If you’re looking for the most effective exercises to achieve your fitness goals, be they muscle gain, fat loss, to improve athletic performance, or simply to stay in shape, the squat and deadlift are two of the most effective overall exercises. This is because exercises like squats and deadlifts use more muscle groups under heavier loads than almost any other weight bearing exercise, and because of this, they generate the greatest results.

In this article we will look at the barbell squat, and why it can be beneficial to try a couple of alternatives to the normal barbell back squat.

University studies have proven that squats can increase development of the upper body as well as the lower body, even though there are no specific upper body joint movements performed during the squat. There are a number of ways to perform squats, for instance, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags, or just body weight. These are all forms of free weighted squats and are far more beneficial than the Smith Machines you often find in your local gym. Smith Machines or any other squat machines do not allow your body to follow its natural movements. They also stabilize the weight for you, which means you perform less work, and in turn get weaker results.

There are many ways you can perform free weighted squats but the squat that most people are familiar with is the barbell back squat, where the barbell rests on the back of the shoulders. There are two other types of squats that many training and strength coaches believe are more useful to athletic performance, and offer less risk of lower back injuries compared with the back squat. They are the front squat and the overhead squat.

The two names really describe themselves, as in the front squat, the barbell rests on the shoulders in front of the head, and in an overhead squat, the barbell is in a snatch grip above your head. Not the most exciting names in the world, but they do the job I suppose.

Whether your goal is weight loss, muscle development or athletic performance, for best results, you could try adding all three squats to your workout program, spread across your routine of course.

Front squats are a little more difficult than back squats and overhead squats are much more difficult than both front and back squats. If you have never tried the front or overhead squats before, it could take a couple of sessions before you feel comfortable with them, so you should definitely start out light. Once you get the feel for things you can start adding weights and building intensity.

The Front Squat

The really good thing about the front squat is that in order to perform it properly, you have to really engage your abdominals. Obviously the squat is more of a lower body exercise, but you engage several other areas at the same time, especially when you are performing free weighted squats, which is why I tend to shy away from Smith Machines.

One of the more tricky parts of the front squat is learning how to rest the bar on the front of your shoulders. There are two ways you can do this. The first is to cross your forearms like an X while resting the bar on the dimples in your shoulders, which are created when you cross your forearms and lift your elbows. Ensure you keep you elbows up high so that your upper arms are parallel to the ground. From there you simply hold the bar in place with the thumb side of your fists against the bar.

The second way is to hold the bar by placing your palms face up while resting the bar on your fingers against your shoulders. Again, ensure that your elbows are up high enough that your upper arms are parallel with the ground.

Find out which method works for you by practising with the bar only, and perform a couple of reps to see which one you feel comfortable with. Once you’re comfortable with the grip, start the squat from your hips by sitting back and down, and place the weight on your heels rather than the front of you feet. You should squat down to a position where your thighs are roughly parallel to the ground, then move back to the starting position. By keeping the weight on your heels, you protect your knees and there is less chance of injury.

Front Squat with “X” Grip

Alternative Palm Grip

The Overhead Squat

This is by far the hardest of the three basic squats, and it can take a while before you become comfortable with it, so starting out with an un-weighted bar is the best way to go.

To perform the squat, you first need to get the bar above your head and your hands in a wide snatch grip. When you are starting out with lighter weights, you can snatch it, and when you get much better at them and move up to heavier weights, you can clean and press it over your head, then adjust your hands to a wider snatch grip.

When your barbell is up and stable, you need to ensure your arms are locked really tight and that the weight is positioned slightly towards the back of your head. You must keep your entire body extremely tense or the weight could fall forward or back. Keep your head up, keep the weight on your heels, and sit into the squat until your thighs are roughly parallel with the ground then move back to the starting position.

As I say, this squat is quite hard and it does take a few sessions to really feel comfortable with it, so it is really important that you get your grip and movements nailed down first using an un-weighted bar, before you start to increase weight and intensity.

