15 Best Food For 6-Pack Abs

You hit the gym religiously, go through countless reps of sit-ups and stability exercises and log tons of time on the treadmill—but still nothing. Nada! Not an ab in sight. Not even a one-pack. It’s disheartening, we know.

The saying “abs are made in the kitchen” is cliché by now, but its foundation is still true. It doesn't matter how strong your core is, no one will be able to see your abs if you don’t do something about the pesky layer of lard that's sitting on top of it. To beat the belly bulge, you’ll not only have ditch the junk food, you’ll also have to incorporate fare into your diet that boosts metabolism, torches belly fat, wards off future weight gain and banishes bloat. Down them all to trim inches from your waistline and make your abs pop—courtesy of this Eat This, Not That! special report.

1. BELL PEPPERS
Even if you eat well and exercise, constantly pulling your hair out can prevent your abs from showing. When we stress out, the body starts pumping out the hormone cortisol, which encourages the body to store cholesterol-raising fat around the midsection. The good news is that vitamin C-rich foods like peppers, broccoli and Brussels sprouts can help keep you trim. How does eating the produce squash stress? According to German researchers, the nutrient can lower levels of cortisol during stressful situations, helping those abs take center stage.

2. EGGS
This breakfast favorite contains a nutrient called choline that boosts metabolism and may help turn off the genes responsible for belly fat storage. Research has also revealed that eating eggs for breakfast instead of a high-carb dish like a bagel can make it easier to lose weight—likely due to egg’s satiety value. Make hard-boiled eggs or whip up a batch of mini frittatas so you can reap the nutrient-packed, ab-shredding benefits on the go.

3. BANANAS
A bloated belly can make even the most toned stomach look a bit paunchy. Fight back against the gas and water retention with bananas. One study found that women who ate a banana twice daily as a pre-meal snack for 60 days reduced their belly-bloat by 50 percent! Not only does the fruit increase bloat-fighting bacteria in the stomach, it’s also a good source of potassium, which can help diminish water retention. Once you’ve kicked the bloat to the curb, you can hit the beach with confidence and show off that hard-earned body!

4. FORTIFIED MILK
Help your six-pack show its full potential with a daily serving of milk and vitamin D-fortified yogurt. A 2013 Nutrition Journal study found consuming a combination of calcium and vitamin D can significantly decrease visceral (abdominal) fat and lipid absorption in overweight populations. To come to this finding, study participants were divided into two groups: The control group was fed a 500-calorie restricted diet without vitamin supplementation. In addition to having 500-calories cut from their diet, the second group was given a 600 mg calcium supplement and a 25 IU vitamin D supplement. At the end of the 12-week experiment, the group who had taken the supplements had lost 2.6 percent of their body fat and 1.1 pounds of visceral fat while the control group only experienced a 1.5 percent decrease in overall body fat and a loss of 0.4 pounds of belly fat.

5. GREEN TEA
Sipping green tea can make your time spent at the gym more worthwhile. A recent 12-week study found that those who sip 4 to 5 cups of green tea each day and log 25-minutes at the gym lose more belly fat than their non-tea-drinking counterparts who also broke a sweat. What makes the drink such a powerful ab-chiseler? This brew contains catechins, an antioxidant that hinders the storage of belly fat. Not a fan of tea? Munch on fresh pears instead. The fruit is another good source of the antioxidant. Green isn't the only slimming tea on the block, though. Stock your cabinet with these 4 Teas That Melt Fat Fast foreasy slim-down success.

6. LEAN POULTRY
Double-team your belly bulge by eating lean cuts of turkey and chicken every day. Research has found that eating protein not only boosts satiety and helps people eat less at subsequent meals, it also has a high thermogenic effect compared to fats and carbs. Translation: Your body actually burns off a fair percentage the meat’s calories as it digests. Protein can also boost post-meal calorie burn by as much as 35 percent! For the best flab-frying results, experts suggest consuming 0.8 to one gram of protein per kilogram of bodyweight each day.

7. WHOLE WHEAT PASTA
You know brown is better, but do you know why? It’s because whole wheat contains three parts of the grain, all nutrient rich and fiber-filling. Also try varieties with lentils, chickpeas, black beans or quinoa.

8. ACORN SQUASH
Besides serving up a third of the day’s fiber, a one-cup serving of this highly nutritious, naturally sweet veggie contains 30 percent of your daily vitamin C needs. The body uses the nutrient to form muscle and blood vessels, and it can even boost the ab uncovering effects of exercise, according to Arizona State University researchers.

9. LEGUMES
Lentils, chickpeas, peas and beans — they're all magic bullets for revealing abs. In one four-week Spanish study, researchers found that eating a calorie-restricted diet that includes four weekly servings of legumes aids weight loss more effectively than an equivalent diet that doesn’t include them. Those who consumed the legume-rich diet also saw improvements in their “bad” LDL cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure. To reap the benefits at home, work them into your diet throughout the week. Salad is an easy way. Toss them up with more of the Best Salad Ingredients for Weight Loss!

10. WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
If you’re going for abs, you're already sending the restaurant bread basket back. But don’t shirk from whole-wheat bread completely. As with whole-wheat pasta, you’re getting all three parts of the grain, with fiber to increase satiety and prevent overeating. Just be careful—most breads in the sandwich aisle are filled with high fructose corn syrup or a blend of whole and enriched wheats. It’s worth splurging on the pricier stuff, often found in the freezer section.

11. BLACK BEANS
The simple bean is actually an advanced fat-burning, muscle-building machine. “Beans are a great source of protein that includes fiber,” says Leah Kaufman, a New York City based registered dietitian. “That’s going to ensure your blood sugar doesn’t spike and will give you energy to build the muscle you want.” One cup of black beans has 12 grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber; they’re also rich in folate, a B vitamin that stokes muscle growth, and copper, which strengthens tendons. On top of that, a Spanish study showed that consuming four weekly servings of beans or legumes accelerates weight loss.

12. OATMEAL
Yes, oats are loaded with carbs, but the release of those sugars is slowed by fiber, and because oats also have 10 grams of protein per half-cup serving, they deliver steady, ab-muscle-friendly energy. And that fiber is soluble, which lowers the risk of heart disease. The éminence grise of health food, oats garnered the FDA's first seal of approval.

13. QUINOA
Quinoa is higher in protein than any other grain, and it packs a hefty dose of heart-healthy, unsaturated fats. "Quinoa is also a great source of fiber and B vitamins," says Christopher Mohr, Ph.D., R.D. a professor of nutrition at the University of Louisville. Try quinoa in the morning. It has twice the protein of most cereals, and fewer carbs.

14. KAMUT
Quinoa, make some space at the table—there’s a new ancient grain on the block. Kamut is a grain native to the Middle East. Rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, it’s also high in protein while low in calories. A half-cup serving has 30% more protein than regular wheat (six grams), with only 140 calories. Eating kamut reduces cholesterol, blood sugar and cytokines, which cause inflammation throughout the body, a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found. Toss it into salads or eat it as a side dish on its own.

15. CHOCOLATE MILK
Want to know the secret to staying slim? You need more muscle. That’s because muscle burns more calories than fat, so for every new muscle fiber you create, your resting metabolism receives another surge of fat-torching energy. And chocolate milk can help you do that. Researchers have determined that the ideal protein load for building muscle is 10 to 20 grams, half before and half after your workout. How much protein will you find in low-fat chocolate milk? Eight grams per cup. (That means one serving before your workout and one serving after will give you a total of 16 grams of highly effective whey protein—a perfect serving.) Add that to the extra cup you drank first thing in the morning and you’re looking at a turbocharged metabolism that keeps you burning calories all day long.

