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CG ShopSculpting for the Summer |
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| Written by CG Girl |
| Friday, 09 October 2009 21:19 |
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Sculpting for Summer: Easy Steps in the Right Direction Written By: Michael Galdenzi With summer just around the corner and warm weather on the way, now is the time to start taking steps to tone up and lose those winter pounds that we all know we have added. Getting back into shape is easy when you know what to do and have the determination to do it right. There are no good excuses when it comes to your health. This article will give you some easy to follow guidelines and hopefully motivate you to give it a shot. Getting tone does not mean that you have to get a gym membership. Let’s face it, why sign up for a gym when you don’t even know if you can handle all of the equipment that’s in there? As with everything in life, you have to take baby steps and make a plan before you can really get anything truly accomplished. I am truly a believer in the fact that anyone can get started by putting forth a little effort at home. Below are three home exercises that almost everyone knows about, but very few do them regularly: the pushup, the crunch and the jump. Let’s start with the most common home exercise, the pushup. Pushups are a fundamental workout that not only work your chest but tone up your shoulders and arms too. If you are new to pushups you will want to start by laying flat on the ground, placing your hands slightly further than shoulder length apart, and pushing your body off of the ground while leaving your knees on the ground. For a more advanced pushup, try to stay on your toes and then push your body off the ground. If you want to work your arms more, simply move your arms closer together. If you want to work your chest more, simply move your hands further apart. Keep in mind that you want to keep your back straight the whole time. The pushup is versatile and can do so much, which is why the army is always saying, “Get down and give me twenty.” From there we will move to everyone’s favorite: the crunch. The proper crunch starts out by lying on your back and placing your legs on a surface so that your knees are at a ninety degree angle. From there you simply place your hands lightly on the back of your head and use your abs to gently roll your shoulders off of the ground. You want to keep your lower back on the ground and really rely on your abs for all of the pulling power. Going quickly will only hurt you, slow controlled movements are crucial to the success of this workout. The crunch is a great exercise because it really targets your mid-section and anyone can do it. The last exercise in this set of three is probably one that you have not done since you were a kid; it is known best as a jump. Jumping can easily tone your legs while allowing you to have a little fun too. To properly jump into this exercise you start by standing straight up. Then you bend your knees while keeping your back straight and trying to get as low to the ground as possible. From there, use your thighs to push your body up and try to get as high as possible. Your arms are not used in this exercise, but try to keep them somewhere where they can help with your balance. Although this exercise may seem childish, it’s actually quite effective at toning your upper legs and even your glutes. Now that we have a good base of light exercises down, you simply have to make a little time to practice them. I suggest you set aside fifteen minutes every morning when you wake up and fifteen minutes right after your cardio routine to do these home exercises. I would suggest going through them one by one, doing as many as you can and then repeating the process two or three times. There is no magic number here, everyone’s body is different, so simply workout until you can’t do any more and you will be set. Timing is not too important, but the mornings are a great time to exercise because the endorphins that exercising gives you can help keep you in a good mood all day. Another giant plus for working out in the morning is that your body is running on empty, so to speak. The food that you had eaten the previous day are most likely broken down during sleep, so your body is going to have to pull from its calorie stores, also known as fat, to fuel you for your routine. Now that we have the toning part covered, we have to uncover those muscles that you have been sculpting. This is where diet and cardio vascular exercise come in. Keep my motto of “baby steps” in mind with these as well. Below are a few tips for dieting and for cardio exercise that can you can use to lose. The word “diet” is a bad word to many people in America. Almost everyone has tried a diet once or twice and that’s why so many people get turned off with the idea of a diet. When you really think about it, your diet is really just what you eat on a regular basis. The key to going on a diet is to control what you eat on a regular basis. The key word in the last sentence is control. Sure, anyone can tell you to eat this and to not eat that, but you have to think practically. We don’t all have time to prepare the best possible food for each meal. Many of us are in a rush to get to work or school and we often forget about the fact that we are going to get hungry eventually. Take an active approach to eating healthier and you are much more likely to obtain your goals. Get to know your metabolism. As I mentioned before, everyone is different. Some people can eat all day and never gain a pound; others simply think about eating and the weight starts to pile on. Generally speaking, the best approach is to keep your metabolism working. To accomplish this you need to eat every three or so hours. Yup, you are reading this correctly. You actually have to eat more to lose weight. So many people get caught in the trap where they try to run away from food, but that is actually hurting you. Logically thinking, if you are only eating twice a day, your body will think that it has to store the energy because it knows that your next meal may be a long time away. Eating constantly will train your body to use the calories and keep them burning, thereby stimulating your metabolism to keep up at a good pace. A good guideline is as follows: Breakfast, snack, Lunch, snack, and Dinner. Healthy snacks are the only way to keep you losing weight. A few examples of healthy snacks are: Fruits (apples, oranges, bananas, peaches, etc…), Unsalted nuts (Almonds, peanuts, walnuts, etc…), small salads (with fat free dressing), and pretzels (low fat ones), just to name a few. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner should all be well rounded meals. Try to have a protein source (meats) as well as a carbohydrate source (vegetables). Getting back to control— control how much you eat. When eating out, most dishes are actually well above a typical serving size. It’s always a good idea to ask a friend if they want to split something with you or just start by boxing up half of whatever it is that you ordered so you are not tempted to finish all that’s on your plate. When eating, take your time; the faster you eat, the less you realize how full you actually are. Remember that a true diet is controlling what you eat. Eat often and eat healthy and in no time you will see the progress of your hard work beginning to take shape. Last but not least is cardio. Cardio will help you burn calories from eating and help you lose weight. Examples of cardio are: Walking, running, biking, swimming, skipping, etc…. Just about anything that makes your breathing increase is considered a form of cardiovascular or aerobic exercise. Cardio can be fun, yet it does take some precious time out of your day. Setting aside thirty to forty five minutes every day for some sort of cardio is ideal, yet many people can’t find time to squeeze it in. If you can make time for cardio then remember to take baby steps. Walk before you run, run before you sprint, and so on and so on. If you dive into cardio too strongly you can get discouraged and even hurt yourself. Almost no one likes to take part in cardio, but there are a few ways that you can trick yourself into doing it more often. One easy way to add a little cardio to your day is to park farther away from the entrance. Walking is low intensity cardio that actually burns fat quite quickly. Parking further away will make you have to take the longer walk twice. Taking the stairs is another alternative that can be really effective. Elevators make it so easy to get to the top of a building, but think of how great it is to say that you scaled the whole building on your own two feet. Another plus for using the elevator is that you can give up at any time. If you are feeling drained from your first flight of stairs and don’t think you can push yourself to keep on going up, simply walk to the elevator which is most likely really close by. The biggest key in routine cardio is to keep it fun. Change up your exercises and change up your venues. Make a trip to the newest mall and try to cover every inch of it. Get to know your nearest park and pick a new path every once in a while. The world around us is always changing; getting to see new sights makes cardio exercise feel new and enjoyable every time. Well there you go, no more excuses. Armed with your new knowledge of how to tone up and slim down the easy way, you should be on the right path to your own personal goals and successes. Remember that you can do it; all it takes is a little time, control, and desire. Hang in there and this will be a summer that you will never forget. |
