10 Tips: How to Get in Shape without Sweating
By Valerie Vauthey

Tip #1: The *Brazilian move*.

The good thing about this move is that you don't need to go a gym to do it, you don't even need to find time in your day.

Why?

Because you will do this move while you brush your teeth!

How does it work:

Standing straight in your bathroom, bend your knees slightly.

Tilt your hips forward while contracting them, then pull them back.

Remember to make a very strong squeeze when you finish the forward move.

As you brush your teeth a minimum of twice a day, that's 6 minutes a day of Brazilian move.

Along with a healthy eating, this will guarantee you will get a nice rear for this summer, yeah!

Tip #2: Use your Hands!

There are some chores you would be better off doing by hand!

For instance, washing dishes by hand will burn 78 calories per half hour.....

Knowing that a pound is about 3,500 calories, and assuming you will wash dishes half an hour over 45 days, you will have lost 1 pound without knowing it....(translated on a year, this amounts to about 8 pounds!)

Tip #3: How to get your 60 minutes of accumulated exercise a day….

The General Surgeon's orders are to get 60 minutes of accumulated exercise per day (this can be sliced up into 6 small walks without any problem).

Beside burning calories, when you walk you will build the big muscles of your lower body.

Muscle tissue uses up more calories to maintain than fat, even at rest.

Again, you don't have to go for a 60 minute walk if you don't fee like it.

You can slice it up into 4x15 minute walk:

-1- one at home when you wake up (will also help wake up even more :o)

-2- two at lunch time to go to your lunch place and to come back (just select a place that's 15 minutes away from your office)

-3- one in the middle of the afternoon to help you remain focus until the end of the day.

Tip #4: Manage your food cravings by being proactive!!!

Your body produces endorphins when you do aerobic exercise -- which means getting your heart rate up for at least 20 mn.

Aerobic exercise produces endorphins, body chemicals that induce euphoric and pleasurable feelings. These are the same chemicals produced in response to eating fat/sweet foods.

Tip #5: Improve your posture

This is a great exercise to improve your posture hereby making you look great when you walk, when you are on the beach, when you enter a business meeting room.

On a yoga mat, stand straight.

Breath a few times: inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale slowly.

Tuck your toes under and push back into a low squat, with fingertips lightly touching the floor.

Drop your chin so it's relaxed toward the chest.

Slowly rise from the squat position by pushing your heels toward the floor until your torso hangs froward and down.

Keep the knees slightly bent and aligned over the center of each foot.

Breathe, relax the upper body, and hang like a rag dool.

Inhale in that position.

Exhale as you engage your powerhouse and slowly roll up to a standing position.

When you are standing, straighten your knees with your arms relaxed at your sides.

Inhale once again, and as you exhale, rise slowly to balance on the balls of your feet.

Breathe, relax the shoulders, and maintain this balance for several seconds.

You can do this exercise 3 times each time you finish a work out.

It may sound complicated by reading this text; I suggest you print this tip, take it with you wherever you do your workouts, do it once with the paper and once you have understood the move, re-do it without reading.

Tip #6: Easy 6-pack abs

I have been doing 100 abs a day since I was a teenager. As a result I have a 6-pack without having to sweat over abs sessions at the gym.

Those who know my approach to body strengthening know I am a *lazy* person when it comes to getting in shape.

How long do 100 abs take to perform? Depending on the move and the speed with which you do them, it will take you anywhere between 90 seconds to 3 mn.

Hardly un-squeezable!

You don't really need to warm up before such a short session therefore you can decide when to do them without having to re-arrange your day around this very very short session.

Suggestions per day:

20 straight crunches (your hand supporting your head, not lifting it).

20 straight crunches with a stop of one second at mid- raise.

40 bicycle moves alternating right elbow/left knee and left elbow/right knee.

20 seconds in the V-Pilates position: you rest on your bottom in a balanced position with your legs straightened out and your arms reaching out straight and parallel to your legs.

This sequence allows for deep abs (V-Pilates), superficial abs (crunches) and obliques (bicycle) to be worked on every single day.

Tip #7: Short is good!

As part of My Private Coach weight loss approach, mini- workouts (or MetaBoost as I call them) can do wonders for those who don't feel like sweating for hours in a gym.

