You are always busy. You do not have the time to exercise. Your life is a hectic whirl. By the end of the day, you do not have the energy to exercise. Of course, you have tried to exercise, but you have never been able to stick with it. You do not like to perspire. The local health club is expensive and snobby. And with your less-than-perfect body, you feel embarrassed to be seen there. Your home is too small for fancy equipment. You already have a cross-country ski machine gathering dust in your basement. Whenever you look at it, you do not feel motivated, you feel guilty. Instead of working out, you rather just curl up with a good book and not even think about exercise. The fact is, that you do not have to spend half of your life sweating buckets at fancy health clubs to reap major physical and emotional benefits from exercise. All it takes to improve health and fitness and look and feel a whole lot better is to incorporate just a little more physical activity into your daily life. You hardly have to break into a sweat. Here are some of the benefits from exercise.
1.Improves Sleep And Minimizes Insomnia
Exercise feels invigorating, but several hours later it helps the body wind down to sleep. It is recommended to have low- to moderate- intensity exercise to improve sleep and treat insomnia. Just do not exercise shortly before bed or you may wind up feeling more invigorated than sleepy.
2.Builds Strength, Flexibility And Stamina
As you exercise, your muscles become stronger, your joints become more supple, and you can remain active longer without tiring. In other words, the more you exercise, the less taxing it feels, and the more likely you are to enjoy it and stick with it.
3.Help Control Weight
In addition to burning extra calories while you are exercising, physical activity boosts basal metabolic rate – the rate at which the body burns calories while at rest. When you are physically active, you continue to burn extra calories even after you stop exercising. You may not lose 20 pounds taking leisurely strolls, but you will be better able to maintain your current weight. With low-intensity exercise and a low-fat diet, you will probably lose a few pounds.
4.Reduces Risk Of Heart Disease
Heart disease is the nation’s leading cause of death. Low-intensity exercise helps prevent it by strengthening the heart, reducing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol and combating obesity and diabetes.
5.Take Helps Manage Arthritis
Exercise moves the major joints through their full range of motion, which helps to keep them pain-free. Exercise also releases endorphins, the body’s pain relieving chemicals.
6.Mood Elevation
In addition to relieving pain, endorphins released by exercise also have an anti-depressant effect. Many mental health professionals encourage exercise as a natural complement to other treatments for depression.
7.Helps Preserve Bone
Regular, moderate, weight-bearing exercise such as walking, gardening, dancing and so forth helps maintain bone density and prevent bone-thinning osteoporosis – a major health problem for women over 50.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Monday, 11 May 2009
3 Killer Tips For Rock Hard Lower Abs
When it comes to training your lower abs you will find this area the hardest to develop. You might be able to develop upper abdominals with a solid workout routine but your lower abs are mostly left untrained. If your holy grail is to have toned six pack abs then the tips laid out in this article are just for you.
1) Spot Reduction Myth When it comes to seeing defined six pack abs it is ultra important that you have a low enough body fat percentage. If your body fat percentage is too high all the exercise in the world won't make any difference because your six pack is hidden under a layer of fat. Most people seem to think that they can remove lower abdominal fat by doing specific lower abs exercises, unfortunately this alone is not enough for you.
2) Sit-ups or crunches are not the best way to get six pack abs A popular (yet untrue) belief is that you have to do a lot of crunches and sit-ups to train the lower abs, this isn't true. Sit-ups are the most popular exercise when it comes to training the abs but they are not an abs exercise. The same applies for ab crunches. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't do these exercises but do at least some effective ab exercises such as the reverse crunch.
3) Do Targeted Effective Lower Ab exercises There are some highly effective exercises to train the lower abs Swiss ball exercises in particular are a great way to really target the desired area. Here are a few other exercises for you to have strong lower abs.
- The hanging knee raise
- Lying Down scissors.
- The jacknife sit-up.
You can have the best intentions in the world when it comes to your ab workouts. The problem is that unless you combine the correct exercises that target the right area with the right nutrition and diet you are not going to achieve the right results.
1) Spot Reduction Myth When it comes to seeing defined six pack abs it is ultra important that you have a low enough body fat percentage. If your body fat percentage is too high all the exercise in the world won't make any difference because your six pack is hidden under a layer of fat. Most people seem to think that they can remove lower abdominal fat by doing specific lower abs exercises, unfortunately this alone is not enough for you.
2) Sit-ups or crunches are not the best way to get six pack abs A popular (yet untrue) belief is that you have to do a lot of crunches and sit-ups to train the lower abs, this isn't true. Sit-ups are the most popular exercise when it comes to training the abs but they are not an abs exercise. The same applies for ab crunches. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't do these exercises but do at least some effective ab exercises such as the reverse crunch.
3) Do Targeted Effective Lower Ab exercises There are some highly effective exercises to train the lower abs Swiss ball exercises in particular are a great way to really target the desired area. Here are a few other exercises for you to have strong lower abs.
- The hanging knee raise
- Lying Down scissors.
- The jacknife sit-up.
You can have the best intentions in the world when it comes to your ab workouts. The problem is that unless you combine the correct exercises that target the right area with the right nutrition and diet you are not going to achieve the right results.
Sunday, 3 May 2009
6 Pack Abs - Exercise Those Middle And Upper Abs

Below I have summarized 3 of the most popular middle to higher ab exercises which are performed by personal trainers all over the world. These exercises will help avoid that usual back ache and pain that most people experience while performing the usual ab exercises out there.
Also, please note that achieving 6 pack abs is not going to happen by simply performing these exercises alone. It is absolutely vital that you start eating correctly and ultimately start following a fat loss diet that works. As you may know by now we all have underlying 6 pack abs, but the only way to make these visible to the rest of the world is to shed that extra layer of fat. (See the end of this article for a resource link on a complete list of foods which you should be sticking to.) The ab exercises below do not require any gym equipment and can be performed in the comfort of your home.
Reverse Crunch
Start off by lying flat on the floor with a neutral spine. Make sure that your knees at a 90 degree angle and that your feet are a few inches above the ground. Your legs should be together, and hands by your sides on the floor. Now contract your abs and lift your pelvis up and in toward the direction of your rib cage. Breathe out as you're contracting, and then breathe in while returning to your starting position. Repeat this process until failure.
Bent Elbow Plank
Start off by lying on your belly and then lifting yourself onto your toes and forearms (your elbows should be lined up with your shoulders). While doing this contract your abs while trying to keep your back as neutral as possible. Now hold this position for roughly 5-6 seconds, and then rest. Repeat this at least 40-50 times, or until failure. If you're a beginner, you can simply start off on your hands and knees keeping your spine neutral, and then simply contracting your abs while breathing out trying not to move your back.)
Bicycle (this works like a charm)
Start off by lying on your back and keeping your hips and knees bent at roughly 90-degrees. Keep your chest curled above your ribs, and put your hands behind your head (or ears). Now stretch your left leg out while bringing your right knee down towards your chest, and pointing your left shoulder toward your right knee. Now do the opposite and stretch your right leg out bringing your left knee back down towards your chest. Perform this in a slow and controlled motion trying not to shift your hips. The exercise should look like you're peddling on an invisible bicycle while lying on your back.
It's important that you perform these exercises correctly as it's easy to damage one's back and spine. Also, there are so many exercises out there that simply result in and back ache and pain, so please be cautious about what you read.
I highly recommend signing up for this popular FREE 6 Pack Abs Mini Course which explains exactly what exercises to stick to and which ones to avoid when trying to achieve those 6 pack abs.
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