It’s summertime… School is out, the sky is blue, the grass is green, the sweet scent of barbecues and sunscreen fills the air, and the girls are out in bikinis.
When things are this great outside, why the heck would you want to be locked up in a sweaty gym?
[Here is something you will never find in a gym, a real mermaid! Photo by Alaskan Dude.]
And is there any reason to even go to a gym, in the first place?
Over 100 years ago, French physical educator/sailor Georges Hébert was impressed by the physical abilities of indigenous people that he encountered during his travels around the world. These were people who had NEVER set foot in a gym, or even consciously “exercised”, for that matter.
He said,
“Their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skilful, enduring, resistant and yet they had no other tutor in Gymnastics but their lives in Nature.”
Hébert went on to develop an entire physical education curriculum called Methode Naturelle, aimed at systematically developing these qualities in the modern, city-bound human. (Here is a link to a partial translation of his textbook, Practical Guide of Physical Education)
Here is Erwan Le Corre, the founder of Methode Naturalle‘s modern adaptation, MovNat, enjoying a typical workout:
Looks pretty fun, right?
Erwan has developed a complete system (including specialized training environments) to take a modern “Zoo Person”, out of touch from their natural physical abilities, and make them completely confident interacting with their environment in this way.
But with that said, here are the basics:
As Hébert says in his book,
“A (Natural Method) session is composed of exercises belonging to the ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, equilibrium (balancing), throwing, lifting, defending and swimming.
A training session consists, then, of exercises in an outdoor environment – a course of greater or lesser distance (a few hundred meters to several kilometers), during which, one walks, one runs, one jumps, one progresses quadrupedally, one climbs, one walks in unstable balance, one raises and one carries, one throws, one fights and one swims.”
[Here is your new gym, a beach in Cinque Terre, Italy. Photo by gtall1]
I tried my own adaptation a few days ago. I simply ran around my house, hopping up and down a fence, jumping and climbing over rocks, trying all sorts of pullup, pushup, and crawling variations. I also did work with a 90 pound sandbag, doing some cleans and carries for time.
In about 20 minutes I was pretty beat!
It would be great to add in some shadow boxing/sparring and swimming to cover all the “10 Fundamental Groups.”
If I had the time and money, I would definitely be interested in checking out some of Erwan’s courses. But in the mean time, workouts like this are pretty fun!
More Info
Here are some more links to pages about MovNat and Methode Naturelle:
What is it about abs? How many billions of dollars have been spent in pursuit of “washboard”, “chiseled”, or “six pack” abs?
It seems like every week there is some new gimmick that makes ridiculous claims like, “Get Six Pack Abs in just 30 Seconds a Day While You Watch TV!”, or “Mind over matter! Visualize Your Way to Six Pack Abs!”
And if you don’t fall for one of many such schemes, maybe you’ll find yourself cranking out hundreds of crunches or situps per day, hoping that these exercises will magically grow you a six pack. They won’t.
[Mark Pfeltz set the 1986 Guinness Book Of World Records for sit ups, completing 45,005 in 58.5hrs. A valiant effort, but still no six pack...]
Believe it or not, there is no need for fancy gadgets or hours of boring crunches and situps. There is definitely a LOT of value to directly training the abs, and we will get into specific exercises in a moment. BUT, if you have a bit of flab on your belly, all the stomach exercises in the world won’t give you a six pack!
The Myth of Spot Reduction
There is no stomach exercise that, in itself, will reduce belly fat. Fat loss occurs when your body burns more energy than it consumes. This leads us to our first step:
Step 1: Eat Less!
If you want to lose that belly fat, you will need to eat less. It’s that simple.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you suddenly cut your calories in half or starve yourself for long periods. Some people have had a lot of success with intermittent fasting, but I don’t like being on an empty stomach for more than a few hours at a time.
[Here I am, a little hungry after 5 hours on an empty stomach! Image by tambako]
Instead of torturing myself with hours and hours of fasting, I simply try to pay attention to how full I am while eating, and stop my meal while I am still slightly hungry.
Here is a good rule of thumb:
If you stop eating when you are full, you will gain weight.
If you stop eating when you are just satisfied, you will maintain your weight.
If you leave the table when you are still a little bit hungry, you will lose weight.
This is a simplification, of course. Volumes have been written on WHAT to eat for maximum fat loss. But let’s just keep it simple for now: Eat less than you do usually.
Timing is Everything
People like fat loss expert Tom Venuto have gone into great detail on the benefits of nutrition microcycles. Basically, this approach describes how you can lose fat while maintaining or gaining muscle by changing your calorie consumption throughout each day and week.
Along these lines, what I have found to be extremely useful is meal timing. Basically, I try to eat a little less throughout the day while I am not active. On top of that, I try to go into my workouts in a fasted state, not having eaten for at least 4 hours. I save my larger meal for around an hour after my workout, when my body is begging for some nourishment.
By working out in a fasted state, your metabolism burns body fat instead of food.
But Won’t I Lose Muscle Mass?
Some experts have said that working out in a fasted state will make you lose muscle mass. This might be the case for some people, by in my experience, as long as I am doing a few sessions of resistance training per week, I don’t lose lean body mass. But I DO lose fat. Try it out for yourself.
