Men’s Health

Core training or exercise that specifically targets the core muscles has become one of the hottest topics in the fitness and exercise world lately. Unfortunately, its surge in popularity has also given rise to several “core training myths”. This article unearths the some of the more popular myths and offers corrective “truths” for each.

10. ‘The core is the abdominal muscles’

While this statement is not entirely false, the core is definitely much more than just the abdominals. The core is actually a collective term for about 29 muscles that work together to stabilize the connection between your hips, pelvis and low back (the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex or LPHC) ‘ so muscles like your glutes (butt) and deep back muscles also play an important role.

9. ‘If you have a ’six pack’ then you have a strong core?

This myth builds from the previous one. While it is possible to have washboard abs it does not automatically mean you have a strong core. A six-pack simply means that you have developed the rectus abdominis muscle quite possibly too much even, causing muscle imbalances in the core. The rectus abdominis is more suited to move the spine than stabilize it since it is actively used when flexing the spine or rounding the upper back like in a sit-up or crunch.

8. If I do curl-ups on an exercise ball then I am strengthening my core

Doing sit-ups or curl-ups on an exercise ball will do little to strengthen the core because it again involves movement of the spine and LPHC – not stabilization. Stabilization is muscles bracing and holding a body part still while mobilization involves muscles moving the body part.

It is not possible to specifically target the core stabilizing muscles in an exercise that causes movement of the LPHC. (This is the same reason why squatting on an unstable surface like a BOSU ball is unlikely to target the core to a great degree).

The only real benefit of curl-ups on an exercise ball is possibly the ability to work the rectus abdominis and oblique muscles through a larger range of motion, since the exercise is begun with the spine curved backwards (extended) over the ball.

7. If I do leg lifts or scissor kicking on my back on the floor i’m strengthening my core

This situation is similar to doing crunches. For the abdominals to work during leg lifts or scissor kicks, they have to pull the pelvis backwards so that the low back is pressed into the floor ? again mobilizing the LPHC. Even though the lower abdominals muscles may be working isometrically to hold the low back on the floor, the exercise does little to target the twenty-some other muscles making up the core. Besides the LPHC is also resting on a very stable surface ? the earth!

6. ?I should feel a ?burn? in my core area when I do core training?

The most important stabilizing muscles of the core work at a very low intensity when working correctly. This makes sense, as stabilizing muscles are often your anti-gravity and postural muscles, which have to work for long periods of time.

You may get the impression that core training is not doing anything worthwhile, but it is important to remember that increased strength is more an improvement in communication between a muscle and its nerve rather than an increase in muscle size. If the activating signal a muscle receives from its nerve is clear and strong, it results in the activating of more fibers and motor units – generating more stabilizing force.

What is actually more likely to happen is that your brain will feel fatigued, as training the core correctly requires extreme concentration.

5. ?If I practice ?pulling my navel to my spine? or ?scooping my abs? I’ll activate the deep abdominal muscles of the core?

This is a common ?tip? given by personal trainers and yoga or Pilates instructors to help their clients activate the deep abdominal muscle called the transversus abdominis (TVA). Unfortunately, this drawing in maneuver tends to activate the mobilizing muscles like the obliques and the rectus abdominis more than the stabilizing TVA. The TVA by design cannot cause actual inward movement of the abdominal wall but rather causes a narrowing of the whole waist.

A more appropriate pointer to help activate and strengthen the TVA is to imagine contracting the pelvic floor muscles (like stopping urine flow mid-stream) or pinching the hipbones together.

4. ?If I do exercises like ?superman? on a Swiss ball then i’m strengthening my core?

The superman exercise involves lying on your stomach over a Swiss ball, lifting the trunk and raising an alternate arm and leg.

