Bums, Tums and Thighs - Women's Fitness and Toning

Quickly Lose Belly Fat and Get a Flat Stomach

2008-10-10T00:59:00.002+01:00

Knowing how to lose belly fat is the first step in gaining that flat stomach that so many people aspire to. Once the belly fat is lost, then you are only one step away from attaining the ultimate dream, the six pack.

If you are looking for advice on how to lose belly fat then following these tips and tricks will help you to lose that gut. Not everyone wants a washboard abs but if you just want to trim down some inches around the waist and get a flatter stomach, these tips can help you.

Belly fat seems to be a huge problem for lots of people, especially men. Naturally, men tend to hold more fat around their waist line, which we call love handles (or beer belly, pot belly). Besides the biological nature of men, modern lifestyle also has a huge impact on this. Work, stress, entertaining clients and lack of exercise contribute to the accumulation of belly fat. Belly fat is usually very stubborn fat, in that it requires a lot of work to reduce it. Losing the beer belly and getting a flat stomach can be a painfully slow experience, but it is certainly worth the efforts. The rewards are not only a better looking, sexier body, but also improved long term health. Recent research has shown that people with pot bellies are more prone to heart disease. If you are serious about losing weight to improve your looks and your health, then you need to take this advice seriously, and work hard to achieve your weight loss goals.

Well, lets not get into the cause of obesity and weight gain but rather focus on some solutions that you can take to lose belly fat. We have broken the process of losing belly fat down into five simple rules:

How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule One - Junk Food

To lose belly fat you have to throw out the junk food! You are what you eat, so don't eat junk. Do not keep junk food like cookies, chips, sweets and other similar products in your house. If you do not have these bad foods lying around, you will not think about it and after sometime, you will break the bad eating habits. But, why is junk food so bad? Mostly it is due the the high sugar content of junk food. Most junk food consists of refined carbs and sugar, which when eaten quickly raise blood sugar levels, leading to reduction in fat burning and increase in apetite.

How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Two - Carbohydrates

Consumption of carbs is essential, but there are good carbs and bad carbs. Refined flours and the foods that they create, such as white bread, pasta, donuts, cakes and biscuits should be avoided. They can cause bloating, poor digestion, and lead to accumulation of fat. "Good carbs", such as fresh fruits and vegetables, should be eaten instead. A diet that takes most of its carbs from fruits and vegetables, as opposed to flours, is healthier. Ideally granary or wholemeal bread should be eaten instead of white bread, and biscuits and cakes should be avoided. Consuming too much carbohydrate can bump up your insulin level which can slow down your metabolism. Your body cannot metabolize too much carbohydrate at once because the body doesn't need so much energy at once. The excess sugar will just turn into belly fat. Slow release carbs are also beneficial, such as oats, brown rice, some pulses and sweet potato.

Much research has shown that adopting the Atkins Nutritional Approach, i.e. a high fat/protein diet, is the way ahead. Avoiding carbs increases fat burning metabolism (lipolysis) which helps to reduce stomach fat.

Combine your meals with a good combination of protein, carbohydrate and vegetables. Your source of protein should be in a size of a deck of cards; the carbohydrates in a size of your palm and the major bulk of your meals should come from vegetables.

How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Three - Late Night Snacks

Try not to have late night snacks. The main problem with late night snacking is that there is not much activity done afterwards. People go straight to bed right after the late night meal because they are tired. So, this will cause high sugar levels in the blood stream and no energy spent after that. The excess sugar will just turn into fat. Losing belly fat requires a strict diet.

Try to consume you last meal around 2-3 hours before your bedtime. If you are hungry during late nights, consume a small meal.

How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Four - Alcohol

Decrease that alcohol consumption. I am sure that most people know that alcohol can cause weight gain, but I am certain that they do not know the degree of impact that alcohol can cause. Excess alcohol consumption can really give you that belly. Have you seen people that are slim all over but have a beer belly sticking out? Well, that is effect of excess alcohol consumption. One gram of alcohol, which is can be calculated as one ml of alcohol contains 7 calories. Even thought the amount of calories is lesser than of fat, alcohol calories are completely useless. Alcohol does not contain any nutrients at all. So, the entire amount of calories consumed through alcohol will be stored as fat!