The 7 Best Barbell Exercises For A Strong Core

Attack Your Core
It’s true that "abs are built in the kitchen." But as with any muscle, abs are built in the gym, too. You still have to blast them with intense exercises to create the stimulus for growth and definition. Yet the common ab exercises guys use to target their core— situps, stability ball crunches, etc.—leave much to be desired.

By using a barbell, however, you’ll be able to easily add resistance to each core exercise and intensify your training for more hypertrophy. Also, because you’re moving a weight with your arms while keeping your torso stable, you’ll attack your core from a variety of angles that are impossible with traditional core exercises.

Add any of these seven best barbell core exercises to your workout and take your ab routine to the next level. Don’t be surprised if you’re painfully sore the next day.

Landmine Rainbow
The landmine lets you use a barbell as a lever to unlock a different array of exercises as the weight twists and turns. With a landmine rainbow, you attack your core by moving your arms in an arc while keeping your spine and ribcage stable.

How to do it:
Place one end of a barbell in a landmine. At the other end, stand facing the landmine, grab the other end with your arms extended, and start with the barbell end about eye-level. Twist the barbell to one side without turning your hips or shoulders and keeping your arms as straight as possible. Alternate sides. To make it harder, add weight by sliding small plates on the end.

If you don’t have a landmine, just place a folded-up towel in the corner of a wall and wedge one end of a barbell there.

Barbell Rollout
With rollout exercise, the farther you extend, the more you strengthen your abs. Using a barbell lets you descend close to the ground and even adds resistances as you roll back up. It’s also harder than an ab wheel because you have to control a wider weight.

How to do it:
Get on your knees and grab a barbell with 45-lb. plates. Push your hips forward, keep your arms straight, and go as low as you can without letting your ribcage flare out—keep your hips straight and squeeze your glutes the entire time. To make it harder, use shorter plates or heavier plates.

Barbel Side Bend
Target your obliques with side bends. By using a barbell instead of dumbbells, you’ll spike the intensity on your sides because there’s more weight and the level arm is longer—it’s harder to move a seven-foot long bar than dumbbells held at your sides.

How to do it:
Hold a barbell behind your neck like on a back squat. Stand with legs about hip-width apart and bend your torso to the side, trying to get the barbell almost vertical. Alternate sides.

Barbell Straight-Leg Situp
This isn’t your old-fashioned situp that shortens your hip flexors and rolls your shoulders forward. With a barbell straight-leg situp, you need to rise by keeping your torso rigid and neutral.

How to do it:
Lie on your back with your legs straight, holding a barbell overhead with your hands about shoulder-width apart. Keep your arms straight, keep your chest out, and lift your torso until you’re sitting straight up. Keep your legs extended throughout and do not let your back round forward.

Zercher Squat
No squat variation blasts your core like a Zercher squat. (Don’t be surprised if you feel it there more than in your legs.) Because you’re holding the weight right in front of your body, your core will work like crazy as you stay tall and avoid collapsing forward.

How to do it:
Start with a barbell in the crook of your elbows, with your hands held together in front of your chest. Stand shoulder-width apart with your toes slightly out. Squat down by sitting back, spreading your knees, and keeping your weight on your heels. Once your hips are below parallel, drive through your heels and rise. Keep your lower back flat and your shoulder blades squeezed together throughout.

Barbell Overhead Carry
Weight carries are a must-have exercise in any strength program. They build bulletproof conditioning as well as phenomenal core strength and endurance. The overhead carry amplifies the intensity on your abdominals and obliques because they have to fight to control a higher center-of-gravity.

How to do it:
Hold a barbell overhead with your hands much wider than shoulder-width apart and your elbows locked. Don’t let your ribcage flare out and don’t let your lower-back arch excessively. If you get tired, slowly lower the weight onto your traps. To safely move the weight overhead, do a push press.

Single Arm-Landmine press
Overhead presses are an underrated exercise that carves your abdominals. When the weight is fully extended overhead, your core must brace hard to stabilize your entire torso and connect your upper body to the ground. By pushing with one arm, however, you’ll spike the stability challenge to get more core work.

How to do it:
Place one end of a barbell in a landmine. At the other end, stand facing the landmine, grab the other end with one arm and hold it near the same shoulder. Drive the barbell overhead without twisting. Finish all your reps on one side and alternate. To make it harder, add weight by sliding small plates on the end.

If you don’t have a landmine, just place a folded-up towel in the corner of a wall and wedge one end of a barbell there.

How to Build Arm Muscle (4 steps)

Building arm muscles takes regular, high-volume, weight-training workouts that target the biceps, triceps and forearms. High-volume weight-training workouts feature a high number of exercises, sets and reps. Even though your focus here is the muscles in your arms, your workouts should contain compound, multi-joint exercises that work other muscle groups in addition to isolation exercises that specifically target the arm muscles.

Scheduling Your Arm Workouts
In a muscle-building weight-training program, allowing your muscles enough rest is as important as the workouts themselves. Therefore, to give your arm muscles adequate time to fully heal between workouts, schedule just two arm-focused workouts into your training regimen every week. Spread out your workouts throughout the week so that there are two to three days off in between, such as a Monday and Thursday routine.

Starting With Compound Lifts
Compound lifts require movement at multiple joints and therefore work numerous muscle groups. For example, chinups require your shoulders and arms to move and therefore build strength and size in your latissumus dorsi, which handle movement at your shoulder joints, and your biceps brachii, which control movement at your elbows. Start your workouts with compound exercises since they are most effective at bringing about muscle gains. First choose an Olympic lift -- like hang cleans and push jerks; these are compound exercises that heavily involve muscles in your legs, hips and torso, but the muscles in your arms help guide the barbell. Next, add two to three compound exercises that work just the upper body. Choose from dips, close-grip pushups and close-grip bench presses, which work your chest and shoulders and challenge your triceps to straighten your arms and your forearms to stabilize your wrists. You can also include chinups and close-grip, underhand pulldowns, which recruit your latissimus dorsi in your back and place a significant load on your biceps and forearms.

Isolating the Arms
Once you’ve finished your compound lifts, move onto isolation exercises that specifically target your biceps, triceps and forearms. For your biceps, choose from barbell biceps curls, dumbbell biceps curls, cable curls and dumbbell incline curls. Focus on your triceps with lying barbell triceps extensions, overhead dumbbell triceps extensions and standing cable triceps pushdowns. During each biceps and triceps exercise, keep your elbows in a static position as you either straighten or bend them. Work your forearms with wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, hammer curls and wrist rollers.

Significance of Volume
Workouts designed for building muscle are different than ones that focus on developing strength. Muscle-building training requires high-volume workouts, which mean sessions should consist of numerous exercises that are done for multiple sets for a relatively high number of reps. Pete McCall of the American Council on Exercise recommends doing three to five sets of eight to 12 reps of every exercise and resting just 45 seconds in between each set. Use a weight that makes finishing the reps within each set challenging. For example, if you're unable to do eight reps, you should lighten the weight. If you can do more than 12 reps with relative ease, you should bump up the weight slightly.

Yoga for a Beautiful Body

A leaner you in no time
If you long for an even more gorgeous and graceful body, "there’s no better way to get it than through a yoga routine," says certified yoga instructor and personal trainer Kristin McGee. "This series not only works your entire body, front and back, from toes to fingertips, but it includes strengthening, twisting, and balancing. You’ll sculpt, get grounded, and build confidence."

