Bodyweight Exercise Series: Hanging Leg Raise

The bodyweight hanging leg raise is an advanced abdominal exercise.There is a reason you see more people doing ab crunches instead of hanging leg raises! The hanging leg raise and its variations is very tough to execute. In fact, it is the gold standard for abdominal exercises! Gymnasts have been doing hanging leg raises for decades. A person needs core strength, arm strength and grip strength to perform the exercise correctly. If you can't do one hanging leg raise, you need to strengthen your core, back, arms and grip. 1. Hang from a bar using an overhand grip with arms straight and...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Pullups

You must include bodyweight pullups in your exercise routine! The pullup is one of the best exercises you should be doing! If you haven't done a pullup since grade school, you need to bring the pullup out of your workout closet! If you can't do any, start doing 1 pullup and progress (assisted pullup machine or a spotter are also options). Image credit: philipmakThe 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! 1. Hang from a pullup bar with...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Burpees!!

The bodyweight burpee exercise sounds kind of gross but it burns body fat like crazy and its good for you! Burpees! Ughhh! Seriously, always do burpees under control with good technique.You know I don't like fitness gadgets, gimmicks, weight loss pills/powders/patches or any quick weight loss scheme.....If you need to change up your high intensity interval cardio routine, here is a great choice----do full speed burpees for 20 minutes.....trust me, it is a great full-body exercise that will increase your strength endurance, power and anaerobic conditioning (remember, aerobics is an exercise done...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Bridge For Your Back

Use the bodyweight bridge exercise to strengthen and stabilize your lower back muscles. Many people develop low back problems because too little time is spent strengthening the muscles of the lower back. 1. Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your hands by your sides.2. Lift your body off the ground into a straight line and brace your torso (like taking a punch to the gut). Don't let your body sag. Hold for 3-5 seconds and repeat for 12-15 repetitions. Do 2-3 sets.Other great core exercises that will strengthen your lower back muscles are cobras, stability ball plank, supermans...

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More Exercise is Better

Dr. Paul Williams of the University of California at Berkeley thinks that the American Heart Association's recommendation of "half an hour a day of exercise" is way too little. He has followed more than 100,000 runners for 20 years and has shown that exercising much more than that will dramatically reduce the high incidence of heart attacks, strokes, certain cancers, glaucoma, diabetes, cataracts, macular degeneration, gout, gall stones, diverticulitis, and many other ailments (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, March 2009). Dr. Williams found that running 40 miles per week can lower risk of stroke by 69 percent, heart attacks by 37 percent and diabetes by 68 percent. To prevent progressive weight gain with aging, the runners...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Back Extensions

Do bodyweight back extensions to protect your spine and build back muscles. Do you have lower back problems? The low back pain might have been avoided by doing the back extension exercise.Strengthening your back muscles are very important for obvious reasons. Seventy to 80% of Americans have back pain (many times low back pain) at some point. The way to protect against this is to strengthen your body's core. To specifically protect your spine, you should do back extensions (with weights for the advanced). Back extensions target the erector spinae muscle group surrounding the spine. Your hamstrings...

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Visualization Leads To Weight Loss

Visualization can help you lose weight, burn fat and get the lean and toned body you want. Visualize exactly what body you want, obtain the tools and information you need to succeed and work hard (never quitting) to acheive healthy weight loss and fat loss. Visualize yourself with the body and health you always wanted. BE SPECIFIC. And then (actualization) actually take steps to make it happen (you might need some professional guidance). And, it will happen. Don't be afraid to set high, realistic weight loss goals. Research has proven that low goals or no goals usually leads to very little, lasting weight loss and fat loss success.Here is an example of visualization becoming reality from last night's NFC Championship football game won...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: One-Legged Squat

The bodyweight one-legged squat is a high-level exercise that will improve your lower body strength and dynamic balance. You might have to work up to doing this exercise by using a bench or chair for support.The one-legged squat is one of the best exercises out there (and tougher to do than you think). It builds strength (including core strength) and stabilizes the legs and hips. It is important to perform the exercise correctly. One-legged squats will also help improve your speed because it works the same muscles involved in running (quads, hamstrings, glutes, abductors/adductors). One-legged...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Sprinting Burns Fat!

Sprinting burns fat like crazy folks! Sprinting is one of the best ways to get your total body lean and toned. It is probabaly one of the least used exercises done by general exercisers. And, you don't have to be fast, just run as fast as you can! To avoid injuries, always sprint on surfaces like grass or sand and never run on hard surfaces like concrete or asphalt.Athletes are forced to run sprints because of their particular sport. As a former college football player, I can remember running as many as 50 consecutive 40-yard sprints on the Monday after a Saturday game! Running sprints...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Good Lunges, Bad Lunges

Use bodyweight lunges as part of your dynamic warm-up or as a strength exercise. Bodyweight lunges are great for adding muscular balance and dynamic balance to your lower body because you work one leg at a time (stronger leg can't compensate for weaker leg).You also need adequate core strength to keep your body upright during the lunge. Walking lunges improve your speed because you use the same pathways it takes to run fast.The picture above is an example of a good walking lunge and a bad walking lunge. The person doing the bad walking lunge doesn't have adequate core strength to keep his body...