Overhead Squat

You will be quite surprised at how hard these two new squats will workout your abdominals when you nail down the correct form. This is because you need more of an upright posture to perform them compared with the back squats.

Again, I stress that with any new exercises, try them out first without weights, until you feel comfortable with the exercise and are performing it correctly, and then you can start thinking about adding weights and increasing intensity.

If you are interested in finding out more about hard body workouts like the squat or deadlift, as well as many other fat burning and muscle building strategies, check out these Ab and Muscle Training Secrets.

Also, grab a free copy of Training and Nutrition: Inside Secrets for a Lean Body by Mike Geary, for 27 specific metabolism-boosting and muscle building secrets.

Building muscle might seem as simple as going to the gym and exercising, but unfortunately for many, myself included, the gains do not come as easily or as quickly as we would like.

This is not because we workout with any less intensity than those that do have muscle. If anything, we scrawnier folk probably workout harder and more often than those that have more muscle, simply because we do not see the gains and think we need to workout more. This is probably one of the main reasons for not seeing any real gains, because over working your body can be just as bad as not working out at all.

The reasons for little or no muscle gains can be as varying as the people themselves; testosterone levels, metabolism, over working the body and not giving yourself enough recovery time, wrong training routines for your particular body frame etc…  
But fortunately there are a number of important things that we can do that really make the difference between no gains and large gains, and the best thing is, it does not involve any supplements or drug. Simply adjusting the way in which you exercise and eat will change your reflection in the mirror very quickly.

1.    Large multi-joint compound exercises

Regardless of whether you are trying to lose body fat or are trying to gain muscle mass, you should focus the bulk of your training time on big multi-joint exercises, and treat targeted isolation exercises secondary to the rest. It is the large multi-joint exercises that should make up the majority of your workout if your goal is to get lean, build muscle, get ripped and become powerful and strong. You should think of these multi-joint exercises as the major movement patterns such as those below.

• Upper body horizontal rows (1-arm dumbbell rows, seated cable rows, bent over barbell rows)
• Upper body horizontal press (dips, push ups, bench press)
• upper body vertical pull (pullups, chinups, lat pulldowns)
• upper body vertical press (overhead barbell and dumbbell presses, barbell or kettlebell clean & presses)
• lower body squatting (bodyweight squats, back squats, overhead squats, front squats, etc)
• lower body deadlifting (sumo deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, regular deadlifts)
• lower body single leg (step-ups, lunges, jump lunges, etc)

This could also include abdominal and core exercises, but these are still second priority to the major upper and lower body multi-joint exercises. Your abs will get a solid workout anyway from most major multi-joint exercises.

Some of the single-joint exercises that you might frequently focus on to build muscle, such as tricep presses, bicep curls, calf presses, shoulder lateral raises, etc… should again be 2nd priority to the major multi-joint routine. You can add these to your main workout, but always remember that these should be treated as additions and should not be your main focus.

2.    Keep your workouts short and to the point

The goal should be high intensity workouts, 3-4 days a week, 45-60 minutes per training workout.
You probably don’t need to be told that you should workout at a high intensity rate, that’s something you know already, and have likely been doing since day one in the gym. But maybe it should be mentioned that you should not workout any longer than 60 minutes, as training too much beyond this point can start to trigger excess catabolism, where your body starts to use its own proteins (which are found in cells), as a substitute energy source. Basically if you workout too long, your body can start to burn tissue as fuel, and that can’t be a good thing. There are supplements around that can help counter excess catabolism and protect muscle tissue, but a more efficient 45-60 minute, high intensity workout is going to give you the greatest results.

If you tend to train longer than 60 minutes in any one session, you could try a super-set style of workout program, which will help to condense training time and greatly increase intensity. The super-set is a very simple concept… you simply do two exercises back-to-back, with no rest break in between.

