Work out using body weights at home!

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Watch how you can work out at home using your own body weight. It is so easy. Watch this!

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Walk your way to stronger bones and good health!

Posted under female workout

Exercise plays an important role in bone building during childhood and adolescence, maintaining bone before 50, and slowing down bone loss after the age of 50. One way to effectively build stronger bones is by walking. Walking is the easiest exercise program to begin. It is a simple exercise that you can do anywhere, any time, without any need of expensive equipment or health club membership. A mere 30 minutes a day, three days a week, walking assures adequate aerobic conditioning. Walking is also an insurance policy against a weak and crumbling skeleton as it lessens and combats osteoporosis by strengthening of bones.

Getting started
A healthy walk workout starts with a good posture. It makes you look years younger too. Proper posture is simple to do; all you have to do is to stand erect, keep chin parallel to the ground, and pull your head back to allow your neck to be aligned with your spine. Pull shoulder blades together as you relax your shoulder and hips. Tuck in your tummy and straighten your back, and pull your buttocks in so the small of your back won’t sway or bow. It is normal to feel a little awkward at any change especially on posture. The more you practice good posture, the more you will get use to it. You can check to see if you have a good posture by standing your back against a wall and see how much of your back and shoulders touch the wall. Lift your arms out to either left or right side so as to provide stretch and additional posture checkpoint.

Walking
Once you are aware of the proper posture, let’s begin your walking experience. You should invest on proper walking shoes designed for walking. Dress yourself appropriately for the work out. Expect to shed a layer as you warm up. After gradually warming up, start your way to fitness!

Take shorter and quicker strides to prevent any problems with the joints. Walk with the heel leading. Bend arms at 90 degrees angles and allow to swing naturally. A study found that women who regularly walk 7.5 miles a week lost bone mass at a slower rate (four to seven years longer) than women who did not walk. Apart from promoting stronger bones, walking has been known to lower blood pressure especially for those who have dangerously high blood pressure on a long-term medication treatment. It only takes a month of regular walking to lower blood pressure and even cholesterol levels to a normal range.

Facts of walking:
1. Walking a mile in 30 minutes burns 120-180 calories.
2. Walking boosts energy.
3. Walking exercises over 600 muscles and 200 bones.
4. Walking improves self image.
5. Walking decreases stress and depression.
6. Regular walking decreases risk of heart disease.
7. Regular walking reduces hypertension.
8. Regular walking helps you lose weight.

Exercise will greatly benefit your bones no matter when you start. The key to walking is to exercise regularly when you’re young and continue to exercise throughout your life. Exercise helps build stronger bones and slow down bone loss. You can do a combination of strength training exercises with weight training exercises. Strength training makes your muscles and bones in your arms and upper spine stronger. Weight training namely walking, jogging, running, stair climbing, skipping rope and impact producing sports targets the bones in your legs, hips and lower spine. you can also try swimming, cycling, and exercise machines such as elliptical trainers that provide a good cardiovascular work out.

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4 bicep workout mistakes you should not do

Posted under female workout

The benefit of a good work out goes a long way. A good work out serves as one of the major components to achieve a toned and fit body. Part of the equation to successfully reshape and be healthier is to perform proper execution of exercises so as to reap best results. Exercises done incorrectly will render numerous injuries and muscle cramps.

A well defined biceps acts as a source of a person’s confidence since it shows strength and a well conditioned body. Health buffs exerts more effort in focusing their work outs of the bicep muscle group as part of a total body work out. As discussed earlier, only a few were able to achieve the best of results while a lot of people lack important knowledge on how to properly execute a bicep work out. Consider these tips to maximize your bicep work out.

Tip 1: Don’t cheat yourself.

Many people try to cheat during the biceps workouts session. It could be either you are swinging the weights instead of letting your arms do the lifting. You could be not lifting them high enough. When you cheat in a work out means you are basically cheating yourself. Always remember that workouts pay off in the long run when done correctly. Cheating only ends in frustration and disappointment.

Tip 2: Don’t dwell on quantity.

When you focus on the number of work outs, you tend to prioritize less on doing correct work outs. The higher number of sets done does not mean you would become fit quickly, most especially if those sets are of poor quality. It is much more better to do 10 sets of bicep work outs than doing thirty sets of work out where you don’t even lift weights properly.

Tip 3: Don’t push yourself too hard.

