Today, we wrap up our discussion of the phases that make up Metabolic Surge.

Metabolic Surge Rundown: Strength & Recovery Phase

The Strength/Recovery Phase is not for fat loss but to allow the body some time to recuperate from the extreme training volume you've been placing on it. It is the overcompensation phase after ramping up to overtraining on the first 3 Phases, i.e. the car coming over the top of the hill and coming down.

The focus here is on building or re-building strength. You will dramatically reduce your training volume and frequency for a short period and target your training to strength training (lower reps and longer rest periods).

This sudden reduction in volume and frequency, while your body is still cranking and trying to recover from the high volume, will result in another jump in results. If you lost any strength during the first 36 days of training, you will get it all back here (and probably more!)

The Sum of All Parts:

As you can see, the training and nutrition of each Phase builds onto the next one, making the whole greater than the sum of all parts. This synergistic effect of the various nutrient and training regimes will allow you to effectively build muscle and strength even while training to lose fat!

From Phase to Phase, training volume will increase in order to push your body a little further and a little harder. Building up to this higher volume slowly will allow you take advantage of the body's reaction to temporary overtraining, keeping your results moving quickly. You will NEVER hit a plateau with this program.

Your body has no choice but to adapt – it's built into the training program and it's built into the eating program with the rotation between low-carb, low-fat and single-nutrient eating.

Why don't you pick up a copy of Metabolic Surge today? What other program have you seen that burns body fat by the bucket and builds muscle this fast? None, that's how many. Until now, of course!

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2. Metabolic Surge Rundown: Phase 3
3. Metabolic Surge Rundown: Phase 1

Yesterday, we talked about Phase 2 in Metabolic Surge. Today, we tackle the last phase.

Metabolic Surge Rundown: Phase 3

The first few days of Phase 3 are all about building muscle (what better way to reduce your % bodyfat by increasing your % muscle mass!). When you come directly off a low-carb diet, your body is desperate for carbs and very sensitive to them. Your body will absorb them (as well as other nutrients) very rapidly.

This is also where the zero-protein day comes into play. You have also created a desperate need for protein in your body with it.

By combining these two desperate needs and then feeding them, your body is capable of tremendously fast progress. This is when you will be performing "Cluster Training" or "Time/Volume Training" – two of the most effective muscle-building training techniques I've ever worked with.

During these first few days, you will be loading up on nutrients such as protein, glutamine and creatine to maximize the effects of the previous two phases.

You will also be keeping your fat intake extremely low to maximize fat burning during this time.

The third day of the phase is a day off weights but has you doing high intensity interval training for your cardio. Doing this type of training on its own day means you can really put a lot of effort into it.

The fourth day is geared towards higher-volume, higher-rep training using supersets. This type of training is excellent for forcing a lot of nutrient-laden blood into the muscles. The supersets will also create plenty of lactic acid, which is excellent for boosting growth hormone levels in the body. You will also be doing interval training on this day again.

The final day of this Phase is a complete day off. Your body will need a little rest before you go back into the low-carb diet and training of Phase 1 again. You may be tempted to do a little more work – resist this as your body will need the rest!

On this day, you get a planned "cheat" meal…by planning it into your program, you get the mental benefits of breaking the strictness of a "diet" and your metabolism gets a nice shot. This planned cheating is a VERY powerful concept, as is the whole nutrient-rotation found in the Surge program itself.

Then Repeat Two More Times…

This 12 day cycle makes for one round of the program. In the NEXT 2 rounds, you're going to be increasing the number of sets you do, gradually building up the training volume, which forces your body to work harder to keep up. This is a natural metabolism-increaser and it's PLANNED right into the program.

Think of how the engine of a car reacts as you hit the gas to climb a hill…as the hill gets steeper, you have to almost floor it just to keep moving. But when you keep it floored and come up and over the top and down the other side, you pick up speed FAST.

This is the core concept of the Surge training program – you ramp things up then back off and let your metabolism ROAR.

Next up: Strength & Recovery.

