Contour Abs

Whenever I go to the gym and tell a friend that I’ve recently started the supplement, NO2, nobody knows what I’m talking about but I even mention Creatine, and that is well known as a standard for building muscle.

Could NO2 be the next Creatine? When Creatine was launched, it was expensive. But it worked. It was a huge craze at the gyms and most everybody wanted it. The reason they wanted it so much, is that it worked. It was legal and the side-effects, well so far, there aren’t any (as long as you drink plenty of fluids). Since the launching of this successful product, there has never been anything that hit the market with the same enthusiasm.

NO2, according to research , “the first of an exciting new category of muscle-enhancers known as a hemodilators. Nitric oxide has the unique ability to perpetually sustain the flow of muscle-building agents to skeletal muscle.” Before I give my review, I’d like to share another quote of the benefits and claims. “By increasing nitric oxide production, NO2 increases your maximum contractile velocity – in all muscle types. The results are immediate and consequential, and include increasing your load capacity, boosting your power output, and quickening your muscle contraction.”

When I first was asked to try this product, I was skeptical. I’ve been bodybuilding for 16 years now (mainly for general fitness not to get freaky huge), and I’ve tried a lot of supplements. The last time I was excited about a supplement was Creatine like most of the gym-rats. But I’m always willing to review something and try it for myself in hopes that maybe I’ll find that gem and tell the rest of the world.

Taking 3 pills before breakfast, and another 3 one-half hour before lunch, I can honestly say that while I’ve noticed no gains in strength yet, my muscle do feel perpetually pumped. It’s like I just came back from the gym but it lasts all day. While I cannot say the results are amazing, I can say the effects – both physical and psychological – are extraordinary.

As with any supplement, you need to drink plenty of water. NO2 does not have this specific requirement, but I’ve noticed that being properly hydrated has helped me keep that pump going all day. I’ve also seen some recommendations that taking NO2 with Creatine gives a complementary effect. To date, I have not tried this.

If you are looking for the next Creatine, NO2 could be it. I love the effects.

Try it for yourself, for free – click here to claim a trial bottle now!

I see it all the time. Guys in the gym doing set after set of all these different exercises, and if you looked at these same people 3 months from now they have not really changed physically all that much, maybe a little more toned but nothing really noticeable. And the elusive question “How do I build more muscle” is still the battlecry.

Well guys it is not adding more sets, or adding more reps, it is not adding more time in the gym? All these isolated type exercises, are really not going to give you the lasting muscle that you are looking for. Are you ready for the answer?

Intensity+2 compound exercises+lots of rest=lots of muscle.

You only need (2) exercises to build muscle. SQUATS+DEADLIFTS. And i mean all the muscle you want. The trick is if you put all of your effort into just these 2 exercises I promise you you will be amazingly surprised at how fast you will grow.

These 2 exercises have such an “anabolic effect” on the entire body and nervous system it is hard to imagine. These are two compound exercises that will effect just about every muscle in your body. Plus the fact when you add in the chemical equation “testosterone” and “Human Growth hormone” what it does for the muscle building process no 2 exercise are better.

Too add more muscle you have to do Compound Exercises. This workout is not for the faint of heart. If done right it is a killer workout believe me when i tell you it will wipe you out.

You have to provide major muscle stimulus to the larger muscle groups in “short intense wokouts” with adequate nutrition and rest to override the “catabolic effect” that breaks down muscle during these intense workouts.

An extra benefit to this workout is you get a great “cardio” workout at the same time. Because your heart will be pumping out of your chest and your breathing will be accelerated tremendously. No more riding the bike, or jogging.

Now everybody is different but I will give you a rough guideline to follow. 2-3 days a week, preferably 2 that’s it. These are your workout days. I would say 48-72 hrs in between for adequate recovery. Now I did a total of (10) sets. I started out doing 25 reps, 20, 15, 10, 5. On each of these 2 exercises. Increasing the weight with each set. See what is right for you. “The Key” is intensity and effort, push yourself to reasonable limits. Your body will be spent. 2-3 minute rest periods.

