Did You Lose Weight The Right Way in 2010?

Did your weight yo-yo this year? Did you place emphasis on weight loss instead of fat loss? Losing weight the healthy way is the only way! Health is more important than weight loss. Don't lose your health and self respect trying quick weight loss tactics. Check out this video about a former Biggest Loser television show contestant who experienced major weight loss (and disappointment):



Your goal should be to be the biggest fat loser. Losing huge amounts of weight can be gained back quickly if you don't build muscle mass. Build muscle, burn fat, speed up your metabolism and lose weight (and keep it off)!

So, here are some tips to help you achieve your best health and fitness:

1. Make a commitment TODAY to a lifestyle of health and fitness! Without this commitment, you will eventually go back to short-term solutions like quick weight loss!

2. Make the needed changes to your eating habits! Severely limit foods like sugars, processed foods, fast foods, fat-filled packaged foods, etc. Eat more foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats.

Get help with your meal plan if needed! Get your nutrition mainly from food! Add in supplements like multivitamins and fish oil to support your meal plan and improve your health.

3. Commit to regular exercise and an active lifestyle! Walk as much as you can everyday!

4. Get enough rest! If you don't sleep enough, your body won't function as well as it could--that means about 7-8 hours of sleep every night for most people.

5. Schedule that doctor's appointment to see where your health stands! High blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. can be controlled, if needed.

If you want to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Top 5 Nutrition Tips For Burning Fat and Losing Weight

If you want lasting weight loss and fat loss, you must monitor what you eat and how much. It takes more than just working out hard to reach your goals. Its important to eat enough but not too much or too little. What you eat matters. Eating 1000 calories of healthy food is more effective than eating 1000 calories of junk food.

Follow my Top 5 Nutrition Tips and you will have a better chance of losing the fat and weight and keeping it off.


1. Eat breakfast every day! Your body has been fasting all night. A good healthy breakfast gets your metabolism kicked off for the day. Eat small meals every 3-4 hours to keep up your energy and to keep your metabolism humming along all day.

2. Plan and pack your meals for the day. This way, you are more likely to stay with your nutrition plan. Include foods such as lean meats, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat diary and nuts. Severely limit sugars of all forms, fast food and foods in a box or bag.
Comply with your meal plan at least 90% of the time.

3. Eat protein with every meal. Protein helps you feel fuller for a longer period of time (thereby eating less) and repairs your muscles after a tough workout.

4. Carbohydrates are not your enemy! They are your body's preferred source of energy (especially during exercise). Its important to have a meal plan that includes the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats). The primary cause of weight gain is a caloric surplus (eating more calories than you burn). There are some instances where carb cycling can be a great strategy to burn fat. But, you should master the basics of nutrition first.

5. Build muscle and burn fat to change your body to lean and toned. Don't skip your post-workout meal. It is important to help your body recover from intense exercise (especially weight training).

You don't have to eat immediately after your workout (if you want to eat immediately after a workout, YOU DIDN'T WORKOUT VERY HARD)! There is a 45 minute to 1 hour "window of opportunity" where replenishing your body's fuel (carbs, protein, fats) will optimize your tissue's repair and growth. If you miss this "window of opportunity" it is gone forever. A carb/protein shake will work well.

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Top Holiday Eating Tip For Any Season

There is one holiday eating tip that you need to do every day. Eat protein with every meal.

At your holiday parties, get full on protein foods first. It will help you eat less of the condiments, desserts and other high-fat foods at the party. Most holiday parties have plenty of foods loaded with protein. Nuts, ham, turkey, chicken, fish, etc. are great foods to eat. Protein helps control your blood sugar if you happen to eat carbohydrates.

It takes your body longer to digest protein, so you will fill fuller for a longer period of time by eating more foods rich in protein (this should help you eat fewer calories during the day).

Protein is also used by your body to repair and rebuild damaged tissues as a result of a tough workout (especially weight training). Quickly digesting protein shakes work well after a workout. Other daytime and nighttime meals could be comprised of slowly digesting protein (such as lean meats) that will give a constant release of amino acids into your system during the day and overnight.

So, when used right, protein will help you build a lean body and help your weight loss/fat loss efforts.

Get your Free Holiday Eating Tips Book!

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Better Fat Loss Results with Short Workouts

Are you frustrated with your fat loss and weight loss results. Make adjustments. Doing the same thing will not give you different results. Short, intense workouts will burn more fat and help you lose more weight.