If you're convinced that this is the best muscle-building and body fat-burning program around (it is), then pick up a copy of Metabolic Surge today. It's on sale through tonight Midnight CST. Nick is throwing in 4 bonus books, too, for free ($110 value).

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Yesterday, we talked about Metabolic Surge Phase 1. Today, we'll naturally embark on laying out Phase 2. Here we go.

Metabolic Surge Rundown: Phase 2

Phase 2 uses 2 days of single-nutrient eating to shock your body.

The first day focuses entirely on protein. Since you've been eating low carb and teaching your body to preferentially burn fat for energy, by suddenly depriving it of a fat intake as well, it's forced to seek out the most convenient fat source: bodyfat.

The interval training done on this day will encourage your body to use plenty of bodyfat for energy. It's not going to be easy, working on only protein like this but it's VERY effective. We only do this for one day.

The second day is designed to create a desperate need for protein in your body by starving yourself of it for a day. When you go to Phase 3 and eat plenty of protein, your body will aggressively store protein in the form of muscle.

Since you will be staying away from protein, don't take any glutamine on this day. Glutamine is an amino acid, which is a component of protein. You will be getting plenty of it as you go into Phase 3.

We will not be doing any training on this day as we are looking to only deplete the body of free-circulating protein, not to excessively break down muscle tissue. Just that depletion will create the desperate need in your body for protein, similar to what your body experiences on a carb depletion from low-carb eating and reloading.

An all-fruit day is also very cleansing to the body, which is a perfect switch from a high-protein, high-meat product diet. Eat as much fruit as you want. Your body will just be busy absorbing the carbohydrates from the fruit. Be sure to drink plenty of water as well. This fruit day also tends to flush out much of the excess water from your body.

Tomorrow: Metabolic Surge: Phase 3

If you're convinced that this is the best muscle-building and body fat-burning program around (it is), then pick up a copy of Metabolic Surge today. It's on sale through June 11 Midnight CST. Nick is throwing in 4 bonus books, too, for free ($110 value).

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Lots of questions have been asked about how Metabolic Surge works, so I put together this little synopsis. I've done it in parts, so come back tomorrow for the next part, where I explain Phase 2.

In short, it works like this:

The program consists of 3 primary phases that last a total of 12 days.
You then repeat this cycle 3 times for a grand total of 36 days. Then you have a 10 day recovery period where you'll take things easier and regain strength and give your body a bit of a break.

Here's the more detailed version:

Metabolic Surge Rundown Phase 1

Phase 1 is based on low-carb eating. Your body will be switching over to serious fat burning in the first day-and-a-half to two days. The training is Fat Loss Circuit Training and it will hasten the departure of carbs and water due to its demanding nature. It burns a lot of calories and will help get rid of carbs from your system FAST.

Being in a low-carb state is much more efficient for fat loss, though you don't want to stay in it too long (about 5 to 7 days is the most I recommend).

The third day is a complete rest day to help you recover from the first two days. You'll need the rest for the next two days (trust me).

On the fourth day, it's Lactic Acid Training. This type of training is designed to dramatically ramp up lactic acid production in your muscles and keep it there while training that specific bodypart. Why is this good? Well, the reduced pH in your body (more acidic) is an emergency situation and your body secretes growth hormone in response. This hormone is not released as much when insulin is present in the blood, therefore we do this training on the 4th and 5th day of the low-carb eating, to be sure you have NO insulin floating around.

This maximizes the hormonal effect of the training. Lactic Acid Training also is not very damaging to the muscles – you start with one high-rep set (30+ reps), rest 20 seconds, then go again and try and hit as many reps as you can. Keep going for the prescribed number of sets.

This is followed by High-Intensity Intervals. The intervals are done on this day so as not to coincide with the thigh training of the next day. Lactic Acid Training for the thighs and interval training don't work as well when done on the same day because most cardio training uses the legs to a large degree. The legs will be too fatigued to push really hard on interval training.

You will be following a very basic supplementation program of multivitamins and protein powder during this phase. You can also include glutamine after workouts. Take NO creatine during this phase so that you save it for the transition to Phase 3 where you'll get the most bang for your buck with it.

