Whether it’s a sign of health, beauty, virility, or movie star status, a flat stomach is something that many people all over the world crave. This is because a flat stomach is so hard to get, it can indicate full-body power or virility, and it is essential to powerful performance. In this article, you’ll learn how to get a flat stomach safely, effectively, and with zero liposuction involved.

How To Get A Flat Stomach
Despite what many folks appear to believe, six-pack abs are not six soda-can shaped muscles that sit under the skin of your stomach, somehow magically filling and emptying as you become more or less fit.
Instead, your stomach muscles are made up of four basic groups that, like most muscles, appear to be named by ancient Latin monks:
1) The rectus abdominis: The rectus abdominis is one big sheet of muscle tissue that runs from your breastbone down to your pelvis.
2) The external obliques: The external obliques run from your ribs to your hips in a forward direction.
3) The internal obliques: Theinternal obliques run from your ribs to your hips in a backwards direction
4) The transverses abdominis: The transverses abdominis is located deep in your abs, underneath the obliques.
The key to better abs, which most people neglect when trying to get a flat stomach, is a training program that targets each of these muscles, and not just one of them. You simply can’t train just one single muscle group of the stomach in isolation and expect for your abs to look fit, trim, toned, ripped or flat. Instead, you need to train all the stomach muscles in a functional, multi-muscle manner.
This is same reason why people who want nice arms can’t just do bicep curls, but also need to do pull-ups and deadlifts, and why people who want a better butt can’t just do lying hamstring curls, but also need to exercises do squats and lunges. The body responds best when we train entire muscle groups that surround our “trouble spot,” and not just the isolated trouble spot. So people who want a flat stomach can’t only do crunches.
So if this type of multi-muscle training is a goal, what would a flat stomach workout look like?

Flat Stomach Exercises
You should work your stomach muscles every 2-3 days, including abdominal exercise as part of a scheduled cardio workout or weight training workout. For your flat stomach training, you should include one exercise for each of the abdominal muscle groups, and also one exercise for your lower back. Here is a guide to choosing the proper exercises:
-Rectus abdominis: For your rectus abdominis, exercise choices include flexing motions of the spine, such as crunches and crunch variations, V-ups, sit-ups and sit-up variations, hanging leg raises, or knee-ups. Front planks are also quite good for this muscle group.
-External and internal obliques: Twisting and rotating motions are good exercises because they work both the external and internal oblique muscles. That is because if you rotate to your left, your left external oblique and your right internal oblique are doing the work, and vice versa. Twisting motions include Russian Twists, Cable Torso Twists, and the WoodChopper.
-Transverses abdominis: The transverses abdominis is an interesting muscle group, because it doesn’t really move you through a range of motion as much as support the stomach and the gut. So when you suck in your stomach, that’s the transverses abdominis muscles working. Although you can work this muscle group anywhere, such as sucking in your stomach while you’re driving in your car, sitting on an airplane, or standing in line at the grocery store, you can also make it work pretty hard with an exercise like front planks.
-Low back muscles: Finally, the low back muscles can be worked with a simple contraption at the gym that allows you to do low back extensions or, if you’re not at a gym, you can do back extensions on a stability ball, or from the floor by lying on your stomach and lifting all four limbs off the ground.
So during a typical flat stomach workout, you would include several sets of a flexing exercise, a twisting exercise, a planking exercise and an extending exercise.

Get Rid of Stomach Fat
No matter how well you’ve developed your stomach muscles, you need to get rid of layers of stomach fat that can cover up your abs. Here are three tips to get rid of that last little bit of flab around your waistline:
1) Be sure you’re using a well-rounded workout routine, which includes what I call the “3 Pillars of Exercise”:
Pillar 1: Weight Training
Pillar 2: High-Intensity Cardio Intervals
Pillar 3: Aerobic Fat-Burning Sessions
Weight training alone or cardio alone is often not enough to erase that last bit of storage fat, so use of the modes above in your training routine.
2) Control stress and get adequate sleep. Often, bloating and inflammation are a primary cause of a puffy stomach, or a little extra padding on the waistline. Use stress-reduction techniques, and try to sleep 7 to 8 hours each night whenever possible.
3) Eliminate or significantly moderate the big three belly fat triggers: high-sugar, starchy foods (yes, that includes wheat); processed, packaged foods; and alcohol. I’ve witnessed these simple changes produce visible stomach fat reduction in just 2 to 4 weeks.
Using the tips in this article, you can get the perfect musculature for a flat stomach, develop a functional core that gives you powerful physical performance, and lose belly fat.
If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to Tri-Ripped and watch the Ben Greenfield special offer for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

Click here to get a ripped triathlon body

Tri-Ripped Triathlon Body

Did you think he will want to do this again next year?

