The side plank.
Average time taken to master, 1 month. Description If you want a simple safe way to build core strength fast you can not go wrong with this exercise. Because it is a static hold that uses isometric contraction to maintain the position it is possible to become very proficient at this exercise in a very short period of time and I recommend it to anyone trying to develop good core strength before moving on to other exercise such as the Lalanne push up or the dragon flag.
To begin lie on your left side with your body straight, one foot on top of the other, your left upper arm directly under your shoulder, your left hand and forearm placed on the ground and pointing directly in front of you. From there simply push up so that your elbow is bent at 90 degrees and only your left foot, hand and forearm are in contact with the floor. When you are in the correct position the space left between you and the floor should form a triangle and then it is just a case of holding the position for as long as feels comfortable. Once you have exercised the left side remember to repeat the exercise on your right side.
Take your time with this exercise and build up slowly until you can hold for a minute or longer. Breathe normally throughout the movement and do not let your hip sag. The key to getting the most from this exercise is to keep the whole of the side of your body doing the lifting tight and tensing your abs throughout the movement.
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Facts on strength building
To build pure strength all bodyweight exercises have to be kept within the 1-6 repetition range.
Once you can do the required number of repetitions in an exercise change to a more demanding one
You can build strength and stay the same weight if that is your goal.
Strength training requires short workouts of no more than 30-45 minutes to be most effective.
Facts on muscle building
To build a combination of muscle and strength all exercises have to be kept within the 6-12 repetition range.
The best muscle building diet requires two grams of protein for every kilo of your bodyweight.
The quickest way to build muscle requires an increase in bodyweight.
Each muscle should be trained no more than once or a maximum of twice per week for best results.
Facts on abs building
Diet accounts for 80% of the success in building great abs.
You cannot spot reduce fat from any one area of your body or in other words you cannot pick and choose were to lose fat. It has to be done gradually throughout the whole body.
To lose weight eat 4 or 5 small meals a day with each meal containing protein. This keeps your metabolism high and stops your body going into starvation mode which is when it will store fat.
Do not lose more than 1 or 2 pound of weight per week.
The best three abs exercises are the dragon flag, full abs rollout and full hanging leg raise.
Sit ups and crunches are terrible fat burning exercises. You would have to do 1000 sit-ups every night for over 2 weeks to burn 1 pound of fat.
In one study on rats, one group was given all their food in one meal per day as opposed to the other group which had the same amount of food but in small meals throughout the day. The results showed that ones who ate all there food in one meal put on weight whilst the others did not.
Doing lots of cardio without muscle building will result in large muscle loss because your body will adapt to make the cardio easy by losing the heavy muscle. The result could be someone who has very little muscle but still carries some fat.
Exercises that are weight bearing like running and walking are better for burning calories than non weight bearing ones such as cross trainers and cycling.
Facts on flexibility
All workouts should begin with dynamic stretchinginvolving two sets of 10 to 15 repetitions of each movement used.
All workouts should end with a cool down of static passive stretching.
The quickest flexibility results are gained with isometric stretching.
Isometric stretching should be done towards the end of a workout and never more than 3-4 times per week.