Are you working out 1-2 hours a day? You don't need to do that to accomplish your goals. Matter of fact, these long workouts will lead to boredom and repetitive stress injuries. Thirty to 40-minute weight training workouts will get the job done.

A woman asked me one day why she wasn't making any progress on her fat loss and weight loss. After asking her a few questions, I found two main problems with her workout program:

1) She wasn't eating right and

2) she was working out TOO LONG (2 hours per workout) and TOO SLOW (workout included 1 hour of machine cardio)!

I don't know who has time to workout for 2 hours....alot of you have this mindset: longer workouts are better.....this couldn't be further from the truth....

Here is a good 30-minute workout that will serve as a strength and cardio workout. If you have been doing the heavy weight training for a while, this workout can be a good change of pace for you:

--Y bodyweight squats, 12 repetitions, moderate pace
--Pushup Plank, 10 repetitions, 10 second hold
--Squat jumps, 10 repetitions, full speed
--Pushups, 12 repetitions
--Ball Ab Rollouts, 12 repetitions, moderate pace
--Pullups, 10 repetitions
--Cross body mountain climber, 12 repetitions each leg
--Do this circuit 3 times

Do this circuit with little or no rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes between circuits.

The truth is that no weight training workout (including bodyweight training) needs to exceed 50 minutes....and interval cardio workouts should be about 20 minutes....shorter, more intense workouts will give you more calorie-burn, more fat-burn, more weight loss and fewer repetitive stress injuries! And, you will have more time to do the things you want to do in life.

One more tip: You don't need to workout everyday. Five to 6 days of working out is enough! Some weeks, you might need 2 days off. Listen to your body!

Workout smarter and harder, not longer!

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Calcium and Vitamin D Pills Questioned

The prestigious Institute of Medicine issued a report recommending that adult North Americans need only 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 600 IU of vitamin D per day, and that most people do not need supplements. Taking too much calcium can cause kidney stones, and taking calcium without also taking vitamin D may increase risk for heart disease. Very large amounts of vitamin D may increase risk for fractures. The authors believe that adolescent girls may be the only group that is getting too little dietary calcium (Report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, November 30, 2010).

Those of you who have read my newsletters for the past few years know that I am very concerned about vitamin D deficiency. However, I do not recommend taking vitamin D pills unless your blood level of vitamin D is less than 75 nmol/L (30 ng/L). How have scientists decided that your blood level of vitamin D should be above 75 nmol/L? A major function of vitamin D is help your body absorb calcium. When you lack vitamin D, ionized blood calcium levels drop. This causes your parathyroid gland to become overactive and produce too much parathyroid hormone. Too much parathyroid hormone forces calcium out of bones to weaken them. The lowest level of vitamin D that keeps parathyroid hormone at normal levels is 75 nmol/L. If your blood level of vitamin D3 is less than 75 nmol/L, you need extra sunlight or to take at least 2000 IU of vitamin D3/day until you reach a normal level.

Hundreds of studies show that people with low blood levels of vitamin D are more likely to suffer many different cancers, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis, bone fractures, autoimmune diseases, decreased immunity, and so forth. However, except for weakened bones, these are associations, not cause-and-effect. To prove causation, we need studies showing that giving pills to raise blood levels of vitamin D prevents or cures cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions. So far this has been done only for bone diseases, fractures and prevention of influenza. It may be that vitamin D deficiency is only a marker for other factors, such as lack of outdoor exercise, that contribute to all of these diseases. If this is true, then taking vitamin D pills would not correct the underlying problem.

Researchers at Emory University studied vitamin D status in twins living in different North American locations. They concluded that vitamin D deficiency runs in families and is mostly genetic (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2010).

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Tone Obliques With Cross Body Mountain Climbers

Add cross body mountain climbers to your ab exercise routine. This exercise will build strength and help tone your obliques. Cross body mountain climbers also work the calves, quadriceps, glutes, back, chest, triceps and shoulders. You will need high levels of core strength to do this exercise the right way for each set.





External obliques - these muscles are on the side and front of the abdomen and wrap around your waist.

Internal obliques - these muscles lie under the external obliques and run in the opposite direction.

Do the exercise this way:

1. Start by getting in the push up position with your arms fully extended. Keep your hips and torso in a straight line. Don't let your hips sag and don't point your butt in the air during this exercise.

2. Do the exercise by moving your left knee straight up and across your body to the right armpit area (keep your abs braced). Also, don't let your foot touch the ground as you do the movement. Move your left leg back to the starting position and repeat with your right leg. Alternate your leg movements until you have completed all repetitions.