Any time the LPHC is supported by some surface or external support, it no longer needs to work hard stabilize ? even if the surface is an exercise ball! Some of the best core exercises are those that place the LPHC suspended in an unstable, anti-gravity position – stabilizing in the ?neutral position? (the pelvis is neither tilted forward, backward, sideways or rotated). Exercise examples are quadruped (on all fours), bridging and planking exercises.

3. ?I can do core training on my own because technique is not that important?

Actually core training is all about technique and maintaining perfect form and control of the LPHC. For example, if you poke your chin while doing supine Swiss ball bridge, this causes the LPHC to move out of the stabilized neutral position and into the mobilized position. External feedback from a partner or personal trainer can help you be aware of slight deviances in technique that minimize core exercise effectiveness.

2. ?You need to actively scoop you abdominals or pull your navel up and in when performing exercises like standing chest presses and free weight work?

The TVA is the most important of all core-stabilizing muscles as it ?braces? the low back with natural corseting action. In healthy people (without low back pain) this muscle works in a reflex (non voluntary) feed forward action even before movement of the arms or legs begin. So in my opinion, it is unlikely that consciously drawing or scooping the abs (which is incorrect anyway!) will have much benefit to improving core strength.

1.?Core training is for ladies and wimps?

Au contraire Mon frere! Core training exercises are possibly some of the hardest and most physically challenging to perform and yet are also some of the most logical to include in an exercise and conditioning program. Remember the core acts as the anchor for all the muscles of the body to ?pull off? so even if you look like Swartzenegger, if your core is weak, then functionally you will be weak too.

We have seen many athletes at our facility with all the appearances of being fit and strong crumble when asked to perform simple Swiss ball exercises. Besides I doubt many people would call Tiger Woods, Australian rugby players and the New England Patriots wimps!

David Petersen is a Personal Trainer/Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and the owner and founder of B.O.S.S. Fitness Inc. based in Oldsmar, Florida. More articles and exercise video clips can be found at http://www.bossfitness.com.

NOTE: You’re free to republish this article on your website, in your newsletter, in your e-book or in other publications provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this note, author information and all LIVE website links as above.

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Surf Stronger — Core Training with Serena Brooke – workout video, Surf Stronger–Core Training with Serena Brooke, comes out May 5th! This new video focuses on an area surfers need to work on most — their core! The video contains two core workouts, inspiring surfing footage, …

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I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Geovanni Derice, of 4evertoned.com. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it…I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of body fat to uncover those six pack abs that everyone wants.

"GD: Welcome Mike Geary to 4everToned’s Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself.

MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 15 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning. At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 30 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis. I decided earlier in my 20’s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc.

That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process. I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.

GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work…if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs. There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is…after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn body fat. In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles. I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted "6 pack abs"?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those 6 pack abs is…are you ready for this? They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Remember, having a visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs. Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a sixxer!

GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book). However, maximum definition in the midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing…and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body. For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains. Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth. The point is to not fall for some gimmick like low carbs, low fat, high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another. Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information. For more info on Mike Geary and his internationally popular Truth about Six Pack Abs book, please be sure to visit his site below. Remember that 6-7 weeks from now, summer will be here, and if you wait until then, I’m afraid to tell you, but it will be too late!"

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/freenewsletter.html to receive a free copy of the innovative ebook, Training & Nutrition Secrets for a Lean-Body, as well as your own free personalized metabolic rate calculator.

Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer and author of the internationally-selling The Truth about Six Pack Abs ?2004-2006. Also, be sure to visit http://4evertoned.com for more valuable fitness tips.

There are many factors to consider when you want to know how long will it take for you to gain and build muscle mass. Questions like are you eating enough and the right nutrients to accelerate muscle growth, are you exercising correctly and regularly and do you have the genes for quick muscle growth need to be addressed.

In this article, we shall discuss whether you have the genetic make up to gain and build muscles quickly. Don?t despair if you don?t because this is only one of the several factors that determine how long will it take for you to build muscle mass.

