healthy body | Robin's One Stop Fitness

3 Pilates Exercises for Your Abs

10/16/2013 1 Comment

Getting and keeping a firm, toned abdomen can become increasingly difficult as we age. Some increase in belly fat may be due to aging, but a more sedentary lifestyle combined with high calorie diets can also pack on the pounds around your waist. When women reach middle age, hormonal changes mean that excess calories are stored as fat around your belly, on your hips and on your thighs. Weight gain and an increased waist line is not inevitable. Staying active, exercising and cutting calories can help get you trim and keep you fit. Pilates is a good way to work your abs while strengthening your arms and legs.

The toe dip Pilates move will work all of your abs, especially your obliques and lower abs. Lie on your back and bend your knees. Lift your legs, with your knees bent, until your thighs are straight and your calves are parallel to the floor. Place your hands on the floor on each side of your thighs with your palms down. Squeeze your belly and breathe in. Point your toes and lower one foot toward the floor. Keep your knees bent. Stop just an inch or two inches above the floor. Hold the position for 2 to 3 seconds and then exhale as you bring your leg back to the start position. Repeat 10 times on each side. You can do 10 repetitions with one leg and then 10 more with the other leg, or alternate legs until you do 10 repetitions on each side.

Leg circles work all of your ab muscles while strengthening your legs. Lie on the floor with your legs stretched out. Raise one leg toward the ceiling and point your toes. Make sure your hands are placed palms down on either side of your thighs. Make 10 small circles with your toes toward the left and then 10 small circles to the right. Bring your leg back to the floor and repeat on the other side.

Finish off your Pilates ab workout by doing a set of leg kicks. Lie on one side of your body with your legs straight out. Place one leg on top of the other and support your upper body on your elbow. Lift your ribs off the floor. Place your other hand (the one that is not supporting your weight) on the floor in front of your tummy to support your body and provide stability. Raise your top leg a few inches and point your toes. Swing your leg forward in front of your body as far as is comfortable for you. Hold the position for 2 seconds and then swing your leg back to the starting position. Do 10 repetitions on each side.

Filed under abdominal, abdominal muscles, abs, fitness, healthy body, Pilates, strengthen, stretching, workout

Pumping Iron Over 60

07/20/2013 Leave a comment

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If you’re over 60 and you’ve decided to start lifting weights, you’ll enjoy many health benefits, including stronger muscles and bones. You can strengthen your body using free weights, such as dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells. Beginners, no matter your age, should start slowly with light weights and focus on proper form to reduce your risk of injury. You should seek instruction by a qualified fitness trainer if you decide not to use a gym. See your doctor for a complete checkup before you start any exercise program. Always warm-up before working out and cool-down afterward.

Beginners should design a workout routine that works all your muscle groups in 2 workouts each week. Don’t lift weights on consecutive days because your muscles need at least one day to rest and recover. Train a different muscle group at each workout to avoid overuse injuries. Work your upper body one day and your core and lower body at the next workout. Lift slowly and focus on your form. Improper form or lifting too quickly can cause injuries. Begin by doing 8 repetitions of each exercise followed by 1 minute of rest. Do another set of 8 repetitions after you rest. Increase the number of repetitions, the number of sets, or the amount of weight when you can do 3 sets without becoming fatigued.

You can use dumbbells to work your upper and lower body. Dumbbell squats work your core, hips, quadriceps and calves. Shoulder shrugs work your arms, shoulders and upper back. Biceps curls are easy for beginners to perform and work your biceps and forearms. If you really want to focus on your upper body and chest, do dumbbell overhead press exercises. Simply holding a set of dumbbells when you do exercise, such as lunges and crunches, adds extra weight resistance.

Barbells are versatile free weights that train the most muscle tissue in the shortest amount of time. People over age 60 should start working with barbell weights slowly with light weights and focus intently on form. Never hold your breath when lifting weights because holding your breath can cause your blood pressure to increase rapidly. Squats, deadlifts and presses are functional lifts that mimic the movements you make when you reach, lift, bend over, sit down and stand up. You can easily add and remove weight to a barbell to suit your fitness and strength level.

Kettlebells are large, heavy weights with a handle. These weights can be used in a number of ways to help strengthen your entire body. Begin with the lightest kettlebells available and gradually work your way up to heavier weights. Kettlebells can be used to work your entire body. Exercises that beginners can do include the half Turkish get up, kettlebell squats, deadlifts, and two-arm swings. Do 8 repetitions of each exercise, rest for as long as you need to and repeat the set.

Filed under age, aging, dumbbells, exercise equipment, healthy body, men's health, older adults, strength, strength training, weights

Safe Weight Loss

04/08/2013 Leave a comment

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You can see television commercials for the next best weight loss pill every day on most every channel. The truth is there is no magic weight-loss pill. Some diet pills may even be dangerous to your health. Forget the fad diets. Don’t even think about starving yourself. Diet pills often have harmful side-effects. Most diet pills cause you to lose weight because they are a diuretic or have a laxative effect on your body, which can cause you to lose water weight. You will re-gain water weight as soon as you rehydrate your body. Dehydration can be dangerous, too. Other diet aids contain stimulants, such as caffeine, that speed up your heart and can increase your blood pressure. The safest way to lose weight is to see your doctor and ask her to help you design a weight loss program that includes sensible, healthy nutrition and exercise.

