Strength Training Without Weights - Blast Post Pregnancy "Flab"

After having a baby, many new moms find that they all of a sudden don't have time to make it to the gym anymore. This sounds all too familiar to you, doesn't it? Well, fret no more, there are many different exercises that you can do right from the comfort of your home (you know, when baby naps), and the best part is... drumroll please... you don't even need weights! In this article, we will go over some strength training without weights moves for your lower body, upper body and abdominals. OK, let's get started.

Important: Please make sure that you have permission from your doctor before beginning any kind of exercise routine. Also always make sure that you are properly warmed up with some light cardio and stretching before you begin your strength workout.

1. Strength Training Without Weights For Lower Body

Lunges: To do a lunge properly, begin by standing up straight, with abs tucked in. Step your right leg forward with legs far enough apart so that when you bend the front (right) knee, your knee is in one straight line with your ankle (it shouldn't go further than that). To do the exercise, lower your hips towards the floor, bending both knees so that the right one is at a 90 degree angle, then push yourself up again, pushing through your right heel. Repeat, doing as many as you can (challenge yourself). Switch to left leg. Note: If you are problems with balancing while doing this exercise, lightly hold onto a chair.

Squats: Standing with your legs shoulder-width apart, hold your arms straight out in front of you (to help with your balance). Start to sit back, bending your knees, like you are about to sit in a chair, with your hips going as far back and down as you can. Your knees should be in one straight line with your ankles, never going past your toes. Try to keep your weight in your heels. Push yourself back up to the start position. Repeat.

Bridge: Laying on your back, with your hands laying straight at your sides, bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor. Pressing into your heels, raise your hips up towards the ceiling while squeezing your glutes. Hold. Lower back to starting position. Repeat.

2. Strength Training Without Weights For Upper Body

Tricep Dips: Grab a chair, stool or bench. Start by sitting on your chair, placing your hands on each side of your legs, fingers facing forwards, legs bent with feet on the floor in front of you. Move your hips forward so that they are off the chair, right in front of it. Begin to bend your elbows, making sure that they are pointing out behind you and move your hips down towards the floor. Push back up with your hands to the starting position. Repeat.

Arm Circles: To begin, stand tall and extend your arms straight out to your sides, so that they are in one straight line from your shoulders. Start making small circles forwards with both arms at the same time, doing as many as you can. Repeat, making backward circles.

Bicep Curls: You will need a towel (or a resistance band if you have one) for this exercise. Step on one end of the towel with your right foot, holding the other end in your right hand, palm facing forward. Bending your right arm up, pull on the towel until you feel a good resistance. Hold for about 20-30 seconds. Release. Repeat. Perform the same amount of reps on your left arm.

3. Strength Training Without Weights For Abdominals

Elbow Plank: To do this exercise, begin on your stomach, elbows on the floor, directly beneath your shoulders. While tightening your abs, push yourself up onto your elbows so that your legs are straight out behind you and you're on the balls of your feet. Your body should be in one straight line, without your hips or tummy sagging in the middle, and without your hips going too high up in the air. Hold position for as long as you can, keeping your abs tight, with the goal of working up to about a minute. Repeat (approximately 3 times).

Standing Knee/Elbow Crunch: Standing tall, extend your right arm straight up in the air while preparing to lift your left leg. While staying standing tall, with your abs contracted, bend in your left knee and your right elbow until they connect with each other. Return to start position. Repeat. Switch leg and arm and repeat.

Bicycle: This move is a classic, and we keep it around for a reason... it works. Start with laying on your back, hands behind your head for support, knees pulled in to your chest. Lift your shoulder blades off the floor, keeping one leg straight in the air (parallel to the floor), and twist your shoulder and elbow towards your bent knee, drawing that knee in. Twist the other way and repeat.

4. Strength Training Without Weights For the Whole Body

Swimming: Swimming is great for strength because of the resistance that the water gives you. You can even do water aerobics classes at your local pool, or just do your own exercises under the water such as punches and moving your arms back and forth several times. For your legs, walk or jog in the water. Swimming makes a great post pregnancy workout.

Yoga: Many people think of yoga as a relaxation type of workout, but in reality it is a great toning workout for your entire body. The best part? You are using "built-in" weight... your body's own weight. There are many different yoga workout DVDs out there, so try one out.

As we discussed, strength training without weights can be done, and there are many more exercise moves out there that you can do besides these. You don't need to have an expensive gym membership to get a good workout. Whether you are at home while watching t.v., at work, or travelling, these moves can always be done. Combine these with regular cardio workouts and good nutrition, and you will see your post pregnancy body transform to slim and trim.

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Should You Use Free Weights or Machines to Lose Weight?

A majority of people who are members of a gym or who work out have the goal to lose weight and get more fit. I am not saying every person wants to lose weight and train for fitness, but a majority of people are really looking for mostly health benefits, being able to fit in their clothes better and have a better quality of life.

So the question I get asked in the gym most often is, "Should I do free weights or machines if I want to lose weight and get toned?"

My answer is usually the same which is, you want to use both. But I want to give you an explanation of the differences between them and how you can best use them to get the most results possible without making your workout go on for two hours a day.

