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Best Exercises for Butts

We have written a lot about how to work your abs, biceps and even back and whip them into shape in our various articles on Fitho’s exercise routine. Its time we gave the “butt” the importance it deserves. A good butt doesnt only look good on women but men need it as much to complete the look. You can work your butt according to your body shape, meaning whether you are a pear shape or straight shape this routine will even out your minus points and highlight your plus points.

The idea is to target the relevant muscles directly to first lose the fat  and then tone up. These set of exercises can be done any where at anytime without any equipment. 15 minutes a day for 5 days a week and you should see results in just two weeks.

Squats: One of the best exercise which will not only train your butts but your hips and thighs. They also help build body strength. Stand with feet apart and bend your knees while going down. Keep your butt out and torso straight. Do 10-12 reps and 2-3 sets in a day. You can do it in the morning before leaving for office or in the evenings. This exercise will tone your butt quickly.

Lunges: Another highly effective butt exercise which works the hamstrings, quadriceps and calves. It is easy to perform and its intensity can be varied by holding weights in the hand. To perform this exercise stand straight. Take one step forward and bend the front knee along with the back knee.  Keep the front leg put and move your back leg up and down. You could do lunges while walking, doing alternate legs in the same exercise.

Step-ups: You could do this exercise on any platform that is not very high. On stairs on a step box. Like we climb steps put your feet on the platform and pull your body help pushing the heels. Do as many reps you can though 30-40 would be sufficient for the day.

Hips Raise: Lie down on a floor and keep the knees bent while keeping your back touching the floor. Slowly raise your from your butts and hold it for a few second. Get down to normal and repeat 10-15 times. You could not let the body touch the ground holding it in the air. Count it as one everytime you near the ground. Keep your glutes squeezed while doing the exercise.

Planks: This is a great core exercise as it works your abs, obliques, legs and your butts. Lie down on the ground on your stomach. Place your forearms on the ground and lift your body with it keeping toes on the ground and keeping the body straight. They help build strength and stamina.

Include these exercises in your schedule and see the difference. Do the exercises in the correct posture. Stay tunned if you want to increase the intensity and graduate to the next level of fitness.

 

Best Weight Lifting Exercises

Weight Lifting builds muscles and accelerates the metabolism of the body. More muscles inthe body will result in higher metabolic rate. You can do compound exercises, means multi-joint movement exercises that work multiple muscles at one time, either by using body weight or lifting weights that have been designed to work specific muscles in the body in order to build them.

Weight lifting is a technique that provides resistance to the muscle to increase their mass and strength. It is one of the more popular forms of strength training that helps building the size and strength of skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscles are the voluntary muscles in our body that are attached to the bones through bundles of fiber.There are many exercise that help develop and strengthen various skeletal muscles in the body. Below is  the list of  best weight lifting exercises for different muscle groups like biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, back, abs, quadriceps, hamstring, calves and forearms.

Best Weight Lifting Exercises

Best Weight Lifting Biceps Exercises

Barbell Curl: This is the most basic of bicep exercise where to increase its effective increase the weight with which you do not moe than 10 reps. You can do it alternately and do it with barbells for proportionate growth.

Preacher Curl: Preacher curl works the muscle in isolation and exerts stress on the muscle for increase in mas and strength. Helps work the fore arms also.

Close Grip Chin Ups: This is a great compound exercise where it requires lifting the body weight with biceps working the core as well. Build strength and stamina in the muscle.

Best Weight Lifting Triceps Exercise

Dumbbell Tricep Extension: You can do tricep extension either on the bench lying or sitting or on a decline bench. Triceps extension helps the muscle work in isolation and build triceps big.

Dips: Keep your body upright to allow maximum tension on the triceps to build power , strength and mass. You can do dips with a bench, parallel bars or by the side of your bed.

Bench Press: On of the most effective tricep exercise where you can increase tension by add extra weight. You can do bench press with dumbbells or barbells. It works the triceps and the chest also.

Best Weight Lifting Shoulders Exercise

Upright Rows: This exercise builds muscle mass and stregth and brings power to the shoulders. You can do upright rows with barbells or dumbbells.

