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Popular
The Scariest Weight Loss Monsters! ,Ultimate Guide to Losing Your Love Handles
Top 10 Workout Songs ,Lose that Fat Butt!Lunge,s for a Sexy Butt ,Top 5 Arm Toning Exercises
All you need to know about Cellulite , 101 Weight Loss Tips ,How to get sexy legs and a tight butt at home PART 1 ,Top 10 Leg Toning Tips
Skip your way to sexy arms - I promise!
Butt & Legs Exercises (25) How to’s (15)
Top 10’s (16) Uncategorized (16)
Upper Body Exercises (26)
Popular
The Scariest Weight Loss Monsters! ,Ultimate Guide to Losing Your Love Handles
Top 10 Workout Songs ,Lose that Fat Butt!Lunge,s for a Sexy Butt ,Top 5 Arm Toning Exercises
All you need to know about Cellulite , 101 Weight Loss Tips ,How to get sexy legs and a tight butt at home PART 1 ,Top 10 Leg Toning Tips
Skip your way to sexy arms - I promise!
How to get in shape for your wedding
I had a reader send me an email recently asking about how to get in shape for their wedding. I thought more of you might be interested in this topic so I posted the question and an answer here (with her permission!).
Question:
Hi!I have visited your site. I am a female and I work full time and onlyhave one day to work out at the gym. I run around the lake on theweekend but miss it sometimes due to my busy schedule. If I were to work outonce a week, what type of workouts would you recommend for women? Andhow long should the workout be for each exercise? I don’t want muscleslike those bodybuilding women. I would appreciate any and all info youcan give me beause I plan on getting married soon to my fiance and wantto look good for the wedding.
Love,(Name Withheld)
Answer:
When you are working out only once a week your options are limited but there are a few things you can do to really speed up the process of losing weight and getting in shape for your wedding.
Firstly, whatever cardio you are doing you should switch to high intensity. If you only have one session a week you want that session to burn as many calories as it can, boost your metabolism to keep you burning energy longer and challenge your muscles so that they grow and change. The best thing you could do is run some hills or do some wind sprints at the park. Really try to push yourself thinking that you want to get a whole week’s worth of exercise out.
Secondly, weight training becomes important when you only have a limited amount of time. Do not worry about getting muscles like a female bodybuilder - that is impossible on one day a week. As a matter of fact, it is near impossible training many times a week without steriods, hardcore high protein diet and a heck of a lot of weights.
You should aim to do a full body weights or bodyweight workout on your one day session. You see, the more muscle you can add the more fat you will burn. Muscle and fat do no coexist and weight training speeds up your metabolism and burns fat when you are not working out. You will appear more toned and healthy by just adding a little bit of resistance exercise to your weekly workout.
Stick to the core exercises that work large groups of muscles like the:
squat ,bench press (pushup),military press,crunch,deadlift,chin up,dips
However, the most important thing to help get you in shape is your diet. You should be eating very healthy at this time. As aforementioned, there is only so much you can achieve with one exercise session per week. However, you will still be eating as normal and this is where you can really influence the shape and look of your body.
Replace all man-made foods with natural foods like fruits, vegetables, eggs, beef and so on. Stay away from pasta and bread and eat small meals at regular intervals throughout the day to avoid snacking. The real achievements that you make will depend on how you eat.
I hope this helps.
If you would like to ask a question send an email to RT@realwomensfitness.com
Remember, this is not professional advice. Just information for people who are looking for it.
I had a reader send me an email recently asking about how to get in shape for their wedding. I thought more of you might be interested in this topic so I posted the question and an answer here (with her permission!).
Question:
Hi!I have visited your site. I am a female and I work full time and onlyhave one day to work out at the gym. I run around the lake on theweekend but miss it sometimes due to my busy schedule. If I were to work outonce a week, what type of workouts would you recommend for women? Andhow long should the workout be for each exercise? I don’t want muscleslike those bodybuilding women. I would appreciate any and all info youcan give me beause I plan on getting married soon to my fiance and wantto look good for the wedding.
