This is an interview by Geovanni Derice with Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer ( reprinted with permission by Mike Geary, author of “The Truth About Abs”)

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I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Certified Personal Trainer, Geovanni Derice. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it… I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of that stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abs that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself and how you can help our readers with their fitness and health.

MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning.

At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 33 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.

I decided earlier in my 20′s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.

I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.

GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work… if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is… after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.

In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is… are you ready for this?

They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!

GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book).

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing… and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose body fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).

Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.

The point is to not fall for some gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another.

Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several nuggets of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don’t already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system I’ve developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!

Before we get into how to get flat abs, let me ask you a question – who are you and why are you here?

Are you the college student who drank too many beers and ate too many late night snacks while cramming for your exams? Are you the new mom who is looking to lose the extra pounds that being pregnant has given you? Are you the 30 something guy who is tired of looking at that spare tire around your waste? Are you the 40 something gal who wants to fit into those jeans you bought last year? It doesn’t matter. We come from all walks of life – different ages, ethnic backgrounds, sexes and body sizes – but it all comes down to the same thing. We want to change the way we look because we are not happy with the way we look now.

I think to most people, firm abs are the epiphany of a fit body. No matter how thin we are, nothing looks better than someone that has a flat, sexy stomach, be it a man or woman. Whenever you go to the beach, a pool or a resort vacation, where does your eye naturally wander? We tend to look at those beautiful, tanned and toned individuals who seem to have the perfect body.

What does it take to get that flat sexy stomach we all want and desire? Whether you are a young man trying to impress the girls, a new mom who wants to lose her post-pregnancy belly fat or someone approaching middle age who’s tired of looking in the mirror and seeing their sagging tummy, we all can have the firm abs we crave with a little bit of guidance and motivation.

Click Here to Find out How to Get Firm Abs Fast

I’ll tell how you won’t get them:

• You can’t get firm abs in a pill
• You won’t get them by trying to spot reduce 
• You won’t get them by eating fatty, unhealthy foods and
• You definitely won’t get them from sitting on some silly contraption spinning around like a lunatic

So many people waste so much money trying to find that “quick fix” to melt their belly fat away. Unfortunately there is no such thing. It’s just like those searching to make money online. If you did a search on that topic, you would find hundreds of ways to “make millions from home”. Is there such a thing? Well, no, because why then do most of us still get up every day, commute in 4 hours of traffic and get up and do it again? If it were true, we’d all be millionaires!

It’s the same thing with getting firm abs. If there was a pill to magically burn belly fat and melt the pounds a way, why are there so many obese people in the world? Why are we still searching if these devices worked? Why are they always coming out with “the latest technique”? It’s because it’s a money maker. As long as we keep spending money on all the new products, they’ll keep making them.

How will we get firm abs and a tight tummy?

We’ll get there by following an exercise and diet regime that will boost our metabolism, burn calories quickly and build muscle fast. There are no magic pills to take and certainly no silly contraptions to buy – stop wasting your money and invest in something that will teach you the proper way to diet and exercise your way to firm abs.

It used to be that everyone was doing hundreds of sit ups and we all thought that that was going to get us those sexy, six pack abs. You know what? It doesn’t work. There is no way you are going to get firm abs without knowing the perfect combination of workout and diet.

Using just one of those without the other is like trying to paint without a brush. You will never accomplish your goals. You will get very frustrated and probably quit trying. Knowing the exact exercises that will get you flat abs and eating the right foods is the only way you are going to ever see them.

The Perfect Recipe for Firm Abs

Getting firm abs isn’t really that hard, you’ve just got to want them. What I mean is, wishing for them will never make them appear. You need to be dedicated to learn what it is you have to do and stick to it. No quitting.

Find Out The Truth About Abs Here

Here is the perfect recipe to follow if you really want to get a flat stomach, lose the flabby belly and be the envy of all your friends:

• Eat small meals about 6 or 7 times a day to boost metabolism
• Try to eat the  freshest foods available – preferably from a local market
• Learn to read labels and stear clear of preservatives and additives
• Use full body workouts and resistance training instead of trying to spot reduce
• Change up your routine often

Sound simple? It is if you stick with it. Changing the way we eat and exercising every day is a learned discipline and once it becomes part of us, it can change your life.

The Truth About Abs has 163,000 subscribers in 154 countries and is helping people lose their belly fat, look and feel great and have that sexy stomach we all want!

