Most experts in the bodybuilding industry will tell you that controlling what you eat is the best way to avoid fat build up around your muscles and especially your abdominal muscles. There is some disagreement however on what exercise will produce the best 6-pack abs

Just about every fitness trainer will have abdominals which are the envy of all their students. How you achieve your results will depend on choosing a plan that works best for your body type and metabolic system

Crunches : many of you will have heard of the late, great Vince Gironda, who has also been known as The Iron Guru. He advised his students not to do sit-ups at all. Vince is famous for his 6-pack abs . He is responsible for training and helping hundreds of his students to become bodybuilding champions and also training many movies stars to perform like they really were action heroes. Instead of sit-ups Vince would recommend different crunching exercises that were performed on a mat, hanging from a pull-up bar, on a bench and even using the Roman chair which is described below.

For displaying your abs,  He also stipulated that  your diet was more important for displaying your abs, not your workout routine. Vince’s techniques were not what most other trainers advised but no one could argue against the success he achieved

Work everything:  Bill Pearl  who has won Mr Universe FOUR times has written a best seller book on  bodybuilding and weight  training. In this book “Keys to the Inner Universe”, Bill has written 62 pages describing more than 240 various exercises to achieve maximum muscle definition. Bill Pearl’s own abs were described as mountains divided by valleys and when 47 year old was regarded as having the best and fittest male body in the world

So which way is better? As a matter of fact they both work.

Gironda taught that you should work your abdominal muscles enough using proper techniques to  develop the muscles and also  following a good diet to properly to show them off.
Pearl taught his students to build every muscle as much as possible and then dieting to remove  body fat so they would be more defined

Vince Gironda was vertically challenged but extremely  muscular, trim and fit.

Bill Pearl was exactly the opposite: reasonbly tall, huge muscles that were well defined and extremely  fit.

The students of both men tried to copy  Pearl’s build as much as they were able

By combining both of their techniques we get the best of both worlds. These two men between them have helped hundreds of champions to attain the ultimate in 6-pack abs

The following exercises should be performed in sets of three 

1. Roman Chair Sit-Ups – This is a chair with no back where you to hook your legs under a rung and then perform exercise for both the abdominals and lower back (sit-ups for your abs and back-bends for your lower back muscles).
2.  Incline Board Crunches -Where you perform a partial sit-up by raising your head and shoulders and at the same time contracting your abs forcefully.
3.  Supine Crunches -On a bench or mat, raise your legs so that are bent at a 90 degree angle and place your hands behind your head. Crunch your abs by touching your right elbow to your left knee and then reverse the move.
4. Dumbbell Side-Bends – Can be performed  standing or seated and using a single dumbbell. Lower the weight at arm’s length and then return to an  upright position. Alternate sides with 20 reps each side.You can also perform this exercise with the weight hanging behind your buttocks so you work your rear obliques.
5. Pull-Up Bar Leg Raises – Place your hands wide apart on the chinning bar, slowly raise your legs, elevate your knees to your chest level. Then lower your knees and repeat the exercise.
6. Parallel Bar Dip Machine Knee-Ups – rest your forearms on each side of the dip bar, raise your knees to waist level. Lower your knees and repeat

This completes your 6-pack ab workout!

Muscle Building as with any worthwhile aim needs to follow a program designed to gradually improve muscle structure and tone. It cannot be achieved simply by grabbing any set of weights and moving them around.

For every muscle in the body involved with movement there is a balancing muscle. eg Biceps and Triceps

When Biceps are contracted Triceps relax and vice versa. They must both be built up at the same time.

Well defined muscles burn fat and this helps keep weight under control.

BMI (Body Mass Index) readings are a guide but are not the ultimate indicator of good health. Muscle weighs more than fat so a person with well defined muscles will necessarily have a slight higher BMI than normal.

Your Diet needs to be considered and a good healthy eating plan would involve protein at every meal, balanced  carbs and low fat intake. Remember there are good fats and bad fats. Try to limit consumption of animal fats.  eg skin removed from chicken and trim fat away from beef

Well defined muscles allow flexibility and easy movement. You can lift everyday items with little effort and are less likely to cause an injury.

Good health is more likely to be present in a fit person than an unfit person

So by all means seek to build muscle but at the same time follow a good healthy diet.

It will all come together if you have a good structured plan and follow it.

Your plan will have to be structured around

1. Your current fitness level
2. Your lifestyle
3. Your time constraints
4. Any medical problems or disabilities you might have.

Your goal should be to be as fit and healthy as you can be.  This website will provide you with access to advice and products which you can use is putting together your fitness and wellness plan

With Pride

The pectorals are the biggest group of muscles in the upper body with pectoralis major being the most dominant. There are several layers of muscle in the chest that are all interwoven across the torso so the most effective  way to give them a good workout is to design exercises that will involve all the upper, lower,inner and outer pecs

The pecs govern the way  the arms move across the body and work in conjunction  with the deltoid muscles of the shoulders and upper arms So as a result whenever you work your chest muscles,all these other muscles (your triceps,biceps and deltoids)also receive lots of action. The results you achieve with regard to the size, spread and depth of your pecs is directly related to the type and size of the weights you use in your muscle building program

Exercises that develop the pecs more efficientlty

1.  The Bench Press–When designing a program to develop chest muscles the  bench press is usually the first exercise considered

There are a lot of different types of exercise that can be included depending on the design of the bench available as well as different angles,weights and grips used during the exercise

There are many types of bench press but they all have incorporated the Olympic Bar and the weight plates in their basic design

When using a wide grip on the bar you will find that the outer pecs get more of a workout.

The workout for the upper and lower pecs depends on whether the bar is lowered to the neck or chest level

If the bar is lowered to mid chest while the elbows are at the sides,then tricep muscles will be worked

If you have the elbows spread wide and lower the bar to the neck then you will work the anterior deltoids as well as the pecs

If  the bench press may is  inclined lowering the bar  to the neck will work on the upper pecs. By reversing the incline then the lower pecs come into play

2.    Parallel Bar Dips— When the lifter’s hands are parallel with their shoulders then both the inner and upper pecs are being worked. When the hands are placed wider then the outer pecs and what is referred to as the delt-pec-tie-in area are both worked on

3.   Dumbbell Exercises for a Chest Workout – There are a number of bench exercises that involve the use of dumbbells instead of the Olympic Bars. Pec Fly exercises can also use dumbbells and they can be done on either an incline or decline bench.These exercises will stretch the pecs and tone them up

4.   Cable-And-Pulley Machine – This machine is excellent for exercises like the two-handed crunch,This starts with arms spread wide and then the two handles are brought together in front of the chest with the arms slightly bent at the elbows

5.   Bent-Arm-Pullover – Start with a flat bench and the weight  placed on the floor. Lie down  on your back and reach over your head for the barbell. With arms bent, lift the weight over your head  and bring it to your chest.

You can perform a double exercise by  taking the weight and then pressing from the chest as a close-grip bench press. Return the weight back to the chest then over the head to the floor again

The best body building workouts will start with the heaviest and most strenuous exercises, then reduce the workout down to the barbells and then finally to resistance exercises using your bodyweight to finish this workout routine.

So do the hardest work at the beginning of the session and gradually reduce to end with the lightest exercises