Love,(Name Withheld)
Answer:
When you are working out only once a week your options are limited but there are a few things you can do to really speed up the process of losing weight and getting in shape for your wedding.
Firstly, whatever cardio you are doing you should switch to high intensity. If you only have one session a week you want that session to burn as many calories as it can, boost your metabolism to keep you burning energy longer and challenge your muscles so that they grow and change. The best thing you could do is run some hills or do some wind sprints at the park. Really try to push yourself thinking that you want to get a whole week’s worth of exercise out.
Secondly, weight training becomes important when you only have a limited amount of time. Do not worry about getting muscles like a female bodybuilder - that is impossible on one day a week. As a matter of fact, it is near impossible training many times a week without steriods, hardcore high protein diet and a heck of a lot of weights.
You should aim to do a full body weights or bodyweight workout on your one day session. You see, the more muscle you can add the more fat you will burn. Muscle and fat do no coexist and weight training speeds up your metabolism and burns fat when you are not working out. You will appear more toned and healthy by just adding a little bit of resistance exercise to your weekly workout.
Stick to the core exercises that work large groups of muscles like the:
squat ,bench press (pushup),military press,crunch,deadlift,chin up,dips
However, the most important thing to help get you in shape is your diet. You should be eating very healthy at this time. As aforementioned, there is only so much you can achieve with one exercise session per week. However, you will still be eating as normal and this is where you can really influence the shape and look of your body.
Replace all man-made foods with natural foods like fruits, vegetables, eggs, beef and so on. Stay away from pasta and bread and eat small meals at regular intervals throughout the day to avoid snacking. The real achievements that you make will depend on how you eat.
I hope this helps.
If you would like to ask a question send an email to RT@realwomensfitness.com
Remember, this is not professional advice. Just information for people who are looking for it.
Things to do and watch out for when training the abs
Here are some things that I always go over in my head when I want to make sure I am training the abs correctly. You can apply them to any exercise that you do.
1. Is your neck hurting?If you neck is hurting during the exercise then you are tensing it too much and that means your technique is wrong. If your technique is wrong your progress will be 0 so make sure you sort it out quickly. A solution I use is to switch to an exercise that doesn’t involve lying on the floor until I can feel my abs correctly again.
2. Are your abs hurting?If your abs aren’t hurting then you are doing something wrong. Try going back to the basic crunch or reverse crunch to see if you technique is off.
3. Are your legs or obliques tired?If these muscles are getting tired it means they are coming into play during the abs exercise in order to take the weight off of the abdominals. This is not something you want to happen so try to be aware of any other muscles trying to “pitch in”.
4. Make sure you feel the stretchAt the bottom of each exercise you should feel a nice stretch in your stomach that shows you are completing a full range of motion. This is very important for total abdominal development.
5. Doing more than 15 reps?I think that if you are doing more than about 15 or at the most 20 repetitions of an abs exercise then you need to start adding some weight. The abs are like any other muscle and need extra stimulation to grow. Keep challenging them.
It also could mean that your technique is off because if you are doing everything right there is little chance that you will be able to do that many.
It has come to my attention that many of my readers do not know how to subscribe to Real Women’s Fitness. What is a feed?Almost every website or blog publishes an RSS or feed. It is a simplifed version of the website that allows subscribers easy access through a feed reader.
What are the advantages of using RSS?When you subscribe to a site’s feed it means you can see whether the site has updated without actually having to visit the site. So, if you spend 30 minutes each morning checking all of your favorite fitness sites you can instead sign up for a free feed reader account and then add all of those site’s feeds to your account. This means you can see all the updates on one simple page instead of having to visit them all.
How do I do it?Simply click on the subscribe button on the top right hand side of Real Women’s Fitness and select your feed reader. You then subscribe to my feed and you will be able to view any new updates.
Target the lower abs with these exercises
Many women complain that their lower abs are not as defined or prominent as the upper abs. This is a common problem that almost everyone interested in a defined stomach experiences. However, you can define your lower abs with these effective exercises.