It is certainly helpful to know your body type when you want to build muscles. By knowing your own body type, you can then plan your nutritional and exercise program to suit your specific body type to encourage muscle growth.

We shall discuss the 3 common body types and their characteristics here.

? Endomorph: You have naturally big frame body and usually have a round face, wide hips, big bones and slow metabolism. You are the type that gain weight and body fat easily. However, you also have potential for gaining muscle mass quickly. Only problem is that your muscles may be hiding under your body fat making you look big bulky and clumsy. Your six pack abs is hidden under your tummy fat is not going to show.

So you will have to build muscles and then burn off the fats to reveal your muscle definition. That means you will take slightly longer time than the next body type to show off your muscle gain and mass because you need time to cut away body fats as well.

? Mesomorph: You are blessed with a naturally muscular body and have wide shoulders, small waist, athletic body frame structure, low body fat with a somewhat high metabolism. With your natural predisposition, you can pack on muscles real fast and are the type that can take up bodybuilding as a career if you want to. You excel naturally in sports and will always have that sexy and handsome body that is to everyone?s envy.

You are the type that will not take a long time to see your muscle gaining size, mass and definition. In fact, if you train, eat and rest correctly, you will visibly see your muscles growing week after week right before your eyes until you hit a body building plateau.

? Ectomorph: You are the skinny type with small muscles, very very high metabolism, narrow shoulders, hips and waist. You find it hard to put on weight and muscles no matter how much you eat. You will need much more greater effort than others to build muscle mass on your skinny frame. People call you the hard gainer.

You will take a longer time and need extra effort to gain muscle mass. Although it can be done, it is a constant battle for you because you are fighting what nature has given you.

Most people fall in between the three types. For example, a person can be a mixture of Mesomorph and Endomorph or Mesomorph and Ectomorphs.

Now that you have identified your body type, you can then write down your goals, objectives and the methodology you wish to take to gain muscle mass. By having a specific body building program to follow, it allows you to take concrete actions each day to achieve your muscle gain goals. How long will it take to build muscles and gain muscle mass certainly depends on the body type you have but it will also depend on numerous other factors.

About The Author
Chris Chew is a personal trainer of actors, pageant winners, models and other celebs. Check his health and fitness sites at http://www.sgfitness.com and http://www.sgfitnessonline.com/yourfitnesscareer.htm.

When looking at the types of abdominal exercises, it is best to divide the exercises into upper and lower ab exercises. Because there aren’t two separate muscles that you can isolate, the abdominal exercises we discuss here will work the entire abdominal wall.

There are different clusters of muscle that are separated by tissue in the abdominal muscles and these clusters make up the "washboard" or the "six-pack" effect in a persons abdominals. You can focus on the upper clusters by moving the torso and focus on the lower clusters by moving the pelvis.

For the lower abdominals, lying leg raises and reverse crunches are great abdominal exercises. Reverse crunches can be done on the ground or on an incline sit-up board. All you need is something behind your head to hold. If you use the incline board, use it with your feet lower than your head. For lying leg raises, lie on your back with your hands, palms down under your buttocks.

Raise your legs about 12" off the floor and hold them there. If you’re big or have long legs, you should probably avoid this exercise. If you have this problem you can either try bending your knees slightly or just try some other abdominal exercises.

For the upper abs, ab crunches and quarter crunches are excellent abdominal exercises. Lying on your back, put your knees up in the air so that your thighs are at a right angle to your torso, with your knees bent. You can rest your feet on something, like a chair. Slowly raise your shoulders off the ground and try to touch your breastbone to your pelvis. Although the actual movement will be very small, you should try to go as high as possible. Only your spine should bend, your hips should not move.

Do these abdominal exercises fairly slowly to avoid using momentum to help. You can increase the difficulty of the exercise by extending your hands out behind your head instead of keeping them at the side. Make sure you don’t jerk your hands forward to help with the crunch, keep them still. If you follow these tips, your abdominal exercises should help you to get the great six pack you’ve always wanted.

