By John Alvino I’d be a very rich man if I had a dollar for ever time that someone told me, “My upper abs are getting lean but I still have this pouch of fat on my lower abs.” Unfortunately, this “upper then lower” fat loss progression is typical for the majority of people. This “lower ab bulge” happens for three totally different reasons. If you are going to achieve flat lower abs, all three reasons must be addressed. The first reason the lower abs are not flat is simply due to excess body fat. Most… continue reading.

From Paleo Cookbooks Ingredients ½ butternut pumpkin, seeded and sliced 4 red onions, peeled and sliced 4tbs rosemary leaves, chopped 4tbs olive oil Instructions Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180o Celsius/350o Fahrenheit. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place pumpkin, onion and rosemary leaves on the baking tray and coat with olive oil. Place tray in the oven and bake for 15-20minutes or until pumpkin has cooked and onions have browned. Serve. For over 300 more great paleo recipes check out… continue reading.

First off, I want to say congratulations to my buddy and fellow vegetarian Mac Danzig for his outstanding performance Saturday night at the UFC pay per view. Big things ahead for this guy. Secondly, I wanted to thank everyone for all the positive feedback so far on Fit to Fight and to share the latest review with those of you who haven’t gotten your copy yet. Click HERE to read it. continue reading.

Question: What is more important for a fighter to focus on; strength or conditioning? Answer: Neither is more important than the other. It really depends on what the particular fighter needs to work on and what his major weakness is at the time. If he is inhumanly strong yet completely gassed after a minute, then max strength work will be a complete waste of time and he should focus most of his time on conditioning. The reverse, obviously holds true for someone who is in great conditioning yet weaker than tissue paper. Determine your weakness and what is… continue reading.

If you want to really bring up your conditioning and lose body-fat you need to get your ass off the stair stepper and treadmill and start moving. Sprints, Prowler pushes, jumping rope, sled drags, sandbag work, sledgehammer swings and bodyweight exercises are far more effective than any “cardio” machine could ever be. A great exercise to really bring up your conditioning rapidly is the burpee/chin up combo. You perform a burpee and then at the top of each rep you jump up into a chin up. The higher the chin up bar, the better. Try performing a few sets… continue reading.

As much as people tend to want to get into advanced exercises as soon as possible, I firmly believe that high levels of core stability are required before you can even attempt to do some of the more basic ab exercises. I made this mistake for years when I was younger and had the chronic back pain to show for it. Core stability is actually often more important than core strength when it comes to preventing injuries and staying healthy. I highly recommend that everyone start with the following four isometric exercises done on a 6-7 time a week basis… continue reading.

By Dave “The Muscle Cook” Ruel Makes 4 Servings Ingredients * – 1 Tbsp olive oil * – 1 chopped onion * – 2 egg whites * – 1/4 cup oat bran * – 1/4 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato * – 1 teaspoon oregano * – 1/2 teaspoon sea salt * – 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper * – 1 lb / 455 g ground bison Directions * 1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Cook the onion until soft and… continue reading.

Along with my friend Sean Hyson of Men’s Fitness, I had lunch on Saturday with Mac Danzig, the winner of last seasons Ultimate Fighter and future UFC champion. Upon meeting Mac for the first time one of the things you notice immediately is that he is incredibly polite and respectful; nothing like the image that they created for him through the magic of editing on The Ultimate Fighter. The second thing you notice is that his hands are incredibly huge compared to the rest of his body and that you probably wouldn’t want to get hit by one of them. continue reading.

If you want to build a thick, muscular back there are three exercises that you need to become very familiar with. Those exercise are chin ups, rows and lastly but most importantly; deadlifts. If you did nothing but those three exercises faithfully you would end up with a muscular and impressive looking back. The back muscles make up a huge portion of your total musculature and developing them will add pounds of mass to your frame. So how do we go about developing all of the muscles of the back? Firstly we have to address the traps which start at… continue reading.

If you want to know how to build muscle fast you’re in the right place. Because I’m gonna reveal five quick and easy tips that will help you reach your goals, while avoiding frustration, plateaus and injuries. Sot let’s get to it… 1) Train Your Ass Off… But Don’t Kill Yourself You’re not gonna get anywhere if you don’t train your ass off. Let’s make sure everyone is clear about that. I see guys in the gym pussyfooting through workouts, texting between sets while resting five minutes, and using weights that my mom would use. That’s how you waste time,… continue reading.

What is the single most important thing you can do at the gym to ensure that you will continually get bigger and stronger? It’s very simple. The most important thing you can do each and every single time you go to the gym is try to set a PR (personal record) on every lift you do. That’s it. What this means is that you should always be trying do either do more reps with the same weight (within reason, any sets above 12 on most upper body exercises and 15-20 reps on lower body exercises will do nothing to stimulate… continue reading.

Last night I was at the gym doing deadlifts. I had planned on doing two sets but I went a little heavier than I should have on my first set. As I stripped a plate off each side to prepare for my back off set I felt a twinge in my back while bending over. I stood up and tried to stretch out but it didn’t help much. “Whatever,” I thought. I have had this happen a hundred times and have always plowed through it. I put the plates back and tightened up the collars. When I finished writing in… continue reading.

Makes 3 Servings (3 Burgers) Ingredients • 1 pound ground turkey • ¼ cup minced onion • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce • 2 tablespoons minced green bell pepper • 1 tablespoon soy sauce • 1 tablespoon water • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger • Salt and pepper • 2 cloves garlic, crushed Directions 1. Combine all the ingredients in a big bowl. 2. With clean hands, squeeze it together until it’s very well combined. 3. continue reading.

Today’s post is stolen from my good friend Keith Scott I agree 100% with what he said and wanted to share it with you in case you have been living under a rock and haven’t started taking fish oil yet. ******* The INCREDIBLE Benefits of Fish Oil By Keith Scott If you don’t supplement with fish oil then you are missing out on one of the best researched, most effective and important supplements on the market. Before I start with the benefits, a quick explanation of what fish oil is might help to start this… continue reading.

Question: I’ve read that stretching before your workout lowers your power for about 15mins after the stretch, which is the bulk of the lifting session. Is that true? If so, should I be stretching at all before my workouts? Thanks! -SSgt Carol L. Miller Jr. Answer: Carol, it is debatable how long this negative effect lasts. I don’t recommend stretching statically before training unless you absolutely need to in order for you to get into certain positions. This means that if you have chronically tight hips and can’t squat properly without hitting a few… continue reading.