Want to have those six packs?
Wishing to have a much leaner body?
We always thought that doing crunches would give you flatter abs. This helps, but the truth is that you need to lose the fat around your midsection to show the ab muscles. With the summer time just around the corner, toning abs seems to be on everyone’s mind given that this is the time of the year to expose your abs and show some skin. Doing crunches and sit-ups helps tone your abdominal muscles. It’s a good idea to mix in aerobic exercise such as running, walking, dancing, cycling and whatever exercise you like so you can burn calories.

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Your abdominal muscles actually get micro tears when you do crunches and sit-ups, so working abs every other day, combined with aerobic exercises in-between would be sufficient as long as you are burning more calories than you are taking in. Try doing 8-15 reps per set, two to four times a week. Also, correct breathing technique is a big help in reaching your goal to a flatter stomach. In doing abs training, exhale strongly through your mouth as you lift and inhale through your mouth as you lower, so those underlying muscle fibers could also be worked on. But remember, just like any other exercise routines, the key to flatter abs is to not overdo everything.

Here are some techniques which you can follow when working out:
1. You should be capable of talking and exercising at the same time.
2. But, if you are able to sing, it means that you have to work out a bit harder.
3. Monitor your heart rate. Make sure your heart rate is within your recommended limits for your age and health.
It takes more than repetitive crunches to get the abs you want! Incorporating aerobic exercises in your daily routine will surely give you great rewards later on. Aerobic exercises will help lose excess body fat which in turn will help you see your abs. As your body fat percentage drops your abs will become more visible.

Beginning a new running program can prove to be a new endeavor for some, and for those of you that are new may need tips to help you get started onto the correct running path. Since you found this article, I am only assuming you are wanting to learn how to start a new running routine. And hopefully, you are an enthusiastic one at that because there are many health benefits when you get in shape by running. As with any new training program, I’ll be up front with you, this will not be an easy task. But trust me, after a while, you’ll be in top notch shape and eventually running will become habitual just as it is to sleeping. The first hurdles that you face will not be easy as mentioned, and that’s where this article comes in.

Like any other sport, running is something that requires a lot of core strength, flexibility, and balance. Just because there’s no training equipment involved does not mean it requires less skill before attempting more higher difficult running tasks. If you are a beginner and just starting out, I have to state that it’s the distance and duration you run, not how fast you run it. Because of this, it’s important to practice your form. And by running more, you get more practice. The more practice you get, the better your running form will be. You might not think it, but there’s a lot of technique and form involved in the sport of running. So if you are just starting out, you should jog at a “conversational pace” whereas if you were to run with a partner, you would be able to hold a conversation while jogging at the same time.

After you start out, you need to build up the distance and duration you at a gradual pace. This is especially important for running because believe it or not, running can bring about serious injuries if not taking seriously. I remember when I first started running, I would run a little over an hour. Now my fitness levels in generally were okay, but my connective tissues and muscles of my feet were no where near in condition to run that much. And not to mention, it took a toll on my joints as well especially my knees. So when you start out running, think baby steps not Godzilla steps. Even if you think you can run more, hold off until the next running session as building up gradually is of upmost importance when getting into running shape.

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There’s nothing to be ashamed of when mixing running and walking with your workouts. I mix my cardio workouts all the time. If one day I run, then depending on how I feel I might do an incline power walk on the treadmill. Power walking is a great way to get high impact exercise while it being low impact on your joints and connective tissues. It can also help you improve your running form as you concentrate more with each step you take. Also, another benefit of power walking the day after you run is help circulate more blood into your leg muscles to help boost the recovery from running the day before. This can be considered periodizing your running workouts if you never heard of the term in weight lifting. It’s a great way to boost your endurance levels, while getting in enough recovery time for your workouts all at the same time.

Fun Ways To Enjoy Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise are activities that help increase your heart rate for a prolonged period of time, which makes the heart stronger and our lungs fitter. While their are benefits of doing aerobic exercises regularly, the routines can be boring at times. To keep on earning the benefits of doing aerobic exercises minus the boredom, here are some fun ways to make it more enjoyable. You can try adding these fun activities to jazz up your workout routine.

Treadmills – A treadmill is a very convenient piece of equipment you could use to walk or run at your own pace out of the elements. Treadmills are available at most gyms or fitness clubs, and many are now available for home use, so you could always mix this into your daily workout routine.

Steps – A step is a very useful tool for adding intensity to your usual aerobic exercise. Compared to simply running or jogging, using a step equipment would be less stressful to your joints, giving you more energy and more time to enjoy exercising. This aerobic equipment is available at most aerobic and fitness centers, but you could also buy one for home use. And because it doesn’t require major coordination you can have more fun doing this exercise to your favorite music.

Pole – Using a pole in aerobic exercise is a fun way to improve your self esteem while having fun working out. Pole aerobics can help you build strength in all major muscle groups of your body.

Hip-Hop Dance – Hip-Hop dancing is a sure way to do aerobics while grooving into your favorite Hip-Hop beats. Most Hip-Hop music can be easily associated with any aerobic movements, and the upbeat rhythm brings fun instead of boredom.