It is easy to get in the habit of working out but forget about taking enough rest in between each set of workout. Resting is just as important as working out. When you work out on your biceps, you are wearing and tearing your bicep muscles to promote reshaping of the said muscles. Reshaping only happens during resting periods. You can help muscles recover from the wear and tear just by resting to help your muscles grow and develop.

Tip 4: Don’t use light weights.

Some people believe that the more reps they do, the stronger their muscles would be. This is not true at all! There is no hard and fast rule about the required number of reps you should do, the golden rule is to do fewer reps with heavier weights. You would build muscles faster than by doing more reps using lighter reps.

Rather than focusing on the number of reps, you should focus on using heavy weights for your biceps work outs. It is better to reduce the number of reps and increase the number of sets. At the end of the day, quality matters over quantity.

Happy work out!

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Killer home arm work out

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Try this killer home arm workout you can do with just a set of dumbbells for toned and strong biceps, triceps and more.

This slimming workout can be done twice a week, 12-20 reps of each set. This is an arm workout for beginners to advanced fitness levels. Adjust the weight according to each exercise to really feel the burn of the this killer work out.

Thanks to diethealth for this wonderful work out.

Technorati Tags: arm exercises, female women work out, fitness, weight loss

Get a total body work out at home

Posted under female workout

Here are simple moves you can do right at home. This total body work out offers a basic routine that targets the entire body. Exercise your chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs and abs in a short period of time. This is perfect for stay-at-home women who are familiar with basic strength moves yet seeks to do a simple home workout.

A word of precaution: seek medical advice before attempting any work out most especially if you have any injuries, illnesses or other conditions, and change any exercise that causes pain or discomfort.

Prepare your equipments before you embark our total body home work out. you need a barbell, dumb bells of various weights, an exercise ball, a weight bench, and an exercise mat.

Detailed instructions for each exercise can be found below (click on pictures and links).
• Warm up with 5 minutes of light cardio, or warm-up versions of each exercise.
• Beginners: Start with no weight for 1 set of 14 to 16 reps, or try a beginner workout.
• Intermediate/Advanced: Do 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps with enough weight so that you can only complete the desired number of reps.

Bench Press

Lie on a bench, step or floor, and hold a medium-heavy barbell straight up over your chest. Bend your elbows and lower the weight until elbows are at 90 degrees.  Press back up and repeat.

Target muscle: Chest

Lateral Raise

Hold light-medium dumbbells and, keeping elbows slightly bent, lift arms out to the sides to shoulder level. Lower and repeat.

Target muscles: Shoulders

Barbell Row

Hold a medium-heavy barbell and tip forward to 45 degrees, keeping your back flat.  Squeeze back to pull the weight in towards the belly.  Lower and repeat.

Target muscle: Back

Back Extension

Lie face down and squeeze the lower back to lift your chest a few inches off the floor.  Lower and repeat.

Target muscle: lower back

Hammer Curls

Holding medium-heavy dumbbells, perform hammer curls with your palms facing each other.  For added intensity, stand on one leg for a balance challenge, switching legs with each set.

Target muscle: Biceps

Kickbacks

Bend forward, keeping back flat and abs in, and hold light-medium weights, elbows bent.  Straighten the elbows to engage the triceps.  Lower and repeat.

Target muscle: Triceps

Deadlifts

Stand with feet hip-width apart, and hold weights in front of your thighs. Tip from the hips and lower weights towards the floor, keeipng your back flat and shoulders back.   Return to start and repeat.

Target muscles: Glutes, hamstrings, and back

Static Lunge

Stand in split stance and bend both knees, lowering into a lunge while keeping your front knee behind the toe.  Lift back up and repeat before switching sides.

Target muscles: Quads, hamstrings, glutes

Squats

Place a medium-heavy barbell on the upper back/shoulders or hold dumbbells in either hand.  Bend the knees and lower into a squat, knees behind the toes. Push back to start and repeat.

Target muscles: Quads, hamstrings, glutes

Ball Crunch

Lie down with the exercise ball under the lower/mid-back.  Squeeze the abs to lift the shoulders off the ball in a crunch.  Lower and repeat.

Target muscle: Abs

Bicycle

Lie on the floor and bring the knees into the chest.  Straighten the right leg as you twist the body, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.  Repeat on the other side in a cycling motion.

Target muscle: Abs

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10 Tips on how to turbo-charge your metabolism

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Don’t blame on your sluggish calorie-churning metabolism for your weight. Metabolism is the sum of everything your body does. Every time you feed your body, enzymes in your body’s cells break down the food and convert it into energy that keeps your heart beating, your mind working, and your body moving. You burn more calories the faster your metabolism runs. The more calories you burn, the easier it is to lose pounds. The nicest part of metabolism is that you can make it work harder 24 hours a day.

