5 Common Ab Myths 
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Ab exercises aren't the only thing you have to do in order to get your 6-pack. You also have to work hard on your diet as well, sticking to a fat-burning, muscle-building diet all year round.

Here's a list of 5 common myths about abs.

Myth 1) You don't need to watch what you eat

Diet is first and foremost the key factor when trying to get 6-pack abs. Plan your nutrition in advance, to avoid dietary downfalls.

Myth 2) As long as you do a lot of ab exercises and repetitions, it doesn't matter how well you do them

It is important to do all repetitions with good form. Focus on quality, not quantity. Avoid sit-ups and an excessive number of crunches. Both exercises can damage the lumbar spine in your low back, and crunches are rarely effective anyways.

Myth 3) You can "Spot reduce" the fat on your abs with crunches

No matter how many crunches you do, you won't be able to get rid of your ab fat with crunches alone. You need a good diet and an increase in your calorie burning from strength training and interval training.

Myth 4) Infomercial products will help you get a 6-pack

You've probably seen dozens of ab gadgets on TV, but none are magic bullets. You can't expect anything you order from TV to help you get a 6-pack. You have to do the hard work with nutrition and training to get results.

Myth 5) You must do abs every day

You don't need to do abs every day. Instead, train them twice per week and use non-conventional exercises such as Mountain Climbers and Stability Ball Jackknives to reduce the stress on your low back.

About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visitwww.TurbulenceTraining.com

How a Cardio Fanatic Finally Got Her 6-Pack Abs

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com 

Everyone thinks you have to do tons of cardio workouts to get abs. But that's not true. In fact, if you stop cardio and change your workouts, you'll get your 6-pack abs faster!

Let's find out how one female cardio fanatic finally got her 6-pack abs with the help of the Turbulence Training workouts!

CB: CJ, let's start with a little background info on yourself and what you were looking to achieve when you found strength training and interval training.

CJ: 
Let's see, I'm a female in my mid 30's and a typical office professional who spends looong hours sitting in front of a computer.

Fitness and nutrition-wise, I grew up understanding the importance of being active and staying healthy. So while I've stayed active most of my life, I recently discovered I still had a lot to learn both about fitness and nutrition.

When I found Turbulence Training I was looking for body comp improvements. I had been introduced to weight training about a year earlier and had made great progress, but had gotten past that 'newbie' effect and really needed something different to jump start my progress again.

CB: How were you doing before?

CJ:
During grad school and working full-time I put aside the active part of my lifestyle for the days and evenings tied to a chair, and the delights of eating at restaurants for 1-2 meals a day. I gained about 20lbs and was at my heaviest ever at 160lbs. Once I completed night school, I put exercise and nutrition back on my priority list and lost those 20lbs, mainly from running 5days/wk.

My second stage started when I discovered weight training. I was about 142lbs and probably 28% BF. After about 6months I lost another 8-10lbs and 7% body fat.

So, when I started Turbulence Training, I had already made good progress, I was probably 133lbs and 21-22% BF.

CB: What were your workouts before TT? Why did they not work as well? How have you improved upon those workouts?

CJ: 
Before this I was a steady state cardio fanatic, so I ran 3-5 miles 3x week and strength trained using a 4 day upper/lower body split. This plan did work for about 6-9 months, but then I just stalled. Not sure what the culprit was, just that I knew I needed something different.

When I first started strength and interval workouts I was skeptical that such a short workout only 3x/wk would be enough. I soon discovered that strength and intervals kept the intensity levels up at EACH workout, so the three days and two supersets were actually more efficient than my 4day split and 3 days of running. I also got on an HIIT (interval) program and reduced my slower steady state runs to about once a week.

CB: How have the strength and intervals workouts helped you? What benefits & results have you achieved? What are your gains and improvements and how do they compare to your before stats?

CJ:
I'm stronger, leaner, and faster than before.

On the strength side, my proudest achievements are chin-ups and pull-ups, something I've always wanted to be able to do. I've also improved my 5k times by 2mins. I finally have the muscle definition/athletic shape I've always wanted.

When comparing to my before stats, I've had to throw the scales out the door and use the mirror/compliments as my guide since I have gained a few lbs and BIA hasn't seemed to move, but my clothes have gotten looser and smaller and I'm also making strength and speed gains.

CB: How do you feel in terms of strength and energy?

CJ:
I think my strength gains surprise me most, since I typically have high energy/endurance. I particularly enjoy how my strength gains have transferred to running and bike riding.

What I can lift in the gym just sort of evolves, but when I can climb hills on my bike that I used to walk up, and finish 5ks in times that were once out of my reach, it feels pretty good. J

CB: What features do you like about strength and intervals?

