Month: September 2015

Exercise for Abdominals – Best 4 You Can Do At Home

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Performing a good exercise for abdominalsdoesn’t have to be done on an expensive piece of gym equipment. In fact, you don’t have to go anywhere else or spend on extravagant machines to work those abs.

In a recent scientific study done at San Diego State University, they tested over 10 abdominal exercises and weeded out the least effective of the bunch. The exercises enumerated below were 4 of the best. These simple yet effective drills can help you achieve a much firmer, flatter stomach in just weeks.

Obviously, you would have to put in a lot of hard work and dedication when you perform your exercise for abdominals. No matter how physically fit you are, six pack abs don’t just happen overnight, that’s for sure. You also need to keep in mind that exercise works hand in hand with proper nutrition.

Your exercise for abdominals must consist of at least 3 of the following: Bicycle exercise, Ball Crunches, Weighted Sit Ups, and Full Body Crunches. Doing each 3-4 times a week should do your abs a lot of good. Start off with 5 reps per exercise and increase the frequency and sets as you progress. Remember, this isn’t a race; start slow and finish hard – that is the key.

1. Bicycle. Lie on the floor, place your hands on each side of your head, bring your legs up by bending at the knees, and plant your feet firmly on the ground. This will be your initial position. Now, lift each leg in an alternating manner and start cycling in mid-air. Meanwhile, touch your right elbow to your left knee as it goes up, and do the same on the other side.

2. Ball Crunches. This exercise for abdominals requires an exercise ball. Those aren’t really hard to come by (and they’re very affordable, too). First thing you need to do is sit on the ball as you would on a regular chair. Keep both feet planted firmly on the floor. Slowly lean back, allowing the ball to gently roll underneath you then stop when your upper body and thighs are parallel to the ground. Raise your upper body as you would with a regular crunch and stop halfway up. Hold it there for a few seconds then lean back against the ball again.

3. Weighted Sit Ups. Lie back on the floor, bend your knees, and keep your feet flat on the ground. Using a light weight, like a hardbound book or a bottle of water, place it over your chest and hold it down with your hands. Lift your shoulders off the floor slowly without moving your lower body. Once you’ve reached a challenging angle, hold that position, slowly go back down to the floor, and start over.

4. Full Body Crunches. You’re really going to work up a sweat with this exercise for abdominals. Lie on the floor again, cross your arms over your chest, and keep those knees bent. Lift your torso off the ground while you pull in both knees toward your pelvis. Hold it there for a second, assume the original position, then start all over.

Always remember to keep your abdominal muscles tight with every exercise for abdominals. With a well-balanced diet and a regular workout plan, you won’t get anything less than great six pack abs.

9 Great Ways to Work Out Abs

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Finding the best ways to work out abscan be a challenge especially if you can’t shell out any more cash on gym memberships and personal trainers. The good news is that you can do any of these 9 great exercises without even leaving your home or using any complicated equipment.

1. Crunches. Lie on the floor and put your hands across your chest. With your legs a few inches apart, bend those knees and plant both feet firmly on the ground. Curl your shoulders upward and hold it when you get to a 45-degree angle. Slowly go back down and start all over.

2. Frog Leg Crunches. There are many ways to work out abs than just regular crunches, and this is one of them. Place your hands across your chest and lie flat on the floor with the soles of your feet touching each other, forming a diamond. Try to keep your outer thighs, knees and calves as close to the floor as possible. Lift your torso slowly while curling your pelvis and hold that position, then slowly go back down and begin again.

3. Crossover Crunches. Assume the crunch position. Instead of going up vertically, try moving diagonally, doing both sides interchangeably. This will give your obliques a really good workout.

4. Raised Leg Crunches. Different crunch variations are great ways to work out abs, so utilize as many as possible. Lie on the floor and rest both legs up on a chair or bench, keeping your thighs perpendicular to the ground. With both hands across your chest, lift your upper body toward your knees and hold it there. Slowly go back down and start over.

5. Raised Leg Knee-ins. Lie on the floor and tuck your palms beneath your hips. Keep your legs straight out and suspended a few inches above the floor. Lift one knee toward your torso, hold it there, straighten it back out, and then do the same with the other knee.