Repeat the routine (on both sides) 3 to 5 times—it’ll take about 20 to 30 minutes total—at least 3 to 4 times a week. As you master the poses, you’ll begin to notice amazing changes both inside and out.

Awkward Chair
Stand with feet together and abs contracted. Exhale as you push your hips back to squat down as if sitting in a chair; at the same time, lift your arms by your ears. Arms should be shoulder-width with palms facing and fingers pointing toward the ceiling. Hold for 5 to 8 breaths.

High Lunge
Keeping arms raised and abs tight, step your left foot back and lower into lunge position so front knee is bent at 90 degrees and directly over your ankle. Hold for 5 breaths.

Downward Dog
Lower your hands to the mat on either side of your front foot and step your right foot back so it’s even with your left. Straighten your legs and push into your hands and feet as you lift your hips toward the ceiling. Move your shoulders away from your ears and draw your front ribs in toward each other. Hold for 5 breaths.

Plank
Lower your hips, coming onto your toes and moving your torso forward until your shoulders are directly over your hands. Your abs should be tight, with your body in a straight line from head to heels. Hold for 5 breaths.

Low Plank
Keeping your body in line, inhale and bend your elbows to 90 degrees to lower yourself toward the floor. Hold for 1 breath.

Upward Dog
With hands still in place, inhale and slowly lower hips toward floor (try not to touch). Untuck toes and push gently into hands, straightening your arms and lifting your chest. Hold for 1 breath.

High Lunge Twist
Tuck your toes and push into your hands, lifting your hips toward the ceiling to return to Downward Dog.

Step your right foot forward between your hands into lunge position, then lift your chest and bring your hands to prayer position; twist your torso to the right, bringing your left elbow to the outside of your right knee; look to the right and up. Hold for 5 to 8 breaths.

Half Moon
Return to center and drop your right hand to the floor about 10 inches diagonally in front and outside of your right foot. Raise your left arm, pointing fingers toward the ceiling as you straighten your right leg and lift your straight left leg into the air, foot flexed and pointing to the side; look up at your left hand. Hold for 5 breaths.

Revolved Half Moon
Turn your left toes toward the floor so hips are even; drop your left hand to the floor and twist your torso to the right, lifting your right hand to the ceiling. Look up at your hand (or as far to the right as is comfortable). Hold for 5 breaths.

Standing Split
Return to center, dropping your right hand to the floor so it’s even with your left hand. Lift your straight left leg as high as is comfortable; hold for 5 breaths. Return your left foot to the floor next to your right, then slowly round up to standing. Push hips back to lower into Awkward Chair and repeat whole sequence on the opposite side.

Add some oomph to your om with this yoga-with-weights routine. It torches 200 calories in 30 minutes (that’s double the burn of the classic kind!).

3 Basic Exercises for Energy

Instant wake-up
Cardio—even a 15-minute walk—gets your blood pumping and moves oxygen through the body. New York City personal trainer Jen Cassetty also recommends these moves anytime you feel yourself fading. Do two sets of 10-12 reps each.

Morning bend
Stand with feet shoulder-width, knees slightly bent, hands behind head. With your back flat, bend forward until your back is parallel to the ground, keeping weight in your heels and hips. Return to standing.

Wall angel
Stand against a wall with spine touching it from shoulders to hips, then raise arms parallel to floor. Keeping arms and back against the wall, rotate arms upward as far as you can, then down to starting position.

Side crunch
Sit on a chair or bench with hands behind head. Press elbows straight back to stretch your chest and open your lungs, then bend sideways at the waist to crunch to your left. Come back up and repeat crunch to the right. That's one rep.

3 R'S Of Workout Recovery Nutrition

The principles of post-workout or recovery nutrition can be quite simple and easily be accounted for in a client’s custom nutrition plan. These principles include providing energy to replace muscle glycogen stores, helping to maximize the repair of muscle damage, and sufficiently replenishing any fluids and electrolytes lost during training.

Simply put, you need to help your clients follow the three “R’s” of recovery—refuel, rebuild and rehydrate. These are the cornerstones of post-workout and recovery nutrition. They are also essential for maximizing the training effect, which can have different applications depending on the type, intensity and duration of the activity. Here is a brief overview of the three R’s of recovery, followed by sample recovery diets for three specific workouts.

1. REFUEL
Nutritional recovery starts by refueling with glycogen or carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide the body and brain with the fuel needed to recover and ultimately adapt to the training session.

Current data indicates that after a workout the muscle cells’ ability to begin rebuilding and replenishment peaks at about 15 minutes and declines by as much as 40 percent within 60 minutes.

Researchers report that immediate intake of carbohydrates results in a 300 percent increase in muscle glycogen at two hours and a 135 percent increase at four hours.

2. REBUILD
The next step is rebuilding cells by focusing on the protein and amino acids required to help maximize muscle repair. Even a simple cardio session results in muscle breakdown, so protein is an essential component for all post-exercise nutrition.

In a 2010 review published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition Exercise and Metabolism, researchers noted that the consumption of 20 grams of protein, or an equivalent of 9 grams of essential amino acids, can maximize muscle protein-synthesis rates during the first hours of post-exercise recovery.

However, the amount of protein needed in the post-workout period is often overestimated. There are certain levels of protein that are needed, but more doesn’t always mean more muscle or better recovery.

Depending on the type and intensity of exercise, and the total calories of course needed for recovery, a range of 0.3 to 0.5 grams per kg of bodyweight, or a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein, is recommended.

3. REHYDRATE
The final step is rehydration. Adequate fluids help regulate body temperature and blood pressure, and transport energy and nutrients throughout the body.

That is why it is essential to allow the body to achieve balance and maintain the process of recovery by replenishing any fluids lost during activity.

Cramping and muscle fatigue can often keep clients from sticking to a workout plan. By rehydrating and replenishing sodium, they’ll be able to reduce these post-workout symptoms.

To learn more about how you to calculate how much water your clients should be drinking, check out this Evolution Nutrition blog on hydration.

Now that you’ve had a chance to skim over the three R’s, let’s put them into practice using three different workouts.

STEADY-STATE CARDIO RECOVERY NUTRITION
Goal: To rehydrate and replenish electrolytes, while maximizing post-exercise calorie burning

Recovery Snack Options: Whole-wheat crackers, fresh fruit with high water content and cheese

6 whole-wheat crackers
1 medium apple (sliced)
2 slices non-fat cheese

Nutrition: 278 Calories / 43g Carbohydrate / 13g Protein / 6g Fat

POST-WORKOUT YOGURT PARFAIT
¼ C nonfat yogurt
½ C whole grain cereal
½ C fresh strawberries (or other berry)

Nutrition: 270 Calories / 62 g Carbohydrate / 10g Protein / 2g Fat

Guidelines: Fluids and electrolytes can be consumed immediately after and should be equal to about 16 to 20 ounces of water/fluid for every pound lost during the steady-state cardio. If bodyweight loss cannot be measured, a good rule of thumb is to drink 1 cup immediately after exercise, and 2 to 3 cups of fluid over the next few hours of recovery. Wait 20 to 30 minutes before you start to replenish energy stores with carbohydrates, proteins or fats, but listen to your body and eat if you feel like you need to fuel.

WEIGHTLIFTING RECOVERY NUTRITION
Goal: To maximize the “anabolic window” or recovery phase 30 to 45 minutes after the workout

Recovery Snack Options: Pita bread with hummus and black bean spread.

