Thursday, March 12, 2015
TAKE THE STAIRS TO SCULPT A SEXIER AND STRONGER LOWER HALF
Think coaches send athletes running up stairs as punishment? On the contrary: The workout is a supercharged strengthener for the hamstrings, quads and glutes and helps boost performance on even ground too. You have to get in a forward-leaning position and drive your feet down and back. That ’s the form you need to take of f and run fast on f lat land, so it ’ l l improve your speed and acceleration. Sprinting stairs is also a serious calorie scorcher; you’ l l zap at least 10 per minute. Do this fun yet chal lenging plan, created by Juris, on any staircase to get f itter and more toned in no time.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
YOUR 10 MINUTE SUPER STRETCH
All-over body stretching is essential for sustaining the range of movement in our joints now and in the future, but if we’re busy it’s often the first thing to go from our exercise routine. Stretching minimises joint degeneration as you age and helps maintain your independence. Daily tasks that you take for granted, such as walking up stairs or looking over your shoulder, become more difficult, but keeping flexible now avoids problems later.
So get your body moving and start or end the next 30 days with Toby’s supple-inducing stretching session…
1. CALF STRETCH
Stand on a step, placing the ball of your right foot on the edge, with your heel hanging over the edge. Sink your heel towards the floor, using your body weight to create a stretch. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
2. GLUTE & HIP STRETCH
Stand facing the back of a chair, around hip height. Lift your right foot and place the outside of it on the back of the chair, letting your right knee flop out to the side. Next, gently lean your torso forwards as far as possible, stretching your arms over the chair and hold for one minute. Switch to the other side and repeat.
3. LOWER BACK STRETCH
Lie on your back with your legs stretched out in front of you. Bend the knee of your left leg up bringing it in towards your body. Breathe in, then as you breathe out, clasp your hands around your knee, hugging it in to your chest. Hold for one minute and repeat on the other side.
4. ALL-OVER STRETCH
Start in a full press-up position with your feet hip-width apart. Walk your hands a few paces back
until your legs are at 90° to your body like an upside-down V. Aim for straight legs, back and arms, raising your hips and bottom towards the ceiling, while working towards flattening your heels to the floor. Hold for a minute.
So get your body moving and start or end the next 30 days with Toby’s supple-inducing stretching session…
1. CALF STRETCH
Stand on a step, placing the ball of your right foot on the edge, with your heel hanging over the edge. Sink your heel towards the floor, using your body weight to create a stretch. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
2. GLUTE & HIP STRETCH
Stand facing the back of a chair, around hip height. Lift your right foot and place the outside of it on the back of the chair, letting your right knee flop out to the side. Next, gently lean your torso forwards as far as possible, stretching your arms over the chair and hold for one minute. Switch to the other side and repeat.
3. LOWER BACK STRETCH
Lie on your back with your legs stretched out in front of you. Bend the knee of your left leg up bringing it in towards your body. Breathe in, then as you breathe out, clasp your hands around your knee, hugging it in to your chest. Hold for one minute and repeat on the other side.
4. ALL-OVER STRETCH
Start in a full press-up position with your feet hip-width apart. Walk your hands a few paces back
until your legs are at 90° to your body like an upside-down V. Aim for straight legs, back and arms, raising your hips and bottom towards the ceiling, while working towards flattening your heels to the floor. Hold for a minute.
Monday, February 9, 2015
7 STEPS TO BEING A FIT MOM
1. Start with goal setting.
Being a mom doesn't mean your fittest days are over. Set a new bar for yourself and put it in writing. Dr. Gail Matthews from the Dominican University in California shares that goals are 42 percent more likely to happen if they are written down.
If you want to lose 10 pounds, create an action plan that looks like this: I'm going to cook on Sundays and freeze my food for the week. I'm going to work out before my family wakes up. I'm going to track my measurements, and I'm going to sign up for the 5K race I've always wanted to do.
2. Choose to view health as a marathon — not o sprint.
Rather than working furiously to look good for a one-time event, like a high school reunion or vacation, choose to look and feel your best — all the time.
Think about this: How many fad diets have you been on? Did the results last? What you need is a permanent answer, not a temporary fix. This is why consistent health beats the quick fix every time.
3. Cultivate a winning, fit mindset.
Lasting change happens from the inside out. Ask yourself a new question, "Why not me?" Why can't you get in the best shape of your life?
One summer evening, I was pushing my 18-month-old daughter on the swing, and I was so nervous to tell my husband that I wanted to compete in fitness again. You see, I had turned 40, and as a new mom, it felt almost laughable. But I asked myself a different question: Why not? Wherever you are in your life, you can reinvent yourself. Believe that!
