5 OPEN SECRETS YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE YOU START FITNESS WORKOUT

1.   Have you ever heard the expression "use it or lose it"? It's true! If you don't use your body, you will surely lose it. Your muscles will become flabby and weak. Your heart and lungs won't function efficiently. And your joints will be stiff and easily injured. Regular exercise is necessary for physical fitness and good health.

2.   Exercise and physical activity are great ways to have healthy and smart body. The benefits that exercise provides can help you to stay strong and fit enough to perform your daily activities, get around, and maintain your independence. Research says that engaging in 30 minutes of exercise a day is all you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Exercising regularly get some change in your physical build up and thereby you get healthy body and more energy to work hard. Therefore it is very important know about “Human Anatomy and Physiology” before you start doing physical exercise.

VARIOUS IMPORTANT “SYSTEM OF HUMAN BODY” YOU SHOULD KNOW

3. Know About Your Skeletal System.    Your skeletal system is all of the bones in the body and the tissues such as tendons, ligaments and cartilage that connect them. The main job of the skeleton is to provide support for your body. The skeletal system also provides attachment points for muscles to allow movements at the joints. New blood cells are produced by the red bone marrow inside of our bones. Picture below will give you the clear idea of your Skeletal System:

IMAGE: Skeletal System

4.      Know About Your Muscular System  The muscular system is responsible for the movement of the human body. The muscular system in vertebrates is controlled through the nervous system. Together with the skeletal system it forms the musculoskeletal system, which is responsible for movement of the human body. It permits movement of the body, maintains posture, and circulates blood throughout the body. There are three distinct types of muscles as per NIH:

       a.      Skeletal muscles,

       b.      Cardiac or heart muscles,

         c.       Smooth (non-striated) muscles.

IMAGE: Muscular System

5. Know About Your Respiratory System. Your respiratory system is made up of the organs in your body that help you to breathe. The respiratory system is involved in the intake and exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between an organism and the environment. Respiration takes place in the respiratory organs called lungs. Red blood cells collect the oxygen from the lungs and carry it to the parts of the body where it is needed. During the process, the red blood cells collect the carbon dioxide and transport it back to the lungs, where it leaves the body when you exhale. The human body needs oxygen to sustain itself. A decrease in oxygen is known as hypoxia and a complete lack of oxygen is known as anoxia.

6.      Know About Your Digestive System  The digestive system is a group of organs working together to convert food into energy and basic nutrients to feed the entire body. It breaks down the food cells and collects required vitamins, minerals, carbo-hydrates and fat to grow your body, gain energy and healing the deficiency of the body. The main function of digestive system is as below:

a.      Ingestion of food

b.      Secretion of fluids and digestive enzymes

c.       Mixing and movement of food and wastes through the body

d.      Digestion of food into smaller pieces

e.      Absorption of nutrients

          f.       Excretion of wastes

IMAGE: Digestive System

7.      Know About Your Nervous System    The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, sensory organs, and all of the nerves that connect these organs with the rest of the body. This is the most important control system of human body. This system sends signal to whole body that how the various muscle and organ of human body will work.

IMAGE: Nervous System

8.      In today’s hectic world that we live in, maintaining your good health care is very important for you to keep up with today’s economy lifestyle. All of us need to be healthy regardless of our age or gender. In order to be considered you as overall well-being healthy, you should have a disease free body, fit and fill with abundant energy. Information above will help you to carry out regular exercise, choose correct food for you and overall attain a healthy and sound body.

Dieting Made Easy

Besides questions on dating and sex, "How do I lose weight?" is the most popular question AskMen.com receives. Two major factors are key in shedding inches off your waistline: a proper diet and a good exercise regimen. You can read more on how to improve your exercise routine and apply some easy nutrition tips, such as the ones below, in our fitness tips channel.