And this brings us to our next step:
Step 2: Burn Fat with a HIIT/Cardio Workout Mix
High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a sort of catch-all phrase for performing periods of intense effort followed by brief rests, again and again.
(As with any change in exercise habits, you should always consult your physician before beginning any new workout routine.)
To burn that stomach fat and reveal the six pack abs that lie beneath, we will target our HIIT intervals for maximum release of fat-burning Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Don’t worry, you won’t be injecting anything!
Pushing yourself at a pace that you can’t maintain for longer than 30-60 seconds releases HGH into your blood. Your face gets flushed, your lungs open up, and you breathe heavily. HGH causes fat stores to release into your bloodstream, where they are eventually burned by steady state cardio exercise and your elevated post-workout metabolism.
HIIT/Cardio Routine:
3 days a week do HIIT for 15-20 minutes followed by 30 minutes of (target heart rate) steady state cardio.
On the days between your HIIT workouts (2 or 3 times per week), do 30-45 minutes of moderate steady-state cardio.
For HIIT, don’t push it too hard at first, especially if you are not in the best shape to begin with. For starters, try a ratio of 1:2, that means 1 minute of intense activity (jump rope sprinting, sprinting, exercise bike, treadmill, etc.) followed by around 2 minutes of active rest (walking, lightly jumping rope, etc.). And if that is too difficult, increase your rest times. You will get into better shape slowly.
If you are pretty fit already, try a 1:1 ratio and work your way towards shorter rest periods.
Variety
I recommend changing up the timing of your intervals every month or so, to keep your body guessing. Try a 1:2 sprint/walk ratio for more explosive sprinting speed, or try a 2:1 ratio for more of a fat burning focus.
I like to switch up my exercises as well. One day I might jump rope, another I might run on a track. Another day I might do HIIT on an exercise bike. I might even bite the bullet and join a local pool to do some swimming intervals (intense!)
Switching things up regularly will help you to avoid overuse injuries like shin splints and knee problems.
Step 3: Ab Exercises!
And now, here is the one piece of equipment you ABSOLUTELY MUSTHAVE if you are serious about getting six pack abs:
[Hahaha. Got ya!]
Eating right and working out to burning fat are the lion’s share of what needs to happen for you to have a six pack. However, it is definitely still important to do some exercises that directly target the abdominal muscles.
Why? First of all, having a strong core will prevent injuries to the lower back. And as for your quest to become Joe or Jane Six Pack, these exercises will tone and strengthen all of your major abdominal muscles without the risk of harm to your spine that can come from crunches and situps.
Incorporate the following exercises into your resistance training workouts a couple times per week:
Plank
This exercise is excellent for training the outer and inner abdominal muscles and developing core stability.
Also, the plank helps train your body to keep your abs flexed without having to bend your spine forward. This way, you don’t have to crunch forward to show off your abs to that pretty girl walking by on the beach! You will have a six pack all day long.
Work up to holding for 2 minutes. If 2 minutes is easy, try placing your arms (slightly more difficult) or feet (much more difficult) onto a stability ball.
Side Plank
This variation develops excellent lower back / oblique / abdominal stability, helping prevent lower back injuries while defining the love-handle / oblique area.
Work up to 2 minutes on each side.
Abdominal Vacuum Exercise
This exercise trains the transverse abdominus (TA), the deepest abdominal muscles which help to stabilize the spine. The TA, when activated, tightens the thoracolumbar fascia (TF), the band of connective tissue that envelops the lower back muscles. The TF acts as a sort of stabilizing weight belt, supporting and preventing serious injury to the spine while lifting.
Studies have shown that people who have trouble activating the TA often tend to injure their back while lifting things. So learn this exercise. You will prevent injury, be able to lift more and decrease lower back pain.
And, to top it off, doing the abdominal vacuum (and you can do it anywhere, waiting in line at the store, at a stoplight, etc.) will shrink your waist! Here are some tips:
Start by lying on the floor, feeling your ability to contract this muscle against the spine. (as shown in the video above)
Once you have a good feel for this, practice while sitting and standing.
Gradually hold the stomach vacuum for longer and longer.
Reduce your waistline by not overfilling your stomach when eating.
In Summary
3 Steps to Six Pack Abs:
Eat less.
Do HIIT/Cardio workouts as described above to burn fat. Also include resistance training so that you don’t lose muscle mass.
Do planks, side planks, and abdominal vacuum exercises to tighten up your abdominal muscles and prevent injury.
Good luck with your six pack!
Recommended Link:
For a detailed, no-BS approach to getting lean and ripped, WITHOUT gimmicks or supplements, check out Tom Venuto’s Holy Grail Fat Loss system. Tom, a world-renowned fitness model and nutrition expert, shares his strategies to cut fat without losing muscle. I personally have purchased this book and have been extremely impressed with the results I have achieved while using the strategies it describes.
[Handstands on the beach in Brazil... Another way to get in a great workout in the great outdoors. Photo by thiagofloriano ]
Here is a sandbag workout using your adjustable training sandbag that has me gasping for air after just a few minutes.
