Lose 10 Pounds

#1 – Ab exercises don’t always give the best workout.
This one might seem a little counter-intuitive, at least on paper. The fitness
community has long told us that in order to get that flat stomach, you need to
ruthlessly work out your abdominals through isolation exercises such as sit ups
and crunches. This is profoundly untrue. The best way to exercise your
abdominals and build that six-pack is to focus on compound exercises that work
out your whole body at once.

#2 – Constant cardio will not make you thin.
This is another long-held belief that gets people nowhere in the fitness world.
The truth is, cardio is no match for high intensity resistance training, at
least for building up your abdominal strength and definition. The big exercises
like cleans and deadlifts will always give you a better stomach than endless
hours of cardio.

#3 – There’s no such thing as ‘tone.’
This one has been long propagated by the fitness industry, who have a huge stake
in making sure that people don’t know how to exercise properly. Ignore anyone
who tells you that they can help tone you. Tone is just muscle without fat
covering it, and it requires no special training to form. Tone your body the
exact same way you’d train for bulk, except lower your protein intake. Then
you’ll see the stomach that you want.

#4 – No, that late-night abdominal commercial won’t help you lose weight.
Everyone’s seen them, the late night ads promising 5 inches off your waist in
one week, so long as you use their amazing new machine. 99% of the abdominal
machines you seen on TV are useless, and the ones that do work are vastly
ineffective when compared with actual plyometric and resistance exercises. Don’t
fall victim to another ab scam, instead focus on the workouts that actually
produce results.

#5 – Your abs are not special.
No, they’re not. They’re no different from any other muscle group in your body,
in terms of training. They don’t need a workout every day, and they won’t grow
from any magic herbal pills. The only way to get the abs you want is by dieting
and training intelligently. Don’t buy into the hokus pokus formulas, instead
work at your abdominals and craft a physique that you can be proud of.

#1 – The Deadlift
Known as the king of exercises, the deadlift isn’t for wimps. As one of the
three core lifts of international powerlifters, the deadlift is associated with
big, musclebound strongmen. Don’t get worried though, deadlifts won’t make you
look like a giant overnight. It takes a very specific diet to get the type of
physique that those guys have, and without it, deadlifts will simply work out
your legs, back, and abs very effectively. A true must for any ab routine.

#2 – The Squat
While the squat is primarily a leg exercise, it relies on the abdominals in
order to keep the body straight and safe during the lift. When you’re balancing
weight on your shoulders, your body needs to engage your abdominals to keep
itself upright. Move through the movement and keep your abs reasonably tense,
and your chest puffed out. While your legs may ache right afterwards, it’ll be
your abs that see the true benefit in a couple of months.

#3 – The Sit Up
This is a classic abdominal isolation exercise, and is incredibly effective when
performed alongside the two other major lifts. For best results, do your sit ups
at the end of your weights routine, and after any major cardio. Isolation
exercises are always best done at the end of your routine, as they stress muscle
groups that have already been exercised in your major lifts.

#4 – The Military Press
This is another weighted exercise, and one that also exercises your chest,
shoulders and arms. In order to engage the abdominals, you need to stand upright
while performing this lift — sitting down takes the strain off your abdominals
and instead places it on your legs. Simply push your weights from shoulder
height to above your head, all the while using your abdominals to keep your body
straight and upright.

#5 – The Leg Raise
This one requires a small amount of equipment, but nothing that your local gym
can’t provide. Another great exercise to end your routine with, the leg raise
involved hanging from either a chin-up bar or a leg raise frame, and simply
raising your legs to your waist, all the while keeping them perfectly straight
and pointed. Save this one for the end of your routine — it’ll exhaust your
stomach and leave your abs pumped.