Fat Loss, Muscle Gain

How many times have you seen a diet program being advertised to be the best one minute and then the worst the next? Whether it's some form of weight lifting program or an intense diet program...it maybe very hard to maintain and especially if you see little or no results. There maybe some hope yet.

There are numerous diet plans on the market today. Many of these tend to become very successful with the populous for a time, some being virtually embedded into the subconscious of people who are desperate to lose weight or get in shape through marketing or TV and all promising to inspire hope into people who feel there is NO other way to lose weight. Also nick named "fad" diets because of the way people tend to follow them based on popularity and NOT on scientific information, just like a particular clothing style, one of the main problems with these diet plan is their inability and in-congruency to have any REAL effectiveness on people. Instead people tend to get on them because it is just the "thing to do".

Many other reasons why people can't seem to lose weight from their diets. Mainly because they can't stay committed. Things like stress, raising children, pressure from work, long hours at work, huge portions of food from restaurants all contribute to why people tend to fall into eating poorly and exercising very little if not at all. As a result they become obese and unhealthy. Many diet tend to work against you in certain ways. For example a regular calorie restricted diet can actually help to LOWER a persons metabolism is converse to what you should do which is to RAISE your metabolism so that you can burn more energy and calories more efficiently. Also some people don't realize that dieting or taking inventory on what you eat and how much goes in hand with exercising and having some kind of fitness regime or schedule that you can abide by religiously.

It should be noted that your training schedule does NOT have to be a "marathon" event, nor does it have to be an arduous task that takes many hours to fulfill. I should also point out it depends on your level of fitness and your fitness goals. Most people just want to lose some weight. However, you may want to better yourself at a particular sport you play? Maybe you want to compete in a fitness competition? Or perhaps you just want to trim down a little? The answers to these questions dictate how much training and what capacity you require.

Anyway you slice it, there is no easy way to be in shape but, the satisfaction you get when you are finally at the level of fitness you want to be far out weighs the effort you had to put in. Learning how to be and becoming successful in health and fitness can teach you to become successful with anything else you want in life.

Train To Get Strong And You'll Look Great

Fitness leaves you feeling good, being strong, looking great, and feeling confident. The healthier you are and stronger you are the better you will feel. So if you want to feel great it would only make sense to try to be as fit as possible! And being strong, really strong is part of being as fit as possible. The truth is the fastest results I see in people's physiques comes from those who concentrate on getting as strong as possible. I'm not talking about getting big and overly muscular. I'm taking about burning fat and having a very beach worthy physique. You want to get fit fast? Follow a fitness routine that will get you strong.

You have to be smart and dedicated about your strength training if you really want to get stronger. There are a few guidelines you can use to help get real strong, real fast. Follow these and you'll be looking great in no time:

1. Work all the major muscle groups in your body:

Don't ignore your legs. Push ups and crunches are necessary but so are squats and lunges. Maybe you are not fond of leg training because it's very hard. Think of it this way, the harder it is to do the more it will change your physique for the better. Don't forget about your back! Chin ups are a must. If you can't do them right away use rubber bands or assistance machines to get you the extra help until you can do them on your own.

2. Set small goals and track your progress towards them:

If you can measure it, you can improve it. Set small strength goals. For example you'll be able to do 10 more push ups in two weeks than you can do now. You'll squat 10 more pounds. You'll get that first chin up on your own. And keep a journal your fitness workout routine and all the exercises, set, and reps you do. If you track your work you will able to focus and strive towards topping your best week after week. When you do achieve these small goals set higher ones. Pretty soon you'll be doing some impressive feats of strength and in the process your body will be looking better and better.

Being strong is like no other feeling in the world. Follow a balanced diet, do some cardiovascular training as well as strength training 3 to 5 times a week, and you will be looking and feeling fantastic. So it's important to a have a complete fitness routine.

You want to look great in those jeans? Strong legs make for great jeans. You want to have great posture? A strong back is a must. You want to look good then get strong with a good fitness and diet plan.

Tips For a Great Home Workout

If you want to lose fat and get lean, but you don't want to go to the gym in order to do it, you don't have to. You can do fantastic workouts at home without getting up from the couch.

