Carefully Choose Your Workout Facility

Have you been procrastinating about joining a health club because of the fear-of-the-unknown factor? There’s no doubt that the process can be intimidating to first timers—the lingo, the classes, the routine. Arming yourself with a little knowledge about what to expect when you walk through the door can help you find a health club where you’ll fit right in.

Like hospitals, malls and grocery stores, health clubs have adapted to changing family structures, routines and expectations. Facilities in the 21st century are just as likely to provide personal coaching, medical-school-trained personnel and day care as they are to offer sophisticated workout machinery. Some facilities still cater to the toned-body set, while others pride themselves on family-friendly offerings. Every club has a different setup, which means you need to look at your needs and your routine. Is flexibility in workout times most important, or would the latest and greatest classes bolster your motivation? Do you require child care, or is proximity to work a must? Questions like these will let you come up with a short list of what you’re looking for in a health club. Choose wisely, it can be the difference in your success.

Keep Hydrated When Working-Out

As we embark on a daily exercise routine to lose unwanted belly fat, it is important to remember to constantly drink water.

Research has repeatedly shown that staying hydrated is necessary for the human brain, which is 85 percent water, to function at optimal levels. That is why many school systems throughout the country now encourage students to keep a bottle of water at their desks and to drink it throughout the day.

Your body is about 75 percent water and 25 percent solid material. Doesn’t it make sense that you would need to drink water on a daily basis to ensure that your body has all the water it needs to perform at optimal levels. It is a mistake to believe that thirst is the only indicator of a need to drink water. Constipation, achy joints and fatigue are also signals that your body may be dehydrated.

Drinking Water Helps Cut Calories

Drinking water everyday will keep your skin looking smooth and supple. Applying expensive creams and lotions to your face is not an effective way to conceal the effects aging has on your skin. The real fountain of youth can be found in a glass of water.

Drinking water will help you cut calories. Most popular beverages are loaded with calories. A can of soda can have as many as 240 calories per serving. 1 or 2 of these each day is a recipe for gaining weight. Choosing to drink water instead is the calorie free way to quench your thirst.

Water helps to distinguish thirst from hunger. If you allow your body to become dehydrated it will be difficult to discern whether that gnawing feeling in your stomach is a call for food or a call for water. And if you keep eating food when what your body really needs is water, you will gain weight.

Season And Sniff To Shed Pounds.

A fresh tactic for shedding unwanted belly fat is to first season our food, take a sniff before biting and then chew well, suggests a new study that put the theory to the test. Researchers asked overweight and obese participants to sprinkle a variety of flavoring crystals—savory or sweet—on neutral-tasting foods before eating them. A control group was given crystals with no flavor.

Follow-up measurements of the volunteers’ weight and body mass index over a period of six months revealed that those using the flavored crystals lost an average of 30.5 pounds. The control group reported an average drop of just two pounds. The researchers theorize that flavorful food enhances our senses of smell and taste, helps us eat less, savor more and ultimately control our weight. Well, now you know.

Why Massages Can Help With Weight Loss.

It's been established that proper posture can help in the battle to lose belly fat. But little is known about the effects of body massages in this process.

Allowing the body to reinforce healthy and natural movements can be one of the most beneficial aspects of massage therapy. Many aches and pains are due to poor posture. With a consistent program of massage therapy, the painful points in muscles are loosened and relaxed, joints have greater freedom, and pressure points are relieved. This allows the body to position itself in a healthy and natural posture, therefore avoiding the movements and positions developed over time as a reaction to the pain. This improved posture makes the stomach appear less obvious.

Further, a person with poor circulation can suffer from a variety of discomforts including pooling of the fluid in the extremities (like the toes), cold hands and feet, fatigue, and achiness created by an accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles. Good circulation brings damaged, tense muscles the oxygen-rich blood they need to heal.

So include massages in your battle against that jelly-belly.

Eat Fast, Get Fat - Surprise

It can be quite alarming to discover the various ways we can develop a jelly-belly. One such way was revealed in the findings of a three-year survey of 3,000 men and women, ages 30 to 69 in Japan.

It was revealed that if you want to lose that unwanted belly fat, you should slow down at mealtime and don't stuff yourself. Folks who wolf down their food and eat until they feel full are three times more likely to be overweight than those who eat at a leisurely pace or stop before they feel full.

Another research found that women are more likely than men to chow down until they feel full, while more men than women say they're speedy eaters.

Now that it's known, let's all slow down.

Coffee And It's Effect On Your Workout

An indepth study of the effect of drinking coffee on a persons' daily workout revealed a Yes and No answer. It all depended on what aspect of your training you are looking at. For upper body strength, the answer is Yes. Everything else, No.

