June Abs Challenge

Who wants to join in this abs challenge this month? You should have a stronger core by the end of the month. However, remember that to get abs, you need a combination of strength training, cardio, and healthy eating. This is just a little part of that.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Abs Routine: Russian Twists and V-Sits

Ready to work those abs this week? Here is a great sequence. Do 30 seconds of the Russian twist  and then 30 seconds of the V-sit. Rest between and repeat 5 times. 

Russian twists really work on those obliques and V-sits are great for overall core strength. (I have 2 options with feet off or on the floor). See the video below!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Weighted Sit-ups

Want to try another abs workout? This one helps increase the tension of a regular sit-up by adding in a dumbbell. How do you do it? Lie back with your butt and feet on the floor, and holding a dumbbell over your head. I used an 8lb dumbbell. Open your feet wide. Slowly use your core to lift your upper body all the way up until the dumbbell is on the floor between your feet. Then slowly lower back down using your core strength to help you. Repeat for 3 sets of 20 reps.

Here is a video demo:

Cheers Eights & Weights!

No Crunch December: Six Inch Leg Raise

So remember how I said exercises that force you to balance are the key to building core strength? Here is another another. People know this by different names, but I like to call it the "Six inch leg raise" because it reminds me that the lower I go, the more effect this has.

No Crunch December: The High Plank and the Pushup

We're still on getting those abs this December without doing those darned crunches. Let's talk about two exercises that we presume only focus on the arms, but really target the core as well.

High Plank

This is very similar to the regular elbow plank we regularly do. However, the difference is that you are on your palms rather than your elbows, like you are when you are trying to begin a regular push-up. 

No Crunch December: Russian Twists

In case you haven't got the message yet, the obliques are a really important part of overall core strength, and of course your abs. The Russian Twist is another one of those exercises that works the obliques a lot, but also works all of the abs muscles. 

How do you do it? Sit on your butt, and lift your upper body off of the floor. You may also choose to lift your legs of the floor or keep your heels on the floor. Keeping your chest up, lower your upper back until you feel tension in your abs. Slowly rotate from left to right, touching the fingers to the floor and turning your head to look to that side as you go. Watch the video for a demo.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

No Crunch December: Bridges

Focusing on core strength is really the focus of this month because I like people to understand that you need a strong core for great abs. But you should not focus on just crunches because they mostly only work one group of abs muscles (the front). 

The bridge is one of those exercises that is amazing for not only the abs, but the bum, and the obliques as well. It forces you to balance and that's what develops that core strength. You can either choose to hold the position for as long as you can (target a minute or more), or turn it into a motion exercise.

Want Better Abs? Join the December Challenge!

This month's fitness challenge is all about the core. We're going crunch-less and learning about other exercises we can do to strengthen the core and get those "oh so rock hard" abs. Remember that in addition to this, you still need cardio and a good diet to build a great midsection!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Are Crunches Enough?

I have too many friends who wake up every morning and do like 100  crunches before they start their days. Or they do 100 crunches before they go to bed. All in the hope that they'd get better abs or at least a stronger core. I know I've said it before, but doing just crunches has not yet solved anyone's midsection problem.

Abs Week: Steam Engine

It's the final day of abs week, and so I thought I'd give you a standing exercise. We tend to think of abs exercises as crunches or some other exercise where we sit or lie on the floor. Well, not always. There are some everyday exercises that help work your abs better than others. One of those is the steam engine.

You may know it as High Knees with a Twist, Standing Alternating Crunches, or some other name. The premise of all these is the same: Use your abs to lift your knees off the floor as you stand. Here is what you need to do:

Start in a standing position with your hands behind your head to give you a little resistance and make your body not move around so much in the pose. If this is too difficult during the move, you can bring your arms down and keep your fists clenched below your chin in a boxing stance.

Lift your right knee and try to bring your left elbow to meet your knee. You should be tightening your abs and using your ab strength to lift your knee, so your upper body shouldn't be moving down so your elbow can meet your knee. Rather you should be staying as straight as possible and lifting your knee as high as possible without bringing your upper body down.

Bring your right knee down and repeat on the other side. This time, bring your right elbow to meet your left knee. Repeat.

