Having a baby is a beautiful and exciting thing. What is less beautiful and exciting, however, is the extra weight that hangs around the midsection after the baby has been born. The best way to go about shedding this baby belly is proper diet and an exercise routine, which may not always be easy to do for a new stay-at-home mom still reeling from a pregnancy. The good news is that working out and eliminating the extra belly fat will give you more energy, so you can spend more quality time playing with and caring for your new rugrat. Here are a few simple exercises to set your on your way toward baby belly freedom. As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.
Progressive Crunchless Crunch
This stomach exercise works your abdominals as well as a crunch does, but without the strain to your neck and back. Begin by sitting in a chair, placing one hand above and below your belly button in order to feel the contraction of your abdominals. Take one big deep breath, so your midsection expands completely. Then let the breath out as you pull your belly in, imagining your belly button being pulled inward toward your spine. Finally, briefly contract your abs five times. Do a full set of repetitions of all three parts. You can also try this exercise lying on your back. Try both to see which one helps you feel the contractions of your abdominal muscles better.
Contractions
This exercise starts off very much the same way as the last one, but involves quicker steps and more repetitions. Begin by sitting in the same position as in the progressive crunchless crunch, and taking the same deep breath. This time, instead of bringing your belly all the way back, exhale and bring it just about halfway. Then pull your belly button back toward your spine. Contract and hold for a count of one. Repeat from the half-exhalation point. Do the whole thing one hundred times.
Crunchless Crunch
As you can tell from the name, this stomach exercise is very similar to the first. Instead of making a few stops as you exhale a deep breath, however, this exercise consists of just one move. To start, either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You might want to try both ways and see which helps you feel the exercise better. Relax your body as much as possible, then try to use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds. If holding for ten seconds feels easy, hold for a longer period. The goal is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it, or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you feel this, let the contraction out.
If you start doing these stomach exercises at home in your spare few (very few) minutes, you can lose your baby belly and be fit and trim and just a few months-- just in time to start chasing after Junior once he learns to crawl!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Strong Stomach Workout
When beginning an abdominal workout routine, for most people the goal is simple: a flatter stomach. While a smooth, flat stomach looks good, it is less of an accomplishment if the the stomach muscles have not gained any strength. In addition to slimming down around the outer abdominals, it is also important to build strength in the core abdominals. Below are some stomach exercises that work out the core to build strong muscles throughout the abdomen. As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.
Tone Your Torso
Begin this stomach exercise on all fours, knees and hands on the floor. Keep your stomach pulled in and extend your left arm out in front of you (football fans, imagine a referee signaling first down). Keep this arm outstretched as you extend your right leg out behind you. Switch arms and legs, and repeat for an entire set. Take particular care not to let your pelvis sway out of position.
Butt Burner
You will need to lie on your back for this exercise. Use a mat or towel to cushion your spine. Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor, and position your arms at your sides. Squeeze your buttocks as you lift your pelvis off the floor. Keep the rest of your body in line. Raise your pelvis to about forty-five degrees, so your upper body from your head to your knees makes a straight, flat ramp. Hold this for three to five seconds before slowly lowering your pelvis back to the floor. Repeat for an entire set.
Crunchless Crunch
This stomach exercise is fairly simple in theory but can be fairly difficult to perform. Essentially, it involves trying to pull the belly button in towards the spine. This can be tricky, as it involves using muscles which you may not be used to activating. To start, either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You might want to try both ways and see which helps you feel the exercise better. Relax your body as much as possible, then try to use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds. If this feels easy, hold for a longer period. The goal is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it, or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you feel this, let the contraction out.
Scissor Kicks
This stomach exercise also requires lying on the floor. Position your hands under your butt, keeping your back pressed against the floor. Slowly raise one leg to a height of about ten inches, then slowly lower it back to the floor. As your lower one leg, raise the other. Repeat this motion for an entire set. Maintaining control throughout is important, not allowing momentum to get the better of you. Your upper body should remain on the floor through the entire move.
These are just a few of all the strength building stomach exercises out there. If you are looking to build strength in your midsection, look for any exercise that works your core, especially the transverse abdominal muscles. Many components of Pilates are good for this also.
Tone Your Torso
Begin this stomach exercise on all fours, knees and hands on the floor. Keep your stomach pulled in and extend your left arm out in front of you (football fans, imagine a referee signaling first down). Keep this arm outstretched as you extend your right leg out behind you. Switch arms and legs, and repeat for an entire set. Take particular care not to let your pelvis sway out of position.
Butt Burner
You will need to lie on your back for this exercise. Use a mat or towel to cushion your spine. Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor, and position your arms at your sides. Squeeze your buttocks as you lift your pelvis off the floor. Keep the rest of your body in line. Raise your pelvis to about forty-five degrees, so your upper body from your head to your knees makes a straight, flat ramp. Hold this for three to five seconds before slowly lowering your pelvis back to the floor. Repeat for an entire set.
