Chris Dreyer asked:




Everyone wants flat abs but the stomach area can be one of the most challenging areas to tone. The stomach area is one of the first areas that most people begin to accumulate excess fat, and without regular exercise keeping the muscles toned is almost impossible. This does not mean that having rock hard abs is impossible, but it does take some work. Fortunately most people can have the abs of their dreams if they exercise regularly using a few easy ab workouts.

Crunches are usually thought of as good ab exercises, but for the best results you should try some variations on the traditional crunch. One good variation is a crunch with legs raised. Lying on your back with your legs straight up in the air and together, raise your shoulders off the floor in the traditional crunch style. Be careful not to use your arms to lift your head, use your abdominal muscles to lift your head and shoulders. Another variation is doing double crunches. While lying on your back bend your knees at a 90 degree angle towards the floor and bring them towards your chest as you lift your head and shoulders.

Many people focus on their abs only when trying to tone their midsection, but if you want great results you also need to tone your obliques. Your obliques or love handles contribute to a lean looking figure and toning them will help you to develop the midsection of your dreams. Your obliques run from your waist to your hips and are often one of the hardest areas to tone. Crunches can also be effective in toning these muscles with a small variation.

Oblique crunches are similar to regular crunches or sit-ups. You lie on your back but instead of bringing your head and shoulders straight up, you twist your body so that you come up at a diagonal angle. Twisting your body at this angle as you come up uses your obliques as well as your abs and will help you to tone your obliques as well as your abs. For the best affect, you should focus on contracting your obliques as you reach the top of the crunch. You should alternate twisting in different directions and make sure you work both sides evenly.

Crunches and variations of crunches are not the only good ab exercises. Other easy ab exercises are leg raises. While lying on your back with your hands under your **** raise your feet a few inches off the floor. Make sure you keep them straight the entire time. You do not have to raise them very high as holding them low will actually give you a better workout. Hold this position for as long as you can and gradually increase your count. You can also separate your legs while in this position and bring them back together slowly while keeping them straight and keeping your back flat. Legs raises can be challenging at first, but once you get the hang of it they are easy to do and very effective.

Making Fitness Fun Again

Michael LoColle asked:




If you have visited my website then you know that I have my own training studio in my home. This just means that I don’t have to travel 15 minutes to the gym and back. Initially I did this because I wasn’t able to find time to leave the house with a 2 year old and a new house that I had just purchased with all those home projects. I am pretty sure that you can relate to this since the biggest excuse everyone has for not getting to the gym is that they have no time.

I bet you didn’t know though that you could get just as an effective workout at home or an even better workout than you would at the gym.

You see when you’re at the gym you tend to socialize with friends or others that are walking around and there is nothing wrong with that, it is a basic human function to want to talk to others but here is the fact. You tend to loose focus, on yourself and basically don’t really end up having a good workout.

So here is what I have done. I have combined a list of exercises done in a routine for your whole body that either requires, very little or no weights at all. I here you, you’re probably saying right now well how can I train without weights and get an effective workout. Weights are only required once you get stronger. Here is an example, you are doing a bicep curl with 5lbs for about 2 weeks and realize after this 2 week period that it is not giving you the same burn you had when you started with that weight. The bicep has grown and become stronger so to work it even more you must increase the amount of weight, simple right?

Well the same goes for exercises without weights. The difference is that exercises without weights just require you to change the way in which you’re doing the exercise, but that is a discussion for another time.

I am going to ask this of you, try this workout at home just once and then email me and tell me how you felt during and after the workout.

First you’re going to start with 10 minutes of jumping jacks, and jogging in place. If you have a treadmill at home you have the option of doing that for 10 minutes to get the blood pumping.

Now that you’re warmed up you can move into the actual workout. You will do the following workout in succession.

Example

1. Pushups
2. Back Row
3. Standing Alternating Shoulder Press
Repeat 2x’s in a row
Max Reps
Max reps on each one of these exercises

Start with pushups:

This is the most basic and effective of exercises but no one uses them anymore.

If you have pushup bars, they might put a little less strain on you’re wrist but if you don’t that’s ok as well. Do this for 1 set at as many as you can do. If you can’t do them on your toes then start them on you’re knees but make sure to keep you’re midsection pushed up like you see me here. Do not let it fall into the floor. You will just be lifting with you’re legs at that point and it won’t do anything for you’re chest.

Next exercise is the Back Row

Bend at the knees slightly taking your back down to a parallel position to the floor. From here you will bring your arms down to the floor which is the starting position, keeping you’re elbows close to you’re sides at all times. The next phase is the actual row, by pulling your elbows in tight and bringing them up as high as they can go you will target the back muscles.