Overhead Press: You could do overhead press with dumbbells or barbells. Overhead press is a highly effective shoulder exercise. Maintaining the right positions will build immense strength and muscle.

Lateral Raises : Lateral raises can be done with dumbbells and you could do two types of the raises. Front lateral raise for front deltoids and side lateral raise for side deltoids.

Best Weight Lifting Chest Exercise

Bench Press: It is a effective exercise for building upper body especially the chest and triceps as they exert maximum tension on them. There are many variations you can do with bench press like with dumbbells or barbells on decline, incline or flat bench. Increase weight for muscle mass.

Butterfly Machine: Butterfly machine pumps up the chest and builds big chest muscles. Cable cross over and dumbbell fly are also highly effective exercise.

Incline dumbbell Fly: Mind the posture while doing this exercise. It is a isolation exercise for chest and works for a big bulging muscular chest.

Best Weight Lifting Back Exercise

Pull Ups: One of the best back building exercise. The exercise is difficult in the beginning but gradually build endurance and strength in the core which involves the back. You can do variations with chin ups or pull ups. Do palms facing inwards, outwards, inverted chin ups and parallel grips.

Rowing: Rowing helps build overall back muscles in mass and width. You can choose between barbells and dumbbells and increase weight to increase intensity. You can do bent over row, dumbbell row or machine row.

Dead lift: It is a complete back exercise which involves power. The deadlift works the thighs, glutes and calves along with the complete back. Builds power, mass and strength and size.

Best Weight Lifting Abs Exercise

Crunches: Highly effective exercise for the rectus abdominis (6 packs). It is a beneficial exercise for beginners and works in building muscle and strength.

Hanging Leg Raises: This exercise works the entire core and involves hanging in the air while performing the exercise. It works the lower abdomin region and can be done with bent knee raises and staight knee leg raise. It buildd strength and enduarnce in the ab region.

Twist: As you need to burn fat from the sides and build oblique muscle twist exercise is a highly effective exercise for strengthening core muscles and losing fat from the sides. Tones the back and abs.

Best Weight Lifting Quadriceps Exercise

Squats: It works the front thighs, glutes and lower back. For strong lower body and and big muscles squats is highly effective. It can be done with barbells for increase in intensity. Mind the posture while doing squats.

Lunges: Maintaining a right posture and keep back straight is important while doing lunges. Exert pressure with front thighs to push body weight up and not the back. Tones the thighs, glutes, back and hips. Use dumbbels for bigger and toned muscles.

Leg Extension: This exercise is an isolation exercise for front thighs. It pumps up the thighs and helps build muscle mass and strength. One of the best exercise to build quadriceps.

Best Weight Lifting Hamstring Exercise

Romanian Dead lifts: This deadlift works the hamstring, glutes and lower back. It build muscle mass and strength in the hamstring for muscular thighs overall.

Straight Leg Dead lifts: It takes a lot of effort to do this exercise where you are supposed to keep your legs staright and not bent. Though is a compound exercise which works the calves, glutes but very effective for hamstring.

Lying Leg Curl: It is a isolation exercise completely for hamstring. Again a great exercise to build strength and muscles in the hamstring. Do it easily and properly for maximum benefits.

Best Weight Lifting Calves Exercise

Standing Calf Raise: It invoves raising your body slowly on your toes and stretching the most while at the top. Don’t jump while doing the exercise and add weights on the shoulders to increase the intensity. You can use a barbell, smith machine, hip belt, dumbbells to do variations with calf raises.

Seated Calf Raise: Concentrate on the bottom and top part while performing the exercise. Use weight to build big muscular calves. Check the momentum of the exercise and don’t hurry through.

Best Weight Lifting Forearms Exercise

Wrist Curl: This exercise works the inner forearms while it increase the width of the wrist for building muscles. It involves curling the wrist and can be done with weight for more muscle mass and strength.

Reverse Curl: This exercise works the outer forams. Usually this muscle of the forearms get missed out reducing the size of the forearms. Use weights to increase intensity of the exercise.