In this short article, I want to talk with you about simple tips that you can implement in your future home workouts to help make them more effective and productive.

1. Turn off your phone, beeper, and email - You can't let anything distract you while you're doing your workout. You have to be focused on your exercises and nothing else. So, make sure you have the ability to perform a complete workout without interruptions.

2. Do a proper warm up - You can't do a resistance training workout without warming up first. Do some jumping for a few minutes to loosen the muscles and get your heart rate up. You can do jumping jacks, use a rope, or run in place.

3. Start with some bodyweight lower body exercises - I find that when I start my workout with leg exercises that I do a better workout overall. Leg exercises such as squats and lunges immediately get me into the "workout mood" and my heart rate shoots up. This allows me to maintain an elevated heart rate when I move on to less intense exercises.

4. Know what your plan is - You need to have a workout plan in place with all the exercises that you plan on doing. This will help you to keep your workout fluid and free of interruptions. If you need to use certain workout equipment, a plan will enable you to get those ready in advance.

5. Get some minimal equipment - you can do incredibly effective workouts with no fitness equipment whatsoever. I did nothing but bodyweight exercises for a few months and I still got great results. However, having some equipment like a pair of dumbbells, a stability ball, a pull up bar, and ankle weights, can make it easier to do a more powerful workout. You will find that you can do more exercises and place greater strain on your muscles in the process.

6. Don't forget to stretch - When you finish doing all of your exercises do not forget to spend a few minutes to do stretching exercises. They're just as important when you do home workouts than they are when you train at the gym.

Now, go and do a powerful workout.

Healthier Lifestyle Can Make You Taller

Growing taller exercises are a great way that you can increase your height no matter how old you are and whether or not you have passed puberty yet. These aren't just any exercises but specific ones which are done to target the main areas of the body that are still able to lengthen and stretch even if you are past puberty. By doing this you are able to add some extra inches to your height which in turn will help you up the height ladder. Below are a few of the growing taller exercises that you can go through in a daily routine that over time can help you get taller.

Jump Rope

Using a jump rope is a great method as firstly you can do it whenever and where even you want as you don't need a lot of space for it and also it is one of the exercises that puts a lot of pressure on your shins straight away. By doing jump rope daily (as many jumps as you can) what you are doing is creating micro-fractures in your shins from the pressure of all the jumping.

When you rest these micro-fractures are healed by the body and become longer and stronger which is what gives you some extra height.

Cycling

Yes cycling too is a great method of increasing your height. It is scientifically proven that even though they had the same diet plan the Dutch were taller than the German cyclists.

The Dutch position is to lengthen and straighten the legs and spine. To do this you want to raise your seat so that your legs are fully extended when peddling (make sure your foot is flat on the pedal) and you also want to raise your handlebars too.

The posture you want to maintain should be an erect position sitting up straight keeping your torso taught and not slouching over.

There are plenty of other sports that you should get involved in and help you grow taller and also get a lot healthier such as basketball, swimming, sprinting etc.

YOUR DIET

As you are going to be using growing taller exercises you will want to have a balanced diet prepared that you can follow that has all the nutrients that will allow your body to go through the optimal recovery process. You should look to include foods such as...

• Carbs
• Proteins
• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Water

Burning Calories Through Walking

Our weight relies on what we call the discipline of calorie. The balance of the caloric intake and its expenditure should be monitored in maintaining and also, losing weight. To decrease weight, one must increase his or her activities to burn or spend the calories and eat fewer calories every day.

Principle involving weight and calories

One pound of a food component called fat is equivalent to 3500 calories. This means that to lose a pound, one must burn at least 3500 consumed calories every week by adding physical activities or decreasing foods high in calories. Moreover, doing both is the best way to lose those extra pounds. A weekly goal of losing one to two pounds is a realistic goal and combining the increase in physical activities with decreasing caloric intake is a good start.