3rd Exercise in this phase is the Alternating Shoulder Press

You will be standing for this exercise and it is important to note the proper posture to have while doing this exercise so that you will not throw out your back.

Start with one foot in front of the other while slightly bending at the knees. Bring your arms up at a 90 degree angle this will be your starting point. From here take and press one arm up while rotating your palm in, the end point and repeat on the other arm.

Now we are onto lower body:

You will run this part in the same sequence as above:

Example:

1. Static Wall Squats
2. Lunges
Repeat 2x’s in a row
Max Reps

Starting with Wall Squats:

Find a wall and bring yourself down to a 45 degree angle just slight above 90 degrees and you will hold this position for 10 seconds and then move yourself down to a 90 degree angle and hold for another 10 seconds and repeat this up and down until you get up to 60 seconds. You will have held yourself in the 45 degree angle 3 times for 10 seconds each time and the same at the 90 degree angle. Tell me you don’t feel the burn on this. You thought you needed weights. Are you sweating yet?

The next exercise is every ones favorite. Can you hear the sarcasm?

Lunges: You will need a chair for this one. Take the top of your foot and put it on top of the chair and the other foot out in front at a position where when you come down your knee is over your ankle and not your toes. This exercise is all about the entire leg working everything from your **** to your calves and your hamstrings. Make sure that you’re are dipping that back leg down and not pushing forward with your front leg. Back leg dips and the front knee remains in the same position the whole way through this exercise. Stay focused as this one is not easy you could also use a stick to hold yourself up for balance.

Remember to take your time and quality over quantity is what you are striving for. Focus on the form.

Until Next Time

Making Fitness Fun Again

Susanna Marchesa asked:




Exercising before, during and after a pregnancy may make for an easier birth and easier recovery. Though not all exercise is recommended, most healthy women can remain active right up to the day they give birth. But not all pregnancy workouts are the same.

The main rule of thumb when exercising while pregnant is to modify your workouts to suit the trimester you are in and to honor what is happening to your body. What is deemed appropriate for your first trimester is certainly not for your third trimester. However, there are several exercises that you can perform right through to the end.

Let’s examine the first trimester. You are just beginning your nine-month journey. You may be feeling a bit more tired, perhaps queazy, but you may not even be showing a baby bump yet. At this time, if you have already had a workout program in place, you can continue with what you’ve been doing. Some doctors may not advise any lying down exercises at any time during your pregnancy, but speak with your physician to determine if this modification is necessary.

Appropriate exercise for the first trimester:

• your normal routine (within limits)
• walking
• swimming
• low impact aerobics (keeping heart rate low)
• strength training
• yoga

As you move into your second trimester, you may be feeling a surge of energy but your body is showing the pregnancy more and certain workouts may not feel as good. Around this time, lying down is not totally recommended and keeping heart rate low and core body temperature low is important. The importance of abdominal and pelvic floor strength should be highlighted throughout your pregnancy, so if you haven’t already started, Kegal exercises should be implemented in all workouts you do.

What is a Kegal? The pelvic floor muscles are like a hammock of muscles located at the base of your torso and under your pelvis. To do a Kegal, simply engage the muscles that you would use to urinate. Keeping these muscles strong may make for an easier birth and less pregnancy related incontinence.

Appropriate exercise for the second trimester:

• Kegal exercises
• pelvic tilts (with head elevated with pillows)
• walking
• swimming
• easy yoga
• strength training (lighter weights)

As you move into your third trimester, you are now getting to the top of your pregnancy weight which may change the way you stand, how long you can sit, and your sense of balance. Aches and pains from your changing body are probably felt more now. Workouts now become about making you comfortable and making sure you simply maintain what you have.

A safe abdominal exercise, which also makes your back feel great, is an all-fours cat stretch and contraction.

To do: on a rug or sticky mat, go down onto hands and knees. Keeping back straight, simply pull your abdominals in towards your spine without altering the straight position of your back. Hold the contraction for 5 seconds, and release. Repeat 10 times. From there, round your back up, like an angry cat, feeling a stretch over your shoulders and spine, then release. Repeat 5 times.

Exercising while pregnant is great for elevating your mood, may help you sleep better, and decreases pregnancy aches and pains. Just make sure you speak with your doctor first and remember to never start a new program while pregnant. Keeping up with what you’re doing is super and will make for an easier birth and a faster recovery.

Making Fitness Fun Again