Karoyln working out at home.  Courtesy of user: HerFlex

Karoyln’s Workout

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Pilates Basics

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Hot Hardcore Abs 2

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By Bob Howard

Resistance training for total women fitness!

Despite the legitimate arguments put forward by researchers and fitness experts over the past decade about the benefits of weight training for women, the number of women who decide to venture over to the strength section is still quite low.

Most women who exercise tend to divide their time between cardio machines and aerobics classes. Rarely do they use any type of resistance training to challenge their bodies. But resistance training is not just limited to hoisting iron next to some 250-pound bodybuilder, or trying to figure out how to use intimidating machines. There are many options that can be explored. The key to developing total women’s fitness is a good combination of cardiovascular training and eating healthy to lose weight, and yes, weight training!

The Big Eight:

Although there are others, the following are the top eight reasons why women should incorporate some type of resistance training into their workouts.

Fat loss:

Most only see weight training for women as a means to build muscle mass. But did you know that weight training can also help you lose weight, specifically body fat? Although cardio burns more calories while you’re doing it, weight training burns more calories after you leave the gym. Weight training produces what’s called an “afterburn.” This means that your metabolism is revved up and you’ll be burning extra calories even when sitting down watching TV. Weight training also causes fat loss by building muscle; and since muscle needs calories to exist, the more muscle mass you have the higher your resting metabolic rate (called basal metabolism).

Bone builder:

“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Comedians may joke about elderly women falling down and breaking hips but it’s no joking matter. As women age their bones become brittle because of less calcium deposition. The end result is a condition called osteoporosis. Weight training has been shown to combat this by stimulating the bones to absorb calcium and other bone-building minerals. Although weight training can’t completely stop osteoporosis, it can go a long ways in minimizing the effects.

Athletic performance:

Although it took decades for acceptance, most female athletes have strength coaches these days. Weight training has been proven to boost athletic performance as well as reduce the risk of injuries. It’s also one of the primary reasons why many female athletes are still competitive well into their 30’s and 40’s. Now we realize that most readers are probably not competitive athletes. But we are sure that many of you do engage in recreational sports. A regular weight training routine might not put you in the Olympics but it will definitely reduce your risk of injuries. It will also probably enable you to keep playing longer than if you just did cardio workouts.

Injury prevention:

Even though a healthy cardiovascular system is important, women’s fitness also means having strong muscles. Think about it, you use your muscles during every waking moment. Even sitting at a computer requires a contraction of your abdominals, lower back, and other core muscles. Most day-to-day injuries can be reduced if not prevented by regular strength training. That awkward step off the sidewalk, which before would lead to a nasty sprain, will be just a slight annoyance if you have the muscles in your lower leg and foot strengthened.

A healthy heart:

One of the enduring myths about weight training for women is that it doesn’t improve cardiovascular health. Well, it does, and if you keep your pace up, resting no more than 20 to 30 seconds between exercises, you’ll not only strengthen the muscles but stimulate your heart and lungs as well. In fact a fast-paced weight training circuit provides a more complete workout than cardio alone.

Diabetes Prevention:

Type II diabetes is becoming epidemic in Western society. Too much junk food and not enough exercise both contribute to obesity. Obesity in turn leads to Type II diabetes. To effectively prevent diabetes, women should employ various strategies to lose weight. Diabetes is characterized by an inability of the body to control blood sugar levels. There are numerous causes including under production of the sugar-controlling hormone, insulin, and decreased receptor sensitivity. Although all forms of exercise helps prevent diabetes, weight training is especially beneficial since muscles use glucose as their primary fuel source. Healthy muscles will burn sugar or store it as glycogen, thus reducing the amount that is stored as fat.

A mental boost:

Ask just about everyone who takes up weight training how they feel afterwards and they’ll say terrific. In fact many physicians and psychologists recommend weight training as a way to combat depression. Remember women’s fitness is both physical and mental. Weight training helps in both respects.

It’s fun!

