Many people try and try, to get abs like the celebs they see on TV or movies. That “300 Workout” had a good run, until people realized that those guys had CGI enhanced abs (ever seen Gerard Butler in any of his other movies??)
The truth is, Perfect Abs don’t exist. There’s no magic ab routine, or ab diet that will shape and form your abs to the image of David by Michaelangelo.
However, you can get a SIX PACK and the best one you can get. Their shape is determined by your genetics, but THEY ARE THERE.
Mine happen to be Off Set and razor shaped, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
Your best bet to get “perfect abs” is to get an ab training program – designed to get that fat off and get our muscles in shape.
Until Next Time,
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Filed under Abs Training by on Jul 25th, 2010. Comment. 
Many people ask me what I do for my abs when they see me in the gym. Truthfully, I don’t do much to maintain a washboard.
But the things I do are a bit on the extreme side, so I’ll give you a more plausible version of my workout.
Decline Bench Sit Up: 2 x 10 (with low weights)
Hanging Leg Raises: 2 x 10 (if you can manage it)
Rope Crunch: 2 x 15
Plank: 1 x 60 seconds
This is a great abs workout that will give work your upper, lower, and stability ab muscles. Try this one, and I’m sure you’ll thank me/or curse me later.
Until Next Time,
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Filed under Abs Training by on Jul 22nd, 2010. Comment.
In this post, I’ll be delivering some facts and fallacies for abs toning which have taken over the industry.
Fallacy #1 Spot Reduction
If you have been around for any length of time, you’ll know that this just isn’t true.
I’m sorry, but you CAN NOT burn fat off your midsection by doing crunches alone.
Yes, it takes more than just That.
Fallacy #2 Lots of Cardio Will Solve The Problem
This is great news for you because you don’t have to be on the treadmill for hours just to burn a few hundred calories.
You can do this in just a few minutes and rev your metabolism up higher as a result.
Fallacy #3 Lots Of Floor Exercises Is The Way
I actually NEVER use floor ab exercises (except for one exercise that no one in the gym but me can do) and I have a better six pack than 99% of the people I see in the gym.
So get off the mat please!
Fact #1 Your Body Burns Fat Holistically
When you go to burn fat, it burns from all around your body. The least resistant places give it up first, followed by the stubborn places.
Which means you may have to be burning fat longer than you thought to get rid of that belly (cause that’s where it usually goes FIRST!).
Fact #2 High Intensity Cardio Is Best
You can burn fat by running on a treadmill or cycling for hours, but why do that when you can get a BETTER result in just 15 or 20 mins.
Intense exercise (e.g. sprints, bodyweight circuits, etc.) followed by a short rest, followed by another intense burst, burn more calories in over days than treadmills or bikes.
Fact #3 High Intensity Weight Training Is Better
Instead of doing crunches for forever, concentrate on
Hanging Leg Raises
Decline Bench Sit Ups
Stability Ball Crunches
Rope Pull Downs
These provide more RESISTANCE which is what your muscles need to Grow.
Until Next Time,
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Filed under Abs Training, Body Building Tips by on Jun 23rd, 2010. Comment.
Leg Exercises
Many people neglect their legs, but I often encourage people to work them for 3 reasons.
1. You can gain a lot of weight quickly because your leg muscles make up half your body.
2. You can increase your hormonal output because you damage such large muscles.
3. You can increase your body fat burn and metabolism because those muscles are so large.
Great leg exercises include Squats and Deadlifts as you may know because these are compound exercises that work most of your leg muscles.
Some you may not have known are Roman Deadlifts (target your hamstrings and glutes), Single Leg Dumbbell Lunge (targets your quads) and Barbell Step Ups (hamstrings again).
Throw in some Leg Extensions and Leg Curls for isolation movements to really drive home the point.
When done in the correct program, these exercises can lead to huge legs (just look at mine).
Until Next Time,
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Filed under Abs Training, Muscle Building Exercises by on Jun 17th, 2010. 1 Comment.
If you’re trying to get lean, or lose weight, I’m sure this question has crossed your mind a number of times.
It’s easy to follow the crowd and become a hamster on a wheel by doing endless hours of cardio on a treadmill or bike.
While it’s true that these exercises burn fat, they only burn fat during the workout a for a few hours after.
On the other hand, intense training, aka. weight training or interval training, burn overall calories and keeps your metabolism revved up for up to 48 hrs after.
Here’s a few examples to drive this home.
Your metabolism can be likened to a row machine and that wheel that spins when you pull the cord.
If you pull the cord slowly and steadily, yes it’ll move. But when you stop, it’ll only go a few more revolutions before it stops also.
However, if you yank the cord really hard and really quickly then stop, it’ll continue spinning at a high rate of speed long after you’ve stopped pulling.
The reason for this is because during interval training or weight training, you’re breaking muscle down.
We all know (or you’re about to find out) that muscle burns fat around the clock. Muscle to your body is like a heavy load is to a truck.
It takes a lot of energy to carry all that excess load around. That energy comes from fat. So the best way to burn fat is to build lean muscle.
The main reason your metabolism remains at an increased level is because when you do either weight training or interval training and break down muscle, your body has to repair the damage you’ve done to it.
Think of your muscles as an ant pile. If you just remove some of the dirt, only a few ants will come out and repair it. The damage will be repaired pretty quickly.
However, if you wipe out an entire chunk of the pile, all of a sudden you see hundreds of ants scurrying out to repair the pile. It’ll be a day or two before they have it back to normal.
This was one of my favorite activities as a kid, by the way.
With that being said, which exercises burn the most fat by doing damage to your muscles, increase your metabolism, and build lean muscle?
The answer: Compound Exercises.
You can check out my blog on isolated exercises vs. compound exercises to get the real low down on what compound exercises do to your body.
My page on interval training will enlighten you as to how to do proper interval training and HIIT.
Some great compound exercises to rev up your metabolism, build muscle, and burn fat around the clock are:
1. Deadlift
2. Back Squat
3. Power Cleans
4. Standing Military Press
5. Pull Ups
6. Bench Press
7. Cable Rows
You can also check out my page on greatest muscle building exercises to get a video demonstration of these movements.
Incorporating these exercises into you routine will give you a great start to getting lean as well as building muscle.
Get Big. Get Ripped. Get Fit With Mitch.
Filed under Abs Training, Body Building Tips by on Feb 23rd, 2010. Comment.