4. Make your training excuseproof.
Carve out a dedicated time for your workouts, and treat this time as an appointmem—but also make sure to
have a go-to routine for emergencies. Being a mom means there will he days when your best intentions are stopped dead in their tracks. So always be armed with a backup plan. For example, if you're stuck at home, you could use intervals to torch calories.
5. Shift your focus on food.
In regard to food choices, make healthy eating a part of your daily life. Cook on Sundays for the week, pack meals and snacks the night before, or find restaurants in your area that specialize in organic produce and clean options.
View food from a healthy perspective and think about what you can eat rather than what you can't. Every day I try to get in a large salad, nuts, fruit, Greek yogurt, steamed veggies and whole grains, and I also enjoy lean protein with every meal. I'm always thinking about what I need to eat versus what I can't eat. Creatie this shift and collect recipes that you'll enjoy eating.
6. Ditch-junk-food weekends.
Are you gaining and losing the same 3 pounds every week... and not making progress toward your fitness goals? Weekends may be the culprit. If you eat clean all week a nd then take the weekends off, your weight-loss efforts have probably stagnated. Enjoy a meal or two, but focus on family activities and bal¬ anced living.
7. Lose the guilt!
You are worth the investment! Moms often struggle with feelings of guilt about taking care of themselves, but remember, a healthy and happy mom makes a healthy and happy family. Moms are often the core of the home and determine the food that is brought into the kitchen. You set the standard, so invest in you and your family's health with the right choices.
There will be setbacks, times when you feel like you just don't have it in you, and you'll want to quit. But this is the time when you'll revisit your goals (and your why) as you stay the course.
Perfection is known as the root cause of procrastination. Refrain from procrastinating because there will never be a perfect time to start getting healthy and fit — that time is today.
Being a mom doesn't mean your fittest days are over. Set a new bar for yourself and put it in writing. Dr. Gail Matthews from the Dominican University in California shares that goals are 42 percent more likely to happen if they are written down.
If you want to lose 10 pounds, create an action plan that looks like this: I'm going to cook on Sundays and freeze my food for the week. I'm going to work out before my family wakes up. I'm going to track my measurements, and I'm going to sign up for the 5K race I've always wanted to do.
2. Choose to view health as a marathon — not o sprint.
Rather than working furiously to look good for a one-time event, like a high school reunion or vacation, choose to look and feel your best — all the time.
Think about this: How many fad diets have you been on? Did the results last? What you need is a permanent answer, not a temporary fix. This is why consistent health beats the quick fix every time.
3. Cultivate a winning, fit mindset.
Lasting change happens from the inside out. Ask yourself a new question, "Why not me?" Why can't you get in the best shape of your life?
One summer evening, I was pushing my 18-month-old daughter on the swing, and I was so nervous to tell my husband that I wanted to compete in fitness again. You see, I had turned 40, and as a new mom, it felt almost laughable. But I asked myself a different question: Why not? Wherever you are in your life, you can reinvent yourself. Believe that!
4. Make your training excuseproof.
Carve out a dedicated time for your workouts, and treat this time as an appointmem—but also make sure to
have a go-to routine for emergencies. Being a mom means there will he days when your best intentions are stopped dead in their tracks. So always be armed with a backup plan. For example, if you're stuck at home, you could use intervals to torch calories.
5. Shift your focus on food.
In regard to food choices, make healthy eating a part of your daily life. Cook on Sundays for the week, pack meals and snacks the night before, or find restaurants in your area that specialize in organic produce and clean options.
View food from a healthy perspective and think about what you can eat rather than what you can't. Every day I try to get in a large salad, nuts, fruit, Greek yogurt, steamed veggies and whole grains, and I also enjoy lean protein with every meal. I'm always thinking about what I need to eat versus what I can't eat. Creatie this shift and collect recipes that you'll enjoy eating.
6. Ditch-junk-food weekends.
Are you gaining and losing the same 3 pounds every week... and not making progress toward your fitness goals? Weekends may be the culprit. If you eat clean all week a nd then take the weekends off, your weight-loss efforts have probably stagnated. Enjoy a meal or two, but focus on family activities and bal¬ anced living.
7. Lose the guilt!
You are worth the investment! Moms often struggle with feelings of guilt about taking care of themselves, but remember, a healthy and happy mom makes a healthy and happy family. Moms are often the core of the home and determine the food that is brought into the kitchen. You set the standard, so invest in you and your family's health with the right choices.
There will be setbacks, times when you feel like you just don't have it in you, and you'll want to quit. But this is the time when you'll revisit your goals (and your why) as you stay the course.
Perfection is known as the root cause of procrastination. Refrain from procrastinating because there will never be a perfect time to start getting healthy and fit — that time is today.
WILL MY POSTBABY TUMMY EVER BE FLAT AGAIN?