You can make them any combinations you like, for example you could combine pullups with squats, or bench press with deadlifts. The choice is yours. Your super-sets could consist of a combination between upper body and lower body workouts, or two consecutive upper body workouts, or lower body workouts. To mix it up even further you could play around with varying sets and reps and heavier weights. Remember, your workout routines should be fun so mix it up until you find some combinations that you enjoy.

You will quickly find that you will experience significant muscle mass gains when you start adding super-sets to your workout program, and of course you can simply adjust your calorie intake to suit your goals, whether it be to lose body fat or to gain muscle. Super-sets are very effective at doing both.

3.    Eat quality whole foods

Once again, we can not escape how important nutrition is to your dieting or weight training. You should eat healthy whole foods and do your best to stay away from highly processed foods and even some of those over hyped supplements, bars and meal replacements. More often than not, a healthy, whole food diet will beat supplements hands down. Sure they have their place, but they could never be a substitute for real whole foods.

Whole foods such as eggs, meats, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts, and dairy, provided it is raw whole dairy, offer the best quality protein, as well as extra nutrition you get from vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The body absorbs these best when they come from whole foods. The more greener, organic and grass fed this whole food, the better. This is much better than processed bars, meal replacements and protein powders.

I will go out on a limb here and make an assumption that many people who either find it difficult to pack on the muscle or find it hard to lose the excess stomach fat, will have a heap of over hyped supplements in their cupboards. Yes? Sure some of them are really helpful and do make a difference, but the majority are not.

My advice, give whole foods another try. Rather than spend the money on five different supplements a week, start seeking out the whole, organic and grass fed food. You will notice a huge difference.

So in conclusion, change what exercises you focus on in the gym and spend the bulk of your training time on large multi-joint exercises, which will get you lean and ripped.
Cut back the time you are in the gym, and lift the intensity by adding different super-set combinations to your training program. This will fire up the muscle gains in no time flat.
Last but not least, cut back on all the over hyped meal replacements, protein bars, and supplements. Instead seek out raw, whole, grass fed food and start giving your body what it actually wants.

If you are interested in finding out more about the multi-joint exercises listed above, as well as many other fat burning and muscle building strategies, check out these Ab and Muscle Training Secrets.

Also, grab a free copy of Training and Nutrition: Inside Secrets for a Lean Body by Mike Geary, for 27 specific metabolism-boosting and muscle building secrets.

What is the best ab workout for finally ridding yourself of that horrible belly fat?

I know… crunches right? Or sit ups? How about the marvelous pieces of abdominal equipment out there on the market? You know, the ones you see on the infomercials at 2am. Those seem to work right?

Hmm… somehow I don’t think so.

Unfortunately, those with a little excess stomach fat that are looking for a miracle abdominal exercise will never find it. Why? Because the best ab exercise for getting rid of stomach fat and bringing out those sexy abs of yours does not exist. At least not one that works all by itself.

The truth is you do not burn stomach fat by doing ab workouts only. You see, focusing only on working out your abs does not create enough of a metabolic response in your body to start burning fat. You might feel the burn, and you might work up a sweat, but unfortunately it is not enough to truely get the results you are looking for.

You should instead focus on building an intensive full body workout routine, that incorporates specific exercises that actually burn fat. Sure targeting your abs or any other part of your body for that matter, does have its place, but only when part of a strategic high intensity full body workout.

There are numerous exercises that you could add to your full body routine, and here are some of the best and most effective…

• Various forms of squats
• Lunges
• Deadlifts
• Clean & presses
• Snatches
• Swings
• Presses and pulls
• Mountain climbers
• Sprinting

etc…

Focusing on a full body workout that incorporates many of those listed above, will produce the greatest hormonal and metabolic response within your body. This in turn will burn more body fat, especially around the mid section.
This is much more beneficial than targeting your abs alone, and is the fastest way to burn the fat, and get a rock solid stomach.