The basic lower abs targeting movementIf you want to target your lower abs you need to know that the best way to work them out is with exercises that involved lifting or curling up the legs. It is an unusual movement for most people as it is not something that is done in normal, everyday activities. But, for this reason alone, when you do actually start working out the lower abs you will see results much faster than other areas of the body.
When to train the lower abs - the big secretWell, it isn’t really a big secret anymore that you have to train your lower abs at the start of your workout. Although, sometimes it feels like a secret because so many people continue to ignore the advice. If you want to see more results in your lower abs then start performing the following exercises at the beginning of your workout.
Lower abs exercise are enough for total abs developmentMany people think that the lower abs exercises only hit the lower abs. This is a mistake. In fact, I sometimes recommend that my clients perform only lower abs exercises for their entire abs workout program.
You see, the legs are much heavier than the upper body and as such when you use them to target your lower abs the upper abs also get an excellent workout.
The best lower abs exercises
Here are the best exercise that you can use to develop a much stronger, defined and toned lower stomach:
1. The hanging knee raiseHanging from a chin up bar allow your body to fully stretch out. Take a breath in an tense your ab muscles. Using that tension lift your knees up slowly towards your chest. When you get to the top of the motion rock your pelvis slightly so that you can get a final “crunch” by slamming your knees towards your chest.
This is one of the best exercises you can use for total abdominal development. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Abs & Midsection Exercises 2 Comments »
Hilarious Guest Post on the Pain of the Jumping SquatApril 24th, 2007
The following article has been submitted by one of Real Women’s Fitness’ most loyal readers - Nessajane.
When Nessajane told me about how she had introduced the jumping squat to her Boot Camp class after reading this post I had to get her to write a post of her own about the experience. What resulted was me reading her story in a public library laughing my head off like a crazy person! It is simply fantastic.
So - here is Nessajane’s story about how she introduced the jumping squat to her Boot Camp class. Enjoy.
The Jumping Squatby Nessajane.
I am always up for an exercise that will dramatically alter the shape of my bum. Sure my husband tells me that he loves me, ‘just the way I am’. Sure I have been around the block a few times but nobody ever told me that at some point I would leave my geomorphic young behind, behind.
So reading RT’s article on the Jumping Squat and how effective it is in re-shaping the derriere, I was in like Flynn. ‘I gots to have me some of that,’ I thought to myself. So I rang my friend Shelley. Shelley is the fittest girl in town and also our Boot Camp instructor/torturer.
I said, “Shelley, you know that fitness site I told you about? Well RT has posted a great exercise to help us tone our bums. It’s called a Jumping Squat.” And I went on to tell her how they were done.
Shelley (putting down the phone and yelling at the top of her voice) “OH YEAH I GET IT. YOU GO DOWN INTO A SQUAT, PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE GROUND AND JUMP UP AND”… (sounds of jumping can be heard over the phone before Shelley picks the receiver back up) “Yep might just work. I’m sure I can work them into our session.”
Me – “Great! See you in the morning.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Women's Fitness, Butt & Legs Exercises 2 Comments »
The best calf exercises to get you sexy legsApril 23rd, 2007
Women who want sexy legs often forget the importance of calf exercises.
However, the calf muscles are on show more than any other part of the leg and as such we should train them to complete the sexy leg package.
What exactly are the calf muscles?This image of the calf muscles from healthgate.partners.org shows the left leg’s calf muscle.
It is the muscle that is in charge of many actions and movements. For example, anytime you press down with your toes to walk or run you need the calf muscle. To develop it we need to add weight and exploit this natural movement.
The best calf exercises for sexy legsAs the calf muscles get lots of use in everday activities like walking and jogging we need to push them a little bit harder when we work them out. This means that we need to build up to a heavy weight so that they grow in order to adapt to the new levels of work.
