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.

Kick boxing Front Kick Move: Forward knees and do ghost kick. Perform a total of 50 punches which are good for working the core while also increasing heart rate.

Always give sufficient time for your home workouts to include a cool down with stretching to finish.
If you want a personalized exercise plan or want to join a group training classes please mail us at fitness@fitho.in.

Sports make you fit & improve your professional skills

Playing a sport is a fun activity and keeps you fit mentally and physically. It engages the mind and body while energizing and de-stressing you at the same time. All sports keep you active and improve blood flow in the body. Whether you are good at playing the sport or not it will always benefit you and improve  your fitness level. Playing any sport builds self-confidence, develops your personality and infact helps you understand yourself better. Most successful people enjoy playing a sport and even use it as an opportunity to network with other professionals. Being good at a  sport can help you also get successful professionally as it helps develop & sharpen essential traits like competition, strategy and desire to win in an individual.

Playing a sport is a great workout for the body as it improves breathing while working the muscles in the body. It drastically improves your eduarance, strength, stamina and helps build lean muscles. Besides for some people it is more engaging and exciting than going to a gym. To help you get better at a sport that you enjoy as a hobby or a fitness routine we have put together a few tips to improve your performance at the sport and enjoy more benefits.

Tips for weight loss with sports Read more

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
according to your body type and shape up your self from losing the hanging belly to bulging biceps and a toned body.

Shake yourself and get started with your exercise plan for quick weight loss and define your own body. Here are some exercises for weight loss.

Planks: Start your exercise routine with plank exercises as it warms  up the body while stabilizing the muscles. Planks are one of the best exercise for building abs and building core strength. Core is required in anything that we do from lifting, walking etc. Strong core with help  move the body with ease and be active for intense workouts. Most of us have hanging bellies which start getting conditioned and toned with plank exercise. Include side planks to further increase the benefits.

Squats: Toned legs get many eyeballs rolling down and squats is a super exercise to work the legs. Less people work on their lower body which makes the body look uneven. Toned legs will give you are better and confident walk. Squats work the entire body and can be done in variations. It tones and burns fat in the glutes, thighs and hamstring areas. You can use weights to make squats intense or can do it using body. Check whether you are doing the right posture otherwise you could complain for back ache.

Push ups: The exercise works the upper body and increases the strength of forearms, wrist, upper arms, shoulders and chest. They accelerate the blood flow in the body and improves heart health. Using various grips like diamond pushups, close grip, wide grip benefit and work different muscle in the upper body. If you are a women you can do women pushups to slowly strengthen your upper body.

Russian Twist: If fat on your sides and belly is troubling you and you want to increase your enduarance  then do Russian Twist. This exercise works the core and obliques working for a flat and defined waist and stomach. Include the exercise in your routine and burn fat around you belly. Use swiss balls or snay thing to hold between your hands to increase the intensity of the exercise.

Bur pees: It is a great aerobic exercise that works the entire body and tests your guts too. It involves your legs, back, torso, neck and arms. It involves in jumping, squatting and stretching in one exercise. It accelerates the calorie burn as it involves many muscles and involves lots of fast movements. To intensify the exercise set time limit to perform a definite number of repetitions.

Workout: Morning or Evening?

Do you wonder whether morning workout’s are better or the evening workouts? Whichever group you fall into, there is a good news. Turns out both workout times are beneficial and a suitable workout timing depends on your schedule, lifestyle and when your energy levels are highest.

Burning 500 calories in the morning is not different from burning 500 calories in the evening. Both workouts can adjust to your schedule and give effective & desired results. Morning workouts help you Read more

Marathon Training Tips- Nutrition during & after Run

In the previous article, we focused on the nutrition before a marathon or a long run to help you build your stamina and perform better. Here, we’ll focus on the nutrition during the run.

Don’t laugh at the idea of nutrition during a marathon- its inconsequential for a short run, but for long runs like marathons its essential to keep focus on it.

1. Sip water before: Right before the run, you might feel a little thirsty. Sip on some water, but ensure that you don’t drink too much. At the max- half a glass. Else it will sit in your belly and weight you down while you run.

2. Hydration: During the run, at the water stops, keep sipping water. Research your marathon route well so you know where the water stops are, and train your body accordingly. Optimum hydration helps your muscles perform better- with stamina and speed.

3. Sports Drinks: Electrolyte based drinks like Gatorade are available at water stops. These drinks contain simple sugars and salts, so they provide instant energy as well as hydration. Long duration of exercise depletes the salt compound levels in your body. The electrolyte based drink replenish these replenish these salt compound levels to keep you going for longer. Like water, don’t drink too much, else it will sit in your belly.

