Friday, March 16, 2012

The Three Best Ab Exercises That Aren't Direct Ab Exercises

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The Three Best Ab Exercises That Aren't Direct Ab Exercises
Instead of the typical ab exercise routines that we see so often with crunches, situps, leg lifts, etc...
I like to give my readers better options for metabolism-boosting high intensity workouts that work their entire body while also working their abs.

I'm going to show you an example today of one of my favorite ab workouts that doesn't include any direct ab exercises at all. It's in a tri-set format (similar to a super-set but alternating between 3 exercises).



Here goes:
1a. Renegade Dumbbell Rows
1b. Front Squats with Barbell
1c. Mountain Climbers on Floor

A good rep scheme to use with this could be 3-4 sets of 8 reps for each exercise, or more sets for less reps, such as 5 sets of 5 reps of each exercise. Mountain climbers can be done for a time interval (such as 30 seconds) instead of "reps".

Renegade dumbbell rows are done starting in a pushup position with the hands on 2 dumbbells. You then row one dumbbell up while stabilizing your body with the other arm. Bring the dumbbell back to the ground and alternate the rowing arm while stabilizing with the opposite arm. This stabilizing effect during the rows creates incredible work for your entire midsection core area. Trust me... you'll feel it in the abs!

Front squats are done similar to back squats, however with the barbell in front of your body on the front of your shoulders instead of resting on the upper back as in back squats. You stabilize the barbell on your shoulders by crossing your arms and pushing your fists into the bar against your shoulders while keeping your elbows out in front of the body. This takes a little practice at first, so you will want to seek a professional trainer at your gym to help you with the form. Front squats require extreme stabilization strength from the abs due to the barbell weight being shifted to the front of the body instead of the back. Even though this is mostly a leg exercise, you'll feel this one in the abs big time!

Mountain climbers are done by starting in a pushup position and then shuffling your feet in and out so that your knees are moving in under your chest and then back out to starting position. It sort of resembles climbing a mountain but flat on the floor. If you want an advanced version, you can also shuffle your hands 8-10 inches forward and backward in addition to the leg movements. This really makes it a full body exercise and MUCH more difficult than standard mountain climbers.




After finishing each exercise, rest about 30 seconds before starting the next exercise. Rest about 1-2 minutes after completing each "tri-set" before repeating. This will give you one of the best ab workouts you've ever had without even doing any direct ab exercises. You'll see what I mean after you try it!

If you are tired of failing to get visible six pack abs, consider losing the traditional ab exercises and bogus ab gadget machines, and find out the real fat loss for abs truth at Best Ab Exercises & Workouts for Abdominals

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/642480

The Salad Dressing You Should NEVER Eat!

The Salad Dressing You Should NEVER Eat -- and my Alternative Super-Healthy Recipe
by Mike Geary - Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-selling program:  
The Truth About Six Pack Abs

If you want to eat truly healthy, support your fat loss goals, and avoid some of the nasty additives in processed food, one thing you should eliminate is typical store-bought salad dressing.



I personally NEVER buy pre-made salad dressings from the store anymore, and here's why:

1. Almost all store-bought salad dressings contain fairly large amounts of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  Unless you're in a health food store, it's almost impossible to find a salad dressing that doesn't contain large amounts of HFCS.

2. Almost all store-bought salad dressings contain heavily refined soybean oil and/or refined canola oil... both of which are VERY unhealthy. Yes, that's correct, canola oil IS unhealthy, despite the marketing propaganda you've been fed claiming that it's healthy. You can read more about why canola oil is NOT healthy here.

Due to the refining process of both soybean or canola oils, the polyunsaturated component of the oils is oxidized and makes these oils very inflammatory inside your body.  In addition, soybean oil is WAY too high in omega-6 fatty acids which throws your omega-6 to omega-3 balance out of whack.

We know that olive oil is healthier, but when it comes to store-bought dressings... Even salad dressings that claim to be "made with olive oil" on the FRONT label are deceptive, because if you read the ingredients on the BACK label, they are almost ALWAYS made of mostly refined soybean oil or canola oil as the main oil, with only a very small amount of actual olive oil as a secondary oil.

So here's how to avoid all of these horrendously unhealthy store-bought salad dressings and make your own quick and easy SUPER-healthy dressing...


 

My Quick and Easy Recipe for Super-Healthy Salad Dressing

Geary's Healthy-Fat Blend Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Fill your salad dressing container with these approximate ratios of liquids:
  • 1/3rd of container filled with balsamic vinegar
  • 1/3rd of container filled with apple cider vinegar
  • fill the remaining 1/3rd of container with equal parts of extra virgin olive oil and "Udo's Choice EFA Oil Blend"
  • Add just a small touch (approx 1 or 2 teaspoons) of real maple syrup
  • Add a little bit of onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper and then shake the container to mix all ingredients well.
This homemade salad dressing mixture is delicious and healthy, and I pretty much never get tired of it!

The reason I choose to blend the extra virgin olive oil half & half with the Udo's Choice Oil is that they make up for what each lacks... Although extra virgin olive oil is healthy and contains important antioxidants, it is mostly monounsaturated, and is low in the essential fatty acids (EFAs). The Udo's
 Choice Oil is higher in unrefined polyunsaturated oils with a good healthy balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids.

There are several variations of the Udo's Choice Oil, and one of them (labeled DHA 3-6-9 Blend) even contains a DHA algae oil blended into the mix along with organic flax oil, coconut oil, evening primrose oil, rice bran oil, oat germ and bran oil, and a few others.

Overall, blending Udo's Oil with extra virgin olive oil makes nearly a perfect oil blend for salad dressings with a great taste and maximum health benefits.  If you can't find Udo's Choice Oil Blends (you can find Udo's at almost any health food store), there are other EFA oil blends on the market...just make sure that they are COLD-processed to protect the EFAs.  You should never heat an EFA oil blend!



Give this homemade super-healthy salad dressing a try!  You'll do your body a favor by avoiding the harmful additives in store-bought salad dressings.

Enjoy!