Make your ab workouts twice as effective
To add some real intensity to your ab workouts, try this variation of the basic abdominal curl.
Lie on the floor in your regular crunch position. Your knees should be slightly bent, with your hands over your ears or close to your chest. Now, curl up approximately 10 inches, and hold it in the top position for a slow count of 4. In this fully contracted position, the key is to really squeeze your abs together hard. Imagine pushing your upper abs into your lower abs and vice-versa (like an accordion coming together). From this point, return to the floor very slowly (it should take a count of 3-4).
Repeat the movement, while keeping your abs under continuous tension for as long as possible. Of course, you won't be able to do as many reps as you normally do. If you can get 15 reps, you're doing well. Some people like to do 15 of these super-slow repetitions, followed immediately by a set of 8-10 slightly faster abdominal curls (this will really burn!)..
Of course, the key to getting a six-pack stomach that turns heads in the gym is to maintain a low level of bodyfat. For men, the six pack becomes clearly visible at a body fat percentage of around 7-9%. Unless they're competing in a fitness or bodybuilding competition, most women are happy with that little "line" that runs down the center of the stomach (which shows at a bodyfat percentage of 15-20%). If you want to reach this level, chances are that you'll need to count calories. This means keeping a record of how many grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrate you're eating each day.
However, the benefit of a diet diary is that you become a lot more aware of what you're eating. Knowing exactly what you're putting inside your body also allows you to "fine tune" your diet when your progress stalls. Once you're there, you'll probably be able to maintain a single-digit bodyfat percentage without having to count calories.
Many people rely on one or more fat burners to make losing fat faster and easier. One of the most effective diet supplements we've come across is a naturally occurring fatty acid known as CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). The way it works is very simple. Your body contains millions of tiny fat cells. To lose weight, you have to literally drain the fat out of the cell and burn it for energy. Unfortunately, every fat cell in your body is literally programmed to store fat. And the less fat you have, the harder your body will fight to hold on to every last pound.
That's where CLA can help. According to Dr. Michael Pariza, a CLA expert based at the University of Wisconsin, "every fat cell in the body wants to get big. What the CLA does is force that fat cell to stay little by affecting a number of enzymes that are ordinarily responsible for filling it with lipids." In other words, CLA literally diverts the calories you eat AWAY from fat andinto muscle tissue.
CLA-1000 contains the same high-quality form of CLA used by the Swedish research team, and is considered by many experts to be a safe and effective way to lose fat and keep it off for good.