Our bodies hum along at a preset speed determined by genetics and gender but there’s plenty of room to boost it. An author of The Metabolism Advantage, John Berardi, confirms that metabolic rate can be controlled. “You can’t affect how many calories it takes to keep your heart beating, but you can burn an extra 500 to 600 calories daily by exercising properly and eating right.” Most of all, keep you body guessing on what exercise routine you do to help keep it at its optimal level.

Make simple changes on your routine. Get to know tips from the help of leading experts who came up with the round-the clock, turn-up-the-burn strategy along with new moves that will propel your metabolism into high gear.

1. Eat a hearty breakfast.

Aim to have breakfast every single day. When your body is in starvation mode the whole night when you are sleeping, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, volunteers who got 22 to 55 percent of their total calories at breakfast gained only 1.7 pounds on average over four years. Those who ate zero to 11 percent of their calories in the morning gained nearly three pounds. A similar study published in the same journal had volunteers who reported regularly skipping breakfast. It placed the volunteers at the risk of obesity 4.5 times compared to those who took the time to eat.

Food choices for breakfast should be slow to digest and make you feel fuller longer. Try a mix of lean protein with complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. You can have an omelet made from one egg and two egg whites and a half cup of mixed peppers and onions, plus a half cup of cooked steel cut oats mixed with a quarter cup of frozen berries and a teaspoon of omega 3-loaded fish oil.

2. Java power

Who can say no to a hot cup of java? A study published in the Physiology & Behavior journal found that the average metabolic rate of people who drank caffeinated coffee increased 16 percent over that of those who drank decaf. Caffeine stimulates your central nervous system by increasing your heart rate and breathing. A soothing cup of coffee is more than a drink. It is a natural metabolism booster.

3. Guzzle your water cold

University of Utah conducted a study where volunteers drank eight to 12-ounces glasses of water per day. Results showed that the volunteers had higher metabolic rates than those who limit water intake to only 4 glasses per day. It is believed that your body may burn a few calories heating the cold water to your core temperature. The extra calories burn from drinking a single glass may not count too much but the habit of drinking enough water will add up to pounds lost with practically zero additional effort.

4. Lunch high in protein

Protein helps build and maintain lean muscle mass. Incorporating protein in every meal, along with a muscle building program, helps burn more calories than fat does, even at rest. Target to have about 30 grams of protein at each meal to realistically boost building of muscles.

5. Sip green tea

Brewed green tea contains a plant compound called ECGC promoting fat burning. People who consumed the equivalent of three or five cups a day for 12 weeks decreased their body weight by 4.6 percent. Other studies confirm that consuming two to four cups of green tea per day maximizes burning of an extra 50 calories. It translates into about five pounds per year. Green tea is by far a close thing to a metabolism potion.

Tip

Let tea leaves steep for a good three minutes and drink it while it’s still hot to achieve a maximum effect.

6. Healthy dairy versus processed food for snack

Overcome the seductive power of French fries and other sinful processed foods with dairy products such as healthy yogurt. Calcium helps your body metabolize fat more efficiently by increasing the rate at which removes fat as waste. Supplements do not render the same effect unlike dairy products.

7. Mix things up with intervals

Who does not want a short but intense workout. Step up your intensity and burn the same number of calories in less time. A study in Australia had female volunteers rode stationary bicycles for 40 minutes at a steady pace for 20 minutes of intervals. They alternated eight seconds of sprints and 12 seconds of easy pedaling. By the end of the 15-week study, those who incorporated the sprints into their cardio work out had lost three times as much as body fat, compared with those who exercised at a steady pace. Bursts of speed may stimulate a fat-burning response within the muscles. Try to ramp things up to rev up your metabolism. Start by doing three sets of eight-second sprints, with 12 seconds at an easy pace between each effort. Work your way up until you can do 10 sprints over 20 minutes.

8. Take it slow

It does not look easy but it is definitely worth doing. When you strength train, count to 3 as you lower the weight back to the start position. Slowing things down increases the breakdown of muscle tissue. The repair process pumps up your metabolism for as long as 72 hours after your session, according to researchers at Wayne State University. But pass on those featherweight dumbbells-you need to use weights that are heavy enough that you struggle to complete the final few reps.

