no-iron-fitness

10 Myths About Six Pack Abs

One of the biggest reasons why people come to my training center or any health club for that matter is the highly sought after six pack abs.  Some people have some of the craziest ideas when it comes to training this area from it should be trained every day to the abdominal muscles are completely different from other muscles in our body. Here's a just a couple of top 10 myths about six pack abs.

  1.    Doing crunches EVERY DAY will tone my abs fast. Think you’re doing yourself a favour by doing crunches every day?  Think again.  The rectus abdominus (six pack muscles) are like any other muscle; over-train them and they’ll stop growing—keep doing exercises like crunches everyday and that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Try the plank once in a while; it targets muscles that the crunch will never in a million years get to. It’ll hit the postural muscles that are used to working hard by making sure you don't fall on your face and guess what, they can be worked just about every day.

2.    Ab exercises will give me a six pack.  Doing ab exercises will get that area stronger but if you’re looking for the holy grail of fitness, the six pack, you’ll have to burn fat to reveal that hidden treasure.  There’s a saying “great abs are made in the kitchen, what you eat and your cardiovascular training will play a big part. Shed the fat and you’ll see the pack.

3.    “I just need to pick up the Ab Rocker 2000xxxxxx and that’ll solve my problems.” Listen, all you need is a little space, knowledge and your own body weight. You don’t need to make three easy payments. 4-5 great core exercises (throw them into a high intensity circuit) and you can work wonders.

For the rest of the top10 myths about six pack abs 

http://www.no-iron-fitness.com/10-myths-about-six-pack-abs.html

Are Your Vitamin Supplements Toxic?

  Vitamin supplements are a great idea for the simple fact that we can no longer get all of the nutrients we need simply from eating the correct foods. Now I know some of you are saying, "Hold on a minute Ken, I eat my fruits and vegetables so I'm fine." 

But consider this: It's possible to eat an orange that looks and tastes like an orange but has next to no vitamin C in it. How is this possible? Well, most of our fruits and vegetable are picked before they're ripe so that they survive the long commute to the market. On top of that, over-farming, the use of toxic fertilizers, and poor crop rotation have all left our soil nutrient deficient. And if the soil is no good how is what we grow in that same soil going to be any good?

Did you know that spinach loses 60 % of it's folic acid in three days of being picked, or that the apples you see in your supermarket are, on average, 10 months old?  I can go on and on about how deficient  our food is but the point is that vitamin supplementation has never been more important.

Just Because it`s a Vitamin..,

Just because it`s a vitamin doesn`t mean it`s going to do you any good however, and in some cases it might do you some harm. Most of the vitamin supplements on the market are synthetic--meaning that the nutrients aren`t taken from whole, `real` foods, instead, they`re  made from petroleum based chemicals.

Synthetic vitamins don`t have the natural co-factors and synergist molecules found in real food.  Apart from that, the molecules are differently shaped, kind of like your left and right arm.  They're similar but still very different. The shape of the molecule is what tells your body what to do with it. For example, synthetic beta-carotene is a 100% left handed molecule while natural beta-carotene is mostly right handed. The mis-shapen synthetic molecule has been proven to be unhelpful and can create more problems than it prevents.

All of this is to say that when choosing a vitamin supplement it's important to choose a natural product that comes from whole foods.  It pays to stay away from the cheaper brands because you`re wasting your money and possibly doing more harm than good. 

Follow this link to my website for more on vitamin supplements and other health related topics.

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar Ray's Revelation

A while back Sugar Ray Leonard  (hall of fame boxer) revealed in his new autobiography The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring that in his early teens he had beed sexually abused by one of his coaches and then later by a fan.

I've always loved boxing and respected Sugar Ray Leonard's skills in the ring. Now I respect him as a man because of the fact that he came out about his abuse. By definition, being a fighter you put yourself through physical pain but for the most part that heals over time, but it's the mental anguish that sometimes takes longer to heal, if at all.

The damage you sustain from sexual abuse creeps into every relationship and pretty much every facet of your life. It's not a coincidence that many people who have been abused become addicts of one kind or another, and Sugar Ray was no exception with his addiction to alcohol.

He eventually got help and took responsibility for his  addictive behavior. I have  great respect those that overcome sexual abuse, and addiction. For a person like Sugar Ray Leonard to go through something like that and speak out about  it, might encourage other survivors of sexual abuse to do the same and get help.

 

George St.Pierre vs Jake Sheilds UFC129

George St.Pierre versus Jake Shields this Saturday at UFC129 is one of the rare sporting events that I'll plan my day around. I've even got the menu planned. Home-made ribs, chicken wings and my wife's home maid coleslaw. The reason I'm so excited about this event is because we get to see both St.Pierre and Jose Aldo on the same card defending their titles.

One of the most impressive things about St.Pierre is his open-mindedness when it comes to his conditioning. He's always willing to try something unexpected and actually seeks out new ways to condition his body. For example, he realized that gymnasts are, pound for pound, some of best and the strongest athletes you can find. So what does he do? He starts doing gymnastics to build more strength of course.

 

Jose Aldo is a little more traditional when compared to St.Pierre, at least when it comes to strength and conditioning. I don't think he's doing gymnastics and his way of fighting is a different in the sense that he's much more recognizably aggressive than St.Pierre is.

As for UFC129 I think George St.Pierre is probably going to have a tougher time at retaining his belt than Aldo is. I think Jake Sheilds' skill set in wrestling and his ground game could pose some problems. As for Aldo his opponent is primarily a striker and Aldo loves to stand, so look for some serious fireworks there.