Good Morning,

Just a quick note I found a great 5 day f.ree audio course by Jeff Anderson on his Combat the Fat website. In case you did not know I myself have joined his Combat The FAT transformation challenge.

You can see my own personal results including the charts that come with the program heading into week 4 here . I have lost 12 lbs of fat so far and my goal is another 10 before the challenge ends mid June.

Otherwise just click below to get your awesome 5 day audio report which is something you will enjoy listening to for sure.

Here is what is included in the 5 day audio course.

A "Battlefield" Tactic To Burn Fat All Day Long…With No Extra Effort! (No Joke!)

What Type Of Exercise REALLY Burns Fat The Best (The Answer Will Surprise You!)

Fat Burning Supplements…Do They REALLY Work? (Hint: "YES" They Do! But…)

The U.S. Government’s
#1 Secret For Burning Fat… That Practically GUARANTEES Success!

And MUCH More!

Click here to visit the audio course signup page

>>>> http://www.atozfitness.com/dt/t.php?id=378 <<<

Sincerely,
Lewis + Sarah
www.atozfitness.com

Prone Ball Roll

Supine Lateral Ball Roll

Swiss Ball Side Flexion

Prone Jack knife

Forward Ball Roll

I realize if you’re not familiar with Swiss ball and core training, that some of these exercises may look unusual or even "weird" at first.

You might look at the pictures and say, "David, it looks to me more like "rolling around on a beach ball than training."

Yup… that’s what a lot of people said… until they tried them and their abs started showing for the first time!

By expanding your arsenal of ab and core exercises and working them in every capacity and function for which they were designed, you will…

* Increase your strength
* Decrease the odds of ever having back pain
* Improve sports performance
* Avoid plateaus and muscle adaptation…

And maybe best of all..

* Get an impressive "six pack"

You can learn more about this concept of multi dimensional training and also see dozens of new core and ab exercises in the Firm And Flatten Your Abs Ebook:

www.FlattenYourAbs.net

About The Author :David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of, Firm And Flatten Your Abs an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs’ while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Using HIGH Reps To Build Muscle? Three Ways To Do It That Will Shatter ANY Muscle Growth Plateau!

By Nick Nilsson

Normally, when you think "muscle," you probably think "low reps"…but I’ve got
three ways to use HIGH reps to slap the muscle on you FAST.

When I say "muscle building," I’m sure the first thing that jumps into your head is NOT high-rep training!

In fact, when trying to build muscle, most trainers will actively stay FAR away from anything resembling high reps (and when I say high reps, I mean anything more than 13 to 15 reps per set).

Here’s the thing…that can actually be a HUGE mistake!

Just like heavy weights and low reps, the higher rep ranges can be a VERY valuable and even ESSENTIAL tool in your muscle-building arsenal.

I’ve got three high-rep training techniques I want to share with you right now. And I’m going to explain EXACTLY why each one is critical to your muscle-building success.

1. Very Light Weight, Very High Reps

Yep, I know this sounds absolutely CRAZY. How can light weight and very high reps do ANYTHING for building muscle? Here’s a hint…it’s not about resistance…it’s about physiology.

In order for a muscle to grow, first you’ve got to stimulate growth by overloading it with resistance - no argument there. But AFTER you’ve stimulated the growth, you’ve got to supply NUTRIENTS to the muscle cells to help them rebuild.

What if your blood supply is poor to the trained muscle? Got a muscle group that doesn’t pump up very easily? It’s probably one of your hardest muscle groups to develop. Poor circulation means fewer nutrients get to that muscle for recovery and rebuilding, leading to reduced growth.

THAT is where light weight and very high reps come into play. You see, VERY high reps have the effect of increasing capillarization in muscle tissue (simply defined, capillaries are the tiny blood vessels where blood cells release their nutrients to the rest of the cells in the body).

Bottom line, you do a set of 100 reps and your body responds by increasing capillary density in the targeted muscle, which SETS THE STAGE for future muscle growth.

The high reps sets don’t directly CAUSE muscle growth (the resistance isn’t high enough), they just improve blood circulation to the target muscle so when you DO train heavy and for lower reps, your target muscle gets more nutrients and can grow and recover more easily.

Want to put this tip to work?

Pick a "hard to pump" muscle and at the start of EVERY workout you do for that bodypart (e.g. every time you train biceps), do a single set of 100 reps with a VERY light weight. Basically, pick an exercise and just CRANK out the reps. Do this EVERY time you train that bodypart and you soon will start to notice a difference in how easily that muscle pumps up and how well it grows.