Don’t give up! It’s not just about losing pregnancy pounds. Your abdominal muscles and skin have stretched out, and how quickly they bounce back depends on your age, the size of the baby and whether you had a C-section (surgery makes for a longer recovery), explains Michele S. Olson, Ph.D., a FITNESS advisory board member and professor of exercise science at Auburn University at Montgomery. While cardio and a healthy diet are crucial to reducing fat under the skin, you also need the right exercises to work all the muscles in your abs without straining the ones that are already stressed and stretched. Once you get your doc’s OK, forgo crunches in favor of the forearm plank and these two middle whittlers.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
20 WAYS TO GET FIT IN A WEEK
It may not always be feasible to hit the gym when we plan but there are plenty of other ways to keep in shape.
1. Stretching is important element of exercise that many simply ignore. Stretching before exercise can prepare the body for the stress about to come and also help prevent injury after you finish.
2. Try Pilates for core strength. The core is the foundation of all movement, from day to day activities and dance to playing sport, and posture. This results in enabling you to exercise with less risk of injury, further promoting weight loss results.
3. Spice up your life. Add thermogenic spices such as turmeric, ginger, chilli or cayenne to your cooking or herbal teas. These spices help to promote thermogenesis and fat metabolism and should speed up any weight loss results.
4. Go hiking. Often over-looked but hiking is an ideal activity for endurance as it works the largest muscle group - your legs, which in turn helps work the whole body.
5. Don't stand still. Walking up escalators is an Incidental exercise that will enable you to increase the number of steps you take per day. The average recommendation is approximately 10,000 therefore if you have more weight to lose, walking is the best way to get you on the road to results.
6. Deliberate inconvenience. Making life less convenient will provide you with natural exercise and fat-burning activities. Try parking the car away from the shops and walking or cycling to work.
7. Cycling is a great way to exercise, burn fat, tone muscles, and work the heart. Plus it can get you off the sofa and into the great outdoors with the whole family and get a workout at the same time.
8. Use shopping bags like hand weights. Although you may feel a little silly this is perfect for the biceps and doing a few 'reps' with them can help lose those bingo wings.
9. Housework. Normal considered a chore, but with the right mindset it will also raise your heart rate, help with flexibility and give you a nice sense of achievement.
10. Try yoga as it improves flexibility, balance, mobility stamina and strength as well as increasing
cardiovascular performance. An inability to lose weight may stem from stress issues and lack of sleep. Yoga may ease this and promote a better sleeping pattern.
11. Play sport (especially high intensity activities such as squash or tennis). Group sports can be motivating and provide a sense of belonging to a team, in turn providing an extra sense of achievement and motivating you to go further and expand your fitness goals.
12. Get a gym buddy for extra motivation. Working out with someone means you are less likely to cancel on your fitness routine, it also makes it more of a social occasion, therefore more enjoyabie.
13. Lift weight to lose weight. Resistance exercise is vitai to fast-track your weight loss results. it iieips develop lean muscle which wili allow you to burn fat more efficiently, even after you've finished.
14. Get in the garden. Gardening, especially digging, uses your muscles in a different way, proving you don't need to go to the gym to get fit and lose weight.
15. Drink dandelion tea. This is a liver tonic and will eliminate excess fluid, helping the body to burn fat and to reduce bloating. One to two cups per day should do it.
16. Swimming is another activity that can be done with friends or family. It uses majority of musclie
groups in the body helping to promote a lean physique and it can be done all year round, so there's no excuses!
17. Use the stairs. Step up wherever possible, either at home, at work or out shopping. If you want a great looking butt then this is the key
18. Sun warrior plant-based protein is a heaithy protein
powder. It can be used as a meal replacement tool as a way of reducing your calorie intake and it's jam- packed with amino acids, meaning you're getting the right nutrients, making you feel fuller for longer.
19. Write a diet and fitness diary. This is very important for you to be able to track your activities and it means you know exactly what you've eaten, so you can make changes accordingly. Many people fall to lose the weight they want because they eat more than they think and move less.
20. Try high frequency vibration training to help with toning and definition. You don't need to use this type of training every day; often results can be achieved in as little as five minutes per day due to the intense nature of the muscle activation.
1. Stretching is important element of exercise that many simply ignore. Stretching before exercise can prepare the body for the stress about to come and also help prevent injury after you finish.
2. Try Pilates for core strength. The core is the foundation of all movement, from day to day activities and dance to playing sport, and posture. This results in enabling you to exercise with less risk of injury, further promoting weight loss results.
3. Spice up your life. Add thermogenic spices such as turmeric, ginger, chilli or cayenne to your cooking or herbal teas. These spices help to promote thermogenesis and fat metabolism and should speed up any weight loss results.