If you are doing the mountain climber exercise then just add on the cross body mountain climber!

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Prevent Butt, Hip And Thigh Injuries

You can prevent painful butt, hip and thigh injuries by conditioning your muscles to prepare for workouts. For example, tight hip flexors lead to some very painful injuries.



Your athletic movements during workouts are dominated by the hips, glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. All of these muscle regions need to work properly or you will not go very long without injury.

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle of the buttocks. The anatomy of the gluteal region (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus) is shown below:



The glutes don't fire properly when the hip flexors (psoas, iliacus, tensor fascia latae, etc.) are overactive or tight. This can happen due to poor flexibility or prolonged sitting. When the hip flexors don't work properly, its antagonist (mainly the gluteus maximus) becomes weak.

This is known as reciprocal inhibition (when muscles on one side of a joint become tight or overactive, it shuts down the muscles on the other side of the joint). When a prime mover (such as the gluteus maximus) becomes weak, other muscles (synergists) take over the function that the prime mover should be doing.

Some injuries that occur because of inactive glutes are hamstring injuries, piriformis syndrome, knee ACL tears and low back injuries. Okay, enough of the technical stuff!

So, what do you need to do to fire up your glutes?! First, you need to understand why your glutes are not firing properly. They are probably not receiving the neural drive from your central nervous system.

So, it is probably not an issue of strength. Their are some exercises you can do to correct this problem. First, you need to lengthen tight muscles. The stretches are listed as follows (use self myofascial release with foam roller before doing these stretches):

1. Hip Flexor Stretch
2. Quadriceps Stretch
3. Bodyweight Lateral Lunges (for adductors)

Then, you need to activate (fire up) your glutes with these exercises:

1. Glute Bridge
2. Opposite Leg Opposite Arm Raise
3. Glute Kickbacks

Lastly, exercise the fired up glutes with these exercises:

1. Bodyweight squats
2. Lateral tube walks (pictured above)
3. Walking Lunges

Get your rear in gear and take care of your body!

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Read more »

Children Can Lift Weights at Any Age

Lifting weights before puberty makes children stronger and has not been shown to stunt growth or damage the growth plates in their bones (Pediatrics, November 2010). The older the child, the greater the gain in muscle strength from resistance training. The more and the heavier weights they lift, the stronger they became. A surprising finding was that children did not show a significant increase in strength when they enter puberty, a time when their testosterone levels rise significantly.

The best time for future competitive athletes to start training is before they reach puberty. Having large strong muscles makes you a better athlete, and starting training before puberty enlarges the bones that are used primarily in that sport. Muscles growth is limited by the size of the bones on which they attach. The larger the bone, the stronger the muscle. Children who start to play tennis before they go into puberty have larger bones in the arm that holds the racquet. They also have larger bones in their tennis arm than those who start to play tennis later in life. The larger and stronger your muscles, the harder you can hit a tennis ball. As little as four weeks of hard exercise in growing animals increases bone mass (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, October 2000). This suggests that children who start training while they are still growing will have an advantage over athletes who start training after puberty, because having larger bones allow a person to grow larger muscles.

Lifting weights during growth has not been shown to prevent children from growing to their full potential height. Bones grow from epiphyses, growth centers that are the weakest part of bone, but strength training during growth has not been shown to damage these growth centers. Children who lift weights in supervised programs do not suffer more injuries than adults. With increased strength comes increased speed and increased coordination in movements requiring strength.

In most sports, the strongest athlete wins. Weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey, who won three Olympic gold medals and is probably the greatest weightlifter who ever lived, started lifting weights when he was eight years old. Muscles can only grow to be as strong as the strength of the bones on which they attach, so people with the biggest bones are the ones who can grow the biggest muscles.

Children who lift weights do not grow muscles as large as older people do. Muscles are made up of thousands of individual muscle fibers. Each muscle fiber is innervated by a single nerve, although each nerve can innervate many muscle fibers. When you contract a muscle, you contract only a few muscle fibers at one time. With strength training, children learn to contract more muscle fibers at the same time, so they become stronger primarily by being able to contract more muscle fibers. Adults commonly grow larger muscles.