"Something is really better than nothing. If I come in and I can work out vigorously for 30 minutes, I would consider giving it a try," said Dr. William L. Haskell, an exercise researcher and professor of medicine at Stanford University. The express workouts typically require only one set of 8 to 12 repetitions instead of the 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 16 repetitions that physiologists recommend for an optimum workout. " Copyright the Associate Press - 12/15/2003

Still, these MetaBoost workouts should come in addition to the daily 60 recommended minutes of accumulated exercise.

Write to info@myprivatecoach.com if you wish to receive FREE MetaBoost cards.

Tip #8 : 10,000 steps a day keep the doctor away!

Invest in a pedometer and make sure you are getting these famous 10,000 steps I have been brainwashing you for the past weeks!

10,000 steps start when you wake up. Wear your pedometer on your waist a all times.

10,000 = 3 miles = 300 calories approx (a little bit less than a bagel).

Take advantage of all opportunities to walk: choose your lunch place 10 mn further, get off the bus 1 stop before, take a 5 mn break every hour or so and go a *around the block walk*. Everything counts towards this daily goal.

You will not lose weight (this is not enough really) but you will prevent new pounds from accumulating and you will improve your general health.

No sweating required!

Tip #9: Invisible chair day

Each time you get to be by yourself, sit against a wall without a chair and hold the position for 1 minute.

Try to do this 3 times a day.

This count as a strength exercise and will help shape nice thighs.

Feel free to apply this tip on other days as well!

Tip #10: How to get a really flat stomach with no abs work

Each time you walk, think about sucking in your stomack (lower and upper part).

This will work deep abominal muscles that NO crunch work can reach.

This will help you get a REALLY flat stomach.

No sweating required!

About The Author Valerie Vauthey is the founder of http://www.myprivatecoach.com and the president of the Silicon Valley Coachville Chapter. She brings long years of successful experience in the areas of Personal Coaching, Weight Loss, Financial Coaching, Time Management, Motivational Techniques and Behavioral Science. valerie@myprivatecoach.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Valerie_Vauthey

How Proper Calorie Fragmentation Improves Body Composition?
By Hristo Hristov

It is a well-established fact that calories control everyone's bodyweight. No matter how many meals a day you have, it is the calorie balance in the end of the day that matters. If you eat fewer calories than you are burning, you will lose weight. It won't matter if these calories come from chocolate, bagels, meat, eggs, fruit or whatever else.

Calories control bodyweight.

What about body composition? The two major components of body composition are lean body mass and fat mass. Suppose you just lost 10 pounds of bodyweight. Does it matter how many of those 10 pounds were fat and how many muscle? Sure, it DOES matter. While calorie balance controls bodyweight, other important factors influence the proportions of fat and muscle that you gain or lose! These factors may improve or make worse the way you look naked.

One of those factors is calorie distribution (or calorie fragmentation). Bodybuilders, as the group of people most concerned with their body composition, have been spreading their calorie intake into smaller and more frequent meals for decades. Originally they believed that doing so "raises one's metabolism". Science has never proved this belief. Recent findings reveal that there is no metabolic advantage of eating smaller and more frequent meals.

However recent research has uncovered that spreading your calorie intake into smaller and more frequent meals improves body composition! More calories end up building muscles, and less calories go to your fat deposits. The calorie balance equation still rules, but more calories end up building muscles! That, my friend, means that you will look better!

The most promising research comes from the labs of Georgia State University. Dr. Dan Benardot and colleagues developed a sophisticated computer program that analyzes a person's within-day calorie balance. They named the program - computerized time-line energy assessment (CTLEA). The research team tracked the calorie feeding patterns of 42 gymnasts and 20 runners. The trial found that the athletes with the largest and most frequent energy deficits were the fattest! On the other hand, the athletes with the smallest and least frequent energy deficits were the leanest. The results were equally supportive for both aerobic (runners) and anaerobic (gymnast) athletes.

This research is absolutely fascinating. It irrefutably proves that eating smaller and more frequent meals leads to more muscle and less fat. Whether you are on a 1200 or 4000 calorie diet, it does make sense to spread these calories into more meals. The research suggests that for maximum muscle, we must minimize (if not eliminate) time frames of the day where our calorie balance falls below minus 300 calories.

The most frequent times, a person fails to feed his or her body sufficient calories to keep a (-300;+300) balance are: sleeping and training.

