How to do upright rows

The upright row exercise is the next workout to be covered. This one works wonders for the shoulders, so let’s see how you can get started with it.

4 Steps to a Perfect Upright Row

1. The Right Weight

As always, you need to choose a weight that is right for you. So many gym-goers are injured every day because they think they can do a crazy amount of weight when they really can’t. Get your eyes off of the ripped people and focus on yourself — you’ll be like them soon enough!

2. What Muscles Are We Targeting?

As we said before, the shoulders are getting worked in this exercise. As far as appearance goes, shoulders aren’t often thought of as much as biceps or triceps, but they’re still important and should be worked like any other muscle.

3. Let’s Do It!

Now that you’ve got the right weight on the barbell, pick it up with your palms facing out and let it rest near your thighs or waist (depending on how long your arms are). You need to be standing for this, and your hands should be a little less than shoulder-width apart.

The object is to bring the bar up to your neck. This is a completely different motion than the bicep curl, because your palms are facing out instead of inward. There’s not much to say, other than to bring the bar up. Your elbows should be pointing out and upwards.

4. Tips and Best Practices

There are several tips to mention, and things to avoid with this exercise.

First of all, it’s easy to make your body lean back as you bring the weight up, and forward as you lower it again. While this makes the exercise easier, it’s also cheating and you won’t get nearly as much out of it. Do it the right way and get the best results.

Also, don’t just drop the bar once you get it up. Lowering it back down is just as much a part of the exercise as bringing it up, and you could be seriously injured if you just drop it back down to your waist — popping your elbows out of socket is just one example.

Shoulder Workout by Rob Riches in London

This was filmed during a short trip back to London when I was filmed for Sky TV as part of a model shoot.

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Bench Press 101

The bench press has been a popular lift in the bodybuilding community for some time now and is used to build the chest muscles. The bench press is known as compound lift which is a lift aimed at moving more than one body limb or muscle.

The bench press also uses the triceps, biceps,back muscles, abs and forearms but the main stress is on the chest.

The bench press is one of the most used exercises in body building and the one that causes the injuries. It is important to use the correct form when lifting heavy weights and trying to avoid 1 rep max.

This is what happens.

LOL, fail.

The bench press lift is done using a barbel, bench and a spotter for heavy lifts and first time lifters. The lifter lies on his back on the bench with his legs bent on the floor, then he picks up the barbell from the racks and slowly lifts down into postition as showed here.

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Slendertone abdominal toning ems belt review

I am a great believer in electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) products after having discovered that Bruce Lee used them in the 1970s as part of his fitness program. I have used various products including the well known ‘Bodi-Tek’ but basically they all annoyed me because of all the pads and cables and the fact that it was fiddly to use. For example on the Bodi-Tek you had to wet all the pads before use and then leave them all somewhere to dry afterwards. And if anyone knocked on the door whilst you were using it you were placed in a rather embarrassing position!! So not something which would incline you to use it regularly.

I bought my Slendertone Flex after reading about it in a women’s magazine. A woman in the magazine had tested it by wearing it under her clothes during her lunchbreak at work and no-one had even noticed she was wearing it. The tester was convinced that continuous use over a number of weeks had made a difference to her tummy. The cost was about the same as the ‘Bodi-Tek’ (about £100) so I bought one in my local Boots using vouchers I had obtained as part of a credit card promotion. The Belts come in 2 varieties, one for men and one for women, to allow for biological differences in muscle type I suppose. They stick to your tummy using adhesive pads, so I hope the ones for men aren’t quite so sticky. My husband has a very hairy tummy, so I guess if he used one it might be quite painful!!

Ok, so what do you get for your money? Well firstly there’s the Flex Belt, which is black and green and made of a stretchy Lycra type material with velcro strips at the back to keep it in place. The men’s belt is blue. On the front of the Belt you then have fit the Flex Unit, which is a small plastic semi-circular display unit into which you put the batteries (which are included). Once you’ve fitted the Unit for the first time it stays on the Belt forever, you don’t have to keep taking it off and putting it back on each time you use it, even when you change the batteries. The Unit sends out the electrical impulses to the pads and also features a liquid crystal (LCD) display with information about the type and intensity of the exercise program you’re using. More of that later.
Next come 3 adhesive Pads which you have to fit to the belt. They are adhesive both sides and you peel off the label on one side (they tell you which side in the instructions) and attach them to the inside of the Belt at the places indicated by special markings on the inside of the Belt. There are 3 positions for placing the pads depending on how large you are, you can adjust the position of the pads as you begin to tone up. The Pads then remain on the Belt until they have to be changed. There are 3 Pads, one large one which goes over the front of your tummy and 2 smaller ones which go at the side of your waist where your ‘saddle bags’ are (on me, anyway!!). Because the Pads are already attached to the Belt when you put it on, they automatically come to rest at the right place, so no fiddling around!!