There is great concern that children may be subjected to unreasonable coaches and inconsiderate parents who place athletic training above the child's own needs and desires. In one study from Southern California, 90 percent of female cross country runners who stated running before they were nine stopped running before they reached high school. In 1967, I started competitive long distance running for young children and was the first national chairman of the age group committee of the Amateur Athletic Union and The Road Runners Club of America. Children came from all over the United States and Canada to compete in age group cross country and track running. Many were coached by experienced runners and trained with the same types of workouts used by the older runners. These children rarely suffered from injuries, and when they were injured, they recovered faster than the older runners. However, the real problem of starting children in competition at an early age is burnout. My own son started serious running when he was five and ran a mile in four minutes and 52 seconds when he was nine. He stopped competitive running when he was eleven.

The concern about serious athletic training for young children is more mental than physical. Children should not begin serious athletic training unless they want to do it. They should take days off from training when they want to, and their coaches and parents must allow them to be children.

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Burn More Calories And Fat With Balance Exercises

You can burn more calories and fat with exercises that require large amounts of dynamic balance. Why? Because these balance-type exercises are tougher to do than sitting or stand-still exercises.



Improve your dynamic balance and you will be more athletic and leaner. Here are some examples:

Incorporate many one-legged exercises such as power step ups, single leg squats, single leg good mornings, single leg medicine ball exercises, etc.

Include exercises with your eyes closed to improve limb position sense (proprioception).

Train your body in all 3 planes of motion to improve multi-planar balance. An example would be a grouping of walking lunges, side lunges and transverse lunges.

Train on different surfaces such as grass, sand, astro-play and soft surfaces. Doing this will burn more calories because of difficulty.

Do combinations of one-arm and one-leg exercises such as single leg squat-to-single arm shoulder press. Single-limbed exercises are more intense than two-limbed exercises.

Jump rope every day using different variations---two feet, one foot, shuffle, etc. Jumping rope is one of the best body coordination exercises out there and burns tons of calories. And, speed jump rope is even better.

Better muscular balance will give you better dynamic balance. For example, your quadriceps should not be significantly stronger than your hamstrings. This helps prevent injuries.

Quickness and agility drills will improve your dynamic balance. These full speed drills will burn tons of calories and sculpt your body.

Balance training also improves your core strength.

Train hard and smart!

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Read more »

Burn Back Fat With Weight Training

Burn back fat and build up your back muscles with bentover dumbbells rows. Bentover dumbbell rows allow you to work your lats using heavier weights. Your lower back will be worked more if you row with both arms at the same time. You will also work your obliques in the process.



If you experience back pain doing two-armed rows, then try doing one-armed rows so you can support your body with the other arm.

Do two-armed bentover dumbbell rows this way:

1. With your feet about shoulder width apart, bend over and grab the dumbbells. Keep your back straight (don't bow or arch back) and keep your head in line with your torso. Look straight down during the exercise.

2. Pull dumbbells up to your side until they make contact with your ribs. Keep your elbows close to your side during the exercise. As you pull the dumbbells up, squeeze your shoulder blades together.

3. Don't curl the dumbbells as you lift. Curling will allow too much use of your biceps. This is primarily a back exercise. Return the dumbbells until your arms are fully extended. That is one repetition.

Build your back muscles and burn fat with bentover dumbbell rows.

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

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10 Fat-Burning Strength Exercises

You want your strength exercises to primarily build muscle, burn fat, improve bone density and sculpt your body.

One way to build muscle mass is through heavy weight lifting. “Heavy” is relative to your body weight and strength. According to the research, doing this type of weight lifting will give you exercise-induced testosterone increases. Of course, this will help you build muscle mass.

So, how much weight is heavy enough? Your repetition range for exercises should be between 3-5 (you would have a difficult time lifting these repetitions). You would typically do 4-5 sets of each exercise.

Strength exercises for fat loss should focus on maximizing your time at the gym. Build more muscle mass to speed up your metabolism and burn more fat.

To recruit more muscle fibers during workouts and improve your success, focus more on MULTI-JOINT OR COMPOUND EXERCISES.

COMPOUND EXERCISES will help you burn more fat because you are working large muscle groups in your body. You will also burn more calories after your workout.

Examples of SINGLE-JOINT EXERCISES are biceps curl, seated calf raise, leg extension, leg curl and triceps pushdowns. Spend less of your time on these exercises.

Women can also do this type of training without fear of bulking up too much!

Here are 10 strength exercises to enhance fat loss:

1. Squats - Bodyweight, dumbbell, bulgarian, one-legged or barbell....do your squats!

2. Deadlift - Deadlift is a must for your exercise program. It is also one of the best ways to build muscle thickness in your lower back. Lower back fat is a problem for many people.

