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.

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.

The Fabulous Look of Fitness

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Beauty is not only skin deep; beauty encompasses your body, mind and soul. And there’s nothing quite as stimulating to the beauty factor as a healthy fitness plan.

Womens Fitness is much more than losing weight. Remember, just because someone loses a lot of weight doesn’t mean that they are physically fit and weight loss alone does not constitute a healthy fitness plan.

All too often, we judge our physical health by how much we weigh. What a mistake! The number on a scale will only give you a limited assessment of what your physical health really is. Your body weight is comprised of the weight of your bones, organs, muscles, connective tissues, fluids and yes, fat.

The more you exercise the bigger your muscles will get. You will begin to lose fat but you may not see a big difference in the number on the scale. But tell me this, are your clothes getting a little loose? Do you see the change in your muscle definition throughout your body? These are true signs that you are shedding the fat.

The Department of Health suggests exercising 30 minutes a day, five days per week. Investing as little as 30 minutes a day in exercise, by combining resistance training and aerobic activities, can help you live longer and healthier. Exercise helps to:

• Stimulate feelings of euphoria.
• Reduce depression.
• Stall loss of muscle.
• Preserve the metabolism of youth.

Regardless of your age, weight or athletic ability, resistance training should make up part of your fitness program. Resistance exercises help to strengthen your body so that you will have an easier time with your aerobic activities. You see, these two types of exercise go hand in hand. Resistance training also helps your body look beautiful. After about 90 days you’ll begin to see the results¬¬¬¬ of your efforts–like a smaller waist, firmer legs, thinner ankles, and a more attractive derriere.

Be sure to keep a journal of what you eat and drink as well as keeping track of your exercise program and goals. Logging your measurements every 30 days will help you see what you have achieved and keep focused on your goals.

Burn More Calories With These Workout Tips

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Fitness is fun, but learning to get the most from your workout will help you to slim down faster. The following tips will help you get noticeable results from your exercise program.

A combination of resistance and cardio exercises will give you the best results. The more muscle your body has the faster it burns calories during cardio exercises. The great thing about muscles they burn fat even at rest, so you can burn calories even when you are sitting around. Be sure to alternate from light to moderate and moderate to heavy intensity during your workout. Light intensity burns more calories while heavy intensity builds muscle.

Do jumping jacks every day. An old school-time favorite, jumping jacks are an excellent cardio exercise to burn calories and improve heart health. Easy to do, this exercise requires a small amount of space and doesn’t require any extra equipment. Do a few sets in the morning, at noon and some in the evening. Do 20 jumping jacks between sets of resistance exercises. You’ll see a difference in the scale in no time.

Next time at the gym, split some time between resistance and cardio exercises. One of my favorites is pedaling the stationary bike. You can burn from 400 to 500 calories per hour all while sitting down. Take a power cycling class for kicks and watch the fat melt away. If you prefer riding outdoors, grab your bike and start pedaling, it’s an enjoyable activity that the whole family can take part in.

Get on a jet ski and have some real fitness fun. Hit the water and burn about 398 calories per hour while sitting on the jet ski. A real balancing act, this water sport keeps your core engaged while working your quads, hamstrings and upper body.

Bust a move and try some burpees. This is a full body exercise that requires you to move swiftly from standing to squatting to a push-up position. Stand with your feet hip width apart with your arms down by your side. Lower into a squat position with your hands flat on the floor in front of you. Kick your legs backwards into a push up position and lower your chest to the floor. Push your chest up bringing both feet forward so that you are back in the squat position. Jump up and raise both hands over your head.