Kevin has always been relatively sporty playing rugby at a high representative level and has always owned bikes (both road and mountain) and was very keen on kayaking too.  He has also completed (twice, one two day and then the following year the one day) the legendary Speights coast to coast multisport race covering the width of the south Island in New Zealand, so he is not a complete stranger to endurance events.  Even with this type of fitness background he did have some doubt about whether he could step up to complete the full ironman distance.  This is something, I’m sure all Sprint, Olympic and half ironman distance triathletes feel as well.  Generally the feeling is that it was hard enough to complete the shorter distance so how on earth can I do a full ironman.

Time to refuel on the cycle leg

1. First, he had a friend that he regularly trained with who had already completed an ironman.  If you know someone who has already completed an ironman, train with them for a while and you will realise that they are only human too.

2. Second, be realistic with your training schedule.  Kevin prefers biking over running, so his training consisted of completing about 300 – 700km of cycling per week building up to the event.  And at the peak, just before he started to taper off his training he completed 1000km in one week, about 4 weeks before the race.  He also managed to fit in about 3-5 swim sessions per week and by his own account very little running at all.  However, his base fitness and his swimming and cycling routines, put him in a good place to complete a marathon to finish the triathlon.

Maybe you have super skinny legs and don’t like your flat backside. Maybe you want your butt to look better in jeans or a swimsuit. Or perhaps you simply can’t seem to generate the muscular force you want while lifting weights, running or riding a bike.
Whether you’re pursuing performance or power, you’re about to learn how to get a better butt, what your butt muscles actually do, and learn 4 good glute exercises to get them firing again.

Why You Need A Better Stronger Butt
A common imbalance (even among athletes) is a weak butt. This is a result of a combination of a “sitting” profession that keeps the butt muscles turned off all day long, followed by hitting the gym, running, cycling or doing any other form of exercise with those inactivated butt muscles.
When this happens, it creates three problems: 1) you lose the aesthetic appeal of having nice glutes; 2) you get low back pain as your pelvic joint overcompensates for a weak butt and 3) you can’t generate as much power as you should be able to generate with your hips and legs.

What Are The Butt Muscles?
Your butt is comprised of several muscles. The first is your “gluteus maximus”, which is one of the largest and strongest muscles in your body – starting at your hip and ending on your upper leg bone. The gluteus maximus extends and externally rotates your leg, also extends your trunk, and is mostly responsible for the “round” look you can get in your butt when you do exercises that trigger these motions.
The other two smaller butt muscles are the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. These muscles, which can become just as notoriously weak as the gluteus maximus, primarily work when you’re supporting your body on one leg, as you might do when you’re walking, running, climbing stairs or changing directions.

What Are Good Butt Muscle Exercises?
If you’ve ever been out on a tough, hilly hike, you’ve realised from your sore butt the next day just how much you utilise your glutes when you step, climb and change direction. Or maybe you play squash occasionally and again the next day you realise how low you have to go to return the ball back. By simulating these type of squash playing or hiking movements when you train your butt in the gym, you can significantly improve your leg power, and also get a better butt. Here are three good butt exercises to get those mountain-goat glutes:

1) Step-Ups. Choose a bench or platform that is preferably at knee height or above. Place on leg up on the elevated surface and step-up, driving your opposite to your chest as you step. For added difficulty, place a barbell on your back or clutch a dumbbell to your chest. Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps for each leg.
2) Stair-Climber Strides. Get on a stair climber at the gym and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Put the machine on a relatively slow climb rate and climb 2-3 stairs at a time, focusing on pushing through the entire stepping motion. Perform 3-5 sets of 2-4 minutes, and recover between reps by working a different non-leg exercise (such as core, arms, etc.).
3) Kick-outs. There are several variations of the kick-out motion, but each involves you bending at the waist and kicking out behind you, preferably with your heel going higher than your low back. You can get in a crawl position and kick-out (easy version), use a kick-out machine at the gym, or attach a cable or elastic band to your leg and kick-out. Perform 3-5 sets of 10-20 kick-outs per leg.

