What are Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)?

Today, most new vehicles are equipped with an anti-lock braking system or offer it as an option, and many car shoppers consider anti-lock brakes a must when they make a vehicle purchase. Designed to give the driver control over the vehicle while coming to a rapid stop, anti-lock brakes employ precisely calculated, rapid pumping action to prevent wheels from locking up during a sudden stop. Anti-lock brake technology marks such a significant breakthrough in the automobile industry that in a 2006 report published by www.cars.com, anti-lock braking technology was rated the #1 automobile innovation in recent years and was credited it for paving the way for roll mitigation and stability control technology.

Let us examine for a moment what happens to a vehicle without ABS as sudden pressure is applied to the brake. The wheel is capable of coming to a stop quicker than the vehicle itself, resulting in a skid as the wheel locks but the vehicle continues to move. When a vehicle skids, there is little traction and the driver has minimal or no control over the direction the vehicle will go.

Anti-lock brakes employ computer controlled speed sensors which detect sudden deceleration and activate right before the point when the wheels would otherwise lock up. By rapidly releasing and reapplying pressure to the brake system in quick intervals, the ABS system allows the tires to decelerate at the same rate as the vehicle, preventing skidding and allowing the driver to steer away from obstacles while braking if necessary. Without ABS, a vehicle in the same situation could lose traction, leaving the driver at the mercy of the out of control vehicle and anything in its path.

Several studies have raised doubt regarding whether the presence of ABS actually prevents accidents, and some experts suggest that drivers being unaware of how to correctly utilize the system contributes to the findings. When you rapidly compress the brake pedal in a vehicle with anti-lock brakes, it is normal to feel a pulsing or vibrating from the pedal, and possibly some noise. In vehicles with ABS, brakes should never be pumped with the foot. In an emergency stopping situation, hold constant pressure on the brake pedal while maintaining a firm grip on the steering wheel to control the direction of the vehicle, allowing the ABS to do the job for which they are designed.

In purchasing a vehicle with ABS, note that all ABS systems are not the same. While some systems include a speed sensor and valve for each of the four wheels, others may have just one valve and sensor for both rear wheels. Consult the owner's manual for information about the type of ABS system with which a particular vehicle is equipped.

About the Author: Greg Chapman, of Greg Chapman Motors, is a leading provider of used cars in Austin. For more information please visit Greg Chapman Motors.

How to Get Toned Abs in Your Spare Time

Ever wonder how those gorgeous fitness models manage to look like they do? Seems unfair doesn't it? They probably worked for years to develop that sort of look. The truth is, they probably went from flabby and weak, to tight, ripped and lean within under two months....cmon, you don't believe that? It's often more painful to believe the truth. Because if they did manage such a remarkable transformation so quickly, you lose your excuse. You lose the reason that is keeping you happy and chubby.

What if you could be happy and ripped? When we press our fingers into our tummy, we find it spongy and flabby. Our pot belly distends and we feel disappointed by how it feels. Then suddenly we realize we didn't tense them. So we tense them and a little relieved, we are delighted to discover, there is actually a fairly firm wall of muscle behind that pudgy stomach fat. Phew! A little happier now, we casually glance up at the TV to witness a pair of glamorous looking fitness models demonstrating some exercise or other and it strikes us their abdominal muscles and your abdominal muscles are exactly the same but different in a very important way.

Take your shirt off and it barely even gets noticed by the opposite sex. When they take their shirt off, everyone looks and admires.

Something suddenly occurs to you. Something totally different. Something completely new about your abs. Getting abs is not about the muscles, it is about presentation and how they look. Toning your abs is not very difficult. This large muscle group responds very effectively to some mild pedestrian strain. They are a very large muscle group and can easily be trained to a point of ripped. The different is in the presentation. Those taught lean fitness models look so good because the skin across their abdominals is thin, supple and tight. Yours may be thick flabby and loose!

Getting toned, neat abs is more about reducing the body fat than it is building up and working these muscles.

If you would like to get a six pack in 23 days or less, buy The "Abs In 23 Days" training program. You can learn more about this award winning, abdominal pumping, fat stripping product by clicking HERE

How To Get Ripped Abs - 11 Tips To Ripped Abs

Everybody seems to want to know how to get ripped abs. I've found that most people believe that getting ripped, protruding abs involves doing hundreds of stomach crunches and situps frequently. They believe that doing so will burn fat off of their stomach area, exposing their abs.

I used to believe this same thing, and it was getting me nowhere. After some research and trial and error experimentation, I discovered the truth about how to get ripped abs.

First off, you will never have visible, six-pack abs if you have a layer of fat covering your abdominal area. To get ripped abs, your primary goal should be fat loss. Even if you have an incredibly strong core of abdominal muscles, if it is covered by fat you will never see them. This idea is key in order to understand how to get ripped abs.

Second, the idea that doing countless stomach crunches to burn fat is a myth. You cannot spot-reduce fat from a single area of your body by targeting it. Body fat is lost evenly across your body when you combine a solid exercise and nutritional program. I make sure I strongly emphasize this idea when telling people how to get ripped abs, because so many believe that stomach fat is lost through abdominal crunches and situps. Not true!

In order to be able to start seeing your abs, you must lose body fat. This is accomplished through strict nutrition and a consistent exercise regimen.

Because everybody is different, no single nutritional program will work for everyone, but in order to get ripped abs keep a few things in mind:

1. Eat every 2-3 hours

2. Eat around 1 gram of lean protein per pound of body weight with every meal. Lean proteins include, but are not limited to: tuna fish, low/nonfat dairy products, chicken breast, whey protein powder, shrimp and other fish, etc.

3. Drink 16-20 ounces or more of water with every meal.

4. If you are sensitive to fat gain, you are most likely carbohydrate-sensitive. This does NOT mean you should remove carbohydrates from your diet, but rather limit them to a lower percentage of daily intake, and eat less of them at later hours of the evening.

5. Eat lots of vegetables.

6. Limited saturated fats and avoid trans fats at all costs.

7. Determine your basal metabolic rate and consume less calories than you burn.

Nutrition is an extremely vital aspect of understanding how to get ripped abs. However, it is not the only aspect. Weight training and cardiovascular exercise also play a big role in getting ripped abs. Here are a few tips:

1. To lose fat efficiently without losing muscle mass, choose high intensity cardio over long duration cardio. This will enable you to shed fat while retaining your ab muscles (and every other muscle for that matter), a huge factor in understanding how to get ripped abs !

2. Perform high intensity cardio at least 3 times per week. If you hit a fat loss plateau, experiment with increasing the duration and/or intensity of your sessions or adding another session.

3. Targeted abdominal exercises should be performed 2-3 times per week at the most. Other compound exercises, such as barbell squats and deadlifts, work the abdominal region as well, so keep this in mind before making the mistake of doing ab crunches every day.

4. There are hundreds of ab exercises. I've found that decline situps and decline crunches work particularly well in developing the abdominal region, especially once you start adding weight. Simple floor crunches are also very effective for the beginner.

Put these ideas into action including a good nutrition and exercise routine and you will see results!

If you would like to know more about how to get ripped abs, including:

- More detailed nutrition info you'll need to get ripped abs
 

- Weight training articles
 

- A FREE ebook about fat loss
 

- How to customize your own routine

then CLICK HERE to visit my fitness page!