Body Toning Exercises for Men

A toned body along with well built muscles is a dream of every guy.  Body toning simply means increasing your muscle mass simultaneously lowering the body fat percentage.To tone up your body you need to brush aside the layers of fat and allow the muscles to be seen.

A good workout is no doubt a key to tone up the body. Men usually enjoy working out in the gym but a well planned home workout plan with a proper combination of cardio and strength training exercises can help in achieving the desired “beach body” look.

Let’s have a look at few of the body toning exercises for men with videos for your convenience:

Plank:  Plank is one of the best exercises to build endurance in abs and backs. Lie face down on floor or on a mat with palms on the floor. Raise yourself off the floor resting your weight on the toes and the elbows. Keep your body flat from head to heel. Hold this position for 20-60 sec, lower the body and repeat this cycle 5-6 times.

Ghost Skipping: Simple and fun exercise that can be done anywhere and anytime. It’s a high impact cardio exercise to burn off the extra fat and also tone up the thighs, hips and calves.  Keep your feet slightly apart and start jumping as if the rope is passing under the feet and over the head. Simultaneously move your arms as if actually jumping the rope to engage your biceps, triceps and shoulders. Complete a total of 100 reps

Pushups: One of the classic exercise for building chest, triceps and shoulders. Place your hands on the floor just beyond shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight and your knees straight and parallel to the floor. Slowly lower your body so as to touch your nose to the floor and then return to the start position by pressing yourself upward.  To make it more vigorous also try diamond pushups, wide grip pushups, cobra pushups etc.  Perform 2 sets of 12 reps each.

Squats: Squat is a form of compound exercise that particularly targets your quadriceps, calves, hamstrings and glutes. It also engages the core and back muscles to maintain the balance during the movement. Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart. Standing up tall, put your shoulders back, lift your chest, and pull in your abdominal muscles. Lower down, as if sitting but keep your upper body particularly back as straight as possible.  You could also stretch your arms out in front for added balance. Perform 2 sets of 12 reps each. Read more

Body Toning Exercises for Women

If you are looking for a good body toning exercise program then you have come to the right place. Here is an effective, time saving, intense 15-20 minute body toning exercises for women that can be done anywhere. This workout will make your heart race in as little as twenty minutes.

Before you get started keep the following things in check: be adequately dressed, take short breaks of 30 secs to 1 minute before moving on to the next exercise, lastly perform as many repetitions as you can. If you feel any discomfort while performing the exercise then maybe your posture is incorrect, stop immediately, refer to the video again and then continue.

(All videos have been linked to the headings of each exercise. Click on the exercise name and it will take you to the relevant video/image)

Body Toning Exercises for Women:

Lunges: Work on the thigh muscles. Start by standing with arms at your side, abs tight, back straight, and head neutral. Step forward with your right leg while bending the left knee almost to the floor, making sure your forward knee stays behind the toe. Hold for a count of two and return to starting position. Repeat this for other leg. Perform a total of 15 reps.

Jog: Three minutes at lighter pace.

Calf Raise: While placing your hands against the wall for balance raise up high on your tiptoes. Return to the normal position. Repeat for a total of 35 reps.

Stair Climbing:  Climb 40 stairs up and 40 stairs down. If you still have stamina left you can repeat this one more time.

Standing Side Crunches:  To perform standing crunches, stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. While lifting the right leg, bend the knee 90 degrees and turning thigh out to side. Place both hands behind your head and crunch your right elbow to right knee 20 times. Repeat with second leg.