Remember these 4 rules of good calorie distribution

1. Eat before bed.
2. Eat your breakfast.
3. Eat before exercise.
4. Eat after exercise.

Hristo Hristov owns X3MSoftware, a company specializing in developing diet and fitness tracking software. Hristo has a degree in Computer Science and passion for strength training. Hristo has designed and written Fitness Assistant, X3MSoftware's leading software product. Download your demo at Download Diet Software and Fitness Software by X3MSoftware Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hristo_Hristov

Weight Training Terminology For Beginners

Weight Training Terminology For Beginners
By Bill Herren

Weight training is one of the best ways to shape up and lose weight. The benefits of weight training are too numerous to mention here. The purpose of this article is to help you understand the terminology of weight training so that you can better understand your trainer or salesperson. Perhaps you have thought about joining a gym. Perhaps you have called and inquired about cost, operating hours, whether or not someone would be available to help you or any other number of things. Perhaps you had your eye on a piece of exercise equipment and went and talked to a “salesman” at a department store. Either way you were probably hammered with some terms you did not understand. The gym tends to have a language of its own and this article is intended to help you with weight lifting terminology.

Here are some of the basics:

Routine – The series of exercises that you complete make up your routine. A whole body routine can be done in one day and repeated several times per week, but more than likely a routine will be broken up for Monday, Wednesday, Friday or any other combinations of days. Sometimes a routine will be 2 on 2 off or some other combinations of days. (Workout Monday and Tuesday and then be off Wednesday and Thursday, workout Friday and Saturday, and then off Sunday and Monday, etc. etc.) Remember when you are designing a routine or a personal trainer is designing you a routine; keep in mind that your body needs time to recuperate between workouts.

Repetitions – Remember in gym class when the teacher said “Do 25 jumping jacks”? Each jumping jack was a repetition. When a personal trainer is designing you an exercise routine more than likely they will base the number of repetitions they prescribe to you upon your particular goals.

Sets – If you do 25 jumping jacks and then rest a minute and do 25 more – you have completed two sets of 25 repetitions. A set is performing the prescribed number of repetitions and then resting. Sometimes a personal trainer will recommend one set per exercise and sometimes they will recommend numerous sets. Again, this depends on your particular goals.

Plate – If your personal trainer tells you to slap another plate on the bar what they are referring to is another weight. Plates come in 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, and 45 pound and higher increments.

Spot – Anyone ever ask you if you need a spot? A spot is simply assistance or someone watching out for you while you complete a set. Your personal trainer will be your full time spot or you can simply ask someone in the gym.

Partner - A partner is simply someone that you work out with.

Free Weights – Whuh? Free weights are weights that are not attached to a machine. You physically load the weights unto a bar.

Machines – Weight lifting machines are usually “pin selected” meaning you put a pin in to select the poundage you want to lift. Machines are different from free weights in that you usually don’t have to balance the weight. The weight moves along a path that the machine’s mechanics determine. Machine lifting is generally safer than free weights but in lifting free weights you tend to develop your “stabilizer” muscles because not only do you have to lift the weight but you also must control it.

Rack – Sometimes referred to as the “rack” the power rack can be used for many exercises. It is the big metal contraption you see over in the corner with holes drilled up both sides so that you can slide a safety bar in. Power racks can be used for squats and chin ups and many other exercises.

Circuit routine – A circuit routine combines cardiovascular exercise with weight training. A circuit routine is a routine where you would perform numerous exercises back to back without resting. A sample routine could be 25 jumping jacks followed by 25 push-ups followed by 25 squat thrusts all without resting. When you have finished the squat thrusts you would have completed one circuit. Your personal trainer may put you on a circuit routine to help you burn more calories while you tone up.

Negative – Sometimes you here someone in the gym say something like “Do two negatives!” What they are talking about is most easily described as the “lowering of the weight”. If I press a weight overhead – The process of pressing it is considered the “positive” portion of the rep. When I lower the weight – that is the negative part of the rep. The negative part of the repetition is very important when it comes to resistance training. A partner will help you with the positive part of the rep and you control the negative. These are usually completed after some exhaustion has occurred in an effort to create more muscle breakdown.