Crunchless Crunch
This stomach exercise is fairly simple in theory but can be fairly difficult to perform. Essentially, it involves trying to pull the belly button in towards the spine. This can be tricky, as it involves using muscles which you may not be used to activating. To start, either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You might want to try both ways and see which helps you feel the exercise better. Relax your body as much as possible, then try to use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds. If this feels easy, hold for a longer period. The goal is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it, or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you feel this, let the contraction out.
Scissor Kicks
This stomach exercise also requires lying on the floor. Position your hands under your butt, keeping your back pressed against the floor. Slowly raise one leg to a height of about ten inches, then slowly lower it back to the floor. As your lower one leg, raise the other. Repeat this motion for an entire set. Maintaining control throughout is important, not allowing momentum to get the better of you. Your upper body should remain on the floor through the entire move.
These are just a few of all the strength building stomach exercises out there. If you are looking to build strength in your midsection, look for any exercise that works your core, especially the transverse abdominal muscles. Many components of Pilates are good for this also.
Monday, January 28, 2008
4 Things That Always Come Before A 6 Pack Abs
Sometimes all it takes to get caught up in the hype of the latest ab machine or miracle pill is a simple photograph of a stunning set of 6-pack abs. Just about everyone wants six pack abs, or at least a trim waistline, if not a muscular one, so all the glory these days has gone to exercising the abdominal muscles. But this has caused some serious problems, and falling for the latest gimmick is not the least of them.
When you become so focused on abs and abdominal exercises, you tend to completely forget that there's much more to seeing your abs than doing crunches and other exercises for the rectus abdominis. By focusing only on the 6-pack muscles, not only do you fail to learn about the complexity and importance of the entire core region and the deeper muscles that aren't so "glamorous," you also tend to completely forget the other things that absolutely must come before 6-pack abs ever arrive.
If you fail to do these other 4 things first, it doesn't matter how much abdominal exercise you do, you will never see a six pack.
To See A set of Six Pack Abs, First, Your Body Fat Must Be Low enough
The biggest reason most people can't see their abs is because most of the population is overweight or even obese today. For your abdominals to show through, you need a low enough body fat percentage.
For men to see a clearly defined set of six pack abs, it usually requires getting down to about 10% body fat or less, and for the women, it's usually about 16% body fat or less. It's not possible to tell you exactly what body fat you will have to reach to see your abs because it also depends on your individual genetics. For example, one man can see a six pack at 11% body fat, while other men say they don't see their abs until they're 7% or 8% body fat.
Reduction of body fat is the first and most important thing that must come before a 6-pack. And that leads you to the question, "what is the best way to reduce body fat?"
The first priority in reducing body fat is nutrition, because the easiest way to create a caloric deficit is with a reduction in food intake, but few people think about the quality of the food they're eating, only the quantity. Proper hydration is also critical, but often forgotten. Exercise is the final key, but ab and core exercises alone just won't do it. It takes a certain combination of exercise for optimal results.
The Other 3 Things That Come Before A 6-Pack
1. Eat Organic I preach organic so often that to my regular readers, I probably sound like a broken record. However, it's not without reason: if you want your liver to process body fat efficiently, then you'd better have this important organ working efficiently and kept in good health. Refined foods and alcohol harm the liver and give it no chance to process body fat the way it was designed to do because it's too busy dealing with all the toxins you've consumed. So eat as organic as your budget will allow. If you can't afford organic, be sure to wash all of your food items (produce) with a natural food cleaner. Eating organic, fibrous foods will also increase improve the functioning of your digestive system and create for regular movements. You should have a bowel movement 2-3 times per day. If not, you are putting a lot of unnecessary stress on your digestive system. If this happens, then losing fat and keeping it off becomes much more difficult.
2. Drink and Be Hydrated! I urge every one of my clients and readers to drink more water. Many people understand the importance of avoiding dehydration, but they don't realize how important water is in helping remove fat from the body. Most of us are dehydrated and do not even know it. Here's a simple hydration test – pinch the skin on the back of your hand. Pull is up as high as it can go, then let it go. Does it go back to normal immediately? If not, then you're dehydrated. The rule of thumb is to drink a minimum of a half an ounce of water for every pound of body weight. So if you weigh 200 lbs, you drink at least 100 ounces (Also, if possible, avoid tap water or plastic bottled water as plastic contributes to estrogen and that encourages stubborn fat)
3. Exercise right! If you give body fat a reason to "hang around" (pun intended), then it will. Give body fat a reason to leave and it will do that just as easily. Some kind of activity every single day is just what the doctor ordered for fat loss. Rather than focusing on one type of exercise like bodybuilding or aerobics or yoga or pilates, or just strength or flexibility, I recommend a combination of cardio training, strength training and specific core conditioning exercises. While I recommend exercise such as walking very highly, I also recommend at least some vigorous and intense exercise such as interval training as well. It's this combination of strength and cardio training, plus an active lifestyle in general, that will help you reduce your body fat enough for your abs will show.