4. Energy Gels: For long runs like marathons, your body can require over 5000 calories. Since you can’t eat that many calories in your pre run meal, many long distance runners carry energy gels with them. These energy gels contain electrolytes and simple carbohydrates to provide instant energy. When you feel like your running out of energy, pop open a gel pack. It contains fast dissolving carbohydrates that give you instant energy and keep you going.

After a marathon, your body has taken a pounding so ensure that you provide it with the right nutrition to replenish your muscles. Have some quick dissolving simple carbohydrates like candy bars, or fruits like banana. Low fat food is better, since its promotes faster digestion and quicker absorption of nutrients into your muscles. Ensure you hydrate well and give your body some much needed rest.

See nutrition tips before a marathon and tips to run better.

Which stretching exercise is best for muscles?

In the first part of this article, we wrote about when you should stretch, how static stretching before a workout can be detrimental, how warming up is good for your workout, and how to warm up effectively.

Instead of static stretching before your workout, try dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretches are specific to the sport or workout. For runners, an ideal warm-up might include squats, lunges and “form drills” like kicking your buttocks with your heels. Athletes who need to move rapidly in different directions, like soccer or basketball players, should do dynamic stretches that involve many parts of the body. “Spider-Man” is a particularly good drill: drop onto all fours and crawl the width of the court, as if you were climbing a wall.

Now, after your workout, you should do static stretching. During your workout, your muscles contract and expand, and go through a lot of rigour. After a strenuous workout, your muscles are sore and devoid of nutrients. Do static stretching now. Stretch each major muscle part of your body (list below). Hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds. The benefit of stretching is that it helps the muscle fibers relax, which in turn helps your body deliver nutrients faster your muscles.  Stretching will help to deliver nutrients faster to your body, and thus help muscle growth. With more muscle, your body will burn more calories at rest, and thus help you lose the fat faster! Stretching post workout also reduces muscle soreness the next morning, seriously!

Below is a list of major muscles in your body, that you must stretch after your workout. In your lower body, stretch your thighs, hamstrings, calves and your glutes. In your upper body, stretch your shoulders, triceps, back, chest, abs and your biceps.

So remember .. stretch after your workout, not before. Spending those 5-10 minutes doing static stretching after your workout is very beneficial!

Stretch After Exercise, not Before- Why

When you look around the gym or the running track, you see people performing stretches before a workout. Why? Because traditionally, we were taught stretching is key before a workout. But recent research disagrees with the old adage of static stretching before a workout. It is now believed that static stretching before a workout besides being a waste of time, is also detrimental to performance.

In a recent study conducted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. In another study, it was found that stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30%!

[ Note: Fitho always stressed the benefit of stretching post workout, like in this article on tips to run ]

To prepare your muscles for a workout, its important to do two things- loosen muscles and tendons to increase range of motion and to physically warm up. A warm up increases body heat and blood flow. Warm muscles use your muscle fuel more effectively and can withstand better loads.

To raise body temperature, begin with some aerobic activity, like light jogging. That’s why your tennis coach made you run around the court before training.

Just don’t run too much, so you’re too tired for the real workout! (click here for running tips)

Check out our next article to know more how what stretches to do before, after your workout!

Running Tips to Run Better- Part 3

This article is the last of the series of 3 articles for tips on running.

Tips to run Better- 1 had tip 1,2 and 3 were around the basics of nutrition and clothing for running. Tips to run Better 2 has tips 4-8 were around helping you run faster, further and more efficiently. Here we present to you our round of running tips:

9. Warm Up before the Race: Before your race, warm your muscles up a little. Run a quarter mile, about 10-15 minutes before your long run. Stretch your muscles lightly to ensure that they’re flexible after the warm up run. Then, relax your body and your mind before the run.

10. Don’t run in new shoes: Running your race in new shoes can destroy your race. If you need new running shoes, buy them at least 3 weeks before the race day and train in them. That way, your feet get used to them and the shoes open up. Besides, if there are any issues with the shoes, then you know early on and can switch out to another pair of shoes.

11. Stretch post run: Between stretching before and after your workout, stretching after your workout is better. As we mentioned in part 2, your muscles tighten up while you run, so ensure you stretch each body part after your run. This helps them to recover better since stretched muscles help loosen up muscle fibers, allowing better delivery of nutrients to the muscle fiber for repair and growth. When you stretch your body, hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds. Stretching post run also reduces soreness in muscles.

12. Time to run: Many people wonder which is the best time to run or workout- whether its morning or evening? Its best when you feel best about it. Its about when you’ve got the time to do it.

Use these tips to run and I’m sure you’ll notice a difference in your run performance!