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03-26-2004, 09:35 PM
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Give your weight loss some strength
Do you ever feel like something is missing from your weight-loss plan, even when everything is working?
Feeling deflated even though the scale shows a success is normal, and there's an easy solution: Start being more active! Resistance training is an incredible way to amp up your efforts, and to make a major difference in the way you look. And spring is the perfect time to add this element to your plan.
Go The Distance With Resistance
You've probably heard your Leader or other Meetings Members talking about the benefits of resistance training. It:
Increases muscle mass and toning while you're losing weight.
Allows you to burn more calories.
Can change the way your clothes fit.
Can help maintain or increase bone density, which will help prevent osteoporosis.
At your Meetings, look for advice on working the abdomen, arms and legs — the guides to good workouts for these areas are given out on weeks 5, 9 and 11.
Working out your abdomen is the best way to achieve better posture, and, eventually, the flatter stomach you've always wanted. And exercising your arms and legs will help you get the body you want to bare when bathing suit season rolls around. Also, combining a workout that includes all three — abdomen, arms and legs — can add up to a 45-minute light-intensity workout. Don't forget to count the Activity POINTS®!
At your next Meeting, ask the friends around you whether they've added resistance training to their plans.
Light Exercise? No Sweat!
"No pain, no gain! Yearn for the burn! With these athlete battle cries deeply imbedded in our minds, it's no wonder people shy away from exercise — they think it's too hard, so why bother. Truth is, you don't need to exercise until you're blue in the face for it to be effective. Even light to moderate physical activity offers health and fitness benefits.
The Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health recommends 30 minutes of accumulated physical activity on most, and preferably all, days of the week. Regular exercise reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and certain types of cancer. Most importantly, working out makes you feel good and improves your quality of life.
Walking
Walking is, by far, the most popular form of exercise today. It's a very functional activity often taken for granted and seldom appreciated. But you need not trudge away on a treadmill until your clothes are sopping wet. A leisurely walk done for a longer duration can be just as effective and burn the same number of calories as its higher-intensity cousin.
Easy Does It
Ease into your walking program. Build your fitness base by walking at a comfortable pace for short durations, perhaps five- to ten-minute sessions. Even if you think you can do more, resist the temptation: Doing too much too soon can cause undue fatigue and muscle soreness. And be sure to wear a comfortable pair of walking shoes.
Fun First
You're more apt to stick with exercise if you like what you're doing, so focus first on fun. Exercise in your favorite places. Try trail walking if you like the woods. Go for a walk on the beach or around the lake if you're a water baby. Join a mall-walking club if you live in an area with harsh winter weather. You might even join your local health club if it'll make you "walk the straight and narrow." But the same "easy-does-it" rules apply; don't worry about how hard everyone else is working.
Then Move to Improve
As your fitness level improves, you can alter the variables to add kick to the workout. But this doesn't have to mean just increasing your pace (intensity), or exercising longer (time). If you don't like to sweat, you can also add an extra day to your routine (frequency).
It's all about what you like! Enjoy your exercise.
Prepare to Go Sleeveless!
The weather's warming up quickly and sleeveless-shirt season is closer than you think. Have your arms, back and shoulders gotten a little flabby over the winter? Here are tips for exercises you can start doing now to trim the fat, sculpt your muscles and look fabulous by the time you put on that tank top!
Trimming the Fat
Muscular definition is key to good-looking arms. In order to accomplish this, you need to reduce the amount of stored body fat between your skin and your muscle.
You might be surprised to learn that cardiovascular exercise is one of the best ways to burn upper-body fat. It draws stored fat from all over your frame, not just the legs and hips. Find exercises that you enjoy and are willing to do on a daily basis — walking, bicycling, swimming and aerobics are all good options. Try to accumulate at least 30 minutes or more of activity throughout the day. Cross-train (combine different activities) to prevent boredom and receive a more thorough workout.
