Killer Workout for Abs that Pop!

Probably the most popular area that people want to improve is their waistlines. Everybody wants six-pack abs!

Besides putting in the work and dedicating a chunk of training time solely to ab work and core strength, cardio and clean eating are two crucial elements that most people overlook. If you want to look cut and shredded, you need to make sacrifices in the kitchen.

On a regimented daily basis, you need to stop eating:

• Sugar and anything the contains sugar
• White flour (bread, pasta, cakes and pastries)
• White rice
• White potatoes
• Deep fried foods
• Processed foods
• Refined foods
• Most vegetable oils (unless they’re healthy MUFAs)
• Too many fruits and fruit juice
• GMO foods

On a regimented daily basis, you need to start:

• Drinking more fresh, filtered water
• Eating more vegetables, especially dark, leafy greens (low in carbs)
• Eating more Omega3 fats and MUFAs like extra virgin olive oil
• Eating more protein
• Eating more organic food options
• Eating more wholegrains and wholesome foods
• Eating smaller meals more frequently

In order to show off those six-pack abs, you need to reduce your BMI and that means fat-burning cardio and high intensity interval training. Long cardio sessions are becoming a thing of the past. Science is now pointing to short-burst, high intensity interval training as the safer, more efficient option to work out.

Once you’ve got your fat burning and nutrition sorted out, next comes the grueling ab training. Here’s a killer workout that you should incorporate 2 to 3 times a week for well-developed abs. The secret is to use weighted training for your ab routine.

Killer Ab Training for Abs that Pop!

Hanging Leg Raises with weight between your legs or ankle weights – raise legs to 90-degree angle and repeat till failure

Barbell Roll Outs – using a barbell with 5 to 10 lb weights, start in a jack knife and roll out to a push-up position. Then squeeze in your abs and roll back to the starting position. Repeat for 10 – 12 reps.

Cable Crunches – using cables with a rope attachment, kneel down with your back to the machine – pull the weight down while folding in at the waist to engage the abs. Repeat for 10 – 12 reps.

Plank – hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

Double Press-Ups – lying on an incline bench with a barbell with 5 or 10 lb weights – move into a chest press and transition all the way up into a shoulder press to finish, straightening up your body. Roll down and repeat for 10 – 12 reps.

Once you’ve completed one circuit, take a 2-minute break and sip on some intra-workout Aminocore. Then complete another 2 circuits for a total of 3.

Make sure you fuel your body afterward with a high quality whey protein isolate shake for rapid recovery and increased lean muscle.

Originally published @ FITLODE.COM

Burn more Fat with Kettlebells

Kettlebell training is growing in popularity and has been touted as the best way to burn fat and the fastest way to lose weight – better than aerobics, running, treadmills or any other method of fat burning.

Now scientists have proven the hype is true.

Scientists at University of Wisconsin are stunned by research: Kettlebell calorie burn is off the charts.

This research was funded by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and published in the January/February 2010 issue of ACE FitnessMatters.

Using a VO2 max kettlebell snatch protocol, subjects engaged in a 20-minute workout and burned an average of 272 calories. But that’s not all. Anaerobic consumption was also measured and that raised the calorie burn by 6.6 calories per minute, “which is off the charts. That’s the equivalent of running a 6-minute mile,” says John Porcari, lead researcher of the study.

Kettlebell training is typically done in a fashion that replicates interval training due to its high intensity and short duration and this racks up the calorie burn in less time. It is a total body workout and an excellent way to burn fat and tone muscle at the same time.

The trick to kettlebell training is to begin with a very light weight until you build up your strength and get used to the moves. There are a lot of wrist action and body maneuvres that take some getting used to, but once you master the art, you will be burning fat and losing weight at a faster rate than just about any other workout out there.

Fat-Burning Kettlebell Swings

• Kettlebell Swings – 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for 4 rounds or sets (20 to 50 reps)
  Rest 90 seconds
• Kettlebell Power Snatches – 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for 4 rounds (can be done one side at a time or both sides simultaneously)
  Rest 90 seconds
• Kettlebell Swings – 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for 4 rounds
  Rest 90 seconds
• Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift High Pull – 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for 4 rounds
  Rest 90 seconds

At the end of this workout, take some time (5-10 minutes) to cool down with light activity and some stretching and be sure to get in your post-workout nutrition to refuel and repair.

 

Super Bowl Healthy Jerk Chicken Fingers

During an average Super Bowl Sunday, the average viewer will consume in excess of 3,000 calories of mostly fats, carbs and salt.

Yes, all those Super Bowl favorites like chicken wings, chips, dip and let’s not forget, beer are all so irresistible, but you can still enjoy the game without putting your health at risk and packing on the pounds. Choosing healthy food options and cooking your own meals is the best way to control your calorie and nutrient intake.

Here’s a healthy substitute for chicken wings that will save you 800 calories or more.

