The lazy days of summer are here and many find that they either don’t have the energy to workout or they try to fit more workout into their workout session.

In a quest to increase energy levels and stamina many suck down energy drinks, which will often leave you feeling more drained once the caffeine wears off, so you have to suck down 2 or 3 a day.

Others have found that to super charge their energy levels NO (Nitric Oxide) works wonders. The only problem with many NO products is that their taste is so horrible that unless you are a real die hard you avoid them like the plague.

What you may not know is that Labrada has recently introduced Super Charge Xtreme NO with Beta Alanaine that actually tastes so good that you’ll find it hard to believe that it truly is a super charged NO.

With it’s 3 phase complex you feel it’s energy in a little as 15 minutes and it continues working throughout your workout all the way in to your post workout recovery period.

Currently available in three really good tasting flavors; fruit punch, grape and orange.

If you have found that your not getting enough from your current NO product, it’s time your tried Labrada Super Charge Xtreme NO with beta alanine.

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Why shorter workouts can give you better results

If your goal at the gym is to burn fat faster, it is possible to increase your loss of fat by decreasing the amount of time you spend on your workouts.

Sound too good to be true? You always thought that you needed to exercise longer, not shorter? This does not mean that a 10 minute brisk walk on the treadmill is better than a twenty minute trek at the same pace; sorry, no miracles here, but it does make sense to start specific shorter workouts in order to lose fat faster.

One way this works is to perform what are called “supersets.” Basically, a set is a repetition of the same exercise, and most exercise routines include a set of one type of exercise followed by a brief rest period and then a repetition of the set. Well, supersets work like this: you target two areas of your body that are opposites — opposing muscle groups.

For example, you may choose to work on your back and your chest. So, what you do is a set of chest exercises, do not rest, and then immediately complete a set for your back. While your back muscles work, your chest muscles rest.

Completing your workouts in this way reduces the amount of time you have to spend in the gym, and your results are better because your metabolic rate increases. When your metabolism revs up, you burn more calories, and when you burn more calories, you lose fat.

If your goal is to build bigger muscles rather than shed flab, it also makes sense to use shorter workouts. Muscles are made huge by overworking them until fatigue sets in and then working them some more. Using a lot of weight and working with it for a shorter amount of time rather than doing multiple repetitions with a lighter load is likely to fatigue your muscles quickly and aid you in breaking down your muscle fiber so you can rebuild it and make it bigger, stronger, and faster than it was.

Another reason to try shorter workouts is really just a matter of time.

One of the major reasons people don’t work out is that they just can’t find the time. If you can cut your workout time down from about an hour to about thirty minutes, you are much more likely to keep working out.

Everyone knows someone who bought that expensive gym membership on January 2nd all excited about their new fitness resolution and then quit going by February 2nd. Well, shorter workouts that interfere less with your other obligations offer you better results because you actually find the time to do them.

Now taking this theory a little bit further, if you synergize your workout and eliminate the exercises that are least effective and concentrate only on those which are the most effective, you can cut your workout time by even more.

Now some people are under the assumption that if they need to lose fat, they can’t work on building muscle at the same time. This has been discussed in many forums and many will tell you that since your cutting back on calories to lose the fat, you can’t build muscle, so work on the fat loss first.

Jon Benson, Best-selling author of Fit Over 40 and Every Other Day Diet
has researched, tested and answers the question “Can you burn fat and build muscle at the same time?” To read Jon’s article just click here. I think you’ll enjoy the read.

You might also want to check out Jon’s latest ebook 7 Minute Muscle

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So can you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time?

You’ve probably asked yourself that hundreds of times and when you asked others, they never quite knew what the answer was.  Some say yes, while others say no, it’s not possible.

Jon Benson, an authority on muscle building has written an article that finally answers this question. Not only does Jon explain the answer, he goes into detail about the why it happens.

To read Jon’s article just click here.  I think you’ll enjoy the read.