2. Moderate-Weight, High-Rep Training

This sure sounds like an oxymoron. After all, how can you use moderate weights when you’re performing high reps!

As a matter of fact, you CAN. In fact, it’s one of THE best training techniques you can use for building muscle FAST. It’s a technique even elite powerlifters (who normally train with VERY low reps) use to increase muscle mass.

There are definitely certain exercises that lend themselves more to heavy-weight, high-rep training. Squats, for example, are the best example for this technique (you may be familiar with the popular "20-Rep Squat" program),

This moderate-weight, high-rep training has many of the same circulation benefits of the VERY high rep training but with the advantage of increased resistance, which will help directly stimulate muscle growth in addition to helping improve circulation.

Using myself as an example, I used squats with this technique and worked up to performing a set of 40 reps with 315 lbs (believe me, THAT was fun…). I’ve also managed a set of 25 reps with 225 lbs and a set of 70 reps with 135 lbs on the bench press.

This technique can be used with any exercise, really. You’ll find some exercises work better for it than others but basically, you’re taking a weight that is a bit lighter than your normal working weights and you’re just focusing on cranking out the reps.

Like the previous technique, I find this is best done at the beginning of a workout when you’re still fresh. You’ll be able to get more reps out of the exercise that way. Some trainers like to use it as a back-off set (powerlifters generally use it this way), doing the high-reps with moderate weight after finishing with the heavier stuff.

So next time you’re about to do squats, put a moderate weight on the bar and just see how many reps you can crank out! Forget about what you’re going to do on the rest of your sets - just get as MANY as you can. Your legs will be hit with a whole new muscle-building stimulus!

3. High-Rep Partial Training

This final tip brings us into an interesting area. High-rep partial training actually allows you to do high-rep training with HEAVY weight! In fact, you will be AMAZED at how much weight you can use with this style of training.

We’re going to be getting the benefits not only of the increased circulation that I mentioned with light-weight, high-rep training, but we’re also going to get the substantial muscle-building benefits of using HEAVY weights at the same time.

Another benefit…because you’re using heavier-than-normal weights, you’re going to be working your connective tissue very effectively as well. And, because you’re using high-reps, you’re going to be forcing a LOT of blood into that connective tissue, which is notorious for its normally poor blood supply. This helps immensely with strengthening and healing.

High-rep partial training is fairly straightforward to perform. It’s best done in a power rack, where it’s easy to adjust the range of motion. For example, using bench press, you can set the safety rails to a few inches below the lockout position.

Working in only that top range of motion (which is the strongest segment of the range of motion) means you can use a LOT more weight than you normally could for the full-range exercise.

So you set up the bench, set up the rails and add some weight. Now you just perform as many partial reps as you can! To give you an idea of weight and reps, I’ve done sets of 50+ reps with 315 lbs on high-rep lockout partial bench press.

High-rep partial training can be done at any point in your workout, as an addition to your "normal" training (1 or 2 sets) or as the complete bodypart workout on its own.

The Final Word

Overall, I’m a big fan of high-rep training for building muscle, when PROPERLY used. These three techniques are VERY effective for not only setting the stage for muscle growth but actually building the muscle itself!

If you’re interested in a program that makes use of ALL of these techniques, definitely check out my latest book "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass."

I make use of each one of these techniques during various phases of the program. When it comes to building muscle FAST, I’ve not found a program that works better:

http://snipurl.com/1u8qj

Check out this great feedback I’ve received from one of the users of the "Muscle Explosion" program:

—

"I finished the last workout of ‘Muscle Explosion’ yesterday. I’ve gained close
to ten pounds during the month of workouts. Not bad at 45 years old! I
had the feeling this was going to be a tough system, and I was more than a
little afraid of the five-days-in-a-row of heavy deadlifts. But I stuck with the plan,
endured the feelings of physical shock during the workouts, and the soreness
afterward.

Nick, you’re really on to something here. I don’t think I could personally continue
at this intensity week after week, but what a fantastic growth spurt method.

I love the way you’re ‘pushing the envelope’ and refining and advancing the art
and science of natural bodybuilding. You don’t just rehash the great ideas,
you turbo-charge them!

- Tim Lauber

—

Here’s that link again:

http://snipurl.com/1u8qj

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 17 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "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 available at (http://snipurl.com/betterumain ). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com .