If you've read enough, just jump into the program – Metabolic Surge (pick up ALL FOUR of Nick's Best Exercises ebooks when you pick up Metabolic Surge 2.0 before June 11 Midnight CST. These normally sell for $110 on their own and you'll get them no charge.)

Stay tuned for Metabolic Surge Rundown: Phase 2 tomorrow.

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Not anymore.

As a word of caution, some of these 7 things that I'm going to tell you about may go against everything you've been taught to believe about fat loss. However, sometimes going against convention is exactly what you need to do to get spectacular results!

Let's begin…

——————

MYTH #1: Successfully losing fat always means losing some muscle mass as well.

FACT: It is possible to actually GAIN muscle while losing fat, not just in beginners but even in advanced trainers. All it takes is the right program of training and nutrition.

——————

MYTH #2: Gaining muscle requires additional calories from food, therefore it's impossible to gain muscle under reduced-calorie conditions.

FACT: Under the right dietary and training conditions, your body can actually use your own bodyfat to provide energy for building muscle, practically doubling the speed of fat loss.

——————

MYTH #3: You must choose a consistently-strict diet of either low-carb or low-fat foods to lose fat rapidly.

FACT: Low-carb diets work. Low-fat diets work. But neither works forever. You can take the best features of both and combine them to actually FEED off each other with NO plateaus EVER.

——————

MYTH #4: To lose fat with weight training, you must use high-reps with light weights.

FACT: Training with high reps and isolation exercises for fat loss is a waste of time and energy. It will practically guarantee that you lose muscle.

——————

MYTH #5: You need to take fat-burning pills or supplements to maximize fat loss.

FACT: Your own natural metabolism is FAR more powerful for burning fat than any fat-loss pills or potions you could ever take IF you know how to stimulate it properly.

——————

MYTH #6: Gradually reducing your caloric intake over time is the best way to ensure steady fat loss.

FACT: Consistently reducing your caloric intake is a great way to lose muscle mass. However, precise manipulation of the nutrients in your diet (protein, fat and carbs) can have extraordinary anabolic (muscle-building) and lipolytic (fat-burning) hormonal effects on your body. It's all a matter of what you eat and when you eat it.

——————

MYTH #7: When you come off a fat-loss diet, there will always be some rebound weight gain.

FACT: When the metabolism is properly stimulated and the right combination of nutrients is eaten, rebound weight gain can not only be eliminated, it can be reversed. With the proper training and nutrition plan, you can actually CONTINUE to lose fat even when you go back to normal training and eating.

——————

Sound interesting? I thought so. When I read about a fat-loss program that shattered many of what I previously thought were "facts" and turned them into myths, it was a real eye-opener for me, too!

You see, over my many years of training, I had never once found a fat-loss program that allowed me to even keep, much less GAIN muscle while dieting. I ALWAYS ended up smaller, weaker and depressed from having lost so much of my hard-earned muscle (sound familiar to you?).

Sure, I lost some fat, but I had to go right back to higher-calorie eating in order to regain the muscle that I lost. This left me right back at square one – I had more more muscle again but I still had more fat as well.

That problem is a thing of the past!

The name of the new program that I've discovered is "Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss." It's named for its ability to push your metabolism far beyond where it's been before and take FULL advantage of the true power of your body's own natural processes.

Read more about this groundbreaking program from the words of the author of the program, Nick Nilsson:

—–

"For the last several years, I've experimented with various training and nutritional theories, techniques and practices all with one very desirable goal in mind: burning maximum fat while keeping maximum muscle.

"The results of my research were far beyond my expectations! I have created a training and nutritional program that not only harnesses and applies the awesome power of your natural metabolism and natural fat-burning and muscle-building hormones, it actually takes these processes and makes them FEED on each other to amplify their effects on your body!

"The bottom line is, I have created a program that will allow you to actually BUILD muscle while burning large amounts of fat. I've never, on any other program, experienced results anywhere close to what I got from just one, short 36-day cycle of this groundbreaking program.

