Get a six pack, lose fat, become a Spartan.

Alright, so you're probably wondering, "Why should I listen to this guy?". That's a completely understandable thought. But know that I've done extensive research on the way the body works, how food is a critical part of your diet, and how your body can gain muscles or lose fat effectively through the use of proper exercise.

As a teenager at the age of 15, I weighed 135 lbs. At the time I committed myself to skateboarding which dramatically lowered my body fat. As time grew older, I began to realize I wasn't such a strong guy. I had finished with puberty by the time I hit 16, but still only weighed 140 lbs. One of my good friends who had committed himself to eating well and exercising was becoming toned and muscular. In time I began to follow in his footsteps and within 2 years I gained 31 lbs, a bigger upper torso, and a flatter stomach. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be standing here weighing at 171 lbs 2 years later.

One of the things that most men want is to have whatever they want immediately. I include myself as one of them. But it took me 2 years before I finally got the body I wanted. That DOES NOT mean it will take that long for you, but it always takes SOME amount of time. For some of you, it might take only 1 month or 2. Others might take half a year, 1 year, 2 years, or even 3. But the only way to get the quickest results is to just stay committed. I will be honest though, with the amount of school and work that I had, the commitment was not so strong, so in turn it took me longer to get where I wanted to be. If I had a whole summer to run and exercise, I'd be a monster. But again, that's not the way things went. Just remember: Be patient and committed and I PROMISE you that you will get where you want to be.

Okay, so now you've come to the web page that will later become your best friend, but you want to know how to get your six pack. Well first off 2 rules:

1. Eating is 50% of your "work out".
2. If you don't work out, you won't get there at all.

A little more in detail:
1. Eating:
The reason I will stress about eating habits is because the food you eat is half the battle on getting the body you want, if you're just going to be eating junk food all the time, how are you going to get your six pack? Now on the other hand if you watch out and keep all the munchies to a minimum and start going to Subway more often, you will see results appear much much quicker.

2. Working out:
Even though 50% of your "workout" is exercise, without it, you wouldn't get the results you would want to begin with, so remember to always have both eating and exercise in sync with each other. They work together to get the results you want.

In a simple manner, the famous quote "Eat right, and Workout" is no BS, it's completely true. That does NOT mean although, you can't have your favorite snacks and and fatty foods. It just means that you have to learn how to regulate them in your daily life. So keep reading.

Question: What type of body are you looking for?

BIG: Ever met a football player that has lots of muscle and is really strong but can't actually see his muscles? That's because he's gotten BIG, not toned. His specialty is being heavy and large for defense on the field, so in this case he's just got a lot of mass. Lots of muscle, but also lots of fat.

TONED: Now. Have you ever met a sprinter? They look toned, but they're not very strong. This is because all the fat covering their muscles has been burned off dramatically due to the intense running they do. But remember: running and sprinting are two different things, and I'll discuss that in the rest of the page.

RIPPED: Now if you've ever met a gymnast before, they're pretty freakin' buff. They're ripped AND strong. This is typically the body that most men consider favorable. But the reason they're strong and LOOK strong is because the exercises they commit to as a gymnist are leveled high in both endurance and strength. And in most cases, they also commit themselves to good eating habits throughout the course of their activity.

I'll be discussing all the different body types, how to achieve them, or how to stay away from them as I keep talking throughout the article.

Before you begin to start doing any exercise, ask yourself what you are aiming for. If you just want strength, then you will require a different type of exercising technique. If you want to look toned, that will also require a different setup in your routine.

Here's what I mean:
*note* All 3 examples are referring to Bicep Curls.

BIG muscles: In order to gain power and strength you're going to need more weights but less amount of reps.

Ex: 50 pound dumbbell with only 5 times/reps. As you progress with the exercise later that month, you might want to increase the weight to 55 pounds, but still 5 reps. This increases strength, or size.

TONED muscles: This particularly goes for stamina, rather than strength. The more reps you do with the same weights, the more toned your muscles will become.

Ex: 15 pound dumbbell with 30 reps. This will increase your stamina/endurance but not so much strength. If you increase the reps later that month (lets say 40 reps), your muscles will become much more toned.

OVERALL muscles: This is a combination of both big and toned exercises. You have some strength, but you also have endurance as well, hence the term "overall".

Ex: 30 pound dumbell with 15 reps.

Making sense yet?

Now, you might be thinking, "Okay, so do I have to change my eating as well to gain the type of muscles I want?" Yes you do. Scroll down to "Eating and Whey protein".

In this section you will find exercises for several parts of your body, not just your abs. Keep in mind that other parts of your muscle system are just as important as keeping a strong core, like your back for example. If you feel like you need some extra strength in your back, then do back exercises as well as some quad (thigh) exercises so they can work together to achieve whatever task is at hand.

