You Can Have Washboard Abs And Look Great On The Beach

Can you imagine walking along the beach in you swimsuit with everyone looking at your rippling six pack. All eyes jealously admiring your suntanned, muscular physique.

Ok here’s the truth, "there are no easy ways to build washboard abs"! But there are some ways that will give you fantastic results .

It seems as if there is a new "Super Fast Power Abdominals" gadget on the market every week. Most of them are totally useless and may do more harm than good. The only thing that will get a workout is your wallet.

Some of them may work for a while but when the novelty wears off, it’s packed in the back of a cupboard, never to be seen again.

They are all limited in what they can do. They only allow you to do a limited number of movements. And then you get the next gadget out! You would need to exercise in a warehouse to get everything in. And that’s just for your abs!

I have even seen for sale, on eBay (with bids), a sun mask to place on your abs so that you will get sun tan where the muscle separation would be. I can imagine all the couch potatoes queuing up for this one.

If you do regular "Sit Up’s" for millions of reps you are very unlikely to build rippling muscles but you will have great endurance. If you do "straight leg sit ups" it is possible that you may damage your lower back due to the strain placed upon it. It may be better to avoid sit ups at all costs. The same with "lying straight leg lifts"

One of the best exercises for abs is crunches. Lay on your back with your feet on a chair or bench. Curl up your upper body towards your knees. At the top position, hold for a few seconds, while flexing your abs. You will only get a short range of motion with this exercise but it will work wonders.

There are many variations of the crunch. Try doing them with a twist to work the side oblique muscles. Lying on the floor, try doing Jacknife crunches, raising your legs as you crunch, and try to reach past your toes with your hands.

For best results you need to do between 8-15 reps to build abs that will be admired be everyone. And take all sets to total failure and some more.

Some trainers say that in a set of 10 reps the first nine are the warm up and the tenth produces the muscle. I think this can be improved if you think that the one that produces the results is actually number 11!

If you are carrying a layer of extra body fat you will never be able to display a set of washboard abs. Losing that extra few pounds can make all the difference.

Counting every calorie that you eat is not my idea of fun. I like to eat a high protein diet and find it works for me. I enjoy lots of chicken, turkey, beef, milk, and cheese etc, eaten with plenty of healthy salads.

Avoid all processed food and cut down on the carbonated drinks, even the "low cal" ones. You do not need the artificial sweeteners and chemicals.

If you have a sweet tooth and are sometimes tempted to have chocolate it may be better to have a small bar occasionally instead of obsessing about it and then pigging out with dozens of candy bars. Buy fresh fruit and each time you have cravings eat some fruit.

As with any new program it is recommended that you start slowly and build up gradually as you gain experience. Even Arnold had to start with low weights and learn from more experienced bodybuilders.

This article is provided as entertainment and no responsibility can be taken for loss or injuries incurred during physical exercise. If you have not undertaken any form of exercise for a while, please consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program.

Above all, Have fun and be safe.

For more advice and a free ecourse visit http://www.gym-talk.0catch.com/sixpack.html

If you have any tips to share or if you need some advice, I will be glad to hear from you, feel free to email me. gym-talk@hotmail.co.uk

Staying Fit Is The Best revenge

There are more people getting fitter after forty than ever before. We now know that it is possible, and desirable, to keep exercising into old age.

Exercise will help prevent the onset of many diseases associated with old age, i.e. arthritis, rheumatism, poor circulation, heart disease, obesity. The benefits are endless.

Exercise is also known to improve the sex drive. This is due to improved blood flow to all the organs.

OK, Hugh Hefner needs to use a little Viagra, but when you are as active as him, at his age, it’s to be expected. Last I heard, he has three lovers who he is “faithful” to and keeps satisfied. I can’t wait to get to his age!

