[livein]

First of all I want to say that I began this program on Monday. My upper body is still aching from the workout. I believe this is normal and I'm hoping eventually, I won't become so sore.

My question is about the abs workout. Do I follow the same pattern with my crunches? I'm assuming there is no weights involved and it's regular crunches. 12, 10,8,6,12,12 is that my same pattern?

[Tideypoo]

yep

I changed from that as I didnt feel like I was getting the "burn" I should have, but try it for at least 4 weeks and see how ya feel

If you want, you can hold a 5lb weight or such on your chest as you do the 8's and 6's, but you really dont need to

hth

Tidey

[MrsJim]

Sounds like you're doing it by the book. Yup, the crunches are all without weights. I would recommend concentrating on strict form always, but particularly with crunches - a lot of folks complain that they don't feel the 'burn' doing just regular ol' crunches.

What I do is try and push my belly button down into the floor, well I hope you know what I mean by that - focus on the abs when you're crunching...pause at the top of the movement, then slowly bring it down. I see a lot of folks at my gym who lift weights and do crunches using momentum - that doesn't do much, in fact you can end up hurting yourself pretty badly.

I totally agree with Tidey - change up your exercises every four weeks. Not only will it 'shock' your muscles, but changing up exercises will alleviate boredom!

Oh and for the soreness, try using some glutamine powder! It really helps (a nice hot bath in the evening is good too...Calgon take me awaaaayyyyy... )

[shelbyw]

Ya, you wanna try and keep the small of your back on the ground and really concentrate on your belly and remember to breathe! I think the rule of thumb is to exhale as you lift and inhale as you come back down.

[BethO]

Hi livein, welcome!

I would double the suggestion of glutamine powder - you mix it in water and drink it, doesn't taste like anything. Helps the muscle soreness and apparently prevents breakdown of muscle tissue. You can buy it at Costco, health food places, etc.

When you're ready to pump up the abs workout, you may want to try an incline bench before adding weights. Weights are difficult to add with good form, as Mrs.Jim mentioned that's what ab workouts are all about. S-L-O-W-L-Y doing the cruches.

Best of luck with your program!

BethO

[loon2]

I am just starting bfl, my question is, the book says to add at least two vegetables a day, so does that mean you could have more veggies with a third meal?

[MrsJim]

You can have veggies at EVERY meal if you wanna. The more the merrier! And you don't have to measure them either

[RavenToy]

Veggies in the morning, veggies in the evening... omg now I have that song stuck in my head. *agh*

[loon2]

Thank you Mrs. Jim and RavenToy. See I love my veggies. Started my first training session today, it was mild but awsome, have never done anything like this. I am in for the full challenge.
Is there any other of the shakes beside Myoplex? I can't seem to find any.
Thanks

[MrsJim]

Lucky you, you veggie lover I have to FORCE myself to eat most veggies!!!

Ya know, you don't have to use shakes at all. And if you do, they don't have to be Myoplex or EAS brand unless you're doing the "official" BFL Challenge (the rules require you to use at least one EAS product).

If you're a gal who wants to use shakes, I would highly recommend NOT using the ready-to-drink ones. Not only are they horrifically expensive, but the protein in them is not as high quality since they heat-pasturize them. Also they taste naaaaasty.

Here's some brands I've tried:

Myoplex Lite (I like cappuchino ice and I must be the only person on the planet who likes the strawberry flavor!)
Labrada Lean Body for Her (only comes in two flavors though...)
Biotest GROW! (I didn't care for the flavor, but I seem to be in the minority).

Right now though I'm eating 99% real food, with an occasional protein shake (as opposed to MRPs like the above). The protein powder I like is MetRx Protein Plus Vanilla Creme flavor.