Improving your eating habits doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have to undergo draconian deprivations and scrutinize your diet for every calorie that is over the limit. Simply make a few minor adjustments in your eating habits and watch them payoff within weeks. Here is AM's guide to dieting made easy.

dieting made easy

The good thing about these dieting made easy tips is that you can lose weight without letting all of your snack-eating friends know that you're watching your food intake. Furthermore, the next time you go out on a date, she won't be turned off by thinking you're a pickier eater than she is for requesting the low-calorie menu or your salad dressing on the side. Read on, follow these simple weight loss tips and watch your waistline undergo some noticeable improvements.

Choose juices with pulp

Most of us don't like drinking water all day long. We find that it lacks flavor and that it simply doesn't quench our thirst as well as soft drinks or juices do. So, if you're a big juice drinker, replace pulp-free fruit juice with juice that is rich in pulp. The reason is simple: Juice with more pulp will fill you up more quickly than processed juice. Becoming full faster means that you'll consume less juice by day's end, thereby reducing the amount of excess calories.

Pulp is loaded with fiber, an essential nutrient that your body not only needs, but will make you feel a lot more full throughout the day. More pulp can also help prevent insulin spiking, which usually results in an energy crash that comes from strained juices. As a rule of thumb, drinking juice with extra pulp will reduce your total juice consumption by one-fourth.

Choose whole wheat breads

The same principle can be applied to bagels or bread. Instead of buying white bread, stick to whole wheat. The added fiber in whole wheat bread will kill your appetite quicker than if you were eating white bread. Therefore, instead of eating two portions of the processed version of the bread, you might only eat one, resulting in a cut in your caloric intake. Products containing whole wheat are also believed to keep blood-sugar levels stable over a longer period of time. To make this dieting made easy tip even more effective, cut your portions in half and eat them over a longer period of time.

Cut the cheese content

Most of us bring our lunches to work and the most common thing we pack in the old lunch bag is a sandwich. So, if you are eating five sandwiches a week, it's important to cut the calorie and fat content in each sandwich, without killing its taste. Here is a little trick that will help you do just that: Cut the cheese content.

Instead of using slices, include shavings (shredded cheese) in your healthy sandwich. You will cover the same surface area of bread, however, you'll be using much less cheese.

The same principle can be applied to salads, or cheese can be melted on to add flavor to other foods. Simply reduce the quantities used by opting for shredded cheese rather than slices; in the long run, you will consume a lot less calories and fat, which will, in turn, reduce your weight.

Measure what you eat

It's true that sandwiches aren't the same without mayonnaise, but men usually like to spread a lot of mayonnaise on their bread. The next time you prepare a sandwich, measure the amount of mayonnaise you actually add to the sandwich. That way, you can actually see how many grams of fat you'll be eating with each sandwich. You'll quickly see that those servings will get smaller and smaller and before you know it, you'll want to switch to a lighter brand of mayonnaise.

This minor change to your eating habits will really make a noticeable difference in your weight, while keeping the taste differences to a minimum. Please remember that these little tips can also be applied to margarine, butter and all kinds of cheese. This is a simple tip that will make dieting easy.

Cut out the bread

Finally, when you're at a restaurant and the waiter places the basket of bread on your table, try to toss it aside. The worst thing every man does is eat half the basket before the meal arrives. Take, for example, someone that eats three slices of bread each time he goes out to eat. These three slices can add as much as 200 calories to the entire meal; and if your meal consists of 1,000 calories, you just added 20% to it.

Bread is processed carbohydrates and the insulin release the bread triggers tells the body to store the extra calories as fat. Thus, to keep it simple, try to stay away from all types of bread as much as possible, especially later in the day.

small changes, big results

As you can see, these weight loss tips won't complicate your life. The only thing they will do is help you shed a few pounds by the end of the month. AskMen.com has covered all sorts of ways and methods to eat healthy and lose weight; check out our Diet and Nutrition channel, follow our advice and you'll be on your way to being a better man in no time.

Weight Training Without Weights

Some individuals have the goal of developing strength, yet they don’t want to use weights to do so. Whether it’s because in these financially tense times they can’t afford a gym membership, they want to give their CNS a break from the heavy lifting, or they are just looking for a change of pace from their traditional workout program, these guys are on the hunt for a workout that will boost strength without the weights.