Free Weights vs Machines

Free weights are mostly used to incorporate your larger muscle groups such as legs, chest, and back. What they will mostly do for you is build a strong foundation so you can add on more lean muscle tissue which will help increase your metabolism.

When you perform free weight exercises, you cause your body to use more than one muscle group. This benefits you as far as calorie burning is concerned because you are getting more of your body involved in the exercise and workouts. The rule of thumb is, the more muscle groups in your body that are being stimulated while exercising, the more calories you will burn.

If you are looking for burning the most calories while you are doing resistance training, then I suggest you focus on free weight exercises instead of machines. The biggest myth out there is, if you lift free weights you will get bulky. This is a huge myth, so do not worry.

Machines are mostly used for isolation. For example, if you do a tricep pushdown you are only focusing on your tricep. Machines are great to use after you have built a foundation of lean muscle tissue. I like to look at machines as the equivalent of a roof and its role in building a house. If you are expecting to build a large home, you would not put on the roof first if you do not have a foundation.

The best times to use machines are if you are planning on doing some more advanced techniques such as drop sets or super sets where the intensity may be dangerous to do on free weights if you do not have a spotter.

So a great question I get asked is, "Which exercise is better for toning my legs? The inner and outer thigh machine or a squat?" My response to that would be the squat because you would use more muscles, therefore building up your thighs and glutes and burning more calories.

Please contact me with any questions or comments at greg@fiture.co. You can also visit my website at http://www.fiture.co/. I'll love to hear from you.

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Women and Weights: Good or Bad?

In general most of the clients I train are females and more often than not, many of them are reluctant to lift weights. I think that this is because at first when a woman thinks of weight lifting they associate it with the "muscular" look of a man. The first thought associated with weights by many people is a 250lb bodybuilder, however, what is often forgotten is that it has taken these bodybuilders 10-20 years of hard work and really aspiring to look that way.

Not to worry ladies, this doesn't necessarily have to happen to you; there are many other ways to utilize weight training that won't make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Weight training can be extremely beneficial for fat loss, especially compared to doing stationary cardio. Ladies, just so you know for every pound of muscle you put on, you burn approximately 35 calories a day, which means less fat on the body.

A great way to start is by using machines. Machines require less stabilizer muscles to perform an activity, making it very effective and safe for beginners and actually aid in keeping you in the appropriate position to avoid injury, and maximize results. While performing exercises on a machine do sets at an 8-12 rep range, with a moderate pace, and maintaining proper form. This will lead to building muscular endurance and fat loss.

For women, weight training can have a number of benefits.

Weight lifting can lead to a reduction in body fat, strength gains without size gain, a decreased risk of osteoporosis, decreased chances for injury and an overall increase in mental and physical wellness. Besides, who doesn't want to be stronger? Being stronger can mean being able to perform physical labor with ease, a more active lifestyle, looking and feeling healthy as well as being able to kick your boyfriends a%#.

By incorporating weight training into your routine, some of your long cardio sessions can be trimmed down because the anaerobic weight training sessions will burn off that fat.

Here are some simple tips to follow throughout your workout to keep the heart rate up, and keep the calories burning:

• Keep weight training sessions intense (you should be sweating)

• Faster pace (circuit)

• Variation sets (drop sets, supersets)

• Shorter rest periods in between sets (you should never rest enough that you have caught your breath completely)

• Include bodyweight exercises in your routine (pushups, pull-ups, dips)

To get a sexy toned body, you must first burn the fat and build some muscle. Follow the previous steps, keep weight training included in your routine and follow a healthy nutritious diet. Weight training does not necessarily mean looking like Arnold but it can lead to more comprehensive workout sessions, and getting that thin waistline all you ladies are after.

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Arm Workouts Without Weights - 5 Exercises to Get You Amazing Arms

After having a baby, many new moms may find it harder to make time to get to the gym. It may end up just being more convenient to exercise at home. The only downside is that you may not have all that expensive gym equipment at home, right? Strength training is an important part of getting back in shape after having a baby, so in this article we will go over some arm workouts without weights that you can do to start get those arms back in shape. A couple things before we get started. First, please make sure you have the "go ahead" from your doctor to exercise before beginning any exercise routine. Second, always make sure you warm up your body before beginning your workout. I recommend about 5-10 minutes of light cardio and stretching.

For cardio, you can do things like jumping jacks, light jogging or marching on the spot, stair climbing, jump rope (no need for a real jump rope for this; you can just pretend), etc.

Get your arms ready by doing a few big arm circles backwards, then forwards. Stretch your biceps by clasping your hands behind you keeping your arms straight, then raise them as far up as you can until you feel the stretch comfortably. Stretch your shoulders by holding your right arm tight against your chest until you feel the stretch in your shoulder, then repeat with the other arm. Stretch your triceps by pulling your right arm up beside your right ear and bending your arm back behind you, making sure your elbow doesn't drift forwards away from your ear; hold. Repeat with your left arm. There, you should be good to go now! Let's get into the arm workouts without weights exercises now:

1. One Arm Row

For this exercise, you can use a can of soup, bottled water, or anything else you have that is similar in size/weight. You will also need a stool or bench for support. To begin, have your "weight" (soup can, or whatever you are using) in your left hand and put your right knee and right hand on the bench, so that you are in a table top type of position. Your left hand should be dangling down beside you. Your back should be straight and abdominals engaged. Make sure your head and neck are in one straight line with your back. To do this exercise, bending your left arm, pull it up close in at your side so that your elbow points to the ceiling. Slowly lower the weight down again. Repeat; shoot for 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions on each arm. This exercise targets the upper back, biceps and shoulders.

