Weekly fitness round up, w/e 26th April, 2013
If you’re new to losing weight using resistance training methods, you may well be wondering whether muscle stretching is necessary. It’s not like you’re going to be sprinting or elongating into a long jump, so should you bother?
Many of the other six pack abs websites offer little or nothing to help you decide, either. Certainly not if you’re new to weight training theory.
It’s almost as if the guys behind these websites set out with a beginner six pack abs workout program in mind but, as they’ve got bigger, thus appealed to a more hard core audience, those early articles have been buried deep in the archives, never likely to see the light of day again.
From my perspective, appealing to you as someone who may not yet have signed up for Martin’s Ten Fat-burning Secrets mini-series (right) or Definition Method program, I’m perhaps glad that anything you’ve read about muscle stretches from the States is buried.
I’m not being negative about fitness coaches from across The Pond. Some of their innovative methods have fast-forwarded our industry to where it is today.
And their work as dieticians and micro-biologists is, in my opinion, unparalleled.
Indeed, Lou Schuler’s translation of The Testosterone Advantage Plan (US English to UK English – honestly, it needed to be done) was one of the first fitness manual I read intently from start to finish. That was based on results from US weight loss and exercise studies.
Old school six pack training methods take some beating
You can tell how long ago it was I read that book (the first time): I ordered it from a magazine and it came as a hardback book with a VHS Video. Man, we’re talking ancient!
Yet, there’s nothing chronicled in that book that I’ve seen contradicted since. Tweaked and tailored, maybe.
But even with all of the advances in nutritional understanding or new ‘best-ever abs work out programs’ that have surfaced over the last decade, the basic principles stand firm.
When I read Martin’s story about how The Definition Method came about, my ears alerted almost of their own volition.
A lot of what Bill on the Hill taught Martin in Tenerife is old school. How Martin’s added mindset and motivational tools brings the six pack abs workout program bang up to date.
The diet is 100% organic, relying on tailored percentages of the main food groups to provide sustenance for muscle growth yet won’t undernourish you so you’re fatigued after (or worse, during) your workouts.
A lot of Martin’s six pack program’s exercises rely on body weight, free weights or balance – not a machine in sight.
In Lou’s re-write, he went to great pains to provide a home workout solution to every modern gym alternative, machines touted by many modern coaches as essential.
I’m not saying that static weight machines for resistance training suck. But they do suck.
Your body has to get into so many awkward positions to make the exercises work, it’s a wonder you’re not misshapen for life or do yourself long-term damage after prolonged machine usage.
And that brings me back to the point of this article: should you stretch before a workout to prevent muscle damage?
If you listen to the guys in The States, and I’m guessing Bill on the Hill too, they may have said that muscle stretches would only be required depending upon your current activity level, age or maybe even starting weight.
For sure, those guys with websites I was talking about who’ve learned their trade in the gym will certainly tell you to get straight on with it. But hang on a minute.
What have these guys got to their advantage over us Brits? Think Florida, Miami, California, The Canaries? See the pattern evolving?
About 20° Fahrenheit is the advantage most of the Stateside fitness coaches have and that’s a big deal.
Coming in from the office to get straight into your workout on a freezing February Friday night in Felixstowe is not the same as a muggy Monday May morning in Miami.
Martin goes to great lengths to state across howtogetasixpack.co.uk that the methods described here assume a relative degree of wellness and capability to perform the exercises.
That counts for muscle stretches too, especially if you’ve been out of action for a while.
If you have any doubt whatsoever, or even if the basic warm up causes you pain, seek medical guidance immediately and stop the program(s).
What are good muscle-stretching exercises?
Funnily enough – and contrary to my heartfelt belief about the advice authorities give on weight loss and fitness – there are some decent warm up stretching exercises and some equally good post-workout stretches on the NHS site.
But that’s where my praise ends. I beseech you, do not get tempted to stray to the NHS weight loss tips page.
Seriously, any site that purports to give diet and fitness advice yet writes, carte blanche and without qualification, that the healthy circumference for a man’s waist is:
less than 94cm (37 inches)
or that states categorically that the only options you have if you’re looking to lose weight naturally are to
eat less or do more physical activity
deserves to be taken down under the trade’s description act.
I make no apology for this, but the only way my waist will ever get near 36″ is if I become infirm and need help to go potty.
And to suggest that eating less is an outright cure for obesity is insane.
What if a person is gaining weight because they only eat two meals a day and do no exercise? Their metabolism would be stone dead.
Any nutritionist will tell you that the healthiest way to lose weight and keep it off is to stoke up your metabolism, which for most people actually means eating more than they do currently.
It certainly means eating more often and usually means an increase in (healthy) caloric intake, too.
Okay, you may argue that the example used there is a very specific case. But that’s exactly my point. Diets are specific.
It’s content like that on the NHS site, or your ‘2 litres of water per day is a must’ comment or ‘low-fat diets are best for losing weight’ slogans that confuse those who need help most.
It’s not helpful and most certainly not accurate!
Who can benefit from a tailored exercise and weight loss program?
There is no one-size fits all diet program. Your need is different from the next man’s, the next woman’s and the next person’s.
That’s why each copy of Martin’s program is tailored to you and may even be unique.
That will depend upon your age, activity level, genetics and amount of weight you need to lose or gain from a standing start.
But I will just say this, going back to the NHS ‘guidelines’.
If your waist is around (or greater than) that ‘healthy’ 37″ circumference, I’d urge you most strongly to order Martin’s Definition Method right now.
If you’re not eating a lot, or consuming only processed produce lacking in almost any healthy nutrients, but are still struggling with your weight, you need to do something about it. The Definition Method will help.
It comes with a money back guarantee, scheduled workouts, bespoke diet, loads of bonus tools and mindset methods to help you succeed. It comes highly recommended by me.
The majority of people will find that cutting out the processed crap, the ready meals, the supposedly ‘healthy choice options’ and buying ingredients as nature provided will pay for the 12-week six pack program way before it’s run its course.
More important than what the six-pack Definition Method means to me or Martin is what it could mean to you, your quality of life and long-term health and fitness in general.
The sooner you start, the sooner those aspects will improve. Why not now?
If you have any questions whatsoever, you can either drop them in the comments below or catch up with either of us on the howtogetasixpack facebook page. We’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts.
