Q; When I can expect to get a six-pack?
A: You cannot just do ab work and expect a six-pack. You need to shed bodyfat in order to see muscle definition, which is what a sixpack is. Get your diet and training in order.
A: Do heavy basic compound movements: squats, deadlifts and bench presses are a must in any training split.
Q: Will muscles turn into fat if I stop working out?
A: Muscle will never turn into fat. People always say this, and if you really think about it, it just sounds, how can I put this nicely, uneducated. They aren't even remotely close in molecular makeup and it can never ever happen.
Q: I've heard that doing heavy squats can compress your spinal column and make your shorter. Is this true?
A: Yes, when you squat correctly, there is some pressure on the spinal column, however, much of the weight is supported by your back and leg muscles, which is why you're squatting in the first place. If you feel too much pressure on your spine, chances are you're making one of these critical squatting errors: Rounding your back, picking your heels up off the ground during the positive movement, leaning forward too far, bouncing at the bottom of the movement, or, the most common, simply trying to lift too much weight. In short, the only thing that squats can make shorter is the length of your workout when you blow out your back by doing them wrong.
Q: Spot shaping vs. spot reduction?
A: There is no such thing as spot reduction. You cannot exercise a specific area of the body and expect the fat in that area to suddenly vanish. When the body burns off fat it does so from the total body area - not just from the targeted area. When calories are needed from fat storage, the body pulls the calories from its overall storage. Certain areas of the body may release a little more fat for fuel than other areas, but a reduction in bodyfat affects the entire body. It comes about from a change in the caloric equation (more calories spent than taken in), not from performing one specific exercise. Spot reduction is nothing more than a marketing fable.
Q: Can too much cardio do more harm than good?
A: Going crazy with cardio is not a good idea. If you need to shed fat, get your diet in order first. Cardio is highly catabolic, and if done improperly, your body will burn muscle instead of fat for fuel. That's never a good thing. But the real problem with cardio is that it's highly individual. Nothing works the same for different people. Cardio is a necessary evil, so you might as well do it right. Experiment and find out which type and duration of cardio works for you. There is a very fine line between melting fat and burning valuable muscle. Find that line, and stay on the good side of it. There's nothing worse looking than a skinny fat guy. But still, diet is the key.
Q: What to keep your muscles balanced and your workouts efficient?
A: Then train according to how your muscles move - whether they "push" or "pull" - not where they're located in your body. There are two different ways to put this training method to work. You can train both sets of muscles on the same day, pairing them up and supersetting them. Or you can devote a separate training day to each. Either option works fine for beginners. To make your workout even more advanced, try subdividing your routine even further into horizontal and vertical push/pull days and quad- and hip-dominant days. (That means four separate days of training.) Horizontal push/pull means chest pressing and rowing exercises; vertical push/pull includes shoulder press and chinup variations. Quad-dominant exercises are self-explanatory, and hip-dominant lifts stress the glutes and hamstrings (the lower body, however, will be worked thoroughly by just about any exercise of either veriety).
| HORIZONTAL PUSH EXERCISES: Bench press, incline bench press, pushup. | QUAD-DOMINANT: Squat, all lunge variations, leg press, leg extension. |
| HORIZONAL PULL: Bentover row, seated cable row, reverse fly. | HIP-DOMINANT: Deadlift, Romanian deadlift, back extension, step up. |
| VERTICAL PUSH: Shoulder press, pike pushup. | HIP FLEXION: Reverse crunch. |
| VERTICAL PULL: All pullup/chinup variations, pulldown, pullover. | TRUNK FLEXION: Crunch. |
| TRUNK ROTATION: Medicine-ball twist. |