"Let me put it this way…I started the program weighing 207 pounds. I finished the program 36 days later weighing 207 pounds. Why is this a good thing? Because I LOST 3 INCHES from my waist while doing it!

"Not only did I burn almost 10 pounds of fat in 36 days, I gained almost 10 pounds of muscle AND even increased my strength significantly. Ever done that on a fat-loss program before? Me neither. It's downright extraordinary for an advanced trainer to accomplish results like these.

"If you're primarily interested in weight loss, however, don't let my results throw you off. I'm certainly not saying you're not going to lose weight when you do this program. Far from it!

"You will lose a tremendous amount of fat while KEEPING your muscle mass. It won't be water or muscle that you lose but FAT, which is exactly what you want to lose when you're losing weight.

"The numbers on your scale could very well drop like a stone, depending on how much fat you've got to lose and how much muscle mass you carry. For myself, I ended up at the exact same weight and I was ecstatic! This is a system that is guaranteed to reshape your body extremely rapidly.

"This program is also very special in that, when finished, I did NOT experience any rebound weight gain at all as with many other programs, even after losing so much fat so rapidly. To be honest, I actually continued to lose even after I finished the program! My metabolism was just cranking so fast at that point, even when I went back to regular eating, my body still continued to burn fat.

"Please note, however, this program is not for the person who is looking to coast through and get results. The training is demanding. But if you're already training hard and not getting the results you want, this program is EXACTLY what you need. Every ounce of effort that you put in will be rewarded with results."

—–

This is truly one of the most effective training programs you can do if you're looking to burn lots of fat while keeping and even building muscle mass. You know from experience that I'm not one to mess around with ineffective information. I strongly urge you to have a closer look at what this program can do for you.

Click this link right now to learn how you can use the "Metabolic Surge" program to rapidly burn fat and build muscle at the very same time:

Take it from me…the worst thing that can happen to you in your training is absolutely nothing. Why not take a plan that is guaranteed to work and make the next 36 days the most productive of your life!

Metabolic Surge

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By Nick Nilsson

Daily Specialization, where you train twice a day every day in a very
specific fashion, is one of my most controversial programs. This
update to it forces even FASTER results by constantly
increasing the resistance and literally FORCING results.

The idea for this new version of Daily Specialization Training came to me as I was re-reading the famous story of Milos of Crotona in ancient Greece, who lifted a calf (a baby cow…not the calf muscle!) every day until that calf grew into a bull. I'm sure you've heard this one!

This is an elegant example of the power of long-term, progressive resistance.

What IS Daily Specialization?

Daily Specialization is a very simple training technique…basically, you take one exercise and do ONE set of that exercise TWICE a day, EVERY day.

And then you KEEP doing it…

So, for example, if you chose push-ups for your Specialization exercise, first thing every single morning you would do one set of as many push-ups as you could. Then, every single evening, you would do another single set of as many push-ups as you could.

And you do this EVERY day. Because you're doing just one set of one exercise, your body is fully capable of recovering from this training and getting stronger from it.

Many people worry that they have to wait two days before they train a bodypart again. This is a total myth.

If you train an exercise with high volume (i.e. lots of sets) you SHOULD wait before training it again. But because this program only hits you with one set at a time, you can train a lot more frequently and see some incredible long-term strength gains.

The example I like to use is myself…the first time I used this Daily Specialization program, I used handstand push-ups. I went from being unable to do 1 full rep to being able to do 40 full reps in a matter of only a few months.

THAT is the power of Daily Specialization.

In the first version of the Daily Specialization routine, I recommended using a bodyweight exercise and adding more reps as you get stronger (which is the most practical way to do it with bodyweight exercises). This is an extremely effective technique and I and many others have used it with great results.

With THIS new version, you will use an exercise that allows you to increase the resistance by small amounts on a regular basis.

And, of course, I thought to myself, "lifting a growing calf every day is certainly not practical. But why not mimic the exact same principle with weights instead?"