Can it be done? You bet. With a variety of body-weight and plyometric exercises available, you can create a very effective workout that’s short on time, but high on results.

Here’s what you need to know about weight training without weights.

The factor of overload

The number one requirement for a muscle to grow is an overloading stimulus; essentially a stress the muscle has not encountered before.

The key factor to keep in mind here is that this stress does not need to come from weighted plates. It can come from your bodyweight, gravity, instability, or momentum.

If you look at many professional athletes such as gymnasts, they are incredibly strong yet many are not in the weight room every day hoisting extremely heavy weights around. They develop their strength through gymnastic-specific training such as work on the beam, rings and the floor that is essentially weight training without weights.

Therefore, if you are able to incorporate these aspects into a body-weight workout program, you will still be able to generate the strength levels that you’re looking for.

the workout

Lower body

Jump Squats with a pause in the squat position - 3 sets of 8 reps
To perform this exercise, move down into a full squat position and then explode off the floor, jumping as high as possible. Upon landing, move back down into the squat position, stopping halfway down to pause for a count of five seconds before finishing the squat and rebounding off the ground again.

Step-ups - 3 sets of 20 reps with a 2:0:2 tempo
While step-ups are traditionally done with a barbell across the back, if you use a step that’s high enough and take the rep range higher while slowing down the tempo, you’re really going to feel this exercise.

Half-to-full stationary lunge - 2 sets of 15 reps with a 2:1:3:1 tempo
Get into the position you would use to do a single stationary lunge and then begin the movement until you are halfway through the typical lunge movement. Reverse the direction back to the starting position again, and then proceed to complete the full lunge motion to complete one set.

Single-leg rising deadlift - 2 sets of 15 reps with a 3:1:3 tempo
Begin in an upright standing position and then simultaneously begin to lift one leg off the floor behind you while bending over with the body until your leg and body are perpendicular with the standing leg (both legs remain straight). Hold for a single count before returning to the starting position and switch legs after all reps are completed.

Upper body

Alternating push-up to side plank - 3 sets of 15 reps with a 2:1:4 tempo
Begin by performing a standard push-up, taking two seconds to lower and one to rise back up. Once you’re at the top of the movement again, you are to flip onto your side and perform a side plank, holding that for a count of four seconds, moving back into the push-up position before you complete the next rep.

Pull-up with pike - 3 sets of 15 reps with a 2:2:2:1 tempo
Start by performing the traditional pull-up movement, but once you reach the bottom of the movement, move into a pike trying to get your legs up to at least waist level. After the pike is completed, continue on with your next pull-up.

Single-leg tricep dips - 2 sets of 15 reps with a 2:0:2 tempo
Get into a standard dip position, with your legs up on a bench or box. Once you're balanced, lift one leg off that box and perform the tricep dips from there. This will call your core into play to a much larger extent due to the fact you have a reduced base of support. Remember to do equal sets on each leg.

Inverted row - 2 sets of 15 reps with a 2:1:2 tempo
Begin by lying on the floor with a broomstick or pole across two level surfaces. From there, grasp the bar as you would if you were doing a bent-over row (upside down) and pull the body up to meet the bar. Make sure your pole is well supported and not at an angle.

weight-less workout plans

So, give the above workout a try next time you are looking to boost your strength levels and try something new. Even though you aren’t using weights, don’t pass these exercises off as easy as they aren’t that at all. They are definitely going to challenge your abilities and put your fitness levels to the test.

Build Bigger Shoulders

To truly create a muscular image, you will need to focus on increasing the size of your shoulders; doing so will help you develop the tapered V look, which is created by having broad shoulders and a narrow waist. This is one of the most important factors that professional bodybuilders strive for with their training. It's also important to your overall health to maintain a healthy waist-to-hip ratio.

In order to build bigger shoulders, you need to focus on the right types of movements and ensure that you’re taking in enough calories to support muscle growth. Keep in mind that it’s not just direct shoulder exercises that will build bigger shoulders, but a well-planned upper-body or full-body workout will help build shoulder mass while keeping the body in good proportion.