There is also a black Travel Pouch which I normally wouldn’t use except that it is very useful for keeping the Belt clean and out of reach of my toddler. Also it’s very useful if you take the Belt to work with you as the lady in the magazine I read did (and I have started doing this now). The Belt fits into the bag quite easily (it folds well even with the Unit and Pads on) and it really isn’t obvious what it is except for the words Slendertone on the handle in quite small letters.
With the Unit on, the batteries in and the Pads fitted, all that remains for you to do is to peel off the covers from the adhesive Pads (I told you they were double sided, one side fits to the belt, the other side sticks to you!), put the Belt on using the velcro fasteners, switch on the Unit and away you go!! One word of advice, don’t throw away the plastic covers for the Pads because you will need to replace them when you have finished your routine. The Pads stick to you but peel away quite easily when you take the Belt off (your body heat helps) and then you just replace the plastic covers on the Pads, switch the Unit off and put it back in the bag. The Unit will even switch itself off after a few minutes if you forget to do this!! So that’s all you do. No cleaning or maintenance or anything.

If you were wondering how it all works, there are tiny cables which run through the inside of the belt and they all run into a pin which connects to the back of the Flex Unit. The other end of the cables connect to little metal buttons which sit behind the Pads, and the Pads have little metal bits running through the back of them on the side that fits to the Belt. So there you have a conduit for the electrical impulses to travel along. Don’t worry, there is little danger of electrocution from a battery powered insulated belt running on 3 small batteries. The electrical impulses are tiny when compared to what would be needed to run most household appliances, for example.
One thing people often ask me when I tell them about the belt is how often the Pads need to be changed. Usually its about every month or so. The booklet that comes with the Belt recommends changing the Pads after very 30-40 sessions, but you will know yourself because over time the Pads become covered in skin debris and become less effective, so you will find occasions where the Belt starts ‘beeping’ for a bit when you first put it on, because the contacts on the Pads are not so good. Replacement Pads are available for about £10 a pair from Boots and also from the Slendertone web site. This will be your main expense really, apart from the batteries, but it’s cheaper than gym membership.

Tips for getting cheap pads. Sometimes the Slendertone web site does ‘2 for 1’ offers on Pads or discounts if you buy several spare packs at a time. Also you can use you ‘Advantage Card’ points at Boots to exchange for Pads if you have one. Sometimes you will find a survey in your product pack. Often if you take the time to fill it in you’ll find the incentive will be a packet of free Pads.
The batteries need to be changed less often and I buy mine in bulk from 7dayshop.com to reduce the outlay. There’s a battery level indicator on the Unit and I would recommend changing when it moves from 3 bars to 1. Also the Unit will beep to tell you when battery power is low. The Unit takes 3 ‘AAA’ size (not the pencil size, but smaller).

A bit more about the LCD display on the Unit and what it tells you. When you first switch it on you get a little smiley face which is nice. Then there are 4 exercise programs from 1 to 4 and you automatically start on 1 which is 20 minutes and then the Belt moves you on from there to the more advanced programs which last 30 minutes or so. If you look in the top right hand corner it displays a number to tell you what program you’re on. The Belt basically knows how many times you’ve used it and if you read the instruction booklet it tells you how to call up this information if you need it which might be useful if you’re wondering how long until you need to change the Pads etc. The display also shows you how much time is left on your session (it counts down) what level of intensity you are using on each side, and other such helpful items. There are two buttons on the Unit which you can use to adjust the intensity of the electrical pulses on each side of the Belt. I don’t know how high they go but I’ve gone up as far as 75 which is pretty intensive, you won’t be doing this when you first use it. I would suggest that you adjust for comfort initially, especially if you have never used an electronic muscle stimulation system before. It feels a bit funny at first but its not really a painful feeling, it’s just weird to feel your muscles contracting and relaxing without you actually doing any exercise!! So doing the equivalent of 200 sit-ups a day is not all that difficult even though most of us would probably struggle to do a fraction of that in reality!!
The real beauty of this belt is that you can do ANYTHING whilst wearing it. Take care of kids, watch TV, answer the front door (it fits under loose trousers no problem) and most times people won’t even notice you are wearing it. It’s the mobility factor which makes this product unique from its earlier ‘pads and cables’ predecessors.

