Never admint that you are beaten and you won't be

Rant and Tip for August 9, 2012

Quote: "You're never beaten until you admit it." George Patten

Now while General Patton my never had the desire to hit the weights or not I do not know. He did however lead many a man to a successful battle. Sometimes that is exactly how we feel as we tackle our diets and our fitness regimen. It is a battle. If you have a lot of weight to lose still then it becomes an all out war. I believe that his words are absolutely true. If you admit that you cannot follow your chosen diet then you will fail. It truly is a mindset that you need to adapt that you will not admit defeat. You will not get beaten in your quest. I remember the last meet I did there was a point with I started to falter during a lift. I remember thinking there is no way in hell I was going to let that bar start a decent back down and I did not let it.

It seems many people want to get better abs. I know I have repeatedly told you that it is mostly diet that will get the abs to pop. If you do not lose the fat the abs will never show no matter how many crunches you do. With that said let’s talk a little about getting better abs. To get the most out of your ab-crunches you need to keep the muscles tight throughout the movement. You never want to let muscles relax during the motion. You want to keep them tight though the entire movement. You should not rest during a rep whether at the bottom or the top of the rep. Do not rest or bounce on the floor or bench. Be sure to exhale as you contract the abs on the upward movement. When you do exhale be sure to fully exhale as if someone has punched you in the stomach. Inhale as you lower your body on the way back down. Lastly you need to keep in mind the range of motion for an ab crunch is very short. A full sit-up or crunch brings in the hip flexors as well. So be sure to focus on crunching of just the abs. For an added benefit you can crunch to the left and the right and get the obliques involved.

I had a good training session yesterday benching raw. Then some board work from a 3 board. Well the equivalent of a 3 board that is. I have noticed that my raw strength has suffered a bit since training in a bench shirt and I really want to get that strength back. I was warned this would happen and my to my surprise it did. I want to figure out why this is and maybe it is just a matter of training both equally as hard.

What do you have planned for today regarding your diet and exercise?

Have a great workout!

Tip: If you are having problems with crunches or other ab exercises try this while sitting at your desk at work or at home. I know you at your desk right now. Tighten you abs as tight as you can and hold it for 30 seconds. Now release and do it again for a set of 10. At the end you should feel like you had just done several crunches without the pressure of sitting on the floor.

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