RIO Fitness Chicago® Exercise & Nutrition Blog

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you love the abs on Mike "The Situtation" Sorrentino from MTV's Jersey Shore, then watch this video to listen to him explain how YOU can get your own sexy abs.

Seeing Your Own 'Situation': Mike reveals how you can get your own Situation-esque abs.

RIO Fitness Chicago® keys to nice abs:

*With abs, your nutrition is the biggest piece to the puzzle more than any other muscle group. Avoid refined sugars (desserts, candy, soda, juices, etc.) and foods high in sodium because sodium carries water in the body which will make you look & feel bloated. Avoid alcohol or limit it as much as possible, because alcohol triggers cortisol hormone to rise which will begin producing body fat.

*Do your cardio properly to burn calories from body fat not calories from energy (glycogen). Doing more than 30mins of cardio will only burn energy calories (that's why you feel so drained when you do 45-60mins of it). So to burn primarily calories from body fat, you need to do high/low intensity intervals every 60sec for just 25mins.

*Do NOT work your abs EVERY day! They need time to heal, recover & regenerate like any other muscle. Give them 48hrs in between each time you hit them. So for example, if you do them on Mon, 48hrs in between would Thurs. If you work them on Thurs do them again on Sun.

*Train your entire midsection! Obliques (side-side/twisting movements), Lower abdominals (bringing knees inward/straight leg raise movements), upper (crunch/situp movements), and finally lower back when you finish your abs to strengthen your core from front to back.