OnFitness Magazine - January/February 2015 - 48

MYTHS
W W W. O N F I T N E S S M A G . C O M | V O L 1 5 N O 4 | 2 0 1 5 4 8

Branched chain amino acids are the same as "protein." Actually, BCAAs consist of
leucine, iso-leucine and valine (all amino acids), while "protein" is a combination of any
number of amino acids. But the trio of the BCAAs is the most abundant kind that makes
up muscle tissue. This is why many ﬁtness experts advise trainees to ingest BCAAs prior to
a workout as well as after, to minimize catabolism (muscle breakdown). BCAAs release the
hormone insulin, which helps get carbohydrates to depleted muscle cells for recovery.

_________
HIP FLEXOR TIME

Lie supine on a mat and
pull one knee toward
your chest as much as
possible. You'll notice
that the more you do
this, the more the other
leg, which is kept
straight on the ﬂoor,
wants to leave the ﬂoor.
The more it does this,
the tighter this means
that your hip ﬂexors are.
You should be able to
pull your knee into your
chest without the other
leg coming off the ﬂoor.
Concentrate on keeping
the straight leg on the
ﬂoor to force the hip
ﬂexors to be elongated.
Hold for 30 to 45
seconds. This is one of
those "feel good"
stretches.
Repeat on the other
side. Do three sets each
side, and make a habit
of this. If you do it only
occasionally, the
elongation will only be
temporary. Many people
regularly stretch their
hamstrings, quads and
calves, but neglect the
hip ﬂexors - these
muscles enable you to
lift your knee when
you're standing.

Light weights work against the waist by lowering the
metabolic rate. This approach sabotages efforts.
What really works are heavy weights for the big
muscles (thighs, back) that produce maximum
muscle growth. How does this affect the waist?
First, heavy weights increase the size of the large
muscle groups. As the body gains more lean muscle
tissue, resting metabolic rate speeds up, and this in
turn burns off more fat on a continual basis.
The more lean muscle mass you can add, the
leaner you will be, and this includes women who
want that tight, svelte waistline. Don't avoid
heavy training, as heavy weights support lean
muscle growth and keep resting metabolic rate
sky high. The more lean tissue, the more the
metabolism stays jacked up.
In addition to elevating resting metabolic rate,
heavy duty weights also boost the post-workout
burn. The post-workout burn occurs when the
body's fuel supply is signiﬁcantly consumed and
when this fuel is the chief "fat dump" resulting
from weight training (both fat and carbs are
burned up during this time).
Resistance training realizes its primary fat
burning period after a workout (compared to
steady state cardio, which gets most of its fat
burn during the workout).
However, to make this happen, heavy weights
and multi-joint movements are best. That is, you
won't get this result from pumping out a few
lightweight isolated exercises like inner thigh
movements.
What works are compound movements in a
full range of motion that hit the major muscle
groups hard. This would be squats, deadlifts,
rows, chin-ups, bench presses, clean and jerks or
clean and presses, etc.
These types of movements stir up the deep
ﬁbers of the biggest muscle groups in a
comprehensive manner, elevating the metabolism.
These two results make it imperative to employ
hardcore, heavy weightlifting in any approach to
leaning out the midsection.
Direct waist work is another key element,
because the best midsection is a strong one.
Arnold Schwarzenegger once stated that the
greatest looking muscle group, when fully
developed, is the midsection. This won't happen
if you don't speciﬁcally train the waist.
Those who don't include direct waist work
don't totally make the most of their abdominals
and more. This means taking care of the core
with exercises that strengthen this vital area. The
stronger the core, the more your body can do
and the better you will be able to affect the other
aspects of your training.
Cardio is a tool that strips off the fat
effectively. Some types of cardio training are more
effective than others, but all aerobic work acts as
a force multiplier in ﬁghting fat. And just as with
the diet, you don't want to place all of your hope
on cardio training, but you must make this an
essential pillar in your workout program. Z

SEATED INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL: while seated on a 45-60
degree incline bench, position the arms in extension and
straight down by each corresponding side, utilizing a hammer
or neutral grip. With the elbows positioned by each corresponding side,
curl one dumbbell at a time while rotating your forearm in supination until
it's vertical and the palm faces up. Lower to the starting position and
repeat with the opposite arm. The exercise can also be performed lifting
both arms simultaneously.

The push/pull
workout
By Dwayne Hines II

TACTIC 2

ne of the best
workout rotations is
the push/pull
approach performing
pushing exercises in one
workout and pulling exercises
in another workout.
One of the key beneﬁts is that there is no overlapping
workload on the muscles. With many schemes the same
muscle groups get worked back to back or even twice a day on
a split routine. That overlapping workload can prevent
maximization of muscle gains, as overloaded muscles do not
grow much. And this happens all too frequently.
The push/pull workout gives the muscles ample time for
rest and recovery so that they can grow strong, and faster at
that. Once the body realizes it's ﬁnally getting adequate rest, it
takes off.
One way to set the push/pull routine up is a derivative of
the old-school approach to training. Today many people try to
split their workouts down into super small segments. In the
old-school era, people would often work the entire body in a
single workout or in two workouts. The push/pull routine can
be made into a setup that works the full body in one push
session coupled with one pull session.
The major muscle groups work well in a push/pull system,

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OnFitness Magazine - January/February 2015

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