Now you will have to spend a day or two to get the proper weight for each set, because you want each set to take you to the max. This type of program you will know if you have to drop weight or add weight just by how you feel after you have completed a set. if you feel you could do more add weight to the set. If less you will not be able to do the desired amount of reps.

A question I get is how does this build my upper body? I will tell you from personal experience my arms grew 2-3 inches without ever doing a bicep curl or a trcicep ext. or dip. Because again of the overall anabolic effect that it has on the total body. Think about it? What muscles are you using? Legs, arms, back, shoulders, arms, contour abs, chest, (deep breathing).

Now i will tell you this. Most people who read this probably won’t follow my advice. Why? Because this workout is too difficult for most people, and human nature being what it is people tend to take the easy way out. I have just given you a shortcut to building muscle and it won’t take years. You will see major results in “90″ days or sooner. It’s up to you!

Rest,Rest,Rest, and more rest. This is when your body builds new tissue. This is when you reap the rewards of your hard labor do not compromise this. Take naps during the day. 6-8 hours a night if you can.

Diet? I was famished on this routine. To accelerate muscle growth I would say to get lots of protein. Ex. i gram per pound of bodyweight.If you weigh 220 take in 220 grams. For me I did smoothies, and protein shakes, 2-3 times a day plus my regular 3-4 meals. Try to get a shake in within an hour after you workout. And right before you go to bed to slow down muscle wasting. Lots of Fibrous carbs, and baked potatoe, and yams. I use to bring cans of tuna on the road with me.

Try to use Force factor nitric oxide capsules.  Remember to build muscle you have to take in “extra calories” to build added muscle weight. And with this workout you will be burning lots of calories. So pay attention to your diet. If you want by adding “creatine” which is a supplement and in red meat, you will add to the fullness of the muscle, and volume. But it is not neccesary for results.

Before I talk about one of the most productive and forgotten Ab Development exercises ever developed, you will need to know how your abdominal muscles actually work. I know for a fact, if I don’t offer some pretty convincing evidence, it will be very difficult for you to believe such a claim so here is where a little education will go a long way to prove my point.

Your abdominal muscles are really one big muscle called the Rectus Abdominus. You do not have upper, mid and lower abs unless you have some genetic anomaly. This is really critical to understand because the long muscle fibers in the abdominal muscles start at ribcage and ends at the pubic region.

So, when you contract your muscles during a curl-up or crunch, the two ends of the muscle fibers move toward each other. It is impossible for the lower portion of the Rectus Abdominus (abs) to function without equally “firing off” all the other muscle fibers in the abs.

Once the muscle relaxes and allows its two ends to move apart and reach its original stretched position, you will complete the full range-of-motion of an abdominal contour abs exercise.

I am not forgetting the external and internal Obliques because they are directly and indirectly involved while performing any abdominal movement so it’s really not necessary to hammer out your Obliques regularly. In fact, since the only thing a muscle can do is shrink and grow (atrophy or hypertrophy), you probably will not want to overly develop the Obliques because it will create a thicker looking waistline.

That means the key to creating great-developed abs is to use exercises that fully contract the abdominal muscle until it is fatigued and that will take the muscle through it’s full range-of-motion, just like any other muscle you build in your body.

Remember though, you will not see your abs if they are hidden under a layer of fat and you cannot spot reduce the fat from waistline by training your abs for hours on end. Simply doing hours of abdominal exercises may develop your abs but you will still carry that layer of fat around your body if you aren’t burning the appropriate amount of calories. If you are trying to lose body fat, there are much bigger and better exercises than abdominal exercises for burning calories and body fat.

Now that you know how the abdominal muscle works, it’s time to discover, “The most forgotten productive exercise for your Abs.”

Reintroducing, TADA – The Sit Up.

Wait! Don’t go yet. It’s really, really important for you to know how to properly perform a Sit Up. If you perform the Sit Up like you did in Gym Class, you are reducing the Sit Up’s effectiveness by almost 50% and you could cause some serious low back pain for yourself.

I know; if a personal trainer or non free-thinking exercise physiologist is reading this section right now they are going to tell me I am crazy for recommending Sit Ups. Here again, it is important to understand the rules behind Abdominal-development and the Sit Up exercise really qualifies as a very effective movement.