You will still do an exercise to failure for one set twice a day, but rather than using the same resistance every time (as with bodyweight exercises), we will force even greater adaptation by increasing the resistance slowly but steadily.

Ideally, you'll want to have a way to increase the resistance easily, such as using a barbell or dumbells. If you don't have barbells or dumbells at home, you still have options for increasing resistance while using bodyweight exercises, such as:

1. You can change body positions in ways that make the exercise harder. For example, if you're using Bench Dips and you start with your knees bent 90 degrees and your feet flat on the floor, you will move your feet further away from the bench, then set them up on a chair/bench, then place them on something that is higher than what your hands are setting on.

2. The other way to easily add resistance to a bodyweight exercise is to get yourself a sturdy backpack and gradually load it with heavy objects such as books or water bottles filled with sand. The more heavy things you put in the pack, the more resistance you'll get.

For the first 4 days, start with a resistance that allows you to get around 10 to 15 reps for your one set. Your body will rapidly start adapting to this new stress. You may experience some initial soreness from working your muscles far more frequently than they're used to. Four days should be enough time to allow your body to effectively start adapting.

Now we're going to start letting Milos' calf grow, realizing the full power of progressive resistance. Increase the resistance by the smallest amount you can and keep the twice-daily schedule going.

Add 2 1/2 lb plates to your barbells/dumbells. Shift your body position a small amount if using a bodyweight exercise. Add one heavy book to your backpack, etc.

Use this resistance for at least 2 days to allow your body time to adapt to the slightly higher workload. After 2 days on this resistance level, note how many reps you're able to do with that weight. If your reps are 5 or less on this resistance, stay at that weight for one more day. This will be your rule of thumb for increasing resistance levels.

From this point on, your goal is to increase the resistance you are using very slightly every 2 days. Follow the 5 rep rule of thumb where if your reps are 5 or less, use that resistance for one more day. As well, continue to stay at that resistance for as long as your reps stay below 5 or less. Don't reduce the weight, just add days on until you can do more than 5 reps with it.

Over the course of weeks and months, you are going to force some serious adaptation in your target muscle group.

This small but continuous increase in resistance, which allows your body a chance to adapt and focus on it, can result in extremely large strength increases and add plenty of muscle mass to your target muscle group.

The best exercises to use with this type of training are the basics – the exercises that use the most muscle for your target bodypart. This could be barbell curls, weighted dips, bench presses, deadlifts, rows, shoulder presses, etc. Good bodyweight exercises include pull-ups, dips, bench dips, push-ups, etc.

I'm a big fan of having some basic training equipment at home, even if it's just a set of adjustable dumbells, and I highly recommend investing in those if you'd like to try this program. Sporting goods stores or garage sales are your best bets for free weights (don't order online as you will be hit with HUGE shipping charges). Weights at home are not absolutely necessary but they definitely help!

If and when you do try this program, be sure to keep track of your resistance levels and bodypart measurements so you can gauge exactly how effective the program is for you.

And definitely be sure to let me know how you make out with this program! There's nothing I enjoy more than hearing how well one of programs has worked for you. That is, after all, the main reason I'm in this business – to make sure you have the information you need to get the best results possible for the time and effort you put into your training.

Nick Nilsson has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been innovating new training techniques for more than 18 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding books including "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass", "Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of", all designed to maximize the results you get for the hard work you put into your training.

Be sure to grab your FREE copy of Nick's 30-day "Dirty Little Secret Program for Building Muscle and Burning Fat FAST," available at BetterU!

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by Bill Davis
http://www.muscle-build.com

I grew up skinny. Everybody thought that I had it made! But on the inside, I was dying. I HATED being a stringbean.

I bought my first set of weights when I was 12. They were plastic-covered concrete weights. I lifted multiple times a day, every day of the week. I also ate like a horse.

More is better, right?

Wrong. It took me nearly 20 years to figure out that I was doing too much. Hey, I'm a slow learner.

But now that I know how to pile on massive amounts of muscle, I'm here to tell you that almost everything you think you know about gaining size is wrong.