9. Pop the good ‘ol pills

The combination of regular exercise with fish-oil supplements increases the activity of your fat-burning enzymes. A report on a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition had volunteers took six grams of fish oil daily and worked out three times a week. After 12 weeks, all volunteers lost an average of 3.4 pounds, while those who exercised exclusively saw minimal shrinkage. Look for brands containing at least 300 milligrams of the fatty acid EPA and 200 milligrams of the fatty acid DHA per capsule. Pop two of these two hours before your workout.

10. Hit the sack early.

The less hours you sleep, the more likely you will retain stubborn fat. The lesser number hours of sleep can throw off amounts of leptin and ghrelin hormones that help regulate energy use and appetite-that your body produces. Researchers at Stanford University found that people who slept less than 7.5 hours per night experienced an increase in their body mass index. Sleep more to make sure you get at least eight hours of rest.

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Playground exercises for a slimmer you

Posted under female workout

Busy women juggling a balance between home responsibilities and career demands have to squeeze in precious work out time. Germain Phanord, a trainer in New York City, developed firm-your-body exercises for busy women who also love to have fun as much as work.

Here is what you need. A spacious playground is the perfect place. When the structures are not found in the playground then simply improvise. For example, you can do get-ripped dips on any bench or the chin-up hold-up on a set of rings.

Tips: Power-walk or jog to the park. Perform two sets of the indicated reps of each move thrice a week.

Lose pounds!

Our toning routine creates sexy muscles. They will dramatically become visible after fat is melted, revealing those sexy curves. Do these playground favorites for 30 minutes to burn additional calories.

• Catch 162 calories
• Four square 162 calories
• Frisbee 96 calories
• Hacky sack 129 calories
• Hopscotch 162 calories
• Hula hoop 162 calories
• Jump rope 321 calories
• Kickball 225 calories
• Tag 256 calories
• Trampoline 114 calories

Chin-up hold-up

Jump up and grab a monkey bar with hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing you. Hang from bar with arms straight, legs together. Bend elbows and pull yourself up until chin passes bar (as shown). Hold position for 10 to 15 seconds. Lower. Repeat.

• Works biceps, back, abs

Get-ripped dip

Sit on edge of bench, hands at sides, fingers forward, left knee bent 90 degrees, foot flat on ground, right leg extended forward. Use arms to lift yourself off bench. Bring right leg out to right side as you lower body until elbows are bent 90 degrees (as shown). Return to start. Do 12 reps. Switch legs; repeat.

• Works triceps, butt, thighs
• 
  

Balance bend

Stand with back about one giant step away from a 1- to 2-foot-high swing. Reach back with left foot and place toes on seat. With hands on hips, sink into a lunge (as shown). Slowly return to standing. Do 12 reps. Switch sides; repeat.

• Works abs, butt, thighs, hamstrings

Hanging crunch

Jump up and grab rings (or monkey bars), hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing each other (or forward). Hang with arms straight, legs together. Bend knees, twist torso to left and bring legs toward chest (as shown). Lower legs. Repeat on right for one rep. Do 12 reps.

• Works arms, abs, obliques

Electric slide

Stand at top of slide, facing in, holding bar for support. Bend right knee and slide left leg behind you into a deep lunge (as shown). Straighten right leg as you quickly slide left leg to top of slide. Repeat on left, making motions continuous and smooth. Keep alternating sides for 30 seconds.

• Works arms, abs, butt, legs

Playtime pull

Stand facing a fence or railing. Grasp it at shoulder height and width with both hands, arms extended; stand on base, knees bent, thighs parallel to ground (as shown). Squeeze shoulders together as you bend elbows and pull chest toward railing. Return to start for one rep. Do 12 reps.

• Works arms, back

Swing fling

Stand on swing holding chains with elbows bent, hands in line with ears. Contract abs and extend left leg (as shown). Return foot to seat. Repeat on opposite side for one rep. Do 12 reps.

• Works arms, back, abs, legs

Powerhouse push-up

Start in raised push-up position, resting toes on a swing seat that hangs 1 to 2 feet above ground. Do a push-up. Hold raised push-up position as you lift left foot off seat (as shown). Lower foot. Repeat on right for one rep. Do 12 reps.

• Works shoulders, biceps, chest, back, abs, butt

Balance beam calf raise

Stand on a sturdy bench, arms extended out to sides at shoulder height for balance. Rise onto ball of left foot while right foot hangs off side of bench; lower left heel, then bend left knee and dip right foot over side of bench (as shown). Return to start. Repeat on opposite side for one rep. Do 12 reps.

• Works arms, abs, butt, thighs, calves

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