Anywhere Exercises

If you find yourself in a situation that prevents you from going to the gym or if the weather isn't favorable for outdoor activities but you're still determined get some exercise in, there are simple workout options that don't require equipment or much space that you could do pretty much anywhere. It's important to get both cardiovascular and muscle exercises, and it's easy to squeeze either in during the idle activities of the day. It's easy to transform a sedentary moment into an opportunity to work on your fitness.

Upper body exercises:
- Push-ups work your pectoralis major, anterior deltoids, and deltoids. If you're at home or somewhere with a surface to lean on such as a bed or dresser, these could be used to assist your push-ups.
- If you're holding bags, use them as a weight for some bicep curls to strengthen your biceps and elbow flexors.
Abdominal exercises:
- When sitting, do it without leaning on the backrest of your chair. While sitting upright, flex and contract your abs for a simple abdominal workout whenever sitting, whether it's through a commute or while you're in your office.
- To work your obliques in a similar setting, sit with your feet flat on the ground, hip-width apart, with your fingers interlaced behind your head. Lift one knee towards your chest while meeting it with the shoulder of your opposite side and return. Repeat this motion, alternating between sides.
Lower body exercises:
- Squats engage many muscles in your legs, including the hamstrings, quadriceps, gluteauls, hip flexors, and calf muscles. These could be done during any stationary activity, such as you're brushing your teeth or talking on the phone.
- Calf raises focus on the muscles in your calf (of course), working the gastrocnemius and soleus. All this requires is for you to be standing, so it can be done during any idle waiting like when you're in a line.
Cardio:
- If there's a staircase near you and you have some free time, get your heart pumping by taking a few trips up and down the stairs. If there are multiple floors in your home, take whatever opportunities you can to more trips between them.
- When walking, do it briskly! You'll get to your destination faster and get a moderate aerobic exercise out of it.

The key to being fit is movement! Take any chance you can to squeeze some physical activity in. It all counts and makes an enormous difference in the long run. Not having access to the gym or the outdoors isn't an excuse to neglect your fitness. The activities suggested above are only a few ideas of what you could do to keep up with your workout plan. You could always be creative about your exercises and utilize the resources around you to make the most out of your workout. Do what you can to optimize your health and fitness.


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Achieving Flat Abs

When losing weight, one of the most stubborn areas to achieve results in is the midsection. Losing it takes some directed exercises and adjustments in your diet with the focus of toning your abs and losing weight.
A few suggestions for some exercises that target your abs that are simple, yet effective:
The plank. Position yourself as if you were preparing to do pushups, except have your forearms resting on the ground. Keep your body straight and hold this position for as long as you can. You should feel your abs tense up and have increasing difficulty maintaining this position as time goes on.
Crunches work your abs directly. If you use an exercise ball, it will further engage your muscles and be more effective. Lie on the ball, positioning it on your lower back and cross your arms over your chest or hold them behind your head. Lift your torso off of the ball, pulling the bottom of your ribcage to your hips while keeping the ball steady and return.
Bicycle exercises target many areas of your midsection, being great for a well-rounded exercise for your abs. Lie on the floor and interlock your fingers behind your head, supporting it. Pull your knees towards your chest, lifting your shoulders off of the ground while pulling your neck in. Straighten a leg out while turning your torso to the opposite side, pulling your elbow to make contact with the knee of your still-curled leg. Continue this motion, switching between sides.

Have variety in your ab exercises. Working your abs from different angles and spreading the focus of your exercises throughout your entire midsection will even out the shape and yield better results for a flat and well-defined stomach. Also, ab exercises serve to strengthen muscles and don't burn so much of your midsection alone. It's important to keep up with your cardio exercises to ensure overall weight loss, which helps tremendously with losing belly fat.

The way you eat naturally plays a huge role in your body's weight and appearance. To cut off that tummy flab, you should cut off the foods that work against this goal. Avoid foods full of carbs such as white bread, pasta, white rice, and potatoes. It would be better to opt for more fibrous alternatives such as brown rice, wheat bread and veggies. Drink skim milk and limit your dairy intake in general. To give your metabolism a boost and aid your digestive system, drink plenty of water throughout the day (6-8 glasses) and eat small, frequent meals.

Keep up the effort and dedication and you'll be able to reach your fitness goals.




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How Much Exercise Is Enough?

