If you are like me at all, you have been stuck to the TV the last few weeks watching the Summer Olympics. I always get a little bummed when the games first start since I never was able to quite make it to the Olympics for the high jump, but I get over it pretty quick once the games get going.
It is amazing how inspiring it can be just watching how hard these athletes have worked to get where they are. Its pretty funny how motivated I get watching each sport. All of a sudden I need to get in the pool and swim, get out to the track and run, or out to the beach for some beach volleyball.
Another thing you can always see at the Olympics is amazing physiques. Athletes just have some of the best bodies out there. The funny thing is they don't train to look good. They train to improve performance. Their defined body is just the side effect. Two of the best events for seeing amazing physiques is gymnastics and track and field. For track this includes most events except for distance events and throwers. Not to put these athletes down, but they usually do not have the ideal body shapes that most people are looking for.
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| Jessica Ennis Gets A Gold Medal For Abs |
I mentioned before these athletes are not training to look better. They just eat very healthy and practice to get better at their sport. I saw an interview with Jessica Ennis, the gold medalist in the Heptathlon, who you will notice has an incredible six pack. She was asked about her training and she said that she doesn't really do any direct training for her abs like crunches and sit ups. She contributes it to her endurance training, weight training, and sport specific training.
This just reinforces that fact that if you want a six pack do not worry about what the best ab exercises are. Instead focus on the big picture. Train to improve health, build muscle, and burn fat in general. By performing the right types of exercise you have a much better shot at that amazing stomach. So if you want a better body stop training like everyone else and start training like an athlete.
Here are 4 styles of training you MUST perform to see real changes:
1. Olympic Lifting:
Olympic lifting may sounds scary, but with a little practice you can master the technique and really start seeing some great results. Olympic lifts are power movements that encompass total body explosive power. These are some of the best calorie burning, hormone releasing exercises. Make sure you get the techniques down first before really pushing the intensity here. You can use Barbells, KB's, and DB's for these exercises. You might want to work with a coach to perfect these moves first. Below are some examples:
Barbell Jerk:
Kettlebell Snatch:
Barbell Power Clean:
2. Sprinting
There is no arguing that sprinters are just unbelievably defined. You can see just about every muscle in their body. Sprinters have some of the best physiques in athletics so there must be something to sprinting and looking good. There are studies that actually show that sprinting or anaerobic exercise leads to increased metabolic activity and increased anabolic hormone levels such as Growth Hormone.
The more metabolic disturbance you can create, the more fat you will burn during and post workout. The higher of an anabolic response you can get the more muscle tissue will build. This is the key to a more toned body. Increase exercises that burn fat and increase muscle mass so you can see the muscle better. And as always do not worry about bulking up for women. You will not be able to increase anabolic hormones enough to build that much muscle.
3. Interval Training
I've blogged about this in the past a number of times so I'm not really going to go into this point too much. Here is one older post if you want to read it:
http://premiertraining.blogspot.com/2010/06/burn-5-times-more-fat.html. Just know that study after study is showing that high intensity interval training will outperform slower more traditional cardio any day. That doesn't mean you have to get rid of your slower cardio, just add HIIT into the picture more often.
4. Compound Exercise
There should be a recurring theme here. If you choose an exercise technique that can increase fat burning by causing more metabolic disturbances and at the same time build muscle by increase anabolic hormone release you will see great results. If you choose two exercise techniques that do this you see even better results, and so on. Compound exercise means you are getting away for single joint isolated exercises and incorporating multi-joint, total body exercises. For example a squat with an overhead press is a compound exercise vs a leg extension is a single joint, isolated exercise. If you just look at the two exercises it is pretty clear which one will be tougher and more effective.
So when you select what exercises you are performing look at how many different muscles are working at one time. If you can name 2 or more you are in good shape.
So try considering these four elements to your fitness program. Some may be very challenging at first. Do not worry about intensity initially. For example, for the olympic lifts you may want to practice with a broom stick for a while to get the technique down before you add weight.
You Stay Healthy San Diego,
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
