Sunday, January 19, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Get Fit With Only 4 Minutes Of Exercise? Let Us Introduce You To The New HIIT Workouts
If the seven minute workout didn’t do it for you, might we suggest the four-minute fat blast? Aka Tabata, it’s the latest form of speedy interval training to hit our shores and, if you believe the hype, one round of this gruelling 240-second set of exercises (done four times a week) will give the same, if not better, body-conditioning results as a traditional fitness regime. The key is high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which intersperses short spells of recovery. Sports scientist and professor Greg Whyte (gregwhyte. com) says, ‘The great advantage is the small amount of time required. It’s easier to motivate yourself and sustain the programme long-term. However, it is important to include all elements of conditioning, ie, aerobic, strength, flexibility, etc, to ensure you are getting the most out if it.’ Continue reading for our no excuses workout...
1. Try A 2-minute squat session:
‘As soon as you wake up, before you take your shower and brush your teeth, do 50 squats next to your bed. Nobody is looking, so you can do them in your PJs. Squats are an excellent fat burner and will only take up 2-3 minutes. Over the course of the week that’s 350 squats!’ says Dalton Wong, founder of Twenty Two Training (twentytwotraining.com).
2. 4 Minutes is the new 7 minutes:
Get fit with only 4 minutes of exercise four times a week? Yes please! Tabata is comprised of an aerobic and anaerobic workout, meaning it will give you both a cardio and a muscle workout. Developed by Japanese scientist Professor Izumi Tabata, it is made up of 20 seconds of intense exercise, led by your instructor, followed by 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this set 8 times. It sounds pretty easy but is anything but: 4 minutes of Tabata is equivalent to an hour of jogging and it speeds up your metabolism so that you continue to burn more calories for a full 12 hours after your session. Yes, it’s painful, but it’s worth it. Tabata classes are available at Fitness First (fitnessfirst.co.uk).
3. The A-list's 5-minute metaboLic plan:
Dalton shares the quick-fix weight loss and body-sculpting secrets he uses as a trainer to the stars. Set a timer for 5 minutes and perform as many circuits as possible without rest. 1) 10 lunges forward on each leg 2) 10 push-ups 3) 10 reverse lunges on each leg 4) 10 tricep dips 5) 10 squat jumps.
Record how many you can complete in 5 minutes and aim to beat that time each week.
4. The ‘20 minutes to fat blast-off!’ class:
Virgin Active’s Fast Classes are a gym-goer’s favourite. Performed on mats in the gym area rather than in a studio, they are perfect for those who find themselves short on time and needing to nip away before the end of a class. You can do just a few minutes or stay for the full 15-20 minutes. One of the sessions is UGI, which is made up of a series of one-minute exercises and combines strength, cardio and core training. The instructor-led movements revolve around a 15-inch squishy stress ball, which can be stood on, knelt on, or usedaspartofaplankorevenasa weight. Another class is Puma HIIT – a series of fat-burning drills focusing on speed and agility (virginactive.co.uk).
5. Boost your metabolism in 20 seconds:
‘Perform 5 squats with shoulder presses, followed by 10 fast ladder climbs (where you pretend to climb a ladder lying on your front) on the floor. This exercise uses the large muscle groups, which increase muscle mass and EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) and, in turn, boosts your metabolic rate,’ says Giuseppe Minetti, founder of The Token Yard Club and an expert in metabolic fitness (thetokenyardclub.com).
6. The anywhere APP/android workout:
Couldn’t make it to the gym this morning? That once-plausible excuse no longer cuts it thanks to apps like DailyBurn. Here, you can choose from and download hundreds of short workouts, and up to a month’s worth of fitness plans that can be performed anywhere – not just in your living room. Stream it while at the gym for a futuristic personal training experience (dailyburn.com).
7. You(tube) can do it!:
Admittedly, we’ve mainly been YouTube-ing the John Lewis Christmas advert on repeat, but there’s an influx of high-quality HIIT workout videos on the video-sharing site too. The Nike Women channel boasts real-time interval and high-intensity virtual classes that hit the right note between encouraging and no-nonsense. Check them out at youtube.com/user/NikeWomen.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
5 Ways to Burn Fat Faster
Everyone who wants to burn fat wants to do it fast. Everyone. But, with so much advice and information floating around, it can be difficult to find an effective way to accomplish this goal.
The key to fat loss is calories. You have to expend more than you consume. There are two ways to do this: burn more calories with exercise and eat fewer calories. (Calculate how many calories you should eat.)
This article focuses on strength and nutrition factors that increase your ability to burn fat faster.
Gain Muscle
Over 60% of the calories you burn are from your body's resting metabolic rate (RMR), which is the amount of energy it takes to maintain vital functions. Even if you lie in bed all day, you'll still burn calories.