Burning calories

There are a lot of ways to burn calories. This can be done through walking, running, brisk walking and many others. Brisk walking can burn more weight than walking but with beginners, it is helpful to do long walk than increasing the speed to establish endurance. For those who wanted a guide, a simple rule is that for a 180 pound person, burning 100 calories per mile is good. Walking with arm motion can also increase caloric expenditure and as well as long strides as extra muscles are used. But still, running spends a lot more calories as lifting weight and moving in a fast, steady motion is performed.

For those who cannot run walking further is the next best thing to do to burn calories. Walking further for five to six days very week develops endurance. Endurance is essential for sustainability and strength that are needed to spend more calories.

You can burn calories while asleep

Developing your muscle can help you burn more calories every single day even when sleeping. Adding muscle to the body elevates the basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories spent everyday at rest. When we say developing your muscles, it is more of toning the extremities, stomach, chest and shoulders.

• For beginners: As you walk further and increases distance, leg muscles are developed.

• Habitual Walkers: Brisk walking should be tried for those who have been doing the walk for months or years. Brisk walking tones up new muscles which also increase the calories you burn per mile. • Strictly Walkers: There are also people who are not interested in toning muscles through walking. These people must attend some strengthening or toning exercise aside from the walking activities to increase basal metabolic rate.

Sample of food intake and equivalent walking distance

Eating a candy bar requires you to walk for three to five miles and a ten kilometer-walk when a Big Mac is consumed. If you have a eating habit of just taking foods high in calories everyday than you need, losing weight is impossible.

Have a good eating habit.

Most often than not, people do not have an idea of how much calories they eat and consume per day. Listing each meal down in a diary and observing your eating habits will help in sustaining an attitude beneficial to you, especially to your health.

Additional tips:

• You can eat the foods you like but make sure that they are in smaller servings.

• Snacks should involve fruits, nuts and vegetables than processed foods. • Add five to ten fruit and vegetable servings everyday. • Restaurant servings are 200% bigger than the amount of calories you need to consume. Taking home half of the serving will help you get through. • Do not starve yourself. Do some changes that you can sustain for life. Try something new, do not limit yourself but always bear in mind that too much of everything is fatal.

Embracing an active lifestyle speeds up metabolism that burns more calories. With this, losing weight is easy as long as a balanced diet is also observed. Furthermore, burning and utilizing the calories consumed can also prevent you from a lot of coronary diseases and also, optimum level of functioning is also achieved.

Exercise In Bed - The Morning Routine

Every day is a new challenge. The choice of how to deal with that challenge is up to each of us. One way to make your daily start as positive as possible is to prepare your body with slow and flowing breathing and stretching movements-while you're lying in bed.

The first step is to begin deep inhalations followed by a complete exhalation. Most of us breathe so shallow without even thinking about it. Deep breathing fills your lungs and gets much oxygen to the lower lobes to help the cleansing process. Start with your tongue on the roof of your mouth directly behind your upper teeth. Breathe in deeply through the nose first filling all the way down to your diaphragm. A good trick to help is to visualize the air entering your nose and traveling all the way down to your toes and filling your body, layer by layer, up to your head.

Then, moving your tongue out of the way, exhale slowly from your mouth. Complete exhalation. Get as much air out of your lungs as you can without straining. Sometimes, this breathing will help to clear nasal congestion. The purpose is to start getting oxygen to the lungs and get them started on their day's work. Fresh oxygen into the blood stream is good for all the vital organs as well. Start this day the right way.

Now, for the fun part. Exercise in bed. Not the kind that involves your sleeping partner. That's not a bad idea either, but I digress.

Continue the slow, rhythmic breathing during the entire sequence of movements. Lying on your back, bring both knees up to your chest and hug them and wrap both arms around your knees. This helps to open the lumbar spine, the core of the back. Hold for a count of at least 10.

Next, while still maintaining that position, gently rock back and forth, left to right. Rock at least 7 times on each side. Even though the mattress may not be rigid enough this will still give a little massage to the lower back and adrenal glands.

Release the legs and slide the feet down toward the foot of the bed, briefly. Then, slide your feet back toward your butt slightly and position the soles so they are touching each other. Your knees will be pointing out to the left and right and you should feel a stretch in the crotch muscles. Hold this for at least a count of 10. When I first started doing this my flexibility was so poor that it was very uncomfortable. Now, it feels good.