Alcohol is also in the form of liquid. That means, you can really consume a lot at one sitting! I am not saying that you should avoid alcohol totally, just go for moderation. Do not drink everyday and limit your self to one glass of wine or one bottle of beer.

How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Five - Exercise

Exercise, exercise, exercise! Get your lazy backside off the couch, put down the beer and head on to the gym. Have I got your attention? Good! If you do not know how to get started, hire a personal trainer to kick off your new healthy lifestyle. If you want to exercise by yourself, get some books on weight loss and exercise to help you start off the right track.

Workout with weights at least twice per week and do your cardio at least three times a week. Each weight training session is around 45 minutes and each cardio session is around 30 mins. So, actually, you can just workout three times a week. Two days you will combine weights and cardio and on one day you just do your cardio. Learning how the celebrities get fit can give you inspiration, and we have workouts and diet tips from some of our favourite celebs to help you.

Losing belly fat and getting a flat stomach is a long term goal for most people, so persevere, stick to te plan, don't give up. In addition to these tips, look to enhance your fitness training by following specific routines and schedules. Organising your weekly routine makes it much easiey for you to follow. After a while it will become second nature to get out and exercise. If you do not have to think about what you are going to do, then that saves precious time. To keep a diary, write up your training goals and progress in an exercise log, and just do it!

One of the best ways to help yourself lose your belly fat is to educate yourself on how the body works, and how to exercise it properly.

Tone Up With Shakira's Belly Dance

2008-06-23T20:54:00.003+01:00

There are many fitness crazes coming out at the moment, which seems to be due to the increasing amount of awareness surrounding the importance of exercising to help combat the obesity epidemic. Along with pole dancing, capoeira and simulated horse riding, belly dancing is another fitness activity which was until recently only practised by professional dancers and people from the middle east.

Here we have a belly dancing tutorial video from YouTube, which helps to explain some of the aspects of belly dancing, as well as explaining some of the techniques and movements.

Belly dancing helps strengthen the core abdomen muscles, as well as provide a good all round workout.

The origins of Belly Dancing is actually uncertain, but there are several theories:

Many dancers subscribe to one or another of a number of theories regarding the origins of the form. Some of these theories are that the dance form:

It descended from indigenous dances of ancient Upper Egypt
It descended from Greece, spreading with Alexander the Great
It descended from a religious dance Temple Priestesses once practiced
It had been a part of traditional birthing practices in the region(s) of origin
It had spread from the migrations of the Romani people (also called “gypsies”) and related groups, descended from the Banjara of Rajasthan[citation needed] in northwestern India.
It originated in Uzbekistan, traveling to India through the slave trade.

Most of the basic steps and techniques used in belly dance are circular motions isolated in one part of the body; for example, a circle parallel to the floor isolated in the hips or shoulders. Accents using “pop and lock” where a dancer either shimmies or makes a striking motion in her shoulders or hips are common, as are feats of flexibility, rolling one’s belly muscles, balancing various props like baskets, swords or canes, and dancing with chiffon or silk veils.

With its growing popularity in the western world, belly dance classes are thriving throughout the UK, though the belly dance culture has been evidenced since the early 1960s, with many styles being taught including traditional, modern, tribal, Persian, Oriental, Turkish, Greek, Egyptian, American Tribal.

Many festivals and workshops are held over the various regions, with two of the most popular being the Annual Glastonbury Majma and Raqs Britannia.

September 2007 sees the first Annual International Bellydance Congress being held in the UK.

Various celebrities, including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Paris Hilton, have been reported to belly dance for pleasure and to stay in shape, however the most famous belly dancing celeb must be the beautiful Shakira, who also taught Beyonce Knowles how to belly dance. The “Bootylicious” singer told PEOPLE magazine: “Shakira taught me how to belly dance, she taught me the whole routine. I used to watch her videos and I thought she was so cool. When she was teaching me the moves I thought, ‘This is crazy, Shakira is showing me how to belly dance!’ You can see Shakira dancing in her video Whenever, Wherever on YouTube.