4 Steps To Getting Better Butt Shape and Strength
Today, Ben Greenfield shows you a 4 step process to getting a stronger butt in 8 weeks:
Step 1: 4 sets of 25 bridges (shown below) every 2 days for 2 weeks

Step 2: 4 sets of 25 ball bridges (shown below) every 2 days for 2 weeks

Step 3: 2 sets of 25 ball bridges and 2 sets of 25 single leg bridges (shown below) for 2 weeks

Step 4: 2 sets of 25 ball single leg bridges and 2 sets of 25 single leg ball bridges (shown below) for 2 weeks

Once you’ve finished, move into maintenance mode: 2x/week do 2 sets of 25 single leg bridges and 2 sets of 25 single leg ball bridges.
And that’s it.
This will take about 10-15 minutes of your time, two times a week. You will be able to literally watch your butt transform, and feel significantly greater stability when you’re standing on one leg, stepping, changing direction, jumping, running or bicycling.
If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to Tri-Ripped and watch the Ben Greenfield special offerfor a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

Click here to get a ripped triathlon body

Tri-Ripped Triathlon Body

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #1: Stretch your chest muscles.
Tight chest muscles can come from sitting a desk for several hours with your hands on a keyboard, from riding a bike in the aero position, and from swimming. Once tight, and especially in the presence of weak external rotators, these muscles pull your forward into a slouch.
To stretch tight chest muscles, try a doorframe stretch, in which you reach for the top of a door frame, place your hands on it and lean forward as far as you can. If you can’t reach the top of a door frame, just place one hand over the other hand, and lean into a wall.

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #2: Strengthen your external rotators.
Although the most popular exercise for “strengthening” the external rotators is to grab an elastic band and do dozens of repetitions of rotation for the shoulders, most of us don’t have time to stand around doing that. Bigger, multi-joint exercises like pull-ups and rows work far better, and have the added advantage of burning more calories and working your arm muscles.
I’ve personally installed a pull-up bar in the door at home (it cost me about £20), and I try to do at least 20 pull-ups each day (two sets of 10 in the morning and then evening). You can also include regular or assisted pull-ups as a weekly part of your gym routine. Also include lat pull-downs, seated rows, cable rows, and single arm dumbbell rows – focusing on squeezing your shoulder blades back and maintaining a tall, proud posture as you do each exercise.

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #3: Work the core.
Blah, blah, blah, work the core. Sure, you’ve heard this before. But think about it this way: when you’re riding a bike, swimming, or sitting at your desk, there is one thing that has to happen before you begin to slouch: your core has to get tired first.?But if your core is strong, it takes a massive load off your shoulders, and allows you to maintain much better posture. I personally recommend planks as the best way to strengthen your core and shoulders at the same time.
Try this: get into a front plank position, hold for 3 deep breaths, then switch to a side plank position left side, hold for 3 more breaths, then side plank right side for 3 breaths, and finish by holding a full push-up position for 3 breaths. Do that entire sequence without your knees touching the ground. See how many rounds you can do before you core collapses. If you can get to 10 round (about 7-9 minutes of planking), you’ve got a solid core. Otherwise, do this routine once or twice per week until you can get to 10 rounds.

Now that you’ve learned the 3 easy steps to get nice shoulders, you can be one of those triathletes who swims fast, but also cuts an impressive figure, and doesn’t have that notorious slouch, especially when people look at you from the side.
If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to Tri-Ripped and watch the Ben Greenfield special offer for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

Click here to get a ripped triathlon body

Tri-Ripped Triathlon Body

Chrissie Wellington

2011 is nearly over and it’s at this time of the year where we can reflect on great sporting achievements. Ok, so the All Blacks winning the World Cup after 24 years was quite an achievement, but that is a team sport and this is a triathlon website, so who deserves special praise? There is only really one standout performer and her name is Chrissie Wellington.

Chrissie burst onto the professional triathlon scene in 2007 with an emphatic Ironman World Championship Kona win in Hawaii.

Four years later (apart from 2010 where she was unable to race due to personal illness) she has owned that race completely and practically every other one she competes in. She remains undefeated in Ironman races having a record 12 from 12 first places. I remember reading an article about Chrissie just before this years World Championship race. It was stating that it wasn’t a question of if she would win Kona, 2011 but by how much and this proved to be very much the case.

How does one perform at the highest level over and over again with such consistency? Chrissie would be the first to admit that the physical and fitness side is just one part of her success. The other key part is her mental strength. It was interesting to read about her early training days. Before she turned professional she worked in Kathmandu, Nepal and used to cycle regularly in the high altitude mountains for fun. Now that would certainly give you a good base for mental strength.

Any long distance endurance athlete will always mention the mental barrier that you have to push your body through and Chrissie seems to be well versed in this area. There is no doubt she pushes her physical body to the limits and the flip side for this to work is that when she is not racing she is also very capable to switch off and relax, rest and meditate.

I admire her extraordinary determination, motivation, and smile during and after every race. Keep up the fantastic work Chrissie and all the best for 2012!

Triathlon Wetsuit

Here is a quick “5 feature” check list to view before you make your purchase.