Super Bowl Jerk Chicken Fingers

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lb of chicken tenders
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup wholewheat Panko bread crumbs
• 6 tbsp minced dry garlic
• 6 tbsp dried minced onion
• 2 tbsp allspice
• 1 tbsp dried ground chipotle or ground red chilli peppers
• 2 tbsp Hungarian (smoked) paprika
• 1 pkg Sweet Leaf Stevia powder
• 2 tbsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp ground nutmeg
• 1 ½ tsp ground Habanera pepper
• Zest of 2 lemons
• Low-fat Pam spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Spray a baking sheet with low-fat Pam. Wash the chicken tenders and pat dry with a paper towel. Crack the egg whites into a bowl. Combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Now you’re going to take one chicken tender and dip it into the egg wash and then into the bread crumb jerk mixture, making sure to coat all sides. Place on baking sheet and continue with the rest of the chicken tenders. Place in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Serve with veggie sticks.

If you want to dip – use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream or mayonnaise. You can spice it up with some dried chipotle peppers and diced green onion.

Cost-Saving Tip

Chicken tenders can be quite expensive. If you’re on a budget, use skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into strips or bite-size pieces to make kebabs.

Nutritional Information per 2 oz Serving

Calories: 219
Fat: 2 g
Protein: 10 g
Carbs: 5 g

Best Fruits and Vegetables for Healthy Weight Loss

Limiting the amount of fructose you eat is one trick that will help you reach your weight loss goal.

As well as limiting fructose in the form of fruits and fruit juices, it is important to limit your carbohydrate intake and pay particular attention to the source of these carbs. All carbs in the form of sugar and grains promote insulin resistance and this can be harmful to your health and lead to diseases like diabetes.

You should keep your fructose intake between 15 and 25 grams

People who eat clean diets will use fresh vegetables for their optimum source of carbohydrates and will eat an abundance of fresh, leafy greens. However, that doesn’t include all vegetables. Obviously, starchy veg like potatoes and squash should be limited and sugary veg like carrots and beets should also be restricted for their high sugar content.

There are lots of fruits that are low in fructose like raspberries, cantaloupe, plums, apricots, passion fruit, limes and lemons.

Recommended vegetables include:

• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Beet greens
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chicory
• Chinese Cabbage
• Chives
• Cucumbers
• Dandelion Greens
• Endive
• Escarole
• Fennel
• Green and red cabbage
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• All kind of lettuce and spring greens
• Mustard Greens
• Onions
• Parsley
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Turnips
• Spinach
• Zucchini

A healthy diet is one that is low in carbohydrates and high in protein. To make sure you’re getting enough protein in your diet, include a whey protein isolate shake first thing in the morning and again immediately following your workout. You’ll notice more energy, better muscle tone and fewer food cravings.

 

Yoga Helps Physical and Emotional Pain

Some people turn to Yoga to burn calories and work up a good sweat when it’s hot Yoga, but Hatha Yoga has always offered a combination of strength conditioning and relaxation.

A new study out of York University published in the Journal of Pain Research found that Hatha Yoga can have a profound effect on physical pain and psychological symptoms of chronic pain in women who suffer from fibromyalgia.

The focus of this study was the stress hormone cortisol and how Yoga would affect these levels as it has been shown to stimulate cortisol. In women with fibromyalgia, cortisol levels can be quite low and this contributes to their symptoms like chronic pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal discomfort, anxiety and depression.

These women were studied for a period of eight weeks and took a 75-minute Hatha Yoga class twice a week. After which their saliva samples were taken to test for cortisol levels and the results showed they were higher than before.

“Ideally, our cortisol levels peak about 30-40 minutes after we get up in the morning and decline throughout the day until we’re ready to go to sleep,” says the study’s lead author, Kathryn Curtis, a PhD student in York’s Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health. “The secretion of the hormone, cortisol, is dysregulated in women with fibromyalgia” she says.

Cortisol is part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. As a steroid hormone, cortisol is produced in the adrenal glands in response to stress.

“Hatha yoga promotes physical relaxation by decreasing activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which lowers heart rate and increases breath volume. We believe this in turn has a positive effect on the HPA axis,” says Curtis.

As well as the saliva test, the study group women filled out a questionnaire rating their levels of pain before and after the eight-week study. The main areas of improvement after eight weeks of Hatha Yoga were:

• Less pain
• Fewer symptoms
• Psychological benefits
• Acceptance of their condition
• Reduced anxiety and feelings of helplessness
• Less likely to “catastrophize” over their condition

“We saw their levels of mindfulness increase — they were better able to detach from their psychological experience of pain,” Curtis says. Mindfulness is a form of active mental awareness rooted in Buddhist traditions; it is achieved by paying total attention to the present moment with a non-judgmental awareness of inner and outer experiences.

“Yoga promotes this concept — that we are not our bodies, our experiences, or our pain. This is extremely useful in the management of pain,” she says. “Moreover, our findings strongly suggest that psychological changes in turn affect our experience of physical pain.”

The study – Curtis’ thesis – was published July 26 in the Journal of Pain Research. It is co-authored by her supervisor, York professor Joel Katz, Canada Research Chair in Health Psychology, and Anna Osadchuk, a York University undergraduate student.

Curtis was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Canada Graduate Scholarship and a CIHR Strategic Training Grant Fellowship in Pain: Molecules to Community.

Source:

York University. “Yoga boosts stress-busting hormone, reduces pain, study finds.” ScienceDaily, 27 Jul. 2011. Web. 1 Aug. 2011.