½ whole-wheat pita (large)
2 T hummus
2 T black bean spread

Nutrition: 261 Calories / 46g Carbohydrate / 8g Protein / 5g Fat

OATMEAL PROTEIN POWER
½ C cooked steel-cut oats
1 T shaved almonds
2 T protein powder

Nutrition: 287 Calories / 40g Carbohydrate / 16g Protein / 7g Fat

Guidelines: As with any workout, carbohydrates are essential to recovery post-weightlifting. To successfully rebuild muscle, special attention should be paid to how much protein is being consumed.

RECOVERY NUTRITION FOR HIIT (CARDIO AND WEIGHTLIFTING) 
Goals: To replace energy stores within 30 minutes after workout and to repair muscle tissue

Recovery Snack Options: One post-workout drink that is equal to about one-quarter of total carbs needed for recovery (e.g., 12- to 16-ounce fruit smoothie made with water, skim milk or a non-dairy milk alternative and protein powder) AND one workout snack

POWER FRUIT SMOOTHIE
1½ C skim milk (nonfat)
½ C frozen berries

BANANA AND PEANUT BUTTER ON A RICE CAKE
½ banana (small)
½ T peanut butter
1 multigrain rice cake

Nutrition: 297 Calories / 47g Carbohydrate / 16g Protein / 5g Fat

Guidelines: Because HIIT has a higher work rate, more fluids are used and more fuel is burned. That means both will need to be replenished in higher rates than in the other two workouts. HIIT’s combination of cardio and weightlifting requires an initial liquid recovery snack, which can be consumed first or closely followed by a nutrient dense meal or snack. Post-workout, a 3:1 ratio is a good standard to use with carbs and protein (e.g., 30 to 40 grams of carbs with 10 to 15 grams of protein).

5 Simple Daily Strategies To Supercharge Your Energy

Early mornings, late nights, commitments, demands, responsibilities and expectations can make us feel like we're a sponge that has been squeezed dry of one of our most precious resources: energy. When we walk around feeling like this day after day, it negatively affects almost every aspect of life. From our health and careers to our relationships, when we have no more energy to give, the going gets tough.

So when the going starts to get tough, how do we get going again? 

Energy has physiological, neurological and even psychological components. It is also a carefully regulated economy within our lives. If we're constantly spending energy, we need to have some strategies to earn and replenish it as well. All spending and no earning is a failing formula in any arena.

With a few simple daily steps in our demand-laden, busy, stressed-out life, however, we can replenish our energy bank account and actually earn more energy to spend on the things that are most important to us.

What would you do with more energy? 

Here are five simple steps you can take every day to ensure that your energy economy ends up in the positive column, so you can do more of the things that feed your soul.

1. GO TO BED AND GET UP AT THE SAME TIMES EVERY DAY
From a physiological standpoint, sleep is the ultimate energy recuperator. The relationship between going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning used to be simple—when the sun went down, the darkness would trigger the brain to release sleep hormones and neurotransmitters. When the sun came up, the light would trigger wake-up hormones and neurotransmitters.

With this natural, consistent balance of sleeping and awaking, our ancestors had the energy they needed to hunt, gather, build and do anything else they needed to do. Today, our sleep cycle is more dependent on evening television programming than the sun. Artificial light convinces our brain that it is daytime whenever we want it to be. Instead of the sun deciding when we go to sleep and wake up, we have to regulate this ourselves.

As mentioned, falling asleep and waking up are largely affected by hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain. When the sun was our sleep regulator, these chemicals "learned" when to be released. With this learned consistency, we would get sleepy at bedtime and feel alert after waking up in the morning.

We no longer rely on the predictable sun, so it's up to each individual to go to bed and wake up at consistent times so the sleep and waking hormonal and neural processes learn when to do their thing. The more consistent we are, the more efficient the process works. The better we sleep, the more we recuperate our energy.

2. MOVE MORE 
Humans are perpetual motion machines. The process of getting enough of the good stuff in and the bad stuff out of our brain, muscles and other cells relies heavily on frequent movement throughout the day. Research suggests most Americans are completely sedentary for up to 15 hours per day, independent of sleep. It appears this level of inactivity may be as risky to our health as smoking cigarettes.

When you move, you aid in driving blood circulation, which gets more oxygen and glucose to the brain and energy-producing “engines” of the cells (the mitochondria). You also stimulate areas of your brain in charge of coordination, which can also help keep you out of the midday fog. Go ahead and stand up right now and lift your arms above your head. Stay standing for about 10 seconds. You will actually notice a change in your energy even in that short amount of time.

Try to create a work/home environment where you are able to stand up and move frequently. Try parking farther away from destinations, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and standing up for at least a few minutes every 30 to 45 minutes.

Even something as simple as standing up can drive more oxygen and glucose to create energy, so imagine what exercise can do for your energy levels. Every day, do 20 minutes of something that elevates your heart rate—dancing, running, swimming, hiking, jogging, or anything else you enjoy doing.

3. EAT SMALLER MEALS FREQUENTLY
While eating frequent small meals does not appear to play as large a role in weight loss as once believed, this simple daily habit can create a drastic change in your energy levels.

The brain uses glucose (blood sugar) as its food. When it doesn’t have enough, or when there is too much, we get tired, foggy, lazy and unfocused. Think about your level of energy when you’re really hungry, then consider how your energy levels are after a large meal.

Unfortunately, many American’s have developed the habit of not eating breakfast and then consuming a large, high-calorie lunch, a few high-sugar, high-fat snacks, and a large dinner. With this “feast or famine” level of blood sugar supplied to the brain, it makes it difficult to create consistent energy levels.

Start each day with a balanced breakfast that includes protein, fat, carbohydrates, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. About three hours later, have a small snack with a similar nutrient profile. You’ll be less hungry for lunch and more apt to make better choices when you’re not voraciously hungry. Another balanced snack after lunch and before dinner curbs the pre-dinner and even post-dinner snacking, while decreasing the likelihood you’ll overeat at dinner.

Fruit, nuts, shakes and other snacks are easy to prepare and carry with you.

4. STOP MULTITASKING AND INSTEAD CREATE TIME CHUNKS
The more tasks we split our energy between in a given period of time, the poorer our performance on each of the tasks will become. In addition, we use our energy inefficiently when we try to do many things at once, so we end up spending quite a bit of energy with a very limited return on our investment.

Instead of attempting to do multiple tasks at once, create a clear time frame to focus on one thing. This could be as short as a few minutes or it could be hours. Most people will find a “sweet spot,” during which they can apply maximal focus without going off course. If you have to keep up with multiple demands, you may need to create short time chunks. This way, you can use your energy effectively and efficiently on one task, do it well, then move to another task and repeat.

Many successful people have learned to use time chunks for meetings, email, projects, hobbies and other work or leisure tasks so they can get the largest return for their investments of time and energy.

5. GRATITUDE
When we’re flying through each day, trying to keep up with the constant demands being thrown at us, it’s easy to slip into “the sky is falling, whoa is me” mode. When we’re stressed, our brains work differently. We tend to only see what’s in front of us and we lose scope of a bigger picture.

While it’s true that things can go very wrong, there are always things that are going very right,  but this can be tough to remember when the going gets tough.

When you let your fight-or-flight brain completely take over for long periods of time, you squander your energy levels and drain them quickly. Something as simple as taking five minutes a day to write down a short (or long) list of things you are thankful for can help turn off, or at least turn down, the fight-or-flight brain. This realization that there are positive things in your life despite negative events can help boost your mood, energy and even performance.

