Tips on acheiving a flat stomach

http://www.realfitnessexperts.com/fit/2006/5-tips-for-a-flat-stomach-by-lynn-vandyke/


I believe that most people are worried the most about their abdominals so I thought I'd give you a little more sites that will explain toning the stomach more. This article gives additional information on toning your stomach than last weeks posts. The writer also mentions the transverse abdominis muscle as did I in the previous post. "Incorporate the Plank Pose into your ab routine. The Plank Pose works the transverse abdominis muscle. This muscle is responsible for holding the stomach in and supporting posture."

http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com/flat-stomach-tips.html

This article introduces some other ways to help flatten your stomach, such as: walking or jogging 3 times a week, eating certain foods, not eating before bed, and it even says that you can indulge in sweets!

Another thing I found that will trick your abdomen into getting toned is to switch up your work-out. Make up a set of abdominal work-outs that you want to do one day, as in planks, curl crunch, leg lifts. and the next day working most on the obliques along with some sets V-crunches. This will make sure you work all 3 stomach area muscles.

Sauna Benefits

A Sauna is a small room heated to about an average eighty degrees and a place where people come to find relaxation. "Proponents of dry heat bath mention a feeling of psychological peace and contentment as well as physical rejuvenation."(askalice.com) They also have many other healthy benefits; here are a few:

• Suanas increase metabolism and metabolic rate as much as doing cardiovascular activities.

• A sauna can burn up to 600 calories in thirty minutes and can be used as a form of exercise for those that don't have the ability to. This is because the intense heat goes penetrates the skin and helps to break up fat and water pockets lying underneath it.

• It's also been proven that saunas can help your immune system. The temperature of the sauna is equivalent to your body temperature this kills off bad cells and increases your white cell count; which fight off illnesses.

• "Flushing out toxins via Sauna Therapy is indeed the most effective way in getting rid of years of accumulated toxins!" (savvyspa.com) When your pores release sweat you lose an abundant amount of toxins. Sweating profusely has proven to exert more toxins than both of your kidneys; which, in turn, relieves stress for your kidneys. Flushing out toxins through the skin is a way of reducing many dermatological problems such as; acne, burns, rashes, and extremely dry skin.

• "High levels of stress put continuous strain in the autonomic nervous system and are one of the elusive causes of many chronic diseases. Heat therapy loosens the muscles and relieves muscular aches and pains. By facilitating the expansion of capillary vessels, thereby improving circulation, physical stress levels are reduced. The infrared rays also clear away build up of lactic acid and carbon dioxide around the muscles, by removing the toxins muscle and joint stiffness disappears. Besides these physiological effects, a sauna session also contributes to stress reduction simply by providing a peaceful and relaxing environmental away from it all." (saunaspa.com)

• The release of toxins decreases cellulite!

• Saunas have also been proven to relieve insomnia and other sleeping conditions.

• There are numerous positive effects of saunas. They also can be recommended by doctors for those that have certain chronic illnesses and cardiac diseases. Saunas help people with heart diseases because they let the blood vessels relax which allows blood to flow more freely to other organs and throughout the entire body. This is exactly what some cardiac medications do so some victims of heart disease. These victims can lower their dose for the day and go to the sauna instead, which will save them a great amount of money over the years.

Toning Examples

Here are some examples of great toning exercises to use at the gym.

This is to strengthen the lower body by calf raising.





This one is similar to the bottom toning exercise I mentioned.


Here is a demonstration on how to do a squat and the appropriate way to do it.

Toning

Part By Part

Toning is not possible by lifting weights alone. The real way to tone is to use exercises that involve whole body activities and maybe dumbells after you've gotten used to them. Other factors play a part in toning, such as dieting or eating less junk and more healthy foods and cardiovascular exercises are a must. These allow you to lose body fat so that while you're doing these full body exercises, you can increase muscle but loose body fat. This will allow you to acheive a leaner and less bulky look.

