Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Get Fit For A Healthy Lifestyle

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Daily exercise is essential to women’s fitness and any healthy lifestyle. Not only does it regulate the body’s ability to process the foods that we eat, it also helps to burn excess calories and reduce fat. Exercise, just 30 minutes each day, can help to balance hormones, lessen the risk of many illnesses and restore your vitality of youth.

Making exercise a priority is sometimes hard to do. Day to day responsibilities and activities take up a good portion of your day, I know. But, daily exercise is just as important as eating every day, so why not make it a regular part of your daily regimen?

Just like going to your job each day or cooking dinner in the evening, in order to give exercise the importance it deserves, you must make it a priority and let it become a habit that is impossible to break.

You know that it is entirely possible to enjoy exercise and make it something you wouldn’t dream of missing. You’ve no doubt seen countless others, who make exercise a must do rather than a sometimes do. So what separates them from you? Do they have some sort of magical abilities or are they stronger willed than you? Break free of your excuses and give exercise the attention that your body deserves.

There are many ways that we can plan ahead to be sure we get the most of our gym time. It is entirely possible to get a full blown workout in as little as 30 minutes a day, but to be sure you get the most of your workout time, you might want to consider the following tips.

1. Come to the gym in your workout clothes if possible. Less time spent in the locker room will give you more time to dedicate to your workout.

2. Empty your bladder before beginning your workout. You can’t always help having to disrupt your workout when nature calls, but a quick stop when you first get there will allow you to spend your time exercising rather than running to the restroom to pee.

3. Alternate days for working different areas of the body, this way you can spend your time working hard on specific areas at each session.

4. Take shorter rests between sets. This will move your workout along and allow you to burn more calories. When you take shorter rest times, your heart rate is increased, therefore giving you a mild cardio workout too.

5. To boost cardio benefits, while still saving time, mix strength training with cardio. Between sets of resistance exercises, do 2 minutes of jumping jacks, jump on the elliptical machine for 2 minutes or hop on the treadmill for a quick 2-minute run.

Beating The Weight Loss Obsession

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When it comes to women’s fitness, you must learn to break free of your weight loss obsession and learn to love the body you have. If you have spent the majority of your teen and adult years occupied with losing weight, it might be time to try something different. Give yourself a break and know that right now, this very minute, you are perfect, just the way you are.

Losing weight is not the answer. While it may be necessary for you to lose weight to improve your health; it’s the journey to a healthier you that is the solution. Every step you take, every choice you make brings you closer to or pushes you further from your ultimate goal. But like any journey, it’s the unexpected experiences that keep us engaged and make the entire trip a memorable one.

Keep a fitness journal and write down everything you eat and drink every single day. Don’t skip days, no matter what you have eaten, write everything down in your journal. Resist the urge to chastise yourself when recording your daily intake; as this will only discourage you from being truthful. The journal is your personal record, share it if you like, but it belongs solely to you. It is your own personal way of helping you to understand yourself, your eating habits and your daily exercise.

Eat clean. Consume at least 5 to 7 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Refrain from added sugars, salt and processed foods. Don’t deprive yourself of foods you like. Indulge regularly in a fruit smoothie or frozen fruit bar that you make yourself. There are many delicious recipes that are definitely worth trying.

Analyze why you feel you need to lose weight. Try concentrating on building a stronger body through a well balanced diet and daily exercise, instead. If you are not already working out regularly, adding regular exercise will help you to lose weight and help your body to metabolize your calories more effectively for your body.

The key to beating your weight loss obsession is to recognize that your body is uniquely yours. Get to know it and learn to love it and it will respond in kind. Your body is a special gift from God, treasure it, nurture it, challenge it and you will be delightfully surprised at how wonderful you look and feel.

Working The Core For A Stronger Body

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The secret to visible abs is no secret at all: You have to develop your core muscles and lower your body’s percentage of fat. You can train your abs all you want, but if your diet isn’t in check, you’ll never see that six-pack.

If you need to lose belly fat, your healthy diet should consist mostly of whole, unprocessed foods, such as lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Limiting processed foods and added sugar helps prevent excess fat gain. Consume fewer calories than you burn daily if you have belly fat to lose.

Let’s face it—a toned and trim mid-section is an eye-catching sight. Beautiful to behold—it’s the sign of a truly fit body. But, those hard abs are more than aesthetics alone. Developing a six-pack will help to strengthen your back and legs and the exercises for your abs can help to train other parts of your body, too.

To get good abs, you have got to develop your core muscles. Your core is the center of your strength. So, just where is your core? The major core muscles are found in the belly and mid and lower back. These muscles engage regularly during the day, not just during exercising. They serve as the axis of all your activity—providing you the ability to stabilize, twist and bend.