If you are serious about losing belly fat and getting six pack abs, which I think you are because you have landed on this page, then read on to discover why this program will get you a flat stomach, tight abs and the sexy body you’ve always wanted…

Imagine what it would be like if you no longer had to hide behind baggy clothes and loose fitting t-shirts and could finally walk proudly down to the beach or pool and never be embarassed over what you look like ever again!…

• Are you tired of hiding your beer belly?
• Do you want to finally fit into those tight jeans or sexy, black dress?
• Have you wasted your money on diet pills, gadgets and silly contraptions that just don’t work?
• Do you want to lose fat and finally see your abs?
• Are you ready to make the decision that will change your life forever?
• The Truth About Abs will teach you how to change the way you diet and exercise so that you will burn calories, boost your metabolism and build muscle in the fastest way possible.

This program costs only a fraction of the money that you’ve probably spent over the past few years trying out all kinds of  pills, potions and contraptions that don’t work.

Stop wasting your time and start changing your body today!

Think about it…if you started The Truth About Abs today, 7 weeks from now, you could be walking down the street and heads will be turning in your direction or you could wait, keep looking for that “miracle” and 7 weeks from now you will still be hiding behind baggy sweats and loose t-shirts, feeling embarassed over what you look like.

The choice is yours – start today or keep looking…but remember, the quicker you start, the faster you will see results!

If you are looking to get flat tight female abs, are you working out the way you should or are you hoping to get them from a bottle of “fat melting” pills? If you think you can get a great looking stomach from a bottle, you are very wrong.

If you would like to look trim and sexy by the Holidays, vacation or next summer’s beach season, there are some things I am going to let you in on that are probably hindering your efforts to lose the stoamch fat.

Here are 3 tips to get you going in the right direction:

1. If you are using any kind of “fat burning” pills or over-the-counter diet remedies, please do yourself a favor and throw them away. The side effects are horrible and you are not doing your body any good. You may see results for a short period of time, but they do not work for the long term and they will certainly not get you flat abs.

2. Stay away from foods labeled as “low fat” and “sugar-free”. Most of these foods are packed full of other bad ingredients that actually cause you to store fat. Do not eat any processed foods. Stick to healthy, fresh foods that have lots of fat burning ingredients.

3. When it comes to exercises, if you have any of those so called “ab machines or gadgets” lying around, get rid of them. Women are taken in by advertisements promising a flat stomach, but these are actually worthless garbage. Also lots of women do lots of cardio thinking that by doing more, they will burn more fat. The opposite is true. Too much cardio can cause your metabolism to slow down and produce more fat.

I hope these tips have been enlightening and will get you to do what you need to do to get a flat, trim and sexy stomach. High intensity, fat-burning workouts will get you to your goal. Combine that with the proper diet and you have a recipe for success and you will have flat, tight female abs before you know it!

Ideas for healthy post-workout shakes to help build muscle and enhance fat loss

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer & Creator of  The Truth About Abs
 
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.
 
The goal is to choose a meal with easily digestible quick carbs to replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair.  The surge of carbohydrates and amino acids from this quickly digested meal promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle cells.
 
The post-workout meal should generally contain between 300-500 calories to get the best response. For example, a 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal, whereas a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere from a 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein to a 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein. While most of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy fats, keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum, since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the opposite of what you want after a workout.
 
When choosing what to make for your post-workout meal, the first thing to realize is that you DON’T need any of these expensive post-workout supplement formulations that all of the fancy ads you see everywhere will tell you that you absolutely NEED!  I tend to prefer to make my own post-workout shakes from natural ingredients instead of using a commercial mixture, since many of them are low quality.

However, one that I’ve found that I particularly like (and from a brand that I trust) is at this page:  http://natural.getprograde.com/workout — they have just the right ratio of carbs to protein and use quality ingredients.

For the shakes that I make myself, here are some things to keep in mind if you try it…
 
A good source of quickly digestible natural carbs such as frozen bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup are perfect to elicit an insulin response that will promote muscle glycogen replenishment and a general anabolic (muscle building) effect. The more you can assist the muscle repair process, the more you increase your metabolic rate and can help your fat loss as well.

The best source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey protein isolate and/or some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a couple ideas for delicious post-workout smoothies that will kick start your recovery process:
 
Chocolate Banana – blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup skim milk, one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g prot, 72 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 440 calories.
 
