No Limits Fitness: motivated

Everybody want to look good on the beach. Everybody want to look good in mirror selfies. Everybody wants to feel good about what happens to their shirt when they lift their hand over their heads.

Everybody wants abs.

The problem is that when you go to the beach or the volleyball courts you don't see a lot of abs. The last time you went to the beach did you did as many hot abs as you saw people doing crunches at the gym? Somehow I don't think so. Likely you saw a lot of this....

Hold on to your hats because today I am going to give you the top 10 ab exercises to help YOU get those flab abs that you have always wanted!

Are you ready? Are you ready for those killer abs that you thought only the girls in the bikini magazine could have? Here you go. The top 10 ab exercises based on my 15 years experience as a personal trainer and fitness coach!

Super secret special EXERCISE #1: BURPEES. Wait. What... What? How do burpees work the abs? What about crunches?

TRUTH: You can't spot reduce. You can only bust your ass to burn calories so you can eliminate fat. Most people will drop fat all over and the fatty layer on top of your abs may be stubborn but it will come off.

Check out Teresa's abs! NO CRUNCHES!

Burpees are the best exercise out there to get your heart rate up, help you develop functional strength and flexibility and get you super fit.

The process to developing killer abs is SIMPLE: Lower your body fat. Burpees are the best way to do that.

Here is a video showing you how to modify a burbee:

EXERCISE #2: Thrusters. This is also know as a squat to press. You can use kettlebells, a barbell or dumb bells.It really doesn't matter as long as you have weight in both hands and do a full squat and lock your arms out overhead when you come up.

This is a great core stability exercise and a real leg burner. You utilize the biggest muscles in your body (glutes) and well as your shoulders and arms. Make sure that you start with light weight and progress in weight a reps slowly. Here is a short video showing you how:

EXERCISE #3: Running (or walking FAST and HARD) with INTERVALS. Don't forget the intervals part. What is an interval? It's a period of hard work followed by a period of period of rest. The interval time doesn't matter as long as the rest is no more than double the work. If the work is 30 second then the rest should be 30-60 seconds.

A great interval workout is: 20 minutes of minute HARD, minute easy. Simple and efficient. Here is another: Each hard interval is followed by rest of the same amount of time. 1-1-2-1-1-3-1-1-2-1-1. The time combinations are almost limitless. You can do this on grass, on the roads on hills, on trails or on a treadmill.

Don't get sucked into the concept of long easy run all the time. They are OK but if you want to shed fat you need to do intervals.

EXERCISE #4: Kettlebell swings. I love kettlebell swings. We were just doing some last night and they were really killer. Swings can be a little technical but with some good instruction and a low starting weight they can be really beneficial. Before doing swing with challenging weights MAKE SURE you get some instruction from a qualified coach. If you do these wrong you can get hurt.

If you do them right you will prevent injury, have a strong back and sexy abs. SO DO THEM RIGHT!

EXERCISE #5: Sumo deadlift high-pull. (SDHP) I joke because when I write SDHP on the board I have people that have been working out with me for years that STILL ask what it is. Really...?!

The SDHP is great exercise that is easy to learn and easy to transition into during a quick metabolic workout. Just like the swings it is important to use good form and to be careful when you add weight. Make sure to challenge yourself as you get more proficient but don't be too aggressive. You doing want to get hurt!

EXERCISE #6: Push-ups. We do hand release push-ups which most everybody can do. Here is quick video showing you that those are:

A lot of people shy away from push-ups because they are hard. That is exactly WHY your SHOULD be doing them., The modification for the hand release push-up is to simply come up on your knees then lift your knees off the ground at the end. You will be amazing how many people can do this when they think they can't!

EXERCISE #7: Jump rope. Jump rope for on minute without stopping and see if you are out of breath. I dare you!

EXERCISE #8: Box jump. Same as number 7. Do 60 seconds of box jumps and your body fat will be running for the hills.

NOTE: If you are VERY overweight (i.e. 100+ lbs) you should avoid #7 and #8. The impact if you are very heavy is going to likely do more hard then good. Advice from a qualified professional is ALWAYS a good idea.

Jumping up onto a "box" doesn't have to scare you. Start but jumping up onto something just a few inches off the ground then stepping down. Slowing add height and jump down on two feet as you get stronger and feel more confident. Box jumps are a REAL heart rate shocker. LOVE THESE!

EXERCISE #9: Pull-ups. Another body weight movement that will rock your world. I am OK with assisted pull-ups because most people can't do full on pull-ups. Make it a habit of doing full range on motion (chin over bar, elbows locked at the bottom) on each rep and CHALLENGE yourself.

EXERCISE #10: Air squats. My suggestion on air (body weight) squats is to do a lot of them and the touch your but to something. A bench or a medicine ball work great. Don't sit (Unless you are just staring off. If you are then that is a great modification!)

