 to 45 seconds, and repeat for a total of two to three sets.

Hint: The straighter the legs, the greater the resistance; therefore, when learning this move, start with the knees slight bent.

• About  Diet Gurus

The diet gurus are always on the lookout for something to blame. The mystery hormone or disease that is making us fat. The hidden calories in some chemical that buried deep on your nutrition label.What they’re selling you is more problems. There’s no shortage of theories out there about why you get fat in the first place, that’s for sure.What most of them are NOT selling are solutions. They are  not selling clarity.. Instead they’re causing mass confusion. You see, the industry big wigs know that if they can keep you guessing about why you get fat in the first place, they can keep you spending money and wasting time you simply don’t have searching for solutions they’re never going to give you.

Listen. If you’re honest with yourself, you only really want to know one thing. And it’s the most important thing for losing fat. You want to know…

How can you fix it and finally stop wasting time and money searching for answers that just aren’t coming.You’re probably one of the thousands – if not millions – of people that have bought a fat loss product online, hoping the answer to that very question was buried somewhere in that massive stack of PDF files.

But what you really want is for someone to tell you, step-by-step, day-by-day “Start here. Work out this way for this amount of time. Do these things to stay motivated and moving.”And that’s what’s missing form the eat less move more equation. Above all, your diet is also important in countering muscle and strength loss. Protein is a major structural component of muscle. Adequate intake of high quality protein is vital.

Although strength building exercise and adequate dietary protein individually promote more muscle, doing both can have an additive effect. Timing may also be important. Consuming a good source of protein immediately after doing resistance exercise appears to promote muscle better than waiting two hours or more after exercise to consume the protein.

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