|
Getting Shredded Abs
While it is possible to maintain a flat midsection with some ab definition on a consistent basis, it is extremely difficult-and often unhealthy-to stay really shredded for an extended period of time. Those who have competed can attest to the physical and mental hardships of that day. Granted you looked your absolute best, but you were at your worst from a health stand point. That level of dehydration and unnatural eating is not something that can be maintained. Let us not forget that the people we admire in magazines were aware they were had a photo shoot to do, so they got themselves shredded. Also, we cannot forget that pictures can be touched up by anyone with computer access. One final note before we discuss getting shredded will be the mention of genetics. We are predisposed with a general outline of physique, metabolism, and fat distribution. I am sure we all know the person who looks great and they are not careful about what they eat and they hardly exercise;and I am sure we hate them too.
A common mistake many competitors make is to go overboard in the off season. Many stop doing cardio, and become extremely lax about their eating. They justify this by looking back at the months of hardship before going on stage. It is much easier to get ready for the next show, the beach, or the photo shoot when you are relatively lean. Be good most of the time so you be great the rest of the time. Muscle definition and striation are dependant on having muscle cells full of glycogen, small fat cells, and dehydrated skin that can cling closely to these tissues. These are very basic principles that need to be understood as you journey to be being shredded. If any of these factors are missing, you will look soft. Decrease overall body fat should be no surprise, and this needs to be done by decreasing caloric intake and increasing activity. Cardio is a must for people looking to get shredded, and the cardio needs to be focused since you should be going at a pace that is difficult. A quality cardio session does not allow you to read,chat with your buddy, or send text messages. Interval training is the best method of cardio training because it makes your body inefficient and therefore it has to burn more calories to keep up with the demand. Think about how much gasoline a car uses in cruise control vs when it is in stop and go traffic.
Intervals can be done on any piece of cardio equipment and even outside. You can modify the speed and/or the incline to make the exercise more difficult. After a 5-10 minutes warm up, perform hard intervals (you should be breathless, but not gasping) and then easy intervals (you should be able to talk, but feel like you would rather not), then cool down for 5 minutes. Start with 30 seconds hard and 1 minute easy for about 15 minutes. Increase your overall time, your intensity, or the amount of time you spend at the higher intensity. Milk, and milk products (excluding protein powders) should be eliminated about 6 weeks out from your event. Fruits should be eliminated about 2 weeks before the event, and the final week should have no fats. These means that the last few weeks will be very restrictive with your meals. This will mainly consist of oatmeal, brown rice, veggies, protein powder, and chicken/fish. Some competitors even change their main protein to white fish (orange roughy, halibut, tilapia) only during the last week because it has less fat than chicken. Green leafy veggies (broccoli, spinach) are ok to keep in the diet, but the final week should have a lot of asparagus. Asparagus is a natural diuretic, so it will help the body rid excess water. Eliminate sodium, and any foods or condiments that contain sodium since water will bind to this mineral and not allow you to get rid of it. Water consumption should be increased to about 2 gallons for when you are 7 days out. This needs to be done for about 2-3 days. As you get closer to goal date decrease the amount of water (to 1 gallon, then 1/2 gallon, and about 16 oz the day before) so that the skin becomes dehydrated and thus sticks closely to the muscle. On your event day you will only be able to consume a small amount of ice chips.
Be careful to not over do it and because cell will fill up too much and "spill over" causing a flat look that is not well defined. Please note that the above guidelines are very general, but they do work. Many competitors and fitness enthusiast have used them to look their best at their event. Everybody responds differently, so it make take some experimentation to find what truly works for you. Talk to other competitors and fitness professionals, but ultimately you have to make an educated decision for yourself.
This lesson is brought to you by our sponsor Nick Nilsson author of the Metabolic Surge Program.
A Fat-Loss Program That Actually Allows How Is That Possible? It's possible with a scientifically-designed program that harnesses and applies the real power of your own natural metabolism. With the right training and nutrition, your body is fully capable of building muscle even when on a fat-loss program. You see, your body reacts to certain nutrients and certain training styles in very predictable ways. By exploiting your body's natural reactions, the right program not only maximizes the positive fat-burning and muscle-building effects of Growth Hormone, it also maximizes the anabolic effects of Insulin while minimizing Insulin's possible negative impact on fat burning. It's a combination that has the potential to transform your body in a remarkably short period of time!
Click here right now to learn about a groundbreaking
More Ab Training Articles More Articles By Brian Cannone
| ||
Gas gets eaten up by the stop and go. Your body responds the same way with interval training. Since it goes hard, then easy, much more "gas" (calories) is used. Additionally, a harder more intense cardio session burns more calories. It is difficult to maintain this high intensity, but interval training allows you to spend a large part of your workout here.
About 7 days before, dramatically decrease carb intake. This will flatten your cells out as they lose glycogen which will prep them to get full once you re introduce carbs about 2 days before and all the way through the competition. Slowing increase intake of carbs to refill the cells.
FITNESS ATLANTIC 2011
CLASS OF 2011 SHOW REPORT
