3 Easy Full-Body Exercises, 1 Piece of Equipment

If you are looking for one very efficient piece of exercise, look no further than the kettlebell. Kettlebell workouts are famous for burning fat by increasing lean muscle while building balance and grace. Plus it is an amazing stress-reliever that relieves tension in both the muscles and the mind. The exercises are simple, yet effective.

When used correctly, kettleballs are wonderful conditioning tools. They can be used for various purposes such as:

• Cardiovascular conditioning
• Fat loss
• Strength and stamina
• Muscular endurance, especially the legs, buttocks and lower back

Choosing the Correctly Sized Kettlebell

When first starting out, choosing the correct size kettlebell to train with is very important. You need to pick a weight that is easy enough to handle but heavy enough to make you use your hips explosively to drive the kettlebell in to its correct position, depending upon the exercise that you are doing.

Most ladies would normally start with either a 5-10 pound kettlebell, while men would normally start with a 15-20 pound kettlebell. The size depends on the condition of the person exercising, so don't be afraid to drop down a size to keep proper form. Initially, more repetitions are better than more weight.

Kettlebell Basic Exercises

Before you can start on a basic routine, you must first master the three basic exercises with the kettlebell. These are:

1. The Swing
2. The Clean
3. The Snatch

1. The Swing

This is a simple exercise, but extremely effective using the whole body. Standing with your feet slightly more than shoulder width apart, hold a kettlebell with knees bent. Grip the kettlebell with both hands and lift to groin height. Ensure that your back is arched and that your head is upright. Keep the weight on your heels, bending at the knees, back straight and head looking up and forwards (as if you are going to sit down in a chair). Swing the kettlebell to the rear backwards, between the legs. The weight should remain on your heels and the shins should be vertical.

It is essential that you perfect this movement because without it, you will never have the leverage to get your hips into the movement. You should feel the kettlebell pulling you backwards and your hamstrings contracting. Pushing through your feet and legs, quickly snap/thrust the hips forward tightening the glutes and abs (This motion is similar to jumping up vertically.) Do this quick snap of the hips motion while at the same time projecting the kettlebell forwards and away from the body. Keep the arms relatively straight and bring the kettlebell to waist, chest or head height, then allow the kettlebell to freely return to the start position and repeat.

2. The Clean

Hold the kettlebell in one hand. Swing it through the legs, bring it forward, and push up through the legs from the feet. As the kettlebell comes over the top of your hand to hit your forearm, grip the handle tight and also dip at the knees. This will assist you in absorbing the impact of the kettlebell. The kettlebell should lie on the forearm with your elbow tucked into the side. The wrist should be flat, and your palm should be facing inwards towards the body.

The Swing will test your stamina, grip, and body coordination. The entire exercise can be carried out using one hand, switching at the top or bottom of the drill. It is important to keep core muscles tight to control the kettlebell at all times.

3. The 'One-Arm' Snatch

Swing the kettlebell back through the legs as you push through the feet and legs. Bring it up, snapping at the hips, sucking the floor up with your glutes. At this point, the body should be locked; the power of your drill should now have the kettlebell well on its way up. Remember: as the kettlebell comes over, dip at the knees and grip the handle to slow the kettlebell and avoid the impact on the forearm. The entire body should be locked with total tension that includes a strong core. 

Kettlebells can make a huge difference in your strength, core, muscle tone and stamina. The exercises are simple but effective. Losing weight is an added bonus! Enjoy!

Source  Sherry L. Granader is a Sports Nutritionist, National Speaker and Spokesperson, Author of 2 healthy cookbooks, Writer, Ghost Writer, Nationally Certified Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer.

Toning Workouts for Women - What are some of the Most Effective Workouts

There are currently tons of toning workouts for women out there that have been created for women who wanted to have a sexy body. 

 

 Due to the increasing demands for toning workouts for women, there are a lot of programs that have been created specifically for those women who wanted to have a sexy body. But not all of the available toning workouts for women can guarantee fast results. 

 

People who are searching for the best toning workouts for women have different reasons why they wanted to get into such programs. The main reasons why most women wanted to perform these exercises is either they just want to live a little bit healthier or they want to lose weight and improve the overlook of their bodies. 

 

Toning workouts for women are not designed to develop big muscles, what it does is firm a woman’s muscle to make her look healthy, strong and beautiful. There a many types of toning workouts for women that can guarantee good and fast results which helps improve her body. To make the workouts more effective, it should be combined with a healthy diet.

Among these effective toning workouts for women that have been proven to be effective are yoga, pilates and aerobic. 

Yoga, which is one of the sought after toning workouts for women, performs gentle exercises that stretches, exercises, tones and flexes a woman’s body muscles. This kind of exercises is tiring but it allows the muscles to relax and get toned as well as increasing the flexibility of a woman’s body. 

