Monday, August 25, 2008

The Truth About Abs

So I got an awesome interview for you today with my buddy Mike Geary who is the author of http://www.TruthAboutAbs.com

This is very important if you have ever wanted to get a flat stomach or ripped 6-pack abs.

Mike is not only the author of the best selling abs book on the entire Internet but a really good friend of mine who I went skydiving and white water rafting with two weeks ago in Colorado.

After you read the interview (it's really good) then be sure to check out Mike's website to learn more.

Here is how our interview went down:

Vince: What is the number one component to getting a six pack?

Mike: Your training style, nutrition, and mindset are all extremely important if you want to stand a chance at getting a six pack... However, if I had to choose 1 component that is most important, it would probably have to be nutrition. Maybe you've heard the saying before that "abs are made in the kitchen".

It really is true, and that's where the majority of people go wrong in the goal to get super lean. Of course, this also ties into mindset, because you really have to get your mind in the right place in order to have the discipline to be able to eat consistently clean enough to get six pack abs.

There's a lot of confusion out there these days about calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates... every "expert" disagrees with one another on proper ratios and types of diets. I think people make this way too complicated...

If you are just to focus on a good balance between fats, carbs, and proteins, and make sure to eat only natural unprocessed organic foods (as close to their natural state as possible) instead of packaged, processed foods, a lot of the problems that most people have with cravings, sweet tooth, overeating, blood sugar swings, etc all take care of themselves.

We still can't lose sight of the fact that you can overeat on healthy foods and gain fat even while eating healthy. Therefore, your caloric intake needs to be controlled to a level that will promote fat loss if that's the goal.

Vince: What is one thing I might be doing, unknowingly, steering my quest for a six pack in the wrong direction?

Mike: I'll give 2 things that may be steering you in the wrong direction...

a. Too much cardio

Some people, in their efforts to try to get lean, focus way too much on hours and hours of cardio exercise. The problem is that this can backfire on you by making you lose lean muscle mass over time, which decreases your resting metabolic rate. Once this happens, it becomes easier to pack on body fat than ever before. I've even seen many people that do too much cardio and end up getting that "skinny fat" appearance, where they have very little muscle tone, yet they have excess stomach fat (even a "gut" possibly).

Instead of excess cardio, focus more on high intensity weight training (yes, even during a "cutting" cycle). This will help maintain your lean muscle mass throughout your body, so that you don't experience the metabolic rate decrease. Maintaining as much lean muscle mass on your body at all times is one of the most important things for staying super-lean for life.

b. Not eating enough healthy fats

This is another area where I see people go in the wrong direction. They are trying to lose body fat and they end up going WAY too low on their fat intake. When you decrease your fat intake too much, you are basically messing up your fat burning and muscle building hormones. It's not uncommon to see people decrease their fat intake too low and end up reducing their testosterone levels significantly.

Try to get some sources of healthy fats with every meal to make sure you don't go too low... This could be avocados, any and all nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc), seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds), nut butters (almond butter, natural peanut butter, etc), virgin coconut oil (good source of medium chain triglycerides), extra virgin olive oil, grass fed beef (good source of conjugated linoleic acid and omega-3s), whole eggs (yes, whole eggs...not egg whites), etc.

Vince: What is one unique way of boosting your metabolism, to finally burn fat, that I might be overlooking?

Mike: Incorporate any form of clean & presses into your routines twice per week. This could be barbell clean & presses or using kettlebells or dumbbells. If I had to choose one exercise that burns the most calories and has the biggest impact on increasing your metabolic rate, I'd have to choose high intensity clean & presses (with squats and deadlifts being at the top of the pack also). I like alternating the use of barbells for C&P's one workout and kettlebells for another.

Vince: What is your number one plateau busting secret to lose the last 10 pounds?

Mike: When you get to the point that you're already fairly lean, but just need to lose that last 5 or 10 lbs of body fat that is covering up your abs, you really need to take your workouts to a whole new level of intensity.

Consider adding all-out wind sprints and/or hill sprints into your routine if you want to take it to the next level of intensity.

As for gym workouts, this also means no jibber-jabbering for 5 minutes in between sets at the gym... Instead, you need laser-focused intensity, and one of the best ways to keep high intensity is super-setting or alternating sets. This means while you're resting one area of your body, you're working another area of your body. I usually like to do this by alternating a really tough lower body exercise such as a squat, lunge, or deadlift, with a multi-joint upper body exercise such as a bench press, overhead press, bent over row, or pullup.

Think short rest periods, full body exercises, multi-joint exercises, lots of sweat, and your chest heaving for air... if that's what your workout is looking like, then you're on the right path. If not, then you're not working hard enough, so stop being lazy.

Vince: What is your advice for me to deal with the social temptations of alcohol, eating out, and junk food?

Mike: This is something many people struggle with, but if you set some limits, it can be easy to deal with and still stay lean. One thing I'd suggest is to make sure to not get n a habit of drinking alcohol excessively on a daily basis. If you're going to go out and have some fun with friends, try to limit the drinking to only 1 or 2 days max per week. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we can still go out and have fun with our friends without getting totally smashed.

You need to decide what is more important in your life... do you want to live healthy and have a sexy lean body, or do you want to get full-blown drunk every night? There's a lot more to life than alcohol.

As for eating out... If you're serious about getting and staying lean, eating out should only be an occasional event. Cooking your own food on a daily basis is extremely important as it's very hard to know what is in all of the junk at restaurants and fast food joints. One of the tricks I use when eating out is to NEVER eat fries or sodas (in fact, I never eat fries or sodas AT ALL).