You might also want to check out Jon’s latest ebook 7 Minute Muscle

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I found this terrific article which address most (if not all) of your abdominal exercise questions. Vince DelMonte is one of the top fitness instructors with abs and muscle building for both men and woman as his specialty. His information is based on fact and not speculation. At the end of his article is a link to his web site. If you are serious about getting back into shape, getting rid of that belly fat and getting a true six-pack set of abs I suggest you visit his site.

How To Get Razor Sharp Abs Abdominal Exercise Program

By Vince DelMonte

If you could sculpt one body part to perfection for next summer, what would it be? Let me guess – six pack abs! I don’t know anybody who does not want to shrink their waistline, lose body fat, eliminate lower back pain and develop a jaw-dropping set of rock-hard six-pack abs. Building eye-popping abdominals is not the hardest thing to achieve in the world but it’s definitely not the easiest either.

Before you can start learning how to get six-pack abs and discover the truth about what it really takes to build a beach-worthy abdominal section, you must first expose the lies, myths and rumors. Before we talk about how to get six-pack abs, the right way, we must re-program your hard drive and empty the trash can of garbage you have been fed.

Because of all this hyped-up and misguided information – even among so-called ‘fitness experts’ – you should be skeptical of all abdominal training equimpment and programs. Let’s first eliminate the top four ways not to get a six-pack:

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require expensive workout equipment promoted through obnoxious infomercials. You can’t flick on the TV anymore without seeing two new abdominal exercise machines being promoted at once. There are so many of them that if you get suckered into these ‘ab workout’ gimmicks, you will be broke quicker than Ben Johnson sprints the 100 meter dash! And get this: Of the $520 million dollars a year spent on exercise equipment, abdominal machines get a $208 million dollar piece of the pie!

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require thousands or even hundreds of crunches a day. So much for the Brittany Spears ab workout! Crunches are decent but totally overused and associated with more being better. Crunches are a very general exercise, and general exercises get general results. Excessive floor crunches shorten the abdominal wall, pull your head forward and emphasize poor posture. They also involve a very low level of stimulation which neglects adequate muscle-fiber recruitment.

Learning how to get a six-pack does not involve starvation diets. Starvation diets starve the muscle when you should be feeding the muscle instead. Guess what happens when you starve your body? Your metabolism shuts down out of survival and causes your body to store fat. Your body must get energy from somewhere, so guess what gets sacrificed? That’s right, your precious muscle which is, in fact, responsible for maintaining a high metabolism. Starve your muscle - great logic!

Learning how to get a six-pack does not require fat-burning pills. What did the last weight loss pill you bought do for you? The same thing the next one is going to do – nothing! Except give you a thinner wallet but not a thinner waist line. The entire concept of taking pills to ‘burn fat’ is built on a sandy foundation and misleading because diet pills only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. Without focusing on the root problems of a flabby mid-section, like poor nutrition, a crazy lifestyle and improper training, you will just end up where you started – farther away from having a six-pack for summer instead of closer.

Just Because You’re Skinny Does Not Mean You Will Have A Six-Pack

The volume of interest I receive from skinny guys who wish to build their mid-sections is more than enough evidence to disprove the false reality of “I should be able to ’see’ my abs if I have low body fat.” I’m sure you know of a friend who is completely scrawny, yet, without a shirt on he, has zero abdominal definition! To me that would be salt on an open wound.

Abdominals Are A Muscle, Too!

You want your arms to be bigger, your shoulders to be broader and your chest to be fuller, correct? And what is the solution to making these muscle groups increase in size? High intensity weight training, overload, consistency and a healthy surplus of calories. Starting to sound familiar?

The same goes for your abdominals. Your abdominals are a muscle group that requires the same formula and attention and are not any different from other muscle groups. For some reason many consider abdominals to be a ’special’ body part that requires a different set of rules and a completely different formula for training. Abdominals were not given a ’secret code’ to crack. To get thick, dense abs – the ones that ‘pop’ out - you must train them with intensity and overload. Here are some practical tips you can apply to your program so that you can be the ‘man’ or ‘gal’ at your gym with a ripped and muscular six-pack. Then I will provide a sample program!