From there, slide your feet back toward the foot of the bed. With one leg pointed straight out and flat on the mattress, bring the other knee up to your chest and hold it there with both arms. Hold that for about 10 seconds, release, and do the same with the other leg.

Then, keeping both feet flat on the mattress slide them up close to your butt again. Lift your pelvis upward toward the ceiling keeping your shoulders and feet on the mattress. Tighten the muscles in your lower back as you do this. Hold for 10 seconds and release.

Next, with both feet still flat on the mattress and the knees touching each other, drop both knees to your left touching them to the mattress while rotating your pelvis and upper body, including your head and right arm, to the right. You should hold the knees down with your left hand. Hold that for 10 seconds and try that on the other side.

Then, slide both feet to the bottom of the bed again. Interlock your fingers behind your head for support. Bring both knees to your chest and do a bicycle pedaling motion with your knees to a count of 20. Don't pull your head toward your knees; you don't want to strain the neck.

This next one is optional but it will help tone the stomach. With both feet straight out toward the bottom of the bed again, lift both legs off the mattress and do a butterfly, or up and down motion with the legs, without touching the legs to the mattress. Arms should be off the mattress stretched out from your sides. Start with 20 and work your way up to more at your own pace. Don't overdo this because you can strain your lower back this way.

If you have the room on your bed, roll over into a child's pose. Lie on your belly. Lower your butt toward your heels; that should bring your knees right under your chest. Reach forward with both hands toward the head of the bed with your face on the mattress. Reach your arms as far forward as you can to get the maximum benefit of this stretch.

The cat stretch is next. From the child's pose position yourself on all fours. Arch your back upwards while tucking your chin down toward your chest. Hold this for at least a count of 7.

Okay, almost done. Now, sit on the edge of the bed with feet on the floor. Reach up with both arms and interlock your fingers. Turn your hands so the palms are facing upward and tuck your chin into your chest. Hold for a count of 7.

You're done unless you want to do one floor exercise-and that would be pushups. 10 slow pushups. Do knuckle pushups by making a fist instead of a flat hand. It's a little harder and worth it. One smooth motion down and then up, slowly. Another hand variation is the diamond pushup. Flat hands with both index fingers touching each other as well as both thumbs to form a diamond pattern. Spread your feet out a little farther to maintain balance.

As long as you're out of bed and on the floor you can opt to do a few more stretches for your legs by simply bending at the waist and touching your toes. Also, spread your feet out wide, reach both hands above your head, inhale and then bend forward to touch the floor while you exhale. Reach to your left foot and then reach to the right. Remember to exhale on the way down and inhale on the way up.

By the way, that inhale and exhale sequence is good to remember any time you bend down for any reason. Exhale on the way down if you bend to pick something up from the floor or when you're lining up a putt. If you stay down for any length of time continue to inhale and exhale. This exhale on the way down and inhale on the way up will help to reduce the chance of dizziness when you do finally stand up.

This is a great start for your day. Remember to take full, deep breaths followed by a complete exhalation as often as you can. Give your lungs a continuous workout whenever you remember. Put little sticky notes in unusual places---BREATHE.

When you get into this daily habit then we can start talking EFT-Emotional Freedom Technique. That's another great way to enhance your day with positive energy. Just by mildly stimulating 7-9 meridian points you can chase away stress, anxiety, and generate some positive energy.

How to Safely Exercise When You Are Pregnant

Doing regular exercise is important at any stage in your life, that includes during pregnancy. Maintaining a healthy level of fitness is all part of staying well during pregnancy. It is known that exercise can help prevent problems such as pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes. Exercise can improve your general mood and self-image, and you may find that a workout during the day helps you to sleep better at night.

But as your body goes through quite fundamental changes your exercise routine needs to take that into account and be changed a bit as well.

The Does and Don'ts

The best types of exercise during pregnancy are:

• get your heart pumping
• keep you supple
• manage weight gain
• prepare your muscles for the work of labour and birth
• do not cause undue physical stress for you or your baby

Exercises to avoid during pregnancy are:

Sports where you might have a hard fall or be thrown off-balance are not a good idea. These include horse-riding, skiing, gymnastics and waterskiing. Diving is also unsafe during pregnancy. Ball sports such as football, tennis and squash are also risky, because you may be hit in the stomach.