Now it’s also important to mention that healthy eating is really the deciding factor when it comes to losing body fat and bringing out those 6-pack abs. It does not matter how hard you work out, if you are still eating junk every day then those tight abs that you want will never become reality.

So in the end, if you want to lose belly fay and develop your abs, do not focus solely on abdominal exercises, instead focus on building a high intensity full body workout routine that will really burn the fat. Combine that with a healthy eating plan, and in no time flat, you will have the sexy flat stomach that you have always dreamed of.

If you are interested in finding out more about the full body exercises listed above, as well as many other fat burning strategies, check out these Ab Training Secrets.

Also, grab a free copy of Training and Nutrition: Inside Secrets for a Lean Body by Mike Geary, for 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets.

Your Cardio Workouts may not be helping you unless you incorporate a high range of heart rate shifts in your training

By Mike Geary – Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist

Are you a cardio junkie? Everyone seems to think that “cardio” is the best way to get in shape and lose body fat.  I’m going to show you with this article why I disagree!

It is quite common to hear fitness pros, doctors, and other health professionals prescribe low to moderate intensity aerobic training (cardio) to people who are trying to prevent heart disease or lose weight. Most often, the recommendations go something like this:

“Perform 30-60 minutes of steady pace cardio 3-5 times/week maintaining your heart rate at a moderate level”

Before you just give in to this popular belief and become the “hamster on the wheel” doing endless hours of boring cardio exercise, I’d like you to consider some recent scientific research that indicates that steady pace endurance cardio work may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

First, realize that our bodies are designed to perform physical activity in bursts of exertion followed by recovery, or stop-and-go movement instead of steady state movement. Recent research is suggesting that physical variability is one of the most important aspects to consider in your training.

This tendency can be seen throughout nature as most animals demonstrate stop-and-go motion instead of steady state motion. In fact, humans are the only creatures in nature that attempt to do “endurance” type physical activities. Most competitive sports (with the exception of endurance running or cycling) are also based on stop-and-go movement or short bursts of exertion followed by recovery.

To examine an example of the different effects of endurance or steady state training versus stop-and-go training, consider the physiques of marathoners versus sprinters. Most sprinters carry a physique that is very lean, muscular, and powerful looking, while the typical dedicated marathoner is more often emaciated and sickly looking. Now which would you rather resemble?

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Another factor to keep in mind regarding the benefits of physical variability is the internal effect of various forms of exercise on our body. Scientists have known that excessive steady state endurance exercise (different for everyone, but sometimes defined as greater than 60 minutes per session most days of the week) increases free radical production in the body, can degenerate joints, reduces immune function, causes muscle wasting, and can cause a pro-inflammatory response in the body that can potentially lead to chronic diseases.

Highly variable cyclic training

On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training has been linked to increased anti-oxidant production in the body and an anti-inflammatory response, a more efficient nitric oxide response (which can encourage a healthy cardiovascular system), and an increased metabolic rate response (which can assist with weight loss). Furthermore, steady state endurance training only trains the heart at one specific heart rate range and doesn’t train it to respond to various every day stressors.

On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training teaches the heart to respond to and recover from a variety of demands making it less likely to fail when you need it.  Think about it this way… Exercise that trains your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease will make your heart more capable of handling everyday stress. Stress can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase rapidly. Steady state jogging and other endurance training does not train your heart to be able to handle rapid changes in heart rate or blood pressure.

The important aspect of variable cyclic training that makes it superior over steady state cardio exercise is the recovery period in between bursts of exertion. That recovery period is crucially important for the body to elicit a healthy response to an exercise stimulus. Another benefit of variable cyclic training is that it is much more interesting and has lower drop-out rates than long boring steady state cardio programs.

To summarize, some of the potential benefits of variable cyclic training compared to steady state endurance training are as follows: improved cardiovascular health, increased anti-oxidant protection, improved immune function, reduced risk for joint wear and tear, increased muscularity (versus decreased muscularity with endurance training), increased residual metabolic rate following exercise, and an increased capacity for the heart to handle life’s every day stressors.