 

Another good toning exercise is pilates, which focuses on controlling a woman’s body muscles. This kind of exercise is also recommended for pregnant women to help them in giving birth and consciously trains them in moving their muscles and tones them easily. Attaining flexibility is among the goals of such exercise because it helps a woman to properly move her body to become flexible. 

All toning workouts that are specifically designed for women requires a woman to have a proper alignment and centering, which makes pilates exercises to be very helpful as it promotes these proper postures and teaches a woman to center her body and provide a better core for her body movements. It will also help women to move from one position to another by controlling their muscles. It also helps a woman’s overall concentration because it encourages them to concentrate while performing the routines aerobic is also an effective workout for women as it is a good way of losing weight and helps women to have their muscles easily get toned. Such exercise includes energetic music that will encourage women to follow its faced paced workout routines. 

Choosing one of these great toning workouts for women and combining it with healthy diet will guarantee you of having a sexy body in no time. 

The Different Benefits that Core Workouts for Women Can Give

Ladies these days are looking for the best core workouts for women because experts says that it can give anyone a truly strong toned midsection.

 A lot of ladies are now searching for the best core workouts for women because it has been proven that it can give anyone a truly strong toned midsection. However, not all of the available workouts that are designed especially for women can guarantee the same results. Therefore, if you desire to have a healthy sexy body out of performing the several available exercises for ladies, it is important for you to choose those core workouts for women that target a strong, tight core. 

Before deciding which workout program to include in your daily routine, you must be aware of the fact that the core actually includes four different parts which are, serratus (between last and front abs), intercostals (side of rib cage), oblique (side of waist) and rectus abdominus (from pelvis to sternum). These muscle groups form the woman’s abdominals, and are actually made of twitch muscle fibers that are denser than the other remaining types of muscles. That is why it is essential for someonewho is searching for the right core workouts for women to look for a program that could help her grow the twitch fibers fast to be able to easily stimulate the abs. And for a woman to achieve the best growth, the core training that she should perform must belong to a moderate range of exercises because only these kinds of workouts can offer this kind of a result. 

The benefit of targeting this specific muscle groups will not only give a woman the best outcome that she desires, but also it can help her improve her sports performance.If you are a type of woman who is athletic and loves to try different kinds of sports, these specific proper workouts will help you improve your strength as a strong core also provides a firm platform for any sports. 

Being a great runner with strong feet is good, but it is also very important to have a strong lower back and hip muscles for an athlete to be physically fit and healthy. And doing some core workouts for women can enhance these body parts to give the right support for peak performance. Furthermore, it is very important for a woman, especially those who are into sports, to know that without having a strong core her shoulders, hips and knees are prone to different injuries. 

 

 There are many ways for a woman to strengthen her core, and all of these things relate to different exercises that she must perform on daily basis for her to be able to get the best possible outcomes. A fitness ball is nice exercise equipment that can provide a good alternative to help a woman strengthen her core. By following the different core workouts for women with the help of such equipment, a woman will notice that her body gets stronger every day.

Speedy And Beneficial Kettlebell Workouts For Women

Excellent news for busy women who would like to keep fit despite their hectic way of life: now you'll be able to accomplish your health ambitions by working out for just some minutes each day making use of kettlebells. These ball-shaped weights have rapidly risen to develop into a fad on the planet of fitness, particularly amongst girls.

 Excellent news for busy women who would like to keep fit despite their hectic way of life: now you'll be able to accomplish your health ambitions by working out for just some minutes each day making use of kettlebells. These ball-shaped weights have rapidly risen to develop into a fad on the planet of fitness, particularly amongst girls.

 

Below are the several kettlebell workouts for girls that you just can try out. By carrying out these trainings, you obtain maximum results with just a very minimal threat of injury, unlike the use of other workout tools. Addressing both strength and cardio training, these workout routines with kettlebells might be accomplished in just 20 minutes to attain fat loss or muscle tone improvement.

Warm-up

For each of those workout routines, position your feet about one foot apart.

1. For the back and abs - Hold the kettlebell with each hands and raise it overhead, maintaining an abs-tight, shoulders-down, and chest-forward position. Then, rotate your hips clockwise 8 occasions. These rotations will need to slightly propel the kettlebell overhead to produce modest circles, too. Repeat this for one more 8 counts, then switch to a counter-clockwise rotation.

2. For shoulders and arms - Secondly, stand with knees slightly bent. Hold your kettlebell together with your correct hand and swing your suitable arm forward. Then, rapidly reach out with your left arm to receive the kettlebell and swing your left arm to your back. Easily reach back with your ideal hand to get the kettlebell and swing the weight forward. Repeat this process for about 20 seconds.