Here are the best exercises for the calf muscles:
1. The sqaut rack calf raiseIf you have a gym membership then head down to the squat rack and get a calf box. This is a small but sturdy box that allows you to lower your heels off of the edge while doing the lifting with your toes and the balls of your feet. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Butt & Legs Exercises No Comments »
Is weight training more important for weight loss than cardio?April 21st, 2007
Women often fail to realize that weight training is very important for their weight loss progress. It seems that the common view is that weight training is for muscle growth whilst cardio is for fat loss. This, actually, is pretty inaccurate.
Why is weight training important for weight loss?Women who are on a weight loss program will no doubt spend a fair amount of time at the gym. However, it seems that the normal thing to do is about 20% weight training and 80% cardio work. This balance needs to be shifted.
The reason weight training is so important for weight loss is multi-layered.
Firstly, when you lift weights you generall increase your heart rate. I have been weight lifting for over half of my life and everytime I do a heavy set of squats or bench press my heart starts racing. This means that I am burning up calories - just like cardio.
Secondly, that heart rate stays up for a long time. The exercises where you lift a heavy weight are tough on the body and cause your heart rate to stay up when you finish the workout. This means you will be burning calories when the weight training session is over.
1. Is your neck hurting?If you neck is hurting during the exercise then you are tensing it too much and that means your technique is wrong. If your technique is wrong your progress will be 0 so make sure you sort it out quickly. A solution I use is to switch to an exercise that doesn’t involve lying on the floor until I can feel my abs correctly again.
2. Are your abs hurting?If your abs aren’t hurting then you are doing something wrong. Try going back to the basic crunch or reverse crunch to see if you technique is off.
3. Are your legs or obliques tired?If these muscles are getting tired it means they are coming into play during the abs exercise in order to take the weight off of the abdominals. This is not something you want to happen so try to be aware of any other muscles trying to “pitch in”.
4. Make sure you feel the stretchAt the bottom of each exercise you should feel a nice stretch in your stomach that shows you are completing a full range of motion. This is very important for total abdominal development.
5. Doing more than 15 reps?I think that if you are doing more than about 15 or at the most 20 repetitions of an abs exercise then you need to start adding some weight. The abs are like any other muscle and need extra stimulation to grow. Keep challenging them.
It also could mean that your technique is off because if you are doing everything right there is little chance that you will be able to do that many.
It has come to my attention that many of my readers do not know how to subscribe to Real Women’s Fitness. What is a feed?Almost every website or blog publishes an RSS or feed. It is a simplifed version of the website that allows subscribers easy access through a feed reader.
What are the advantages of using RSS?When you subscribe to a site’s feed it means you can see whether the site has updated without actually having to visit the site. So, if you spend 30 minutes each morning checking all of your favorite fitness sites you can instead sign up for a free feed reader account and then add all of those site’s feeds to your account. This means you can see all the updates on one simple page instead of having to visit them all.
How do I do it?Simply click on the subscribe button on the top right hand side of Real Women’s Fitness and select your feed reader. You then subscribe to my feed and you will be able to view any new updates.
Target the lower abs with these exercises
Many women complain that their lower abs are not as defined or prominent as the upper abs. This is a common problem that almost everyone interested in a defined stomach experiences. However, you can define your lower abs with these effective exercises.
The basic lower abs targeting movementIf you want to target your lower abs you need to know that the best way to work them out is with exercises that involved lifting or curling up the legs. It is an unusual movement for most people as it is not something that is done in normal, everyday activities. But, for this reason alone, when you do actually start working out the lower abs you will see results much faster than other areas of the body.
When to train the lower abs - the big secretWell, it isn’t really a big secret anymore that you have to train your lower abs at the start of your workout. Although, sometimes it feels like a secret because so many people continue to ignore the advice. If you want to see more results in your lower abs then start performing the following exercises at the beginning of your workout.
Lower abs exercise are enough for total abs developmentMany people think that the lower abs exercises only hit the lower abs. This is a mistake. In fact, I sometimes recommend that my clients perform only lower abs exercises for their entire abs workout program.
You see, the legs are much heavier than the upper body and as such when you use them to target your lower abs the upper abs also get an excellent workout.