I am going to tell you the Top Three things that you think are right but are actually wrong. Getting these right will give you about a 100 percent increase in effectiveness.
 

1. You have to train 5-6 times a week, hitting every body part 2-3 times a week, and hitting them from every angle for 15-20 sets per body part. THIS IS COMPLETE HOGWASH. If you train like this, you better do one of two things: Get some great medical insurance because you're going to be spending some time in the hospital or find a doctor of dubious ethical values and start taking anabolic steroids. Training like this is counterproductive for normal human beings.
2. You need to eat like a gluttonous pig and down buckets of expensive protein powders and other supplements. POPPYCOCK! This is what the supplement companies want you to do! But it's certainly not in your best interest to do so. Not only will your gut suffer, but your checking account may never recover! Supplements that the bodybuilding magazines push (every major bodybuilding magazine is either in bed or owns a major supplement company) are incredibly expensive. You don't need this.
3. 8 hours of sleep is plenty. You're an animal and animals don't sleep much. BS! You need ALL the sleep you can get! In fact, it would be difficult to get "too much sleep" while you're trying to pack on the pounds.

Not coincidentally, the 3 "Truths" mentioned above are the cornerstone of any successful bodybuilder or weight trainer. I call this the "3 Pillars" – You have to
 

• Train right
• Eat right
• Recover right

What does this mean? If you train with high intensity, you only need 2-4 sets per exercise. You do need to eat a lot, but it doesn't have to be in the form of expensive food supplements. Try drinking milk and eating LOTS of eggs. These 2 food items are the keys to your muscle-building nutrition.

Finally, you need all the sleep you can get. Sleep is when your body recovers from the smackdown you placed on it during your workout; sleep is when your body grows.

No sleep = No growth

You could even shrink. That's right – by not getting enough sleep, you may actually begin to lose size.

Who wants that?

If you want more mass-building ideas, head on over to The Best Exercises, where you will learn all about building muscle, losing body fat, and gaining tremendous strength.

Originally published on SearchWarp.com for Bill Davis Friday, May 14, 2010
Article Source: Are You Skinny?
 

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By Nick Nilsson

Dramatically improve sports and weightlifting performance and say
goodbye to lower back pain! Plus, you'll learn two exercises
you can do at home that directly target the muscles of the core.

If you were to ask me which muscle group in your entire body you could work to get the greatest benefits in the shortest amount of time, I would tell you without hesitation, "the core." Strengthening the core can realize tremendous benefits to anyone regardless of his or her training experience and can do so very quickly.

But what is the core?

The core, as it's known in strength training circles, consists of all the muscles in your abdominal and lower back areas. This includes all the abdominal muscles (rectus abdominus, internal and external obliques, transverse abdominus and intercostals) as well as the muscles associated with the spine (the erector spinae group) and the hip flexors (iliacus and psoas, collectively known as the iliopsoas).

These muscles all work in harmony to provide stabilization for your body and to transfer power from the legs to the upper body and vice versa. The core muscles also function to keep your insides in, where they belong!

And why is strengthening the core so important?

Weak core muscles contribute to all kinds of problems in the body, the most prevalent of which is lower back pain. By strengthening the muscles that help support the spine and improve posture, you can dramatically decrease the symptoms of lower back pain.

Picture your spine as a column of soda cans stacked one on top of the other. If you wanted to keep that column standing up under stress, what do you think would work better: a "tenser" bandage (as is used for wrapping injured ankles) or Scotch tape? Sure the tape would keep the cans together but the cans wouldn't receive a whole lot support, would they?

When you strengthen the muscles of the core, you are in effect turning that Scotch tape into a nice, tight "tenser" bandage, increasing the amount of support that your spine gets.

Core training also has the potential to greatly improve sports performance. Watch a baseball pitcher throw a pitch in slow motion. The power of the throw starts at the legs, gets transferred through the abdominal area (a.k.a. the core) then ends up in the arm where the ball is released. Imagine how much speed and power would be lost from that throw if the core muscles couldn't efficiently transfer the force from the legs to the throwing arm.