Also visit http://www.triathlon-wetsuits.org.uk to view a wide selection of recommended triathlon wetsuits.

1. Triathlon Wetsuit material

Neoprene is the most common triathlon wetsuit material.  Top brands coat their more expensive wetsuits with a silicon coating skin (SCS or SXS) that cuts quicker through water helping with your glide and propulsion through the water.  The “nano” coating on some wetsuits helps trap air between the silicon and the suit to increase buoyancy.   The important part to remember about the material is the thickness.  It should have varied levels of thickness with the shoulder panels and arms thinner than the chest and legs.  The arms and shoulders are thinner to help with extra movement and flexibility, while the thicker material around the chest, torso and upper legs help with stability and floatation.

2. Right size and wetsuit construction

The wetsuit needs to fit snuggly and not allow any water flow.  The wrists, ankles and neck should have a comfortable firm seal.  The wetsuit construction itself should have a mixture of stitching and glue between the panels to increase the life of your wetsuit.  Wearing a wetsuit will generally feel tight and hot when you are out of the water.  Once you enter the water it will start to feel more comfortable.  Choose the correct size by using the height and weight size guides found on most online retail websites.   As a rule of thumb if your body type is tall and thin then be guided more by the height and with short and wide body types go with the weight size guides.

Triathlon wetsuits should have a zipper that draws all the way down the back, so the end is level with your hips.  This makes it easier to put the wetsuit on and ensures an easier transition when taking off your wetsuit from the water exit.  You can also use a water-soluble lubricant around your ankles to make it even easier to take off your wetsuit.

4. Propulsion panels and speed strakes

Top of the line triathlon wetsuits can also offer rubber panels on the bottom side of the forearms.  They act as paddles when swimming.  This helps the pull stroke and creates faster propulsion through the water.  Another new feature for top brand wetsuits include speed strakes along the chest panels and the legs.  The strakes help with hydrodynamic stability.  They also ensures you keep an effective, straight line swim.

If you are buying online, always check that the retailer has a warranty and exchange policy in place.  Buying a wetsuit is an expensive investment, so it’s important to have piece of mind if it is damaged due to manufacturing error.

I hope these 5 features helps with your purchase decision and please remember to view http://www.triathlon-wetsuits.org.uk to view some of the best value and performing wetsuits in the marketing today.

This article is written by Mike Kirkman. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included. For more information on training tips and creating a winning mindset to achieve your triathlon goals, please visit http://www.triathlon2win.com

It was warm sunny evening back in August 2010, when I sprained my ankle.  Playing touch rugby on the uneven surface of Regents Park in London, I rolled over in pain.  Right there and then I started RICE recovery straight away.  That’s Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (RICE) treatment.  I had an x-ray at Accident & Emergency the next morning to confirm no broken bones.

I thought after a few weeks of rest and I should be back up running and training in no time.  Unfortunately after two months, I still had swelling around the joint and my physio treatment (with ultra-sound) wasn’t helping with my recovery.  I tried another sports physio who had over two years of football physio experience.  He had seen a lot of sprained ankle injuries and said that physio treatment may not help fix this type of injury, because there was so much instability and movement in my ankle.

To get to the bottom of this I needed to get an MRI scan and the results indicated that I had a complete tear of the ATFL and partial tears of both the PTFL and CFL ligaments.  Having decided not to choose the operation route, I’ll be sticking to a rigid physio plan of daily exercise to slowly build up my muscle strength and proprioception, through ankle movement and balance exercises. 

After six months of research and talking to professionals, I have discovered the five main techniques to strengthen and improve ankle balance.  Once you have finished the RICE recovery method, try using these five exercises to improve recovery time to sprained ankle.  These exercises can also help prevent ankle injuries:

1. On one foot slowly raise up and down bending the knee x 15 times.  If required use wall for balance.
2. On one foot slowly raise on to your toes and hold for 5 seconds x 15 times. Use wall for balance.
3. Walk on tip toes back and forth for 1 minute and then on your heels for 1 minute.
4. With no support, balance on one foot and try to keep steady.  Try the same exercise and close your eyes.  Hold for 1 minute.
5. Use a wobble board or balance board with slow movement back and forth for 2 minutes.

There is a lot of work to be done before I can start playing touch rugby again, but hopefully I’ll be back up and ready for when the season begins.  The same applies to hockey, tennis and squash or any sport where there a sudden switch in movement is required.

Merry Xmas

While the southern hemisphere triathlon season started off this month, here in London the cold weather and snow has well and truly put an end to the triathlon season.