Below are some of the best exercises and techniques to use to help you build bigger shoulders.

Shoulder press variations

The shoulder press is a great exercise to build bigger shoulders and to develop strength. This is due to the fact that most people will be able to lift a much higher weight than they would with isolated shoulder exercises.

There are a few variations you can perform with the shoulder press, such as the front barbell press, behind the neck barbell press (both of which can also be done with dumbbells if you prefer) and Arnold presses.

Here's a video of a seated Arnold press.

It’s a good idea to alternate between these shoulder exercises over time to prevent plateaus and the development of any weak points in the shoulders.

You should keep the rep ranges lower for shoulder press exercises, within the 5 to 8 rep range, performing a total of 2 to 4 sets.

Upright rows

Upright rows will work well for building the caps on the shoulders because they will primarily hit the lateral head of the deltoid. They will also give a nice rounded appearance to the shoulder muscle, making them appear fuller.

Watch when you do this shoulder exercise that you do not bring the weight higher than shoulder level as this places great stress on the shoulder joint and could lead to injury.

It may help if you’re just adding this exercise to perform it while sitting in an upright chair to make sure the back stays flat. Then, after you have the form down, move into a standing position so you can generate maximum force.

Aim for 10 reps per set and 2 to 3 sets per workout. If you’d like to boost the intensity and go for a good muscle pump, try incorporating drop sets with this shoulder exercise.

Shrugs

Shrugs are a great shoulder exercise to add for increasing the width of the upper back and building up your traps. These are simply performed by holding a set of dumbbells or a barbell in your hands with the arms relaxed at the side of the body. Then, proceed to shrug the shoulders up as high as possible, focusing on generating the movement from the mid-section of your upper body, right below the neck. Be sure to stretch the neck out after doing this exercise to prevent tightness from developing.

Aim for 12 to 15 reps per set and 2 sets per workout.

Click through to see a video of shoulder shrugs.

Lateral to front raises

To round out your shoulder, workout and isolate the medial and frontal head of the deltoid, and then add two sets of lateral and front raises.

Since the muscle will be much weaker when performing these exercises, don’t expect to lift as heavy a weight. Instead, focus on performing more reps into the 10 to 12 per set range using rest periods of only 30 seconds. This will help the muscle get used to clearing lactic acid so you don’t fatigue as easily with your other lifts.

Depending on what you’re doing during your back workout, you may also wish to add in some rear deltoid work; however, if you’re doing heavy bent-over rows, those will hit this muscle quite well already.

Good options if you do wish to include rear deltoid exercises include cable rear delt pulls and seated rear delt lateral raises. If you’re working out at a gym that allows you to do a reverse pec deck, that’s also an option for hitting this muscle group.

Our final video shows -- you guessed it -- lateral to front raises.

carry the weight of the world

As you go about designing your overall workout program, be sure the shoulder workout is carefully balanced with the rest of your workout. Keep in mind that many chest exercises, especially the incline chest press, will indirectly target the shoulders, so you want to make sure that you’re getting enough total rest throughout your training. Don’t place a heavy chest workout the day before you do a shoulder workout or you might just find that you’re shoulder workout suffers because of it.

6 No-Crunch Exercises For 6-Pack Abs

If you’re like many people, one of your top goals in the gym is to get a set of 6-pack abs. Nothing screams "high fitness level" like a tight and firm midsection, but many men often think that in order to accomplish this goal they must perform an endless series of crunches each and every time they workout.

This is not the case at all.

There are a number of exercises you can perform that will recruit all of the muscle fibers deep within the tissue without requiring any type of crunching action.

Below are six such exercises that are guaranteed to get you the results you’re looking for, provided they're incorporated into a well-rounded program that works all of the major muscle groups in the body.

The renegade row

The renegade row demands good balance and coordination, because if you don’t contract your abdominal muscles you’re going to fall over.