Prioritize By Sequence

If your abs are your worse body part, then why do you keep training them last, at the end of your workout? Which muscles group will receive the highest priority when you train? The ones done at the start of your workout or the ones done at the end of the workout? Of course, the exercises done at the start of the workout while you have the most energy and focus. If abdominals are the muscle group you wish to prioritize, then don’t be afraid to disagree with the ‘experts’ who say “Never train your abdominals first because you’ll weaken your core muscles for the rest of your workout…”. I completely disagree with this and often reply, “Show me the evidence.” The typical response is “Nobody does abdominals first…”. That is pure BS. This just supports the notion that many people who work out don’t ever question what they hear or do. They want to be spoon-fed answers and follow the trends of others without thinking for themselves. I ALWAYS train abdominals first in a workout if they need the highest attention.

Prioritize By Frequency

What’s going to receive better results? A muscle group that is trained one time a week or two times a week (assuming you recovered prior to the second workout commencing)? Of course, the muscle that is trained 2x a week. The more stimulus on a muscle, the more growth. That is why professional athletes are professional athletes. They have conditioned their bodies to such a high amount of stress that they are able to train more frequently.

How often you train your abdominals is based on the inverse relationship of intensity and volume. The harder you train your abs, the more rest they need. The less intense you train your abs, the more frequently you can train them! If your goal is rehab or injury prevention, then you will be able to train them often with more frequent and lower loads. If your goal is to make your abs more muscular and dense, then a higher load and less frequency would be ideal. If your goal is maintenance, then a medium load and frequency would be ideal. Refer to this table:

If building a sexy six-pack is on your ‘to do’ list for 2008, then start training abdominals 2-4x a week. I will teach you in a moment how to split your abdominals up into two different days based on movement.

Your Genetics and Abdominals

Right now some of you can see a perfectly set of staggered abs that are wide and thick and separated by a line down the middle. Some of you have the classic four-pack which is four big abs with a smooth lower section. Some of you have tiny cubicle boxes sitting high on your abdominal wall. Some of you have the picture perfect eight-pack that makes people’s jaws drop.

>Like every muscle group, all you can do is train them as heavy and hard as possible and hope your genetics take care of the rest. You can’t change the shape or alignment or separation of your abs. You can’t move them around and place them where you want them. Your genetics will affect to which degree they “pop” out and to which degree they stay smoother or flatter.

The good news is that abdominals are abdominals and when your body fat levels are around 5-7% you are guaranteed to impress people, including yourself, with a set of hot-looking abs. Even though genetics play a huge role in how they look, it’s important to know how to train them to make them look their best.

Divide Your Abdominals into Two Separate Workouts for Best Results

To train your abdominals safely and effectively you must know the basic movement patterns of your abs and train them within all sub-categories:

• Truck Flexion (upper abs)
• Hip Flexion (lower abs)
• Rotation (obliques)
• Lateral Flexion (obliques)

The majority of books and articles you have read revolve the bulk of the ab exercises around the trunk flexion that is better known as ‘upper ab’ exercises. A full sit up is a perfect example of this.

Bill Starr in his 1976 classic ‘The Strongest Shall Survive’ wrote that the abdominals “…can be strengthened in a wide variety of ways. Sit-ups of all types, leg raises, truck rotation movements all involve the abdominal muscles to a different degree…”

I wouldn’t be surprised if the abdominal program you are following right now is based on one movement - trunk flexion. I am guessing that your primary goal is actually to have a well-defined and sculpted six-pack, so I have provided a sample abdominal program to break it up into a four day program:

Even though you are training each movement twice per week, you will perform different exercises for each workout.