Mike Corrado brings you smoking ab exercises at http://www.quickandeasyabexercises.com

Ab training has been done to death but it’s time to take another look. Why? Because people are still training their abs wrong so all that ab training information must not be doing the right job.

Here’s a list of the top Myths about Abdominal Training that you should avoid at all costs…

1 – There’s no such thing as Spot Reducing – Endless crunches will not melt away the fat from your midsection. It just doesn’t work that way. And despite the "burn" of high rep ab exercises, you barely burn any calories while doing those endless crunches.

Your fat burning time is best spent elsewhere on more effective "cardio" training.

2 – The Abs are a Muscle and should be trained as such. You don’t need high reps and lots of sets to work your abs. This just leads to over training.

Now, abs are a more endurance oriented muscle so slightly higher reps may be more effective. However, you should keep the reps at 20 or lower and work on increasing the resistance and variety in your training.

Yes, you should be increasing the weights on ab exercises, just like your other exercises. The stronger your abs, the better they will look when the fat is stripped away.

Ever see a really thin guy with a flat stomach but no abs? In that instance, the abs haven’t been trained and aren’t developed enough to stand out even when the fat is stripped away.

3 – Don’t train the abs more than necessary – What the heck do I mean by this? Well, your abs get a lot of indirect work from other exercises so you really won’t need more than a couple of hard sets of weighted crunches to work your abs.

Your abs are a factor in exercises such as squats, dead lifts, seated or standing presses, dumbbell pullovers, pulldowns, etc. Don’t believe me?

Next time you work out, do a few hard sets of standing stiff armed pulldowns on the lat machine and tell me your abs aren’t sore the next day. I did them yesterday and my abs are more sore than my back today.

If you want to develop a flat stomach with your abs visible, you need to treat your abs the same as your other muscles. And you need to strip away the fat with a proper training and nutrition program designed around total fat loss (like that found in the Living Health Audio Program), not trying to spot reduce through endless crunches.

The number of ab machines constantly coming to market is mind boggling. Especially considering that they aren’t needed and won’t give you the results that you want unless you begin training your abs like regular muscles rather than like a machine that needs 100 reps to get primed up..

Let’s set the record straight on ab training right now and give you the real information you need so you can say no to the next infomercial ab machine and yes to actual results.

1 – Training your abs consistently and persistently will eventually give you the flat stomach or six-pack that you want.

But it’s not gonna happen if your abs are covered by a layer of body fat and doing endless sets of ab exercises is not the way to rid yourself of that excess body fat – even if you buy the most expensive ab machine on the most motivating infomercial.

2 – Skip a day in between your ab training days.

Your abs are a muscle, just like your chest, lats, arms and so on. You should train your abs just like these other muscles, with progressive resistance and high intensity – then allow them to rest and recover. Never train your abs more than 3 days a week.

3 – You don’t need to do hundreds or reps and feel the burn to get great abs.

To get six pack abs you need to strip off the fat, but you also need to build the abs to get them to really pop out. You can see a great 5 minute abdominal workout in The 2 Day Workout.

If the muscle isn’t developed, you’ll just have a flat stomach but no abs. The name of the game is progressive resistance for sets of 8 – 20 reps, just like your other muscles.

You need a proper weight lifting program, nutrition plan, and cardio program in order to rid your stomach of that stubborn layer of fat and bring your abs.

You can get a great program in Maximize Your Metabolism or if you don’t have time to read, you can get an incredible audio program in The Living Health Weight Loss Audio Series, or if you just need the exercises without the diet and other lifestyle changes, then get yourself a copy of The 2 Day Workout.

For a ton of f.ree, valuable tips, tricks, and secrets visit: http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com

? 2002-2005 Wisdom Books, LLC & Christopher Guerriero WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning ‘Maximize Your Metabolism’ system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FR*EE how-to articles and F.REE teleseminars, visit http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com