Here are some great tips for you on how to safely exercise when you are pregnant:

1. Check with your doctor first
   
   There can be cases where it's safer not to exercise during your pregnancy, so make sure you talk to your doctor or midwife about the fitness routine you plan to do to make sure
2. Take in enough calories
   
   During pregnancy you need 300 to 500 extra calories a day, especially if you are exercising. So make sure you do it eat well so you have enough energy.
3. Dress well
   
   During exercises wear loose fitting, breathable clothes. Choose a good bra that offers enough support and dress in layers so you can easily adapt if you start feeling to hot. Also make sure that you wear shoes that fit your feet properly and give good support. In case you experience mild swelling of your feet invest in a new pair of sneakers, it's worth it.
4. Warm up
   
   As always it pays to prepare your muscles and joints for exercise with some warm up movements. Don't skip the warm up exercises as otherwise your body is not ready for strenuous activity and the likelihood for injury is high.
5. Drink Water
   
   Drink water before, during and after your exercise. Dehydration can lead to a lack of concentration and to an increased body temperature, which can be dangerous for you and your baby. A good guideline is to drink one cup (8 ounces) of water for every 20 minutes of exercise, one cup before and one after your finish your workout.
6. Keep moving
   
   Exercises were you stand still for a prolonged time (like lifting weights or doing yoga poses) can decrease blood flow to the uterus and have blood pool in the legs which might make you feeling dizzy. So keep moving, walk in place or switch your position.
7. No Flat Back
   
   After the first trimester lying flat on your back should be avoided as it puts pressure on the vena cava, which will diminish blood flow to your brain and uterus. Even if you don't feel uncomfortable blood flow to the uterus might still be affected. Place a pillow under your right hip/buttock to avoid undue pressure on the vena cava.
8. Don't Overdo
   
   Exercise is good, but overdoing it is not. So slow down if you can't comfortably carry on a conversation. Listen to your body. When something hurts, something is wrong and you need to stop. You don't want to punish your body but do something good.

9. Get Up Slowly
   
   As your baby grows, your center of gravity shifts. Your balance will be different, that's why it's important to take great care when you change positions. Getting up too quickly can make you dizzy, and may cause you to lose your footing and fall.
10. Cool Down
    
    At the end of your workout, take a few minutes to cool down your muscles. Walk in place and do some pregnancy-friendly stretching. Your heart rate increases during pregnancy and it may take as long as 15 minutes for your heart to return to its resting rate following a workout.

It is very important to get some kind of exercise while you are pregnant, not only to keep weight gain under control, but also to help make labor easier. Now that you know How to Safely Exercise When You Are Pregnant you are ready to go.

There Really Is A Best Fat Burning Exercise!

A lot of people want to know what the best fat burning exercise is and there are so many different opinions out there. Like you, I have read many articles and research done on what really is the best fat burning exercise. And I've come up with only one answer: the best fat burning exercise is any cardio exercise that you do hard enough and frequently enough. What does this mean? This means that you don't have to buy that expensive full body workout equipment or go to the gym nearest you in order to get the best fat burning exercise that you want. So, how does this go?

First, you need to choose the cardio exercise that works for you. Being the best fat burning exercise doesn't mean it has to be the hardest or the most tedious exercise to do. For example, if you like bike riding, then you should choose that as your cardio exercise. If you like swimming or aerobic dancing, then go for those. You just need to make sure that what you choose is fun for you and at the same time is an exercise that burns fat. Why a cardio workout over a weight lifting workout? Cardio workouts increase your metabolism faster and their goal is to make you lose fat. Weight training is to help build your muscles while you're losing fat. If you do weight training alone, you'll only be building muscles over your fat.