 

Five best exercises for weight loss

Exercise is a weight loss booster as it accelerates burning of calories and the fastest mean to burn fat and lose weight. You can choose exercise according to your body type for losing weight from specific areas like glutes, thighs, belly etc. Playing sports or lifting weight is equivalently beneficial in dropping some extra pounds from the body. More muscles induce higher metabolic rate and exercise helps build muscle for you to burn more calories while resting.

The idea behind losing weight with exercise is to cut down on accumulated fat. As our body needs fuel for daily functioning we have to eat a certain amount of calories to meet the requirement. Diet can make us lose weight but exercise accelerates the weight loss process. Balanced diet with exercise is the best combination for weight loss. Start your exercise plan Read more

Weight Loss for Women

There could be many reasons behind women gaining weight like sedentary lifestyle, emotional reasons, theureupatic reasons,  eating habits and the love for chocolates. If you are a woman and looking to lose weight then here are tips to make you understand the body psychology.

For healthy lifestyle it is important to get all the daily nutritional requirement like protein for muscles and hair, carbohydrates for energy for the work that you do, good fats like omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids and goof fats for normal growth along with vitamins and minerals for various bodily functions. On the other hand to maintain a healthy and fit outer appearance it is important to balance the food intake and and body requirement and not starving the body with its nutritional requirements.

Diet: Women are fond of food and love gossip munching which unrealisingly makes them consume hundreds of calories through different sources. Our bodies require a certain number of calories, in order to manage the weight the calorie intake has to be monitored, again not missing on the nutrition. Read more

Health News – Running, Exercise & Motivation

It’s been known for a while that hormone levels drop in women treated for cancer. Now a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is showing similar effects in older men. Read more to know if cancer effects testosterone level in men.

Sometimes there are just days when we just don’t feel like exercising. I’m sure that everyone has those days. When it all comes down to it, exercising is definitely a way to feel physically good about yourself, lose weight, or get ready to achieve a physical goal. To really see a difference in your physique, in addition to a healthy diet of course, you need to exercise. Read more for 5 ways to stay motivated.

Running is one of the best, most complete exercises for improving general fitness. It works legs the most, but also has an impact on your back, your core, chest, arms, and the cardiovascular system. Running is also one of the easiest ways to get exercise; and you don’t need a lot of special equipment. As easy and straight forward as it is, there are a few things that you should know if you are just getting started with running. Read more to know how to get started with running.

If you do just one thing to fight fat, exercise might be the way to go, judging by a new study. Read more to know how exercises fight “Hidden” body fat.

Stand for a few minutes on a platform that vibrates. Get off and try to do some weight lifting — squats, for example. Or try a short sprint. Or see how high you can jump. You are somehow supposed to be able to lift heavier weights, sprint faster, jump higher. Researchers report that they actually seem to slightly improve performance in the few minutes after a person gets off the machine. Read more if you like a shake with that workout.

Look Hot & Stay Fit this Summer

Summer sets in, time to re-groove our fitness levels after cold winters where probably the chill had not allowed you to get out of your bed and hit the exercise program. This is the time of the year when you can flaunt with your body and get a few heads turning around. You probably have a desire to look slim, toned and look taut in whatever you wear. Are you ready to wear that bikini when you are on a holiday to cool yourself and enjoy sometime relaxing your mind and your body.

Before you change your wardrobe and go shopping with thin looking clothes just jump start your fitness routine and shed a few kilos and inches from hips and arms. Here are a few tips for exercise and food that you should follow to see yourself with a body you would vouch for. Read more

Exercises Good for Knees

There is a lot of hearsay about exercises negatively affecting your knee and other joints among people. Recent research says that exercises can be good for your knee. Researchers at Monash University in Australia found that studies on the correlation between exercise and knee pain to be conflicting; with some studies showing negative effects, some showing positive, and some being neutral. Overall the study indicates exercise is beneficial for the knees.

Several factors can lead to a bad knee due to being over weight and Read more

Tips to get lean, become slim in 3 days!

Ever wanted to look leaner and fitter instantly- for the beach vacation, the New Year’s eve party, a cousin’s wedding, or the big date! We have tips for you to look thinner, slimmer, leaner and better instantly. No, its not an optical illusion.