Some of the body parts that may not be self explanatory:

• Pecs – Refers to your chest
• Lats – Refers to the muscles in your back that flare out
• Hams – hamstrings
• Glutes – Butt muscles
• Traps – The muscles that go from your neck to your shoulders. Shrug and say “I don’t know what he is talking about” and you just used your traps.
• Bi’s – Biceps
• Tri’s – Triceps
• Quad’s – Quadriceps or the muscles on the front of your legs
• Delts – Your deltoid or shoulder muscles. Usually defined by rear, middle or front.
• And last but not least – Abs – Stomach or Abdominal muscles.

Now for your homework: Call your local gymnasium or personal trainer and tell them you want a 3 on 1 off routine with moderate sets and reps focusing on free weights with special emphasis for your glutes and abs….Just kidding.

I do hope that you have learned something from this article. Get to moving and enjoying the many benefits of weight training. Be stronger, leaner, and more confident starting tomorrow!

I wish for you the best of health!

Bill Herren

Bill Herren is the webmaster for weightloss-articles.com Everything weight loss related! Weight loss success stories, product reviews, exercise articles, weight loss recipes, and diet articles. All Free and all designed to help you lose weight! http://www.weightloss-articles.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Herren

Lift More Now - Weight Less "Forever"!

It's week three, and you've already learned the importance of drinking plenty of water, and by now, are seeing and feeling the countless benefits of cardiovascular exercise, or walking. So, it's time to turn it up a notch. Let's add weights to our weekly program, to reshape your body, and your mind!

Weight training is one of the most important parts of your life-long exercise program. In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine now recommends weight training for every adult. The sooner you start weight training, the more muscle you'll keep. It's a use-it-or-lose-it phenomenon.

Weight training is also a great area in which to practice mental imagery. You can imagine your muscles getting firmer and bigger as you perform your weight training exercises. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how this simple tool will help keep you motivated, and will help yield a higher return on your exercise investment!

Keep in mind, building muscles by lifting weights does more than make you look and feel better. It speeds up your metabolism! Which is great news to anyone trying to lose weight or get fit. Lifting weights also gives you more energy, allows you to eat more food, and recaptures lost youth.

Weight training also increases bone density more than activities like swimming or even running. By stressing the major bones in the body, weight training offers tremendous protection against the thinning of bones, or osteoporosis. And, by building more muscle, you protect your joints as well. For instance, squats strengthen the knee joint by building stronger, firmer ligaments and muscles.

For a weight training program to be effective, you will need to exercise between three and five days per week. You will need to exercise each muscle group with weights, at least once a week, or preferably twice. For example...arms twice, shoulders twice, legs twice, chest twice, etc. Abdominal muscles will be exercised two to three times a week.

I know the rest of this newsletter may be a bit confusing, but to really get detailed and explain exactly how to target your particular goal with weight lifting is beyond the scope and space allocated for this Special Report, so to assure the safety and effectiveness of your workout, you may want to consider using a personal trainer at least once to help you design the proper exercise routine and sequence for your body type. A personal trainer will show you the proper way to do each and every exercise, and help you get things done effectively.

Here a few tips of how to put together a great muscle-toning, fat-burning workout:

• Each upper body muscle gets 2-3 sets, 12-14 repetitions per set. (Twice weekly, but not on consecutive days).

• Each lower body muscle gets 3-4 sets, 12-14 repetitions per set. (Twice weekly, but not on consecutive days).

• Woman should lift a weight that is approximately 60% of the absolute maximum they could handle for this number of repetitions. Men should do at least 75% of their maximum.

• Move from one muscle group to another without rest. When you have worked all the upper body muscles, take 30 seconds of rest. With lower body muscles, you will need 60 seconds of rest. This is known as a circuit. Repeat circuit 3-4 times.

• Abdominal muscles should be worked three times per week. Various crunching exercises are used to best work the abdominal muscles. Do four sets for the abdominal muscles, 20-40 repetitions per set. It is more important to focus on the intensity of the exercise than the number of repetitions or sets. You should achieve a significant "burn" in the abdominal muscles on each set. You should not feel pain, especially not in your neck or back.

• After each of your resistance training or weight-lifting workouts, you should stretch. Some stretching should always be done at the end of a weight-lifting workout because this is when you need to elongate and relax the muscles.

