by Ed Yourdon

Imagine doing a cardio workout that is quick and effective for building strong heart and lungs AND building a lean, athletic body. That is what happens when you use bodyweight calisthenics instead of your boring cardio routine. Don’t make the mistake of neglecting bodyweight exercises for the cardio portion of your workout.

You see, you’ve just overlooked one of the best ways to get a great cardio workout as well as build a high-performance, athletic body… bodyweight calisthenics. You don’t need any equipment at all to get a great cardio workout. And there are added benefits for using bodyweight calisthenics instead of boring cardio.

You Can Do Bodyweight Calisthenics Anytime, Anywhere

The more you base your workouts (resistance or cardio) on equipment, the more excuses you have to NOT do the workout. If you only use an exercise bike… what do you do when the bike is in use? What happens if the row machine breaks? Well, you end up using that as an excuse to skip the workout.

On the other hand, if you have a functioning body, you can use bodyweight calisthenics. As you can see, there are no excuses left for missing the workout. using bodyweight exercises for your cardio means you are ready for a workout anytime, anywhere… rain or shine.

Bodyweight Calisthenics Prepare You For Real World Challenges

Most exercisers wrongly believe that only monotonous, boring exercise is “cardio” exercise. But the truth is, AND activity that increases your heart rate and breathing rate can improve heart and lung function. And a fast paced circuit of bodyweight calisthenics is definitely going to get your heart and breathing rates up.

The added benefit is being prepared for real world challenges. The fact is, endurance improvements are specific to the activity trained. That means if you run, your heart and lungs get better for running. This explains why you get out of breath easily doing an activity you don’t practice in your workout. But bodyweight exercises are so varied that they prepare you for a multitude of activities both in and out of the gym.

You’ve Probably Been Neglecting Your Bodyweight Exercises

The sad fact is, you probably don’t do enough bodyweight exercises. Exercise is made up of movement… both moving around the weight of your own body in various directions AND moving weighted objects around. Unfortunately, most exercises spend most of their time training weighted resistance and neglect bodyweight only exercises. So, using bodyweight calisthenics as your cardio portion of your workout not only improves hear and lung endurance, but trains your body to move.

As you can see, bodyweight calisthenics are a great option as a substitute for your regular cardio workout. You’ll never have an excuse to skip a workout. You’ll ultimately build a more high-performance body ready to meet life’s challenges with excellence. And you’ll fulfill a much needs training requirement… bodyweight exercise. No matter how you cut it… bodyweight calisthenics are a great way to get both a cardio workout and build a high performance, athletic body.

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by Matthew Blasi

Discover The Most Excellent Ab Workouts Available…
Guaranteed To Produce Results!

The first thing people do when they feel the desire of sculpting great abs is they start immediately with crunches. It is the most common exercise we know for our abs. But, are crunches the perfect way for you to have a small belly or the six-pack muscles you dream of?

Maybe. Even in the old days, gym instructors and trainers always believed that crunches are the best way to flatten your tummies. The basic crunches have transformed over time into a variety of style and techniques which also can give a more total body workout. To sit over an exercise ball to do the crunch is an excellent representation of this evolution. You can plop the ball beneath your mid or lower back. You have a choice whether you want to put your arms behind your back or simply cross them up above your chest. Work with your abs to tighten the bottom of your rib cage down to your pelvic. You must focus on keeping the ball still. It is an easy exercise that works not just for your abs but also for your entire body. It is fantastic for improving your core strength and stability.

You can also observe the development of the crunch by the positioning of the arms. During our younger days in school, you may have been trained to do crunches by putting your hands behind your head or cross them on top of your chest. One of the latest and improved crunch is particularly for the upper abs done by extending your arms straight behind your head. Your aim is to bring up your shoulder blades away from the floor through the power of your abs while maintaining your arms straight and parallel to your ears. Unlike before, you don’t need to sit up all the way anymore.

Another kind of crunch is the reverse crunch which is sure to be one of the most effective ab workouts. Instead of moving up your upper body from the floor, this time it will be your knees that must be pulled towards your chest while keeping your feet together. The goal of the exercise is to raise your hips off the ground instead of getting the strength from your legs to achieve the target position.