Caffeine is one of the most highly used drugs in the world and is popular as an ergogenic aid for athletes. Although it has been removed from the International Olympic Committee banned substance list, caffeine consumption is still monitored in competitive athletes.

A study was conducted, and published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, which looked at the effects of caffeine on strength, muscular endurance and anaerobic activity. The research showed caffeine did not have an effect on lower-body strength, muscular endurance, anaerobic capabilities or upper body muscular endurance. It did show that drinking a moderate dose of caffeine approximately 1 hour prior to activity results in an increase in upper-body strength in resistance-trained men.

Cardio Exercises - How Much Do We Need

It's tough to know exactly how much cardio an individual needs to effectively lose unwanted belly fat without knowing habits like:

• How many calories you eat
• How hard you exercise
• Your metabolism, age and gender
• Your fitness level
• Your body fat percentage and weight
• Your exercise schedule

The American Heart Association recommend about 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity on most days of the week. That said, here are some tips for setting up an effective cardio program:

• If you're a beginner, start with 3 to 4 days of the cardio exercise of your choice, working at a level you can handle.
• Add time each week to work your way up to 30 to 45 minutes of continuous exercise.
• As you get stronger, try some high intensity training with periodic rests, once a week to help boost endurance and burn more calories.
• Work your way up to 5 to 6 days of cardio and try to vary what you do and how hard you work.

This sample cardio schedule may help you set up your own program. Bottom line, cardio will help you lose unwanted fat. But it is most effective when combined with strength training and a healthy, low-calorie diet.

Which Cardio Exercises Are Best For You

Over time, numerous reports have revealed that cardio is important for weight loss, but the question remain, which exercises are best and how much do you really need.

The truth is, there really is no best cardio exercise. The best activity is the one you'll do on a regular basis. So, finding something you like is critical to reaching your weight loss goal, whether it's to lose a jelly-belly or simply to reduce the waist line a few inches. However, some exercises offer more intensity than others.

• Impact activities: Exercises that involve some impact, like walking, will usually boost your heart rate quicker than no-impact activities like swimming or cycling.
• High impact activities: Exercises that involve running or jumping, will often burn more calories than lower impact things like walking.
• Whole body activities: When you involve both the upper and lower body, as in swimming, it's often easier to get the heart rate up and burn more calories.

All these activities offer opportunities to burn calories and doing them all gives you a well-rounded program. Here is the number of calories burned by a 150-pound person in 30 minutes of cardio:

• Step aerobics: 340 calories
• Stationary bike: 238 calories
• Swimming: 270 calories
• Walking 4 mph: 170 calories
• Running 5 mph: 270 calories
• Mowing the lawn with a push mower: 200 calories

As you can see, everything from walking to cutting the grass can burn a significant number of calories, which is one reason cardio is so important for losing belly fat.

How Cardio Helps You Lose A Jelly-Belly

If you're trying to lose belly fat, cardio exercise is just one of the things you need in your weight loss toolbox. The trouble is figuring out how much you need, how hard to work and the best cardio exercises. Your first step in setting up an effective cardio program is to learn just what it can do for your body.

You already know that you lose stomach fat when you burn more calories than you eat. The best way to do that is with a combination of cardio, strength training and a healthy diet. But, the cornerstone of most weight loss programs is cardio, cardio, cardio.

• It helps you burn more calories in one sitting. Getting your heart rate up means your blood is pumping, you're breathing hard, you're sweating and burning calories.
• With many cardio exercises, you can burn 100 to 500 calories depending on how hard you work, how long you exercise and how much you weigh.
• Burning calories with exercise means you don't have to cut as many calories from your diet.
• You can do cardio exercise most days of the week without worrying about injury or over training.

Since cardio is important for weight loss, you should choose the routine you are most comfortable doing on a regular basis and stick with it. Remember, persistance is critical in reaching your goal of losing unwanted belly fat.

Myth About Special Equipment To Tone Abs

The infamous infomercial rears its ugly head once more and is about to send us crazy. The latest trend is to create bizarre gadgets, call them ab machines and sell them to you for hundreds of dollars, guaranteeing to lose belly fat in a very short amount of time. First, don't believe it! As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Second, you don't need special equipment to work your abs. You can do a wide variety of ab exercises with just your body weight or with an exercise ball, which is often much cheaper than the gadgets you see on infomercials. For ideas, follow these blogs and you'll see that challenging your abs doesn't require much equipment.

You're better off buying equipment that has multiple uses. Ab machines only work the abs, but things like dumbbells, an exercise ball, resistance bands, etc. can be used to train your entire body. Don't fall for the hype.