To perform it, position yourself so your legs are straight out behind you while you’re balancing your upper body with your hands, each on a dumbbell that are placed shoulder-width apart on the floor under the shoulders.

Once in this position, transfer your weight to one side and proceed to lift the arm up to perform a one-arm row.

After completing this, either move on to a second rep on the same side or switch over to the other side and alternate between reps in that manner.

Raised-leg single-leg squat

Even if you have incredibly strong quads, this single-leg squat will still challenge your abdominal core.

To perform it, stand so that you’re balancing on one leg with the other leg raised out as high into the air as possible, directly in front of you.

Next, begin to squat down on the standing leg, maintaining balance the entire time. Go down as low as you can possibly go, and then rise back up to the starting position.

After finishing 10 reps on one side, switch legs and repeat.

Side leg raises

This third no-crunch exercise for 6-pack abs also tests your balancing abilities while focusing on the obliques.

To start, move into a plank. From there, lift the hand and leg of one side of the body off the floor and rotate until you’re now in a sideways position.

Once you’ve found your balance, proceed to lift the leg closest to the ceiling up and down performing side leg lifts. To increase the challenge, bring the leg forward and back as well; however, be absolutely sure you maintain the straight spinal column position.

Cable woodchoppers

This exercise works double-time to strengthen the abdominal core and work the shoulder muscles. First, stand sideways to a cable machine with a low-cable pulley attachment by your feet.

Bend over using a slight bend in the knees and reach for the handle. From there, straighten your body back up while twisting in the opposite direction until you are holding the handle across your body and above your head in the opposite direction.

Pause for a brief moment and then lower back down to the starting position to complete the rep. Aim for 10 reps on each side.

Lunge with ball pass-off

This no-crunch ab exercise is best to do with a partner so they can follow right behind you to control the position of the ball.

Begin by performing a standard lunge while holding a medicine ball. As you lower down to the ground, you want to twist to the side so you are able to hand the ball off to your partner behind you.

From that point, twist back to the front and continue with the lunging motion until you get to the bottom portion of the second lunge. Have your partner pass you the ball on your other side.

Try for 10 reps on each side before taking a 30 to 60 second rest and performing the 6-pack ab exercise again.

Stability ball jack-knife

Finally, the sixth no-crunch ab exercise, a high intensity one, is a stability ball jack-knife.

To perform this, place your elbows on a bench while your legs are behind you on top of an exercise ball, with your stomach facing the floor.

From there, lift one leg off the exercise ball and raise it out to the side of your body, then curl the ball into your chest with the leg still on top of it. Once the ball is as far as it can go, extend it straight out behind you again.

ab-tastic exercises

So, the next time you’re dreading your regular old 6-pack ab workout, keep these variations in mind. By changing things up every so often you not only prevent boredom at the gym, but it will take your results to a higher level.

Signs You're A Healthy Guy

In a society obsessed with health, it's almost impossible to escape health-related horror stories. From news of impending pandemics to symptoms of horrific diseases, health news is often tinged with a touch of fear. We spend so much time worrying about disease that we rarely ever question the flip side: What does it mean to be healthy? Thankfully, that's a question that AM can help answer. Check out the following signs to see if you are a healthy guy.

You have firm pink nails

While their probably not the first item you'd expect to see on a man's checklist of healthy markers, fingernails certainly can reveal a lot about someone's health. Generally, a healthy individual's nails will be pink, firm and smooth. Although subtle variations are common -- a touch of white here or a few ripples there -- any major changes in the nails should ring the alarm. Thick yellow nails that grow slowly may indicate a respiratory disease like chronic bronchitis. Indentations across the nails, called Beau's lines, might point to diabetes, while spoon-like nails that curve outwards might be a sign of low iron. Although changes in the nails are rarely the first clue to an illness, if your nails don't appear healthy, it's best to raise this with your family doctor.