Cardio exercise is not the only way to trim the fat. According to Holli Spicer, national health and fitness lecturer: "While cardio exercise uses a considerable amount of calories to fuel the body, so does resistance training. Higher-intensity strength-training burns calories and increases muscle tone at the same time."
Arm Toning Tips
Resistance training is the best way to sculpt your arms. This method involves stressing your muscles beyond that which they're normally accustomed. Basic hand weights or elastic tubing can offer an effective workout when used properly. Try the arm exercises in our Workouts section for women or for men.
Structured resistance-training isn't the only way to develop strong arms. Here are some around-the-house and at-work movements that can turn on the sweat pumps and get you ready for sleeveless-shirt season:
Around the House
Vacuuming
Mopping
Ironing clothes
Rearranging the shelves
Moving furniture
Washing and waxing the car
Snow shoveling
Raking the leaves
Mowing the lawn with a pushmower
At the Office
Chair dips
Desk push-ups
Wall push-ups
Briefcase curls
Lifting boxes
Right to Bare Arms: Showing Them Off
The weather's warm and your arms are looking good. Time to take your arms out for a spin. Spicer says, "If you've earned it, flaunt it. Wear tank tops that are cut low in the back to show off your back and shoulder muscles. Show off your triceps and biceps with snug shirts that fit tight around the top of your arm."
How to Tone Your Trunk
Here's the workout you've been waiting for. You can easily do it at home, you'll see results right away, and as a bonus, it will help your back feel better. Sound too good to be true? Try it. You'll be a believer.
Liz Neporent, author of The Ultimate Body (Ballantine, 2003), who designed this workout, says, "Not only will these exercises help build muscle, they'll also improve your posture and help ward off lower back pain." She suggests you do the exercises below every other day. If you have a history of pack pain, check with your physician before trying these exercises. If you feel any pain during the workout, stop.
Opposite Extension
What does it do? Strengthens and stretches the lower back.
Kneel on your hands and knees on a padded surface. Place knees directly under hips and palms directly under shoulders. Pull your abs in and don't allow your back to sag. Tilt your head toward the floor so your neck aligns with the rest of your spine.
Extend your right arm and left leg so they are level with your shoulder and hip, respectively. Focus on lengthening in a straight line. Hold for 10 slow counts; you'll feel a stretch move from your fingertips through your spine, and down to the tips of your toes.
Return to the start and repeat with your left arm and right leg. Do 2-3 reps with each side.
Cat-Cow
What does it do? Strengthen and stretches the lower back and abs.
Kneel on your hands and knees on a padded surface. Place knees directly under hips and palms directly under shoulders. Pull your abs in and don't allow your back to sag. Tilt your head toward the floor so your neck aligns with the rest of your spine.
Slowly and gently flex your back upward like a cat. Hold a moment then, moving through the middle of the movement without pause, arch your back downward. Continue flexing and arching for 8-15 repetitions.
Hover
What does it do? Strengthens the lower back and abs
Lie face down with elbows by your chest. Push off the floor and balance on your forearms and the underside of your toes so that your body forms a straight "plank." Pull your abdominals in so your lower back doesn't sag. Hold for at least 10 slow counts. Lower to your knees to rest between repetitions. Do 4-6 of them.
Partial Roll Up
What does it do? Strengthens the lower back and abs
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your legs pressed together. Extend your arms overhead.
Lift your arms up above your shoulders and tuck your chin to your chest. Slowly and carefully roll your upper and middle back off the floor. Reach your arms up and toward your thighs as you do. Hold a moment at the top of the movement and then slowly retrace your path back to the start.
Do 8-15 repetitions, or as many as you can until you work up to 8-15.
Strength Training for Dummies
When you first start exercising, it's easy to shed the pounds by aerobic training alone, but what do you do when you reach a plateau and are no longer seeing weight-loss results?
Strength training may be the answer. "By adding strength training to your workouts, you'll build lean muscle mass," says Clayton Wight, an ACE certified personal trainer and fitness director of the Bath and Racquet Club in Sarasota, Florida. "This will raise your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories all day, even when you aren't working out."
