3 Rules for Crazy Abs

Whether we're trying to get in shape to impress our relatives on a family cruise, or trying to shed off the last few pounds of that baby weight, abs are almost always in the picture. And when you close your eyes and imagine your dream physique, what do you see? I'm willing to bet that the the first or second thing you picture is what your abs would look like. So the questions is: how do we get that to translate to real life? Well, the process isn't easy, but it's quite simple. Here's what creating washboard abs looks like. 

MAKE THEM IN THE KITCHEN

Time and time again, we've heard the saying "abs are made in the kitchen." So why do we need to hear it again? To be blunt, we don't. We just need to re-apply the meaning and nail it on the head. Sometimes people say that fitness is 70% nutrition and 30% training. WRONG. Fitness is 100% nutrition and 100% training. Your food must be as consistent as your training is. There is no such thing as outworking a bad diet. So, what steps do we need to take to make abs in the kitchen? First thing's first, find a macronutrient and nutrition calculator. I love the IIFYM Calculator. Once you have figured out how many calories you should be eating, as well as your macronutrient split, it's time to hit the grocery store. There are plenty of places you can go to find clean, healthy recipes that can be catered to your macros. My favorite is the Healthy Recipe Database at Bodybuilding.com.

If you're completely green to this process, I recommend contacting a professional such as myself to guide you along the way. Once food has been brought home and meals have been made for the week, it's time to stay consistent and track our progress.

Don't let your food work around your schedule. Have your schedule work around your food. Is a six-pack only a goal? Or is it a priority as well?

DON'T FORGET CARDIO

Cardio, cardio, cardio. I can't stress enough how important it is to work on your cardiovascular fitness while training for any goal. With six-pack abs, cardio is a MUST. Question is, what kind of cardio should you be doing? I'm sure you've heard plenty of debates on which style of cardio is best, and you can get my opinion by reading my previous blog post. In a nutshell, I believe HIIT cardio is best for fat loss, especially while training to maintain as much muscle mass as possible. My recommendation is to perform 15-30 minutes of HIIT training after every single weights session. This brings me to my third rule.

TRAIN ABS LIKE ANY OTHER MUSCLE GROUP

I hate to break it to you, but that 300 repetition bodyweight ab workout you've been doing is going to get you nowhere. Yes, your abs might recover quicker than a lot of muscle groups, and the fibers may be more dense, but muscle tissue is muscle tissue. In order to have a prominent six-pack, you must have a thick ab wall under your skin. So, we need to train our abs with weights, just like any other muscle group. Arnold didn't get his chest by performing 1000 pushups each day. Add some weighted exercises to your routine, and lower your rep range to 10-20 each set. We need that ab wall to get thicker, so it will stand out more as you lose that body fat in the midsection. 

So there they are. 3 rules for crazy abs. They are simple, because getting six-pack abs is simple. It's not easy, but it's simple. Apply these to your day-to-day, and let me know how it's working out for you!

For more posts like this, check out my tips on facebook as well as other blog posts on my site.

Facebook: poehlmannfitness

Thanks for reading!

5 Reasons Your Metabolism is Slow

Do you feel like your metabolism is slow and getting even slower? Does it feel like your body just holds on to whatever you eat regardless of what it is? Do you find it easy to use your "slow metabolism" as crutch to justify weight gain?

At some point or another, we all can relate to one of those questions. In fact, odds are that your feeling isn't just a feeling. Your metabolism might actually be slow and here's why. 

REASON #1 - Too Much Cardio

"Too much cardio? I thought all that cardio is supposed to speed up my metabolism." Yes and no. Increasing your heart rate will most certainly speed things up, but the long term effect isn't there. This is why it is extremely important to train with weights. The more muscle tissue your body has, the more calories it burns at a resting state. So, if you're spending hours and hours on the treadmill each week, there's a good chance your body is actually utilizing that muscle tissue for energy. Cardio is important, but there needs to be a healthy balance. Remember, we want to look lean and sexy, not skinny and flabby. For more information on what type of cardio is best, check out the blog here. 

REASON #2 - YOUR EATING ISN'T CONSISTENT

In order to keep fat-burning a continuous action, our metabolism must be stimulated as often as possible. One way to keep it stimulated is by eating smaller, more frequent meals. When we eat frequently, we keep our blood sugar levels stable all while preventing hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia occurs when we eat a massive meal. It causes insulin to spike and also makes us feel lethargic. Our bodies tend to store more fat when there is an insulin spike. To avoid this, spread your daily calories throughout the day. I recommend eating 4-5 meals per day. Remember, that doesn't mean you eat more, it just means you eat less, more often. At the end of the day, your calorie count should be the same. 

REASON #3 - YOU DON'T EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN

This is a big issue with most of the general population today. People simply aren't eating enough protein. There's a good chance you aren't either, and that could be a contributing factor to your slow metabolism. Did you know, between carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, protein has the biggest thermogenic effect. This means that it takes the most energy to digest, meaning more calories burned. So take advantage of this opportunity! I'm telling you to eat more. How could you say no?

But how much protein is enough? My recommendation is to eat .6-.8 grams per pound of body weight each day. Anything over .8 grams is usually wasted or stored as fat.

REASON #4 - YOU DON'T DRINK ENOUGH WATER

This is another paralyzer for most people. You might not know it, but there's a possibility you could be dehydrated.