Whether playing a game of tennis, simply reaching across a table to clear the dishes, stretching to reach the upper shelf of a bookcase, or bending down to pick up a child, you utilize very small muscles in the body to keep yourself steady. Even the act of walking relies on core muscle strength to stay upright. Certainly the large muscles of the legs are working hard to propel your body forward, however the large muscles would not be able to perform their function if not for those small muscles found throughout your torso, between your shoulders and your hips.

To engage your core, imagine that you are pushing your belly button towards your back. Not merely sucking in your gut, engaging the core wakes up all the abdominal muscles and prepares them for battle. When engaging your core, you should be breathing normally, so don’t hold your breath.

Practice engaging your core at all times, when you sit, stand, work and play. In addition to the above exercises, keeping your core engaged will really make a difference in the definition of your abdominal muscles. Focus on form and make sure your abs engage in every rep. Be consistent and persistent in your goal. You will get there and you will love the way you look.

Firm Up For A Fit and Flattering Figure

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A flattering midsection can make you look fabulous. But you won’t need to cinch your waist in order to get an hourglass figure. You can learn to do exercises that will help you to firm your tummy muscles and tighten your core. The exercises are simple to learn and easy to execute. As they become easier, you can add weights for more resistance and better results.

For the absolutely sexiest abs, try the following exercise:
1. Standing with your feet slightly wider than hip’s width apart, hold your arms at shoulder height, with elbows bent in 90-degree angles.
2. Squeeze your shoulder blades together.
3. Move your rib cage to the left and extend your arms to form a diagonal line.
4. Keep your palms facing downward. Arms held back.
5. Return to your starting position. Squeeze shoulder blades together, again.
6. Move your rib cage to the right and extend your arms to form a diagonal line.
7. Keep your palms facing downward. Arms held back.
8. Return to your starting position.
9. Do 25 reps.

For strong, sleek and sexy arms, try this arm firming fitness routine:
1. Stand with feet slightly wider that hip’s width apart.
2. Hold arms straight out on each side, palms facing down.
3. Squeeze shoulder blades together.
4. As you release, shift your torso to the right, leading with your right hand and rotating palms until they are facing back.
5. Pull shoulder blades together again and repeat the same move on the left side.
6. Do 25 reps.

Exercise can transform your body and make it look fantastic. But appearance isn’t the only benefit that a good fitness program will provide. Building a stronger, healthier body is far more important than getting into your skinny jeans. However, being proud of a fit and beautiful body is perfectly healthy, too.

The truth is, one of the reasons that a fit body is so desirable is that it looks healthy. Firm muscles and a sculpted body give off the impression of a body that is strong and durable. Keep that in mind, when and if you are ever tempted to succumb to fad diets that just promise weight loss. The beauty of a slim and trim body is amplified when it is the result of a healthy lifestyle. Firm and fit, it’s the most flattering look you can have.

Build, Strengthen, Stretch and Tone

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Women often ask, “If I lift weights, will I bulk up like a man?” My answer unequivocally is, no, you are a woman and you will not develop muscles like a man. Weightlifting will help you build, strengthen, stretch and tone your muscles, but you will not get bulky.

The lack of free testosterone in the female body contributes to the inability for women to grow muscles like a man. On the other hand, estrogen decreases the amount of free testosterone in the body and increases cortisol, which reduces muscle mass. Research has shown that while lifting weights increases total testosterone in men, it has no effect on testosterone levels in women.

Building muscle through weightlifting has some hidden benefits, too. Each pound of muscle can burn 50 calories a day. The more muscle you build, the easier it is to burn calories. With more muscle mass, you’ll even burn calories while you sleep. Be sure to get plenty of sleep, rest provides the rejuvenation your muscles need.

Training your muscles through weightlifting is not just about dead weights. There are many resistance training exercises that incorporate weights to build, strengthen, stretch and tone your muscles.

Strength or resistance training exercises target individual muscle groups with specific exercises. In order to build and tone muscles to achieve muscular definition, you need to work your muscle to the point of muscle fatigue. Gradually adding weights to the exercises is an ideal way to get your body in shape for weightlifting.

If you have not lifted weights in a while, or never done any resistance training, go easy on yourself. One set of eight repetitions may be all you can do in the beginning. After a month or so, you will see and feel the difference weight training can make.

I suggest a mix of squats, lunges, chest presses, triceps kickbacks, and deadlift. Ensure that you are training for strength and resistance 3 times a week and doing cardio the other 3 days of the week. Remember, it’s always a good practice to take 1 day off each week for rest and rejuvenation.