Abs- Doing thousands of crunches will get you no where if you're looking for toned abs. You have to work each part of your abdomen. The obliques, rectus abdominis, and transverse abdominis. The transverse abdominis is the muscle group that develops core strength and core stability. To increase this muscle, simply take deep breaths and while exhaling flex your abs. Just breathing deeply will increase your core strength and breathing doesn't require any manual labor so just do a couple of sets of ten a day.

The obliques are the muscles that aren't typically worked out on the most because they aren't affected by a regular crunch. It's hard to describe to you what you can possibly do but here are some examples. Circular motion crunches (2 seconds swirling to the left, 2 seconds in the middle, and spending two seconds on the right side of your body are circular crunches) or doing leg lifts but moving your legs in the same circular motion.

Doing a V crunch (picture in the upper right) is one of the best ways to work the rectus abdominis muscle. The V crunch burns the most fat and allows results in a couple of weeks.

Legs- To tone your legs stay away from lifting weights. Try all different types of cardiovascular exercises as in biking, running, walking, elliptical, or stair stepping. Doing exercises that require whole body movement are the best in toning the legs. Do an excessive amount of lunges, squats, and moving the legs in any motion repetitively to tone them the right way. Slow reps will show the most improvement. While doing a squat, attempt to make every movement going down and up as slow as possible.

Your bottom- The greatest way to shape your bottom is to do the slow repetitions of squats and lunges while adding more weight each time. Another great leg toner is the "mermaid" just lay flat on your stomach, lift your arms and legs up higher than your torso, then kick and fan your arms up and down, over and over again. Another one of my favorites is to lay in a crunch position but keep your upper body on the floor but push your pelvis towards the ceiling. Then hold for as long is comfortable. Both of these exercise have proven to be effective for me and sometimes even leave you sore the next day.

Arms-The best way to tone your arms is to use free weights of a low, easy weight that can be lifted repetitively. Doing arm curls, and other comfortable movements with your arms will help you significantly.

True Story

Hi, I'm Lauren's Dad, which yes, makes me old. And, okay, why am I writing
on Lauren's page about how I got to where I am today? Because, it is
important for me to share my own physical fitness story with you and
hopefully, help you to evolve like I feel like I have in the past short 60
days.

I won't bore you with the details, let's just say after a few flights a
week, a whole lot of fast food with super sized french fries, a pack of
cigarettes a day, and maybe a real beer or two per week, I was fat and out
of shape. I've been heavier, but it was 20 years ago and it was muscle.
I've also dieted, and won about every diet competition that I ever
entered.....usually putting the weight plus a little bit more back on in the
same amount of time it took me to lose it. Even in my 44th year, I still
play hockey, but it is almost amazing how much I have slowed down since the
age of 40.

My business partner whose 10 years younger told me about a program where he
lost some weight but really started to feel good, actually as well or even
better than he did in high school. I listened, but not really, probably
like you are right now. A few weeks later I was in Colorado for yet another
long boring business trip. Due to the altitude and being out of shape and
yes, probably smoking I was winded just from walking to my hotel room. Once
I got to my room, there was a scale, it wasn't a friendly number, 225lbs.
For my height, frame, etc., not really an alarming number, but I looked in
the mirror and for the first time probably ever, I didn't like what I saw.
I decided it was time to make a change.

Laying in bed, unable to sleep at 2am, channel surfing, I came across the
infomercial for P90X. There seems to be about 100 of these things on at
that time of the morning, but this one caught my eye, yes, partially because
it was the one my business partner was using, but also because it was the
first one that I ever saw where I wanted to look like the "Before" pictures,
sure we all want to look like the "After" pictures. I went to BeachBody.com
the next day and got started. I later learned I could have saved some money
by joining there Million
amp;username=bazookajeff> Dolllar Body forum first, but hey, I was never
known to be patient. The website, the infomercial, all of it gives you that
feeling like this a scam or something, and if I didn't know somebody already
doing it and seeing results I would have turned the other way.