Sports Workouts and Sprinting

There are many ways you can reap the benefits of stop-and-go or variable intensity physical training. Most competitive sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, racquetball, tennis, hockey, etc. are naturally comprised of highly variable stop-and-go motion which trains the heart through a higher range than just steady walking or jogging.

Doing swimming workouts in a variable intensity fashion may also be more beneficial than just swimming for a long duration at the same speed.  Same goes for bicycling — that is why mountain biking, which involves extreme ups and downs at various intensity levels may also be more beneficial than just a long flat steady pace bike ride.

One of the absolute most effective forms of variable intensity training to really reduce body fat and bring out serious muscular definition is performing wind sprints.  Wind sprints can be done by sprinting at near max speed for 10-30 seconds, and then taking 60 seconds to walk for recovery before your next sprint. 6-12 total sprint intervals is usually a very challenging workout for most people.

In addition, weight training naturally incorporates short bursts of exertion followed by recovery periods. High intensity interval training (varying between high and low intensity intervals on any piece of cardio equipment) is yet another training method that utilizes exertion and recovery periods. For example, an interval training session on the treadmill could look something like this:

Warm-up for 3-4 minutes at a fast walk or light jog

Interval 1 – run at 8.0 mi/hr for 1 minute
Interval 2 – walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes
Interval 3 – run at 10.0 mi/hr for 1 minute
Interval 4 – walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes

Repeat those 4 intervals 4 times for a very intense 20-minute workout.

Also, don’t overlook other great ways to incorporate variable intensity cardio training by using a jump rope, a rowing machine, or even outdoor hill running.

The take-away message from this article is to try to train your body at highly variable intensity rates for the majority of your workouts to get the most beneficial response in terms of heart health, fat loss, and muscle maintenance.

Full-body strategically-designed resistance training programs along with high intensity cardiovascular training programs guaranteed to strip off body fat when combined with a healthy diet are included in my book The Truth About Six Pack Abs. If you’re serious about getting lean for good, this book is a must-read.

Are cardio workouts or weight training more effective for losing fat…

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

In this article, I have an intriguing discussion about cardio workouts, which will hopefully get you thinking differently, and trying new things.

You may know I’ve been called the anti-cardio guy before, but this week I’m back posing the question to you… Do you really need cardio training to get lean and in great shape? By the way, you’ll see in a minute that I’m not really “anti-cardio”, just “anti traditional cardio”.

Most fitness buffs, weekend warriors, or anyone trying to get in shape or lose body fat, consider it a fact that they need “cardio” exercise to accomplish these goals. They would never even question it.

However, I’m not only questioning it, I’m going to refute it! In fact, you may be surprised to know that some of the leanest and meanest people I know (men and women), NEVER do any type of normal or traditional cardio. And I’ve spent over 15 years working out in various gyms, and hanging out with athletes of all sorts, so I’ve seen it all.

I will say that there can be a place for low-moderate level cardio for really overweight or deconditioned people, but even in those cases, there can be more effective methods.

But what exactly is “cardio”?

Most people would consider cardio to be pumping away mindlessly on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike, or coasting on an elliptical machine, while watching the TV screen at their state of the art gym. This is what I call “traditional cardio”. Hmmm, no wonder the majority of people get bored with their workouts and give up after a couple months without seeing results.

But if you look closer, “cardio” exercise can be considered any type of exercise or activity that strengthens the cardiovascular system. I’m not going to get into anything technical like increasing your VO2 max or anything like that. To keep it simple, if it gets your heart pumpin, and gets you huffin and puffin, it’s cardio. I don’t care if you’re holding dumbbells or a barbell and everyone calls it a weight training exercise…it’s still conditioning your heart.