Try one or all of these simple, energy-exploding strategies every day to refill your energy tanks and live an extraordinary life.

How to Flatten Stomach Muscles After a Hysterectomy

A hysterectomy is a major surgical procedure that can leave the abdominal wall with weak muscles. It is important to give stomach muscles their tone back and flatten the abdomen to avoid other complications and unwanted weight gain. This can be accomplished by dieting and exercising appropriately. Daily water intake is important as is a balanced diet. Specific exercises for flattening stomach muscles after a hysterectomy include walking on a flat surface and toning exercises for the abdominal muscle wall. Doctors may also recommend the use of girdles or stomach binders to hold stomach muscles in place until tone returns to normal.

Things You'll Need

• Water bottle
• Yoga mat
• Running shoes
• Girdle

Drink plenty of water. Drinking water will keep you from becoming bloated and dehydrated. The usual recommended amount of daily water intake is at least two quarts. Most women tend to have water retention after a hysterectomy, but it is due to poor hydration. You will find that drinking water will actually make you lose all that extra water you are carrying.

Eat a balanced diet. As with any other surgical procedure, it is important to maintain healthy eating habits. The right diet will help your incision heal faster as well as keep those stomach muscles toned and in their place.

Schedule a daily walk. It is important for you to walk at least 30 minutes a day on a dry, flat surface. This will help tone all of your muscles.

While walking, make sure to tuck in your tummy. It is OK to relax your abdominal muscles when you are resting, but during exercise the best thing to do is keep them taut. If you can’t go for an outdoors walk, go to a big shopping mall or department store.

Practice a variety of abdominal exercises. The most beneficial exercises for flat stomach muscles are the ones that involve lying flat on the floor and working up towards bended knees.

Straight abdominal exercises are performed with your back on the floor and your knees bent. Tighten your stomach muscles and hold them in. With your arms in a comfortable position, raise your head, neck and shoulders so you can look at your knees. Hold this position and then lower yourself slowly till you are back on the floor. Repeat 5 to 10 times twice a day.

Wear a girdle or abdominal binder. Either of these will help when stomach muscles are too weak or are not responding quickly to exercise.

Girdles are simply underwear that has extra lycra in them for more tummy support. They fit very close to the abdomen and help hold stomach muscles in, thus helping to flatten them. An abdominal binder is an elastic wrap that is placed around the abdomen and fastens with velcro. They can be used immediately after surgery. Both girdles and binders are easy to find and inexpensive.

Kickboxer's Diet

Most dieters end up regaining lost weight, and then put on some extra pounds as well. Weight cycling can increase your chances for developing hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. Kickboxers are able to maintain a healthy weight by accepting their body type, staying active and eating nutritious foods. A kickboxer's diet is balanced and designed to promote muscle toning, increase energy, decrease fat and speed up injury recovery time.

Liquids
Water is the number one most important liquid for kickboxers to drink. Water helps along every single body function. You don't have to drown yourself with water; simply sip water throughout the whole day. Don't wait to drink water until your thirsty. All athletes are well-hydrated, especially before an event. While fruit and vegetable juice isn't bad for you, it's better to hydrate yourself with water and eat whole fruits and veggies. Fat-free milk is a good source of protein and calcium, and can help kickboxers lower their body fat.

Foods
Natural foods are best for kickboxers. Eat plenty of whole-grain cereals, brown rice, whole wheat breads and pastas, beans, lean meats, fish, eggs and egg whites, potatoes, fruits and vegetables. Season food with green pepper, onion, oregano, lemon, garlic and cilantro. It's okay to eat low-fat mayonnaise, cheese and yogurt, too.

Foods To Avoid
Kickboxers avoid tea, coffee, alcohol and drinks with sugar, which are all stimulants that can affect their body's rhythm. If you don't want to completely drop these drinks, reduce and limit your intake. Stay away from sugar and sugary foods, butter, sauces, full-fat foods and any food that has a high sodium content.

Preparation And Meals
Kickboxers eat foods that are grilled, baked, barbecued, boiled, steamed or microwaved. Avoid foods that are fried. Adding oil to your food means you're adding extra calories and saturated fat. Kickboxers eat a large breakfast daily. Lunch is smaller than breakfast, and dinner should be the smallest meal of the day. Kickboxers also sometimes opt to eat several small meals throughout the day. Eating more often can help you to lose weight, since your body stores less fat if it's fed approximately every three hours. Do not eat later than four hours before bed time. Eating too close to your bed time means that the food won't be digested or burnt off.

Kickboxer Mentality
It's important to recognize and respond to your internal cues when you want to eat. It's particularly important for athletes and regular exercisers to tune in to their body's cues. Ignore peer pressure and media images and determine which foods will prepare you for fitness. Think about what you're really craving. Determine if your body wants something hot, cold or room-temperature, crunchy or chewy, and sweet, bitter, salty or spicy. You may need liquid instead of food as well. Tune out all messages that will inhibit your goals of maintaining a healthy weight and being a successful kickboxer.

How to Get Abs for Beginners

To build strong, developed abdominal muscles is not merely a superficial goal. Your core is the center of your body and is connected to every move you make. A strong core yields better balance and stability and optimal function of the strength and motion of your arms and legs. It helps to prevent injuries caused from sports and everyday work tasks as well as any minor or chronic back pain. Begin to develop strong, healthy abdominal muscles with these simple but efficient core exercises.

Things You'll Need
Exercise ball

Plank Pose
Start in the top of a pushup position with your shoulders, hips and knees in one long line. Press your palms down hard and your heels back.

Lift your navel to engage your lower abdominal muscles and pull the front of your thighs up, away from the floor.

Hold here for a minimum of 15 seconds. Rest briefly, then repeat several times.

Basic Crunches
Start on your back with your knees bent and your hands behind your head, elbows wide to the sides.

Relax your neck: Make sure that you have a fist distance between your chin and your chest and avoid pulling on your head with your hands.

Exhale and with control, using the strength of your abdominal muscles, lift your head and shoulders away from the floor. Avoid squeezing your head and shoulders in toward your knees, but rather lift them straight up.

Inhale to release back down to the starting position. Repeat for three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions.

Ball Roll Out
Kneel behind an exercise ball and rest your hands, palms down, on top of it. Keep your arms straight.

Inhale. Maintain a strong core and pull your navel in as you roll the ball forward, away from you. Stop when your torso is maximally stretched.

Pause for a moment in this extended position. Exhale and slowly roll back to the starting position. Repeat several times.

5 Surprising Benefits of Yoga

If you enjoy yoga, you probably already know it helps with flexibility and strength. But according to recent research, yoga may improve your health (and wallet) in ways you may never have expected.

From helping treat insomnia, chronic stress, anxiety disorders and PTSD to preventing osteoporosis and relieving chronic pain, yoga has a wealth of medical benefits, according to Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, PhD, a leading authority on yoga and mind-body medicine. Khalsa is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate neuroscientist in the sleep disorders program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Yoga practitioners reap medical benefits from "the entire constellation of what constitutes yoga: meditation, exercise and breathing techniques,” Khalsa says. “Yoga practice has them all.”

Here's more on the newer uses of yoga that Khalsa and other experts are hopeful about.

Benefit 1: Better sleep
Yoga, among other mind-body treatments, is effective for people who have trouble sleeping, according to a review of 12 studies in the Brazilian Review of Psychiatry. Another small study also found yoga improves sleep in people plagued by insomnia.

Veronica Zador, a yoga therapist who directs the Detroit-area Beaumont hospital system school of yoga therapy, says that the reason many people can’t sleep is that they can’t put their stress to bed.

