Abdominals we all have them, they’re an important part of the human anatomy and we require them to live and move normally!
So yes no matter what weight you are YOU ALREADY HAVE ABS whether you’ve been in the gym or not!
What does differ between everyone is your abdominal progression and core strength which you make stronger by… surprise surprise….exercising and resistance training!
Abdominals work like any other muscle group they require being put under stress and tension to tear down those muscle fibres, grow and become stronger creating more shape and definition giving you the shape you desire.
However what you need to see these abdominals is a low body fat percentage, you need to be LEAN with a minimal fat percentage of at least 16% you should begin to see some lines appearing around your torso!
Is this made in the kitchen…NO…..this is made from being in a caloric Deficit on enough calories a day to loose weight and lean up that’s it!
So if anything seeing your Abs are 50% Training and 50% Diet because if your diets not in check you’re not going to to see them..and if you don’t train that area and build some more shape and size you may look too skinny and not like the finished product.
He it is like I promised the Workout Plan and nutrition plan I did and currently still doing.
The Workout Plan consist of four weights workouts & ab training a week with two cardio sessions. So below will show you how that planed out over the a week.
1-6 WeeksMonday
5k run
Tuesday
Upper body
Flat Bench press 10 reps of 3 sets
Incline Dumbbell press 10 reps of 3 sets
Pull ups 10 reps of 3 sets
Bent over rows 15 reps of 3 sets
Standing Overhead Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Lateral raises 15 reps of 3 sets
E-Z Bar curls 15 reps of 3 sets
Close Grip Bench press 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Wednesday
Lower Body
Barbell Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Alternating lunges 20 reps of 3 sets
Front Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Stiff Leg deadlift 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Thursday
Upper body
Incline Bench press 10 reps of 3 sets
Flat Dumbbell press 10 reps of 3 sets
Pull ups 10 reps of 3 sets
Deadlifts reps of 3 sets
Seated Overhead Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Rear Delt Flys 15 reps of 3 sets
Dumbell curls 15 reps of 3 sets
Tricep pushdown (straight bar) 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Friday
Lower Body
Barbell Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Walking lunges 20 reps of 3 sets
Split Squat 12 reps of 3 sets (each leg)
Stiff Leg deadlift 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Saturday
Rest Day
Sunday
5k Run
6-12 weeksMonday
5k Run
Tuesday
Chest & Tricep Day
Bench Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Superset Incline bench press with Incline fly’s 10 reps of each doing 4 sets
Flat Dumbbell Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Dips 15 reps of 3 sets
Close Bench Press 15 reps of 3 sets
Tricep pulldown with rope 15
reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Wednesday
Leg Day
Barbell Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Walking lunges 20 reps of 3 sets
Front Squat 10 reps of 3 sets (each leg)
Stiff Leg deadlift 15 reps of 3 sets
Swiss Ball hamstring curls 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Thursday
Back & Bicep Day
Pull ups 10 reps of 3 sets
Bent over row 15 reps of 3 sets
Deadlift 8 reps of 3 sets
Single arm row 15 reps of 3 sets (each arm)
Chin ups 10 reps of 3 sets
E-Z Curl 15 reps of 3 sets
Incline Alternating Curls 20 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Friday
Shoulders Day
Overhead Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Lateral Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Seated Shoulder Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Cable front raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Rear delt Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Saturday
Day Off
Sunday
5k Run
Nutrition Plan Monday (Day Off Work)7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Whatever??
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Tuesday (working day)7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Wednesday (working day)7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Thursday (working day)7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Friday (working day)7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Saturday (working day)7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn8pm Whatever??
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Sunday (Day Off)7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Whatever??
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn8pm Whatever??
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Right I’m going to hit a sore subject
Alcohol…do you realise how many calories you could be drinking?
Everyone likes to have a drink now and then, whether it’s a social gathering or maybe your having a stressful time at work and your having a glass or two of wine when you get home to unwind.