Pineapple Vanilla – blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g prot, 71 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 425 calories.
 
When looking to lose body fat, keep in mind that post-workout meals should have the opposite characteristics of all of your other meals throughout each day. While post-workout meals should have quick high glycemic index carbs and quickly digested proteins, all of your other meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins.

These are powerful strategies towards developing a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage.  Another great thing about post-workout meals is that you can satisfy even the worst sweet tooth, since this is the one time of the day where you can get away with eating extra sugars without adding to your gut. Instead, it all goes straight to the muscles! But ONLY if your workout was super-high intensity and involved resistance training for large portions of the body.  If all you did was some low intensity cardio, forget about doing this type of post-workout shake.

Enjoy!
 
A more detailed and comprehensive nutritional analysis with more of these various powerful dietary strategies are found in our best-selling #1 rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.

I’d like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates… and in particular, “white foods” as well as potatoes. One reason I wanted to mention this is because so many health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such ridiculous things as “avoid any and all white carbohydrates”.

Ok, now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies, I definately don’t agree with avoiding any and all “white carbohydrates”. Now I know all of the buzz lately has been about colorful foods and the protective antioxidants that they contain. They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white.
It’s true that colorful foods are great, but it is a big mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere. Let’s look at a few examples…

Onions & Garlic

What about onions and garlic? They are both white and they are chock full of protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren’t easy to find elsewhere in a normal diet… such nutrients as allicin, quercetin (an important flavonoid), chromium, and other unique anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Cauliflower

Another example of something white that is great for you is cauliflower. Cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C, fiber, minerals, and special compounds such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are specifically abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.  And a little-known fact is that some of the compounds in cruciferous vegetables help to combat other estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent excess belly fat.  So eat up on that cauliflower!

Mushrooms

Not many people realize this, but surprisingly, even white mushrooms have high levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. White mushrooms are high in a couple types of antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine.

Potatoes

Now that also leads us to another example – white potatoes (which by the way, can also be found in red, yellow, purple varieties, etc). Many health professionals claim that potatoes are a bad carbohydrate because they are thought to have a high glycemic index. First of all, if you’ve read my Truth about Six Pack Abs book, then you understand that glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.

While a generalization can be made that most low glycemic index carbohydrate choices will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index choices, it is not all that it’s cracked up to be. There are many other factors that determine how your body will react-to and process the carbohydrates you ingest, such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other foods.

For example, using glycemic load as an example… it is known that watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a normal serving of watermelon is just way too low for your body to start packing on body fat just because you ate a high glycemic index fruit. You would have to eat such an enormous quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic effect, that it is just non-sensical.

Not to mention that watermelon is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and lycopene. There’s just no reason to avoid it simply because it has a high GI. My point is… candy bars, cupcakes, and donuts make you fat… NOT watermelons, carrots or potatoes.

Also, as i mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you receive. For example, if you mix a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an extra source of fiber, healthy fats, or even certain proteins, many times the blood sugar and glycemic response will be slowed down considerably by the way you combined the food. Again, I talk in detail about this entire topic in my Truth about Six Pack Abs book

Alright, so back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form… with the entire skin, and please don’t ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either! French fries are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health, but only because we ruin them by soaking them in a scorching bath of trans fats in the deep fryer from the hydrogenated oils that are typically used.

Keep in mind that potatoes contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list is way too long to even try. Also, as long as you eat the skins, you get a decent shot of fiber too.

On the topic of potatoes not being so bad after all, I don’t remember where I saw this referenced, but I recently saw a particular study that had participants eat something like 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks.
At the conclusion of the study, the potato eaters had actually consistently lost weight! I’d venture a guess that the reason the people lost weight is that they were probably so full from eating all of those damn potatoes, that they actually consumed less calories than normal! An average sized potato only has about 100-120 calories, and I can surely imagine you’d be full constantly from eating 7-9 potatoes each day.

Now I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an occasional potato is not going to hurt your efforts to get lean, especially if you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables and maybe a healthy fat and some protein. On that note, I have one of my favorite recipes for you, using potatoes.