6. Hanging Single Knee Raises. These raises, although a little more challenging than the rest, are effective ways to work out abs. Hold on to a chin-up bar, your body dangling, with both hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing away from your body. Raise one knee as high as you can while trusting forward slightly. Repeat with the other knee.

7. V-Spread Toe Touches. Lie back on the floor, raise your legs up to 90 degrees, and spread them to form a V. Lift your shoulders toward the direction of one leg, reach out, and hold it for a second. Go back down and repeat on the other side.

8. Hanging Knee Raise Crossovers. This works a lot like #6, but instead of lifting one knee at a time, you lift both. Twist your pelvis as you lift your knees. These added moves are great ways to work out abs.

9. Vacuums. While keeping your upper body upright, place your hands on your hips, kneel down, cross your feet from behind, and sit on them. Exhale as you suck in your gut. Hold for a few seconds, breath in, and then repeat. Not only is this exercise effective, it’s also very relaxing.

Use these 9 great ways to work out abs and you won’t have to worry about flab ever again!

Exercises for Lower Abs that Work

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Some of the most proven effective exercises for lower abscan be done right in your own home with no expensive equipment or large time investment.

You just need to know the answers to 3 simple questions and know the right moves to get the abs you want.

  1. What moves work your abs?
  2. What is the right diet for ab training?
  3. What is a good cardio workout?

Technically, there are no separate upper and lower abdominal muscles. The abdominals are a group of muscles that are all connected.

So, some experts don’t believe that there is a point to targeted ab training, but science has proven that some movements do target the lower abs more effectively.

The best exercises for lower abs are:

  1. Curls
  2. Crunches
  3. Bicycles
  4. Knee to Chest Stretch

1. Curl

  • Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat.
  • Place your hands on your abdomen.
  • Tighten your abdominal muscles and press your lower back against the floor.
  • Slowly curl yourself up, raising your head and shoulders.
  • Uncurl back down, slowly lowering yourself back to the floor.

2. Crunches

  • Lie down on the floor.
  • Bend your knees and place your hands across your chest.
  • Contract your abdominal muscles.
  • Bring your shoulder blades up off of the floor several inches while bringing your knees up at the same time.
  • Hold this position for a few seconds and then lower yourself.

3. Bicycle

  • Lie flat on the floor.
  • Rest your hands up next to your head and bring your knees halfway up.
  • Begin a bicycling motion with your legs.
  • Alternate between touching your left elbow to your right knee and your right elbow to your left knee and repeat.

4. Knee to Chest Stretch

  • Lie on the floor with your knees bent and flat feet.
  • Bring one knee toward your chest. You can use your hands if you need to.
  • Hold your knee near your chest for ten seconds and lower your leg slowly.
  • Repeat with your other knee.
  • Hold the stretch for as long as you feel comfortable and then repeat.

Perform these exercises for lower abs 2-3 times per week on alternating days. Begin with 5-10 repetitions of each and step up slowly.

A low fat diet is an important part of abdominal training. Eat plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean protein. Avoid fatty foods and processed grains.

A strong cardio routine is also important, both for your overall fitness and you ab strengthening. Walking, bicycle riding, running, jogging, and aerobics are all great cardio workouts.

A healthy fitness routine is a full body fitness routine. Eat right, pick a cardio workout, and do these exercises for lower abs. Your very own toned, sexy abs are inside of you, waiting to be brought out.

Women With Abs in Classical Art

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Beauty experts today are realizing that a well defined body can be more attractive, but, thousands of years ago, classical cultures knew women with abs were sexier.

Ever wonder why all those sculptures of Grecian Goddesses have six pack abs?

In recent history, men have been the sex with all the muscles – abs on women were rare. Activity that could result in abdominal development was strictly men’s work or play.

Employment of women was restricted by social convention and only the poorest women worked outside of the home. Still fewer worked at physical labor. The odd exceptions to the rule were acrobats and circus performers, neither of which was a socially respectable occupation.

Until the last century, most women did not participate in sports or outdoor activities that would lead to well toned abs. While housework was backbreaking at times, unless you were out back chopping wood, it did not lead to abdominal development.