Wall Push-ups: A classic toning exercise that works all areas of the arms plus the chest muscles. To perform wall pushups stand about 3 feet in front of a wall, hands outstretched, facing the wall. Lean forward towards the wall with hands touching the wall. Push the body back, with your hands to return to the normal position. Repeat for a total of 40 reps. Read more

Kick boxing front kick move

Wall Pushups

Standing Side Crunches

Stair Climbing

Calf Raise

Lunges

Fitho’s Outdoor Training Program is Your Ideal Fitness Buddy

Have tried joining a gym but paid the entire years fee and barely saw the inside of the gym. What you need are like-minded friends that will motivate you towards sticking to a fitness regime. Fitho’s outdoor training program is just the place that you will find these people that will help you get fitter while you enjoy the workout! Besides a lot of research have been confirming the fact that sweating it out in a group of like-minded people helps you burn more calories — here’s how:

We turn you into a regular

The most difficult part of a fitness routine is being regular. Every day you find a new excuse to skip the workout. Joining a group that is friendly and like-minded makes it easier for you to be accountable and stick to your commitment. It helps you be regular resulting in better attendance meaning higher calories burned!

We ensure you get the most out of the session

When you workout in a group you stop paying attention to the time. Your energy is channelized into focusing and completing the fun group activity at hand. Friendly banter while working out further helps time fly and before you know it the session is over! When you are working out alone most of us find it difficult to even complete 15 minutes before getting bored , giving up and getting on the phone!

We plan the sessions for you

Its difficult to put together a fun workout for yourself. Fitho’s group workouts take that responsibility away from you and in return give you one hour of a super fun and energetic workout session. Group workouts are always fun as every session is planned differently. This ensures that you get a complete body conditioning without making it mundane. Read more

Group Exercise Classes for Kids

As kids we remember most of our time spent outdoors just running, jumping and playing around. With the new technologies coming in the kids are being given many reasons to spend more time indoors sitting infront of the TV or playing with gadgets etc than spend it outdoors getting involved in some physical activities. This lifestyle change is gradually translating into increase in the number of young children that are obese in India and world over. Encouraging physical activity has become critically important for reversing the trend towards obesity. To establish healthy exercise routines in children, parents need to get involved. And this why we have created a special outdoor group exercise classes for the kids called Fitho’s junior bootcamp.

Fitho’s Junior boot camp consist of a 30-45 minute session where the children are taken through a series of aerobic exercises that help develop their immunity, improve breathing that will make the lungs stronger and heart beat faster, resulting in better blood circulation and a stronger healthier child. All this can be complemented with a diet to help optimize your child’s health and fitness. Boot camp for kids is not military style workout but a fun-exercises time-out where there kids will get to have fun, run around and be active. Fitho’s group exercise classes are conducted under expert supervision for better results through  improvement of motor functions in the body for a elevated fitness levels and general well being.

The Objective of Fitho’s junior group exercise classes:

• Keeping children at a healthy weight
• Helping children sleep better
• Improving a child’s mood and attitude
• Increasing self-confidence and self-image
• Combating laziness
• Keeping children free from sickness and disease
• Improving social interaction with other kids
• Making kids more coordinated and develop gross motor skills and fine motor skills·
• Developing muscle strength Read more

Best Post Workout Food Options

People often give importance to pre-workout meals to support the muscle growth and promote weight loss. But latest studies are giving more weightage to post work out diet as being the most important meal that can make or break your fitness.

Your body absorbs the maximum amount of food right after the workout. Your muscles absorb the food quickly in order to replenish the energy burnt and to repair the muscles tissues. Three most essential requirements of the body especially post the workout are protein for muscle repair and simple carbohydrates to replenish the glucose levels.  The carbohydrates eaten post workout will not be stored as body fat but infact will be instantly consumed by the body. Simple carbohydrates help spike the insulin levels that help the cells absorb the nutrient instantly.

An average person looking for general weight loss and fitness only requires 8-10 grams of protein post the workout. For serious muscle building an average person requires 20-22 grams. The actual percentage of protein is directly proportional to your weight. Please consult a professional dietician to get recommended protein for your body weight.