Remember, when the abdominal muscle is working, “Two ends of the muscle fibers must move toward each other and be able to fully contract”.

Does the Sternum and Pubic area move toward each other when performing Sit Ups?

Does the Abdominal Muscle bend and stretch the spine in its full range of motion in a Sit Up?

Does the abdominal muscles reach full extension to full flexion? – YES, if you perform the exercise correctly! So, why does the sit up exercise get such a bad rap?

Primarily because the old style Sit Ups you performed incorrectly in gym class put too much stress on the lower back and hip flexors. But, do you know what is really crazy about that logic? If more muscles than one are involved, it is called a compound or multi-joint movement. You won’t hear me saying compound movements are bad. Are these supposed experts trying to get people to actually believe that compound movements are great for every muscle except the abdominal muscles?

If I remember correctly, didn’t these same exercise physiologists claim squats and Deadlifts put too much strain on your knees and back and that we all needed to stop doing those exercises too? Just a few years later, most of the experts are now eating their words, aren’t they?

Description of Exercise – Here is the appropriate way to perform an effective Sit Up.

Lay flat on your back with a rolled up towel under your lower back. Bend your knees about 45° with heels on the floor and keep your toes pointing up. Do not anchor your feet.

Spread the knees apart approximately 6-8 inches to prevent the hip flexors from contributing too much to the exercise.

Next, extend your arms between your legs and keep your hands between your legs throughout the movement because it will help keep you in the proper position.

Now, exhale and lift your shoulders off the ground, keeping your neck in a neutral position. Concentrate on trying to force the lower portion of your ribcage into your knees by curling the spine upward into the sit up position. (DO NOT CURL YOUR NECK). Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position by uncurling your spine and you are finished with the repetition when you feel the rolled up towel supporting your lower back again.

Notice how both ends of the abdominal muscle fully contract together and are stretched through its full range of motion. When you perform a Sit Up with proper biomechanics, your next crunch exercise will pale by comparison.

I keep seeing the infomercials on TV for the Contour Abs ab toner, making all kinds of promises and raising expectations among future customers by talking about how the Contour Abs will help you lose weight, maybe upto 3 INCHES of belly fat off you waistline – all from just sitting on your couch using their ab belt!

I can categorically state that there’s no WAY you’re going to lose any weight just by using an ab toner, good or not, the product just isn’t going to make you lose weight! How can it? it causes your abdominal muscles to contract, as if you were doing situps or crunches, but your heart rate is not increasing like it does when you exercise for real.

This type of advertising just gives all ab belts a bad name, and makes people think they are a scam and a fad. The Contour Abs promises are also why the FDA is skeptical and unwilling to grant them approval. Promises about losing weight with a Contour Abs are just rubbish, and you should not believe them.

Ab toners DO work – they ARE effective and WILL help you tone and build your abs without you having to do situps and crunches, BUT to see your newly sculpted abs, you’re going to have to lose the layer of fat covering them first! Do not fall for the hype pumped out by a product that promises you’ll lose weight, when it just isn’t going to happen, and isn’t even possible!

If you want great results with an ab belt, you’re going to have to put a little work in to burn body fat (if you have a little too much like most of us) – I wrote another post giving a two-step plan to cut bodyfat and build your new abs, read more about it here: 2 Steps to Cut Belly Fat. Another post I wrote full of tips to help you acheive your fat burning goals is here: How to burn fat and get a flatter stomach.

Once you’ve cut body fat, you’re ready to start using an ab toner and will see great results with it fast – there’s a good review of the two leading ab toners, the Contour Abs and the Flex belt which is worth reading before you order!

We all want a slim, attractive stomach that doesn’t have a ‘winter layer’ all year round, with strong toned ‘contour abs’ abdominal muscles right?

Well, I’ve come up with a two step plan to help acheive that goal. Ab belts are a great way to tone and firm up your abs, but they will not help you to burn fat or lose weight at all – to see the full benefit of an ab toner, you need to burn off as much belly fat as you can – then and only then, will you see your new stronger ab muscles!

Here’s my two step plan to cut pounds of belly fat, and build hot sexy strong abs!

