Show Me Your Abs

Last week, I hopped on Tribe's private community page and asked my peeps to help me out with a post. Here's what I said:

"Hey guys. I have a fun idea. If you feel so inclined, please text me a pic of your abs. The only rule is that you are proud of them, no matter what they look like."

And dear lord. I had NO idea what was lurking under some of their T-shirts! Most of them have grown tiny humans. Most of them came in with not an abdominal in sight. But these days, this is what they look like 24/7. They didn't "prep" for these pics. This is their 365 days a year level of leanness.

So, about that.

I know for a fact that there are folks paying god only knows how much for one-on-one or small group training and seeing not even close to results like this. What gives?

It's a matter of the method.

Most trainers are stuck in an old-school mindset. It involves lots of bodybuilding, lots of steady-state cardio, and lots of very clean, very boring, very miserable eating.

It works. Ish. But what it's lacking is a high-level hormone response.

What we do at Tribe is a little (lot) different.

We bodybuild. Because sculpt. But we also do A LOT of big lifts. And we do them really, really freaking heavy and with LOTS of volume. And the benefit of that is a WICKED HIGH hormone response that facilitates muscle growth.

Muscle growth means.... more muscle growth.

Lemme explain.

Let's say on a Monday, the whiteboard says deadlifts. I vary the rep ranges, but I always make sure they will provoke a hormone response. So, it's not just about deadlifting. It's about deadlifting so heavy that your body's central nervous system wakes the eff up and does what it's supposed to do.

Hormones rage through your system for a day or two after a high-volume deadlift, squat or bench press workout. And that means that on Tuesday or Wednesday, when the whiteboard says, "Strict pull-ups to failure superset with 10 biceps curls", your body will do a better job of eliciting #gainz because of the previous day's "big lift" work.

Pretty cool, huh? And it keeps these people highly motivated to show up. Like, every day. They've learned that if they miss a workout, they are missing out on elements of the whole, well rounded program.

Because deadlifts matter. Burpees matter. Squats and bench press and Arnold-style cheat curls matter. Put all those things in a pot, boil it up with lots of heart rate, and what results is a body that begins to harden up and lose fat.

Those abs are not the result of crap-tons of sit ups or other ab work. They are the result of lots of compound lifts, sprints, jumping, and some decent (but not perfect) eating. I want to be very clear about something: Not one of these peeps is eating chicken and egg whites for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They EAT. They enjoy food. They eat within their fat loss calorie and macro intake, but that sure as heck doesn't mean starvation and misery.

It works.

And side-note: Those bodies are not just lean and hot. They are functional. Their strength ranges rival that of some of the better athletes in our city.

So next time you see someone at the grocery store in Tribe apparel, tap them on the shoulder and ask to see their abs. I guarantee they'll wanna show ya.