Ask the Trainer

If you have question please ask me for free advise - alan@amc-training.com

Question:

" Hi Alan, I was interested to read that Hannah Waterman did only 10 minutes a day of exercise along with a diet plan and lost a considerable amount of weight. Would you say 10 minutes a day is enough to achieve that kind of result?"

Answer:

"Weight loss comes down to a simple equation of calories consumed against calories burnt. Therefore a calorie deficit could be created through a diet and just 10 minutes of exercise! In my personal opinion the lifestyle benefits of taking part in regular exercise are equal or greater to any calorie burning benefit which 10 minutes of exercise wouldn't give you. From what I know of Hannah Waterman's training is that she actually did some pretty serious interval training in her workouts. Now, interval training is definitely something I can believe helped her to achieve her mass weight loss"

Question:

“I need some advice on trying to build up my abs. Im on holiday in 8 weeks and my aim is to have a six pack. I currently go to the gym 3 evenings a week and do a variety of crunches. I also run 3 times a weeks for about 30 to 40 minutes.”"

Answer:

Abdominal definition will only really show if you have a body fat percentage of less than 12%. No amount of crunches will 'spot reduce' on your abdominal area if this is not the case.

Assuming you have a low body fat percentage then 8 weeks in enough time to sculpt visible abs. My major advice when training your abdominals is not to treat it differently from any other muscle in the body. When most people work their biceps they lift a heavy resistance for a maximum of 15 reps but when it comes to crunches they do 100's of reps. They will grow like any other muscle in body by following the principle of progressive overload. Add resistance to your ab exercises and if you can do more the 15 reps, it's too easy so make it harder!

Try also to get away from crunches, they are easy and boring. Look into using a pull up bar for leg raises & twists and use a kettlebell to challenge your abs with some more demanding exercises.