“When you learn how to manage stress, you often find you can manage your sleep a little better,” says Zador, one of the few yoga therapists in the country who is part of a medical school. “I teach medically-referred patients how to manage how you breath, which can help you learn how to notice stressful thoughts but perhaps react a little differently.” Slow, deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, which calms the body down, she explains. (The vagus nerve helps controls the heart beat, muscle movement and breathing, among other things.)

Benefit 2: Lower healthcare costs
Consider the study of 4,452 patients whose doctors recommended they try a mindfulness based program that included yoga and meditation for their stress-related illnesses. Study director James E. Stahl, MD, director of the Institute of Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital, compared those patients with some 13,000 patients who did not use a relaxation program. The results? Healthcare use in the yoga/mindfulness group dropped 43 percent in the year following the program, according to research published in 2015 in PLOS One.

Experts say this is partly because yoga triggers the body’s relaxation response, which lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol. (Early studies indicate it may even change how our genes react to stress.) “What is important is that we helped people elicit the relaxation response, which you can think of as opposite the ‘fight or flight’ response,” notes Stahl. This means they used yoga and other mindfulness training to develop resilience to stress in their daily lives, he explained.

“It’s pretty clear that consistently eliciting this relaxation response helps your body heal and feel better,” Stahl says. “And when you are feeling and healing better, you are less likely to use health care resources.”

Benefit 3: Osteoporosis prevention
It’s well known that women who do weight-bearing exercises can slow the natural bone loss that comes with aging, since those exercises encourage bones to grow denser and stronger. But until recently, whether yoga could have a similar impact was unknown.

Loren Fishman, MD, medical director of Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the author of "Yoga for Osteoporosis," used his own money to fund an intriguing study in 800 people. It found that 12 yoga poses performed in 12 minutes of daily yoga not only slowed bone loss, but in some cases helped build bone.

“Three quarters of women with osteoporosis don't take the medication that is prescribed for bone loss,” notes Fishman. “That’s a disaster waiting to happen.” In the study, he found that patients who stuck with a dozen specific yoga poses over a 10-year period also improved bone density in the spine and femur.

Benefit 4: Easing the trauma of cancer treatment
This use of yoga has exploded over the last 10 years, according to Khalsa. “You can’t find a major cancer center that doesn’t have a yoga class,” he says. “It isn’t that yoga cures cancer; it is that modern medicine doesn’t have anything as good for the stress and trauma of a cancer diagnosis and the side effects of treatment: fatigue, ‘chemobrain’ and insomnia.”

A study published in a 2012 issue of BMC Cancer, for example, found that cancer patients or survivors practicing yoga had “large reductions” in distress, anxiety and depression and a moderate boost in their overall quality of life and emotional and social health, along with a moderate decrease in fatigue.

Benefit 5: Relieving chronic pain
A 2013 study suggests that mind-body treatments like yoga may have a protective effect on the nerves involved in pain processing. And research published in Cerebral Cortex in 2014 suggests that that yoga practice improves pain regulation, according to Khosla.

This may result partly by changing our response to pain, according to Zador. She explains that resistance to pain, “which is natural,” often causes a chain reaction that results in more pain. “When we allow certain techniques to reduce our stress and response to pain, we increase functionality,” she says. “This is where yoga can play such a big role with both physical pain and emotional pain.”

Breathing Your Way to Good Health

You can help alleviate stress through the simple practice of yogic breathing. Among other things, breathing loads your blood with oxygen, which maintains your health at the most desirable level. Shallow breathing doesn't oxygenate your blood very efficiently. Consequently, toxins pile up in the cells. Before you know it, you feel sluggish and down, and eventually organs begin to malfunction. Is it any wonder that the breath is the best tool you have to profoundly affect your body and mind?

Bad breathing isn't as easy to cure as bad breath: You must retrain your body through breath awareness.

Taking high-quality breaths
Before you jump right in and make drastic changes to your method of breathing, take a few minutes to assess your current breathing style. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is my breathing shallow?
• Do I often breathe erratically?
• Do I easily get out of breath?
• Is my breathing labored at times?
• Do I generally breathe too fast?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, try yogic breathing. Even if you didn't answer yes, conscious breathing still benefits your mind and body.

By the way, men take an average of 12 to 14 breaths per minute, while women take 14 to 15.

Relaxing with a couple of deep breaths
Think about the many times you've heard someone say "Now just take a couple of deep breaths and relax." Well, it really works! Yogic breathing is like sending a fax to your nervous system with the message to relax.

Try the following exercise:

Sit comfortably in a chair.

• Close your eyes and visualize a swan gliding peacefully across a crystal-clear lake.
• Now, like the swan, let your breath flow along in a long, smooth, and peaceful movement. Ideally, inhale and exhale through your nose.
• Extend your breath to its comfortable maximum for 20 rounds; then gradually let your breath return to normal.
• Afterward, take a few moments to sit with your eyes closed and notice the difference in how you feel overall.

Practicing safe yogic breathing
Here are a few safety tips to help you enjoy your experience.

If you have problems with your lungs (such as a cold or asthma) or heart disease, consult your physician before embarking on breath control, even under the supervision of a Yoga therapist.

Don't practice breathing exercises when the air is too cold or too hot.

Avoid practicing in polluted air, including the smoke from incense. Whenever possible, practice breath control outdoors or with an open window.

• Don't strain your breathing — remain relaxed while doing the breathing exercises.
• Don't overdo the number of repetitions.
• Don't wear any constricting pants or belts.
• Reaping the benefits of yogic breathing

In addition to relaxing the body and calming the mind, yogic breathing has a spectrum of other benefits. Here are some:

• It steps up your metabolism (the best way to prevent weight increase).
• It uses muscles that automatically improve your posture.
• It keeps the lung tissue elastic, which allows you to take in more oxygen.
• It tones your abdominal area.
• It strengthens your immune system.
• It reduces your levels of tension and anxiety.

The late T. Krishnamacharya — one of the great Yoga masters — is a classic illustration of the benefits of yogic breathing. On his 100th birthday celebration, he initiated the ceremony with a 30-second-long continuous chant. He also sat perfectly straight on the floor for many hours every day during the festivities, which lasted several days. Not bad for a centenarian!

Breathing through the nose
No matter what anybody tells you, yogic breathing is typically done through the nose, both during inhalation and exhalation. For traditional yogis, the mouth is meant for eating and the nose for breathing. Here are three good reasons to breathe through the nose:

Since you are breathing through two small holes instead of one big one, it slows down your breathing. In Yoga, slow is good.

The air is hygienically filtered and warmed by your nasal passages. Even the purest air contains dust particles and pollutants.

According to traditional Yoga, nasal breathing stimulates the subtle energy center, which is located near your sinuses. This location is the meeting place of the left (cooling) and the right (heating) current of vital energy that act directly on the nervous and endocrine systems.

What if I can't breathe through my nose?
Yoga is always flexible. If you can't breathe lying down, try sitting up. If your allergies bother you more in the morning, do your Yoga in the afternoon. If you're still not comfortable breathing through your nose, try inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth and don't worry about technique. Worry is counterproductive.

Should I breathe through my nose all the time?
Every exercise has its own guidelines that you need to follow. The majority of aerobic activities — running, walking, weight lifting, and so on — recommend that you inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. And breathing through the nose while swimming can be downright dangerous.

In the beginning, save yogic breathing for your Yoga exercises. Down the line, when you become more skillful at it, you may want to adopt nasal breathing during all normal activities. Then, you can benefit from its calming and hygienic effects throughout the day.