There are two rules when doing ANY exercises:

1. Always stretch, you don't want to injure yourself.
2. Do a little bit of cardio. Jumping jacks, running in place, or jumping rope will do just fine. This will get the blood going in your system so you can get a better maxed out routine. Usually 3-5 minutes is ideal.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE YOU START
- Reps = the amount of times you do an exercise, like a Bicep curl 25 times.
- Sets = The amount of sets you do the reps, like 3 sets of 25 curls.
- 3 minutes of rest between each exercise. Ex: Chest -> Rest 3 minutes -> Abs
- All these exercises refer to using a 25lb dumbbell
- You should have 2 minutes of rest between each set of an exercise.
- If you do not have dumbbells, you can buy them at your local Walmart, Target, Academy,

CHEST:
This exercise is the most effective on a decline bench, but can also be done on the ground.

Dumbbell Flyes

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Decline+Dumbbell+Flyes

Recommended starting reps: 25
Number of sets: 1

ABS:
On this workout, 1 rep is only considered after you do both sides

Air bike

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Air+Bike

Recommended starting reps: 30
Number of sets: 2

SHOULDERS:

Dumbbell Press

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Arnold+Dumbbell+Press

Recommended starting reps: 20
Number of sets: 1

BICEPS:

Bicep Curls

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Dumbbell+Bicep+Curl

Recommended starting reps: 25 on each arm
Number of sets: 1

WORKOUT ROUTINE
Interval training is a GREAT way to lose fat quickly, but if you want the right body, then you have to incorporate it in your workout. This is the routine I commit to:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday = Workout muscles
For these 3 days I would recommend doing ALL of the workouts posted in the Exercise section.

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday = Interval training

NEVER, I repeat, NEVER run before working out. You need energy to lift weights, but you DON'T need energy to maximize your running. It's okay if you're going to do both interval training and workouts in the same day, but make sure you always workout, THEN run/interval train.

Good stuff ain't it? Scroll down to "Eating and Whey protein" to maximize your results.

Okay, so no more crap. One of the reasons you probably came to this webpage is because you've tried so many freakin' diets but none of them made you lose weight. Well, here's the secret: Running helps, but does not make you lose fat effectively as Sprinting. Interval training is different in the way that it incorporates both, but focuses on Sprinting. Here's an example of what I mean:

1. Jog at a moderate pace for 1 minute
2. Sprint as fast as you limitations will allow for 15 seconds
1. Jog for 1 minute
2. Sprint for 15 seconds

See where I'm gettin' at?

Although running does very much for your body and cariovascular system, it doesn't necessarily reduce fat as much as sprinting does. The reason sprinting is so much more effective is because you're using a TON of energy all in one burst, which increases your metabolism and keeps it elevated even after your done with the interval session. This method burns a heck of a lot more calories than just steady cardio for 30 minutes because jogging/running doesn't use high bursts of energy to raise your metabolism to high levels. That does NOT mean although, that running doesn't burn calories, because it does, but your metabolism rate will return to normal once your done with the session, interval training on the other hand keeps it elevated.

Here is how a session should look like:

1. Jog lightly for 1 minute
2. Sprint for 15 seconds

Repeat 10 times for a total of approximately 12 1/2 minutes.

EATING
Alright, so you've learned about running, working out, and all that good stuff. But one way to definitely max out your results from working out is the stuff you're eating.

Just remember these simple rules to eating and you'll be ripped in no time.

1. Eat smaller meals throughout day.
-Keeps up a fast metabolism

2. Lots of protein.
-Eggs, peanut butter, lean meats, bananas, milk.

3. Consume 25-35 grams of fiber each day
-Bananas, broccoli, spinach, brown rice, berries, plain oatmeal.

4. Keep the sugars low.
-Snickers, Fruit Loops, anything real sugary. You can eat them, just not regularly.

5. Consume an adequate amount of fat.
-Cottage cheese, again peanut butter, fish.

6. Keep yourself hydrated all day.
-At LEAST a bottles worth every hour

7. Green means lean.
-Broccoli, lettuce, green beans. Literally anything that's green.

WHEY PROTEIN
There's a few things you should know about the muscles for you understand what this stuff does for you. When you exercise, let's say you're doing some biceps curls, the next morning you're sore. The soreness comes from the torn muscle tissue that you ripped doing the exercise. The way your body reacts to that is by repairing that muscle with protein within the body and making it stronger. Whey Protein, you guessed it, is just an additional body intake in the form of powder that assists in the speed and addition of protein to build even bigger and stronger muscles.

Here's the thing about some of the Whey proteins they sell at Walmart: sometimes they'll just be all sugar and no protein, not to mention they're a little pricey. But that doesn't mean there aren't good ones out the there, places I would recommend buying them from are national Gyms like 24 hour fitness, of Bally total fitness, etc. They will almost always have products there. But if you prefer to order one online, then here's the one I recommended the most.

http://www.buybulkwhey.com/

In order to consume it, just pour it into your favorite drink, usually milk, stir, and enjoy. It's always best to consume it AFTER your workout.

One thing I also like to do with my whey protein is put it in a bowl of my favorite oatmeal. This REALLY adds some protein to it. You can count is as a meal replacement. Trust me, you'll be full when you're done.