Why not weighted squats? I really truly believe that for weighted squats to be of benefit you need to be really strong and most people are not. Air squats are easy to perform and you can do them anywhere. No equipment is required and they are super easy to transition into.

Did you notice something about this list?

No crunches. No ab machine. No bicep curls. No elliptical trainer.

Why do people continue to go to the gym and focus on exercises that don't do them any good? I just don't know.

The real question SHOULD be this: How do you use these 10 exercises to get abs?

Do them as much as you can with varied weight, varied reps, varied order and shock the crap out of your body.

Do you want to see that we do for workouts? I post my daily workouts on Instagram. You can find me @RICKCOPLEY. I also post a lot of my workouts on my other blog. CLICK HERE to jump over to my "No Excuses" blog. (ricksnoexcusesbolg.blogspot.com)

ONLY 6 DAYS left to register for the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge. This program was so popular in July that we decided to open it up for August. Time is limited. As soon as you register you will have access to the program and to the accountability group.

If you have any questions PLEASE contact me and I will help you. My personal cell number is 352-989-6795.

If you got value from this post please share. THANK YOU!

To your success!

Rick Copley | Your Best Fitness Coach | "Empowering YOU to be a champion"

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page |Rick's No Excuses Blog

Instagram: @rickcopley

352-989-6795 | rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

p.s. Did you hear that Rich Froning is the fittest man on earth for the 4th straight year! Guess what supplements he uses?

I am talking to you.

You are wanting to finally lose that weight. The pounds need to come off. Your are determined this time. You are ready. You want this so bad.

It's going to be hard.

Each day when you get excited the sun will set. You will go to bed and all that excitement, all that drive, all those good decisions from yesterday are going to go away and it all states over again tomorrow.

The sun will set.

Do you really want those results? Do you really want to be a better parent and roll model? Will you feel that way what the sun comes come back up?

Anybody can read a book and get fired up. Anybody can get excited by a Facebook post or a motivations video. That's easy. Those aren't the people that succeed long term. The people that succeed long term are the ones that still find that motivation when the sun comes back around.

You see it doesn't matter how much you do today. It doesn't matter that you want to do a marathon so you ran for 10 miles.

It doesn't matter that you want to lose 100 lbs and you made good choices today.

It doesn't matter that you bought that bikini two sizes to small and you worked out for 2 hours.

None of that matter long term.

What matters is that you create that thought in your mind that you will never quit and you will do it again tomorrow. When the sun comes back up you need to feel that same way.

Are you ready to make that decision?

If you are then do it. To help you here are 5 simple strategies to tie you motivation from today to to actions tomorrow.

1. Tell people. Tell people that know you and like you. Tell people that will harass you when you when tell them you want to lose weigh then crack open a Pepsi at lunch. Tell them to give you a hard time then vow to listen to them what they start to do it!

2. Belief cards. Get up everyday and read a belief card that says, "I feel GREAT and look FANTASTIC weighing 125 lbs" or "I am a CHAMPION running a 5k in 30 minutes flat". This will remind you everyday. Read at bedtime and when you get up. Set a reminder on your phone!

3. Get up EARLY and get SOMETHING done. The first thing you do when your feet hit the floor in the morning needs to be working towards you goal. Just do something.

4. Plan your day the night before. This is critical. Who else gets up in the morning and wonders what is for breakfast? These are the same people that go to bed at night and wonder why they didn't workout.

5. Drink Spark! I know it sounds weird that somehow a drink will change the way you think and feel but it is true. The mental focus and clarity that Spark gives you is unmatched. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE about Spark. Everyone that I know that drinks Spark is happy, successful and achieving their goals. Could be anecdotal but I don't know. How do I do a blog everyday and stay in such great shape? Check out my "Spark stalkie". (I call it a Sparkie!)

I want to finish today with a quick story.

When I used to race XTerra (off road triathlon) I would always go to the bike course the day before the race and ride it so I knew what to expect. Without fail I would always lie in bed excited about the race. Fired up as a matter of fact! I had to learn how to put that excitement to bed so I could use it the next day.

You need to do the same thing. I learned how to go to bed visualizing the transitions so that when I got up the relaxed intensity that I felt would propel me to do my best.

Use the strategies that I mentioned about to achieve long term results.

Don't you dare ever give up.

Take 30 second to think of people in your life that you know need some help getting healthy.

You have some names, don't you. Do you want to help them? I have two strategies for you. First thing you can do is direct them to this blog. There is a ton of awesome content and value here. The second thing if you REALLY want to get them the help they need is to have them send there email to me at rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com . This way we can contact them directly and see if one of our programs is right for them.