I'm now 60 days in to the the three phase, 30 days each, program, and I find
the results hard to believe. I actually lost 25lbs in the first 30 days!
Two weeks into Phase Two, I quit smoking for good!!! Usually, I gain a
bunch of weight when I "quit" smoking, instead this time, I've lost a few
more % of body fat. My goal from a starting point somewhere north of 20%
body fat is 10%, I'm now at 11.5%. I'm no longer worried about the scale, I
measure everything in 5 of body fat with a caliper
Detail.asp?PriceID=35861&Cat=ACCESSORIES|ALL&Qty=1> . I'm adding a lot of
muscle, so the results on the scale are immaterial at this point. My waist
has gone from 38" down to nearly 33". Unfortunately, my clothes that fit
are from the 80's and I'm told no longer in style. On the hockey rink, I'm
now flying by the 18 year olds, which I didn't think was possible. I'm even
being recruited by a few other leagues....good feeling at this age!

Okay, why don't diets work long term? Here is my philosophy, some smart
college kid may need to validate this theory. When we diet we not only burn
fat but we burn muscle. The more muscle we have the more resting calories
we burn. So after the diet, if we go back to our old ways, we are now
adding fat easier. I know it sounds simple, but in reality, most of our
calories are burned in a resting phase - sleeping, digesting, breathing,
etc.

So what is P90X? It is a system of 12 sweat-inducing, muscle-pumping
workouts, designed to transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90
days. It includes a comprehensive 3-phase nutrition plan, specially designed
supplement options, a detailed fitness guide, a calendar to track your
progress, online peer support, and much more. The DVDs feature Tony Horton,
who will keep you engaged every step of the way, and you won't believe your
results! Tony is this extremely fit guy even older than me. The diet
itself is livable - I eat 6 meals a day and cook for the family within the
guidelines.

Why is P90X so effective?

The secret behind the P90X system is a training technique called "Muscle
Confusion," which accelerates the results process by constantly introducing
new moves and routines so your body never plateaus, and you never get bored!
Whether you want to get lean, bulk up, or just plain get ripped, there's an
endless variety of ways to mix and match the routines to keep you motivated
the full 90 days and beyond! They put together three different programs for
every interest - classic, lean, and doubles.

The system includes:
* P90X 3-Phase Nutrition Plan designed to help you lose fat while
maintaining high energy levels.
* P90X Fitness Guide packed with valuable fitness information to help
you get the most out of your program.
* "How to Bring It" video for a quick overview of the complete P90X
Extreme Home Fitness training system.
* and 12 Extreme workout videos:


Tools to keep you motivated
* P90X Calendar to set your workout goals, track your progress, and
stay motivated.
* FREE Online Support Tools for access to fitness experts, peer
support, and motivation!


All it takes is an hour a day to get in the best shape of your life. And
other than a set of dumbbells or resistance bands and a place to do
pull-ups, all you really need is some grit-your-teeth commitment. I get up
every morning before the rest of the family and push play. I also frequent
the forums at Team
amp;username=bazookajeff> BeachBody where I find other people like myself,
we even have a little competition between a few of us, which I have found to
be very motivating and get me past that point of giving up when it wasn't
convenient.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, I'm now a coach
helping to motivate others!

Lauren's Dad:

Jeff Metzger - Fitness Coach

P (610) 262-2784
C (484) 330-1134
jeff_metzger@verizon.net


amp;username=bazookajeff> Team BeachBody

In my opinion...

I found The Tufts University Health and Nutrition letter, “Eating out without Pigging Out” to be a remarkably informational article. The writer discusses all aspects of dining in any kind of restaurant and effective ways to eat healthier. This letter is very informative about the ways restaurants can scam consumers with their menu choices and products that actually are put into your food while being cooked. The writer puts an easy going tone on the piece while being serious at the same time, which makes a very entertaining and interesting read. The tone throughout the letter is also humorous and witty which catches the reader’s full attention, makes it easy to relate to, and may even make some laugh literally out loud. The only thing that could be possibly changed in this letter is the information. I think a lot more information could be found about restaurants and a lot more examples on how you can be deceived into thinking that you’re food is nutritious. Also, some more tidbits of examples of how to cheat yourself into eating less would be more efficient. Eating less, is what I perceived to be the greatest point of the letter, but the author lacks put as many scheming ways to achieve eating less as I’d like to read about.

Increasing metabolism

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