Before you jump the gun and go ballistic with "abdominal exercises," remember, that there is more to seeing your abs than just crunches. Seeing "6 pack abs" is first a function of low body fat. Achieving low body fat is in turn a function of what you eat, what you drink and how you move. That makes 4 things that come before a 6-pack. You can "ab roller" and "crunch" until the cows come home, but if you haven't done these four things first, then you're approaching it backwards and will be disappointed
Article Source
When you become so focused on abs and abdominal exercises, you tend to completely forget that there's much more to seeing your abs than doing crunches and other exercises for the rectus abdominis. By focusing only on the 6-pack muscles, not only do you fail to learn about the complexity and importance of the entire core region and the deeper muscles that aren't so "glamorous," you also tend to completely forget the other things that absolutely must come before 6-pack abs ever arrive.
If you fail to do these other 4 things first, it doesn't matter how much abdominal exercise you do, you will never see a six pack.
To See A set of Six Pack Abs, First, Your Body Fat Must Be Low enough
The biggest reason most people can't see their abs is because most of the population is overweight or even obese today. For your abdominals to show through, you need a low enough body fat percentage.
For men to see a clearly defined set of six pack abs, it usually requires getting down to about 10% body fat or less, and for the women, it's usually about 16% body fat or less. It's not possible to tell you exactly what body fat you will have to reach to see your abs because it also depends on your individual genetics. For example, one man can see a six pack at 11% body fat, while other men say they don't see their abs until they're 7% or 8% body fat.
Reduction of body fat is the first and most important thing that must come before a 6-pack. And that leads you to the question, "what is the best way to reduce body fat?"
The first priority in reducing body fat is nutrition, because the easiest way to create a caloric deficit is with a reduction in food intake, but few people think about the quality of the food they're eating, only the quantity. Proper hydration is also critical, but often forgotten. Exercise is the final key, but ab and core exercises alone just won't do it. It takes a certain combination of exercise for optimal results.
The Other 3 Things That Come Before A 6-Pack
1. Eat Organic I preach organic so often that to my regular readers, I probably sound like a broken record. However, it's not without reason: if you want your liver to process body fat efficiently, then you'd better have this important organ working efficiently and kept in good health. Refined foods and alcohol harm the liver and give it no chance to process body fat the way it was designed to do because it's too busy dealing with all the toxins you've consumed. So eat as organic as your budget will allow. If you can't afford organic, be sure to wash all of your food items (produce) with a natural food cleaner. Eating organic, fibrous foods will also increase improve the functioning of your digestive system and create for regular movements. You should have a bowel movement 2-3 times per day. If not, you are putting a lot of unnecessary stress on your digestive system. If this happens, then losing fat and keeping it off becomes much more difficult.
2. Drink and Be Hydrated! I urge every one of my clients and readers to drink more water. Many people understand the importance of avoiding dehydration, but they don't realize how important water is in helping remove fat from the body. Most of us are dehydrated and do not even know it. Here's a simple hydration test – pinch the skin on the back of your hand. Pull is up as high as it can go, then let it go. Does it go back to normal immediately? If not, then you're dehydrated. The rule of thumb is to drink a minimum of a half an ounce of water for every pound of body weight. So if you weigh 200 lbs, you drink at least 100 ounces (Also, if possible, avoid tap water or plastic bottled water as plastic contributes to estrogen and that encourages stubborn fat)
3. Exercise right! If you give body fat a reason to "hang around" (pun intended), then it will. Give body fat a reason to leave and it will do that just as easily. Some kind of activity every single day is just what the doctor ordered for fat loss. Rather than focusing on one type of exercise like bodybuilding or aerobics or yoga or pilates, or just strength or flexibility, I recommend a combination of cardio training, strength training and specific core conditioning exercises. While I recommend exercise such as walking very highly, I also recommend at least some vigorous and intense exercise such as interval training as well. It's this combination of strength and cardio training, plus an active lifestyle in general, that will help you reduce your body fat enough for your abs will show.
Before you jump the gun and go ballistic with "abdominal exercises," remember, that there is more to seeing your abs than just crunches. Seeing "6 pack abs" is first a function of low body fat. Achieving low body fat is in turn a function of what you eat, what you drink and how you move. That makes 4 things that come before a 6-pack. You can "ab roller" and "crunch" until the cows come home, but if you haven't done these four things first, then you're approaching it backwards and will be disappointed
Article Source
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)