Lastly, crunches have progressed in one final way which is the full vertical crunch. This is a kind of crunch that covers both the upper and lower ab muscles. It is performed with your back on the floor while pulling your legs up in the direction of the ceiling. Put your hands at the back of your head and move up your shoulder blades off the ground. Subsequently, you will form a “u” shape with your upper body by thrusting your heels to the direction of the ceiling.

Crunches may be one of the most effective ab workouts. But then again, some other known exercise routine can do excellent for your abs too. One of the examples is the bicycle exercise which has been effective in working the rectus abdominis muscles. It helps you obtain the true six-pack abs and forms the oblique muscles on your waist. Again lay on the floor for this formation placing your hands beneath your head. Pull your knees in the direction of your chest while moving up your shoulder blades from the ground. Extend your left leg and twist to the right your upper body pushing your left elbow all the way to your right knee. Next, shift sides as you continue to interchange for 2 to 16 reps. This ab workout and some other exercise routine such as the captain’s leg raise and the ab rocker can make your dreams of having superb abs come true.

As you can see, there are many ways to specifically target your ab musculature. By varying your style of crunches, you can indeed progress and strengthen your abs. Combining this strategy with a healthy diet, you are well on your way to achieving your goal of perfect abs.

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by Cayusa

Cardio Workouts

The burning question many people ask is ‘How to Lose Weight’? Not only that many people want to know how to lose weight fast and keep it off. Losing weight is challenging tiring and makes you want to quit if not done properly

Loosing weight does not get any easier than this. Are you tired of all the weight loss options that just don’t work?

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As a wedding day fast approaches many brides to be begin to look for answers to how to lose weight for a wedding. This is the biggest day of their lives coming up so it is understandable as to why they would feel this way. They want to lose weight for their wedding and they are searching for some type of wedding diet to help them with their weight loss goals

This article talks about how to lose weight after having a baby. It give suggestions as to how to go about this describing some ways to exercise and lose those unwanted pounds

Want to know how to lose weight in your stomach area fast? If you want to lose weight in your stomach area then you are reading what may be the most important article that you’ve read all day

You can learn how to lose weight fast at home and get yourself in shape by becoming your own personal trainer. Trainers help you lose the weight and get you motivated enough for you to reach your goal. But you don’t need to hire one; with a little bit of work you can be your own personal trainer

When the phrases ‘how to lose weight fast’ is mentioned strenuous exercises and back-breaking physical fitness drills immediately come to mind. The bad news is a lot of people are either too busy to even think about exercising or their physique simply don’t allow them to do these stressful exercises on how to lose weight fast. HOWEVER it doesn’t mean cutting off those unwanted pounds will remain as unfulfilled dreams

Here’s how to lose weight in 5 days. I’m going to share with you some techniques that are proven. If you’re exercising now and not getting the type of results you feel you deserve you owe it to yourself to take the next 2 minutes to read this article so you can learn how to successfully lose weight. Read this now

by Melita

When deciding to lose weight or tone up, often a person’s abs can be one of the hardest things to keep nice and looking good! This is because often everything we eat and digest into fat will settle around the stomach area causing which is more affectionately known as a ‘muffin top’.This can be extremely embarrassing yet comedy value for others depending on how they feel about their appearance and how high their self esteem is.

Abdominal workouts can be one of the most difficult workouts to do as some are effective and others are not, this is why research has been conducted into this area to find out which is the most time effective and muscle effective.

The workout that has come out on top in this research for improving abs is the bicycle crunch exercise. This is a relatively strenuous exercise as it works your abs to the maximum yet the results have been the best out of all.

The name of this exercise is rather self explanatory as you are required to lie flat on your back and bring your legs up in a bicycle motion slowly whilst your hands are behind your head. When you bring your knees up to your stomach touch your elbow and knee then repeat with the other leg.

It is advised thirty minutes of this exercise each day should begin to show effects within two weeks. Perfect for the busy worker or the exercise hater!

The workout that came second in the research of abdominal workouts is the captains chair exercise. To successfully execute this workout you’ll need a vertical knee raise machine, this are relatively cheap to pick up and are worth every penny when you see fantastic abs looking back at you in the mirror!