Your urine is the color of a manila folder

Ever think of checking your pee to see if you're healthy? If not, perhaps it's time you start since your urine may reveal important clues about your health. Preferably, your urine should be the color of a manila file folder -- a pale yellow. You can take that as a sign that you’re a healthy guy. However, normal urine can vary in shades of yellow depending on how much water you drink. If you drink a lot of fluids your urine will likely be clear (and medically, that's no problem). If, however, you're dehydrated, your urine will have a dark, brownish tinge like ice tea. Beyond simple shades, be keen to notice any other major changes. A sweet smell, odd odor, a drop of red, or some other color change that seems unrelated to any food, medication or supplement you've recently consumed should not be ignored.

You ejaculate a tablespoon of semen

A healthy, middle-age man should ejaculate anywhere from 2 to 5 ml of semen. While semen load decreases as a man ages, a load less than 2 ml is indicative of hyperspermia, a condition that may affect male fertility (this 2 ml cut-off is even supported by the World Health Organization!). Aside from volume, the color and consistency of a man’s semen can also give clues to his health. Without getting into too much detail, a healthy guy should have white or gray, sticky semen. Semen that’s tinged with blood or overly runny might be a sign of a health problem and should be discussed with a doctor.

You have a resting heart rate around 70 bpm

Resting heart rate (RHR), or the number of times the heart beats per minute at rest, is a great indicator of your overall fitness level. Although an RHR will vary with age, for the average healthy male, an RHR between 70 and 75 beats per minute (bpm) is a reasonable target. In fact, an RHR between 60 and 100 bpm is generally considered normal for adults. Heart rates outside of this range can cause serious health problems and may indicate an underlying health issue. To measure your pulse, simply place two fingers on the thumb side of your wrist. When you feel your pulse, look at your watch and count the number of beats in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by four to get your heart rate per minute.

Your skin is elastic

Skin elasticity, or turgor, is commonly used to assess the degree of dehydration. If you’ve been battling bouts of diarrhea or have been praying to the porcelain gods (i.e., vomiting) chances are that you’ve lost quite a bit of fluid. Healthy skin retains elasticity and will return to normal if you try to manipulate it. To test your skin’s elasticity, simply pinch the skin on the back of your hand. Dehydrated skin will remain elevated and will return slowly to its normal position while healthy skin will snap back into place.

are you a healthy guy?

Day in and day out we’re flooded with information of disease, but rarely do we ever hear what it means to be in good health. Although the above list is by no means complete, paying attention to signs of good health might help you spot real problems before they take hold. Be healthy. Be proactive!

The Truth About Abdominal Training

That ever-elusive six-pack is something that anyone who dedicates a decent amount of time to their workouts covets, and strives to achieve. Unfortunately, many go about this in all the wrong ways.

How many times have you seen a guy performing countless crunches on the abdominal mat, session after session, with no real improvement in his abdominal area? It’s quite a common occurrence.

When it comes to ab muscles, you must train them in a similar way to all your other muscle groups, depending on the visual image you wish them to take on. You also have to get your diet in line.

“Abs are made in the kitchen.” Whoever first said that wasn’t lying. Getting ripped abs is going to be about 90% due to a really solid diet and 10% due to your ab exercises and cardio training. You can have the best thought-out program in the world, but if you have a layer of fat covering your abs, no one is going to see the abdominal muscles you’ve developed.

So, the first truth you need to know about abdominal training is that diet is the single most important factor. There is no way around this unless you are one of the genetically lucky few who can eat all they want and stay lean.

Now, we'll have a look at the whole truth behind your abdominal training.

Frequency

One of the questions that often arises when men are abdominal training is: How frequently should I be training my abdominal muscles? Some believe that these are "endurance" muscles and as such, should be trained each and every day.

Think about this for a second and ask yourself: When does a muscle actually grow and become stronger? Answer: During rest.

So, if you're hitting your abdominal muscles every day you are either doing one of two things:

1. Not giving your muscles enough time to recover between sessions, thus, further breaking them down each consecutive session, reducing any results you’ll see.
2. You're not working them hard enough in the first place to create those tiny muscle tears that are necessary in order for them to grow back stronger.
   

Whichever factor is at play with your training, you need to fix it.