"Most women feel their exercise program should consist mainly of cardiovascular training to burn calories," says Alice Monsaert, fitness director for Shapes Total Fitness, Inc., a chain of health clubs for women in the greater Tampa Bay area. "But it has been proven that adding resistance training enhances weight loss at a much greater rate. It also increases bone density, which helps to prevent osteoporosis."
Health clubs are now incorporating strength training into many of their group exercise classes. At Shapes Total Fitness, a class called "aerobic weight training" has become the most popular offering. "This class combines strength and aerobic training in one workout," says Monsaert.
In combination with healthy eating, aerobic exercise and stretching, strength training will help make you healthier, leaner and stronger. And when you're stronger, it's easier to perform activities in your normal daily life, such as lifting your child, carrying groceries or gardening.
Six Ways to Strengthen
Here are some basic strength-training exercises to get you started. They can be done at home without any equipment, requiring only your own body weight to be effective. While these exercises focus on major muscle groups, such as chest, back, abdominals and buttocks, they also work many surrounding muscles.
Perform a single set of each strengthening exercise two to three times per week, using slow, controlled movements when lifting and lowering to avoid relying on momentum.
Push-up
Strengthens your chest and arms.
Stand about two feet away from a wall with your arms outstretched directly in front of your chest, your hands against the wall and your fingers facing upward. Lower your body toward the wall, keeping your elbows close to your sides. Press your body back to your starting position, then repeat. (Perform 8-12 repetitions.)
If you want to work harder, perform your push-ups on the floor on your hands and knees, with your ankles crossed. (Perform 12-16 repetitions.)
Back Builder
Tones and strengthens your back.
Lie face down on the floor with your legs together and your arms stretched above your head with your palms facing the floor. Slowly and simultaneously, raise your right arm and your left leg. Hold for up to 6 seconds, then lower. Repeat with the opposite arm and leg. (Alternate arms and legs 12 times.)
For more of a challenge, raise both arms and legs at the same time.
Waist Whittler
Focuses on the oblique muscles that crisscross your midsection like a corset, giving you a more defined waistline.
Lie down on the floor on your back, with your feet hip width apart and your toes pointing upward (this gives you a better pelvic tilt). Place your hands behind your head with your elbows out to the side. Lift at a diagonal and reach with your hand over toward the opposite knee as you do so. As you lower yourself back toward the floor, place your hand behind your head and repeat lifting toward the other side. (Perform up to 20 repetitions, alternating sides. Increase the repetitions for more of a challenge.)
Seated Leg Lengthener/Inner Thigh Strengthener
Works the upper quadriceps and inner thighs.
Sit on the floor with your back against the wall (if you have back problems, you may lie down). Bend one leg and extend the other out in front of you. Raise your straight leg, keeping it straight, until it reaches the height of the other knee, then lower it back toward the floor. Keeping that same leg extended in front of you, close to the floor, squeeze your leg out to the side, then return to your starting position. (Perform up to12 repetitions. Repeat with other leg.)
Better Buttocks
Tones your buttocks and hamstrings.
You may either lie face down on the floor or go onto your hands and knees. Lift and extend one leg behind you. Keeping your knee extended in a straight line from your hip, slowly raise your leg, squeezing with the back of your leg as you do so. Extend that leg back out to your starting position and repeat. (Perform 12-20 repetitions per leg.)
Side Lying Thigh Trimmer
Tightens your outer thighs.
Lie down on your side with your upper body flush against the floor (you may place a hand under your head for support). Make sure that your hips are square and parallel to the floor. With your legs slightly apart, slowly raise your top leg, keeping the legs parallel, then bring it back down. The point is not to make a large movement but to slowly work the muscles. (Perform 12-25 repetitions per leg.)