Despite the reservations you may have about working out with weights, trust us, you’ll love it. Instead of staying on the same cardio machine for 25 or 30 minutes, weight training allows you perform many different movements during the same workout. They say that variety is the spice of life. Well weight training for women is a great way to spice up your workouts. © Bob Howard 5/5/2006

Article Source:

Bob Howard http://ezinearticles.com/?Dont-Wait—Hit-the-Weights!&id=302183

Technorati Tags: fitness, strength training, weights, women workouts

By Vincent Russells

Many women are having a hard time finding a bodybuilding diet that will be fitted for a woman’s body. Most workouts are designed only for the male and the male body. Women have different requirements as with having a bodybuilding diet scheme. These are some advice for women when it comes to workouts and diets:

Eat smaller amount of food: This is a basic rule for diet plans whether for men or women. This is to sustain a consistent intake of nutrients to the body to repair muscles and keep the energy throughout the day. This also helps in speeding up your metabolism because your body and digestion is at work always. With this tip, your muscles are formed without putting up a lot of fat with it.

No need for Gym membership trainers: Almost all gyms have a free gym instructor with your membership. These people may be specialists when it come to bodybuilding but have no idea on the general diet and workouts made only for women. As much as possible avoid free trainers in gyms because what they’ll give you are just muscle building techniques which mainly works for men.

Have a high carb diet before working out: Carbohydrates will sustain your energy. If you need to put up those muscles and make sure that your energy is sustained throughout the workout, a high carb diet should be taken.

There are workouts out there made especially for women. Though not many, they can still give the results that women want specifically made for a woman’s body. You may find these advice helpful but definitely they work.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?Bodybuilding-Diet—Also-For-Women?&id=1489751

Technorati Tags: bodybuilding, carbs, diet, exercise, workouts

If you are a regular reader of my blog you might already know that I am not a raving fan of long and boring cardio. I used to run marathons, and do other forms of long duration exercise, but it has taken a toll on my body over the years.

I also believe that if your are just beginning your weight loss journey, long duration cardio in the form of running is most likely going to either injure or discourage most ladies. Studies have shown that women runners are 6 to 10 times more likely to get injured running. I would prefer that women start out with a weight training program in order to slim down and look good. Add in the running component later on, if you are convinced you would like to run. But I would prefer you develop a good overall level of fitness before attempting this particular exercise.

Now, those of you seeking to obtain that ripped, six pack look, I going to tell you that you don’t need to follow a cardio routine in order to achieve that look. It is actually possible to get those 6 pack abs with zero cardio. The way to obtain the six pack look is accomplished with a calorie deficit.

Simply put, the abdominals will only reveal themselves if you have a low body fat percentage. Which means you need to remain in a calorie deficit mode long enough to shed the last layers of fat. Now if you wanted to accelerate the effect of the calorie deficit, you could then add some cardio as well. To me cardio is an accelerator of fat loss when combined with a deficit diet plan. Caloric restriction by itself will only get you so far in a short amount of time. If you want results fast you will need to scale in cardio to your workout routines. I’m a big fan of Tom Venuto of Burnthefat.com. He dispels a lot of the fitness myths that are being perpetuated on the internet. He recently addressed the subject of fat loss combined with cardio in a recent letter he wrote to one of his subscribers. Here is an excerpt about how he approaches his workouts in order to achieve a ripped look:

“What you need is a caloric deficit. For fat loss, FOCUS ON THE DEFICIT.

How you choose to achieve that deficit is up to you and indeed, the
ideal way can vary from person to person. If you choose to put in only
3 hours of total training time per week, that’s fine; that’s your choice.

But then you’ll need to either accept slower fat loss or get your
caloric deficit by decreasing your caloric intake from food.

For me, there’s not a shred of a doubt in my mind that I’m an
“eat more, burn more” type of person. I have to balance my work with
my recovery like everyone else, but I do MUCH better on more food
and more exercise.

That’s why daily training is not overtraining for me. I always
fuel my body appropriately for my level of training. Sometimes
what you think is overtraining is really under-nutrition.

Other people are better with a larger calorie cut from food and less
exercise; either for recovery reasons, time efficiency reasons or
personal preference.

The approach you must avoid at all costs is high training volume and
very low calories. That’s physique suicide.

It means a higher amount of training and cardio at a higher food
intake, therefore the food is eaten to support the exercise. That’s
the way all good athletes do it.

Last but not least, if your goal is to reach extremely low body fat
or get 6-pack abs, then keep in mind, those are not easy goals to
achieve, especially with a low level of activity.

To achieve a ripped look with low activity will very likely require
a low carb, high protein diet.

My Burn The Fat program (www.burnthefat.com) has a 3-phase
program, including a “competition level (Phase III) low carb, high
protein plan, for that very reason.

