Tuesday, April 21, 2009

What is the 300 Workout? | The 300 Diet | The 300 Workout Plan

The 300 Workout

What is the 300 workout? Well, anyone who has seen the movie 300 probably spent a lot of time admiring the man-bodies the movie had to serve up. Men with admiration, and women with...well...something. Immediately after the movie, speculation began flying. Where did they get all those buff extras? Those padded pecs, those awesome abs, and those thick thighs surely weren't just hanging out in a broke actors' queue, waiting for work, where they?

Of course, the answer is no. Every buffed extra in that movie underwent an 8-10 week exercise and training program to get those bodies just the way the director imagined. Gerard Butler, who plays King Leonidas actually trained for 12 weeks.

First, a Myth

So this is the part where I tell you what you are supposed to do, to start looking like the men from 300. Sorry, I can't tell you that, because it was individualized for each man. The so-called '300 workout' was in fact the final test of the men who had been on their extensive workout routines. Yes that's right. The much-acclaimed '300 workout' was not performed each day, but rather the workout used as a barometer of completion.

The Trainer

The trainer responsible for this massive muscle building was Mark Twight, and exercise and fitness guru who runs an invitation-only gym in Salt Lake City. He was commissioned by the movie's producers to devise an exercise regimen for each man in the film so that they could get looking lean and mean by film time.

Finally..The Routine

This was the final exam, so to speak, of Mark Twight's exercise program. It is not recommended for beginners at all, and trying to utilize as a daily workout could cause serious injury.

25 pull-ups
50 deadlifts at 135 pounds
50 push-ups
50 box jumps with a 24-inch box
50 "floor wipers" (a core and shoulders exercise at 135 pounds)
50 "clean and press" with a 36 pound kettlebell (a weight-lifting exercise)
25 more pull-ups -- for a total of 300 reps

A closer look

For the purpose of getting a 6 pack, which every man in that movie had, the most significant exercise here are the "floor wipers". They are really an incredible workout, and I'll be posting another article about them soon. Until then, feel free to read about How to Get a Six Pack Diet and the How to Get a Six Pack in 6 Minutes-Bicycle Ab Workout

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

How to Get a Six Pack Diet | How to Get a Six Pack in 3 Minutes

How to Get a Six Pack in 3 Minutes-How To get a Six Pack Diet

As you may or may not know, learning how to get a ripped six pack is only half about building muscle. The other half of learning how to get a six pack in 3 minutes a night is your diet. You can't get a ripped six pack if your abdominal muscles are being covered by fat. I'm going to discuss some of the key elements required in a diet that successfully builds muscle AND loses stomach fat at the same time.

Avoid the Bad Stuff

You know what I'm talking about. I shouldn't even have to tell you that if you want to know how to get a six pack in 3 minutes a night, you shouldn't be eating any crap that's going to cause fat to cover up your muscles. That means cut down or eliminate processed sugars or carbohydrates, (Little Debbie..damn you) no fatty meats (bacon) or anything that you look at and know "this isn't very good for me". (Ice cream, potato chips, SODA) Basically just avoid anything high in fat and sugar, as these provide calories for your body that just sit, and quickly get turned into fat. If you want to know more, check out Eating Healthy Foods which is a great resource for more information about foods that are good and bad for you.

Protein

While you ARE trying to cut out fatty meats, you need to increase your protein intake. Why? Because the basis of how to get a six pack in 3 minutes is that your body is going to be using more protein to build repairs in the ripped muscle fibers you just worked out on. For more information about this, you can read my article How to Get a Six Pack in 3 Minutes. Foods that can help you increase your protein intake include lean meats, seeds, and nuts (Avoid peanuts, however, as they are very high in fat).


Fiber

Many people do not have enough fiber in their diets. Fiber is especially important to a diet because it makes you feel full without consuming fats or carbohydrates. Fiber also slows down digestion when you eat it with sweets or sugary foods, making you feel full more quickly. If you increase the fiber content of your diet, you'll find yourself having an easier time of dropping that stubborn stomach fat covering up your ab muscles. Food rich in fiber include apples with the skin, pears, raspberries, (most fruits really) whole grains, whole wheat anything, split peas, beans, lentils and almost any vegetable.

Water

Water is important for losing stomach fat because drinking water can replace those hunger cravings you may feel at the end of meals. Your body probably isn't still hungry; it may be thirsty and you can stop yourself from eating more by drinking water. Water also has a number of other health benefits. Foods high in water include...water ;) You can also drink unsweetened tea.