After you have finished these strengthening routines, take a few minutes to stretch.
http://img14.photobucket.com/albums/v41/raidermombcb/dance.gif
Give your weight loss some strength
Do you ever feel like something is missing from your weight-loss plan, even when everything is working?
Feeling deflated even though the scale shows a success is normal, and there's an easy solution: Start being more active! Resistance training is an incredible way to amp up your efforts, and to make a major difference in the way you look. And spring is the perfect time to add this element to your plan.
Go The Distance With Resistance
You've probably heard your Leader or other Meetings Members talking about the benefits of resistance training. It:
Increases muscle mass and toning while you're losing weight.
Allows you to burn more calories.
Can change the way your clothes fit.
Can help maintain or increase bone density, which will help prevent osteoporosis.
At your Meetings, look for advice on working the abdomen, arms and legs — the guides to good workouts for these areas are given out on weeks 5, 9 and 11.
Working out your abdomen is the best way to achieve better posture, and, eventually, the flatter stomach you've always wanted. And exercising your arms and legs will help you get the body you want to bare when bathing suit season rolls around. Also, combining a workout that includes all three — abdomen, arms and legs — can add up to a 45-minute light-intensity workout. Don't forget to count the Activity POINTS®!
At your next Meeting, ask the friends around you whether they've added resistance training to their plans.
Light Exercise? No Sweat!
"No pain, no gain! Yearn for the burn! With these athlete battle cries deeply imbedded in our minds, it's no wonder people shy away from exercise — they think it's too hard, so why bother. Truth is, you don't need to exercise until you're blue in the face for it to be effective. Even light to moderate physical activity offers health and fitness benefits.
The Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health recommends 30 minutes of accumulated physical activity on most, and preferably all, days of the week. Regular exercise reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and certain types of cancer. Most importantly, working out makes you feel good and improves your quality of life.
Walking
Walking is, by far, the most popular form of exercise today. It's a very functional activity often taken for granted and seldom appreciated. But you need not trudge away on a treadmill until your clothes are sopping wet. A leisurely walk done for a longer duration can be just as effective and burn the same number of calories as its higher-intensity cousin.
Easy Does It
Ease into your walking program. Build your fitness base by walking at a comfortable pace for short durations, perhaps five- to ten-minute sessions. Even if you think you can do more, resist the temptation: Doing too much too soon can cause undue fatigue and muscle soreness. And be sure to wear a comfortable pair of walking shoes.
Fun First
You're more apt to stick with exercise if you like what you're doing, so focus first on fun. Exercise in your favorite places. Try trail walking if you like the woods. Go for a walk on the beach or around the lake if you're a water baby. Join a mall-walking club if you live in an area with harsh winter weather. You might even join your local health club if it'll make you "walk the straight and narrow." But the same "easy-does-it" rules apply; don't worry about how hard everyone else is working.
Then Move to Improve
As your fitness level improves, you can alter the variables to add kick to the workout. But this doesn't have to mean just increasing your pace (intensity), or exercising longer (time). If you don't like to sweat, you can also add an extra day to your routine (frequency).
It's all about what you like! Enjoy your exercise.
Prepare to Go Sleeveless!
The weather's warming up quickly and sleeveless-shirt season is closer than you think. Have your arms, back and shoulders gotten a little flabby over the winter? Here are tips for exercises you can start doing now to trim the fat, sculpt your muscles and look fabulous by the time you put on that tank top!
Trimming the Fat
Muscular definition is key to good-looking arms. In order to accomplish this, you need to reduce the amount of stored body fat between your skin and your muscle.
You might be surprised to learn that cardiovascular exercise is one of the best ways to burn upper-body fat. It draws stored fat from all over your frame, not just the legs and hips. Find exercises that you enjoy and are willing to do on a daily basis — walking, bicycling, swimming and aerobics are all good options. Try to accumulate at least 30 minutes or more of activity throughout the day. Cross-train (combine different activities) to prevent boredom and receive a more thorough workout.
