Archive for the "Exercise & Fitness" Category

5
Jan

One of the most common complaints that women have about their bodies is excess back fat. You know, that stubborn fat that bulges around our bras and leaves our backs looking…well…lumpy, right?

This article is dedicated to back fat - both how to get rid of it and how to dress to minimize it and get a nice, smooth back that looks more youthful and feminine. Let’s start with some ways to get rid of back fat and then move on to how to camouflage it in the meantime.

Now, the problem is that there is no “magic” exercise that you can do to specifically target your back fat. If you just work on building muscle in your back, the fat is still going to be there sitting on top of the new muscle which probably isn’t what you are hoping to achieve.

Rather than focusing on building muscles in your back, instead focus on decreasing your overall body fat percentage. As your body fat drops the rolls will go along with it, leaving you with a smooth back that looks great in any kind of shirt.

So how do you decrease your body fat? First, you should focus on boosting your metabolism through exercise - specifically through building lean muscle on your body along with doing some cardio. The more lean muscle you have the faster your metabolism will run which will make losing fat much easier.

To get the biggest boost to your metabolism try focusing a lot of your strength training efforts on some of the largest muscle groups in your body like your legs and backside. Doing squats and lunges both are great for building these muscles…just be sure to use proper form when you are doing them and to listen to your knees to avoid injury. With both squats and lunges when you are in the down position your knee should be directly over your ankle - not protruding out in front. If your knee is sticking out in front shift your weight back until it is right over your ankle. This will help to protect the knee joint and avoid injury. And just like with any exercise, make sure that you check with your doctor before you start so that you know it will be safe for you.

Doing arm, stomach and back strength building exercises will also help to boost your metabolism and should be incorporated into your workout. Several times a week you should add cardio to your workout routine as well like fast walking, jogging, riding a bike, swimming or anything else that appeals to you. The combination of strength training and cardio will help you to quickly decrease your body fat percentage and to say goodbye to back fat for good.

To see the fastest results, along with exercise you should be eating a diet designed to help you lose fat. Fat Loss for Idiots is a good one that you may want to check out.

Now, what to do about hiding back fat in the meantime, right? The good news is that you can camouflage back fat and get a smoother back before you start to see results from diet and exercise. Instead of choosing a traditional bra, try checking out Sassybax. These bras were designed to keep back fat from bulging around a bra and can really make a huge difference in the appearance of your back. Although they are a bit on the expensive side they are quality bras and last for a long time.

I hope these tips were helpful! Thanks for reading.

____________________________________________________


Technorati Tags:
, , , , , ,

2
Jan

I don’t know about you but personally I hate to exercise. If I didn’t I don’t think I would have spent more than half of my life overweight.

Growing up I was terrible at sports and I dreaded gym class where the other kids would make fun of me because of my obvious lack of talent. These bad feelings about exercise followed me into adulthood and I just never could get into it. As a result I spent most of my time sitting around and packed on the pounds.

When I decided to lose weight I knew that I had to do some sort of exercise not only to speed up my weight loss results but to start feeling better and to take better care of my health.

I opted for walking for exercise because it was something I could do alone (not like a team sport or having to workout in front of people at a gym) and it was something that seemed relatively easy to do compared to a lot of other exercises but that still gave great results.

To get started I bought a good pair of walking shoes and a pedometer. I used the pedometer to motivate myself by setting a certain number of steps that I wanted to take each day. I would put the pedometer on in the morning and wear it to work, to the store…anywhere I went throughout the day.

Because I was trying to add steps I found that I started making little changes like parking a little further away from the store or making an extra trip to the supply cabinet at work. These little things really added up to a lot of extra calories burned.

I also needed to find places to walk close to where I lived. I found a beautiful trail through a wooded area less than a mile from my house that I never knew was there before so I decided to make that my walking place. In the beginning I would drive to the trail, park and walk it. As I got in better shape I would walk from my house to the trail and back home again.

I came to absolutely love walking on the trail because everyday I would see something new - a new patch of wildflowers blooming, a squirrel running across the path, the leaves on the trees changing colors or sometimes even deer.

My daily walks went from being a chore into being something I looked forward to all day - a way to escape from the stress of everyday life and enjoy the peace and quite of nature.

Over the years I have added other exercises to my routine as well. For instance, I ordered a video that teaches you how to belly dance because I thought it sounded like fun.

I close all the blinds in my house and dance away without worrying about anyone watching or how silly I look. It’s something that’s fun for me and that doesn’t feel like exercise which means that it is something that I will actually do.

If you are like me and you hate traditional exercises I would encourage you to try to come up with exercise options that you would enjoy. Think outside the box a little. Getting exercise doesn’t mean that you have to go to a gym and run on a treadmill.

Any activity that gets you up and moving counts as exercise and will not only help with your weight loss efforts, but will help you get in shape and feel great. As you add exercise to your routine each day you will start to have more energy, your concentration will improve, you will sleep better and you will just plain feel better all around.

______________________________________________________


Technorati Tags:
, , , , ,