Does it work? Well. I have to tell you that a few weeks after buying this product I fell pregnant and had to stop using it!! However, once you have given birth and had your six week check-up you can use it again (if you have had a Caesarean I would wait longer, take your Doctor’s advice on this, it depends how well your scar heals). I now use the Belt once a day as part of a program which includes healthy eating, walking and swimming. I would say that it does make a difference to tummy sag, whether or not due to childbirth or not. You will feel more toned and whilst it won’t help you lose weight if used on its own, it will help to pull in your tummy muscles and make you look and fit your clothes a bit better. The booklet recommends that you use it once every day for 4-8 weeks to see results, and then use it 2-3 times a week after that to maintain the results.
A few tips here. Don’t share your Belt with others. Its an individual device, so your friends really need to buy their own. Quite apart from the hygiene considerations, the Belt remembers how often you used it and what intensity you used it at and if someone else uses it and you’ve already moved to a more advanced program then they could end up with a session which is longer than recommended for first time users.

Secondly, don’t get wet whilst using the Belt. Obvious really, but I thought I would mention it. I said you could take care of kids whilst wearing it, but that doesn’t include bathtime. Really.
Thirdly. DON’T use the belt if you are or think you might be pregnant.

Fourthly. If you use it more than once a day, leave at least 6 hours between sessions to allow your muscles to recover.
And lastly – READ the instructions before you use it. It’s not a difficult product to use, but you’ll derive the maximum benefit if you know what you’re doing beforehand.

Happy toning…….and whilst I still have your attention I’d like you to know I actually wore my Belt whilst writing this, just to prove you can ANYTHING whilst wearing it!!

For more reviews please check out cioa

http://sports.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Slendertone_Flex__5110338

How to build a six pack in 35 days part 3

How to build a six pack in 35 days part 3

Lose Fat.

The best way to slim down in the mid section is to do plenty of cardiovascular exercise. Some good examples of this are walking, jogging, swimming, aerobics, bicycling and high-activity sports like racquetball, tennis and basketball. Anything that brings your heart rate to its training zone and keeps it there for at least twenty minutes conditions your heart and burns fat. As you lose subcutaneous fat, your skin will become more taut.

As the fat within your core ab region decreases, you will appear more toned and have bigger core ab muscles. The number one thing you need to think about is the cardio. Five times a week. You will never see your abdominals if your body fat is over 25% even if your train them like mad. To loose your body fat you should follow these rules:

Lift weights. The more muscle your body has, the more calories your body burns, even at rest. Many people are afraid of getting huge due to weight lifting but the fact is you won’t! Many huge body-builders out there have been body-building for years to get huge. Since you want your abs to show, you should be eating fewer calories that you burn, and your body can’t build a large amount of muscle without excess calories, so you shouldn’t have to worry about this potential problem at all. If you just do cardiovascular exercises (running, playing basketball, football, etc.) without lifting weights then you will lose the muscle mass, you will also feel weak and it will take longer to lose that fat.

So, to get rid of that fat quickly lift weights combined with cardiovascular exercises. Running, cycling, swimming, stair climbing, skipping, tennis, volleyball, dancing and squash or any other activity that gets you moving and keeps you moving is a great way to burn fat. However, a cardiovascular workout should be performed for at least 20 to 30 minutes to burn fat. Prior to this your body will simply run on its stored energy, which results in minimal fat loss. Cardiovascular training should always be done after your weight lifting workout.

While lifting weights, you use stored, (carbohydrate) energy, thus, by performing cardiovascular exercises after weight training your body will have less stored energy to use and go straight into the fat storage for its energy use. Some think the best way to shed fat fast is to do cardiovascular exercises right when you wake up. The theory is that your body will search for energy to use, and when it finds nothing in your stomach, it will go directly to your fat reserves for energy. Others say that the first thing you should do in the morning is eat, to get your metabolism going earlier.