You should also take your overall goals into account when determining your frequency. If you're looking for sheer strength, you will likely want to use weight -- and heavy weight -- with your abdominal training. As such, you will need more time to recover and should consider doing your ab exercises about two or three times each week.

If you are looking to achieve more core stability from your training, then you should be able to bump this up to about three or four times each week since you will be doing more agility-based exercises with less weight.

Some guys tend to think that abs need less time to recover than the other muscle groups since they are smaller, but if you stop to think about this once again you'll realize that your ab muscles really aren't chemically different from your chest muscles. They are both muscle fiber tissues and will respond in similar ways. The harder you work the muscles, the more damage you will do and, thus, the more rest you will need. There is no additional benefit to training abs every single day, assuming that you are doing productive abdominal workouts (applying an overloading stimulus in the same matter you would with your other muscle groups).

Volume

Next up, you need to determine the volume you should use with your abdominal training. Is doing 100 crunches in a row beneficial or should you be doing only 8 to 12 like you would any other weight-lifting exercise?

Again, let’s look at your goals: Remember that weight lifted and total reps will have an inverse relationship, so the more weight you are using the fewer reps you should be doing.

If you are mostly looking to prevent injuries from your training (and of course, have the abs show, which we’ve already determined will be largely based on your diet, regardless of your physical goal), then two to four sets of abdominal work should be enough.

Keep in mind that the abdominal muscles are highly adaptive to exercise so you absolutely must keep changing the exercises on a regular basis, especially if you aren’t using weight. Once your abs recognize a movement they’ve done before, chances are they aren’t going to feel the need to change all that much.

Aim to have three to four exercises that you regularly cycle through from week to week. You can keep the same exercise in for a few consecutive sessions, but after that move on to the next.

On the other hand, if your primary objective is strength and you are doing weighted abdominal training and, therefore, fewer reps (3 to 6 rep range), increase the sets to 6 to 10. This should also be enough to really spark some good muscle-size growth for those looking to noticeably increase their shape, assuming sufficient rest is being given between sessions.

When to do your ab work

The third factor to address is when you should be doing your ab work. With this, remember that your abs are going to largely act as stabilizer muscles throughout your other lifts, particularly the squat, deadlift and military press.

If they are already considerably fatigued from your abdominal training, this could potentially set you up for injury while performing the other lifts, which happen to be lifts that you’ll usually be using a large volume of weight tom complete. In order to prevent injury, be sure your abdominal training comes at the end of your workout.

Exercise selection

Finally, the last point to address is the actual exercise selection you choose with your abdominal training.

A common myth is that you should work your "upper abs" and "lower abs" separately. Truth be told, you cannot actually separate these muscles, and when you perform any abdominal exercise they will all contract simultaneously.

What you do want to focus on (if your goal is agility) is reducing your base of support as much as possible. This is what will work most effectively to really target your deep muscle fiber tissue and give you the best workout possible.

Good choices here would be abdominal work on an exercise ball, clocks (rotating the legs in a circular motion while lying on the floor), twisting work standing on a bosu ball, or partner work with medicine balls.

Alternatively, if you’re going for strength and are using weight, select movements that will get you moving through a great range of motion so that you can strengthen your muscles from the greatest angles possible. Good choices here would be decline sit-ups, weighted hanging leg raises and cable-cross bends.

If you’re stuck for ideas when it comes to new exercises for abdominal training, don’t be afraid to approach a trainer. There are many different pieces of equipment that are coming out as well that can be used to enhance your workouts and a trainer might be able to direct you to one of these.

Furthermore, keep in mind that it really doesn't take all that much change overall to prevent the adaptation that your abs experience to any given exercise, so it can be simply adjusting your stance/laying position slightly from week to week to keep seeing progress.

abdominal myths debunked

So, be sure you remember these basic truths behind abdominal training. This is one area of fitness that many people struggle with. Although, most commonly, lack of results come from the diet aspect rather than the workout plan, so pay attention to the above tips and get that washboard stomach you've been dreaming about.