There are senior weight lifters setting new records almost daily. Senior bodybuilders are destroying the younger competitors. Athletes in every field are being amazed by the seniors.
This is not to say that the oldies are as fast as the youngsters in top competition, “but they are darn close”

You do not have to compete against others to enjoy fitness. Just find something that is fun.
Walking is a great exercise and if you get away from all the traffic it is most relaxing. If you feel strange walking on your own why not take the dog out more often. If you don’t have a dog, borrow one, I’m sure there is an elderly person near you who would be glad of a dog walker.

How about starting a dog walking business? There are loads of people who are working long hours and do not have the time to walk their dogs. Getting paid to exercise sounds like a winner to me. It’s also a good way to meet like minded people and make friends.

Swimming is a fantastic way to keep fit and healthy. Most pools have adult only sessions so you will not be dive bombed by spotty youths. Swimming is a gentle exercise that takes the strain of joints and today’s heated pools are a great benefit to sufferers of arthritis and rheumatism.

If you have not done any exercise for a long time you need to start of gently. It took years to turn you into a couch potato and you can not become an Adonis overnight.

The main thing is to start slowly without forcing anything. If you have not done any walking (except for shopping) for a few years then a walk of a few hundred yards may feel like a marathon but it will be a start. Walk a little further each day and it will become easier. If you are with a dog, play fetch, it will get a few more muscles working and the dog will love you more.

If you can only swim a few feet before stopping for breath, that’s OK. Go again a few days later and swim a bit further before catching your breath. You will soon be swimming lengths of the pool with ease.

If you decide to work out in the gym, do not try to lift the whole rack of weights on your first day, maybe day 2. Start out with an empty bar until you get a feel for the exercises and then slowly add weight as you master the movements.

Perform only one set of each exercise the first few times you work out. You will feel like doing more but this will only set you up for sore muscles the next few days, and may even make you to sore to go to work.

Take time to learn strict form with each exercise and do not jerk the weights. Ask advice from the instructors, it’s what they are paid for.

Do not forget to warm up and do some stretches before starting any vigorous exercise. This warm up becomes more important as we get older and will help prevent injuries and lay offs.

The programs you see on the TV are not real life (that goes on outside in the real world) they are scripted. Do you want to be a lazy couch potato or youthful and active? The choice is yours.

Click here for a free report and more inspirations on exercise for the over 40's
http://johnbeck99.bevopub.hop.clickbank.net/

The Deck of Cards

The Deck of Cards.

The first time I heard about this was an in article about Clive (Iron Fist) Myers. It was one of his favourite routines.

The idea is very easy to put into practise and will help build stamina, strength and energy. All you need is a deck of cards and some space to exercise. You could do this routine while on vacation if you want to maintain peak fitness.

First you need to decide on 3 exercises to do for
1. Chest 2. Legs 3. Abdominals.

I recommend you start with these, you can replace them with your favourites if you prefer.
1. push ups.2. Free standing squats.3. Crunches.

Each exercise will be done in strict form with no cheating!

For the push ups, start in the low position and push up with slow steady motion until the top of the movement and then slowly lower back down under control. Breathe in as you go down and in as you push back up. This is one rep.

Free standing squats, fold your arms across your chest and perform deep knee bends slowly, under full control. At the bottom of the movement push with your thighs and come back to the top position. Breathe in as you go down and out as you come up.

Crunches, start by lying on your back on the floor with your feet on a bench or chair. Hold your hands beside your head (NOT BEHIND). Raise your upper body from the floor as high as you can. Breathe out as you raise and in as you lower your upper body. Do not hold you hands behind your head and pull as this will put excessive strain on your neck.

Now take the deck of cards including the jokers. Give it a good shuffle and turn over the top card. Whatever the value of this card is the number of reps for the exercise.
Face card values:
Jack 11
Queen 12
King 13
Ace 14
Joker 15

With each card you turn over, do that amount of reps for the exercise, and then turn the next card over and move onto the next exercise.

When you are starting you may be unable to do a full deck of cards. No problem. Start with the number cards up to the eight. Add one more card at the beginning of each workout until you can use the full deck.

