No matter how we do it, we all can agree- crunches are boring! Flatter abs would be great, but we all hate crunches. We want washboard abs without doing so much to get them.
Make 2010 your year to have both—the abs you have always wanted and the easy moves to get them. There are so many ultra-effective tips and moves for a leaner stomach that you can swear off crunches forever, if you’d like, and still chisel your middle. Follow some enjoyable ways to shed inches from your waist and keep it off.

• Chill out! – We are all stressed! Well it is time to chill out!! Try delegating work duties, pursue a hobby you find relaxing, whether it’s jewelry making or knitting, and make laid-back lunch dates with buddies to lighten your mood—and slim your middle!
• Go bananas! – Help to limit belly-bloating sodium in your body by indulging in a fresh banana. The fruit contains 422 milligrams of potassium. If bananas are not for you, then have four stalks of celery which deliver 416 mg of potassium.
• Do bench presses – Make your ab muscles contract, toning your abs as well as your arms, by extending your arms during the pec-perking Exercise. As your usual routine, add two sets of 12 reps.
• Find your balance – Giving yourself a steady challenge is a great way to tighten and tone your core.  Use a folded towel, a BOSU or a pair of balance pods to make it hard to find your footing for this move, called the Lunge-Up: With left foot on towel or pod, lower into lunge, knee over ankle, thigh parallel to ground, right knee bent with heel raised, hands on. As you straighten left leg, push off ball of right foot, bringing right thigh in front and parallel to ground, balancing on pod. Slowly return to start. Do 12 reps. Switch legs; repeat.
• Bend those knees – Add a tummy-toning balance challenge to traditional squats by doing them on one leg. This makes them more challenging. Do two sets of 12 reps on alternate days for abs that make waves.
• Do the ab-up – Want flat abs fast? Do a side plank, which focuses on your obliques. These muscles wrap around your middle and hold you in. Lie on right side, resting on right forearm and right hip, knees and feet stacked, left arm at side. Lift right hip into a side plank .Lower and touch left hip to ground, then lift back up, holding abs in tight, for one rep. Be sure to do 20 reps. Switch sides; repeat on your other side.
• Go on an abs spree – Rather than switching back and forth between various body parts, grouping all your ab exercises together can deliver better results. Working your abs to the “burning” point delivers a sizzling stomach.
• Feast on a little fat! – Help your midsection get svelte by adding a smidge of fat in your diet. Studies show that foods rich in monounsaturated fats—including olive oil, avocado, seeds, and nuts—can help prevent the accumulation of unwelcome tummy fat.
• Tone abs while you burn fat – Research show that heart-pumping activity triggers your body to convert abdominal fat to fuel. Be sure to aim for 30 minutes or more most days. Get more out of your treadmill or elliptical machines.  On the treadmill, squeeze even more belly benefits from your stint by ramping up the incline. On the elliptical machine, relying on your core muscles to keep you upright on the elliptical (grip the handlebars, but don’t use them to support you!)
• Try the Dragonfly – With a weight in each hand, start on all fours. Extend your right leg behind you in line with body; extend left arm out to side at shoulder level. Keeping right leg lifted, curl weight toward chest. Straighten your arm for one rep and try to 12 reps. Switch sides; repeat.
• Try teamwork – Together everyone achieves more!! T.E.A.M.! Grab a friend. Toning up and slimming down doesn’t need to be done solo. Grab a pal for this exercise: Lie on the floor with your legs straight up in the air. Ask a buddy to command you to bring your legs up and down randomly every few seconds. For example, “Right leg down, left leg up” and “Both legs up”. Use your ab muscles to follow his/her directions, keeping your lower back pressed into the floor. Do this for three or four 20- to 60-second sets, resting 1 minute between each set. Then switch and you be the leader. These random commands trigger a rapid contraction of your muscles, tiring the more easily sculpted areas of your abs. This will allow you to see better results in less time.

There is no better time than the present. You will be on your way to looking and feeling better before you know it!

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

It was the weirdest thing …

I mean, I’ve been around you know? I’ve had just about every body and fatloss experience you can think of… the good, the bad, the ugly…

… and now the really bizarre.

Here’s the story:

I took off on an 8-day cruise to the Caribbean. This was a “business” cruise (yeah, right)… and I knew there was no way to eat the way I prefer to eat. At least not ideally. After that I had to speak in Tampa Florida at a fitness summit, then off to Las Vegas for yet another summit meeting.