Office exercise: Add more activity to your workday

You're doing your best to set aside time for physical activity, but finding time to exercise is a challenge. Why not work out while you work? Consider 10 ways to add exercise to your workday routine.

No. 1: Start with your commute
Walk or bike to work. If you ride the bus or the subway, get off a few blocks early or at an earlier stop than usual and walk the rest of the way. If you drive to work, park at the far end of the parking lot — or park in the lot for a nearby building. In your building, take the stairs rather than the elevator.

No. 2: Stand up and work
Standing burns more calories than sitting does. Look for ways to get out of your chair. Stand while talking on the phone. Skip instant messaging and email, and instead walk to a colleague's desk for a face-to-face chat.

No. 3: Take fitness breaks
Rather than hanging out in the lounge with coffee or a snack, take a brisk walk or do some gentle stretching. For example, face straight ahead, then lower your chin to your chest. Or, while standing, grab one of your ankles — or your pant leg — and bring it up toward your buttock. Hold each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds.

No. 4: Bring a fitness ball to work
Consider trading your desk chair for a firmly inflated fitness or stability ball, as long as you're able to safely balance on the ball. You'll improve your balance and tone your core muscles while sitting at your desk. Use the fitness ball for wall squats or other exercises during the day.

No. 5: Keep fitness gear at work
Store resistance bands — stretchy cords or tubes that offer weight-like resistance when you pull on them — or small hand weights in a desk drawer or cabinet. Do arm curls between meetings or tasks.

No. 6: Join forces
Organize a lunchtime walking group. Enjoy the camaraderie of others who are ready to lace up their walking shoes. You can hold each other accountable for regular exercise — and offer encouragement to one another when the going gets tough.

No. 7: Conduct meetings on the go
When it's practical, schedule walking meetings or walking brainstorming sessions. Do laps inside your building or, if the weather cooperates, take your walking meetings outdoors.

No. 8: Pick up the pace
If your job involves walking, do it faster. The more you walk and the quicker your pace, the greater the benefits.

No. 9: If you travel for work, plan ahead
If you're stuck in an airport waiting for a plane, grab your bags and take a brisk walk. Choose a hotel that has fitness facilities — such as treadmills, weight machines or a pool — or bring your equipment with you. Jump-ropes and resistance bands are easy to sneak into a suitcase. Of course, you can do jumping jacks, crunches and other simple exercises without any equipment at all.

No. 10: Try a treadmill desk
If you're ready to take workplace exercise to the next level, consider a more focused walk-and-work approach. If you can safely and comfortably position your work surface above a treadmill — with a computer screen on a stand, a keyboard on a table or a specialized treadmill-ready vertical desk — you might be able to walk while you work.

In fact, Mayo Clinic researchers estimate that overweight office workers who replace sitting computer time with walking computer time by two to three hours a day could lose 44 to 66 pounds (20 to 30 kilograms) in a year. The pace doesn't need to be brisk, nor do you need to break a sweat. The faster you walk, however, the more calories you'll burn.

Want more ideas for workplace exercises? Schedule a walking meeting to brainstorm ideas with your supervisors or co-workers. Remember, any physical activity counts.

Frequency for Bodybuilding Workouts

Successful weight training depends on more than the exercises you choose. The frequency of your workouts goes a long way to determining your ultimate success. Too few workouts and you’re quickly wasting your time. Too many workouts and you risk injury from overtraining. Especially for bodybuilding, which depends on developing mass and definition, you need a schedule that gets you in the gym frequently enough to engage your muscles, but with enough recovery time to allow tissue growth.

Workout Frequency Basics
For effective bodybuilding, you’ll need to establish a split workout schedule. This means that, instead of each workout session including all of your exercises, you only focus on a subset of muscle groups for each session. Split routines let you adequately rest a particular muscle group while working out another muscle group the next day. While it’s possible to split your routine up to six days each week, such a high frequency can pose risks from over-training. According to bodybuilding champion Bill Pearl, four- and five-day schedules, with the proper exercise intensity, produce the best results.

Four-Day Plan
The four-day workout plan lets you split your workouts in a variety of ways. One common way to organize a four-day split is to segregate your upper body workouts from your lower body workouts, engaging the former on days one and three, and the latter on days two and four. Usually, you’ll schedule one full rest day in between days two and three, with two full days of rest between day four and day one of the following week.

Five-Day Plan
The five-day plan can be a little trickier, since you’re working out an odd number of sessions each week. You can arrange the focus of each workout in a variety of ways, but one common schedule will break up your upper-body workouts into chest/shoulders/triceps and back/biceps. For example, days one and three work chest/shoulders/triceps, days two and four work back/biceps, and day five works the lower body heavily. This schedule is suited for bodybuilders who want to focus on developing upper-body mass and definition.

Rest and Recovery
Regardless of the frequency of your workouts, you need to schedule in enough rest time to allow your muscles to recover following each workout. You won’t develop sufficient definition if you engage the same muscles multiple times without recovery time. Muscles require at least one full day for regrowth. Be cautious with certain compound exercises on successive days, because those exercises may engage muscles you’ve used during the previous day’s workout. For example, avoid exercises like the high snatch and the high pull during your lower-body workouts, because they also incorporate the biceps, triceps and shoulders.

How to Lose Belly Fat But Get a Bigger Butt

Achieving a flat, toned stomach requires dedication and patience. If you want to lose fat from your stomach and get a bigger butt, it might not be so easy. It is not possible to spot reduce. However, it is possible to concentrate more on a specific area whilst exercising. You can tone and tighten the abs with a combination of cardiovascular exercise, toning exercises and a healthy diet. You can firm and lift your butt by performing various exercises that target the muscles in the butt area.

Things You'll Need

• Pull-up bar
• Stability Ball
• Barbell
• Dumbbells

Perform cardiovascular workouts to help strengthen your buttocks muscles and burn fat. Burning fat will help in reducing your waistline. Using the treadmill, climbing stairs and using the elliptical are great cardiovascular exercises to perform. Always warm up your muscles by stretching, walking or jogging slowly for five minutes, before beginning your workout.

Do compound exercises--such as squats--using weights. Squats are excellent for building the butt muscles. You don't have to perform them with weights, although they are more effective with weights than without. Using dumbbells or a barbell, stand with your feet hip width apart. Pull your stomach muscles in. Hold the dumbbells or barbell on your shoulders; grip firmly. Bend your knees. Imagine you are going to sit down. Squeeze your buttocks muscles and come back up. Do three sets of 10 repetitions.

Eat plenty of protein-rich food, to help your body burn fat faster and aid in the recovery of your muscles. Eat plenty of low-fat protein sources, such as beans and low-fat tofu.

Lose Belly Fat
Do knee lifts, for the lower stomach. Use a pull-up bar, raise your arms and grip the bar. Allow your legs to extend towards the floor. Bring your knees up toward your chest; bring your knees back down. Do this 20 times.

Work your obliques, which are the love handles. Lie on the floor; stretch your arms out to the side. Raise your knees; lift your legs off the floor. With your feet together and your knees bent, make sure your upper body does not move. Move your legs to the right. Without touching the floor, move them to the center, then to the left. Do 15 repetitions on both sides. Remember to hold your stomach muscles in and breathe slowly.

Do stability ball sit-ups. Sit on the ball, bring yourself forward so you are on your back. Keep your feet firmly planted on the floor, and your knees bent. Keep your stomach muscles tensed. Put your hands by your ears or on your temples. Bring your shoulders up slightly, tighten your abdominal muscles and bring your shoulders back down. Do 20 repetitions.