Instead, go ahead and order that burger, but substitute steamed veggies or a salad for the fries. Almost every restaurant will make that substitution for you. And water or unsweetened iced tea are the best beverage options to keep the calories under control when eating out.

Vince: Why do I lose motivation when trying to get a six pack?

Mike: Most people lose motivation because they simply aren't seeing the results fast enough. If that's why you lose motivation, go back to all of the tips and techniques we've been talking about in here and see where your nutrition or training programs are going wrong so you can get faster results. Be patient and consistent and the results will come.

Also, you can really stay motivated by focusing on what has been successful so far. For example, maybe your fat loss hasn't been what you wanted so far, but maybe you've increased your pullups from 8 to 13 and your squat weight from 185 to 225 lbs. Keep focusing on your successes rather than your failures, and keep going for more successes.

More motivation tips -- Train regularly with a partner. This will keep you both focused and will keep you accountable to someone other than yourself. You don't want to disappoint someone else that you've made a goal with.

Also, keep a picture up in your house or at work of someone's body that motivates you to strive for those results. Look at it every day and keep visualizing your own body improving. Set a realistic goal and a time frame to acheive that goal, such as "I will lose 15 lbs of body fat in the next 8 weeks". The important thing here is realistic goal... don't expect to lose 30 lbs in 30 days (despite those weight loss scam ads that you see everywhere saying this is possible).

Vince: I understand you number have the number one ab book on the Internet, Truth About Abs. Why do you think it's so popular?

Mike: My Truth about Abs program is so popular because it works! It's REAL nutrition and REAL training programs. I give the TRUTH on what people really need to get lean sexy abs for life and why they DON'T NEED fad gimmicks like diets, ab infomercial gadgets, and bogus fat burning pills that people waste way too much money on.

Vince; Who should order http://www.TruthAboutAbs.com and who is this book not for?

Mike: This program is for anyone that wants to truly live healthy and get super-lean for life. I have college students, parents, busy professionals, and even grandparents using this program successfully.

Who is this program NOT for? Anyone who is lazy, or thinks that there is a "quick fix" out there. There isn't! So stop looking for a quick fix, and learn the truth!

Click here to learn the truth --> http://www.TruthAboutAbs.com

As you can, Mike is fountain of information and I strongly believe that staying motivated and educated is a huge part of your transformation so I wanted to share this fantastic resource with you.

I'm flying out to Las Vegas to hang out with Mike as well as some of my other fitness friends Craig Ballantyne, Ryan Lee, Jeff Anderson, Rob Polous, Scott Colby and a few other buddies!

Next update will be from Vegas baby!

Vince DelMonte

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Olympics and Deadlines

Wow... so I survived my 'Fear Factor' style vacation these past few days with my buddy Mike Geary here in Colorado. The highlight was conquering the 3rd hardest and most violent set of rapids in US called Gore Canyon!

We went over three sets of 8-foot waterfalls and I still have no idea how we didn't do any swimming and I came out completely unharmed.

In between hot springs, wine tasting, hiking to water falls, sky diving and white water rafting, I've been watching the Olympics and wanted to point out ONE reason I believe they have achieved so much in their respective sports.

The athletes set deadlines.

They don't wing it.

They don't hope they qualify or make it.

They don't have a 'We'll see what happens...' attitude.

They have VERY SPECIFIC goals.

And goals without deadlines are DREAMS!>

Each athlete knows on a specific day that it's show time!

Now let's apply this to you...

Have you set a deadline for when you are going to gain another 6 pounds of muscle mass around your shoulders, chest and arms?

Have you set a deadline for when you're going to lose that last 15 pounds of stubborn belly fat?

Have you set a deadline for when you're going to be 12 weeks closer to your goals instead of 12 weeks further from your goals?

So here's how I am going to help you.

I cordially invite you to take on my 12-week transformation contest. I'm giving $1,000 cash to the best skinny guy transformation, best chubby guy transformation and best overall female transformation.

Go to http://www.vincedelmontefitness.blogspot.com to read the rules. After that you need to send your Before Pictures to vincedelmontefitness@yahoo.ca

The contest ends November 9, 2009 so your last day to start would be this Monday August 18th.

Here are the benefits of setting deadlines and using a transformation contest to make the most of the next 12 weeks:

1. Help you finally prioritize your goal of improving your health and physique and the way you feel about yourself.

2. You're outside your comfort zone and will be forced to take continual action and this is the ONLY time change happens.

3. You won't procrastinate - every single workout and meal counts now and will move you closer to your goal or further from your goal.

4. You will build experience quickly and be forced to apply my 'trial and error' technique and ensure you lose 1% each and every week.

5. You'll have a kick-butt set of Before and After pictures that you can share with your friends for life.

If you want to seriously lean down then grab my fat loss program --> http://www.YourSixPackQuest.com

If you seriously want to gain some size then grab my muscle program --> http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com

Both programs work even better when you put a deadline to them :)

I'm off to catch a plane for Kelowna, BC to watch my brother race in the National Triathlon Championships this Sunday.

I'll be looking forward to getting your Before pictures over the weekend.

Have a great weekend,

Vince Delmonte
Author, No Nonsense Muscle Building
Author, Your Six Pack Quest
Contributor to Men's Fitness Magazine
Advisory Team, Maximum Fitness Magazine
H.B.K. CPT

P.S. Check out what Pam said about the Female Only workout that accompanies my Your Six Pack Quest program...

'Just finished day one of the women's version and I have to say that is quite a workout! I really was surprised it was that hard (and I like hard!) So thanks for the start. I know it's up to me to finish.'