“I got the best teacher. We didn’t have a lot of time to come up with the choreography - most of it was done on the spot. I was just watching her and learning from her. It was so much fun, the best energy. She was really easy to work with, so sweet and humble.”

Beyonce also reported recently that she has regained the weight that she lost for her role in Dreamgirls, and is very happy with her current figure. In February we reported on Beyonce’s maple syrup diet, and were a little concerned with such extreme dieting. We are glad to report that Beyonce has her sexy curves back, but is still in excellent shape.

Exercises for Sexy Thighs and a Toned Butt

2008-05-29T22:25:00.003+01:00

When searching for the best exercises for the thighs, you see TONS of ads promoting all of these fancy so-called inner-thigh blasters, thigh squeezers, thigh-toning machines, etc. Take my word when I say that you do NOT need any of these ridiculous "thigh-blasting" gadgets to tighten and tone-up your legs, butt, and hips for good.

As always, the best exercises for the thighs come in the form of free-weight or bodyweight exercises. You really need not look any further than various forms of exercises like lunges, squats, deadlifts, and step-ups to get those toned thighs that you want. In addition, there are plenty of variations of these basic exercises to choose from, so in reality, it is simply a waste of time messing with all of these inner-thigh gadgets and fancy thigh machines.

Here's an example of one of the most effective thigh exercises that you can do. I'm sure you have done some variation of lunges before. There's probably about 20 different versions that you can try and they all kick butt!

One of the best variations of lunges are walking lunges (and a couple ways to do these slightly different to change the emphasis). Instead of standing lunges where you either lunge forward or lunge backward for 1 step and come back, with walking lunges you keep traveling forward on each step for anywhere from 10-30 steps, and then you turn around and come back that same distance.

Muscles of the Body

It is essential to become familiar with the major muscle groups if you plan to start weight training or any other serious fitness regime. Knowledge is power, so study these muscle diagrams and learn what exercises help to build each muscle.

A couple ways to improve on these and get better results over time is to increase your distance each time or start carrying dumbbells to increase the resistance. Walking lunges done right are a real thigh-burner!

Here's a couple tips to keep in mind when performing walking lunges:

1) Step far enough forward so that your front shin stays approximately vertical and your front thigh is approximately parallel to the floor at the bottom of the lunge.

2) Your leg behind you while lunging should have a bend in the knee at the bottom but your knee should come just short of touching the floor. Try not to touch the back knee to the ground during walking lunges.

3) Pause for a second at the top of each step before you lunge forward again for your next step.

Ok, now that you've mastered the basic walking lunge, let me give you a couple ideas for lunge variations that change the emphasis a little bit for working the outer thighs, inner thighs, and buttocks in a slightly different manner.

One variety is to step at an angle outward on each forward step. A second variation is to step at a slight angle inward on each forward step. The inward stepping version of the walking lunge is also called a cross-over lunge, and it really stretches out the buttocks and hips.

Go ahead and give these lunge variations a try and I guarantee that you will be firming up those thighs in no time. Whatever you do, just please say no to the fancy thigh machines and inner thigh squeezers, and use these more effective bodyweight exercises and free weight exercises, and you'll be much better off for it.

See below for more innovative exercises for the thighs and workouts that will have you showing off your new sexy toned legs.

About the Author: Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Hers Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abdominals. Another recommended resource for fat-loss is Lose Fat and Build Muscle

Core Four Workout - Compound Weight Training to Tone Bums, Tums and Thighs

2008-05-08T22:12:00.005+01:00

Losing weight, toning muscles and getting fit all go hand in hand. There are many exercises that can be done to accomplish your goals, a plethora of sports clubs, fitness classes and gyms to join, but sometimes a simple home based weight training session cam work wonders.

This is where to core four comes into play. All you need is some free weights - just a bar and a bench - although only the bench press is done on the bench.

The Core Four Workout:

“core four” are the four key weight training exercises to kick start you into building a better, fitter and stronger you. The four core exercises are:

1. Clean and Press - 3 sets of 10
2. Bench Press - 3 sets of 10
3. Bent-over row - 3 sets of 10
4. Barbell Curl - 3 sets of 10

Start with a light weight, or no weights on the bar (bars weight from 5kg to 10kg, 10lbs to 20bls) which is plenty if you have never done any weight training before.