Larger Breakfast and Lunch, Smaller Dinner

Unless you are very active after dinner, it's likely that you aren't getting any chances to burn calories after you eat dinner. You can counteract this by eating a smaller dinner, after a larger lunch. Then, when you wake up in the morning, you will be hungry for a big breakfast, which will provide you with energy for the rest of the day, as you go about your normal active life and have chances to burn the calories you consumed. When you eat a big dinner, chances are you are going to bed soon after, and those calories are going to turn into fat in your body.

These are my suggestions for the How to Get a Six Pack Diet. If you combine a good diet with strong exercise routines, like my Bicycle Ab Workout just check out some of my posts in the navbar to the left. Good luck!

You may also want to look into other alternative health options, like the acai berry

Monday, April 13, 2009

Bicycle Ab Workout | How to Get a Six Pack in 6 Minutes

How to Get a Six Pack in 6 Minutes a Night

This is an intense workout designed to really work every area of your abdominal muscles and quickly burn stomach fat. The benefit is also that it's really simple to perform. Remember, the goal is to get your muscles burning and your heart pumping You may find it useful to track the intensity of your workout using heart monitor watches. You may also prefer to just estimate how long you've been working out or how much of a burn you feel.

All you have to do is lay on your back and raise both feet outward in front of you, with your knees bent at a ninety degree angle and the region from your knee to your ankle parallel to the floor.

Lift your hips and your shoulders off the floor and lace your fingers behind your head. Straighten out your right leg while simultaneously turning your upper body to the left. Bring your left elbow toward your right knee.

Now repeat that motion for the other side of your body. Switch your legs and twist your body in the other direction.

Repeat back and forth, in a pedaling motion, keeping your hips and your shoulders off the ground. You should begin to feel a dull burn in your abs very quickly. If you're looking for an intense workout to help you with how to get a six pack in 6 minutes, this is a great exercise to work into your routine.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

How to Get a Six Pack in 3 Minutes

How to Get a Six pack in 3 Minutes

First Step-Be Realistic

When you want to start learning how to get a ripped six pack, you have to keep your ambitions realistic. Are you going to start looking like a body builder after just a few weeks? Is this a website about how to get a six pack in 4 weeks, or how to get a six pack in 6 weeks? No. Those goals are possible, but improbable. If you want to learn how to get a six pack in 3 minutes a night, you have to accept that it's gonna take a while.

Next Step-Make a Goal

You need to ask yourself, what is the acceptable amount of ripped-ness that I am satisfied with? How much muscle do I want to gain, and how much fat do I want to burn? When can I tell myself that I'm halfway there, almost there, or have succeeded in my goal? A goal is very important for learning how to get a good six pack, because it gives you something to focus on.

Your Workout Plans

Here's the biggest problem with learning how to get a six pack in 3 minutes: as you get stronger and your ab muscles can take more punishment, it will take you longer and longer to get a strong workout. If you want to really keep your workout down to three minutes a night, here's a good starter plan.

Figure out how many sit-ups you can do in a minute. These should be good, full sit-ups. There's no point in cheating yourself, because it's for your own workout good. Whether you can do 10 or 100 doesn't matter, you just need to measure your level of pain after that minute is up. Aim for around 60, or one per second. If you can do 60 sit-ups in 60 seconds, and you aren't feeling any pain, then you are at a more advanced level. In other blog posts, I will discuss more advanced ab workout techniques that can give you just as good a burn in 60 seconds.

For your second minute, you need to work on the oblique abs. Split the time between the left and right sides. Raise yourself up like you would for a regular sit-up, and then try to touch your right elbow to your left knee. Alternate these back and forth for a minute. Again, you should be feeling a decent burn. If you don't, you need to check out my advanced techniques section.

For the last minute, you're going to hold a crunch. Raise yourself up into a crunch position, and just..hold it. For as long as you can. If you aren't feeling any pain, continue to tighten the crunch until your abs feels the burn. Hold this for one minute.

Finally, roll over onto your stomach and push yourself up with your arms, and do a seal stretch so your upper body is off the ground and you can really stretch the abdominal muscles you just worked out on. You should feel a pleasant stretching burning sensation in your torso. These are the stretched and frayed muscle fibers of your abdominal and oblique muscles. Soon, your body will be sending new proteins to repair those muscle fibers, and they will build up a little bit. Your challenge the next day is to rip them again.

There, that's an easy 3 minute workout that should keep most of you beginners busy for some time. If you can't do it all at once, don't panic. Just do as much as you can in the time you have, every night. I like to work out right before I go to bed. Keep it up, and you'll know how to get a six pack in 3 minutes in no time at all. Good luck! See you with that six pack in a few weeks to months!