Main Physical exercise

1. For hip, thigh, and butt - Position your feet about half a meter apart. Shift to a squat position and hold kettlebell with each hands. Swing kettlebell back toward the space in between the legs, then swing back up in front of you whilst you stand from squat position. Repeat about 45 times, then do a single-arm swing for one particular minute every arm.

2. For butt, arms, and legs - Hold kettlebell with suitable hand. Step correct foot forward and bend the knee at a correct angle, to make a lunge position with your perfect leg. Although in that position, pass kettlebell under your perfect thigh out of your ideal hand to become received by the left hand. Shift back to standing position. Then, lunge forward with left leg this time (yet again producing a suitable angle using the knee) and pass kettlebell under the left thigh from the left hand to the proper, then back to standing position. Repeat this 18 occasions per leg.

Cool-down

For your cool-down routine, you're able to opt to repeat the warm-up routine and do it slowly but with out the kettlebell involved. Here are some other options for those who favor one thing else. When you favor the regular cool-down routine, you are able to go for the classic shoulder stretch, hip stretch, and hamstring stretch.

According to kettlebell users, this routine burns pounds off the physique inside just weeks of carrying out the workouts religiously. Fat loss and muscle toning can even be ushered in more rapidly by undertaking 20 minutes of cardio exercises (similar to operating, jogging, dancing, swimming) every other day. The kettlebell delivers a great and productive physical exercise expertise for all those women who tend not to have time to go to the gym and lift weights. Fat-burning and body-toning can now be accomplished within just the confines of your property or office.

Source Flavia | AF

The Difference in Female Bodybuilding, Figure Competitions, Bikini Contests, and Women's Physique

If you are new to the sport of figure competitions and women's physique contests you may have seen those glamorous figure models on the cover of magazines and on websites.

If you ever had the desire or goal to look like one of these figure models and sport the look of fabulous and sexy muscle, then here are a few quick and easy tips and guidelines to help you decide on your new fitness journey.

Female Bodybuilding - The whole women's fitness movement began with female bodybuilding contests, the first legit one starting in 1978. From then on the women became more and more competitive, working harder to gain more muscle and decrease body fat. Female bodybuilders had perfected the sport by the late 1990's and competition was so great that only the best of the best could survive on stage with a chance of going pro.

 

 Figure Competitions - The popular figure competition is a spawn off of female bodybuilding. It was introduced in 2001 to allow women to compete who didn't want to obtain a great amount of muscle. Figure competitions opened the door so that almost any woman can compete with a chance at placing. However, as the years passed, the figure competitors, too, became more competitive, getting more and more muscular and defined. This division also became somewhat secluded where only the best of the best could place well and become pro.

Bikini Contests - As the figure competitions grew in popularity, so did the competitors muscle, which opened a door to another new division to allows more women to compete on stage without having to build muscle. This new category is the bikini contest. The bikini competitors don't need to display any muscle or definition. They simply have to look good in a bikini and pose according to the guidelines.

 

 Women's Physique Contest - The women's physique contest was introduced in 2010, another new division for women. Basically, the women's physique contest is a lighter version of female bodybuilding. While the women are allowed to have muscle, NPC guidelines state that they can't have striated in muscle detail. Also, there is no lat spread, front and back biceps poses are executed with open hands, and feet must be placed to the side on the front and back poses rather than flat-footed. Also, the side chest pose is executed with arms extended.

To decide with fitness category you would like to compete in it is a good idea to read more on each and attend a competition so you can see the classes and how the women look on stage.

Source Karen Sessions Ezine

IFBB Bikini Pro Anna Virmajoki Talks

Quick stats:

Age: 27
Weight: 135lbs.
Height: 5’8”

How did you get started?

I discovered the world of fitness when I was in high school. At first I did aerobics classes, and little by little after I gained more confidence I moved to the weight room. I remember flipping through a fitness magazine and thinking that “One day I want to look like these girls!” At that time my English wasn’t that good so I needed to use a dictionary to translate all the workouts. It took some time but it was well worth it! I started competing back in 2008 when I lived in Canada. I did smaller local shows, and did well as I won 2 competitions. After living in Canada for 4 years I moved back to Helsinki Finland and started competing with the IFBB in bikini (when it arrived to Finland) in 2011.

I found the perfect team that helped me to achieve my best physique ever “Team Bombshell” and the rest is history!

Where does your motivation come from?

I like setting goals. Having a goal motivates me to work out harder and I always follow my workout and nutrition plans 100%. I also like the challenge that reaching a goal brings. I am one of those people who love to exceed and accomplish new things. I am a very visual person as I draw inspiration from motivational photos that I find on the internet and fitness websites.

