Spin for a Pin!

I’m going to show you an example today of one of my favorite “ab workouts” that doesn’t include any direct “ab exercises” at all. This is actually a full body workout that works your abs pretty hard indirectly, and stimulates a good metabolism boost!  It’s in a tri-set format (similar to a super-set but alternating between 3 exercises instead of 2).  

Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one time or another.  You’re cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you’ve gained back a couple of pounds.  It happens to everyone.

Most of the time, these plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time. Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine.  Well, I hope to open your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!

CB: Mike, let’s start off with some background on the types of people you train, and your training background.

MG:  Craig, I’ve been a Certified Personal Trainer for almost a decade now, and in recent years, I’ve become certified as a Nutrition Specialist as well. As for the types of people I train… I’ve trained everybody from skinny teenagers looking to add some bulk to their frame, to middle-aged housewives and businessmen looking to lose body fat, to senior citizens looking to get stronger and leaner in their golden years.      

If you’ve been looking for a different training technique to break out of a rut, eliminate the boredom, and bring on new results, workout “complexes” may be just what you’ve been looking for.

What are workout “complexes”?          

I was at a poker party up in North Jersey over the weekend at a friend’s house.  My friend had moved into this beautiful new home about a year ago, but I had never made it up for a visit until this weekend.

Well, as they were giving us a tour of the house, we took a peek into one of their spare rooms which wasn’t being used for anything. The only thing they had in this room was one of those infomercial “ab loungers” covered in dust… you know, the ab-chair looking thingy that they hawk on the infomercials as being the end-all solution to a flabby stomach… telling you that you can get a flat stomach and perfect abs just by sitting on this thing and rocking a little bit while you lazily watch tv.  

As you’ve probably heard before, your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day.

The reason is that when you’re finished with an intense workout, you’re entering a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and increased cortisol levels are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. These conditions are not good and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state) is to consume a quickly digestible post-workout meal (can be a shake or smoothie) as soon as you can after training.