Can Anyone Have A Flat Stomach?

Let's face it, the factors that dictate how our bodies look are too many to keep track of. Age, genetics, gender...all of these decide what your body and, therefore, your tummy, look like. Women, in particular, tend to store fat around the lower belly area causing that annoying lower belly pooch. Men tend to store fat around the middle, causing that annoying spare tire effect.

Sure exercise can reduce your body fat, but you can't choose where you lose fat. To get six-pack abs, you may have to drop your body fat to a level that is either a struggle to maintain or downright unhealthy. Many of us have the goal to get six-pack abs but most of us will find it difficult to reach that goal.

If this is true for you, trying to reach an impossible goal is only going to make you crazy. Set reachable goals for yourself and make friends with your belly. Remember that we all have flaws and perfection isn't an option unless you head to your nearest surgeon. Instead of doing that, challenge yourself by taking care of your body and accepting it. Good luck all.

Myth About Exercising Your Ab Muscle

Too often people work their abs every day without rest, hoping to burn the fat off with more exercise. But, your abdominal muscles are just like every other muscle in your body, so you should train them the same way you would train, say, your biceps or your chest. That means strength training 2-3 times a week, with rest in between and a variety of exercises to target different areas of the abs.

Try exercises that target your stabilizer muscles; the muscles you use all day long to hold your body in place. One of these is the plank: get into pushup position and hold it for as long as you can, keeping your belly tight and your body straight. Don't hold your breath. For a more advanced version, try it with the stability ball.

The trick to your abs is to realize that strength training is important to keep your belly strong, but ab exercises aren't magic. Incorporating ab exercises into a complete routine is the only way to the wonderful world of six-packs. And, even if you don't make it there, don't worry. Time is your friend.

Make The Commitment To Lose Weight, Reasonable

It's common to look in the mirror and not like what you see. This prompt many to make an instant decision to lose the unsightly bulge. This is great, since the appropriate action has been identified and is about to be executed.

However, to achieve this objective there must be a way of measuring your progress towards accomplishing it? Firstly, their needs to be a reachable and reasonable goal to strive for. Is it to lose a jelly-belly or several inches around the waste?

For those of us who have more than a few pounds to lose, we have to commit to a long term goal. We have to change habits in our lives, like eating, sleeping, activity, schedules, etc. Our commitment needs to contain levels of accomplishment rather than aim for the final target from the start. Make it totally unacceptable in your mind to be above the goal. Most of us are too comfortable at our heavier weight, but we cannot reach a goal unless we feel it is a meaningful goal.

In the weight loss process, you also need to keep the time frame reachable. It is reasonable to lose 5 to 10 pounds the first week since the initial weight loss will probably be excess water weight. After that, the safe weight loss rate is 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Follow through with the process and you will both look and feel great.

Always Keep A Weight-Loss Ledger

A recent study revealed that those who kept a journal of their weight loss journey, lost as much as twice the weight as those who did everything right except write it down.

It's important to record what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat it. Rate your hunger at the time of your scheduled meal or snack, tell how you felt after eating, whether satisfied, still hungry, etc. Write down what exercise and activity you did - when, how long. Write down your emotions and any revelation you had during the day.

Having a Journal helps to keep your weight loss journey in the front of your consciousness. It is hard to keep up your eating plan if you do not remember you are on it. Secondly, it gives you an opportunity to listen to your body. By recording what you notice, you become more aware of trends. This way, you can find alternate ways to change habits and attitudes. Thirdly, you can look back and see how much you have progressed.The weight loss journey is one of changing habits in your physical activities/exercise, changing habits in your eating, and changing habits in your mental attitudes.

You can even take pictures of yourself as you reach goals – such as 20 pounds, 10% of your initial weight, or just every other month. For as long as possible, wear the same clothes when taking the picture and be in the same position in the same place. That will give you a true comparison.

Be diligent, you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Weight Loss - A Lone Or Shared Journey

It's a known fact that when embarking on a weight loss journey, having others along for the ride help with motivation, but to get started each person has to decide for themselves to take that journey. The goal, whether it's to lose belly fat or overall weight, is one you must set for yourself. You can have input from friends and family or a professional, but the ultimate choice of your goal is yours alone.

However, it can also be a shared journey since having someone to be accountable to has been proven to be very helpful. Having someone to listen to your struggles and victories and share in your joys and frustrations. These are benefits of a shared journey.

Having someone to remind you of your goals, your desires, and discuss your choices - whether the choice leads to your goal or drifts from the path - why you made the choice - if you made a choice away from your goal, why did you make that choice, what can you do next time. All these things are much easier with a partner or group than on your own.