Sincerely,
Lewis + Sarah
www.atozfitness.com

Doing Cardio While Building Muscle- Part 2
By Jason Ferruggia

The purpose of doing cardio when trying to get bigger and stronger is to keep you lean, improve your insulin sensitivity and allow you to eat more calories. What kind of cardio will have the least negative effect on your size and strength gains? That’s a no brainer; walking. The great thing about walking is it will not impede your progress in the least, the bad thing is that you have to walk for a bare minimum of 45 minutes to really burn a decent amount of calories and you will not elevate your metabolism much after walking. That is the great thing about interval training; it elevates your metabolism dramatically for long after you have finished your workout.

With that being said, I would still choose a good fast paced hour long walk on the beach over sitting on a stationary bike inside while pounding away on some brutal intervals. I despise intervals on a bike with a passion. My ass goes numb, my balls go numb and I get a splitting headache. Not to mention that I am bored to tears within three minutes. Plus, I think we all do more than enough sitting and the last thing I want to do is sit some more while I’m supposedly “working out;” my hip flexors are tight enough already, thanks.

If you love to ride a bike then that is fine and you should do what you love. But for God’s sake, go outside and do it. People will actually get in their cars and drive ten minutes across town to walk inside a gym and sit on a stationary bike and ride it for twenty minutes and then drive home. Why not just ride your bike across town? I don’t get it.

So we have established that low intensity, long duration cardio (walking) is the best option for those who are concerned with any losses in size and strength whatsoever. This method was a favorite of many great bodybuilders such as Dorian Yates. Another option here, is to just go for a long slow/low intensity bike ride. Either one works great; but again I warn you to protect your nuts, aka get a good seat.

Next on the list is medium/moderate/high intensity steady state cardio. This kind of cardio is a little tricky because it can elevate cortisol and lead to losses in size and strength. To prevent this you need to be sure to limit the time spent doing this to 30 minutes, max. Two days a week should be safe and three days would probably be ok for most people as well. It’s when you get into the 4-7 day per week, 45-60 minute marathon sessions that you see people at the gym doing (whose bodies never change in the least from one year to the next)all the time, that you get into trouble. If you limit your use of this method you should be ok.

Lastly, we have intervals which we will cover in part 3.

Download your Free copy of The Top 20 Mistakes that Kill Your Muscle Gains and How to Avoid Them by clicking Here

Sincerely,
Lewis + Sarah
www.atozfitness.com

Ok…bottom line…do "low carb" diets burn fat?

In a word?

YES!

A recent study of 87 long term studies have proven that when it comes to burning body fat, reducing your carb intake DOES work best.

BUT…

"Low carb" diets can be VERY frustrating for most people and hard to stick to.

As an experiment last year, I went 10 full days with ZERO carbohydrates.

I mean, not even a blade of GRASS in my diet…straight protein…not a single carb or gram of fat in sight.

I went INSANE! 

No, I don’t mean that "figuratively"…I mean I literally went INSANE!

I went from near sobbing fits over my computer not working properly to hysterical laughter at the thought of even undertaking such an experiment.

You see, your brain NEEDS carbs just to function properly so doing without any at all was an extreme example of how your body does need to get some carbs to function.

So here’s a tip from the "Muscle Nerd Looney Bin" on how to easily burn fat the "low carb" way from my Combat The Fat program ( http://www.combatthefat.com )…

>>  Separate "Dry" Carbs From "Wet" Carbs

This is a little twist I’ve created in Combat The Fat that allows you to EASILY reduce the WRONG kind of carbs WITHOUT counting calories and NEVER going hungry.

You need more carbs on training days to recover your muscle so you can consume 2-3 servings of "Dry Carbs" on those days (like oatmeal, pasta, bread, etc.)

"Wet Carbs" include most vegetables and fruits and don’t contain a lot of carbs so you can eat MUCH more of these each day.

Use them as "fillers" in your diet to keep from getting hungry and helping you avoid the real culprits…those "dry carbs".

I know this is a very different way of looking at "food" and doesn’t really follow the normal "low carb" pattern.

But it’s a glimpse of the way that I’VE structured the RIGHT way to use "low carb" to lose weight and forms one of the foundations of the Combat The Fat "Daily Eating Guide".

Hope it helps!

Your "Champion For The Average Joe & Jane",
The "Muscle Nerd"
Jeff Anderson
www.combatthefat.com

Sincerely,
Lewis + Sarah
www.atozfitness.com

This month I’m going to touch on how to effectively build mass and how to avoid the pitfalls. Building a solid foundation can be quite simple if you apply the proper techniques.

In order to build solid muscle, you have to incorporate a few necessary factors in your lifestyle.