Ab Exercises For Men That Work

Great abs are the dream of every man, as they are the ultimate symbol of strength, fitness and manliness. Many people spend hours at working out, in order to get the perfect body. However, without going in for the right ab exercises for men, it is impossible to get the much coveted six pack. The following ab exercises for men will help you lose the extra flab around your belly and unveil those glorious abs.

Crunches

To do crunches, you will need to lie flat on the floor and fold your legs at the knees. Place your hands below your neck so that is acts as a support, and lift your shoulders up. Curling your shoulders, lift your upper back. Continue to hold this position for a couple of seconds and then return to your original position. These ab exercises for men can be repeated 20 times.

Arm Extension Crunches

Arm extension crunches are a variation of crunches where you would lie flat on the floor with your knees folded. Extend your arm and stretch it above your head while doing the traditional crunches. Hold this position for a couple of seconds and then return back to the starting position. This exercise can be repeated 20 times.




Butterfly Crunches

Butterfly crunches are also just a variation of the original crunches. Lie flat on the floor and place your hands below your neck so that it acts as a support. Bend your knees on either side of your body, with your feet together. Raise yourself up and hold the position for a couple of seconds and then return back to the starting position. This exercise can be repeated 20 times.

Supported Crunches

Supported crunches are some of the most effective and result-oriented ab exercises for men. Lie flat on the floor and place your hands below your neck so that it acts as a support. Keep a support near your feet and place your legs on this support, bending your legs so that they are at a 90 degree angle. Lift yourself up so that you curl upward with your elbows pointing inward. Hold this position for a couple of seconds and then return back to the starting position. This exercise can be repeated 20 times.

Knee Up Crunches

Knee up crunches involve lying flat on the floor and lifting your feet up so that your thighs are perpendicular in relation to the floor. Curl your hips while rotating your pelvis. This abdominal exercise is an excellent one for obliques and can be repeated 20 times.

Pelvic Tilt

The pelvic tilt is done by lying flat on the floor and folding your knees, with your feet flat on the floor, shoulder width apart from each other. Lift the lower part of your torso and hold this position for a couple of seconds before returning to the original position. This exercise can be repeated 20 times.

Other Ab Exercises For Men

Apart from the above-mentioned exercises, the following are excellent ab exercises for men.

• Lie down on the floor, not flat on your back, but on one side. With your hips straight, raise your body while using your elbow and feet to support your body.
• Hold this position for a couple of seconds and go back to the starting position. This exercise can be repeated 20 times.
• Hold a wooden rod behind your head and sit on the floor with your legs spread out. Twist from right to left slowly. This reduces the flab from your hips, and is an excellent exercise that could go hand in hand with crunches to give you great results.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/F._P._Fernandes/2115071

Weight Training Diet: How to Build Muscle Mass and Lose Fat

Designing any weight training diet may be one of the most important factors in achieving your body building goals. Some bodybuilders declare that a correctly designed diet plan is responsible for up to 80% of their success.

Many people believe that the simplest way to build lean muscles, particularly if you need to lose some weight as well, is to exercise like crazy and reduce calories. They think that having less and exercising much more will force the body to tap into its fat hold. It is not that simple though.

To begin with, counting calories is only part of necessary eating habits. Designing a perfect bodybuilding nourishment plan is not only about how much to consume.It is important to know when to consume, as well as what kind of food raises our metabolic rate, and which decreases it. Many extreme eating plans promise rapid weight loss through reducing calories intake and also decreasing appetite. The truth is, they put your system into starvation mode and decrease you metabolic rate.




Your current basal metabolic rate (BMR) depends on other factors you'll want to take into account. The most critical are your health, sex, age and our body size. Men normally have more muscle tissue and less fat than girls do, but planning the diet plan is equally important. Another important factor in planning your weight training weight loss program is your lifestyle and work problems; a construction worker needs a different weight training diet as compared to someone who spends hours working at a computer.

Some people think that working out on empty stomach may help them lose weight. Naturally, by eating too much before your workout, you may get stomach cramps so apply common sense. On the other hand, in the event you exercise on an empty stomach, your body goes directly to muscle tissue for fuel, instead of excess fat. You will end up fatigued and finally quit exercising completely because it will probably be too hard.

Additionally, our body needs fuel for other crucial functions like breathing, circulating blood, creating heat, growing hair and nails, developing and repairing cells, along with proper functioning of the coronary heart, lungs, nervous system, and other bodily organs.

The best thing you can do is to eat a normal meal before exercising as well as giving yourself enough time between eating and going to the fitness center. The best and the safest solution to create an optimal weight training diet and sticking to it, is to to follow qualified advice and maintain a food journal.