Geary’s Lean-Body Potato Side Dish

• Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like to use this mixture I found recently at a health food store… it is a mixture of white, red, yellow, and purple baby potatoes)
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 or 2 onions
• a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped
•  1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• a little salt and pepper to taste (I like using a sea salt instead of normal commercial salt)

Cut the baby potatoes into slightly smaller pieces and place in a steamer until soft all the way through. Slice up the peppers and onions into strips and add with the chopped garlic into a pan with the olive oil. Cook the peppers, onions, and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Stir it all together and serve. This is a delicious and healthy side dish that goes great with chicken or red meat.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little topic today about potatoes, healthy carbohydrates, glycemic index, and my killer potato recipe idea!

For additional recipes and information on how to get six pack abs go to The Truth About Six Pack Abs.

Alright, I exaggerated about your friends recognizing you, but this workout is still great for busy people that always use the excuse that they don’t have time to go to the gym, or even for the normal gym rat to try out for a few weeks to break out of a plateau.

Please keep an open-mind and don’t worry so much about what other people think, because this is quite different and you may get some funny looks, but you’ll get the last laugh with your new rock hard body! To be honest, most people are too self conscious to try something like this. If that’s the case for you, then that’s your loss.

Here’s how it works (these workouts can be done at home or even in your office):

Instead of doing your traditional workouts of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing your normal weight training and cardio routines for 45 miutes to an hour at a shot… with this program, you will be working out for just a couple minutes at a time, several times throughout each day, 5 days/week.

The program will consist of only bodyweight exercises done for about 2-3 minutes, 6-8 times per day, throughout each day. Now obviously if you work a normal office job, you are going to have to not be shy about doing a few exercises in your office and having your cube-mates watch you. Actually, I’ve found that some people that have tried this have actually gotten their co-workers to join them!

If you have a private office, then you don’t have to worry about anybody watching you. If you work from home, or are a stay at home mom, there’s no reason you can’t fit these in throughout the day while at home. If you end up having a busy day with meetings and so forth, and can only fit a couple of these 2-minute workouts in, then so be it, but try to get as many done each day as you can.

If you’re on a normal 9-5 office schedule, I recommend doing your 2-minute workouts every hour, on the hour, with the exception of lunch. For example, you could try 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm.

Some of the bodyweight exercises that are the best to focus on are:

bodyweight squats (and variations)
pushups (and variations)
forward, reverse, or walking lunges
up & down a staircase if one is available
floor planks (holding the plank position from forearms and feet)
floor abs exercises such as lying leg thrusts, ab bicycles, etc.
one-legged bodyweight Romanian deadlifts
This list is not fully comprehensive, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. If you know other good bodyweight exercises, you can add those to your routine also. If you want to keep it real simple and don’t want to get down on the floor for anything, you can stick to squats, lunges, and pushups and still get great results.

The good thing about these workouts is that you do enough in 2-3 minutes to get your blood pumping, heart rate up a bit, a large portion of your body’s muscles worked, and body temperature raised. However, it’s usually not enough to break a sweat in only 2 or 3 minutes, so you don’t have to worry about sweating in the office or where ever you may be. At most, you might just get a little moist on the skin.

Here’s an example workout routine at home or the office (adjust the reps up or down based on your capabilities):

Mon/Wed/Fri
9 am – 10 pushups/15 bodyweight squats, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am – plank holds (hold the planks as long as you can taking short rest breaks for a total of 3 minutes)
11 am – 5 pushups/10 bodyweight squats, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm – plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
2 pm – 8 pushups/12 bodyweight squats, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm – plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
4 pm – max pushups/max bodyweight squats in one set (no repeat)

Tues/Thurs
9 am – 6 fwd lunges each leg/6 rev lunges, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am – one legged bw Romanian deadlifts (RDL) 6 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat 1X for 2 sets
11 am – 3 fwd lunges each leg/3 rev lunges, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm – one legged bw RDL 3 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat for 4 sets
2 pm – 5 fwd lunges each leg/5 rev lunges, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm – one legged bw RDL 10 each leg/floor abs for 30 sec (no repeat)
4 pm – max fwd lunges each leg/max rev lunges in one set (no repeat)

In order to progress on these workouts, you could either add 1 or 2 reps to each set per week, or you could progress to more difficult versions of each exercise each week (for example, close grip pushups, one leg raised pushups, squats with arms raised straight over head, etc.).

The above routines are just a couple examples of how you can use this very unique style of training. Use your creativity and come up with your own. Think about what you’ve accomplished with these “mini” workouts completed throughout each day… You’ve increased your heart rate and pumped up your muscles 6-8 different times throughout each day, burning a lot of extra calories and stimulating your metabolism.