But..do you know that you could be actually in fact drinking the same amount of calories as an evening meal?
I’m going to throw some numbers below of popular drinks
Single serving of wine: from 130-240 calories per glass! Depending on what wine you have
A pint of beer: 170-330 calories again depending on lager or bitter and alcohol content.
Bottle of Alcopop: 200 calories
Pint of cider: 200 calories
So if your trying to lose weight food may not even be the problem it could be what your drinking!
Again it bottles down to (bottles down to…stop it haha!) tracking your calories on everything your taking in to be in a caloric deficit and drop those pounds!
Not to mention excessive drinking can lead to high blood pressure the onset of diabetes and increases chances of a heart arrack. So like everything in life drinking should be done in moderation!
To get toned legs you need to “SQUAT” as it’s one of the best movements can you do as they work all your major leg muscles like your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. What will also happen when you squat you will burn a lot of calories and being a compound movement working muituple muscle groups like your rectus abdominis. So the more muscles you work the more calories you’ll burn and being your legs are the largest muscle part of your body you’ll burn a lot. So for toned legs you’ll need to squat now there are loads of different ways you can squat but any squatting movement will help you tone your legs and with a good calorie burn and good healthy diet all this will lead to toned legs.
Christian
Well I’ve experienced both Fitbit & Apple watches and both of them are great fitness trackers. But are they accurate? Well I’ve got to amit I did find my Fitbit would say I was burning up to 4000 calories a day most days. Don’t forget I’m a personal trainer and will do long days from 8am-8pm plus I would workout hard for an hour in that day and some nights walk home from work that would take just over 20 minutes. But for 5ft 11ins weighing in at 11 stone. I did find this amount to be a good 1000 more than I was actually burning. As I know how to calculate my resting metabolic rate and can calculate my calorie intake that my body requires. The most dangerous thing with seeing calories burnt that you’ve not burning is you tend to eat more. But the thing is your not burning theses calories and if you if you think “Well I can have another biscui I’ve burnt some many calories” but you haven’t and over time you start gaining weight. So I would recommend finding out your resting metabolic rate and calculate your body weight and fat percent to find the calories you need to consume. And just you’se your Fitbit as a guide and motivation but not to rely on the actual calories you’ve burnt.
Christian
I’m skinny but suffer with belly fat? Well this is down to muscle tone and can be fixed by performing four exercises Squats, Deadlifts, Overhead Press and Plank. Why them exercises? Three of them are compounded exercises which work multiple muscle groups but focus a lot on your rectus abdominals and transverse muscles. And will help you increase lean muscle tissue which you will need to speed up your metabolism as the more lean mass you have the more calories you burn at rest. So this will help strengthen your abdominal area and burn fat.
Christian
Well this is interesting question! How can I lose belly fat over night? Well my answer to this with my experience is to do weight training and build lean muscle tissue. Why? Well the more lean muscle you have the higher amount of calories you body burn at rest and this will lead to more calories burnt while you sleep. Unfortunately you can’t spot reduce body fat in certain areas of your body, but this is the best and natural way of burning belly fat.
Christian
Injuries happen to us all. It doesn’t matter whether they are really serious or very minor, injuries can have a massive effect on our exercise regimes, and our mindset towards our training.
It can be extremely disheartening when you are training really well and you’re getting closer to your goals, and then injury strikes.
In my years of training, I have been unfortunate enough to experience countless injuries. From blisters on my feet, pulled muscles and ligaments, right the way up to rupturing my Achilles Tendon, I’ve been through it all. It’s tough.
But what should you do when injury strikes?
The first course of action is to stop exercising immediately and determine what exactly your injury is. Use common sense here. Don’t go to your local A&E department with a blister! Consult a doctor or physiotherapist before you do anything if you aren’t sure. Once you have determined what your injury is, you can plan on your next move.