2. Close-Grip Push-Ups

This is one of the arm workouts without weights exercises that allows you to just use your body weight. This effective exercise is done by going into a push-up position, except that you want your hands close together with your thumbs and your index fingers touching each other, making a triangle. (Note: If you find push-up exercises difficult, have your knees on the floor throughout the exercise.) Keeping your body in one straight line, from head to toe, slowly lower yourself so you are hovering just above the floor, push up again. Repeat. These can be challenging so do only as many as you can but make sure you do the exercise until you feel you just can't do another one if your life depended on it! Try for about 3 sets of 8 if you can. This exercise targets the triceps.

3. Arm Circles

These are one of those arm workouts without weights exercises that you can do anywhere, anytime. Standing up completely straight, extend your arms straight out to the side, so they are parallel to the floor and in one straight line from your shoulders. Start making small forward circles with both arms, aiming for about 20 of them, then repeat doing 20 backward circles. If this is too easy for you, hold a can of soup, bottle of water, etc. in each hand as you do them. This exercise targets your shoulders, triceps and biceps.

4. Push-Ups

This good old-fashioned exercise has stayed consistent throughout the years for a reason... simply put, because it works! Assume the push-up position, and again, if having your whole body off the floor in one straight line is too difficult, the variation is to have your knees on the floor. If it's still too difficult, you can perform the push-ups against a wall. Start in whichever push-up position you choose with your hands flat on the floor (or wall) directly under your shoulders. Make sure your body is in one straight line, no matter which position you choose. Engage your abdominals and make sure your body doesn't sag towards the floor. Slowly, bending your arms, lower yourself so you are just hovering over the floor, push yourself back up. Repeat as many times as you can until you just simply can't do any more! Try for 3 sets of 8 to start. If you can't do that many to start, that's okay, just do what you can! This exercise targets the chest, triceps and shoulders.

5. Yoga

Yoga is an excellent way to build lean muscle, as well as flexibility. It is one of those arm workouts without weights that will make you feel like you just did a weights workout! Why? Because you use your own body weight in yoga exercises. Yoga will not only work your arms, but your entire body as well. It also helps to get rid of tension from the stress we all have at one point or another. So, take up a yoga class or buy a yoga DVD!

So, get started on these arm workouts without weights exercises today, combined with some cardio exercise and a healthy diet, and you will most definitely start to see your post pregnancy body change for the better! All the best!

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How To Build Muscle Fast Without Weights

The major mistake you might make if you want to grow muscle is to follow an exercise regimen in a muscle building magazine. Nearly all of the guys you see on these papers are on anabolic steroids or these individuals have a naturally blessed mesomorph edge which permits these individuals to improve muscle sooner than typical societies like you and me. Following are the tips to build muscles without weight fast.

Three key points you need to grow muscle:

Do Heavy Weight Lifting

When you lift weighty items, components of your muscles will breakdown, and then reconstruct them better and healthier as compared to what they had been earlier. It doesn't mean gong to the gym and start using big weights. You must continue the best exercise routines as well.

A very effective exercise for building muscle mass is mixture lifts. Now i want to introduce you things like deadlifts, mass rows, pushups, the seat press and many more.

I watch many people in the exercise center banging out all types of isolated physical workouts which is a foolish MISTAKE! I continuously see them performing limitless dumbbell locks, triceps exercise, lower-leg postponements, etc. These types of workouts Will Never make the quick muscle expansion which you desire.

Eat Big To Grow Big

Listen, actually I don't mind the quantity of exercises you possibly did, how much weight you deadlifted, or the number of barbells you raised. If you are not consuming passable calories you definitely will not build muscle mass. Food is the best source that your muscles require to be superior. The most vital activity for bodybuilding is the right exercise and diet plan.

What quantity of food is enough for mass building? To start, you must eat calories at least 20 times a day. For example, if your weight is 132 pounds, you'd need to consume at least 2640 calories every day to start building your muscle mass.

Let me tell one more thing, a person who has to do physical work all day needs more calories to build muscle mass. We can take the example of construction worker who has to do labor during the day; he needs to consume more calories than an office worker who sits all day.

Sound sleep

Relaxation and a free mind is always important for good health, so without rest, the ability to grow muscle mass will slow down. Why? Because our muscle tissue builds whenever we are relaxing! They Do Not improve in the fitness center though we are using weights. Actually, when you lift heavy things you are really tiring down the muscle threads. Simply put, you need seven to eight hours of sleep every night for good health and also to build muscle without using weights fast.

If you want to learn more visit HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE FAST where you will get the most useful advice on muscle building. Be sure to visit http://www.aiaangola.com/ website today!

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