Once you've chosen the exercise that fits you, you need to plan the intensity that you're going to be doing that exercise. Remember, the best fat burning exercise is all about how hard you work out. This is where High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) comes in. Instead of just doing your exercise at a steady pace, you need to keep changing the intensity of your exercise throughout the time you are doing it. For example, if you choose running as your best fat burning exercise, you'll need to run at top speed for 30 seconds then a moderate pace for the next minute then back to top speed and so on. HIIT will help you burn more calories faster than just running at a steady pace for 30 minutes. The great thing about HIIT is you don't have to do more than 30 minutes if you're pressed for time because you still burn fat after your short but intense workout.

The best fat burning exercise is also about how frequently you do it. You can't expect to burn fat if you only exercise once a week. The best way to get maximum fat burned is to do it at least 3-4 times a week. This will ensure that your body continues at its increased metabolic rate, burning your fat even while you're not exercising. If you do it every other day, you'll also be able to give your body time to recuperate in between exercise days.

So, now that you know what the best fat burning exercise is, get off your butt and start exercising!

What if you just can't lose weight with exercise? Or you just don't want to exercise. Well You're in luck.

Drink After Exercise?

As a young soldier, I liked to lift weights and run after work. Then I would maintain the high by hitting the bar. I mean, it was a good buzz and we were already pumped. And we got away with it in our youth. Running with a hangover was no big deal when you are fit and robust.

Fast forward a few years and the recovery time was not quite as good. There was always this lag in energy. No, it was not just alcohol poisoning. But rather the hypoglycemic reaction.

The hypoglycemia can get right dangerous sometimes. I used to teach three fitness classes in a row and then walk to a bus stop in minus 30 weather. Some nights, I got the shakes. Not a good thing. Later, I learned from a cyclist friend to eat something within minutes of training. This was something as simple as a kiwi. What a difference it made. One kiwi every hour kept me going and kept my disposition calm in the face of frustration with a class. Later, I started eating rice and peas before a class. This might sound like asking for a nausea session. Au contraire, my friend, I could keep going if I ate a little bit at a time. It beat that angry, shaky feeling of fatigue and hunger.

Now, the after workout drink. I found that getting a good dose of water helped immensely. Then some food. Then and only then the alcohol. You see, some exercise fanatics, especially diabetics, are dangerously running low on blood sugar. They get a little lift from the booze and feel pretty light headed. This is partially from the booze and partially from the drop in... you guessed it, blood sugar. Now their bodies are struggling to stabilize their blood sugar AND repair their muscles. Something has to give. Too often, the body has to forgo muscle rebuilding for survival. The muscles do not grow like they should and the fat does not burn like it should. You get a fun feeling. But, not much progress.

A better plan is to EAT! before working out. Something light. Rice, fruit, steamed vegetables, muffin. Workout. Then, as mentioned, water, snack, then the booze. Then keep snacking. Some guys used to complain that it cost more to get drunk this way. Well, you have your priorities: health. Besides, while they get too drunk, you can still function and enjoy the following day.

How To Lose Belly Fat

For many people, the road to getting six pack abs is notoriously difficult. This is made worse by the difficulty of toning the lower abdominal muscles and if you are trying to determine how to lose your stubborn belly fat, you need to incorporate ab exercises that also work the lower abdominals.

Most ab exercises do not target the lower abdominals and if you do not incorporate highly targeted lower abdominal exercises, your dream of achieving six pack abs will remain out of reach.

Women in particular have a harder time with getting the lower stomach and highly targeted ab exercises to tone up this area are important. The following ab exercises are some of the best exercises that will help you lose belly fat and create the stomach you have always dreamed of.

A. Toe Touch

Lying on the floor or a flat surface such as the floor or using a mat for cushioning, start by raising your feet into the air so that your feet are parallel to the ground. Using your lower abdominals, lift your shoulders off the floor or mat. Touch your toes with the opposite hand i.e. use you right hand to touch your left toes and your left hand to touch your right toes.

Try to keep your shoulders off the floor for a full set of eight repetitions on each hand with the stomach contracted during the entire time. Do not forget to breathe and do not drop your head into your chest. Imagine a tennis ball in the area between your head and collarbone. Add more sets as you get stronger.