Now is a good time to reflect on your achievements for the year and also a great time to put a plan in place to reach your triathlon goals in 2011.  My good friend Sanjib recently asked me to conduct an interview about staying motivated for his www.mywisdomclub.com subscribers.

The interview lasts for about 25 minutes and highlights key areas on staying motivated in preparing for a triathlon.  We discuss how to create goals and the importance of having the right, like minded people around you.  We also talk about why it helps to have a mentor or coach and share the value of motivating others and holding each other accountable.  What can do when your motivation drops and how to adapt to everyday challenges.

If you would like to hear the interview, please click on the link below and remember to enter your name and email in the form on the right to continue to receive future article updates.

01 Improve Your Motivation

Enjoy the motivation interview, Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Best wishes,

Mike Kirkman

A lot of newbie triathletes are very excited about starting their first triathlon, only to find that after jumping in the pool they struggle to complete 25m and after 50m they are completely exhausted.  Breathing is very difficult and they have a hard time getting into any smooth swim rhythm.  Does this sound familiar?

Don’t worry, you are not alone.  This feeling is very common when you are first starting out.  It’s the same feeling I had just before entering my first sprint triathlon.  You are all pumped up and ready to take on your first ever triathlon only to discover you have a mountain to climb and that mountain is Everest!

Help is on hand.  There is plenty of great advice online.  Research and view some youtube videos showing basic rolling and balance drills for swimmers.  Use bilateral breathing, which means turning your head both sides.  Be patient and initially breathe as often as you can and practice.  The more you practice, the more comfortable and relaxed you will feel in the water.  This in turn will help you use less energy and be more efficient when gliding through the water.

My best advice is to hire a swim coach for a few lessons.  You can read as much as you like online, but until you have someone actual look at your overall swim stroke, it will be very hard to perfect your technique by yourself.  Your coach will be able to break down your current swim style and address any flaws you have.  They will then be able to help you to focus on different areas of your swim technique.  Once you have the right technique in place, it is then a matter of putting it into practice, over and over again.  The types of swim drills a coach will use include, arm stroke, bilateral breathing, body roll and kicking sessions.

Remember what it was like when you first starting running, your heart rate increased and you probably felt tense and uncomfortable during the run.  You probably thought, how can anyone actually enjoy running?  This is exactly what it can be like when you first start to swim.  If your body is experiencing something new and different, it will start to feel uncomfortable.  Once you get used to swimming in the water your body will love you for it.  And I promise you will actually start to enjoy it too!

If breathing is the main problem, you may also want to consider using a snorkel.  This will mean you can practice every other area of your swimming style without having to worry about the breathing part too.  Once you become more comfortable, you can then slowly integrate the turning of the head (with the snorkel on) to imitate the breathing method side to side.  Your breathing will become more natural once you have a good balanced swim stroke and body roll.  This will make the transition easier once you remove your snorkel.

Finally, the mental state of mind should not be underestimated.  Having a relaxed mind is a very important part of swimming.  Visualise yourself as a great swimmer and having a calm mind will also help you conserve energy and make your performance in the water more effective.

Good luck and make that call to the swim coach today!

This article is written by Mike Kirkman. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included. For more information on training tips and creating a winning mindset to achieve your triathlon goals, please visit http://www.triathlon2win.com

If you haven’t ventured to Wales, I can thoroughly recommend their range of spectacular, world class mountain bike trials.  We managed to pick a sunny weekend to get away with friends to Glyncorrwg located in the Afan Forest Park.  After trying out the flat “Afan Rheilffordd” trial, which covers 14 miles of disused railway and forest road links, we stepped up a few levels to try out “The Wall” bike trial.  This was certainly a big step up with some places leaving you a little exposed on the steep-sided slopes.  While not for the fainthearted, the great views of the Welsh valleys and coastline made it all worthwhile.  The trial provides some of the best single track descents in the UK, offering a fast and technical ride.

It was on this trip that the subject of cycle cadence came up.  “What is the point of measuring that? I just want to know how fast I go.” my mate asked.

It is a valid question for triathletes, as the cadence measure is the number of times your legs rotate.  Or the actual number of times the crank turns over per rpm (revolutions per minute).  Most triathlete coaches will suggest 80-100 rpm  as a good optimal target range.  Each individual will have their own cadence preference, depending on the terrain and triathlon length.

Learning how to pedal at a higher cadence has other advantages like easier gear changing when transitioning into a hill climb.  It’s not a great feeling hitting the wrong gear and having to stand on your pedals to get up the hills.  This is a sure fast way to use up glycogen energy stores.  If you are riding against the wind or in wind gusts then you are also less susceptible to muscle fatigue at higher cadence levels.