Dan's Health & Fitness
If you are trying to lose weight, or just tone and shape your body, you will find much great information on my Lose the Fat page. Remember, the best diet is the one which you can easily stick with for the rest of your life. The same goes for exercise. Find a routine that you will actually follow, or you will soon get bored, or burned out and quickly put an end to your hard earned positive results.
X-Reps are short, pulsating movements you perform at the end of your set, after no more normal reps are possible. (Read more)
On my Advanced Training Page, you can read about HIT- (High Intensity Training), which blends short, intense workouts with proper nutrition and rest. Add to this, advanced techniques like Rest-Pause, Partial Reps, Static Reps, X-Reps, etc...and you have the most reliable and time-saving training tools available today! (Read more)
Advanced Training
X-Reps:
You perform x-reps at the end of your set, when you cannot complete another full repetition. With the weight in the semi-stretched position of the movement, You perform short, pulsating movements almost like an isometric, or static rep. The semi-stretched position would be the lower portion of the barbell curl or benchpress, when the working muscle is in the stretched, not contracted position. It is thought by some that this build's more muscle than partial reps in the contracted position. I am experimenting with them now, so hopefully soon, I will know for sure if they are for real. The principle behind them does make since, though. You can read more about x-reps at:
Rest/Pause:
This is a great method for getting a desired number of repetitions with a very heavy weight. Say, you want to get six reps, but can only manage three. Upon completing the third rep, rack the weight and count to eight. Now, pump out one or two more reps, rack the weight, count to eight and pump out one more rep. You have really upped the intensity on this set! Be careful not to over-use this very advanced technique.
Drop Sets:
Another technique to add intensity to a set. You complete your reps with a heavy weight, then take a plate off each end of the barbell. Pump out as many reps as you can, strip off another plate and complete one more set. You can also use dumbells. Just pick up the next lower set of dumbells and rep out to failure until you just can't complete another set. This is also called "Down the Rack".
Extending a Set:
If you have trouble going to failure on your sets, whether it be that you do not have a spotter on squats, or the benchpress, or you just can't mentally squeeze out that last rep or two, here's a little trick you can use. Do as many reps as you comfortably can. Rack the weight and count to ten. Then finish off with as many reps as you can, set finished! This is along the lines of Rest/Pause, but you are more or less doing two sets in one, where Rest/Pause add's a couple one or two rep, mini sets to a set where you did not get your desired number of reps in the original set. Both are great intensity enhancers, but this isn't as mentally exausting as Rest/Pause.
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Better Abs: Believe it or not, the secret is in the mind
Probably the most common question I get other than "do you lift weights?" or "how much can you bench" is, "How do you get those abs?" Not many bodybuilders carry 6-packs around the entire year, and I'm no exception. However, during a 'peaking phase', my abs are pretty decent for a guy who was once completely obese!
They're shocked at my first response, and you will be, too: "What are you thinking about when you eat? "After a few seconds of blank stares, I usually get the reply, "I don't know... never really thought about it!" "Exactly," I say. "How do you plan on getting any part of your body to respond, including your abs, without concentration on the challenge?"
However, it's more than just 'concentration' - I'm literally telling my body what I want it to do with the food I'm eating, with the workout I'm doing, and with the cardio I'm performing. I often touch my mid-section to make a stronger connection. I'm constantly visualizing myself with the abs I want. I never waver from that vision. When I do, that's when the fat loss slows down. Sounds too hocus-pocus? Give it a shot and then talk to me!
Let me give you one brief example of the power of thought on the body, (and you can see dozens more in "Fit Over 40" at http://www.fitover40.com).
In the book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcom Gladwell, a fascinating study was noted about the power of mere association with physical performance. A group of individuals were asked to read documents that were riddled with subtle "age" words, like "prune", or "wither". They were then asked to walk to a hallway to take another test. They were not told the reason for the readings, or why the readings changed.
The result? Each time the person read more "age" words, they literally ALTERED the way they walked down the hall. Speed slowed down considerably... even posture changes were noted. They literally began to "act old". If you think this does not work in reverse, think again.
You can see dozens of ab routines inside the Fit Over 40 e-book. Every ab routine will work optimally once you change how you perceive the power of your words and your thoughts! For more information, go to http://www.fitover40.com