3. One-Arm Dumbbell Rows - If you're trying to build up back muscles and burn back fat, bentover dumbbells rows should be in your routine. Bentover dumbbell rows allow you to work your lats using heavier weights. Your lower back will be worked more if you row with both arms at the same time. You will also work your obliques in the process.

4. Pullups - The pullup is not just a back muscle exercise. Pullups work your lats (and other back muscles), core, shoulders, arms, chest, biceps and improve grip strength. That's why you should be doing pullups!

5. Clock Lunges with Dumbbells - Clock lunges work your body in all planes of motion. Lunge with your right leg at 12 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock. That’s 1 repetition for your right leg.

Lunge with your left leg at 12 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 7 o’clock and 6 o’clock. That’s 1 repetition for left leg. Maintain upright posture throughout to improve core strength.

6. Dumbbell Chest Press on Ball - Doing the chest press on the ball forces you to balance while lifting. Each arm also has to do equal work. Regular bench press is always an option.

7. Standing Barbell or Dumbbell Shoulder Press - Doing an exercise on your feet (closed-chain) activates more muscles and that's what you want. The standing shoulder press will not only work your shoulders and arms but will also activate your core muscles. And, since you are standing, your lower body also has to do some work.

8. Step Ups with Dumbbells on Knee-High Platform - The step up is one of the best exercises to strengthen your glutes and tone your leg muscles. Weakness in the gluteus medius can result in knee and back injuries. Weakness in the gluteus medius also contributes to instability when you walk, run and jump.

9. Pushups on Medicine Ball (weight on back) - This exercise will really challenge your chest, arms, shoulders and core muscles. Don't let your butt sag during the exercise!

10. Triceps Bar Dips (weighted) - One of the best upper body exercises. Don't lean forward on descent.

Build major muscle mass and watch your body begin to sculpt like never before!

Learn how to lose weight the right way and get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Read more »

Burn Fat, Lose Weight With Plyometrics

Plyometrics remains one of the best ways to help burn fat, lose weight and really sculpt your body. If your body has the needed strength and stability, plyometrics will improve your body's composition (more muscle, less fat) by leaps and bounds.



Here is a good general plyometric workout to improve your body's shape and conditioning.

1. In Place Vertical Jumps, full speed, Double Leg, 3 sets/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

2. Depth Jumps, 2 sets/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

3. Bounding and Lateral Bounding, full speed, 2 sets of each/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

4. Lateral Cone Jumps, full speed, 2 sets/10 each side, 1 minute rest between sets

5. Standing Broad Jumps, full speed, 2 sets/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

6. Dumbbell Calf Raises, full speed, 3 sets/25, 2 minutes rest between sets

Do a plyometric workout no more than 2 days a week because of the full speed intensity of this type of workout.

Avoid knee injuries by perfecting jumping and landing techniques before progressing to full speed plyometric workouts.

Learn how to lose weight the right way and get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Read more »

Office Workers' Weight Gain Risk

It doesn't take a genius to know that office workers move less during the day and face weight gain risks. Sitting at a desk all day or being confined to a cubicle restricts your movement. And, since all movement burns calories, office workers have to take steps to manage weight.

According to a new study from the Université de Montréal, office workers have become less active over the last three decades and this decreased activity may partly explain the rise in obesity.

I'm not sure it required a study to discover this finding but I'll take it. Fitness trainers look for solutions to weight gain and fat gain.

If you are an office worker, here are some tips to help you manage your weight:

1. Take advantage of your office space during breaks or lunch.
You can easily fit in a 15-20 minute workout with the following exercises:

--pushups
--ab curl ups
--triceps dips
--bodyweight squats or lunges
--dumbbell exercises like shoulder presses and rows
--calf raises
--planks and bridges

You could rotate brisk walks with these exercises during your breaks. Also, use your space for flexibility exercises, pilates or yoga. Working a desk job can cause postural problems such as rounded shoulders, tight hip flexors and stooped over posture.

If you walk around at work most of the time, you have the movement already needed. You can still do the strength exercises listed above. Strength exercises build muscle and speed up your metabolism.

2. Walk or bike to work, if practical.

3. Walk the stairs instead of riding in the elevator.

4. Do exercises on the stability ball.

5. Jump rope during work breaks.

6. Get a group of co-workers to walk together. This keeps exercise fun and supportive.

7. Challenge other departments to a volleyball or soccer game once or twice a week. This is for bragging rights! You won’t even think of it as exercise. The best exercise is fun exercise!

An active life is part of a quality life. Take advantage of all your opportunities to improve your overall fitness and health.