The core is the one area of the body that will always give you a great return on your investment.

So how do I train my core muscles?

Exercises that work the abdominals and the lower back are the staples of core training. Also, exercises that target the stabilization and power-transfer duties of the core muscles are very effective.

The most basic abdominal training exercise is the standard crunch. You can go to the following URL to see the proper technique for this exercise:

Standard Crunch

But I've got an exercise for you that blows the standard crunch right out of the water. The equipment required for this exercise: one rolled-up towel.

The exercise is known as the Abdominal Sit-Up. It uses a sit-up-like movement but focuses directly on the abdominal muscles rather than the hip flexors (which a regular sit-up does). It is also very safe for your lower back. Another advantage it has over the standard crunch is that it targets the stretched (arched back) range of motion of the abs, which is totally missed in standard floor crunch.

How To Do It:

Lie on your back on the floor. Roll up a towel or mat and slip it underneath your lower back, just above the waistband (the size of the towel affects your body position during this movement – use a fairly large towel).

Your knees should be bent about 90 degrees. Keep your feet close together and knees fairly wide apart. This prevents the hip flexors from having a direct line of pull, helping to minimize their involvement.

Do not anchor your feet or have someone hold them down. This automatically activates the hip flexors. You will get the most out of this exercise by minimizing their involvement.

The difficulty of this exercise depends on where you hold your hands. The hardest position is above your head at arms-length, then beside your head, then across your chest, then straight down between your legs or at your sides. Start with the easiest first then progress to the other positions as you get stronger.

You are now ready to begin.

• Keeping your torso straight and stiff, start the sit-up by  tightening your lower abs then lifting your upper body off the  floor.
• As you continue up, imagine trying to push your face up  against the ceiling (think up, not around).
• When you reach about 25 to 30 degrees above horizontal, hold  there for a second or two and squeeze your abs hard.
• Keep your lower back in contact with the towel at all times  and always maintain tension in the abs.
• Lower yourself down slowly and under control. Do not just drop  back to the ground. The negative portion of this exercise is  extremely effective.
• Remember to adjust your arm position depending on the strength  of your abs (see above).

You can see pictures of how this exercise is done by going to:

Better Crunch

Incline Ab Sit-Ups

If you are a beginning trainer, this is a good starting variation of the Abdominal Sit-up.

Set an incline sit-up board to a slight incline. If you don't have an incline sit-up board, you can use an adjustable incline bench, a decline bench, a Step platform with a riser under one of the ends or a flat bench with something under one end. You can even use a propped-up 2 x 6 board!

Your head should be on the higher end with your feet placed on the floor.

The execution is exactly the same. The only difference is that the tension on the abs is much less due to the greatly improved leverage in this position, allowing even people feel that their abs aren't strong enough to do the exercise.

Lying Superman Raises – An Exercise For The Lower Back

Though this exercise has a rather unique name, it is an excellent strengthening exercise for the lower back that you can do almost anywhere.

How To Do It:

Lie face down on the floor with your arms stretched out directly overhead (like Superman flying, hence the name).

Raise your left arm and right leg into the air at the same time, also raising your chest slightly off the floor. Hold there for a second and squeeze the muscles of your lower back. Lower your limbs back to the ground then raise your right arm and left leg and hold for a second. You can push down with the hand that is on the ground to help raise your other arm and chest higher off the ground.

This exercise, even though it only uses your limbs as resistance, provides an excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles.

Conclusion:

These two exercises will give you a good place to start with core training. You can begin improving your core strength by doing these exercises 3 times a week for 2 to 3 sets each. Make core training a priority in your exercise routine and you will rapidly reap the benefits of having a stronger, more injury-proof midsection and back.

——————

Nick Nilsson has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been innovating new training techniques for more than 18 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding books including "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass", "Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of", all designed to maximize the results you get for the hard work you put into your training.

Be sure to grab your FREE copy of Nick's 30-day "Dirty Little Secret Program for Building Muscle and Burning Fat FAST," available at BetterU!

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