4. Go hiking. Often over-looked but hiking is an ideal activity for endurance as it works the largest muscle group - your legs, which in turn helps work the whole body.
5. Don't stand still. Walking up escalators is an Incidental exercise that will enable you to increase the number of steps you take per day. The average recommendation is approximately 10,000 therefore if you have more weight to lose, walking is the best way to get you on the road to results.
6. Deliberate inconvenience. Making life less convenient will provide you with natural exercise and fat-burning activities. Try parking the car away from the shops and walking or cycling to work.
7. Cycling is a great way to exercise, burn fat, tone muscles, and work the heart. Plus it can get you off the sofa and into the great outdoors with the whole family and get a workout at the same time.
8. Use shopping bags like hand weights. Although you may feel a little silly this is perfect for the biceps and doing a few 'reps' with them can help lose those bingo wings.
9. Housework. Normal considered a chore, but with the right mindset it will also raise your heart rate, help with flexibility and give you a nice sense of achievement.
10. Try yoga as it improves flexibility, balance, mobility stamina and strength as well as increasing
cardiovascular performance. An inability to lose weight may stem from stress issues and lack of sleep. Yoga may ease this and promote a better sleeping pattern.
11. Play sport (especially high intensity activities such as squash or tennis). Group sports can be motivating and provide a sense of belonging to a team, in turn providing an extra sense of achievement and motivating you to go further and expand your fitness goals.
12. Get a gym buddy for extra motivation. Working out with someone means you are less likely to cancel on your fitness routine, it also makes it more of a social occasion, therefore more enjoyabie.
13. Lift weight to lose weight. Resistance exercise is vitai to fast-track your weight loss results. it iieips develop lean muscle which wili allow you to burn fat more efficiently, even after you've finished.
14. Get in the garden. Gardening, especially digging, uses your muscles in a different way, proving you don't need to go to the gym to get fit and lose weight.
15. Drink dandelion tea. This is a liver tonic and will eliminate excess fluid, helping the body to burn fat and to reduce bloating. One to two cups per day should do it.
16. Swimming is another activity that can be done with friends or family. It uses majority of musclie
groups in the body helping to promote a lean physique and it can be done all year round, so there's no excuses!
17. Use the stairs. Step up wherever possible, either at home, at work or out shopping. If you want a great looking butt then this is the key
18. Sun warrior plant-based protein is a heaithy protein
powder. It can be used as a meal replacement tool as a way of reducing your calorie intake and it's jam- packed with amino acids, meaning you're getting the right nutrients, making you feel fuller for longer.
19. Write a diet and fitness diary. This is very important for you to be able to track your activities and it means you know exactly what you've eaten, so you can make changes accordingly. Many people fall to lose the weight they want because they eat more than they think and move less.
20. Try high frequency vibration training to help with toning and definition. You don't need to use this type of training every day; often results can be achieved in as little as five minutes per day due to the intense nature of the muscle activation.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
BUILD UP YOUR GLUTES WITH THIS HIGH-REP ROUTINE
TRAINING YOUR GLUTES DOESN'T ALWAYS REQUIRE AN HOUR-LONG GYM SESSION, and this 30-minute is proof. Individually, these exercises may not be very complex, but it's their sequence, mega high reps, and oh so many pop squads, that make it a serious butt burner. As you go through the routine, remember to use mind-muscle connection: focusing on pressing through your heels and contracting the muscles will help activate those glute and get you noticeable results. With this workout, you'll want to go easy on the weight load to avoid burning out too quickly. The intensity comes form the plyometric elements and high reps, so keep the dumbbells moderate and focus on perfect form and minimal rest between exercises.
HOW TO: Perform each exercise, one after the other, with minimal rest. Between each exercise, you will be performing 25 pop squats. After completing the entire circuit, rest for 1 minute, go back to the top and repeat the whole thing. Advanced trainers: repeat it twice.
HOW TO: Perform each exercise, one after the other, with minimal rest. Between each exercise, you will be performing 25 pop squats. After completing the entire circuit, rest for 1 minute, go back to the top and repeat the whole thing. Advanced trainers: repeat it twice.
Friday, January 23, 2015
25 MINIUTE WITH MIGHTY MACHINE ROUTINE
Consider the rower your badass-yet-friendly trainer. With each stroke, you melt fat and firm up everything from your shoulders to your calves-but because you're cardio. Plus, the movement helps create posture your mom would be proud of. Although you're rowing with your arms in front ofyou, it's a great counteraction to the hunched-over position many of us are in all day. Your back needs to stay rowing strengthens back muscles that get weakened from desk jobs. The best part: The faster you row, the more intense your workout becomes—so the quick intervals here will get you toned in less time.
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