First, warm up by doing a few easy rounds, non-stop, of pushups, pullups, and bodyweight squats. Get the blood moving to the muscles and joints, and then begin.
The sequence is simple. Each round consists of:
Sandbag Clean and Press x 5
Burpees x 10
Rest 45 seconds (or less, for more difficulty) after completing one round.
Repeat 5 times
The clean and press could be the most complete total body exercise, joining an explosive posterior chain (hip / back, knees and ankles) extension along with pulling and pressing motions. Some trainers have said that if an athlete could only do one exercise, this is the one they would recommend.
Here are some tips on doing this exercise with a sandbag:
Grip
There are two ways I like to grip. Sometimes it’s good to pick up the bag from the bottom, but a lot of the time I like to grab folds in the bag as shown above. This variation is really challenging for grip strength.
Starting Stance
Start with your feet at around shoulder with apart. Your gaze should be slightly up. Keep your abdominal and lower back muscles engaged, with a slight arch (extension) in your lower back as shown.
Avoid This:
You want to avoid letting your lower back round forward. Some people talk about the benefits of “rounded back lifting,” but for me personally, each time I have injured my back trying to lift something heavy it has been because I got sloppy and let my lower back round forward.
So be safe and keep your abs and lower back engaged, with a slight arch in that lower lumbar region of the spine.
Explosively lift
Drive through your heels, explosively engaging your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. Your knees, hips, and finally ankles should extend to blast the sandbag up.
Catch it
After driving the sandbag up, release your grip to catch it as shown.
Press it
Press the sandbag up with your arms.
Don’t just let the bag fall back down from here. Control its descent for more difficulty.
I was a little pressed for time yesterday, so I did a quick bodyweight circuit workout. Check it out:
[Bodyweight workouts are great - you can do them anywhere. This girl is doing pushups at the beach near where I live in Cayucos, CA. Photo by mikebaird]
I adapted this workout, switching a few things up from one in Craig Ballantyne’s bodyweight workout course, Turbulence Training.
Rest 60 seconds, then do the circuit two more times.
(In Craig’s version, there is an optional 15 minutes of intense cardio after these circuits, which I didn’t do. LAZY!!!)
This was a pretty good total body workout for fat loss and just staying in good shape in general.
The pullups add a pulling movement (you can do body rows with your DIY suspension trainer mounted on a sturdy door if you don’t have a pullup bar or a place to throw a towel over). The legs get hit with lunges, squats, and jumping jacks. The core gets worked from the front and side planks. By the end of the circuit, your whole body has been worked and you have to finish strong with two intense total-body exercises, burpees and mountain climbers.
My heart rate was WAY up by the end of it. Go hard and yours will be too!
If you have ever tried surfing, you know how much of a workout it can be. It takes serious balance and core strength just to LIE DOWN on a surfboard without falling off, let alone stand up. Here’s a sequence of me falling:
Here I am in Indonesia, finding out what happens when you don't paddle hard enough - ouch! Better hope I can hold my breath for a while!
The most important part of surfing, believe it or not, is paddling. It’s how you get from the beach to the lineup (where you catch the waves), and it’s how you actually catch waves.
The more conditioned your paddling muscles (lats, shoulders, triceps, trapezius, lower back, core, etc.) are, the more waves you are going to catch. The more waves you catch, the better you surf, and the more fun you have in general!
I will be the first to admit that I have been in pretty bad paddling shape, relatively speaking. I love to surf and have been doing it since I was a kid, but nowadays I have other responsibilities and don’t surf every day like I once did. And, I’m just not as motivated to surf when the waves are bad.
However, when I drive by the beach and the waves are cranking, I want to be out there.
You really don't want to miss these kinds of days. Here I am, not falling.
So, then, my question has been, since I’m not surfing every day,
How can I stay in good paddling shape when I’m not able to get in the water?
Let’s face it. There’s nothing that can get you into shape for surfing like actually surfing! Swimming laps would be one alternative, but I don’t have access to a pool. There are a few “swimming simulators,” but I could buy three new surfboards with the money I would spend on one.
What I have come up with isn’t a perfect alternative, but I’m actually pretty happy with it. It keeps me reasonably fit for surfing when I can’t get in the water.
Solution – Band Paddling
These resistance bands are available on amazon or SPRI.com for about $10. They are pretty handy for a lot of things, exercise wise, but I usually just use them for band paddling.
The resistance tubing mounts easily in any door.
These images below give you the basic idea of band paddling:
You mount the resistance band at around rib height in the door.
Take a position as shown, with some stretch in the tubing.
And then…
Paddle!
Pull back both arms at once, engaging your lats.
Repeat.
I like to incorporate this exercise in a circuit. Each exercise is done intensely for 30 seconds each, with no rest between exercises and 30 seconds of rest at the end of each circuit.
Try just a couple rounds at first, see how it goes. You can increase the rounds and/or times of each circuit as you get in better shape.
I have found that mixing in a circuit routine like this a couple times per week helps maintain and improve my surfing fitness, even when I can’t get into the water.
Try it out and let me know how it goes for you.
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