Plan wisely your next move.

Avoid These Obstacles To Dieting

No one ever said that dieting to lose unwanted belly fat is an enjoyable process. So when we make the decision to embark on a weight loss program, nothing should be allowed to stand in our way if we truely want to have any success.

Beware of the ever present obstacles.

1. Time Constraints. There are so many things to do - school, work, church, family, friends, shopping, cleaning, errands, doctor appointments, travel, computer research, socializing and TV. We often find ourselves at the drive through grabbing a hamburger or chicken sandwich. JELLY-BELLY.

2. Lack of Activity. We sit at the computer, sit at the TV, sit at the ball game, sit at the movie, sit at the cafe, sit in the car driving, etc. And then we are too tired to get up and ‘exercise.’

3. Emotional eating. Many of us use food to comfort us or to distract us from unpleasant things.

4. Self-image. We constantly say unkind things to ourselves. This eats away at our self-image and to prove ourselves right, we binge?

5. Portions - We may eat the right foods, but eat too much. Most restaurants will serve about twice the amount of food that we actually need. Or if we cook, we pile what we like on the plate. We need portion control.

So, diets in and of themselves may work, but unless we change many facets in our lives, the weight maintenance will be harder than the weight loss. Mental attitude towards ourselves, activity level, type of food we eat, amount of food we eat, and calories we eat all have to be taken into consideration for our diet to be a success.

Lose Weight, Not Sleep

As we try to lose belly fat or weight in general, it is always beneficial to explore all areas of possible weight issues. In so doing it was discovered in a report provided by the National Sleep Foundation that 70% of Americans experience frequent sleep issues. This coincides with another report that two-thirds of American adults also fight weight issues. Coincidence?

In a vicious cycle, a lack of sleep can cause stress and fatigue, which can lead to overeating and weight gain. Excess weight has always been cited as a factor for poor sleep habits.

With this in mind, we must be mindful of the weight loss products we use. Most of these products contain ingredients that boost metabolism by stimulating our central nervous system. This is effective for weight loss, but it shouldn't come at the expense of your sleep. A stimulated central nervous system causes many to experience jitters, nervousness, tossing and turning while trying to sleep. Be sure to get expert advice before choosing any products.

Toning Your Abdominals

Most men out there would like to have toned abdominal muscles, but are unwilling to put in the time and effort. You can’t have six pack abs over night, it takes a lot of exercise, dieting, and working out. But it is possible for men of all ages to tone their abdominals in just a few minutes per day. The first thing to do is remove the stubborn fat from around your stomach; if you are overweight, even if you work out for hours each day, your six pack abdominals will be, so to speak ‘in the cooler’. You won’t be able to view your abs because they’ll be concealed behind layers of fat.

Once you’ve gotten down to a healthy weight, the process of toning your abs is much easier. You need to do abdominal exercises like sit-ups, crunches, and resisted crunches. It’s best to consult a trainer or a fitness professional about methods to increase the rate at which you build muscle, and which exercises are best for you. With a healthy weight and about six to eight months of effort, you’ll start to bring definition to your six pack abs.

Eliminating Stubborn Belly Fat

It’s true that a lot of people have trouble removing fat in the most stubborn areas of their bodies, such as hips, stomach, and thighs. But contrary to popular belief, whether you want to lose stomach fat, or tone your hips and thighs, it’s not possible unless you lose weight. The key to removing stubborn fat is increasing your metabolism and reducing your calorie intake. The only proven method to lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat. What most people don’t know is you burn calories even when you’re not exercising, but at a much slower rate.

When you start to lose weight through diet, exercise, and supplemental practices, you’ll notice that the fat around your hips, stomach, and thighs also lessens. Don’t get discouraged, because often the area of your body that stores the most fat cells will be the last to lose them.

Bouncing Up And Down Will Get It Done

As we think of ways to get rid of stomach fat, we often overlook one of the simplest but very effective techniques.

Bouncing up and down on a rebounder (or mini-trampoline) is one of the best and most complete anaerobic exercises you can do. Since jumping strengthens muscles, tendons and ligaments - and demands great energy.

The acceleration, deceleration and gravity-pull positively stresses your bones, which results in higher bone density. Rebounding affects the efficiency of the lymphatic system, which helps to shuttle nutrients to the cells and remove waste from the body

Lose Belly-Fat Easily By Jumping Rope.

Now that the holidays are over and it's time to shed those pounds around the middle, we tend to look for simple, but effective exercises to achieve this goal.

An excellent lung-bursting exercise is jumping rope, which is a quick way to get the heart pumping blood and oxygen cells through the veins and arteries.