Yes, drinking water can boost your metabolism! How? The big picture is this: while dehydrated, your chances of having cravings go through the roof. More cravings most likely means more cheating. So let's prevent that by drinking more. On a scientific level, a German study showed that metabolic rates increased in both men and women after drinking 17 oz. of water. You can find that study here. My recommendation is to drink .5 - 1 oz. of water per pound of body weight each day. An easy way to track this is by getting a water bottle that you love, and don't mind carrying around. Here are a couple that I carry around with me. No, my bottle isn't pink. But if it was, I would rock it. You can pick your color once you click the link!

Nalgene Wide Mouth Water Bottle, 1-Quart, Clear Pink

Hydro Flask 40 oz Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle, Wide Mouth w/Flex Cap, Graphite

The Hydro Flask is pricey, but one of the greatest investments I've ever made. The water stays cold for days. I don't know how they do it so well, but I'll just say it's magic.

REASON #5 - YOU DON'T SLEEP ENOUGH

Sleep is crucial. I can't emphasize this enough. Not only does a lack of sleep make you grouchy and miserable to be around, but it also can make you not give a crap about anything. When you don't give any, you eat any. #quoteoftheday. Also, when your body is tired and at a state where it lacks energy, it has a hard time managing those blood sugar levels I was talking about earlier. Remember, we are trying to avoid hypoglycemia! Aim to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

FINAL WORD

If there's one thing that I really want you to get out of this article, it's this statement: You DO have control over your metabolism. There are choices you can make in your day-to-day life that can improve your metabolic rate. Think about the choices you make and compare them to this article. I am willing to bet that at least one of these items is what's keeping you from burning extra fat. 

If you have more questions on what you can do to change your metabolism and burn more fat, please feel free to send any questions via email to: adam@poehlmannfitness.com

For more tips and advice, make sure to "like" my Facebook page and follow me on Instagram!

Facebook: poehlmannfitness

Instagram: @poehlmann_fitness

Thanks for reading!

References:

Boschmann, Michael, Jochen Steiniger, Uta Hille, Jens Tank, Frauke Adams, Arya M. Sharma, Susanne Klaus, Friedrich C. Luft, and Jens Jordan. "Water-Induced Thermogenesis." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 88.12 (2003): 6015-019. Web.

Maximize Results With a Busy Schedule

One of the most common questions that I hear when discussing fitness is "how do I reach my goals with an extremely busy schedule?" If I could send out a helpful article with just a few statements or less, I would simply answer that question by saying this: If it's a priority, you'll make it happen. If it's not, you will continue to make it an excuse. But I live in the real world where making statements doesn't help people. So here are some practical ways to make fitness work with your busy schedule. 

PREPARATION IS KEY

When I was playing baseball in college, our weight room had a slogan above the entry that said something like this: "failing to prepare is preparing to fail." That slogan served as a reminder to my teammates and I to treat our training sessions as preparation for our games. In other words, failure to better ourselves in the weight room is preparing to fail on the diamond. Taking this same approach is important when it comes to chasing a fitness goal, especially when we are dealing with a busy schedule. Every single aspect of your routine that applies to your goal must have preparation. Food is a good example. Those who claim to have a busy schedule are usually running around and have little time to cook and eat. That may be true, but that doesn't mean you can't take two hours out of your Sunday (or whatever day works for you) to prepare your food for the week. If your food isn't prepared, you'll fall off course within the first few meals. I'm willing to put my money on that. 

The workout itself is another part of fitness that must have preparation. Before you even think about starting a plan or begin to go to the gym regularly, find a time that works. A good workout should last about one hour. One hour is a perfect amount of time to get a proper workout in. Anyone that tells you that you'll reach your goals with a 15 minute at-home workout or a 3 hour "pump sesh" is lying through their teeth. At this point you may be thinking, "well I don't have an hour to spare at the gym!" I'm just going to call you out and say b.s. on that one. Guess what, if you work from 5am to 8pm daily, you still have time for a workout before or after. Once again, if it's a priority, you'll make it happen. If not, you'll keep going in circles.

FIND A PLAN

Now that you've come to realize you actually do have time, and have picked an hour of your day to workout, it's time to get a plan. Before going to the gym, try doing two things first. The first is selecting a well-thought goal. You can read more about ways to create great goals here. From there, you want to pick a plan that will help you reach that goal. If you have a 12-week plan and have specialized workouts geared toward your goal, odds are you'll do it. If you just wake up feeling like you should train your lower body because you haven't done it in a while, it might not happen, because you aren't treating your workout as a priority. There are plenty of resources to get quality plans from well-qualified people. Take Poehlmann Fitness' plans for example... ok fine that's my only plug for the day! Maybe.. ;)

TRACK, TRACK, TRACK

There are plenty of places you can go to track your progress. One of my favorites is a pen and paper. Bring it to your workouts. Track your bodyweight, personal records, emotions, feelings, etc. Heck, track whatever you want! Measuring all of these things can help you stay consistent, as well as recognize when you're falling off pace. Another great (free) place to track is the app called Fitocracy. 

SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING

We are all extremely busy at some point or another. I get that. Things happen. So when your life turns into an absolute tornado, remember that something is better than nothing. Although a 15 minute routine for every workout is not ideal, 15 minutes in a crazy day can mean a great deal in the long run. Committing to SOMETHING will create a good habit of working out even during your busiest days. 

Taking these practical, simple efforts and applying them in your day-to-day routine will have you making forward progress in no time. These pointers can serve as an extremely solid foundation for maximum results in a busy schedule. Before you know it, working out will be of high priority for you, and you'll be getting results when you never thought it was possible. 

For more tips like this, follow me on facebook and Instagram! 

facebook: poehlmannfitness

Instagram: @poehlmann_fitness