The ULTIMATE Six Pack Abs Workout

Want a six pack like Ryan Reynolds!? Do this routine 2-3x per week...I PROMISE you that you'll start seeing abs within a few weeks, and monster abs within a few months (assuming that your body fat % is low enough). This routine hits everything: the six pack muscles, the lower abs, the obliques, and even the transverse abdominis -- the part that sucks your whole torso in nice and tight. It's like a salad of abtacular proportions...its got everything you could ever want all in one. It's gonna hurt like the hell the day after, but oh man...progress has never felt so good before!



The Routine:

How to do everything:


1. Hanging Leg Raises - Keep your legs straight.

If that's too hard, try... Roman Chair Leg Raises

2a. Hanging Knee Raises

3. Weighted Swiss Ball Crunches - Hold a plate or medicine ball behind your head. Once you're able to do 20 reps with a given weight increase the weight by 2 pounds. Keep upping the weight as your abs get more and more beastly...

4. Decline Weighted Sit-ups - Hold a plate or medicine ball on your chest. Once you're able to do 15 reps with a given weight increase it by 2 pounds.

4a. Russian Twists. Use a decline bench with a weighted medicine ball. If it's too difficult at first start off on a flat bench and work your way up. Like everything else...up the weight when you're able to do 10 reps.

5. Oblique Holds - Lay on one hip and prop up your upper body with your forearm. While holding a dumbbell between your feet, raise your legs about 6 inches off of the ground, SQUEEEEZE your obliques, and hold the position for 30 seconds. Switch to the other side.

6. Weighted Leg Lifts - Hold a dumbbell between your feet. Once you're able to get 10 reps up the weight.

7. 1-arm Planks - Try not to lean too much to one side, stay as flat as possible and squeeze your core tight.

If that's too hard try... The Plank

7a. Side Knee Tucks - Almost there...two more sets. It's the exercise at the :30 second point.

8. Cable Crunches - Last one...really squeeze your entire core together and hold it for 1 second during each rep.

The Best Biceps Exercise Ever -- The Incline Dumbbell Curl

Do you want a pair of massive, ripped, veiny, skull-crushing biceps!? Start doing incline dumbbell curls. Incline dumbbell curls, in my opinion, are by far the best biceps exercise of all time...they work stupidly well. After one set you'll get an INSANE pump, feel a ridiculous burn, and your biceps will look noticeably bigger and fuller (from all the blood rushing into your biceps, volumizing the muscle cells with water and nutrients). You'll probably start hating me a little bit for the crazy burn you'll get, but ohhhhh man do they work well.

As far as biceps exercises go, incline dumbbell curls are so effective because:

1. They force you to move through a full range of motion
2. You can't use your back or momentum to help make it easier

It's all biceps, baby! That equals one intense, effective, kickass biceps exercise.

Add 3 sets x 10 reps of incline dumbbell curls to your biceps routine. I prefer to alternate arms (lift the left arm, then the right arm, then the left arm, etc.), but you can also do two arms at the same time.

These are difficult so start with a weight that's about 10 pounds lighter than what you use for a traditional biceps curl. Please...so that you don't kill me a little bit inside...lower the dumbbell slowly and lower it all the way down!

Soda Makes You Fat...

WOW this is so horribly disgusting I almost just puked...but I freaking LOVE IT! Soda sucks, it makes you fat plain and simple. Watch the vid and maybe you'll agree with me :)

Like the Knicks always say...Go New York go New York go! I approve. The music's pretty catchy too haha.

Build Muscle and Blast Fat with Protein Powder

Ph721 asked, "What are your thoughts on protein powder?"


Protein powder's pretty much a must-use if you're at all concerned with building muscle or maintaining the muscle you already have. Honestly, I even recommend drinking protein shakes if building muscle isn't your concern. Assuming you choose a protein powder that's low in artificial additives, fat, carbs, and sugar (I love Optimum Nutrition's Chocolate Whey Protein), a protein shake makes a phenomenal low-cal snack. Not only are shakes low-cal, but the high protein content reduces hunger levels and creates a powerful thermogenic effect--protein burns about 30% of its calories simply through digestion!

Drinking a protein shake right before bed is also a great way to elevate your metabolism and prevent muscle catabolism (muscle breakdown) while you're sleeping. Woo...more calories burned! Oh by the way...shakes with milk taste pretty freaking delicious and you can customize them in realistically any way you want, try adding a banana, fresh fruit, or some natural peanut butter...mmmm heavenly and healthy.

For everyone else whose primary concern is building new slabs of muscle, protein powder offers a ton of awesome benefits:

• Convenience. Throw one scoop in a shaker bottle, mix it with water and you've got all the protein you need to refuel post-workout.
• Affordable. Most standard protein powders offer about 72 scoops @ 24g of protein per scoop for about $40, canned tuna and eggs are the next cheapest forms of protein, while chicken and beef are the most expensive. That's about 2 cents per gram...
• Complete. Protein powder offers the full spectrum of amino acids, which is critical for muscle growth, muscle recovery, and a variety of other important bodily functions. Other sources of protein, typically veggies, are incomplete protein sources and contain only a few of the amino acids.
• High-quality. I think the coolest thing about whey protein powder is that it's higher in quality than any other protein source. Compared to every other protein source, whey protein is the best absorbed and utilized by your body...perfect for building new tissue, bone, and muscle. If you're curious about numbers and ratings (the biological value) of specific types of proteins check out http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/proteinrating.html.
• There are different types for different purposes. The two major types of protein powders you'll see marketed are whey and casein, or some blend of the two. Put simply: whey is fast digesting/absorbing, casein is slow digesting/absorbing. Whey is the way to go right after a crazy intense workout as a way of shuttling protein to your hungry muscles as fast as possible. Casein is ideal as a snack or before bed--casein clumps up in your stomach and provides a slow release of amino acids over a couple of hours. That slow release of amino acids is ridiculously powerful at suppressing appetite and keeping your muscles nourished for a few hours. 

With all of that said there are two really important things to remember about protein:

1. Protein powder is still a supplement, it's not a substitute for real food. Try to make at least half of the protein you eat every day come from whole food sources. 
2. You only need 1 scoop at a time. Your body can only biosynthesize about 30g of protein at any one time...there's no need to drink a shake with 2 or 3 scoops. Using any more than one scoop is overkill and the excess protein will just be converted into fat 

I personally use and love Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein. It's high-quality, low on carbs/fat/sugar, inexpensive, has no artificial flavors, and has very few additives...it's pretty much as natural as you're gonna get when it comes to protein powder. It tastes really good too. Cytosport's 100% Whey is also another great option. Happy protein-ing and packing on muscle soooooooooo much more easily than you ever knew you could!