Christine Hronec Talks To Muscle & Strength Magazine
What are the most underrated and overrated muscle building exercises?
Crunches are by far the most overrated muscle building exercises. I worked my abs only 1-2x a week during contest prep and was able to obtain muscle definition simply by eating clean and performing high intensity cardio that utilized my core muscles.
The most underrated muscle building exercise in my opinion is ass to grass squats with light weight and high reps. I would perform these on a smith machine as part of my bonus leg day on weekends and would feel more fatigued after 5-6 sets at no more than 50lbs at 15-20 reps than when I would squat 225lbs for 5-6 reps.
Which workout has worked best for you?
My boyfriend creates my workouts using popular online databases. My favorite and most effective was actually found on Muscle and Strength.com: the 4 Day Power, Muscle Burn Workout Split.
Do you have any gym, muscle building or fitness pet peeves?
Poor form is one of the most awful things to witness in a gym, followed by watching women who think they can spot reduce a specific body part (i.e. doing 1000 crunches once a week is not key to getting a flat stomach). A more systematic approach needs to be taken to fitness and most don’t have the patience and/or wherewithal to seek information that will support real change.
What are your best tips for getting ripped and shredded abs?
It is 100% true that six pack abs are made in the kitchen. Micro-management of food portions is key especially when it comes to carbohydrates. I found it was very easy to underestimate the amount of carbs I was consuming due to a skewed perception of was a serving size actually is. By planning out all my meals and pre-measuring all my servings I saw the most significant changes my body has ever experienced in conjunction with regular cardio and weight training.
What does your post-workout nutrition and supplementation look like?
Within 30 minutes of every weight training session I consumed 2 scoops of Muscle Gauge Nutrition’s Pure Isolate in the unflavored (total of 50 grams of protein). My goal was to reach 125+ grams per day of protein to support lean muscle gains. Since most of my weight training sessions were early evening, I would take another shake of MGN Micellar Casein in Vanilla Bean right before bed and trim down advanced fat burner during the day.