Use a Variety Of Functional Exercises

The Top 3 Hip Flexion Exercises:

1. Lying Hip Raise

2. Incline Hip Raise

3. Hanging Hip Raise

The Top 3 Trunk Flexion Exercises:

1. Swiss Ball Crunch

2. Weighted Swiss Ball Crunches

3. Weighted Cable Crunches

The Top 3 Rotation Exercises:

1. Russian Twist

2. Weighted Russian Twist

3. Weighted Cable Crossover

The Top 3 Lateral Flexion Exercises:

1. Lateral Flexion on back extension machine

2. Lateral Flexion with medicine ball over head

Lateral Flexion with medicine ball and twist

Each of these exercises progresses from basic to intermediate to advanced. I suggest you master the first exercise of each before commencing to the next.

Razor Sharp Abdominal Workout 1:

Hip Flexion and Trunk Flexion

Perform this workout at least two times a week separated by at least 48 hours rest. You should experience a deep muscle soreness after each one of these workouts. Focus on using a load that causes failure within 8-12 reps and then move to the next exercise. This is a non-stop circuit. Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat until you reach 4 sets total.

Razor Sharp Abdominal Workout 2:

Trunk Rotation and Lateral Flexion

Perform this workout at least two times a week separated by at least 48 hours rest. You should experience a deep muscle soreness after each one of these workouts. Focus on using a load that causes failure within 8-12 reps and then move to the next exercise. This is a non-stop circuit. Rest 1-2 minutes and repeat until you reach 4 sets total.

Conclusion

As said earlier, buiding razor sharp abs is not the easiest task in the work but nor is it the hardest. The above abdominal exercises will help you build a deeply separated and evenly placed set of abs in little time. The truth is that if you can’t see your abs, then the best exercise for your abs will be better diet.

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About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building : Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com/

He specializes in teaching skinny guys how to get a six-pack and build muscle, without drugs, supplements and training less than before.

————————

I hope that you take advantage of the information in this article and learn from the best.

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Walk down the health aisle of any grocery or health food store and you’ll see dozens upon dozens of body building and muscle building supplements. But how do you know which ones are for you?

First you want to decide on what you want you goals to be.

Do you want to lose fat and bulk up? Just want to build lean muscle? Or do you want to really build out your body? Or do you just want to lose weight and get in shape?

Once you know what your goal is then you can start weeding out the products that don’t fit your goals.

Now that you have your end goal in mind, visit a site that explains the different supplements and lets you know which ones are the most popular as then you know which ones actually will work and are not mainly fluff and fillers. When a product is popular or is listed as a best seller you know that other people have not only used the product, but reorder (reordering is always a good sign as people won’t reorder if the product didn’t work).

To be sure that I get the best product for the best price, I always shop at Bodybuilding.com. Their prices are low and their service is excellent. I can also read articles devoted to health and get some ideas by reading other peoples success stories.

Bodybuilding.com’s TOP 50 selling products!

See the Specials of the Week at Bodybuilding.com!

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It seems that no matter where you turn so either see someone with an energy drink in their hand on a row of different brands of energy drinks in the grocery store.

There was a time where a quick cup of coffee was the only lift we needed.  Now however people are sucking down several cans of energy drinks and reach for “juice” products that are filled with caffeine, guarana, tourine to get their lift. The within a few hours they are crashing and need to reach for another energy drink to get them going again.

Does this sound like you? Do you feel as though you are dragging without a can of energy near by?

Did you know that these energy drinks are filled with sugar, calories and acids that eat away at your teeth and bones. Do you know how it is affecting your health?

You should know that there is a safer, more natural way to get longer energy, without all the side effect of energy drinks?

FRS is a more natural product that uses Quercetin as it’s energy source. Quercetin is a natural ingredient that comes from the peels of apples, blueberries and onions. In addition to Quercetin, FRS contains good body ingredients like antioxidents, vitamins and metabolic enhancers.

This gives the body natural energy and allows your body to use energy more efficiently so you feel more energy for a longer amount of time. It also protects the adrenaline so your energy is more level and sustained so you don’t feel that buzz then crash.

If you have been abusing your body through energy drinks and want a better approach try FRS. You’ll feel the energy, without the shakiness or crashing.

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