Even though each “mini” workout was a very short duration, you’ve accumulated lots of repetitions for almost every muscle throughout your entire body, and you didn’t even have to break a sweat during any of the “mini” workouts. And there’s hardly any excuse for not being able to take a 2-minute break once per hour and do a couple of exercises.

Another benefit of this style of training is that now you don’t have to devote any time before or after work to going to the gym because you already got your workouts little by little throughout the day. You’ve now got some extra free time on your hands!

Try this type of time-efficient workout routine out for 3-4 weeks and then go back to your normal gym routines. I think you’ll find that it was a great way to break out of a plateau and stimulate new results in your body. You can try mixing in a cycle of these “mini” workouts every couple of months to keep things fresh.

Keep in mind that this is only one method of training and doesn’t mean that you should only stick to this method for eternity. You will hit a plateau on any given training method, so I’d recommend just rotating it into your arsenal of various training methods. And by all means, don’t worry so much about what other people think…have the courage to try something a little different. In the end, you’ll be the one laughing back at all of the “blubber-bellies” at your office that are giving you funny looks while they eat their donuts!

If you liked these training ideas, my internationally best-selling ebook The Truth about Six Pack Abs contains hundreds of more innovative training ideas to lose stubborn body fat and carve out a rock hard set of abs and a flat stomach.

1. Eat enough quality protein daily. Protein has a higher thermic effect, which causes you to burn calories just by digesting it and it satisfies your hunger leaving you fuller and satisfied longer so you have less or no cravings between meals. It is also the foundation for building lean muscle which is important for controlling your metabolism.

2. Remember to eat lots of fiber. Stay away from refined sugar and grains which is a main culprit for holding onto fat. Your fiber intake should come from fruits, vegetables and unrefined grains. Fiber also helps you feel full. Look for carbohydrate sources that have at least 2-3 grams of fiber for every 10 grams of total carbs.

3. Eat healthy fats. Yes, fats are good for you. If you don’t eat enough good fats, it can affect hormone levels in a negative way. Foods that are packed with healthy fats are: avacados, olive oil, organic meats and eggs, nuts and seeds, coconuts and virgin coconut oil.

4. There are 2 things you should avoid if you are trying to get flat abs: any artificial trans fats found in shortening, margarine and hydrogenated oils in most processed foods and high fructose corn syrup.

By sticking to the above guidelines, your quest to get a lean body and tight abs will be made that much easier. You will gain control over your appetite, blood sugar levels and hormone levels.

First of all, skip anything on the menu that is deep fried. This includes french fries (sorry, I know that’s a tough one), fried fish and even some veggies that are battered and fried. Another hard thing to resist is the soda and any other sugary juices and drinks that are tempting. One more food to avoid would be anything that has refined starches, including rice and pasta.

So what should you order as  a so called flat stomach food when eating out? Stick to meat and veggies. Get into the habit of asking the waiter/waitress to substitute rice and pasta with veggies and a salad. Most are very accomidating.

So the next time you eat out, stay away from the sugar, starches and trans fats in fried foods. Diet soda is another no-no by the way. Stick to water or unsweetened tea.

Use the above as a guide and you will have the tight abs you want in no time.

Renegade Dumbbell Rows:

Starting  in a pushup position with your hands on 2 dumbbells, stabilize your body with one arm and row the other dumbbell up with the opposite arm. Alternate between the two arms. One stabilizes, while one rows. Your entire midsection should feel the burn.

Mountain Climbers:

Start in a pushup position and shuffle your feet in and out. Your knees should just about hit your chest. This is like mountain climbing only parallel to the floor.

Front Squats Using a Barbell:

Stabilize a barbell in front of you, resting it on your shoulders, by crossing your arms and pushing your fists into the bar against your shoulders while keeping your elbows out in front of your body. Although squats are mainly for the legs, front squats are very effective to getting flat abs because they require stabilization strength and you will feel it in your mid-section gauranteed. You may want to get help from a personal trainer because these are not easy to do at first.

Try to do 3-4 sets of 8 reps for each exercise. Mountain climbers can be done for a time interval (such as 30 seconds) instead of “reps”.

So there you have it. 3 great flat stomach workouts that really pack a punch. Try these exercises to boost your metabolism and give you a powerful workout in very little time each day.