Whether you have 3 days, 7, 10, 14 days, 2 weeks or 1 month, you can use these tips to look thinner for the big day.

Eat less Salt: Go easy on the salty snacks, like namkeen, chips, high sodium pickles, pretzels and processed foods that are high in sodium. Extra salt is added as a preservative in foods. Salt contains sodium and high sodium foods cause water retention in the body. Water retention can make you look bloated. So, skip the chips and go for the fresh food.

Easy on the Carbs: Most diets are high in carbohydrates, sugar and fat. Some amount of carbohydrates and fat are good for the body but at the same time its important to  moderate the consumption of such foods in the diet.  Best way to keep your carbohydrate intake in control is by knowing the difference between good and bad carbs. Most common form of carbohydrates in our diet are wheat, grains, maida, rice etc. Removing carbohydrates  from your diet mostly reduces the water weight, which comes back as soon as you eat regular food again or even drink enough water . That’s a trick used by Atkins and other no-carbohydrate diet plans. Fitho does not recommend no-carb diets, as they can have side-effects like ketosis, bad breath, etc. What you need is a weight loss plan that helps you lose weight and keep it off.

Run: Yes, go for a run. Running helps you burn calories, and suppresses appetite hormones. If you are used to walking then add a little bit of jogging in intervals. Running/jogging helps you burn more calories & tone up faster than walking in the same amount of time!

Do Push-ups/Squats: You dont need a long list of exercises to get started. Push-ups and squats is the secret to the most effective exercise which requires only 15 minutes of your time and the results will make it look like you have been spending serious time in the gym. Both are fantastic exercises to burn fat, tone arms and legs  in no time.

What’s your 2009 health resolution?

Wishing all of you, a very happy new year! Hope you have a fantastic 2009. Don’t forget to include your fitness as part of your resolutions!

Whether your goal is a six pack, or getting into that size 2 dress, packing on serious muscle, or just to kick start your weight loss … Cheers to all our 2009 fitness resolutions!

So, what is your resolution for 2009? I always keep goals that have clear targets. I’ve met some. Here’s my list for the past few years:

2006- My goal was to be able to run 10 miles (16 km). I ran my first half marathon that year- 13.1 miles (21 km).  In 2006, I also did my first stair climb- race up a 50 floor skyscraper. I completed it in 7.17 minutes, and ranked 26th out of over a 1000 people.

2007- My goal was to beat that time for the 2006 stair climb. I did it in 6.51 minutes and ranked 17th.

2008- The last quarter of 2007 was not good for my fitness, due to personal reasons. So, my goal was to get back into my 2007 shape. I’m still working on it. Oh well, here’s 2009

2009- My goal is to to start swimming again, bench press 1.5 times my weight and to squat twice my body weight.

Now, you tell me yours!

Fitho is with you to help you achieve those goals. If you ever have any questions, feel free to contact us. You can email us at shridhar@fitho.in, or comment on any of our articles. We do our best to respond to comments, with our own comments!

… and some of our readers have already shared their resolutions!

Tips to Stay Fit in The Festive Season

With the Navratras, the festive season kicks off- Eid, Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali, the list goes on. With all the celebrations, comes a truck load of fried food and sweets. With all the extra calories, it’s not surprising that this is when people put on the most weight. With the festive season any diet caution goes for a toss. Add to this the social gatherings, all the alcohol, the late night snacking, etc.

So, here’s a list of things to do this festive season to enjoy it and still not derail your health and gain all that unwanted weight:

1.    Be picky- Don’t eat because you’re being offered. Friends and family will try to force feed you, but be firm with them. If you must for courtesy, then eat a small portion.

2.    Indulge in the healthy sweets- We have a guide to the healthiest Indian sweets. Sandesh is a healthy option – since it is dairy based and is steamed. There are many low sugar desserts also available. We don’t suggest desserts with artificial sweeteners since there long term use might be associated with side effects.

3.    Portion Control- Part of the celebration is to enjoy all the sweets and the fried food. So, indulge but control the portions. Also, try to balance it with eating fruits and other lower calorie foods. Even with healthy sweets, the calories can add up. One large cup of Kheer can range from 300-500 calories. Halwa/Laddoos are even more calorie loaded for the same serving size, since they have higher fat content.