Learn how to lose weight the right way and get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Shrinking Waist Size Improves Your Health Risks

Burn fat and shrink your waist size. Doing so will reduce your risk of dying from diseases like cancer and heart disease. Don't just take my word for it....researchers from the American Cancer Society warns us about the deadly risks of having too much belly fat. Read my article about waist-to-hip ratio.

In the research study led by Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, American Cancer Society strategic director, Pharmacoepidemiology, researchers examined the association between waist circumference and the risk of death among 48,500 men and 56,343 women age 50 and older who had taken part in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, a subset of the larger Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II).

Participants filled out detailed questionnaires about their health and lifestyle, and also measured their waist size with a tape measure. They were then tracked for 9 years.

“We were interested in looking at waist size because it’s strongly correlated to fat tissue in the abdomen, which is the most dangerous kind of fat issue,” said Jacobs.

What The Research Found:

Jacobs and his colleagues found that people with very large waists (47 inches or larger in men, 42 inches or larger in women) had approximately twice the risk of death compared to those with the smallest waists (35 inches in men, 30 inches in women) during the study period.

And, this is the interesting part about the study: it didn't matter if the person was normal weight, overweight or obese (according to body mass index).

“We found a pattern showing that expanding waist size was linked to a greater risk of dying regardless of body weight,” said Jacobs. “Similarly, people with the smallest waist sizes had the lowest risk. The take home message here is watch your waist size regardless of your weight.”

Spot Reduction Won't Work

Spot reduction won't work. Burn total body fat by doing full body strength training and eating healthy food. This will help you burn fat off your waist. Doing 1000 ab crunches a day won't get the job done.

“There’s no evidence that doing a particular set of abdominal moves will reduce belly fat. The best thing you can do is to eat better and exercise more,” says Jacobs.

Build muscle, burn fat and shrink your body!

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13 Metabolism Tips For Weight Loss

Metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories you'd burn if you did nothing all day (or the amount of calories your body needs to maintain itself in a resting state).

You will use your BMR and daily activity level (including exercise) to set your daily calorie needs for weight loss or maintenance.

1. Your metabolism will slow down as you age, especially starting at about age 30. Stay active throughout your life to maintain health and an active metabolism!

2. Gender - Men generally burn more calories at rest than women because men have more lean mass. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate will be. Muscle mass can be maintained/increased (and body fat decreased) throughout your life through interval cardio and weight training.

Weight training also helps to keep your bones strong (preventing osteoporosis).

3. Heredity plays a part in your body's rate of metabolism.

4. Thyroid problems may cause your metabolism to slow down.

5. No matter how fast your metabolism, a caloric surplus (consuming more calories than you burn) causes you to gain fat and weight.

6. One surprising thing about metabolism is this: the more you weigh, the faster your metabolism will be. This happens because your body must work harder to maintain itself. That is also why it is easier to lose weight in the beginning of a fat loss/weight loss program.

The overweight person's metabolism is running so high that any cut in calories will result in quick weight losses. On the other hand, its easier for that person to regain the weight because her or his body now needs fewer calories to sustain itself.

7. A slow or sluggish metabolism is not the major cause of weight gain. A caloric imbalance is the cause of weight gain (consuming more calories than you burn in a day). If you have a slow or sluggish metabolism? A brisk 30 minute walk each day would get you started in the right direction to speed it up.

8. Lifting weights (including bodyweight exercises) and cardio exercise will give you a higher metabolic rate. A combination of circuit weight training and high intensity interval cardio will keep your metabolism "revved up" throughout your life.

9. Sweating is not a gauge of how many calories you are burning. This may be bad news for sauna and steam room lovers! Weight loss or gain is a product of calories consumed or burned. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight and vice-versa.

10. The best time to exercise is whenever you have the most energy. Working out at any time of the day will increase metabolism for several hours, depending on intensity.

11. Your metabolism doesn't necessarily have to slow down as you get older. Again, a combination of circuit weight training and high intensity interval cardio will keep your metabolism "revved up" throughout your life.

12. Eating smaller, frequent meals will keep your metabolism "revved up" during the day. Your metabolism will slow down if there are too many hours between meals.

13. There is no significant evidence showing that eating certain foods/drinks such as peppers and green tea will speed your metabolism for a long period of time.

Actually, any food will speed your metabolism within the first hour after you eat. A high-protein food might speed metabolism for a longer period of time since protein requires more energy to digest. Your best bet is to eat small meals every 3-4 hours.

Learn how to lose weight the right way and get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Read more »