You will find formulas you can use to calculate weight training diet that will be the most effective for your body type, gender plus your level of activity. They make designing the program much easier.

Putting all your increased exposure of exercise and neglecting diet is a big mistake that can prevent you from achieving real results in smaller time. No matter how critical your weight program, the weight instruction diet can make all the difference.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Raymond_Anthony/169969

Full Body Workout Routine - Using Bodyweight Exercises to Get Great Results

When it comes to working out you always have options. Doing bodyweight exercises gives you options even when you don't have weights to use. That makes working out at home easier even with little space to work with.

So what are some bodyweight exercises you can do to get a stunning body with your new full body workout routine?

1) Push Up - The most well know and most used bodyweight exercise is the push up. It is a great exercise to build a strong upper body.

If you are just beginning working out you might want to start doing pushups with your knees on the ground until you build your strength up. There is no shame in that. Everybody is in a different place in their fitness quest.




2) Chin Up - Another very commonly used bodyweight exercise is the chin up. All you need is a chin up bar, if you don't have a chin up bar you can use a low lying rafter somewhere, make sure it is secure.

If you need assistance use a chair to help you get through the reps until you are ready to do regular chin ups.

3) Chair Dips - Another great exercise to attack your upper body. Chair dips work your triceps, shoulders, and chest. Be careful if you do too many you will wish you didn't the next day or two.

4) Rows - This is a little different than the other examples on the list. Do this one if you don't have a pull up bar handy.

Lie under your kitchen table, chest at the edge of the table, pull yourself up as high as you can to the bottom of your table. Be careful when doing this, if you don't have a very sturdy kitchen table do not attempt this exercise. Your significant other would not like it at dinner time if there is no kitchen table to eat on because of your morning workout.

5) Squats - The first few exercises mentioned target upper body, but squats when done properly blast your lower body. There are plenty of variations of squats.

Including: regular squat, pistol squat, split squat jump, prisoner squat, sumo squat, lateral squat, Bulgarian squat. Some of the names are pretty hilarious.

6) Lunges - A close cousin of squats, lunges are an excellent bodyweight exercise to build strength in your legs. Do squats and lunges regularly and watch your leg strength explode.

7) Step Up - Have one leg on a higher elevation than the other. Step the lower leg up to where the higher leg is. Inhale as you lower exhale as you are coming up. Do about 8-12 reps per leg.

There you have it a great full body workout routine using bodyweight exercises. You can build strength with your upper and lower body in just one workout. How cool is that? Get busy burning those unwanted calories.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Matthew_Beavers/1198938

The Top 4 Reasons Why You're Still Not Losing Your Belly Fat

You've been watching what you eat and regularly working out for weeks and weeks now but you still can't seem to fit into your old pair of jeans or wear that little black dress without looking like you're ready to explode out of it. This simply means that your diet plan and workouts have failed and you have not reduced your belly fat.

Various studies show that there may be some other things you're failing to do or are still doing that is causing you to retain your belly bulge. The top 4 reasons you're still not losing your belly fat are:

1. You're doing the wrong type of workout. In general, people immediately turn to steady-state cardio workouts, like long jogs, when trying to slim down. However, there is a big problem with this approach: a 45-minute run at a consistent pace can aid you shed pounds at first, but soon your metabolism will adjust and you will stop burning calories the moment you stop running on the treadmill. A better and more effective way to tone your tummy is through weight training. When you lift weights, you create micro-tears in muscle that take more energy and this helps you burn more calories. Another effective workout for fat loss is high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. You can create a HIIT program with various types of exercises, including cardio workouts such as running, swimming, and cycling and even full-body strength workouts.




2. You're not getting enough sleep. A study showed that women who slept five or fewer hours per night were 32 percent more likely to experience major weight gain over 16 years than those who got more sleep. As such, it really is important to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night.

3. You're still consuming too much alcohol. Alcohol can increase your appetite and food intake and certain kinds of alcoholic beverages are associated with increasing one's belly fat. There's no need to cut out booze completely: you can still a glass of wine or clear liquor every so often with a meal. But avoid alcohol beverages mixed with soda and other sugary mixers.

4. Your magnesium levels are low. Your body needs magnesium for more than 300 chemical reactions, including keeping heart rhythm steady, regulating blood flow and aiding you in your weight loss and body shaping endeavors. As such, eat more magnesium-rich foods, such as leafy green vegetables, beans, and nuts. You can also consider taking in supplements but you have to consult your doctor about this first.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Erica_L_Green/1867965