Non –Veg

Chicken Breasts: This body part of the chicken is the leanest (minimal fat content) and contains highest source of protein.  For every 100 grams of chicken breast you get 30 grams of protein. Best way to eat is grilling it with some fresh seasonal green vegetables. This will also comprise of a complete balanced meal and will contain essential vitamins & minerals.

Tuna: Every 100 grams of tuna tuna canned in water and drained provides an astonishing. 29.13 grams of high-quality protein. It can be best eaten as salad or with rice. It also contains essential minerals and vitamins that help boost the metabolism.

Salmon: It is high in protein, Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids that support muscle formation and promote weight loss. Salmon also contains minerals such as iron, phosphorus, vitamins A and B, calcium and selenium. Eating salmon is very good for the heart as it lowers cholesterol, prevent the hardening of the arteries and make the arteries flexible.

Eggs: Whole eggs provide great protein content at 6 to 8 grams per egg, and are also rich in vitamins, zinc, iron and calcium making them one of the most complete muscle building foods out there. Eggs provide maximum amount of nutrition for the least amount of calories.

Vegetarian

Cottage cheese/Paneer: Is one of the best muscle-building foods you’ll find. Just one cup of cottage cheese can pack 28 grams of protein. The main health benefit is that cottage cheese is low in fat and carbs and very high in protein.

Broccoli: One cup of chopped and cooked broccoli (146 g) provides 46 calories, 4.6 g  of protein,. Broccoli is rich in cholesterol-reducing fiber , is a super source of chromium that helps regulate insulin and bloodsugar . It also has detox and antioxidant properties that help keep off infection and build immunity.

Pulses:30 gms of pulse or 1 cup of pulse contains 7 gms of protein in it. This almost meets the daily meal requirement of an average person looking for weight loss or general fitness. You can fresh sautéed vegetables and a chapatti to complete the vitamin, carbohydrate mineral and fibre dietary requirements to boost the metabolism.

Almonds: Almonds provide a good source of protein and fat, but it’s their vitamin E that is most beneficial to your muscles. The powerful antioxidant fights free radicals and helps you recover quicker from your workouts.

Water:Your body is 70 percent water and your muscle tissue is around 75 percent water. Keeping your muscles hydrated will help increase strength, increase energy levels and aid in proper digestion. A minimum of 7-9  glasses are recommended for best results.

 

Weight Loss for Overweight People

People struggling with excess weight or simply being over weight find it the most difficult to lose weight even though they know that all they need to do is eat healthy and exercise to lose weight. But despite that why are overweight people considered lazy? Maybe they are not as active as thin people but there is a definitive reason behind it.

As one starts putting on weight is gained it gets difficult to move the body with ease and the easiness that a fit man would experience. The weight is exercising pressure on all the joints in the body impairing agile movements. Carrying excess weight overtime can result in hormonal imbalance causing disorders like hypothyroid, diabetes, PCOS etc. Overweight people also find it maintain body balance . This might prevent them from participating in activities like jogging, running etc. For most over weight people exercise is very stressful for the body. Besides they suffer from high blood pressure, their joints are under pressure and they tend to get tired very easily.

Here are some easy ways to get you started on a weight loss plan with ease:

Managing Nutrition: The ideal way forward is by revising your daily nutrition intake. The idea is not to suddenly cut your calorie intake by half but to slowly start reducing the non-nutritional foods from the daily diet. The main point to be  calorie intake has to be reduced over a period of time yet as all these problems surface before a overweight person while losing weight, there are ways that you can start losing weight. Read more

How to Increase Muscle Mass

Simple fundamental of weight lifting and strength training can help you load on quick muscle mass and lose fat from the body. The basic logic behind using heavy weights is that it provides resistance to muscle which in return makes it bigger and stronger. But  simply pumping iron is not going to get you the muscle mass. Right nutrition is equally important for the muscle gain and development.