Let’s take a look at a couple examples. Take a barbell (or dumbbell, or kettlebell) clean & press for example, which involves lifting a barbell from the floor up to shoulders, then push pressing overhead. And listen up ladies, because even though this is usually seen as a manly exercise, it doesn’t matter if you’re not lifting 250 lbs; if 45 lbs is challenging to you, then you will still benefit just as much.

At first glance, most people think of the barbell C&P only as a weight training exercise or strength exercise. However, I challenge you to do a hard set of around 10-15 reps on the C&P. If you used a challenging enough weight, what you’ll find is that your heart rate is probably up to about 80-90% of your recommended max, and you are huffing and puffing like you just ran a 100-meter sprint (which by the way, sprinting kicks the crap out of jogging any day if you want the easiest way to lose the flab).

Try the same thing for a set of 20 reps of one-arm snatches or swings with each arm with a kettlebell or dumbbell, and tell me your legs aren’t burning, heart racing, and you’re gasping for breath. How about trying 5 minutes straight of bodyweight squats, lunges, and pushups with very little rest. Again, notice your heart pounding, sweat pouring off of you, and chest heaving for breaths!

Try and tell me you’re not conditioning your heart with this style of training! Conventional thinking says that these are weight training or strength training exercises. However, they are fulfilling your cardio workout needs as well (saving you time!).

Not only do you save time, but you strengthen and condition almost every muscle in your entire body with these full body exercises if you do them with enough intensity…something that can’t be said for that boring stationary bike ride or treadmill jaunt while reading or watching TV.

Reading or watching TV while you workout is a joke!

Seriously, if you can read or watch TV while doing any exercise, you’re not concentrating enough on what you’re doing, plus you’re probably not working out hard enough to see any real results.

I challenge you to give the “traditional cardio” a rest for a month or two, and start training the way I explain in my internationally-selling Truth about Six pack Abs Program, and see how you start getting leaner, more defined, and your six pack starting to show through what used to be stubborn stomach fat deposits.

If you’re interested in more reading about the topic of cardio training and better alternatives, here’s an interesting cardio article I wrote previously.

What you need to know about Weight Training for a strong lean body that both looks good and is injury resistant

by Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Working as a personal trainer & fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:

“What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?”

It doesn’t matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to ‘isolate’ it. My first response to this question is always – “Why in the world would you want to isolate it?”

The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to ‘isolate’ body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.

When you attempt to ‘isolate’ muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.

Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to ‘isolate’ body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation.

Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.

Another benefit to moving away from the ‘muscle isolation’ mindset in weight training to a more ‘complex movement’ mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation lifts, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone.

Let’s look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises.

Now although I do feel that multi-joint exercises should comprise the majority of your weight training workouts, I also think that there can be some benefits with just minor inclusions of single-joint exercises for variety, etc.  I choose to build my training programs with about 90-95% multi-joint exercises and about 5-10% single-joint exercises at most.

If you’re interested in discovering more ways to create a body that looks as good as it functions, pick up a copy of my innovative book The Truth About Six Pack Abs

Tired of the Old 3 Sets of 10-12? Well, So is Your Body! Break Through Your Plateau by Training Drastically Different… a Look at Training Variables.

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one time or another.  You’re cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you’ve gained back a couple of pounds.  It happens to everyone.

Most of the time, these plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time. Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine.  Well, I hope to open your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!

There are many ways that you can strategically modify your training variables to assure that you maximize your fat loss and/or muscle building response to exercise. Most people only think about changing their sets and reps performed, if they even think about changing their routine at all.

However, other variables that can dramatically affect your results are changing the order of exercises (sequence), exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training, tri-sets, etc.), exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or machine based), the number of exercises per workout, the amount of resistance, the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.), the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved), rest periods between sets, repetition speed, range of motion, exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc), training duration per workout, and training frequency per week.

Sounds like a lot of different training aspects to consider in order to get the best results from your workouts, doesn’t it?  Well, that’s where a knowledgeable personal trainer can make sense of all of this for you to make sure that your training doesn’t get stale.  Below are a few examples to get your mind working to come up with more creative and result producing workouts.