Cardio exercise is not the only way to trim the fat. According to Holli Spicer, national health and fitness lecturer: "While cardio exercise uses a considerable amount of calories to fuel the body, so does resistance training. Higher-intensity strength-training burns calories and increases muscle tone at the same time."
Arm Toning Tips
Resistance training is the best way to sculpt your arms. This method involves stressing your muscles beyond that which they're normally accustomed. Basic hand weights or elastic tubing can offer an effective workout when used properly. Try the arm exercises in our Workouts section for women or for men.
Structured resistance-training isn't the only way to develop strong arms. Here are some around-the-house and at-work movements that can turn on the sweat pumps and get you ready for sleeveless-shirt season:
Around the House
Vacuuming
Mopping
Ironing clothes
Rearranging the shelves
Moving furniture
Washing and waxing the car
Snow shoveling
Raking the leaves
Mowing the lawn with a pushmower
At the Office
Chair dips
Desk push-ups
Wall push-ups
Briefcase curls
Lifting boxes
Right to Bare Arms: Showing Them Off
The weather's warm and your arms are looking good. Time to take your arms out for a spin. Spicer says, "If you've earned it, flaunt it. Wear tank tops that are cut low in the back to show off your back and shoulder muscles. Show off your triceps and biceps with snug shirts that fit tight around the top of your arm."
How to Tone Your Trunk
Here's the workout you've been waiting for. You can easily do it at home, you'll see results right away, and as a bonus, it will help your back feel better. Sound too good to be true? Try it. You'll be a believer.
Liz Neporent, author of The Ultimate Body (Ballantine, 2003), who designed this workout, says, "Not only will these exercises help build muscle, they'll also improve your posture and help ward off lower back pain." She suggests you do the exercises below every other day. If you have a history of pack pain, check with your physician before trying these exercises. If you feel any pain during the workout, stop.
Opposite Extension
What does it do? Strengthens and stretches the lower back.
Kneel on your hands and knees on a padded surface. Place knees directly under hips and palms directly under shoulders. Pull your abs in and don't allow your back to sag. Tilt your head toward the floor so your neck aligns with the rest of your spine.
Extend your right arm and left leg so they are level with your shoulder and hip, respectively. Focus on lengthening in a straight line. Hold for 10 slow counts; you'll feel a stretch move from your fingertips through your spine, and down to the tips of your toes.
Return to the start and repeat with your left arm and right leg. Do 2-3 reps with each side.
Cat-Cow
What does it do? Strengthen and stretches the lower back and abs.
Kneel on your hands and knees on a padded surface. Place knees directly under hips and palms directly under shoulders. Pull your abs in and don't allow your back to sag. Tilt your head toward the floor so your neck aligns with the rest of your spine.
Slowly and gently flex your back upward like a cat. Hold a moment then, moving through the middle of the movement without pause, arch your back downward. Continue flexing and arching for 8-15 repetitions.
Hover
What does it do? Strengthens the lower back and abs
Lie face down with elbows by your chest. Push off the floor and balance on your forearms and the underside of your toes so that your body forms a straight "plank." Pull your abdominals in so your lower back doesn't sag. Hold for at least 10 slow counts. Lower to your knees to rest between repetitions. Do 4-6 of them.
Partial Roll Up
What does it do? Strengthens the lower back and abs
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your legs pressed together. Extend your arms overhead.
Lift your arms up above your shoulders and tuck your chin to your chest. Slowly and carefully roll your upper and middle back off the floor. Reach your arms up and toward your thighs as you do. Hold a moment at the top of the movement and then slowly retrace your path back to the start.
Do 8-15 repetitions, or as many as you can until you work up to 8-15.
Strength Training for Dummies
When you first start exercising, it's easy to shed the pounds by aerobic training alone, but what do you do when you reach a plateau and are no longer seeing weight-loss results?
Strength training may be the answer. "By adding strength training to your workouts, you'll build lean muscle mass," says Clayton Wight, an ACE certified personal trainer and fitness director of the Bath and Racquet Club in Sarasota, Florida. "This will raise your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories all day, even when you aren't working out."