The next thing to do is seek advice on alternative training methods. For example, if you’ve hurt your foot, running is out of the question. Try swimming or cycling on an exercise bike as an alternative cardiovascular exercise. It’s important if you pick up an injury, if possible, to keep doing some form of training. Of course, this depends on the severity of what you’re done. Nobody can carry on training in a full body cast!
Carrying on with some form of alternative exercise is beneficial in many ways. One reason is that it will still keep the rest of your body (minus the injured area) in good physical condition, which will stand you in good stead when you resume your regular training. Physiotherapy will also help massively in getting the injured area back to full health. Getting a good rehabilitation program is ideal here.
Another reason for making sure you continue to do some form of physical activity, and I think the most important, is that doing alternative exercise that is allowing you to recover and also remain physically fit, helps keep you in a positive frame of mind.
I can’t explain the amount of times I’ve been injured in the most frustrating circumstances, and wanted to throw in the towel and call it a day on whatever I was training for at the time. Without a plan and a persitance to overcome these setbacks, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Doing an alternative training program whilst I recovered, kept me physically still heading towards my goals and more importantly, kept my mindset positive.
If you experience an injury, keep your head up and work out how to over come these setbacks. You’ll definitely be stronger for it!
Be all you can be.
Sean
Is your hip flexors restricting your mobility in everyday life, when you squat or attempt any leg movement?
These are also used in upper body movements such as overhead press and even a bench press!
Your hip flexors are a group of muscles situated at the top of your legs which attach your upper thigh to your hip, these muscles are involved in almost every movement we make.
These are called hip flexors because they cause flexion in the hip which initiates a bending movement around a joint in a limb. Hip flexion occurs when you raise your knee upwards, this shortens the angle of your thigh bone relevant to your hip joint.
What causes hip tightness? It can have numerous contributing factors such as in activity and weakness in that area.
How can you combat hip mobility issues?
Strengthening
Stretching
They are the two main secrets strengthening will be in a resistance training program with these key exercises:
barbell back squats
barbell front squats
lunges
split squats
leg press
stiff-leg deadlifts
All these exercises will strengthen your legs, hip flexors and glutes.
Below are some hip flexor stretches to try!
remember stretching is just as important as any training, do these daily and prioritise the stretches that feel most affective
Squatting is one of the most beneficial exercises when either attempting to lose weight or build muscle.
Why?
When you squat you almost engage every muscle in your body, if your trying to lose weight your goal should be to try and engage as many muscles as you can as the more you engage the more calories are burnt. This is a functional movement which you will use more than you realise in everyday life.
At the same time if your trying to build muscle the effect heavy squatting has on the nervous system enables you to build a good portion muscle in a short amount of time. This movement also can trigger anabolic stimulation which releases the chemicals Testosterone and HGH (human growth hormone) which enables muscle development for the entire body!
Why would you want to build more muscle? building a pound of muscle amounts to around 50-70 cals additional burnt a day! So if you’re attempting to lose weight this is a long lasting way of increasing your bodies required caloric intake with a controlled caloric intake will promote weight loss.
This movement will also assist strengthen and thicken your ligaments and tendons in your knee, ankle and hip joints enabling your joints to take more pressure, giving you the less likelihood of injury in these important areas.
Last but not least!
Do you want to fill out your jeans? the squat is the perfect exercise to grow your legs in a proportionate way, building your Glutes (bum), Quads (fronts of your legs) and Hamstrings (back of your legs), giving you the toned, slender legs everyone will envy!!
Everywhere online you will see phrases such as:
He it is like I promised the Workout Plan and nutrition plan I did and currently still doing.
The Workout Plan consist of four weights workouts & ab training a week with two cardio sessions. So below will show you how that planed out over the a week.