The best lower abs exercises
Here are the best exercise that you can use to develop a much stronger, defined and toned lower stomach:
1. The hanging knee raiseHanging from a chin up bar allow your body to fully stretch out. Take a breath in an tense your ab muscles. Using that tension lift your knees up slowly towards your chest. When you get to the top of the motion rock your pelvis slightly so that you can get a final “crunch” by slamming your knees towards your chest.
This is one of the best exercises you can use for total abdominal development. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Abs & Midsection Exercises 2 Comments »
Hilarious Guest Post on the Pain of the Jumping SquatApril 24th, 2007
The following article has been submitted by one of Real Women’s Fitness’ most loyal readers - Nessajane.
When Nessajane told me about how she had introduced the jumping squat to her Boot Camp class after reading this post I had to get her to write a post of her own about the experience. What resulted was me reading her story in a public library laughing my head off like a crazy person! It is simply fantastic.
So - here is Nessajane’s story about how she introduced the jumping squat to her Boot Camp class. Enjoy.
The Jumping Squatby Nessajane.
I am always up for an exercise that will dramatically alter the shape of my bum. Sure my husband tells me that he loves me, ‘just the way I am’. Sure I have been around the block a few times but nobody ever told me that at some point I would leave my geomorphic young behind, behind.
So reading RT’s article on the Jumping Squat and how effective it is in re-shaping the derriere, I was in like Flynn. ‘I gots to have me some of that,’ I thought to myself. So I rang my friend Shelley. Shelley is the fittest girl in town and also our Boot Camp instructor/torturer.
I said, “Shelley, you know that fitness site I told you about? Well RT has posted a great exercise to help us tone our bums. It’s called a Jumping Squat.” And I went on to tell her how they were done.
Shelley (putting down the phone and yelling at the top of her voice) “OH YEAH I GET IT. YOU GO DOWN INTO A SQUAT, PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE GROUND AND JUMP UP AND”… (sounds of jumping can be heard over the phone before Shelley picks the receiver back up) “Yep might just work. I’m sure I can work them into our session.”
Me – “Great! See you in the morning.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Women's Fitness, Butt & Legs Exercises 2 Comments »
The best calf exercises to get you sexy legsApril 23rd, 2007
Women who want sexy legs often forget the importance of calf exercises.
However, the calf muscles are on show more than any other part of the leg and as such we should train them to complete the sexy leg package.
What exactly are the calf muscles?This image of the calf muscles from healthgate.partners.org shows the left leg’s calf muscle.
It is the muscle that is in charge of many actions and movements. For example, anytime you press down with your toes to walk or run you need the calf muscle. To develop it we need to add weight and exploit this natural movement.
The best calf exercises for sexy legsAs the calf muscles get lots of use in everday activities like walking and jogging we need to push them a little bit harder when we work them out. This means that we need to build up to a heavy weight so that they grow in order to adapt to the new levels of work.
Here are the best exercises for the calf muscles:
1. The sqaut rack calf raiseIf you have a gym membership then head down to the squat rack and get a calf box. This is a small but sturdy box that allows you to lower your heels off of the edge while doing the lifting with your toes and the balls of your feet. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Butt & Legs Exercises No Comments »
Is weight training more important for weight loss than cardio?April 21st, 2007
Women often fail to realize that weight training is very important for their weight loss progress. It seems that the common view is that weight training is for muscle growth whilst cardio is for fat loss. This, actually, is pretty inaccurate.
Why is weight training important for weight loss?Women who are on a weight loss program will no doubt spend a fair amount of time at the gym. However, it seems that the normal thing to do is about 20% weight training and 80% cardio work. This balance needs to be shifted.
The reason weight training is so important for weight loss is multi-layered.
Firstly, when you lift weights you generall increase your heart rate. I have been weight lifting for over half of my life and everytime I do a heavy set of squats or bench press my heart starts racing. This means that I am burning up calories - just like cardio.
Secondly, that heart rate stays up for a long time. The exercises where you lift a heavy weight are tough on the body and cause your heart rate to stay up when you finish the workout. This means you will be burning calories when the weight training session is over.
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