Tag Archives: mike geary

Flat Six Pack Abdominals, Lean Stomach

My friend Mike Geary told me about an interview he did with a fitness professional from NYC, non other than certified personal trainer, Geovanni Derice. In it he reveals some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abdominals that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those people who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself, and how you can help our readers with their fitness, health and fat loss.

MG: Thanks for having me on, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. I got involved in sports in high school which got me interested in strength training and conditioning.

At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, then getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m now 33 years old and I’m still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle, makes me feel energetic, confident, and youthful on a daily basis.

I decided earlier in my 20’s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit, and getting themselves in the best shape that they can. Since we’ve reached a tragic epidemic of obesity, heart disease, fatigue, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I decided to became a fitness professional. It just gives me such a buzz to help others, who have been struggling for years to get into shape, and to show them that it can be done, and how it can be a fun process.

I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals thanks to the internet. I hope that my passion for fitness, helps to inspire people to take action, and improve how they look at life.

GD: Mike, one question is: there are so many things out there as to what works and what does not work… if you had to pick the 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what else would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get under control, in order to lose your abdominal obesity and get flat six pack abdominals is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is more important when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is. After all, we are constantly bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about various diets too many to mention. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.

For you to get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs. I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are OK for someone who is really unfit, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than doing crunches. Although crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance. Just remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a wealth of great abs exercises in my book, but one of the highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Most people don’t ever do it the right way. To be truthfully honest with you, the majority of people cannot do this to begin with, but I provide some strategies in my book how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: Where are most people going wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat six pack abs is… are you ready for this?

They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Crazy, but that’s the truth.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage.For you to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and thus increasing your metabolic rate. That is not going to happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat six pack!

GD: Which exercises do you rate as the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum definition with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts. All these routines are described as well as illustrated in my book mentioned below.

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing body fat, the most effective exercises featured in my program for that one goal. Various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettle bell exercises that almost nobody ever does), squats, dead lifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you desire great looking flat abs, focus on the above methods instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing and that is fat loss. What do you recommend to your clients, to lose body fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which makes up almost half of the book. The most important thing to achieve is that your diet is as natural, and as unprocessed as is possible. It almost always comes back to the over processing of food that makes it unhealthy, and it will wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why would you want to eat refined grains, if you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).

Why eat all that disgusting refined sugar that causes weight gain, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why do we eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when we can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, even organically raised meat.

The point here is to not fall for some quick gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macro nutrient compared to another.

Your body needs all macro nutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Cutting out an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I go into more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for taking the time to share with us all of this great information.

I hope you enjoyed reading this interview and got several useful bits of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you have not already got a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of Mikes Truth about Six Pack Abs Ebook, and discover for yourself the entire system he developed for ridding yourself of that extra abdominal fat for good!

Six Pack Abs

Butter: Good Fat or Bad?

Is Butter good or bad for you. Most people are often shocked when they see how much butter I use, and consume in one day. But I know the real truth; Butter is a good fat and can actually help you lose weight.

Unfortunately, people are nowadays are thinking butter is unhealthy, this is a very common misconception. People still think that butter and saturated fats are the reason heart disease is one of the top killers in this country (and in the developed world). The truth is that it’s not the natural fats that are causing this epidemic, its the sugar, especially corn syrup (Fructose) used in processed and packaged foods, and the over-consumption of refined oils that are causing so much disease. (you can add Diabetes, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure to this list as well).

Butter, is rich in butyric acid, which is a short-chain saturated fatty acid [1] that is produced by our gut flora, and is used for energy by the cells in our colon. It has now been found to be a major contributor to a healthy metabolism, helps to control our blood lipids and our insulin sensitivity. One study found that mice fed with butyric acid supplement had a 300% increase in their insulin sensitivity.

Butyric acid is anti-inflammatory, is anti-cancer,  has anti-stress properties and is being studied to cure all kinds of problems including leaky gut, and a host of autoimmune diseases. In fact, it’s now believed that some of the metabolic problems that are plaguing us today are not only relieved by butyric acid, but could indeed be caused by a lack of that precious fatty acid in the first place.

1. Did you know that during the 60 year period upto the 1970’s, the proportion of traditional animal fat in the American diet declined from 83% to 62%?

2. During this same time butter consumption plummeted from 18 pounds per person each year to 4 pounds per person each year.

3. During the past 80 years, the consumption of dietary cholesterol intake has increased only one percent.

So why all the heart disease?

1. During the same period, the average intake of dietary vegetable oils (margarine, shortening, and refined oils) increased by about 400%.

2. During the same period, the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased by about 60%.

3. In the same period of time 70% of the western world became deficient in magnesium. (But we will talk about this in another article soon).

Those are the facts, but there’s never better proof than the results I see with my clients and my readers. When people finally stop eating margarine, refined oils, “fake” butters, sugar and processed foods, their health sky rockets! I mean, it gets better, greatly improves, and elevates to a new levels. Not to mention all the ugly body fat they lose off their body.

It’s important to mention that the butter I use is organic and grass fed. It has this beautiful deep yellow color and is not white like most conventional butters. It has gone through minimal processing and has no added growth hormones and antibiotics.