You should feel it on both sides of your abs because you are working diagonally. To see the fluid motion, watch the video below as a tool:

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Maintainbodyshape.blogspot.com, Exercise.com, Fitstudio.com

Abs Week: Lower Body Russian Twist

We've tried different types of ab exercises this week focusing on the upper and lower abs and the obliques. So many complex exercises went through my head when I was thinking of which one I should put up today. But I settled on somthing simple (Yes, thank your God).

Today's exercise should be pretty familiar if you have tried yoga. It is called the Lower Body Russian Twist or the Lower Body Torso Twist. Typically, people tend to do it slowly as a stretch and maintain the position for a while. If you do it continuously though, you can work your abs, especially your obliques.

Lay flat on your back with your knees up in the air at about a 90 degree angle. Extend your arms straight to the sides with your palms down or up to hold down your upper body. Palms down seem to be easier to hold without slipping.

Rotate your lower body to the right using your waist. Be sure to keep your upper body firm on the floor, and try to keep your lower back planted as much as possible. As your knees are right, look to the left to create more of a twist at your waist.

Raise your knees back to the starting position, and then rotate to the other side. Repeat.

To make it more intense, you may straighten your knees. That makes your core work more to twist your lower body.

Here is a great video to guide you!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Rawfoodswitch.com, banyanbotanicals.com, houstonhealthychoices.com

Standing Oblique Twist

Last week, we talked about the standing oblique twist and described how to do it. Check out that post here: Crunch-Free Ab Exercises. This week, I thought I'd show you. The twist is great for your core because you're twisting side to side. But make sure you keep your core tight as you move. The punch also help work out your shoulders and the back of your arms so make sure you hit hard!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Fitness Gadget Review: The Body by Jake 'The Solution'

Are you totally into whatever the new fitness gadget fad is? Do you watch infomercials on the weekends and swear you would be able to get your body into the shape of the guy in the ad if only you had that tool he was advertising? Well, you'd like the new Eights & Weights segment: Fitness Gadget Review.

How did this come about? Well, I was sitting in the gym and looking at this 'The Solution' gadget, and I thought "The Eights and Weights readers would love to know if this is worth it." So here we are.

Okay, so maybe you don't even know what The Solution is. Like many of its counterparts out there, its makers claim it shreds fat and builds ab muscles because you are doing more than just the regular crunch. They even put Mario Lopez (in all his ab glory) in the infomercial. Watch it below if you haven't seen it:

The basis is that if you are moving your upper and lower body towards your abs you must be doing something terrific to give you rock hard abs and lose the flab.

So I'm guessing you already know where I stand on this. No one ab machine is going to give you abs; the same way that no number of crunches will give you abs unless it is part of a whole workout and nutrition program. Cardio burns fat, and strength training tones muscles, and while there are exercises that can incorporate both (like plyometrics), The Solution isn't it. It will help build those ab muscles, and you will feel it in your belly area when you are done, but the repetitive motion of squeezing your knees and torso inward does not seem to be more than doing a jack knife or v-sit on the floor. It will not get rid of the flab covering the muscle.

Hopefully, that didn't burst your bubble. But I feel that we get caught up in targeting losing fat in one area, which the body does not allow, rather than work on the whole body. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this gadget, but it does not seem to be more functional or work better than doing different kinds of ab exercises. And of course, it is definitely not the 'be all and end all' of you getting great abs.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Win Killer Abs in 6-Weeks!

What time is it? Freebie time! As promised, this competition is unrestricted, which means it is open to anyone anywhere. Have you been dying to find some great abs workouts? Or simply dying to have Jillian Michaels privately train you (Well, this is probably as private as most of us will get)? Then this is a competition you should definitely enter!

What do you need to do? It is very easy. All you need to do is fill out the form below. But first, make sure you are following Eights and Weights on either Twitter or Facebook (Or why not both?! I mean, we made it easy and provided you the links). If you are not following us on Twitter or Facebook, your entry will be disqualified.

How does the selection happen? Randomly, of course. Entries close on July 31st, and then a winner is randomly selected to get the DVD. We will post it to you wherever you are! Why? Because it's summer and we really want you to have those killer abs :)

Good luck!