Your RMR depends on how much muscle you have. The more lean muscle, the more calories your body burns. So, it's important that you work out to build muscle. You will simultaneously increase your RMR and burn more calories through exercise.
What to do: To build the most muscle and burn the most calories during workouts, perform complex multi-joint exercises like Squats, Deadlifts, Pull-Ups, Rows, Push-Ups and Bench Presses. Do three to four sets of eight to 12 reps, and make sure your last few reps are difficult.
Get the "Afterburn" Effect
How you work out alters the amount of calories you burn after you finish exercising. Oxygen levels remain elevated to bring your body back to its resting state. The phenomenon is called excess post-oxygen consumption (EPOC). Your metabolism is elevated as your body restores oxygen and energy levels and clears waste through circulation.
Intense and intermittent exercise creates a larger EPOC effect than traditional cardio. You can actually burn more calories after your workout if you focus on high-intensity exercise, such as interval training.
What to do: Finish your weight-training workouts with an intense conditioner that targets your anaerobic system. Beginners should start with a 1:2 (or even 1:3) work-to-rest ratio, and eventually progress to a 1:1 ratio. (Try this interval workout.)
Eat More Protein
Protein aids in muscle growth, which helps increase your RMR. It keeps you full longer, which can come in handy when eating a calorie-restricted diet. Protein also has a high thermal effect, meaning that it takes more calories to digest. (Add muscle with the two-hour rule.)
What to do: Eat lean protein with every meal. Shoot for at least one gram of protein for each pound of body weight.
Take Fish Oil
A 2010 study published the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that fish oil supplementation increases lean mass and reduces fat mass. Also, fish oil reduces rates of heart disease, cancer symptoms and joint inflammation.
The exact amount of fish oil is debatable. The highlighted study called for four grams of fish oil per day (400mg EPA and 200mg DHA). However, I've seen it as high as one gram of fish oil for each percent of body fat. So, if you have 15 percent body fat, consume 15 grams of fish oil.
What to do: Take at least four grams of fish oil per day.
Consume a Pre-Workout Drink
Most athletes understand the benefits of post-workout nutrition; however, many ignore the importance of pre-workout nutrition. It may seem counterintuitive, because it calls for consuming calories to burn calories, but research supports it.
A study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise concluded that "timing protein supplementation before heavy resistance training (HRT) may be a simple and effective strategy to increase energy expenditure by elevating resting energy expenditure (REE) the day after HRT. Increasing REE could facilitate reductions in body fat mass and improve body composition if nutritional intake is stable." In other words, having some protein before your workout can raise your metabolism after your workout, which helps you burn fat.
What to do: Shortly before your weight-training session, drink (or eat) some whey protein or BCAAs. Or, drink a little of your post-workout shake.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Sexercise? Getting Busy Burns Calories, Study Finds
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| Sexercise? Getting Busy Burns Calories, Study Finds |
Does sex count as exercise? Good news: It might.
A new study finds that, in young people, sex burns an average of 4.2 calories a minute for men and 3.1 calories a minute for women. That intensity is moderate, the researchers reported online Oct. 24 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. In other words, sex is better exercise than a walk, but not quite as good as a jog.
"These results suggest that sexual activity may potentially be considered, at times, as a significant exercise," the researchers wrote.
Sex as exercise?
Whether sex gets to count as a workout is a long-debated topic. A popular myth holds that a typical session of sex burns between 100 and 300 calories, but no one has ever directly measured the calories burned.
A few brave couples have had sex for science, however. Famed sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson observed couples having sex and noted that heart rates reached as high as 180 beats per minute. For comparison, between 85 and 119 beats per minute count as moderate-intensity exercise for a 50-year-old. [Infographic: How Many Calories Am I Burning?]
In 1984, a study of 10 intrepid married couples published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine used heart rate and blood pressure monitoring, a fast-responding oxygen gas analyzer and electrocardiography to determine that, for men, self-stimulation increased heart rate by 37 percent. Man-on-top sex increased it by 51 percent.
One problem with these studies, however, is that the couples had to get busy in the lab, hooked up to wires and tubes — imagine the difficulty of reproducing a, ahem, typical sex session. Fortunately, new technology provides a way around this monitoring problem.
Using a wearable armband called SenseWear, University of Montreal researchers tracked the energy expenditures of couples as they had sex in their homes. The researchers recruited 21 heterosexual couples ages 18 to 35, choosing to focus on young people because energy expenditures vary widely across age.
Each person first completed a 30-minute moderate-intensity treadmill workout to provide a baseline measure of their calorie expenditure during exertion. They were then sent home with armbands and instructions to have sex four times over the course of the next month while wearing the sensors.
The SenseWear bands use accelerometers, temperature sensors and galvanic skin response sensors to come up with an accurate measurement of calories expended. Galvanic skin response refers to an increase of electrical conductivity that occurs when a person sweats.