• Step One: Get the Fat Burning Furnace course, it’ll show you a whole load of great ways to effectively cut stubborn belly fat for good
• Step Two: Get a good quality ab toner like the Flex Belt – it’s proven to work and together with the Fat Burning Furnace will help you to sculpt really ripped, strong toned abs quickly!

That’s it – it’s important to do BOTH steps, but if you have to choose one, then the Fat Burning Furnace will really help you cut fat. If you don’t mind hard work, then you can acheive the same results the Flex Belt will give you, but its going to take a LOT of hard time doing situps and crunches instead.

Used together, this is a dynamite combo that will have your bodyfat percentage going through the floor and your abs sculpted into a sixpack in double quick time! Don’t delay, get started today!

Millions and millions of people struggle for months and often years on and off, in their quest to cut fat, lose weight and tone up. Why do they struggle so badly?

Quite simply, most people are looking for a single, no effort quick fix that will magically make their bodyfat melt away without them having to do anything other than sit around waiting for it to happen! Clearly this is not a realistic way to acheive your fat burningand toning goals, but it is human nature in our modern world, to want everything yesterday, for little money and even less effort!

So whats the answer to getting into better shape, cutting fat, losing weight and toning up?

First of all, you have to realise that its going to take some effort on your part – this is the single most important step, and the hardest one to come to terms with. Most people will fail at this point, give up after half-heartedly taking a supplement, or starting an exercise program or diet for a week or two and then maybe try again with similar lack of commitment and effort in a few months time. I don’t need to tell you that obviously this is not the way you’re going to succeed in acheiving anything with your body!

Secondly, you have to start your new self-improvement regime, and STICK TO IT until you reach your goal – whether you want to lose 20lbs, or just tone up your abs, you have to start something intending to finish it. No excuses, no ‘its not working’ after a week – stick to your chosen plan and reach your goals!

I can tell you right now that there are various elements to losing weight, cutting body fat and building a stronger, healthier body that looks great. You will only succeed if you do ALL of them, together, with commitment, for as long as it takes!

• Exercising – raising your heart rate will cause your body to begin to burn fat, assuming you are controlling your intake of fat and calories. Even if you’re not athletic, this can include lifting weights, walking, jogging – even walking up and down the stairs in your house!
• Eating better – “You only get out what you put in” – as the saying goes – you need to cut fat and excess calories from your diet, and eat foods that will fuel your body properly while you exercise
• Drinking more water – your body and brain will function better and more efficiently if you’re properly hydrated, and you’ll be able to exercise better, thus burning more calories and fat
• Sleep properly – believe it or not, it is proven that sleep can help you to lose weight! It will also help you have more energy for exercise. The importance of getting enough sleep is often overlooked!

There has to be shortcuts though right?

There are few shortcuts available that will truly help you on your fat burning body-toning journey. I would tend to avoid ‘diet’ supplements and pills, the only ones that actually show results are made for people who train hard and want to build muscle fast – products like Creatine or Protein supplements.

In terms of exercise, there are some products that will help you – assuming that you are either exercising or eating proplery to try and help burn excess fat from your body. Once such product is the Ab Circle – it will enable you to exercise and burn fat, while helping you build abdominal muscle. This type of exercise machine will show good results.

Once you have started to cut bodyfat, then you can start to concentrate more on building and toning up muscle – products like ab belts for example can help target your abs very effectively, and you will see results quickly if you are working to actively cut fat in the ways I illustrated above.

Can you recommend products to help me cut fat and tone up?

I have been exercising and working to cut my body fat right down for years, and in that time I’ve tried almost every product, diet, scam and fad going! I’ve only found 2 books that genuinely helped me on my way:

The Fat Burning Furnace and Truth About Abs. Both are packed with great info on eating properly, and exercises that will help you turbo charge your fat-burning! Both were a great help and inspiration to me.

As far as exercise equipment goes, the Ab Circle worked great for me in helping me exercise and cut fat, and I also use a Flex Belt ab toner regularly between exercise sessions. (NOTE: Ab Circle is only available in the USA).

That group of products is, as far as I’m concerned, the best on the market and a GREAT combination in helping people of all ages, genders and current fitness levels and weights to cut back your body fat and get you toned up quickly.