The following are suggestions for easy-to-perform exercises that can be used in your weight-lifting routine, you can choose 2 from each list and put your workout puzzle together with them as your foundation...

(((Upper Body)))

Chest/Shoulders: Lateral Raise, Dumbbell Shrug, Upright Row, Bench Press, Fly's, Incline Press, Parallel Dip, Bent-Forward Cable Crossover

Back: Chin-Up, Lat Pull Down, T-Bar Row, Decline Seated Cable Row

Arms: Triceps Dip, Triceps Press-down, Overhead Triceps Press, Seated Triceps Press, Biceps Curl, Preacher Curl, Machine Preacher Curl, Cable Curl

(((Lower Body)))

Legs/Buttocks: Squats, Lunges (side-to-side and/or front-to-back), Leg Press, Leg Lifts, Leg Curls, Calf Raises

Abdominals: Abdominal Crunch, Rotary Torso, Ab Flexor Machine, Leg Lifts from Roman Chair, Leg Lifts (while flat on back), Leg Scissors (while flat on back)

Change these exercises around, trying different ones each time you exercise a muscle group. This will yield quicker results, while providing many additional benefits. Also, the exercises listed above include exercises that can easily be done at home with dumbbells or a weight bar and weights, as well as exercises that are specific to the gym.

Stop wasting your valuable time! In my famous E-classes and teleseminars, I personally guide you to success.

Isn't it time you got the results you deserve?

Get more about these incredible classes now and read what others are saying about the results they got, at: http://www.maximizeyourmetabolism.com/Newsletterspecial-discount.htm

For a ton of f.ree, valuable tips, tricks, and secrets visit: http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com © 2002-2005 Wisdom Books, LLC & Christopher Guerriero WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning 'Maximize Your Metabolism' system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FR*EE how-to articles and F.REE teleseminars, visit http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Guerriero

Exercise The Right Way - The Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
By Richard Mitchell

Other articles in this series looked at a number of exercises, mainly from the perspective of developing a comprehensive muscle building program. Sometimes we take things for granted, especially when it comes to performing the basic exercises that constitute the core of most bodybuiders' training regimes.

It is useful, therefore, to describe in detail the processes involved in actually doing these exercises. This will help beginners to start out using the correct techniques before moving on to potentially more dangerous heavy weights. If it also helps more experienced lifters to redress some of the little faults that have almost imperceptibly crept in over the years, all the better.

In this article we'll take a close look at the incline dumbbell bench press.

MUSCLES TARGETED: pectoralis major

STARTING POSITION

Grasp two dumbbells using a closed, pronated grip.
Assume a supine position on a bench.
Press the dumbbells to an extended elbow, parallel arm position above the face.
This is the starting point for all repetitions.

DOWNWARD MOVEMENT

Lower the dumbbells together towards the chest and aligned with the nipples.
Keep the wrists rigid directly above the elbows.

UPWARD MOVEMENT

Push the dumbbells upward until the elbows are fully extended.
Keep the wrists rigid directly above the elbows.
Do not arch back or raise chest to meet the bar.
Repeat or finish set.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Exercises to learn more about the issues covered in this article. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mitchell

The Role Of Repetitions In Your Muscle Building Program
By Richard Mitchell

Repetitions are the basic building blocks of any strength or muscle building program but it is something that many lifters take for granted. How often do you see people at the gym speed through their reps, breathe haphazardly or fail to complete each rep correctly from a technical perspective? There is much more to the simple rep than meets the eye.

The first thing to note is that a repetition consists of three elements - namely lower, pause and lift. The speed at which this is achieved depends on the desired outcome, but to maximize muscle growth a slow, controlled tempo is required. The process should never be rushed, jerky or bouncy but instead should be controlled and smooth.

The second consideration relates to how many reps need to be performed. Once again, this depends on what you hope to achieve but you can use the following as a basic rule of thumb:

1. A single repetition maximum (1RM) increases muscle strength.

2. A six to eight repetition maximum increases muscle size.

3. A higher number of repetitions will have more effect on muscle endurance and little impact on size or strength.

Your aim therefore should be to complete six to eight reps of a load equivalent to 75-80% of your 1RM. This will maximize your muscle building potential, provided you complete each lift with perfect form in a smooth controlled manner.

You can find out more about building muscle by visiting the site listed below.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mitchell