Let's get physical
The recorded sex sessions lasted for an average of 24.7 minutes, with the shortest lasting 10 minutes and the longest stretching out over 57 minutes. Men expended more energy getting busy than women, even after controlling for men's greater body mass. On average, a sexual encounter cost men 101 calories, or 4.2 calories per minute. That's compared with 276 calories, or 9.2 per minute, on the treadmill.
Women expended an average of 69 calories during a session of sex, averaging 3.1 calories per minute. Again, the numbers weren't as high as a sweat-it-out session on the treadmill, during which women expended an average of 213 calories, or 7.1 per minute.
Still, the researchers said, people found sex pleasant (duh) and thus might be more likely to get horizontal than to schlep to the gym. Sex may also be a better way to burn calories than housework, though more research is needed: A study released in October in the journal BMC Public Health found that people overestimated how many calories they were burning while sweeping floors and vacuuming.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.
- 50 Sultry Facts About Sex
- 6 (Other) Great Things Sex Can Do For You
- Sexy Tech: 6 Apps That May Stimulate Your Love Life
Ref:
7 exercises for a flat stomach
Reverse curl
To do this exercise you will need either a Swiss ball or a medicine ball. The Swiss ball is easier to use, so if you want a challenge and have the strength, use the medicine ball instead. To do this exercise lie on your back, holding the Swiss ball or the medicine ball between your calves and thighs. With the ball firmly between your legs, pull your knees up towards your chest and squeeze your lower abdominal muscles. You can improve your stability using your arms, by keeping them flat on the floor.
This abs exercise will help you to tone-up that troublesome lower stomach area.
The plank
To do this exercise lie flat on your stomach, placing your forearms on the floor. Then, press down through your forearms and push your self up – using your toes as support - until your head, neck, back and legs are in a straight line.
This is an excellent flat stomach exercise because it strengthens your inner core muscles and burns more calories in comparison to to other abs exercises, such as sit ups. This is because to do the plank you have to engage the muscles in your legs, arms and behind too.
Boat pose
If you want to try a tough flat stomach exercise you should opt for the boat pose. Doing this yoga pose regularly will quickly whip you into shape. To begin, sit on the floor with bent knees. Lean back slightly and then bring your legs up and straighten them until your body forms a V shape. Your arms should be stretched out and parallel to one another. Keep your palms facing inwards. Remember to engage your abs muscles whilst doing this exercise and keep your stomach relaxed and flat.
This is a fantastic abs exercise because it targets and tones your lower-belly, which is a problem area for lots of people.
Mountain climber
To perform this exercise get into the plank position and pull your right knee inwards towards your chest. Then straighten your leg and return to the starting position. Now, repeat the exercise using your left leg.
As well as getting a decent cardiovascular workout when doing these mountain climbers, you will also workout your abs because in order to do this exercise you have to engage your core.
Medicine ball slam
For this exercise, you will need a non-bouncing medicine ball. Using both hands, lift your medicine ball above your head and place your feet shoulder-width apart. Your knees should be slightly bent. Now, explosively bring the ball down, bending at the waist and throw it at the floor. When performing this exercise you should not lose your balance or your posture. If you do, it might be because the medicine ball you are using is too heavy.
The medicine ball slam is a total body exercise that strengthens your core stability and will help you to tone up your tummy.
Bicycle crunch
This exercise is a must if you want a flat stomach. To begin, lie on your back. Place your palms beneath your head and lift your legs until they are positioned at a 90-degree angle. Keeping your right hand on your head, twist your body, bringing your right elbow towards your left knee. Alternate then, bringing your left elbow toward your right knee. Do not rush this exercises. To get maximum results this exercise needs to be executed slowly.
The bicycle crunch targets your lower abs and your obliques.
[Simple tweaks to ensure the best workout ever]
[Playboy Bunny workout for Gymbox - our review]
[Are you addicted to sugar? How to quit the sweet stuff]
[Simple tweaks to ensure the best workout ever]
[Playboy Bunny workout for Gymbox - our review]
[Are you addicted to sugar? How to quit the sweet stuff]
Skipping
As well as doing abs exercises, if you want a flat stomach you should try to incorporate some cardiovascular exercises into your flat belly workout. Although running, cycling and swimming are all excellent forms of cardiovascular training, skipping is useful because it can be performed indoors along with your other abs exercises. Although you have most probably skipped before, skipping for fitness requires you to work on your technique. One key thing worth noting is that you only need to lift your feet a few centimetres off the ground each time the rope passes. Also, make sure your ‘twirling’ action comes from the wrists rather than the shoulder.
Cardiovascular work is essential if you want a flat stomach because it helps you to burn calories and lose weight, which in turn will help to reveal your abs and flatten your stomach. However, skipping also works your transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis and your inner and outer obliques.
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