Keep metabolism steady. Eating one small meal every three hours that you are awake will not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going. Your metabolism goes and slows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep that metabolism burning calories and will help you loose weight. Every meal should include lean protein, so that your body won’t need to break down your muscles for
fuel, which would shrink your abs as well as slow down your metabolism.

Eat smaller portions. Cut down on the size of your dinner. If you’re hungry, snack on fruits or other healthy, low calorie snacks. Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most people aren’t very active after dinner. This is the basis for advice along the lines of “don’t eat anything within N hours before going to bed”. The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat isn’t entirely true (the process is more complicated than that) but the fact you don’t move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause.

You can offset this by eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits. A handful of nuts might do the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.

Eat more fiber. Most people don’t get enough fiber. The recommended amount is actually not that much if you eat a healthy diet. “Fiber foods” include whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Other options are fiber supplements.

Eat breakfast. Many people skip breakfast because they don’t have time for it. Keep this in mind: You don’t have time to skip breakfast, it’s simply too valuable to skip. The fact that skipping breakfast messes up your concentration and other mental functions is beyond the scope of this article.

The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch since your body hasn’t had anything in the past 12 (or more) hours. When you eat a huge lunch you get that after meal drowsiness so now you’re both unproductive and inactive.

Cereals don’t take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthy nowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast bars or a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Some breakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fiber.

Drink more water every day. Many places suggest 8 cups (2L) of water a day. It also depends on your weight (1L/20kg would be good, more if it’s hot or you’re ill). It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but actually, you can drink tea without sugar to make up some of the quota. In fact tea, especially green tea, rev up your “metabolism” (actually cause a temporary increase in calories burned).

For fat loss purposes, it is important to remind yourself that thirst is a much weaker stimulus than hunger. If you consistently feel hungry after meals, don’t immediately think that you need to eat more. You may simply be thirsty! Needless to say there are many benefits of water. The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on body size.

Avoid “white” foods (potatoes, white rice, white flour, refined sugar) – these are all starchy foods which are metabolized readily into fat.

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How to build a six pack in 35 days part 2

How to build a six pack in 35 days part 2

Plank and Side oblique plank. Put your body into the push-up position but with your elbows on the floor, and your whole body flat. This position is known as the static hold position and it trains your core (including your abs) to hold the body in place which is the real purpose of your abs. Hold this position for as long as possible, but you should be aiming to start off with at least 45 seconds, while seasoned ab workers known to achieve over 20 minute static holds.

To perform the side oblique plank roll onto one side of your body and lift into the same position as before, but this time only one arm will be on the ground with the other arm pointed straight up the air and your non weight bearing leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, hold this for as long as possible. This will strenghten most of your body muscles and put pressure on your core abdominal muscles, so it is not as effective as a crunch for example.

Train Your Oblique Muscles. It’s not as important to work on your oblique muscles at first, but eventually you’ll want to start working these too. These are the ab muscles to either side of your stomach. There are multiple ways to do this and anything that includes twisting your torso against a resistance counts. There are twisting machines at gyms, you can twist while you do sit-ups, you can do side bends, you can twist side to side with a medicine ball in hand, etc. Be aware though, that many beginners tend to have weak obliques compared to their abs (it simply isn’t used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides at first.

The side oblique plank explained more above works the oblique muscles alot by putting your body weight strain onto your core abominal obique muscles.

Now that you’ve made up your mind about a washboard mid section. Find new ways to crunch, bend and twist in your daily life. Some possibilities include:

Use a stability ball. Do your crunches on the ball to introduce instability to your workout, which will improve your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises that can be done with a stability ball.You can also use a small bubble used for physical therapy. These fitness balls work by creating instability create more movement to the abs meaning they have to work alot harder to strenghten and contract leading to stronger core abominal muscles.

Duck and twist during your daily routine. Reach with your left hand to things on your right and vice versa. If you feel like turning around to face something, see if you can do it with keeping your hips in place and twisting at the waist (warning: awkward when talking to other people, use only against inanimate objects).