B. Lower Back Flatten

Another one of the tips on how to lose belly fat especially the lower stomach fat, is to use the lower back flatten ab exercise which is very effective. The starting position is to lie on the floor or a mat with the knees bent and the feet flat on the floor.

With this starting position, you will notice that due to the curve of the backbone, there will be a small space in the lower back area between your spine and the floor. This exercise that will help you lose stubborn lower belly fat requires that you use your lower stomach abs to eliminate this space.

Push with your lower abs and not your legs and you will notice that there will be a slight tilt of your pelvis which is alright as long as most of the work is being done by the lower abs.

When you manage to get your lower back to touch the floor, hold this position and the contraction for about ten seconds and release. Repeat eight times for one set and add more sets as you get stronger. Breathe through the entire exercise.

C. Sit Up Hold

This uses the same starting position as the lower back flatten above. While lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, place your hands behind your head or on the sides of your head if you want to avoid pulling on your neck which will only strain your neck.

Keep your elbows back and using your lower abdominals and not your neck, lift your shoulders off the floor or mat. Hold for about 10 seconds before returning to the floor and repeating. Don't hold your breath during the exercise and keep the abs contracted. For increased resistance, you may want to consider straightening your legs in front of you.

These are only a few tips on how to lose belly fat fast. If you are tired of being asked when you are due when you are not pregnant, visit http://losestubbornbellyfat.info/ and discover the secret to blasting away the stubborn belly fat. Also discover real foods that help with fat loss.

Tips to Overcome Health Issues Arising From a Sedentary Lifestyle

One of the major difficulties faced by the technologically and industrially advanced modern world is the problem of a sedentary life. Due to excessive lack of physical activity, we have entered into a 'couch potato' syndrome. Inactivity leads to heart related problems such as atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, high levels of blood pressure and cholesterol, orthopedic and respiratory diseases. Including an exercise regime and a healthy diet in your daily life is advisable.

Importance of exercise - One of the simple ways to avoid the problems you face while a part of a sedentary life is exercise. While exercising, the body releases endorphins which give you a natural high, making you feel fit. You can indulge in swimming or take up innovative ways to include exercise in your routine. Some simple ways to exercise without sparing any extra time are taking the stairs instead of an elevator. Dancing and aerobic exercises help in relaxing the inactive muscles and increase the blood flow in the body thus helps in avoiding obesity which causes maximum diseases. Enrolling in boot camp programs, which help you work in a group help keep your motivation intact. Yoga is advisable as it gives your body stability, stretch and balance.

Outdoor - Due to low levels of activity, the calorie intake is more than the energy utilized throughout the day. This leads to increase in fat cell deposition, which in turn leads to obesity. Your skin needs to breathe too. A morning or evening walk not only helps in the distribution of fat cells but also makes you feel fresh. Walking short distances instead of using a vehicle helps relax your stressed muscles. Using a bicycle or a pair of skates to get to work or shopping will only make you feel fresh. It also helps to keep your joints in perfect shape so as to avoid orthopedic disorders like osteoporosis.

Eat well - Daily exercise alone is not the key to a healthy lifestyle. Combining a healthy diet with a regular exercise regime will help you reap greater benefits than either individually. Eating healthy makes the fat cells smart, and when your body undergoes physical activity the smarter fat cells help the rate of metabolism. Make sure you satisfy your hunger by eating healthy food instead of indulging in junk food.

Drink well - Water rinses toxins from your body. It increases the flow of blood, cools down your body temperature internally, helps in digestion and keeps your skin supple as it is a natural anti-oxidant. Indulge in green tea or fresh fruit juices instead of aerated drinks and caffeine as it directly affects your nervous and digestive system.

Sleep - One of the inevitable side-effects of a sedentary lifestyle is deprivation of sleep. Sleep is essential to regulate our digestion. Irregular sleep patterns can cause hyperacidity and hypertension. Make sure you take a small nap during the day, which will make you feel refreshed and help in regularizing your digestive system.

How To Gain Muscle

If I could sum up how to gain muscle in 3 easy steps they would be:

Train correctly

Eat correctly

Rest appropriately

Most guys who have trouble gaining muscle are missing one or more of the above elements. Instead, they mistakenly believe that the answer to the quest to build muscle relies on costly, ineffective supplements and/or working out every day for hours.