To do this workout, hold onto the handlebars of the machine and let your legs dangle, then slowly begin to lift your knees into your chest, this is to be repeated and is advised that you should do thirty to forty minutes of this exercise a day and you should get to see results in around a fortnight.

Also, not only does this exercise workout your abs, it also works out your thighs and upper arms meaning you’re essentially doing and three in one!

Out of the research conducted this workout is the third favorite, the crunch on an exercise ball workout. You will need an exercise ball for this workout, but you could easily and cheaply pick these up from sports shops. Again, this workout is relatively self explanatory.

To execute this workout you must sit on the ball with your feet on the floor and then crunch your body but for no more than at a 45 degree angle for maximum effect. This activity should be done around four or five times a week as results are often quickly noticeable and doing it too often could do damage.

Abdominal workouts are one of the most popular forms of exercise due to the need for the perfect abs and these workouts are most commonly done during the summer or just before due to the want for the perfect beach body.

This guide should help you decide which abdominal workout would be best for you.

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When it comes to weight loss the first thing many people think about is that they have to do tons of cardio. Many people spend hour after hours counting the calories burned on their treadmill. Others are using a heart rate monitor to stay in their fat burning zone for hours hoping the fat will burn away. One of the number one questions I get is “I do 6 hours of cardio a week and can’t lose a pound.” With proper hear rate monitor training, a person can optimize their workout to raise their metabolism and burn more fat not just during your workout, but all day long.

To understand heart rate training, we first have to understand how our bodies produce energy. We have two major processes that produce energy within our bodies. First, our aerobic metabolism utilizes oxygen combined with carbs and fat to produce our long lasting energy and the energy you are using to read this article. Your second way you produce energy is anaerobically. Your anaerobic metabolism creates energy for short durations of intense activity. Your only source of energy for your anaerobic metabolism is carbohydrates in your blood stream or carbs stored in your muscle cells. So aerobic burns fat and carbs, and anaerobic burns carbs only.

Proper heart rate training has three distinct training zones each designed to challenge your metabolism to become faster and more efficient which leads to burning more fat. Most people only exercise in one of them. When we train in the same zone everyday our body adapts to that workout and we stop getting the weight loss and fat loss we are after. To optimize your fat burning results we want to do each zone’s workout once a week.

To create your optimal fat burning heart rate zones we have to find your anaerobic threshold. Your anaerobic threshold is the point at which your physical activity becomes so intense that your body is unable to produce enough energy aerobically. Your anaerobic metabolism kicks in to produce more energy to continue the activity. During intense cardio workouts both your aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms are producing energy to keep you moving. Online personal training website Liveleantoday.com utilizes a customized online profile to find your anaerobic threshold and create your fat burning heart rate zones. If you have the ability, the best test for your anaerobic threshold is a treadmill test where you are hooked up to an oxygen mask connected to a metabolic cart. The most common place to get this test done is at certain universities around the country.

Fat Burning Zone

The first zone (zone 1) for optimal fat burning cardio consists of working out at a moderate intensity level. You want to workout at an intensity that you can sustain for long periods of time, greater than 30 min. consistently. With training, it is good to work up to consistent cardiovascular exercise for 60 min. The goal in zone 1 is to train your body to burn fat efficiently. Don’t be so concerned about how many calories you burn during the workout. A proper fat burning zone workout trains your metabolism to burn more fat by efficiently training your body to release more fat out of your fat cells all day long while you are not exercising.

Anaerobic Threshold Zone

For the second zone (zone 2), we want to train as close as we can to our anaerobic threshold. A measure to find this point is the highest constant heart rate you can sustain for 15-20 min. The goal of zone 2 is to train your aerobic metabolism to burn energy as fast as it can. Your metabolism then adapts and you burn more energy 24 hours a day. Zone two is the workout that I see that every exerciser skips. Most people either spend all their time in the easy zone 1 or do high intensity training all the time which we are going to talk about next. Working out at the moderately high intensity in zone 2 is essential to training our aerobic metabolism which is our major source of energy all day.