While walking or standing, pretend that something is coming toward you and you have to duck to get out of the way. Do this as often as you are comfortable or at times when it won’t look weird. You can bend forward from the hips or, if you’re really into it, bend at the knees too and really “sink” out of the way. Caution: If you have lower back problems, you could injure yourself.

Incorporate into your regular workout routine. Any higher-impact running works the abs, but intense sprinting derives power specifically from the lower abs. This is not a exercise but a tip really and you will not gain massive core ab muscles just by running.

Do the Scientific Best Abs Exercise. Researchers at the San Diego State University, found that there are certain abs exercises that triggers most muscular activity. The winner was the “bicycle maneuver”:

Lie on the floor; make sure your lower back is pressed on the ground.
Take your hands behind your ears. Then bring up your knees at a 45 degree angle.

Start doing a bicycle pedaling motion. Touch your elbow with the opposite knee (right elbow with left knee and so on, alternating)
Breathe in a relaxed and even manner throughout the exercise.

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How to build a six pack in 35 days part 1

To get core six pack abs you need to do two things: Build muscle and lose fat. Details on ways to accomplish each of these goals follows:

Build muscles.

To get a abdominal muscles or get a six pack you must train your abdominals 2-3 times per week for 20 minutes. For your ab muscles to grow they need to recover so i would recommend having 2 rest days where you could train other muscle groups or do cardio to burn the body fat.

A list of the best exercises to do to get a extreme ripped set of six pack abs muscles. These exercise can be hard so if you are still unsure on how to do them you can contact vince del monte [Best online fitness guru, author of 10 fitness programmes] if you sign up to the programme at the bottom of the page.

Do crunches. Lie on the floor (with or without a mat) and cross your arms in front of your chest. Bend your knees up as far as they go.Do not place both hands behind your head. Placing both hands behind your head can cause lower back problems in the long run as it places unnecessary stress on that part of your body from pulling on your head and neck.) Another alternative is to cross your arms in front of your chest and lightly place your finger tips behind your ears, without pulling on your neck or ears to help raise you off the floor. Draw in your abdomen towards your spine while inhaling through your nose.

Now raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles. It is very important not to lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain, and the extended movement does not help you develop six pack abs any faster. The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs as you lift your shoulders off of the floor.

As soon as you begin lifting off the floor exhale through your mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor. Then pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while flexing your abs. The proper breathing and flexing make all the difference. Now lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the ground and repeat.

Do sit ups. Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and fingers placed behind your ears or hands crossed on your chest. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades.Lower yourself down using your ab muscles slowly to work the core better and place pressure which promotes growth.Repeat.

Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges and boost the intensity of the ab exercises. Find an incline bench or do these on an exercise ball. Once you “graduate” from that, do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest while you do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights.

You might also try lifting your feet off the ground while doing the sit ups or alternating the leg in the air, like pretending to pedal while sitting up. If your hands are behind your head, bring your left knee up to touch your right elbow and then your right knee to the left elbow. The most advanced version of this exercise should not be done by beginners, place a heavgy weight behind your neck using your triceps and you want to strenghten your ab core muscles and slowly lower yourselve up and down.

Do leg lifts. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all) until they’re at a 90 degree angle (or close). Lower your legs and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor.

For more challenge there is equipment at most gyms that will allow you to raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle your legs. You can perform leg lifts there too. If you’re using this piece of equipment, you can make it easier by just raising your knees to your chest. It’s more difficult to raise your legs to a horizontal position with your legs straight. This helps firm up the lower abdominals.

If you’re truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar. The most advanced version of this exercise should not be done by beginners and if you want to strenghten your ab core muscles try doing the exercise slowly and controlled.

Do Jackknife Sit Ups. Lie down flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold bringing your feet towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. “spread out”) and repeat. Place a weight between your feet when you think you can handle it.

Do V-ups. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands on the floor but this time extended out over your head. Simultaneously raise legs and torso. Don’t bend your knees! What kind of V would it be if you bend your knees? Reach with your hands toward the raised feet. Touch your feet if possible (will require some flexibility). Relax, return to starting position and repeat. Add weight between feet to match your taste.

This is a advanced exercise and i would not recommend this for beginners as it puts alot of strain on your core abdominal muscles and it rasies the chanse of back problems and injury. This is also a very effective exercise for working the core mid section and it takes alot of effort to complete each set slowly and controlled.

click here for Part 2