One way or the other, with diet or with exercise you’re going to
have to pay a price to get that 6-pack. Most people underestimate
the amount of effort it takes to get competition lean or “6 pack
abs” lean.

It’s simple, but it’s not easy. When your expectations come in line
with reality, it doesn’t get any easier physically, but mentally
it’s easier because you understand what must be done and all the
confusion is lifted… ”

To learn more about this recommended system used to get lean enough to see 6-pack abs, visit this site www.burnthefat.com

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Technorati Tags: 300 Workout, bodyweight rows, box jumps, clean and press, deadlifts, floor wipers, jumping jacks, kettlebell, lunges, mountain climbers, pullups, pushups, women workouts

Great examples of kettlebell workouts for women. If you pick a heavy enough kettlebell you can really feel it work your abs and thighs.

http://www.energyflow.tv/store/index.html

Those girls make me want to do kettlebells!

Duration : 0:1:52

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Technorati Tags: abs, beach, body, booty, circuit, core, dvd, exercise, kettlebell, kettlebells, pack, six, volleyball, workout

By Paul Yost

In a weight loss, or fat loss phase as I prefer to call it, weight training is considered a very important ingredient to the equation. The main emphasis of weight training in the fat loss phase is maintenance of muscle tissue.

Muscle tissue shapes and forms the contours of the body. I’m not saying you can change the shape of a muscle because that’s physically impossible. It does, however, have a discernible shape that is reflected on the male or female body. So, if all emphasis were placed on cardiovascular or energy system development (ESD), as I call it, there would definitely be some muscle wasting going on.

This causes a loss in shape or lack of shape improvement when in a weight loss phase. Muscle is considered the primary indicator of metabolism. Basically, it single handedly determines how many calories the body burns. So if you lose muscle through exercise or dieting, you burn fewer calories through daily processes.

So, in a weight loss training program, we want to maintain or even add muscle to our frame through proper exercise prescription. The use of compound movements needs to be emphasized. This includes, but is not limited to, various forms of: squats ,deadlifts , pulls and pushes. Specific examples would be barbell squats, barbell bench press, chin ups, etc.

The frequency of weight training can vary, but keep in mind that maintenance of muscle tissue is the goal. The majority of training should be based on ESD. Weight workouts should include circuit training, supersets, tri sets, etc. to burn up energy and/or stimulate growth hormone which has been linked to fat mobilization and usage. Still, one session of the week should be devoted to lifting as heavy a weight as possible in good form. This is the most important lifting session of the week as far as muscle is concerned in a weight loss phase. By placing an overload on the system, the body has little choice but to hold onto that energy consuming tissue called muscle.

Repetitions for all lifts during each training session are going to be highly individual to the trainee. Beginners and women need to use a higher repetition range due to having less neurologically efficient central nervous systems. Basically, this means they aren’t able to use as much muscle per repetition as someone with more experience. Both populations obviously improve with training. Intermediate and advanced trainees, on the other hand, need to use lower ranges. The one exception is when growth hormone or lactate producing workouts are to be performed. For this type of workout the range needs to be from 12-20.

One quick side note. Women shouldn’t be afraid to lift heavy weights. I see it all the time at every gym I’ve ever been to. Lots of cardio and very little weight training. Most women need to get stronger. The concern of getting “big, bulky muscles” is so outdated it makes me sick. If you sit and worry about getting these “big, bulky muscles”, consider all the men out there who are doing everything they know to get “big, bulky muscles” and are having a hard time achieving that. Men have a distinct advantage, with few exceptions from the female population, in stimulating muscle growth. The hormone, testosterone, is one of the main factors in this process. Women produce much less of it and therefore have a harder time adding muscle mass. I’m not saying women can’t add muscle, it just might take a little longer or be a little harder to accomplish. Now make the necessary changes in your program and get started!

Paul Yost is the Owner/Operator of Paramount Fitness Training, a fitness company based in Houston, TX. He also works as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in professional baseball. Find more about his services and information at: http://www.personaltrainersinhoustontexas.com

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www.exercise4everybody.com

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Diet.com fitness videos will show you how to look like a pro at the gym. In this free workout video Sarah and Katrina show you how to use a Bosu Ball and the different exercises you can use it for. This piece of equipment is great for your core using stability.

Duration : 0:3:21

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Unique Core bodyweight exercises

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