Now that I told you butter is OK to eat, here is a delicious chicken recipe you can try for yourself:

Chicken with butter dressing

Ingredients:

  • 2 large chicken breasts (approximately 1 lb of chicken)
  • 6 Tbsp of melted butter
  • lemon juice from 1/2 large lemon
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Directions:

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a large pan. Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook the chicken breasts in butter covered on very low heat. Do not let the butter get brown. Pour the lemon juice in a separate bowl. Slowly stir in the remaining melted butter as you stir the mixture. Then slowly add the olive oil as you stir mixture. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour the “dressing mixture” over your cooked chicken breasts.

You can read more recipes such as the one above in Mike Geary’s ebook the Truth about Six Pack Abs which is packed full of nutrition advice, and healthy lifestyle.

Six Pack Abs

 

 

 

 

Ref [1] Short Chained fatty acid formation at fermentation of indigestible carbohydrates: Henningsson, Bjorck, Nyman. Scandinavian Journal oj’Nutrition/Nuringsj’orskning ~ol45:16.5-168,2001

The sad truth about most protein powders

If you’ve ever been near a health food store, or even a supermarket, you should know first-hand that there is no shortage of protein powders available today. In an effort to easily increase your daily protein intake, you’ve probably been tempted to buy one, or more of these (or maybe you already have) and made them a part of your fat burning diet plan.

But there’s a problem…

Until now, there has not been a protein powder that I felt confident about recommending, to you or even taking myself (there may be 1 or 2 on the market. But they’re either ridiculously expensive or taste downright awful).

1) – Most protein powders are sweetened with artificial sweeteners. If your protein powder lists aspartame or sucralose as the sweetener…throw it out. These sweeteners are downright dangerous and toxic to your body. They seriously hinder your fat burning efforts. Instead of helping you burn fat by increasing your protein intake, these artificially sweetened protein powders prevent you from losing fat by overwhelming your body with harmful toxins. Throw it away now, – in the bin!

2) – Most protein powders use a low quality source of whey, they are processing it at high temperatures. This method of manufacture completely denatures the protein and decreases the protein value (making it kind of pointless and a waste to take at that point). For commercial reasons it is extremely difficult to find out exactly how your protein powder has been processed.

Well Prograde Nutrition have finally done it. They have finally formulated a Protein Powder that is not only delicious, but one that is sweetened with Stevia (a completely natural sweetener), and that they have only used the highest quality, cold processed whey.

The best thing about the people at Prograde is that they listen! Myself and many other fitness authors that I truly respect were downright honest with them and told them frankly we would not recommend any protein powder with artificial sweeteners in it! Guess what happened? They actually listened and spent months formulating this new product.

This is as much great news for me as it is for you. If I have a protein option that’s going to be easier than scrambling eggs for breakfast or making a full post workout meal, Then I’ll take it! With this new protein powder, I’m going to be able to maintain my current protein intake in a much easier way.

Here are a few of my favorite Prograde Protein Powder Recipes. I will be making regularly with my new batch of Protein powder:

Pina Colada Protein Shake

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. water
  • 4 oz coconut milk
  • 4 ice cubes
  • 3 scoops vanilla protein powder
  • 1/3 cup Pineapple chunks

Mix all ingredients in the blender.

The ideas and recipes for protein shakes are endless. I use either water or coconut milk but you can also use almond milk or rice milk if you’d like. It’s time to get creative, and add a variety of fruits, raw nuts and nut butters for a delicious breakfast, or meal replacement any time of the day.

Easy Protein Oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup oatmeal (dry)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 scoop protein powder

Cook 1/3 cup dry oatmeal in 1 cup of water. Next mix 1 scoop of protein powder with a little amount of water, in a separate bowl, until it becomes thick. Add the powder and water mixture to the oatmeal. (oats contain beta glucan which are crucial compounds to help the body stay healthy)1 Top it with fresh fruit or raw nuts and enjoy!

To save time, I make several servings of oatmeal at once and keep it in the refrigerator for the next few days. In the morning, I scoop out 1 serving (1 heaping cup full) and heat it up on the stove top. This saves me a few minutes in the morning (every second counts, especially if you add them all up)

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese (if you can tolerant dairy foods)
  • 4-5 egg whites (I don’t like to throw away quality yokes, its wasting good nutrition. So I save them for other recipes, or to add to my next meal. I tried to make this recipe with whole eggs and it doesn’t work as well.)
  • 1 scoop protein powder (vanilla)

Blend all ingredients until the mixture has a batter consistency. Then pour into a frying pan like normal pancakes. I use butter to cook these.

You can add your own items for flavoring… for example

Mix in 1/2 cup blueberries after blending (Blueberry pancakes). Or try adding half a banana before blending for banana flavored pancakes. I also like to add apple sauce, cinnamon and a dab of honey.

These are really easy to make ahead of time, so you can have a nice protein heavy breakfast without a lot of morning preparation.

You can read more on this subject in Mike Geary’s ebook, the Truth about Six Pack Abs.

Ref: [1] Super foods: Beta Glucans..