I Work Hard! Why Don’t I Have a Six-Pack?

Here is a common theme we see. We exercise consistently, do all the sit-ups and hip raises our bodies can take, and yet, we don’t see a big change is the size of our midsections.  This triggers a lot of questions. Are we doing something wrong? Are we just doomed to have big bellies? Is it something hereditary? No matter what your questions are, my advice is: don’t give up yet!

It is true that it is generally easier for men to get flat stomachs than women because for most women, fat tends to populate in our belly and hip region (Sorry ladies!). This is not to say it is completely inevitable and we have to just take it as it is. The truth is that most of us (men and women included) make a lot of mistakes when we’re focused on trying to burn belly fat.

Are you really burning more than you’re consuming?
We all know the theory. To lose weight, you need to be burning more than you eat. You have to reach a negative of 3500 calories to lose just 1 pound. However, when you exercise a lot, your body tends to hunger for more food. And so a lot of heavy exercisers eat a lot too to keep their energy up with all the calorie-burning activities they are involved in.

But we have to be really careful here because it could easily lead to eating more than we are actually burning. It might be helpful to use a tool that monitors your daily food consumption, just to assist you in figuring out your calorie consumption before you get on your own two feet. A great tool I love is MyFitnessPal, but there are several others you can use. These tools are also great with Portion control. Men, take note, because you are more prone to eat those super-gigantic meals when you exercise.

It’s not just exercise, it’s food too!
If you spend most of your time at the gym, there is a tendency to give exercise more significance than your nutrition. But what you eat has just as much importance as what you burn. You can’t eat anything and everything, and then believe it would all go away with exercise. And as much as we hate to admit it, most of us find ourselves doing this. The bottom line is that we need to eat right to get rocking bods.

Keep set mealtimes
I know, I know. With the busy lives we lead, we eat whenever, we eat fast, and we eat on the go. But in order to trim your midsection, you have to make a change. Try to set standard mealtimes; For example, breakfast at 7am, a snack at 10am, lunch at 1pm, another snack at 4pm, and dinner at 7pm. Our bodies respond well to routine when it comes to food, and so do our minds. If we set standard mealtimes, we are less likely to be dying of hunger late at night or in the middle of the afternoon. And of course a routine lets us know exactly what we want to eat, when, and how much.

Calm your ass down
Ever heard that belly fat tends to come from stress? This is not totally untrue. On one hand, stress makes us eat because we are looking for some form of comfort. On the other hand, stress physically affects how much our bodies are capable of, and reduces our concentration when we exercise.  So do what you must to calm your ass down. If yoga calms you, do that regularly. If food calms you, well, maybe don’t do that. Find something (or someone) that makes you stress-free, and make time for it.

The Ever-Life-Consuming Alcohol
Okay, so it’s not just alcohol. It is lattés, soda, milkshakes, energy drinks, and any drink that contains calories that we tend to overlook. If you have two sodas with your lunch, you have already added a couple of hundred calories to that one meal. A few beers also add a couple of hundred calories to your meal. If we don’t pay attention to what we are drinking as well as what we are eating, we could be consuming much more than we think we are, and then get frustrated. Also, carbonated drinks tend to make you bloat, so while you’re consuming several cans of “Diet” soda, consider that.

Foods that make you bloat
Okay, so I know women cannot always help that we will get bloated when we get our period, but if your belly looks flat in the morning, a different way in the afternoon, and then a different way at night, it may be due to the type of food you are eating. Carbonated drinks, fatty foods, and foods like chips with a very high salt content tend to make us bloat, giving us that pot belly feeling. It would pay both in the long and short term to minimize how much we eat or drink these, because they could also cause our stomachs to be uber-sensitive.

While exercise is great, and it is pretty difficult, there are other factors that we need to consider as well while we are trying to lose belly fat and build six-pack abs. So don’t knock your head against the wall if it does not seem to be working. Try the tips above, and reach out to me with comments here if you have any questions. You can also reach me at editor@eightsandweights.com anytime. Good luck!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

P.S.
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