Wow… this one blew me away. My friend and fitness author Jon Benson just got back from a 3-week business vacation and LOST 11 lbs of body fat. Here’s the email he sent me detailing how he did it… Enjoy!

Marc

How I dropped 11 lbs… on vacation?

It was the weirdest thing …

I mean, I’ve been around you know? I’ve had just about every body and fat loss experience you can think of… the good, the bad, the ugly…

… and now the really bizarre.

Here’s the story:

I would like to introduce to you the Lifecore CD400 elliptical machine. This machine is right for everyone. The Lifecore CD400 is a compact elliptical trainer that’s short on size, but long on club quality, features, and stride length.

The biggest problem most of us face when trying to find a feature packed elliptical trainer with a compact footprint is the annoyingly small stride length of the most machines on the market. This makes it nearly impossible to workout on the elliptical machine.  There’s nothing more annoying than a small stride length when you are trying to get into a good workout on an elliptical.  In the past, it’s become a trade-off between the size of the machine OR the stride length, but with the CD400 you are getting the best of both worlds.

The Best Body Composition Measuring Scale is an at-home scale that will show weight, fat percentage, muscle percentage, and much more.  It was selected best by the Hammacher Schlemmer Institute for its accuracy and features.  At a price tag of $119.95, it is certainly not an inexpensive scale – but if you are serious about your diet and want to get an accurate reading on your body composition, this is the scale for you.  Don’t waste your money on cheaper imitations, as in the long run you’ll have more than $120 invested in your scale by the time you find one that you are happy with.  This scale uses a bioelectrical impedance technology to send a harmless bioelectrical current through your body to measure your body fat percentage, visceral fat level, skeletal muscle mass, resting metabolism, body mass index, and body age.  During product testing at the Human Performance Lab at the University of Illinois-Chicago, this model scored highest for accuracy across weight and BMI readings because it was only 0.11% off of the beam scale measurement.  Unlike cheaper body composition scales, this one is able to measure your entire body’s composition using six total sensors – 2 on a handheld unit and 4 on the scale itself.

The Fuel FT 94 is a treadmill that works for just about everyone.  It is a high quality treadmill without a high quality price, and is still built with the highest integrity in construction and components. The Fuel FT 94 is miles ahead of the competition in value and price as well.

The Fuel FT 94 will go the extra mile, whether you are looking to improve your cardio activity, weight loss, or simply better health. The Fuel FT 94 offers a high output 2.25 continuous duty HP motor with an ideal range of speed from .8 to 10 mph. This motor will keep your pace, if you are walking or running. There is also an additional motor which operates your incline from the touch of a button, which elevates from 1 to 10; from flat to an aggressive uphill angle.

Before we look at what makes you eat more food, try to first understand the 2 kinds of hunger that you can have:  physical hunger and psychological hunger.

The physical hunger is one that is triggered by the energy level in your body (or blood sugar), and the food in your stomach. Lack of energy or food causes the secretion of hormones inducing hunger (such as ghrelin) that tells your brain that your body needs more food.

An Explanation of the “Freshhman 15″

by Christopher Theberge and Joseph Cannon

Coming to college and remaining healthy and shapely can be a challenge. Year after year, people enter college to enhance their minds but seemingly neglect their bodies. The onslaught of new responsibilities, options and time constraints often cause healthy habits placed on the back burner.

Everyone has heard the stories about gaining the “Freshman 15,” whether fact or fiction. Few studies have been conducted to determine if students actually put on weight during their first year of college. However, a study published in Addictive Behavior in 1985 found that women attending college gained weight 36 times faster than those of the same age not attending school.

You may be wasting your time in the gym or at home if you are trying to shape your body or get rid of body fat.  Most people are.  That is when it comes to Exercise for getting rid of belly fat and getting into better shape. I was in the gym today (nothing new… ; ) and I saw all 4 of these exercises being performed by various gym members (again… nothing new.)

And they are useless for 99% of the people on the planet.

Here they are…

By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com

I have no doubt that a scientist somewhere just read the title of this article and said out loud, “YES! Venuto is right! That little thing in your head – the hypothalamus – it IS the thing that is keeping you fat! By George, that Venuto guy isn’t a dumb bodybuilder after all – he’s been doing his research!” At which moment, I will be shaking my head and thinking, “you need to get out of the laboratory and into the real world, with real people, buddy.” Okay, okay, to be fair, Neuro-endocrine control of appetite and body fat really is quite fascinating. But today, I’m talking about PSYCH-ology, not PHYSI-ology. The little thing in your head that’s keeping you fat is actually just a….