4.    Make time for exercise- Celebration shouldn’t mean not getting exercise. Take out at least 30 minutes for your exercise- go for a run, hit the gym, play a sport, do some yoga or just squeeze out a bunch of push-ups and squats at home.

5.    Drink lots of water- Often our body mistakes thirst for hunger. When you’re craving a snack and you shouldn’t be, drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes. If you’re still hungry, go ahead and feed yourself sensibly.

6.    Take it easy on the alcohol- Besides being loaded with calories, it promotes fat storage in the body. So, its double damage- you’re consuming more calories and storing more fat.

7.    Eat your green vegetables- Your mom was right! Green vegetables loaded with vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients and fiber, which helps to keep you full for longer.

8.    Be Active- If you like Dandiya, dance away the night. Dancing burns a lot of calories. Vigorous dancing can burn up to 350 calories per hour, so burn that belly fat and have fun while you’re at it.

Use this festive season fitness guide and enjoy the festive season!

How to get sexy legs & muscles

According to a study from the University of North Carolina, almost half of all adults will develop knee osteoarthritis by age 85, and your odds increase if you are obese in middle age or had a past knee injury.
The good news is you don’t have to deal with creaky knees when you’re older if you take some precautions now.

Start by losing weight: The study shows obese people had a 64.5 percent risk of arthritis, compared to 44.1 percent for those who were simply overweight and 34.9 percent of those at normal weight. So, you slash your chances of developing arthritis by 50% just be being of normal weight.

When you sweat off your gut, don’t pound the pavement or you’ll weaken your knees even more—the study showed a 14 percent higher risk of arthritis after a past injury. If you enjoy running outside or on treadmills, then avoid runner’s knee by rotating your running with low impact sports like swimming and cycling.

Further protect your legs from injury with strengthening exercises, like squats, lunges and dead-lifts. These exercises build muscle around your joints and ligaments further protecting them from injury. Also, movements like squats and dead-lifts will help you develop muscle all over your body, as well as develop a six pack.

Don’t forget, yoga exercises also gives you great toned legs and butt!

Drawback of Ab Crunches

If you’ve tried to lose weight around your belly or hips, we’re positive someone you know suggested that you do ab crunches (commonly known as sit ups). We’re also positive, that the person suggesting this would not exactly be a picture of fitness.

 

 

We say this because, there is actually a myth and huge drawback of ab crunches that sit-ups can help you lose weight or get a six pack.

We’ll show you how this is a myth and a huge drawback of ab crunches. I first want you to understand a basic principle of losing weight or fat. To lose weight, you have to burn calories. To burn calories, you need to exercise. And exercises vary in the amount of calorie burning. Some exercises are more effective than others. The number of calories burnt per exercise is dependent on three factors – the amount of muscle moved, the distance of muscle movement.
‘Amount of muscle moved’ means that if you move larger muscles for the exercise, you burn more calories.

Say for example your thigh muscles are much larger than your bicep muscles. So, a squat (thigh exercise) burns more calories than a bicep exercise.

The ‘distance of the muscle movement’ is just that. If you move the same muscle through a larger distance, you burn more calories.

Now Ab Crunches or Sit Ups work your abdominals muscles. These are a set of 8 small muscles in your abdominal region. When you perform sit ups, it only works this set of small muscles. Since the muscles are small, the calories you burn are also small. Actually, too small to make a dent in your fight against fat!

In fact, researchers at the University of Virginia found that it takes 250,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of fat — that’s 100 crunches a day for 7 years!

So, if someone swears by doing crunches to lose weight, tell them to go take a hike. Crunches help you work those abdominal muscles, but not lose fat on that belly. To lose fat, you need to burn more calories. Crunches don’t burn nearly as much calories as other exercises, like squats or push-ups. The key to burning more calories and building muscle is to work out larger muscles, like your legs, chest, shoulders and back muscles.

So to get a six pack, keep your crunches only as an additive to your workout. Kind of like dessert, not an everyday thing.