It's important to get an adequate amount of exercise if you're looking to maintain a healthy body weight and reap the health benefits of being physically active, but how much is enough? The recommended duration and intensity of your workout depends on your personal fitness goals. There are two types of exercise that you should be sure to do: aerobic and muscle-strengthening. Strength-training activities such as weight-lifting and the use of resistance bands should be done about twice a week.

As an adult, you should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity in a week. 'Moderate' meaning that your heart rate increases to a point where you are still able to hold a conversation. This could be 30 minutes of light exercise such as brisk walking or swimming for 5 days a week. To work on preventing lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and hypertension, this is amount of exercise is adequate. It may not do much for weight loss, but it's certainly beneficial for your cardiovascular health.

For more health benefits and weight loss, increase the intensity and/or duration of your workout. It's best to get 300 minutes of rigorous activity such as running or biking each week if this is your goal. That should be an hour of working out, 5 days a week. Altering your diet to include healthier, lower-calorie foods can boost the effectiveness of your weight loss significantly.

All of your exercise doesn't necessarily have to be done all at once. Breaking up your exercise time to smaller portions throughout the day is also effective, as long as you're getting a decent amount of heart-pumping movement in your day.



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Weight Training Tips

If you’re looking to lose weight, gain muscle, or reshape your body in general, consider weight training. Muscles are more calorically expensive than fat, so the more you have, the more you’ll burn, boosting your metabolism. It strengthens your body and bones, increasing endurance and helping you avoid injuries. It even helps improves your coordination and balance. If you intend to make noticeable changes to your physique and improve your health, one of the most efficacious things you could do would be to engage in weight training. Whether you already lift weights or are new to the realm of weight training, there are some tips and facts that you should be aware of.

In order for weight training to maintain its effectiveness, you must lift weights with more resistance than your body’s accustomed to. The intensity of your weight training should increase periodically in order to avoid reaching a plateau from failing to challenge your body. This could be done by lifting heavier weights once a single set of a particular weight becomes too easy, changing the amount of sets/reps you do, or changing the exercise and resistance type. After training a group of muscles, allow them the one full day of the rest they need in order to form and grow. Target a specific muscle group two or three times a week, alternating your area of focus with each proceeding day. For example, you could focus on targeting the muscles in your upper body one day and work on your lower body the next.

The amount of sets and reps you should do differ depending on what you’re trying to achieve. If you’re looking to burn fat, do 1-3 sets of 10-12 reps at a weight where you’re just able to complete all of the reps. If you want to work for muscle gain, do 3+ sets of 6-8 reps to fatigue. To build endurance, do 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps with enough weight so you’re just able to complete all reps. You should struggle with your last rep but still be able to complete it properly and with good form. The duration of the rest between sets shouldn’t exceed a minute. If you’re lifting heavy weights for muscle gain, allowing your muscles 2 to 5 minutes of rest would be more appropriate.

There are a few things to keep in mind when you’re training with weights. Of course, you should always warm up. Preparing your body for a physically demanding activity like lifting weights is necessary to improve the effectiveness of your training and prevent injuries caused by the sudden strain to your body of lifting heavy weights without warning. Allow your body to adjust itself for physical activity by warming up with something relatively easy, such as light cardio or lifting lighter weights. If you find yourself using momentum to lift the weight, it’s likely that it’s too heavy. Lifting and lowering your weights slowly keeps your muscle actively and steadily working, making each rep more efficient and less strenuous. Remember to have good posture and to utilize your abs during movement to keep balance and protect your spine. Maintain good health practices, don’t overexert your body, and have fun.

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Progress Slowing? Consider Something New

If your exercise regime is beginning to feel tedious and ineffective, consider changing up your plans for activities to boost the advancement to your goals. Sticking with the same routine for too long could lead you to a plateau, and putting forth steady work and effort without achieving any results could be very disinclining. However, holding a steady routine is not the way to ensure steady progress. Repeating the same exercises for too long causes your body to become accustomed to the stress you regularly put it under, inevitably leading to the loss in effectiveness of your workout. Alternating what you do helps keep your body challenged. Making modifications in intensity and duration, targeting different areas, taking up a new sport, trying different equipment, or mixing up the order of your already existing exercise plan could bring back some results from your workout. Avoid redundancy and keep yourself engaged by introducing occasional changes and adding variety to your workout. It makes things more interesting and challenging and it’ll help keep you on track to maintain progress.



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