The New Rules of Lifting for Abs = Good Read

The past few weeks have been frustrating. I haven't done as well as I should have with eating or with exercise and as a result I haven't seen the progress I want to make. One of the things I like to do at times like this is find a good book related to health and fitness and give it a read. It always helps me get my motivation back and will usually get me moving in the right direction again.

I bought and am almost finished with a book called The New Rules of Lifting for Abs. It's written by two fellas I've read before, Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove. Schuler is a well known writer in the health and fitness world and Cosgrove is generally regarded as one of the top trainers in the nation. I own and have read their previous book, The New Rules of Lifting, several times and have learned a lot from it and used the workout programs included within quite extensively (with good results). So, when I heard they had a new book out I wanted to get it.

The title is actually somewhat deceiving. The book isn't really about abs at all. I mean, it is, but it isn't. The subtitle of the book probably describes it best: "A Myth Busting Fitness Plan for Men and Women Who Want a Strong Core and a Pain Free Back".

Part One of the book talks mostly about the importance of having a strong core and lower back and how many of the common "ab exercises" we see in the gym may actually be doing more harm than good.

Part Two explains the approach of the workout routines discussed later in the book. The basic premise is that the workouts will be full body workouts but with added emphasis on core strength, stabilization and performance.

Part Three gives detailed workout routines broken down into three phases. It's intended to be a program you can follow for 3 to 9 months, but it gives enough alternate exercises, variations and progressions that I think you could probably do the entire program over and over again and see results every time.

Part Four is all about getting up and moving instead of watching TV or hunching over a computer, getting enough sleep and getting the right nutrition (which I'll talk more about in a minute).

Part Five, which I haven't read yet, is about...well, I don't know. I haven't read it yet.

As I suspected it might, I've found some extra motivation from reading this book and I'm anxious to get started with the workout routines (which I think I'll start next week). They'll be very different from anything I've done before, which is exciting for me both because I get bored easily and because new stuff always seems to bring results (even if it's short term). I plan to take some before and after pictures. Maybe I'll eventually post those here and maybe I won't. We'll see.

Now back to nutrition, which is my single biggest hurdle that I've yet to get over. A small little block on one of the pages was titled "How a Fitness Buff Thinks About Food" and it had this to say:

1. Food is a building material.
2. Food is fuel.
3. Food is nourishment.
4. Food stokes the metabolic fire.

There was more, but those are the key points. Anyway, that's the mindset I'm trying grasp. Though I already know these four things, I generally think of food as something that tastes good. Oftentimes I don't eat because I'm hungry or because I need nourishment or fuel. I eat because I like the way it tastes. This causes me to do a couple of things: 1) Eat things that really provide no nutritional value; and 2) Eat too much just because it's there and I like it.

So that's my struggle. That's what I'm constantly trying to overcome.

Back to the book, I can't recommend it yet based on personal results alone since I haven't gone through the program, but if you like to read good books about health and fitness then I highly recommend it. Especially if you're interested in total body fitness with an emphasis on a strong and stable core and back. If you're into bodybuilding or powerlifting or muscles stacked on muscles stacked on muscles then this isn't the book for you, but if having a lean, strong, healthy and active body is your idea of a good time...or if you think a good ab workout means thousands of crunches and leg raises...then I think you'd get a lot out of this book.