If you did get muscles, you couldn’t show them off. There was no one to appreciate them.

The accepted view of attractive feminine appearance had been soft and round since the early Christian Era. Muscles and tans were out. It meant you worked, which wasn’t attractive back then.

Going back 2,000 years to the periods of Classical Greek and Aegean History, artistic depictions often showed strong musculature and women with abs would have been the rule. Young girls were expected to compete athletically against males, on equal terms, and most of that competition was done naked!

They ran, jumped, threw the javelin and discus, and even wrestled. A beautiful female body was well developed and it would have been natural to see women with abs competing in the nude, or semi-nude, with men in their own age group.

Like athletics, labor was more physically demanding, and the kinds of exercise women did resulted in more developed physiques, as well. In general, average people were healthier, and their view of beauty reflected that.

During the Renaissance, many classical themes were revived, but the view of feminine beauty was still drawn from Church convention. Most women were depicted as images of saintliness. Icons that were delicate and divine had flourished for centuries, and all artists found it hard to break with the formula.

Going forward again, 2,000 years to Victorian times, bare skin was not only immodest, it was illegal. Only women of the lowest moral character exposed any part of the body below the neck.

With the invention of the modern bathing suit, women had the first real chance in centuries to participate in athletics that were demanding enough to improve the way they looked. Waists got slimmer, corsets came off, and fashion began to emphasize other areas of the body besides cleavage.

Feminine beauty has had many guises, and after centuries of social manipulation, the ideal feminine form has finally returned to the classical. Women with fit abs and cut muscles are the ideal of what is attractive, again.

For the sake of health and appearance, maybe the current trend can stay around for a while.

3 Amazing Super Foods to Lose Belly Fat: Discover their Magic

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Do foods to lose belly fat truly work wonders? Have you ever felt dreadful about your ever-growing belly fat that you wish you could just lose fat by eating more?  Certainly, you have!  Everybody feels unsexy and unattractive once his or her body start going out of shape.

But the problem is, it is just too exhausting and troublesome for most of us to devote more time out of our already busy lifestyles. In fact most of us have swamped daily schedule to bother even going out for a jog every morning or after work. So is there a quick fix to flabby belly?

For you busy bodies out there, let’s talk about what foods help us lose belly fat. Now, you are about to discover that it doesn’t take a painful exercise regimen to keep yourself in good shape. Well, not anymore. Here are examples of foods to lose belly fat. Read these facts carefully!

  1. Vegetables: You don’t have to be a genius to know that vegetables are the best foods for you. Not only do they keep you healthy, they also help you stay in good shape. Listen here, vegetables provide the widest option for you when it comes to foods to lose belly fat.  To stress, I am not proposing that you radically become a vegetarian or a vegan but think about it, incorporating vegetables in your daily meals would surely and naturally do great things for your body.
  2. Fruits: You only need to have to add several of servings each day to your diet and you are on your way to losing that belly fat.  Clearly, there shouldn’t be any problem with this food group since they taste great in themselves, already. So just pick out your favorite fruit to keep you in shape. Of course you’ve heard the saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But I might also add that an apple a day keeps the nasty belly fat away!
  3. Whole Grains: Ever body knows this food group is indeed the best in providing us our fiber requirements. They really serve as nature’s brooms in that they keep our digestive systems clean and healthy. Many studies have already proven that whole grains also lower our levels of glucose and reduce the accumulation of fats in our system. Whole grains, soybeans, nuts, seeds, and the like are wise options for foods to lose belly fat.

Focus here, once these three food suggestions make their way successfully into your daily food intake, it is guaranteed that you will find yourself healthier, happier, fresher and attractive.

Don’t miss out! These foods to lose belly fat are truly wonderful. You can even pair them with a few other foods of your choice as long as you take them in moderation.  Here’s the bottom line, foods to lose belly fat enable you to achieve that sexy and adorable body you always wanted to have when you finally look into the magic mirror. So the next time you do your grocery shopping, you already know that to get from those shelves. Vegetables, Fruits, Whole Grains—discover their magic for yourself!

Discovered other magic belly fat burning foods? Have it included in this list by sending your thoughts below.