What happens when you lift weights? The tiny muscle fibers tear accelerating the process called muscle protein synthesis. This basically means the body uses available amino acids to repair muscles and avoid further damage. This is an on going process but every exercise session takes about 48 hours to actually show. So instead of pumping weights 7 days a week you can actually minimize it to about 3-4 days a week to see good results without over-working out your body.

Let us further explain what happens how energy is consumed during a workout session. While exercising our body takes energy from the glycogen reserves during the workouts. So more you workout your body ,the body is burning calories and using the energy reserve. After the workout the body naturally craves nutrition to replenish the used resources. So when you over train yourself then the reserves sometimes runs out of glycogen reserves. The body breaks down the protein in the muscles to get the glucose levels to normal affecting the muscle growth. This means over-working out might give you no muscle in return.

Proper diet with your exercise otherwise you might not gain the desired muscle mass. Everyone focuses on  protein, we agree they are important  but the body also requires carbohydrates to keep the glycogen levels intact, followed by fats for hormone functions. Muscle repair is not just for a few hours but continues for a longer period. Eat protein , carbohydrates and fats in through out the day to not get deficit of any nutrition.

Rest is important for the body as muscles recover during rest and require adequate time to recover and make up for the muscle wear and tear. If there is continuous muscle exertion and no rest given to the muscle then the muscle eats up its own reserves and the reverse happens. Instead of gaining muscle mass the body loses the muscle mass which is known as  catabolic state. This state also happens when you are fasting or eating very less and go without food for long time. Read more

Interval Training

Among the latest and most effective exercise routine for  fast fat loss, improving performance, raising fitness levels, increasing endurance or getting started on a regular fitness regime interval training has been the touted to most effective routine.

Short burst of high intensity training for a short period of time is known as Interval Training. You can do interval training with almost any kind of exercise. Interval training requires you to do a certain exercise with full power for a small duration and then rest for some time and repeat. For beginners Fitho recommends a 1:3 ratio. It means every exercise is done for 10 seconds, also called a set, which is then repeated three times for ten seconds each without giving a gap.

Interval training helps in burning fast calories and is highly effective for someone who is looking to get into shape fast. You can do interval training with sprinting, cycling training, high intensity interval training etc. Interval training is tough but effective in improving your performance. You can increase the intensity of the exercise according to your capacity and fitness levels. You can do 60 seconds of interval training which will test your guts and then rest. You could do skipping, squat jumps, sprinting etc for high intensity interval training which will quickly burn the energy reserves and then burn the fat in your body.

This mode of training is effective for beginners as well as regular fitness enthusiasts. Interval training increases the heart rate and builds enduarance and strength. It must be noted that a high intensity workout must be alternated with rest or moderate workout for recovery. Read more

Spinning for Weight Loss

Spinning is a popular group  stationary cycling session which promises to make your fitness goals a reality. Spinning involves different techniques like interval training, high intensity and variations in cycling for burning calories, building endurance and stamina and strength. Spinning is a hybrid form of stationary cycling that is conducted by an instructor to the beat of fast music.

Spinning is getting popular  as many find spinning a fun way to lose weight. But is spinning as effective for weight loss like other forms of exercise? Does it focus on overall body toning? Does it exercise every muscle of the body and support a complete body workout.

The basic position of the body is sitting and cycling all the time pedaling with a few variations to keep the sessions interesting while cycling to the music. Therefore spinning is mostly a lower body workout. The  leg muscles are worked while the upper body is neglected. It is an incomplete workout for those looking for an upper body toning or overall body muscle development. This routine burns quite a few calories at a moderate level of intensity but you could literally burn more calories and get a better toned body with running with same the effort put in a spinning session.

As every form of exercise has advantages and disadvantages the biggest plus point to spinning is that it is highly motivational  as it is a group training session which keeps you pushing harder to be more competitive. The cycles can be adjusted to ones comfort levels and the entire concept is a lot of fun. It is basically cardio exercise that  can be compared to running. The only difference being you engage your entire body while you run but here you only move your legs. Read more

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