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"Pants On The Ground" Because Of Weight Loss

Yes, I want your pants to fall to the ground because you have achieved weight loss, fat loss and lost inches!Of course, the "pants on the ground" phrase is a take on the newest rage on American Idol...I don't really watch American Idol (really!) but that video has been on television about every other commercial on FOX TV. And the "pants on the ground" video was a big hit on YouTube the day it was released (over 1 million views already).So, how do you get your "pants on the ground with weight loss?" Here you go: 1. Get a healthy meal plan and start following it...most of your fat loss and weight...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Step Ups

The bodyweight step up is one of the best leg toning and strengthening exercises available to you. It will help you burn more fat in your legs. Step ups will also improve your dynamic balance. Its not that easy to balance all your weight on one leg (with good form) while stepping up onto a platform. 1. Face a bench or platform (knee high) and put your right foot on the bench. Your knee should be bent 90 degrees. Don't do this exercise with dumbbells until you have mastered the bodyweight version.2. As you lift your body on your right leg, keep your body erect (don't bend over) and look...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Mountain Climbers

Do bodyweight mountain climbers if you're serious about taking your workout to another level. The mountain climber is a versatile exercise in that you can do it on level ground, on an incline, knee-across-your-body, as a warmup, as cardio or as a speed exercise. I like to include mountain climbers as part of a bodyweight cardio session.You will burn more abdominal fat and overall body fat by doing mountain climbers.Either way, include mountain climbers in your workouts more often. It is one of the best and toughest exercises out there. It is a compound exercise in that it works the calves,...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Pushups, Pushups, Pushups!

Close-grip pushups, pushups on stability ball, power pushups, regular pushups, incline pushups, decline pushups, uneven pushups....take your pick! Pushups are one of the all-time best bodyweight exercises.The pushup on medicine ball is a tough exercise that not everyone can do! Case in point: I was at the health club one day and a former marine was working out. I started to talk to her about the pushup on medicine ball and she tried the move (of course!). She was shocked to find out that she couldn't do one pushup on the medicine ball!I'm guessing that she has progressed to the point that...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Prisoner Squats

Add bodyweight prisoner squats to your exercise routine. You can do prisoner squats anywhere, anytime (as a warmup exercise also). As a matter of fact, go ahead and do regular bodyweight squats, one-legged bodyweight squats and Y bodyweight squats. They all work to burn fat and sculpt your body.Besides the obvious strength benefits for your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps, prisoner squats also help to realign your shoulder blades. 1.Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart with your toes pointing slightly outward.2. With your hands behind your head, keep your chest up...

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Almost All Obese Men Will Eventually Become Diabeic

This month, two studies show that being overweight shortens life. A study from the University of Uppsala in Sweden followed 1800 Swedish overweight men, from age 50 for 30 years and showed that almost all are at high risk for heart attacks and premature death (Circulation, December 2009). The authors showed that overweight men who originally did not have metabolic syndrome eventually suffered from metabolic syndrome, diabetes and heart attacks.Metabolic syndrome is considered to be early diabetes and includes high blood sugar and triglycerides, high blood pressure, low good HDL cholesterol, and abdominal obesity (40 inches for men, 35 for women). In this study, being overweight without metabolic syndrome increased heart attack rate by more...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Inverted Rows

Include bodyweight inverted rows in your workout routine to work your back muscles in a different way. Doing different exercises for a specific muscle group can give you faster results or help you break through a plateau. I will see many people doing barbell rows and dumbbell rows but very few people doing inverted rows. And, inverted rows strengthen much more than just your back muscles...Inverted rows build strength in your upper back, shoulders and arms. Your core muscles are also engaged during the movement. Inverted rows also improve your stabilizing strength in the low back, glutes...

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Mediterranean Diet Most Healthful

A comprehensive review of the world's literature, covering research in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 1966 to 2008, shows that eating a Mediterranean diet prolongs life and prevents heart attacks, cancer, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease (British Medical Journal, September 2008). The combined studies included more than 1.5 million people followed for up to eighteen years. The reviewers analyzed total diet, rather than individual components of diet, because "the analyses of single nutrients ignore important interactions between components of a diet and because people do not eat isolated nutrients."The Mediterranean diet contains abundant amounts of fruits, vegetables (including...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Planks And More Planks

Planks are a bodyweight exercise that should be in your routine. Many times, people will begin to work on superficial core muscles (such as your six pack or rectus abdominis) before strengthening and stabilizing deep core muscles. There are many variations of the plank exercise such as prone plank, side plank, plank with leg raise, plank with leg abduction and plank with knee tuck. Start with the plank exercise you are ready for. If you are a beginner, the prone plank is the place for you to start. And, an exercise like plank with leg abduction works your hips as well.The stability ball plank...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Jump Rope Now!

Jump rope now with your bodyweight to burn more fat, improve your heart health and better lean and tone your body! Jumping rope will also help improve your balance, coordination and overall core strength.I was talking to a friend the other day about jumping rope to burn fat. She said, "I can't jump rope, I'm too uncoordinated!" What? Who didn't jump rope as a kid for fun and games? Everybody can jump rope!Buy a jump rope and practice for 5-10 minutes every day and soon you'll be jumping for 20-30 minutes. I can make you a promise if you will jump rope for about 20 minutes a day, 4-5 days...

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Bodyweight Exercise Series: Squat Jumps

Use the bodyweight squat jump exercise to better sculpt your body and burn more fat and calories during your workout. Squat jumps remain one of the best exercises to burn fat and help you lean and tone your body because of the high intensity. If you're having trouble toning your butt, hips and thighs then you need to do more squat jump exercises in your workouts. If you are into sports, squat jumps will also help to increase your speed and power for sports like track and field, soccer, lacrosse, tennis and basketball. To do the squat jump, descend into your squat, swing your arms back and forward...

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Sculpt Your Body For Life Or Sports

Sculpt your body for how you want to live, whether its to live an active, healthy life and/or to play your favorite sport! Just as you set other high personal goals for financial and relationship success, set your health and fitness goals high and realistic (challenging and attainable). Do you want to be able to walk, jog, cut your lawn, trim the hedges, run a marathon or play on your league soccer team? Then, you must be healthy and fit. You must burn body fat and lose weight! Either way, you will benefit from My Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Training System. Don't risk your health...

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