High Intensity Zone

The third zone for optimal fat burning cardio is training at high intensities (zone 3). Another name for this zone is interval training. Interval training is where we workout for short burst of time, 1-3 min., and then walk or rest for short bursts of time, and then repeat the high to low sequence again. Zone 3 workouts train your body to produce energy greater than it has ever done before for short durations of time. It is more important about the rate of burning energy than total calories. Which means the faster you go the more calories you burn in a short period of time the better. One key to interval training is you have to be able to repeat the same speed and heart rate for each interval. Often people train to hard for the first interval and though their heart rate goes up they slow their speed down with each interval. Zone 3 workouts are considered the most efficient way to raise your metabolism and burn more fat. You actually burn 100% carbs during the workout as a source of energy. People that do consistent interval training on a weekly basis burn more fat 24 hours a day, even on days they don’t exercise.

Each zone has key aspects to your total fat burning program. An optimal program consists of workouts in all three zones each week. Every person’s heart rate is going to be different for each zone. Liveleantoday.com uses it customized profile to create the individualized heart rate zones to optimize your fat burning workouts. Heart rate zones between people can vary by over 20 beats, so training at your friend’s zone doesn’t work. Start training at all three zones each week and start burning more fat 24 hours a day.

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by Vagues Solaires

One of the big things Bruce Lee was known for was his spectacular abdominal muscle development. His body fat level was very low and he had a thin waist which helped bring out the definition of the muscles. One of the things that was important to Bruce was a healthy diet which really helped.

Bruce Lee initially studied how bodybuilders trained and learned the techniques they used to develop their abs. He became a advocate of how important the abs are in providing balance and stability for the whole body. They are involved in virtually every move that we make.

Correct technique and form were essential to Bruce and he tried not to cheat his movements. Although he sometimes would shorten the movements when he was unable to do the full repetition so he could get more out of a particular exercise.

Bruce was big on cardio fitness, he did lots of bicycling, running and rope skipping to help his cardio vascular training and it burned a lot of calories. He was always doing crunches, leg lifts, body twists and all the other regular abdominal exercises that everyone used but he pushed it even further.

He was innovative with his training and devised some of his own exercises for his abdominal training. He was famous for what was called the “Flag” exercise. He would lie on a bench and take hold of supports close to his head with his hands and lift his body off the bench. With only his shoulders supporting him, he would then do leg lifts. This movement is what the name “flags” comes from.

Related Abdominal Workout Articles

by wine me up

I’m well aware that the title of this article has many treadmill / elliptical users pissed. But at least I got your attention. Whatever you may believe, I’m here to inform you how useless (most ineffective) elliptical and treadmill cardio workouts really are. Not to mention the dull and sheer bore of the workout, I’ll supply you with more effective methods of fat-burning without the excessive loss of time. 

I want to first state that if you love your elliptical or treadmill workout routine enough and enjoy doing it, then keep doing it. Beyond facts, the most important workout is the most enjoyable workout. But I will still indulge you in the reasons why they are highly ineffective compared to other methods, after that you can make your own decision. 

Overall, after this I will be giving you fair notice on why they are wasteful, so don’t say I didn’t. 

Personally I don’t like using cardio machines at all as methods of fat burning or other exercise. I prefer to have hands on, proactive training such as a sport (racquet ball, bball, badminton) or something team oriented where there is an overall goal. Not running for a certain time in the same pattern to reach a mark. 

Why do I think cardio machines are so awful? Well, here’s 5 reasons:

1) From the economically point, the pricing. Why buy a 00 machine that doesn’t provide any effective health benefits besides the mental understanding that you’ll get for thinking you’re doing something effective.

You’ll see plenty of ideas below for better home workouts if you don’t like going to a gym to work out.

2) From the scientific perspective, they don’t do nothing for your body! Why would you want to engage in something that doesn’t stimulate any fat burning hormones or other body mechanisms that can help you lose weight?! There are better ways available!

3) As I said before, they’re boring.

4) Exercise machines become habit, routine, tedious. Which is never a good thing in any phase of a workout. While running on your treadmill you can read a book, watch tv or focus on something else. This isn’t the proper way to exercise; you should have to concentrate fully on the exercise at hand. 

5) Multiple tests prove that treadmill running has the potential to be highly less effective than outdoor / nature running. For reasons such as stride lengths, terrains, constantly engaging different muscles at different intensities and lengths, air supply and so on.