"Most women feel their exercise program should consist mainly of cardiovascular training to burn calories," says Alice Monsaert, fitness director for Shapes Total Fitness, Inc., a chain of health clubs for women in the greater Tampa Bay area. "But it has been proven that adding resistance training enhances weight loss at a much greater rate. It also increases bone density, which helps to prevent osteoporosis."
Health clubs are now incorporating strength training into many of their group exercise classes. At Shapes Total Fitness, a class called "aerobic weight training" has become the most popular offering. "This class combines strength and aerobic training in one workout," says Monsaert.
In combination with healthy eating, aerobic exercise and stretching, strength training will help make you healthier, leaner and stronger. And when you're stronger, it's easier to perform activities in your normal daily life, such as lifting your child, carrying groceries or gardening.
Six Ways to Strengthen
Here are some basic strength-training exercises to get you started. They can be done at home without any equipment, requiring only your own body weight to be effective. While these exercises focus on major muscle groups, such as chest, back, abdominals and buttocks, they also work many surrounding muscles.
Perform a single set of each strengthening exercise two to three times per week, using slow, controlled movements when lifting and lowering to avoid relying on momentum.
Push-up
Strengthens your chest and arms.
Stand about two feet away from a wall with your arms outstretched directly in front of your chest, your hands against the wall and your fingers facing upward. Lower your body toward the wall, keeping your elbows close to your sides. Press your body back to your starting position, then repeat. (Perform 8-12 repetitions.)
If you want to work harder, perform your push-ups on the floor on your hands and knees, with your ankles crossed. (Perform 12-16 repetitions.)
Back Builder
Tones and strengthens your back.
Lie face down on the floor with your legs together and your arms stretched above your head with your palms facing the floor. Slowly and simultaneously, raise your right arm and your left leg. Hold for up to 6 seconds, then lower. Repeat with the opposite arm and leg. (Alternate arms and legs 12 times.)
For more of a challenge, raise both arms and legs at the same time.
Waist Whittler
Focuses on the oblique muscles that crisscross your midsection like a corset, giving you a more defined waistline.
Lie down on the floor on your back, with your feet hip width apart and your toes pointing upward (this gives you a better pelvic tilt). Place your hands behind your head with your elbows out to the side. Lift at a diagonal and reach with your hand over toward the opposite knee as you do so. As you lower yourself back toward the floor, place your hand behind your head and repeat lifting toward the other side. (Perform up to 20 repetitions, alternating sides. Increase the repetitions for more of a challenge.)
Seated Leg Lengthener/Inner Thigh Strengthener
Works the upper quadriceps and inner thighs.
Sit on the floor with your back against the wall (if you have back problems, you may lie down). Bend one leg and extend the other out in front of you. Raise your straight leg, keeping it straight, until it reaches the height of the other knee, then lower it back toward the floor. Keeping that same leg extended in front of you, close to the floor, squeeze your leg out to the side, then return to your starting position. (Perform up to12 repetitions. Repeat with other leg.)
Better Buttocks
Tones your buttocks and hamstrings.
You may either lie face down on the floor or go onto your hands and knees. Lift and extend one leg behind you. Keeping your knee extended in a straight line from your hip, slowly raise your leg, squeezing with the back of your leg as you do so. Extend that leg back out to your starting position and repeat. (Perform 12-20 repetitions per leg.)
Side Lying Thigh Trimmer
Tightens your outer thighs.
Lie down on your side with your upper body flush against the floor (you may place a hand under your head for support). Make sure that your hips are square and parallel to the floor. With your legs slightly apart, slowly raise your top leg, keeping the legs parallel, then bring it back down. The point is not to make a large movement but to slowly work the muscles. (Perform 12-25 repetitions per leg.)
After you have finished these strengthening routines, take a few minutes to stretch.
http://img14.photobucket.com/albums/v41/raidermombcb/dance.gif