In order to lose weight, you have to create a calorie deficit. That is, you must burn more calories than you consume so that your body burns fat for energy. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, an eating plan that contains between 1,000 and 1,200 calories per day can help women lose weight safely. Cut back on simple carbohydrates and fats and replace those sugary fat foods with complex carbohydrates and fiber. Take cake, candy, cookies and white flour out of your diet. Replace those calorie-laden foods with whole grains, such as bran, wheat, oats and brown rice. Eat more raw vegetables and drink water instead of soda. Eat a balanced diet with foods from all the food groups and keep track of your caloric intake if you want to safely lose weight.

Exercise is an essential part of any weight loss plan. As you use more fat for energy and start to lose weight, it’s important that you build muscle. Building muscle will also help you burn more calories since muscle tissue burns more calories than other tissues in your body. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn. Your basal, or resting, metabolism will also increase when you build more muscles. This means you will burn more calories sitting on the sofa in front of your television if you increase your muscle mass.

Filed under dieting, exercise, food, healthy body, weight loss

Weight Training Won’t Bulk You Up – Unless You Want It To

04/01/2013 Leave a comment

Photo Credit: roonb

Stop running from the weight bench and put down those girly pink dumbbells! Weight exercises are good for you and won’t turn you into the Hulk. Weight exercises won’t make your muscles bulky unless your goal is to bulk up and build bulging biceps. Weight exercises will help tone and firm your muscles, increase your ability to burn fat and improve your bone health. So, grab some weights and get strong. There is a difference between weight training to get stronger and weight training to build bulky muscles. To get stronger without building big muscles, lift light weights for many repetitions, roughly 12 to 15 repetitions. Build bulky muscles by lifting heavier weights for fewer repetitions. By changing the way you work out when doing weight exercises, you can target different types of muscle fibers. Heavy weight with few repetitions targets your type II muscle fibers for bulk, while lighter weights with more repetitions targets your type I muscles fibers for muscular endurance.

Weight exercises benefit your body, even if you aren’t trying to build muscle. Lifting weights, doing bodyweight exercises, such as push-ups, and resistance exercises help reduce the risk and symptoms of chronic illness and disease, including osteoporosis, arthritis and diabetes. Strong muscles, especially in your back and core, help improve your balance to prevent falls. Post-menopausal women are at risk for weakened bones due to loss of bone mass. Weight training can help reduce bone loss and can even improve bone mass. Muscle tissue is very efficient at using glucose for fuel to help keep your blood sugar levels under control and reduce your risk of diabetes.

You will have to spend hours in the gym, take supplements and eat high protein diet if you want to build bulky muscles. It’s difficult for women to build huge muscles like men because women lack sufficient testosterone to build muscle mass. Your lack of testosterone along with your DNA determine how you build muscles. Mesomorphs, or muscular body types, are more likely to build bulky muscles than endomorphs, or those with rounder, curvy bodies. Ectomorph body types are slimmer and leaner than either mesomorphs or endomorphs. No matter what your body type, you will benefit from weight training by becoming stronger.

In addition to exercise, your nutrition and body type will help determine whether you build muscle and how big your muscles will grow. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (eatright.org), you should eat 1.4 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day when lifting weights if you want to build muscle. This amounts to up to 20 percent of your daily caloric intake. Eating more protein won’t build bigger muscles. Even if you don’t want bulky muscles, your body still needs protein to repair and build new muscle after a workout.

Filed under abs, healthy body, muscle, muscles, physical, strength, strength training, training

Debunking Diet Myths

07/20/2012 Leave a comment

Photo Credit: FotoosVanRobin CC-BY-SA-2.0

It can be difficult for some people to lose weight. When they don’t reach their weight-loss goals as fast as they think they should, some may be willing to try just about anything to lose weight. There is no shortage of fad diets and myths that can actually harm your efforts to eat a healthy diet and lose weight. There are no quick fixes for weight loss. The healthiest, safest way to lose weight and get fit is exercise and a nutritious diet.

One myth that persists is that you have to eat a low-carbohydrate, zero fat diet to lose weight. A low-fat diet with healthy carbohydrates and heart healthy fats combined with exercise can help aid in your weight loss efforts. Calories are the real diet busters. To lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume. Carbohydrates are an important part of your healthy diet. The USDA dietary guidelines suggests at least 1/2 of your food plate should contain fruits and vegetables, a little more than 1/4 of your plate should be whole grains and the final portion of your plate should be protein. The nutrients from all of these food groups are important for a healthy body. You have to reduce caloric intake and increase exercise to lose weight.

Some people still believe that skipping meals is a good way to lose weight. Skipping meals or fasting is not a good way to lose weight. When you skip meals, you will be more hungry and may over-eat at the next meal. Skipping lunch may cause you to eat more than you normally would at dinner. Skipping breakfast is a bad idea. Your body has been without food for hours while you were sleeping. Eating breakfast will replenish your nutrient-deprived body and jump-start your metabolism. Some people are able to lose weight by eating 3 small meals plus 2 healthy snacks throughout the day instead of 3 larger meals. It is also a myth that one type of food can help you lose weight. For example, grapefruit has been touted as a magic weight loss food because it is claimed to speed up the metabolism. Grapefruit is a healthy, vitamin-rich food, but eating a lot of grapefruit will not cause the fat to melt. Only a healthy diet and exercise really works.

Another popular myth is that you have to give up all the foods and drinks that you love if you are going to lose weight. Again, weight loss requires burning more calories than you take in through your food. You can still have a piece of cake or a soda occasionally. Lasting weight loss requires a commitment to lifestyle changes that include exercise, plenty of sleep and a nutritious diet. Reduce the calories you ingest from sweets and sugary drinks to help reduce your total caloric intake. Include more fiber and whole grains in your diet to help reduce the overall number of calories in your diet. Get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day to lose weight and get fit.

Filed under diet, healthy body, healthy foods, myths, weight loss