ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN A LEAN HEALTHY BODY

How do celebrities and top performing athletes manage to get those rock solid abs and perfect bodies. Well the answer is simple but the technique is not easy. It involves dedication, lots of hard training and disciplined nutrition.

TRAINING

Lets first look at some of the mistakes people are making when it comes to general training and more specifically training for the abs or trying to lose "ugly belly fat"

• Over-training the abs. This is a big mistake made by 80% of the people trying to get their abs to show. Am referring to a person trying so hard that they spend all their time in the gym doing hundreds of reps of different ab exercises like crunches, leg raises, twisting exercises etc. All this time would have been better spent doing well designed full body workouts that would elicit a much better metabolic response and increased fat-burning hormone levels in their bodies.
• Not using weight training. This is more common in women but is also a mistake made by men. It is important to realise that regular strength training using heavier resistance will not necessarily bulk you up as long as your caloric intake is controlled. This method is actually one of the key secrets for losing body fat and staying lean.
• Slow cardio exercise. Go to any gym and you will find most of the people working out at nearly walking pace on treadmills (or other cardio machines) reading the calorie counter to see how many calories they are burning while doing these slow boring exercises. This is completely unnecessary and a waste of alot of time. I am not saying you will not burn calories this way, but a combination of high intensity resistance training for the whole body will give you enough of the cardio workout you need while saving you time. It is also more fun to do so your chances of getting bored of the gym are reduced.

A good training program would generally be one that has full body movements that indirectly work the abs and the entire core area to a good extent. Include abs-specific exercises about 2-3 times a week. These exercise should take about 5-6 minutes with very little rest between exercises.


As you get more advanced and are able to do 50 reps of the same exercise as is common with standard crunches, it is time to focus on higher resistance exercises that actually stimulate the muscle fibers to a greater degree.


For fat burning, instead of the 30 minute slow cardio sessions most people are used to, instead use interval training. In other words, instead of thinking about "fat burning zones" and calories burned during the workout, look at what you are doing in your workout to stimulate the greatest metabolic response from your body. The greatest metabolic and hormonal response is achieved through variable intensity interval training and strength training.


Nutrition


There has never been a more confusing time regarding proper nutrition. Every so called expert seems to disagree and contradict each other on what is the best way to eat for fat loss and overall good health.


The Key to success is balance. Your diet plan doesn't need to conform to all those confusing "low fat" or "low carbs" diets that are being put out there. You basically need to have a diet that is made up of nutrient dense foods in their natural state (as unprocessed as possible)


Here are some important aspects of nutrition for the lean body we all crave for.

1. Get enough quality protein in your diet. Protein has a higher thermic effect than carbs and fat so you burn more calories digesting it. It also satisfies your hunger for longer making you eat less, plus it is the building block for building and maintaining lean muscle.
2. Fiber. When you are taking carbs, make sure 90% of your carbohydrate intake is from higher fiber sources like vegetables, fruits and higher fiber unrefined grains. As much as possible avoid refined sugars and grains as this is the main reason people suffer with excess body fat.
3. Eat Fat. Thats not a typo!!!. Many people try to go way too low on their fat intake and this negatively affects hormone levels in your body as well as creating more cravings. Eat enough healthy fats daily. These can be gotten from:- Avocados, all nuts and seeds, organic meats and eggs, coconuts etc etc.
4. Avoid these 2 things like the plague:-

• Artificial trans fats from margarines, shortening and hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods and deep fried foods.
• High fructose corn syrup, which is in most sweetened products on the market.

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