Make sure to breathe regularly as you perform these exercises and do not hold your breath at any time.

Shuffle the deck of cards each time you work out as this will randomize the number of each exercise. You can change the exercises if you are unable to do the ones recommended. There are a multitude of variations on free standing exercises that can be performed with little or no equipment. If you do change the exercises try to do one upper, one middle and one lower body exercise.

The main idea is that you move from one exercise to the next as quickly as possible to keep up your heart rate and build up aerobic endurance.

When you have done this routine for a while you will be able to complete this workout in 20 minutes. If you want to you could add another deck of cards or two.

I recommend that you do this routine every other day to improve your health. There is no reason why it could not be done daily if you wanted to.

The purpose of this workout or any other fitness program you undertake is to make you fitter and healthier. If you start to feel unwell or have any pain while working out, slow down and listen to your body.

As with any new program it is recommended that you start slowly and build up gradually as you gain experience. Even Arnold had to start with low weights and learn from more experienced bodybuilders.

This article is provided as entertainment and no responsibility can be taken for loss or injuries incurred during physical exercise. If you have not undertaken any form of exercise for a while, please consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program.

Fitness is not a competition with anyone else. It is just for you, so find what you enjoy and go have some fun.

Try Some Rubbers To Make You A Man Of Steel

No I don’t mean like that. I mean build some muscles.

Working out in the gym is great for building strength and muscle. Heavy iron is responsible for some of the best physiques of all time.

But there is another way to build muscle and strength.

Most of us have owned Chest Expanders/Bullworkers with steel springs at one time or another and had great results from them. Then one day we go to the gym and see everyone working out with iron and think “that is the ‘only’ way to do it”.

Nowadays you can get chest expanders with rubber strands instead of steel. These have fewer disadvantages (i.e. pinched chest hairs) and are lighter.

Many of the old time strongmen performed feats of strength and set records for strand pulling.

Exercising with traditional weights, the resistance is the same throughout the exercise but, with springs and strands the resistance increases as it stretches.

This will work the muscles in a totally different way, starting with very low resistance and increasing as you get to your strongest point.

Want To Add A New Twist?

How about a few sets of slow motion exercises. These can be done with iron or strands.

You will need to reduce your regular resistance by at least 30%. Now do the exercise in slow motion so that it takes 10 seconds to lift the weight and 5 to lower it again. Aim for 3 sets of 8 reps, each to total failure.

When I say total failure I mean it. If you can finish a rep it is not total failure. Total failure is when you get part way through a rep and can not go any further. At failure point do not just stop, try for 4 seconds more to move the resistance before slowly lowering back to starting point.

If you can complete 3 sets of 8 reps then it is time to increase the resistance by 10%. If you can not complete the first set of eight in slow motion educe the weight so you can do at least 2 of the 3 sets for eight reps.

Do the exercise in perfect form without using any other cheating moves, if you do a curl, just use your biceps, not your hips or back.

You can perform many exercises with a set of strands and keep in shape if you can not get out to the gym.

With a little imagination you can do a variety of exercises in addition to the standard chest pulls.

You can put one foot in one of the handles to do one arm curls or upright rowing.

You can hold a handle behind your back and do overhead presses or tricep extensions.

Hold a handle by your abs to do lateral side raises.

Now There Is A New Kid On The Block And The Name Is Bodylastics!

Bodylastics are different sized rubber strands of varying resistance and you can exercise each body part with any resistance.

They come with, a door anchor that can be used on most doors at any height, 2 hand grips and 2 ankle straps.

With a little thought you can emulate any exercise you can do in the gym (and a few you can’t). The Bodylastics website shows 140 different exercises.

What about the times when you cant get to the gym? Bodylastics are light at less than 2 pounds weight and can easily be packed in your hand luggage when travelling.

http://www.bodylastics.com/?img=3&kbid=1924