1-6 Weeks
Monday
5k run
Tuesday
Upper body
Flat Bench press 10 reps of 3 sets
Incline Dumbbell press 10 reps of 3 sets
Pull ups 10 reps of 3 sets
Bent over rows 15 reps of 3 sets
Standing Overhead Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Lateral raises 15 reps of 3 sets
E-Z Bar curls 15 reps of 3 sets
Close Grip Bench press 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Wednesday
Lower Body
Barbell Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Alternating lunges 20 reps of 3 sets
Front Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Stiff Leg deadlift 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Thursday
Upper body
Incline Bench press 10 reps of 3 sets
Flat Dumbbell press 10 reps of 3 sets
Pull ups 10 reps of 3 sets
Deadlifts reps of 3 sets
Seated Overhead Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Rear Delt Flys 15 reps of 3 sets
Dumbell curls 15 reps of 3 sets
Tricep pushdown (straight bar) 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Friday
Lower Body
Barbell Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Walking lunges 20 reps of 3 sets
Split Squat 12 reps of 3 sets (each leg)
Stiff Leg deadlift 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Saturday
Rest Day
Sunday
5k Run
6-12 weeks
Monday
5k Run
Tuesday
Chest & Tricep Day
Bench Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Superset Incline bench press with Incline fly’s 10 reps of each doing 4 sets
Flat Dumbbell Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Dips 15 reps of 3 sets
Close Bench Press 15 reps of 3 sets
Tricep pulldown with rope 15
reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Wednesday
Leg Day
Barbell Squat 10 reps of 3 sets
Walking lunges 20 reps of 3 sets
Front Squat 10 reps of 3 sets (each leg)
Stiff Leg deadlift 15 reps of 3 sets
Swiss Ball hamstring curls 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Thursday
Back & Bicep Day
Pull ups 10 reps of 3 sets
Bent over row 15 reps of 3 sets
Deadlift 8 reps of 3 sets
Single arm row 15 reps of 3 sets (each arm)
Chin ups 10 reps of 3 sets
E-Z Curl 15 reps of 3 sets
Incline Alternating Curls 20 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Friday
Shoulders Day
Overhead Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Lateral Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Seated Shoulder Press 10 reps of 3 sets
Cable front raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Rear delt Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Abs
cable crunch 12 reps of 3 sets
Russian Twists 30 reps of 3 sets
Ab rollout 10 reps of 3 sets
Knee Raises 15 reps of 3 sets
Hypertension 15 reps of 3 sets
Saturday
Day Off
Sunday
5k Run
Nutrition Plan
Monday (Day Off Work)
7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Whatever??
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Tuesday (working day)
7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Wednesday (working day)
7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Thursday (working day)
7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Friday (working day)
7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn3:30pm Lean mince meat, Brown Rice and broccoli
8pm Chicken, jacket potato, broccoli
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Saturday (working day)
7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Salmon, Brown Rice and broccoli
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn8pm Whatever??
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Sunday (Day Off)
7am Porridge Oats with chopped dates & cashew nuts with water plus maple syrup
12pm Whatever??
2pm Coffee and bag of proper popcorn8pm Whatever??
9pm Decaf coffee with two squares of dark chocolate
Right I’m going to hit a sore subject
Alcohol…do you realise how many calories you could be drinking?
Everyone likes to have a drink now and then, whether it’s a social gathering or maybe your having a stressful time at work and your having a glass or two of wine when you get home to unwind.
But..do you know that you could be actually in fact drinking the same amount of calories as an evening meal?
I’m going to throw some numbers below of popular drinks
Single serving of wine: from 130-240 calories per glass! Depending on what wine you have
A pint of beer: 170-330 calories again depending on lager or bitter and alcohol content.
Bottle of Alcopop: 200 calories
Pint of cider: 200 calories
So if your trying to lose weight food may not even be the problem it could be what your drinking!
Again it bottles down to (bottles down to…stop it haha!) tracking your calories on everything your taking in to be in a caloric deficit and drop those pounds!
Not to mention excessive drinking can lead to high blood pressure the onset of diabetes and increases chances of a heart arrack. So like everything in life drinking should be done in moderation!