So what are some good alternatives to elliptical machine and treadmill workouts? Here are a few highly effective methods: 

Outdoor wind sprint workouts – Look at any world class sprinter, do you envy their body? Probably. Compare that rock hard body with world class marathon runners; scrawny little things. See what I’m saying… 

Jumping rope – CRAZY mind – body relationship is formed in this. Complete coordination and balance. Plus you can create variety with loads of different methods. 

Bodyweight exercises – Anything you need just your body for. Speed peddlers, pushups, dips, squats, lunges, planks, mountain runners etc…

Rowing Machine – A complete body workout that has all your muscles working together. Demands more concentration than ellipticals and treadmills and works much better. 

Hill sprinting – Run up a graded hill, walk down. Repeat as many times as you can (another world class running drill) 

Shadow boxing – a ridiculous killer workout, but better done if the confinements of your home if you’d like to avoid embarrassment.  

Swimming sprints – An intense workout done in the pool. Instead of pace swimming, swim as hard as you can for 1 lap. Rest for 20 seconds, then go at it again!

Heavy bag punching/kicking workouts, speed bag, rebounding bag – all are tremendous workouts and much more fun than boring cardio machines and require immense muscle – body – mind focus. 

So, I hope I was able to enlighten your view on elliptical and treadmill workouts. As well as bring you some more variety on different workouts you can do that are more effective. 

If you’re interested in taking your fat-loss efforts to an entirely new level, grab a free fat loss report which details 27 unique methods for boosting your metabolism and flattening your stomach.

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by sirwiseowl

Desperation concerning ab workouts have found countless individuals are taken in by ab workouts myths. These could be beliefs that you might have read about, been told and consequently ended up accepting however they may well not be true. It really is imperative to distinguish between the half truths and the reality that can help as you hunt for a solution for belly reducing and workouts.

These are examples of the familiar beliefs or half truths that you’ll pick up or unearth in your day to day hunt for improved methods to toil on your stomach and fat loss. Among these myths is that abs muscle is unlike standard muscle groups and thus call for superior ab workouts.  The fact is that muscle tissue are the same. Abdominal muscle is similar to other muscles within your quads and biceps as well as others. They’ll merely be dissimilar seeing as they are positioned in a different part of our bodies. The abdominals do not exhibit structural variation, physiological or in how they contract or grow stronger.

The other fable implies that you’ll need ab workouts daily so that you can get a speedy end result. The reality is you need to leave a while for recovery especially if you’re a beginner and the abs are not yet accustomed to the work outs. Start using the workouts you’re at ease with as you progress toward more complex types.

Abs exercise helps to melt down the stomach fats. This may not be accurate given that burning down the fat may well necessitate more than the training similar to inclusion of alternative forms of exercises, eating nourishing foods and avoiding consuming of much calories. Cut down the fat that you eat in your diet. It’ll make it easier to start to work on the already built up  fat and reduce adding more into your system.

Another fable of ab workouts is the perception that many repetitions could be necessary to be able to achieve results. There are tips and hints which can help you workout better like pulling your shoulder together during the crunches, pull your head forward, make the abs tighten before you make other moves involved by the exercise such as rib or the rest of the body. Make deliberate movements as you observe the best position you’re able to make or how far you are able to go when stretching and lengthening the body in the course of crunches.

Perception that it is possible to buy miracle ab workouts is a fantasy. Abdominal muscles require exercises including crunches to work on it. It is best to stretch more plus contract the stomach. There are no shortcuts you could utilize or take to work on the ab muscles faster. It really is a progression that involves commitment and persistence. The belief that you cannot engage in ab workouts from home and that you must visit a sports center is a myth. It is easy to perform abs crunches and other physical exercises in your own home and still obtain the equivalent results particularly if you do not have any time to visit a exercise room.

Steer clear of being a victim of the countless myths and advertisements that seek out those who are desperately seeking quicker and effortless methods to trim down the ab muscles and obtain the body that makes you feel at ease.