When it comes to discipline, I’m hardcore. I’ve found my sport and to do even better in the future I want to put all my heart in to it and give it all I have got.

What workout routine has worked best for you?

Monday: Legs

• 5 X 15 Leg Extensions
• 5 X 20 Shoulder Width Leg Press
• 5 X 15 Switch (Jump) Lunges
• 4 X 15 Narrow Stance Squats
• 4 X 10 Walking Lunges

Tuesday: Shoulders/Triceps

• 4 X 10 Shoulder Press
• 4 X 10 Barbell Press
• 4 X 10 Rear Lateral Raises
• 3 X 8 Arnold Press
• 3 X 8 Lateral Raises
• 3 X 15 Rope Pushdowns
• 3 X 10 DB Skull Crushers
• 3 X 15 DB Kick Backs

Wednesday: Back/Biceps

• 6 X 8 Pull Downs
• 6 X 8 Seated Cable Rows
• 4 X 12 Barbell Rows
• 4 X 12 One Arm Pull Downs
• 5 X 15 Hyperextensions
• 5 X 15 Supermans
• 4 X 8 Preacher Curls
• 4 X 12 Seated DB Curls
• 4 X 15 Incline DB Curls

Thursday: Legs

• 5 X 15 Leg Curls
• 5 X 12 Squats
• 5 X 12 Weighted Step Ups On Bench
• 5 X 12 Seated Leg Curls
• 5 X 12 Stiff Legged Deadlifts

Friday: Chest/Shoulders/Legs

• 5 X 12 Pullovers
• 5 X 12 Incline Chest Press
• 8 X 8 Side Lateral Raises
• 5 X 15 Leg Press
• 5 X 12 Walking Pump Lunges
• 5 X 15 Cable Squats
• 4 X 20 Hyperextensions

Saturday: Off

• Rest day

Sunday: Off

• Rest day

Top 3 favorite exercises and why?

1. Squats: They’ve given me nice and round glutes and very strong and fit legs. I absolutely love squats to death.
2. Box Plyometric Jumps: This a great way to challenge yourself. It works my legs and glutes and gets my heart beat up. So it´s a quick cardio and weight movement in one.
3. Military Shoulder Press: Nice round shoulders give width to my physique and creates the “X” shape which is what I am aiming for. Wide shoulders, tiny waist and muscular round legs.

Favorite form of cardio?

I’m a big fan of High Intensity Interval Training. I like pushing myself to my limits with every cardio session. While I do cardio you would find me with my headphones on sweating and huffing and puffing like a crazy person. I also find this a great way to vent. I add HIIT training to my cardio routine about 3 times per week.

What is your diet like?

I never starve myself! Advice for the ladies – to get a nice muscular and toned looking body you need to eat quality food and get enough calories from your daily diet. I normally get 40% of protein, 30% of carbs and 30% of fat. My calories vary from 1400-2200 calories per day.

Full Diet:

• Meal 1: 4 Egg Whites, 1 cup of Spinach Leaves, 1/2 cup of Oatmeal
• Meal 2: 3 oz. Tilapia, 2 oz. Cottage Cheese & 1 Rice Cake
• Meal 3: Whey Protein, 2 cups of Spinach Leaves with 1 tsp. of Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar & 1/4 cup of chopped Broccoli
• Meal 4: 3 oz. Chicken Breast, 1 slice Ezekiel Bread
• 1/3 slice Cucumber & 2 thin slices of Tomato soaked in Balsamic Vinegar
• Meal 5: 3 oz. Chicken & ¼ Grapefruit, 1/3 cup of Peas, 3 oz. Sweet Potato
• Meal 6: 3 oz. Turkey Breast, 1/4 cup of Green Beans & 3 oz. Squash

What supplements do you use?

I’m a Mass Nutrition sponsored athlete so I’ve used their products for the past year. I use the following products throughout the year:

• Glutamine
• Whey Protein
• BCAA
• Multivitamins
• Omega 3
• Probiotics
• MSM Powder for my joints
• CLA and Fat Burners

What is it like competing? How does it feel to win?

I love being on the stage! That is my moment to shine! Before I hit the stage I give myself a little pep talk, bring a huge smile to my face, take a deep breath and prepare myself to dazzle the judges. The feeling that I have before I hit the stage is almost euphoric.
I’ve won two huge international shows, 2012 European Championships and the 2012 World Championships. The moment they announce the second place and you know that you have won, it feels amazing. I never know whether I should cry or laugh from all the excitement. The best feeling must be when they play your national anthem!

It takes some time to really understand what you have accomplished. The whole experience is truly something special and something that I will never forget.

Favorite Quote

“I bust mine so I can kick yours”

 Source