Water Aerobics – Water aerobics is a cool way to make your usual aerobic routine more enjoyable. Like any other water exercises, water aerobics is less stressful on the joints, making it a perfect choice for those people who are new to aerobics and those who have movement or joint limitations.

Jump Rope – Jumping rope as part of your aerobic routine is a very inexpensive way to have fun while exercising. All you need is a good rope, and a comfortable pair of shoes. Jumping and skipping as an aerobic exercise also increases body awareness and helps you develop better hand and foot coordination.

Bicycling – Bicycling is a great way to do your aerobic routine, while enjoying the outdoors. You could also run errands using a bicycle, and reap the benefits of aerobics. You can ride a bicycle almost anywhere, while helping our environment by reducing pollution. And with cycling, fitness is just a pedal away!

Spinning – Just like bicycling, spinning burns as many calories and gives you an awesome aerobic workout. Spinning can be done indoors using a stationary bike and music to amp up your routine.

Tae Bo / Kickboxing – Whatever your level of fitness is, you could try mixing Tae-Bo or Kickboxing into your aerobic routine. The mixture of kicking and punching you’ll do in this aerobic activity also helps you to relieve stress. Another good thing about this is that you don’t need any equipment nor a trainer. Many home videos are available on the market so you could do this aerobic exercise just about anywhere.

Fast walking, also known as brisk walking, power walking, fitness walking, and power striding, is an underrated form of aerobic exercise. It is suitable for everyone, but particularly valuable for those who have problems with running and other high-impact activities, and for anyone who is starting out on a fitness program.

Walking costs nothing and is easy to incorporate into your daily routine. In addition, it puts little strain on the joints and muscles, which makes injury less likely than in running, for example, although remember that no activity is guaranteed risk fee.

Plot one or more routes that are between 1.6 and 6.5km (1 and 4 miles) long, and aim to walk 3-4 times a week, each time increasing the distance that you walk or improving your time. The effort you invest will determine how quickly your overall fitness level improves.
Initially you will probably make good progress. From then on, walking more briskly, putting greater effort into your arm movements and including some gradients in your routes will all held to keep your heart at about 60-80% of your TTZ (Target Training Zone).

You will almost certainly find that your pace automatically increases as you exercise more. If, as a beginner, you cannot walk 3.2km (2 miles) in around 35 minutes, don’t increase your distance until you can.
When you walk, start slowly and take the time to mobilize your upper body. When that is moving well, work on your lower body, then stop and do some short stretches. For the major period of the walk increase your pace and stride using your arms as you walk. If you are walking with a partner, you should be able to talk to each other comfortably.

If you find that you are breathing hard or sweating heavily, or if you are monitoring your pulse rate and find that it is too high, reduce the pace until you are breathing with ease and your pulse has returned to its exercise normal. At the end of the walk, spend 5-10 minutes stretching your upper and lower body, with the emphasis on your calves, thighs and hips.

Posture and technique are important in walking. Breathe normally. Keep your back straight, chest lifted, chin up, shoulders, relaxed and abdominals pulled in tightly. Bend your arms at the elbows and keep your elbows close to your body. Swing your arms from the shoulders, raising them toward your chest and back so that they are in line with your hips, but no higher. This technique takes time to develop so keep at it. Your feet should work from heel to toe and, as your technique improves, place more emphasis on the hip of the forward leg. Try to keep a low centre of gravity.
Wear loose, comfortable clothing and lightweight shoes that breathe and are cushioned. Choose lightweight cotton socks.

Walking different routes mean that you won’t become bored. Woodland and parks hold more interest, but walking to work is equally beneficial.

Cardiovascular Training
Before getting started with any form of cardiovascular training it’s important that you know the basics. A warm-up should be performed before one does any workout on cardio machines.

The reason for this is so that the muscles get warm and there is less risk of injury.
There are different types of cardio machines, but they are all effective.

• Treadmill
• Ellipse
• Bicycle
• Stair climber
• Rowing machine and some others

The thing to keep in mind when doing cardio training is that it is not about how fast you go or how hard you push, all that is important is your heart rate. The higher your heart rate, the more calories you burn. This sounds good, but when your heart rate goes above a certain level your body will use muscle for energy, not just fat. This is obviously not a good thing. The cardiovascular training heart rate zone is often regarded as being between 60 and 80% of your maximum heart rate.
It is recommended that you keep your heart rate within a certain range, depending on your age and fitness goal.

When one is doing only cardio training for fat loss, we suggest that you try doing a few sprints. Sprints are an excellent way to increase your metabolism and get results fast.
This is how they work. Take the Treadmill as an example, a commonly used piece of cardio equipment. A person doing sprints would start off by walking at a normal pace for the regular 5 min. warm-up. He or she would then increase the speed by 100%, meaning if they are walking at 4, they would run at 8.
They will then run for 30 sec and then slow it down to the original speed again, in this case 4. He/she will repeat this process as many times as possible.

So the way it works is: walk for 30 sec, run for 30 sec, walk for 30 sec, run for 30 sec etc etc.
The 30 sec time interval is not a must, the important thing is that you push your self for the 30 second run, but you must decrease your heart rate when you walk. If your heart rate is still elevated after 30 seconds of walking, walk until your heart rate has decreased some more.