CJ:
It's fun, efficient, and intense. And it works!! When I'm in the gym, I know that I'm making the best use of my time.

CB: Did you change your eating with the guidelines?

CJ:
Not much. I was on a pretty solid eating plan when I started strength and intervals, but am consistently learning about making the right food choices and looking to tweak things here and there. Incorporating a post-workout recovery drink and getting as much variety as possible have been the biggest change in my eating habits since I started.

CB: What would you say to people that ask you about your workouts? Do you get a lot of comments from others?

CJ:
When people ask me about my workouts, I try to hold back some enthusiasm so I don't come across as a crazy fanatic and overwhelm them.

I've had quite a few comments from other people in the gym, either noticing how hard and smart I'm working, or complimenting my progress. One lady even pointed me out and said "I want thighs like that!"

It's always fun to see friends and family or even co-workers that I haven't seen in a while because they remind me of the progress I've made.

The best compliment I get now is a form of imitation. People want to know exactly what I do and ask me for tips. They see it works, and want to know how I've done it, and try to apply it for themselves.

CB: Thanks CJ! Keep up the great work with your time-efficient Turbulence Training fat loss workouts.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training     www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Ab Workouts Slow Fat Loss

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com 

Not only are most traditional ab workouts a waste of time, but they also slow your fat loss efforts. Each workout you spend crunching takes time away from more effective fat loss methods - such as interval training.

That's right, the common man's (and woman's) ab workout taken from Shape magazine or Muscle'n'Fitness often hurts their fat loss program more than it helps it.

Remember - I'm in the business of getting you the most fat loss in the least amount of exercise time...so I have little room in my
program for traditional ab crunches (with the exception of using
basic ab exercises for beginners who need to learn to use their ab muscles after a lifetime of inactivity).

Instead, I focus on exercises that build a 6-pack AND burn a lot of calories at the same time. That's why I'm a big fan of making EVERY exercise an ab exercise (by bracing the abs in every movement), as well as using total body ab exercises (such as Mountain Climbers, the Spiderman Lunge/Climb, and the Stability Ball Jackknife).

These exercises use far more muscle mass than a traditional crunch. In fact, some of the total body ab exercises are "interval-like" in nature, helping to put more metabolic turbulence on the body, and as you know, that's what burns calories during AND after the workout.

Now of course you know that you can't spot reduce the fat on your body - so doing an endless number of crunches not only does little for you in terms of losing fat, it also wastes your time in your quest for a 6-pack.

Here are a couple of strategies to maximize your workout time when your goal is to get lean, and get down to a low-enough body fat percentage to see your abs in as little workout time as possible:

(If you've got 2 hours a day to workout, by all means, do whatever your heart desires...but I don't think many of us that live in the real world have that kind of time.)

A) First, simply cut back on your ab training - If your goal is to
simply lose fat, gain a little muscle, and just look as good
possible, then you can't spend 30 minutes on abs everyday. You can build your 6-pack by doing less than 30 minutes of ab exercise per week.

I'm convinced that no one (not even a fitness model or pro
bodybuilder) needs more than 30 minutes of ab training per week.

In fact, at the photoshoots I supervise for the fitness magazines,
I get to talk to a lot of fitness models and what they tell me
about their training routines might shock you. Most of them don't train nearly as frequently as you or I might think.

Instead, they've worked hard over the years with the basic lifts to build their body, and now many of them simply use nutrition and maintenance workouts to keep their abs showing.

B) Second, replace your crunches with the total body ab exercises I mentioned earlier. Also, if you have access to a cable machine, you can do weighted ab exercises such as kneeling cable crunches.

C) And finally, if you are doing intervals for fat loss as I
recommend, you can use the following approach to increase the
difficulty of your ab and interval training. However, this is an
advanced method only. Beginners should stick to the TT guidelines in their manual.

During your interval workout, perform an ab exercise during your active recovery period. For example, if you are doing running intervals on a treadmill...

Run for 60 seconds at your work interval speed. Immediately stop the treadmill, get off, and go into a set of 20 Mountain Climbers. Climb back on the treadmill and start it up for your next interval. Repeat for 3-6 intervals.

You can also use basic spinal stabilization "ab exercises" such as
the plank, side plank, or advanced plank versions (i.e. plank with your arms on the ball) to train your spinal stabilization while under heavy breathing stress. I learned this technique from Dr. Stuart McGill.

Remember: Always train safe, with good form, and be conservative. Don't try to be a hero in the gym, but you should safely challenge yourself in each workout.

Stick to the Turbulence Training Guidelines if you don't know where to start.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training  www.TurbulenceTraining.com