You can't force muscle growth. You're either in an anabolic (growth) state or you're not.

Skinny guys or hard-gainers need to get the training right before anything else. These guys need to look at weight training as a science when struggling to add mass.

Common training mistakes for hard-gainers and skinny guys are:

training every day without a days rest in between workouts

training too long (anything over 45 minutes will hinder your progress)

using the wrong exercises (you need the correct exercises in the right amounts when you're a hardgainer

You grow when you rest. The workouts at the gym do nothing more than break down the muscle tissue. The actual growth occurs when you leave the gym. This is where your nutrition becomes vital.

Common eating mistakes for hard-gainers and skinny guys are:

eating like an "easy-gainer" (hard-gainers need a different ratio of carbohydrates, protein and fats than an easy gainer)

eating too often (hard-gainers should NOT eat 6 times a day like everyone tells you to)

using supplements instead of food (it's not necessary to use expensive supplements in order to get strong... even when you're a hardgainer. You just need to feed your body according to its needs)

not drinking a post-workout drink (in order to gain muscle you MUST drink a recovery drink within 20 minutes of your workout. The cheapest, most-effective way is to drink a big glass of chocolate milk!)

Most big bodybuilders and easy-gainers suggest eating 6 times each day when you want to gain muscle. This is very effective if you gain muscle easily. But if you're a skinny hard-gainer, eating this frequently increases your metabolism too quickly. The result is less muscle growth.

A little trick you can use to gain mass is to reduce the frequency of your meals from 6 down to 5. Keep the same amount of food but cut back by one meal. This gives you a little more calories at each sitting. It keeps your muscles fed by your metabolic rate slightly slower. The result is an easier time growing like a weed.

So there you have it... train correctly, eat correctly and rest. Those are the 3 components of my growth formula.

How to Become Taller by Stretching

There are lots of ways that you can become taller but perhaps the best way is through regular exercises that stretch out your spine and improve your posture. Your spine is made up of vertebrae and in between each of these are fluid filled discs that absorb nutrients from around the body. If these discs are allowed to fill up then the distance between each vertebrae is increased which in turn makes your spine a little longer. You can encourage these discs to act in this in two ways. The first of these is to take in the right amount of vitamins and minerals. The second of these is to carry out stretching exercises that allow the discs the room to absorb the fluid they need to. If you want to become taller therefore, stretching exercise should be your primary consideration.

You should also think about strengthening your muscles because the muscles around the spine are what will support any increase in height that you do achieve. Improving your posture will serve to increase your chances of elongating your spine too and will give the instant effect of making you appear taller.

Here we will look at different exercises in turn that you can try. The first of these is the double bend. This is easy to do and involves you sitting on the floor and putting your legs out in front of you and with your back straight you simply bend forwards with the aim of reaching your toes. This can be difficult to do on your first attempt but you will find that it becomes easier the more you try it out. You can then separate out your legs and reach out towards the toes of each leg in turn, repeating for up to five times per session. Because this stretches your legs and back, which are both involved in helping you become taller, you will find that you should get some benefit from this and notice some results.

Following this you can try the backward bend whereby you lie flat on the floor with your arms by your sides and palms facing the floor. Lift your legs high in the air and over your head if you can manage it. You should aim to get your toes to the floor but this again, as with the double bend, may prove a little difficult on your first go but the more you try over a period of weeks the easier this will become.

Now try the cobra. Here you need to lie face down with your palms Having the floor and resting near your shoulders. Push your upper body upwards without extending your arms fully. Keep your buttocks tight to support the lower back and lift your head as high as you can. You might want to have a few goes at this before you try the next part. Here you extend the arms while you lift so that you are reaching even higher and Stretching out your spine even further.

Because these exercises involve stretching and you may not have done them before it is important that you only do what comes naturally and don't try to push yourself too hard. The key is practice and repetition. Consult your doctor first to make sure that you are able to try these out and be sure to raise any concerns you are having.

The good news is all of these exercises will help you reach your goal to become taller naturally.