Most people stick to workouts where they do something along the lines of 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets.  Booooorrrrring!!!!  Here are a few examples of different methods to spice up your routine.

• Try 10 sets of 3 with a medium weight, resting only 20 seconds between sets.
• Try using a heavier weight and complete 6 sets of 6 reps, doing a 3 minute treadmill sprint between each weight lifting set.
• Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with 30 seconds rest between sets.
• Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each exercise
• Try a workout based on only one full body exercise, such as barbell clean & presses or dumbbell squat & presses, and do nothing but that exercise for an intense 20 minutes.
• Try a circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any rest between exercises.
• Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your subsequent workout, but do the entire circuit in the reverse order.
• Try your usual exercises at a faster repetition speed on one workout and then at a super-slow speed on your next workout.
• Try completing five 30 minute workouts one week, followed by three 1-hr workouts the next week.
• Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, where you drop the weight between each set and keep doing repetitions without any rest until complete muscular fatigue (usually about 5-6 sets in a row).

Want more ideas? There are many more ways to continue to change your training variables. This was just a taste of your possibilities.  In order to see how to incorporate various strategies into effective routines, give the programs in my internationally best-selling ebook The Truth about Six Pack Abs a try.

Sculpt a Better Body with Proper Post-Workout Nutrition

Ideas for healthy post-workout shakes to help build muscle and enhance fat loss

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

As you’ve probably heard before, your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day.

The reason is that when you’re finished with an intense workout, you’re entering a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and increased cortisol levels are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. These conditions are not good and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state) is to consume a quickly digestible post-workout meal (can be a shake or smoothie) as soon as you can after training.

The goal is to choose a meal with easily digestible quick carbs to replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair.  The surge of carbohydrates and amino acids from this quickly digested meal promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle cells.

The post-workout meal should generally contain between 300-500 calories to get the best response. For example, a 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal, whereas a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere from a 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein to a 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein. While most of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy fats, keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum, since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the opposite of what you want after a workout.

When choosing what to make for your post-workout meal, the first thing to realize is that you DON’T need any of these expensive post-workout supplement formulations that all of the fancy ads you see everywhere will tell you that you absolutely NEED!  I tend to prefer to make my own post-workout shakes from natural ingredients instead of using a commercial mixture, since many of them are low quality.

However, one that I’ve found that I particularly like (and from a brand that I trust) is at this page:  http://natural.getprograde.com/workout — they have just the right ratio of carbs to protein and use quality ingredients.

For the shakes that I make myself, here are some things to keep in mind if you try it…

A good source of quickly digestible natural carbs such as frozen bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup are perfect to elicit an insulin response that will promote muscle glycogen replenishment and a general anabolic (muscle building) effect. The more you can assist the muscle repair process, the more you increase your metabolic rate and can help your fat loss as well.

The best source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey protein isolate and/or some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a couple ideas for delicious post-workout smoothies that will kick start your recovery process:

Chocolate Banana – blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup skim milk, one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g prot, 72 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 440 calories.

Pineapple Vanilla – blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g prot, 71 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 425 calories.

When looking to lose body fat, keep in mind that post-workout meals should have the opposite characteristics of all of your other meals throughout each day. While post-workout meals should have quick high glycemic index carbs and quickly digested proteins, all of your other meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins.

These are powerful strategies towards developing a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage.  Another great thing about post-workout meals is that you can satisfy even the worst sweet tooth, since this is the one time of the day where you can get away with eating extra sugars without adding to your gut. Instead, it all goes straight to the muscles! But ONLY if your workout was super-high intensity and involved resistance training for large portions of the body.  If all you did was some low intensity cardio, forget about doing this type of post-workout shake.

Enjoy!

A more detailed and comprehensive nutritional analysis with more of these various powerful dietary strategies are found in our best-selling #1 rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.