The up-and-down rhythmic bouncing from jumping rope promotes increased lymph flow by as much as fifteen times. A sure way to lose unwanted belly fat.

If the last time you jumped rope was back in elementary school, bring your jump rope out of mothballs. You'll be surprised how winded you'll get, but that's a good thing.

How Safe Is Your Gym.

You go to the gym to shape up and stay healthy, but your club may be undermining your efforts by sending you down the road to serious harm. Check for these five signs to make certain you're getting the best (and safest!) workout possible while trying to lose unwanted fat.

Danger: Your Yoga Teacher Speaks Another Language. It's not just frustrating when your yoga instructor uses terms you can't understand, it could actually put you at risk for injury by causing you to perform an exercise incorrectly. Don't be afraid to ask for more specific instructions.

Danger: Your Gym Isn't Clean. Since fungi and bacteria thrive in warm, moist places, wear flip-flops in the locker room, in the shower stalls, and near the pool to avoid athlete's foot, plantar warts, and other infections.

Danger: Your Trainer Isn't Certified. Find out just who is training at your gym: At a minimum, trainers should be certified by a nationally recognized body. Always ask for credentials and references.

Danger: No One Asks About Injuries. The instructor should always ask whether you're new to the activity or have any pain, since you could exacerbate an injury or risk a new one. For a pre-existing condition, the trainer should be able to modify the moves to suit your needs.

Danger: Your Trainer Stops Working Out Too Abruptly. Suddenly stopping a high-intensity activity can leave you lightheaded and dizzy; your teacher should wind things down during the last few minutes of the workout, slow to a jog or walk until you're breathing normally.

How Safe Is Your Gym.

You go to the gym to shape up and stay healthy, but your club may be undermining your efforts by sending you down the road to serious harm. Check for these five signs to make certain you're getting the best (and safest!) workout possible while trying to lose unwanted fat.

Danger: Your Yoga Teacher Speaks Another Language. It's not just frustrating when your yoga instructor uses terms you can't understand, it could actually put you at risk for injury by causing you to perform an exercise incorrectly. Don't be afraid to ask for more specific instructions.

Danger: Your Gym Isn't Clean. Since fungi and bacteria thrive in warm, moist places, wear flip-flops in the locker room, in the shower stalls, and near the pool to avoid athlete's foot, plantar warts, and other infections.

Danger: Your Trainer Isn't Certified. Find out just who is training at your gym: At a minimum, trainers should be certified by a nationally recognized body. Always ask for credentials and references.

Danger: No One Asks About Injuries. The instructor should always ask whether you're new to the activity or have any pain, since you could exacerbate an injury or risk a new one. For a pre-existing condition, the trainer should be able to modify the moves to suit your needs.

Danger: Your Trainer Stops Working Out Too Abruptly. Suddenly stopping a high-intensity activity can leave you lightheaded and dizzy; your teacher should wind things down during the last few minutes of the workout, slow to a jog or walk until you're breathing normally.

Trim And Tone Your Tummy At Home

Pelvic tilt

1. Lie on the floor on an exercise mat or carpet with your knees bent and feet flat on floor.

2. Tighten your abdominal muscles and slowly tilt your pelvis toward your head. Tip: As you tilt your pelvis, place one hand on your belly so you can feel your abdominal muscles working. Avoid tightening your buttock muscles; concentrate on using only your abdominals.

3. Hold the position for 1 to 3 seconds, then slowly lower your pelvis back to the floor.

4. Perform 1 or 2 sets of 10 repetitions.

Continue To Trim And Tone Your Abdominals

Legs-up crunch

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent 90 degrees and lower legs resting on the seat of a chair. With your hands behind your head, slowly lift your shoulders and torso off the floor. As you lift, relax your head back into your hands so you don’t place excess strain on your neck.

2. Once you have reached the highest point you can, hold the position for 3 seconds, then slowly lower your torso and shoulders to the floor.

3. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.

No doubt you will experience a reduction of that unwanted belly fat.

Trim And Tone Your Tummy.

SINGLE AND DOUBLE LEG RAISE.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent 90 degrees and raised over your hips so that your lower legs are parallel to the floor.

2. While keeping one knee bent 90 degrees, lower the other until your toes touch the floor. Then raise the leg back to the starting position. The farther your toes are from your backside, the more effective the move. Perform the movement in a slow, deliberate fashion, so you feel the abdominal muscle tightening. Do not allow your back to arch off the floor.

3. Repeat on the other leg. Try lowering and raising both legs at the same time.

4. Perform the entire sequence 10 times. In no time you will see the difference in your jelly-belly.