There are many other weight training exercises that can be added to these four at later stages, but just performing these four exercises once or twice a week will increase overall muscle mass, strengthen your core to help tone up thighs and the upper body. The main reason that these are the core four is that each of these is a compound exercise, meaning that it works more than one muscle at a time.

The Core Four forms a part of the Motley Health Fitness and Weight Loss Plan, soon to be available on eBook from Motley Health

See Our Sister Site: GooglePages - Fitness and Weight Loss

Beyoncé's Maple Syrup Diet

2008-02-29T20:56:00.003Z

Recently in the news were details of how Beyonce lost weight for her role in Dreamgirls. Beyonce had to look slim and tone up quick for the role, so was advised by her trainer to go on the Maple Syrup Diet. The Maple Syrup Diet is a liquid diet, where you simple consume a cocktail of juices and vitamins to help lose weight and reduce fat quickly. However, the diet can be very hard on the body, and Beyonce even recommended that the average person should not use it to lose weight, as there is a risk of ill health. Also, the weight that Beyonce lost was back again soon after the film Dreamgirls was finished.

Sexy Butt Workout with Kim Strother

2008-02-12T00:16:00.000Z

This simple workout works the butt to tone and firm. Includes the classic exercises such as the single leg deadlift, squats, lunges, and the hip lift which is excellent for squeezing the glutes and hamstrings. One of the best workouts to get a firm, toned and sexy bum!

Slim and Sexy Valentine's Day Workout

2008-02-12T00:14:00.000Z

Get ready for Valentine's day with this workout to quickly tone up.

Slim and Sexy Spring Break Workout Video

2008-02-12T00:11:00.000Z

This quick workout includes lunges and single leg deadlifts which are excellent for toning bums and thighs.

Pilates Burn Workout - 10 minutes

2007-11-13T21:54:00.000Z

Pilates is an excellent way to tone bums, tums and thighs. This video shows correct posture and has a great selection of exercises. In 10 minutes you can have a great home workout.

High impact step aerobics workout - 8 minutes

2007-11-13T21:27:00.001Z

This high impact workout provides an excellent quick exercise routine. You need to warm up first as it is high impact, so warm up gently for a few minutes before starting. It involves lots of jacks, cross country skis, double step touches, power low squats, and "scoop it forwards", plus knee runs and speed skates. After 8 minutes of this your heart will be thumping and your blood flowing. Remember, the goal of high impact aerobics is to really work the cardiovascular system, to condition the body - and this means that you will be sweating, panting and aching afterwards. No pain, no gain!

Carmen Electra - Erotic Aerobic - Aerobics Can Be Fun

2007-11-13T20:44:00.000Z

For those that find aerobics a bit dull, then why not get together with some friends for an "erotic aerobics" workout!

The ultimate legs, bums and tums workout

2007-11-01T00:41:00.000Z

This article from iVillage provide some excellent advice on toning bums, tums and thighs.

"It’s not as hard as you may think to get off the couch and start working those areas you think you’ve neglected: legs, bums and tums. This exercise plan guarantees a firmer, more toned body in four weeks."

A simple four week plan that anyone can follow.

More yoga workouts with Tara Stiles

2007-11-01T00:27:00.000Z

Tara Stiles has created a good selection of yoga videos to help you get started with a home yoga workout. Do not be put off by the level of flexibility required, just perform each posture as best as you can without over stretching, and eventually the flexibility and strength will come.

Yoga for the Core with Tara Stiles

Bedtime for Yoga with Tara Stiles

This routine is designed to help you relax before bed. Really this emphasis more on meditation than actual toning. This is ultimately what yoga is all about.

Tone your bum with the Yoga for the Butt routine

2007-11-01T00:18:00.000Z

This routine is derived from yoga, and is designed to help tone and firm the buttocks.
Classic yoga postures such as the warrior pose, and downward dog, are utilized. It is quite a energetic and advanced yoga routine, so really for those more experienced with yoga. Tara Stiles does a very good job at explaining each movement throughout the routine. The stomach muscles are also used.