This is a thorough routine for the abdominal muscles. The routine consists of exercises that isolate the three main areas of the core: the lower abs, the obliques, and the upper abs. Remember that it takes more than a solid ab workout to get a flat, toned midsection, however. Great abs happen as a result of consistent training that balances cardio, strength training, as well as a clean diet. For this workout, do each exercise for about 20-25 reps so that you do a total of about 200-300 reps for the abs (this is what I demonstrate in the video). The workout should be done 3-4 times per week. For more free exercise ideas, tips on working out, and nutritional guidelines, please visit my free fitness website at www.home-workout-routines.com This video is for informational purposes only. Consult a physician before beginning any exercise program.

by MrGluSniffer

When you suddenly look in the mirror one day and realize you’ve gained a few pounds that you could certainly do without, you have two choices: reduce your caloric intake by eating less calorie, or burn more calories by doing exercises like cardio workouts to lose weight. Those two options really put losing weight into terms that seem too simple, for what can seem like a very complicated problem.

There are plenty of people, whether they would admit it or not; who would rather over-complicate things, rather than go for the simple solution. The truth is you can lose weight quite easily by reducing your daily calories down to less than 1,500 – 2,000 calories per day (for most people). You can also do enough metabolism-boosting weight or cardio workouts to lose weight also (how much depends on how much you consume and how much exercise you do).

You can also seek to reach a happy medium, by combining a reasonable diet plan with weight training, circuit training, or other cardio workouts to lose weight at whichever pace feels comfortable to you. By happy medium we mean you can diet a bit less, and workout a bit less — by combining the two together.

Instead of starving yourself, you can eat a little more than someone who is using only diet changes to lose weight, while perhaps having to put in less time at the aerobics studio than someone who is only using exercise to lose weight.

It takes approximately an hour of walking or running to burn 500-600 calories. Circuit training, aerobics classes and other cardio workouts to lose weight can burn 400-500 calories in a 40 minute session.

Combine that 40 minute session, 3 or 4 times a week, along with cutting back an easy 500 calories from your diet per day and you could easily lose 2 solid pounds of fat a week (fat contains 3,500 calories per pound). This is a relatively conservative estimate, as many of us could eliminate 1,000 calories a day with little effort (E.g., chips, cookies, sodas, juices, etc). Not to mention, as you workout more, your metabolism will increase even while you rest.   

Now get started, you could have eliminated 200 calories while you read this article.

by sirwiseowl

An Exercise Ball Ab Workout is perhaps better than a regular abs workout because it challenges more than your muscles, it challenges your stability, balance and overall coordination. One of the main benefits of an exercise ball is that your body responds to the instability of the ball to remain balanced and engages more muscles to do so; in time, these muscles become stronger, to keep balance.  Another benefit is that the ball protects your spine during the movement, so you will be able to work out more without straining your back… Plus, it is more fun to use the exercise ball while you do your crunches, push-ups, etc. than the old-fashioned way!

If you have decided to start exercise ball abs workout, at home, or at the gym, here are three tips that will help you get the best results from your exercise ball training:

1. Warm up before you start!

Never start your workout before warming up. You should do 5 to 10 minutes of cardio before your exercise ball abs workout. Proper warm up helps prevent injuries; it also increases the efficiency of contracting muscles by increasing the heart rate, oxygen reserves to the muscles and by speeding blood circulation. Be careful not to warm up too long though; you don’t want to waste important energy you’d better use during an intense workout. A good rule is to raise your heart rate a little, sweat lightly and have a slightly elevated body temperature.

2. Do super sets & Circuits!

Pair two exercise ball abs exercises together, and perform them one after the other without any break. Circuits are even better, you do four or more types of exercises in a row without any breaks between them and include three to four circuits in your training. Your abdominal muscles will be stressed to the max, and since muscle grows in response to stress, they will bulge up faster.

3. Add weights to your exercise ball abs workout!

After a while, your muscles get used to the training routine you use and you will notice that they don’t grow as fast as before. This is when you need to add weights to your abs workout. You can perform your abs crunch on the exercise ball while holding a dumbbell in your hands. Your abs will be stressed more than they are used to and will grow faster. You can increase your weight gradually.

Exercise ball abs workouts guarantee good results and they are more fun than regular workouts, so you won’t get bored during your training session. Remember, when you train with an exercise ball, you also improve your balance, stability and coordination.