QnA: Contest Update and The Truth About Abs

Just one week left to enter the 13th TT Transformation Contest, using either your favorite TT workout or the new 24-7 Fat Loss Workouts.

Discover the ONE simple thing you need to do today to get started in the contest here
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We have a couple of questions on the contest plus the TRUTH about ab exercises and fat loss today.

Question: In your rules you wrote: “This mini-contest runs until Saturday, February 25th, 2012. All entries into the 6-week  mini contest must be submitted before midnight, EST, on Saturday, Feb. 25th, 2012.”

But if I started on Dec 26th, then I’ll be done on Feb. 5th, so are you simply giving contestants a few  weeks to submit  their entry? – Greg

Answer: Hi Greg, sorry for the confusion.

The 6-week contest ends 6 weeks from last day to enter, which is next Friday, Jan 13th. Some people finish up to 3 weeks earlier than others because TT readers are allowed to enter any time between Dec. 26th and Jan. 13th.

Question: Thanks for the clarification. I now understand. I thought everyone started on Dec 26th. Could I restart IF I wanted to  or am I stuck with Dec 26th? – Greg

Answer: You can restart. All that matters is contestants send in their  before and after photos that are clearly 6 weeks (for the  6-week mini-contest) or 12-weeks (for the main contest) apart  by the given date…and please include your 300 word transformation ‘essay’ describing your changes.

Thanks Greg, wishing you success with it.

Question: I’ve been doing abs every day for 30 minutes and I’m stuck. My waist isn’t getting smaller and I hate these long workouts.

Answer: Well, I have good news for you.

Here’s the TRUTH about abs…

As reported in the latest Men’s Health magazine (the one with Ashton Kutcher on the cover), a research study found that doing 6 weeks of ab training did absolutely NOTHING for dropping belly fat.  And these folks were doing 14 sets of abs, 5 days per week.

Brutal.

What a waste of life for no reduction in belly fat. Skip that and use the TT Metabolic Resistance Training program instead. You’ll get more results from less time in the gym.

Question: When I do a pushup, how much weight am I lifting? – Ronny

Answer: Great question, and Men’s Health just reported on a research study that looked at this. Here’s the ‘percent of your body weight‘ that you are lifting when doing various pushups:

a) Kneeling pushup = 49% bodyweight
b) Regular pushup = 64% bodyweight
c) Decline pushup = 74% bodyweight

Of course, both b and c are much harder when you do your pushups in the TT Spiderman style. Check out 101 bodyweight exercises here.

Question: I trained a “fatloss” client today. We did mobility, interval treadmill work for 20-minutes and then supersetted with weights. My  question is: Does it really matter if I do  weights first then intervals? I normally do weights first but just wanted to switch it up with her.Thanks. – Doug

Answer: Doug – If strength gains are not a priority, then no, it doesn’t really matter for fat loss if you do intervals before resistance training or after.

As an aside, doing intervals first is a good way to ‘trick’  clients into thinking they are working harder than normal.

But again, when it comes to fat loss, it likely doesn’t matter either way. But you’ll never see me doing intervals before my resistance training because I know my lifting would suffer.

Question: Is it ok to strength-train my lower body one day then do  intense cardio like spin for an hour or run 6k the next day? – Bernadette

Answer: Bernadette – Please be careful of overuse injuries. Getting a chronic, nagging injury is your biggest risk when you start training more than recommended. Your muscles, Achilles tendon, knees, hips, low back, etc., are all at risk. Make sure you  are doing a thorough warm-up that includes foam rolling. And  also get some complete rest days in there somewhere.

Question: Can you explain MRT, MCT, and MFF?

Answer: You bet, I did that in a QnA for you.

Learn about MRT, MCT, and MFF here
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Alright, that’s it for this week…but a bit of motivation before you go…always remember:

Chip away at good behaviors. Not everything is going to change  overnight…but if you’re a little better today, and a little  better tomorrow, then you’ll be a whole lot better next month.

Stay strong. Get stronger.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Certified Turbulence Trainer

PS – TT Trainer Ray Ortiz was on

…Canada’s national morning show yesterday…

…check out his clip here

Well done, Ray. All the TT Trainers are proud of you.