Tina Jo Orban's Total Body Medicine Ball Workout

2007-10-31T23:45:00.000Z

This workout is an excellent way to tone up your bum, tum and thighs. All you need is a simple bench and a medicine ball, if you do not own these yourself, almost every gym has these available. This workout includes medicine ball crunches to help focus on the abs.

Here is a montage of workouts with Tina Jo Orban, which show that muscluar women can be very sexy:

Weight Training for Women

2007-10-31T23:12:00.000Z

Weight Training for women is really no different from any other weight training in principal, it is just that women generally prefer to start with a basic workout to build core strength and tone. Many women are put off weight training because it has a very masculine image, and women fear that they will bulk up. However, unless supplements and steroids are taken, women will not bulk up when weight training. Weight training will help to reduce stomach fat, and tone buttock and thigh muscles, much more so that cardio exercise alone.

Weight training routines are generally broken down into repetitions (often shortened to reps) and sets. A set describes one exercise done repeatedly for a specific number of repetitions (or until muscular failure) and repetitions are simply the number of times the weight is lifted through its full movement.

Basic Weight Trianing Techniques for Women

Advanced Weight Trianing Techniques for Women

Aerobic Fitness - Chair Exercise for Tums & Bums

2007-10-31T23:05:00.000Z

Here we provide good general information and advice for people wishing to start taking exercise for the first time. Exercising for the first time, or returning to exercise after a long break, can be quite a daunting prospect for some people. We feel it is best to start simple, so suggest a regime that includes some running, circuit training, and aerobics.

Aerobics does not only refer to aerobic exercise classes, but all forms of aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is exercise which increase heart rate and respiration to the extent that the heart and lungs are working much harder than usual. This leads to improvements in heart and lung health and also general strengthening and toning of muscles.

Chair Exercise for Tums & Bums

Swiss Ball Frog Press for your Bum

Circuit training is an excellent way to improve fitness and strength. Circuit training is a traditionally a set of aerobic and strength training exercises that are carried out at stations around a gym, sports hall or in a martial arts class. Circuit training has many forms, and can be include just calisthenics or using free weights and machines. Circuit training classes often incorporate exercises from different schools such as yoga, pilates as well as classic exercises such as press ups, skipping and sprinting. Interval training can also be done as a form of circuit training.

Pilates, also know as the Pilates Method, has become increasing popular in the last decade as the popularity of health clubs has increased. The exercises are taken from various schools, especially yoga. Various hybrids have been developed, such as "yogalates".

Martial arts are a great way to get fit and healthy. There are many styles to chose from, and many clubs provide a great social environment in which to exercise. Martial arts can provide both physical training and exercise as well as mental exercise, as many of the forms, and also sparring, help to develop an alert mind. Many classes also provide a healthy form of discliple which can aid children's social development.

Swimming is an excellent form of exercise. The human body is very wel adapted to water as our density is very similar to that of water. This means that when swimming the body is supported in the water placing less stress on bones and joints. Swimming is a good way for people to recover from injury, or to keep exercising during pregnancy. Aqua-aerobics is a popular form of exercise done in water which mimics swimming motions in shallow water.

Bodybuilding involves building muscle purely for aesthetic purposes. A bodybuilders training routine differs from that of athletes, as they need to increase muscle size and definition rather than core strength. Fat loss is essential to maintain perfectly formed muscles. Bodybuilding requires very strict diet.

Running is probably one of the simplest forms of exercise that can be done. No equipment is required and subscriptions to gyms are not needed - just get some good shoes and run.

We will be covering all of these different exercises as we slowly build this site (remember, it is new!)

Diet and Nutrition for Improved Health and Fitness

2007-10-31T23:02:00.000Z

Diet has to be carefully balanced to ensure that you receive all the nutrients, proteins and carboydrates that require to improve fitness and strength, without eating too much of any one food group.

Although our genetics provide a blue print of how we may develop, it is the food we eat which ultimately determines our strength, size, short and long term health. It could be argued that every meal you eat affects you in either a positive or negative way, and every meal has the potential to either make you a stronger person, or to weaken you. To help lose fat, build muscle and tone your bums, tums and thighs, diet is as essential as the cardio and weight training.