Eat a low-calorie diet. Consume plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Drink plenty of water; drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day. Keeping your body hydrated increases your metabolism by up to three percent.

How to Use a Treadmill to Burn the most Fat

Treadmills are on of the most useful weight loss tools, if you use them right. Follow these steps in order to get the most calorie and fat burn on your treadmill workout.

In order to burn fat on a treadmill, you need to push yourself. While strolling along at a leisurely pace on a treadmill is better than nothing, you can burn many more calories if you bump up the intensity. Increase your baseline to a speed that is comfortable to walk at but that makes it a little harder to hold up a conversation; roughly a 5/10 in difficulty.

Now, you need to choose an interval mode that you can switch to that makes your treadmill workout more intense. If you cant run, increase the incline on your treadmill. If you can, add a jogging interval.

Switch back and forth between your regular and increased treadmill levels; 4 minutes at a regular pace (5/10), and then 2 minutes with the treadmill speed faster (8/10 difficulty), or at an incline; whichever you can handle.

Set a treadmill goal of a certain amount of time or miles to cover. Use your treadmill everyday to meet these goals and your fat weight will drop, and your body will start to become toned.

Four Exercises When Short on Time at Home

When time is of the essence, you want a workout that gives you the most bang for your buck. Driving to the gym, changing and battling for equipment can all take up valuable time too, meaning your total training time can often total more than two hours. Rather than spending this much time, try working out from home -- you can get an effective calorie and fat-burning workout that will make you fitter and stronger with just four exercises in the comfort of your own home.

Stair Sprints
Forget half-hour treadmill workouts to burn fat, high-intensity cardio is far more time efficient, according to trainer Charlotte Andersen of "Shape" magazine. Run up your flight of stairs as fast as you can, walk back down and repeat as many times as possible in 10 minutes. Count how many times you ascend, and aim to beat this in the next workout. As an added bonus, stair sprints also firm your butt, claims trainer Adrian Bryant of NowLoss.com.

Pushups
You may not have performed pushups since gym class, but now is the time to reacquaint yourself with them. Pushups work your chest, shoulders and triceps. Beginners should start with knee pushups and progress to full pushups when possible. If you're already competent with regular pushups, try pushups with your feet elevated on a chair, with a resistance band looped over your back and under your hands, or one-legged and one-armed pushups, advises strength coach Eric Cressey. Perform three to four sets of eight to 15 repetitions, making sure you achieve a full range of motion on every rep -- descending until your chest is an inch from the floor and pushing all the way up until your elbows are straight.

Squats
Squats work everything from your waist down -- your core muscles, quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves and lower back, making them a highly effective lower-body exercises. Use a slightly wider than shoulder-width stance with your knees and feet turned out just a few degrees. Go as low as possible while keeping your torso upright and back straight. Pause briefly at the bottom, then stand back up again. Perform four sets of 12 to 20 reps and if this is too easy, try pausing for longer in the bottom position or practice one-legged squats.

Squat Thrusts
Squat thrusts are the ultimate in short home cardio exercises. They're extremely challenging and are guaranteed to get you out of breath and sweating in a short space of time. Assume a pushup position, then jump your feet in toward your chest, then back out straight again. Aim to land lightly each time. If these are too easy, add in a pushup on every rep, or progress to burpees, which are the same, but require you jump up between every rep. Complete as many reps in 45 seconds as possible, rest for 45 seconds and repeat four times.

Considerations
These four exercises aren't the only effective ones you can do at home, but you can get a demanding, challenging workout using just these. You should be able to complete this workout in less than half an hour, although it can be even quicker if you perform the exercises in a circuit-fashion, with no rest between each. Aim to do more sets and reps or train for longer each session to ensure you're progressing, and look at adding in pullups, lunges, planks, stepups or any other body-weight exercises you think would benefit your routine. If you're not sure of any techniques, ask a trainer to check your form and always consult your doctor before starting a workout program.

The Best Exercises for Back Fat

In today's world, food is available on almost every street corner. It has become cheap and easy to consume 2,000 calories in just one meal. All of these calories can often lead to excess body fat even on your back. Exercises alone won't completely get rid of back fat. Lifestyle changes particularly in diet will help remove the fat on top of the muscles. Here are simple at-home exercises and tips to help start the the journey to a healthier life.

Lower Back Exercises
The most basic lower back exercise is the back extension. Begin by lying face down or prone on the floor. Let your hands relax down by your hips. Raise your head and shoulders off of the floor as high as possible without causing discomfort. Be sure to continue a regular breathing pattern throughout the exercise.

The second exercise is called a "pelvic lift." While lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, tighten the abdominal muscles and lift your hips toward the ceiling. Hold the contraction for 10 seconds and return to the original position.

The last exercise is the most advanced. Lay on your stomach, place elbows and forearms on floor. In a push-up position, balance on your toes and elbows. Keep your back straight and legs straight. Try to hold the position for at least 10 seconds. If this exercise is too difficult, balance on your knees instead of your toes. All of the mentioned exercises should be repeated 3 to 5 times in any order.

The Human Body and Fat Loss
Unfortunately humans are incapable of removing fat from a specific body part without the assistance of a surgical knife. Our metabolism is set to remove fat from the body in a slow and uniform procedure. To supplement a healthy diet, resistance training should be added into an existing diet plan. Plan your workouts for 3 to 4 days a week in the beginning. Your body has a lot of adjusting to do so do not take on too many changes at once. At the gym your exercises should consist of full body movements that engage as many different muscles as possible. Repetitions should be 20 to 25 to allow the fat burning process to occur.

Weight Loss
Caloric values in food are the keystone to weight loss. Simply said, the calories you consume need to stay with in a specific range and have ideal portions of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Approximately 70% to 80% of weight loss is directly related to diet. When trying to lose weight your diet should consist of 50% carbohydrates, 40% proteins, and 10% fats. After all the easiest way to reduce fat is cut down on its consumption. Set reasonable and achievable goals for yourself that consist of long term and short term goals. A healthy goal for weight loss is 2 to 3 pounds lost per week. This calorie range combined with back and abdominal exercises can be a great beginning to a new body.

How to Get a Six-Pack Without Dieting (5 Steps)

Firm abdominal muscles don't just look great: They protect vital organs and improve your posture. If you want the great look and other benefits of a "six-pack" but don't want to diet, don't worry. You can tone your abs and firm up your flabby belly without cutting calories or going hungry.

This doesn't mean you can go on high-calorie binges and still expect to achieve a great-looking six-pack--but you don't have to go on a strict diet to get the abdominal muscles in excellent shape. All you have to do is raise your metabolism through cardiovascular exercise and tone muscle through abdominal strengthening exercises.

Tips

1. Do cardiovascular exercises every day. You should get your heart rate up for at least half an hour a day. Doing this will raise your metabolism. Exercises that can help raise the heart rate sufficiently include biking, aerobics, swimming and jogging. Rowing machines also provide an excellent cardiovascular workout while at the same time toning the arms, legs, back and abdomen.

2. Perform crunches every day. Rest comfortably on your back with your knees drawn up and your feet flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart. Place your hands behind your head and, tightening your stomach muscles, lift your shoulders and upper back off the floor. Hold this position for at least one breath. Repeat as many times as you can.

3. Practice side crunches every day. Side crunches are similar to standard crunches, but you will be exercising your oblique muscles (the area of the waist where "love handles" sometimes form). To do side crunches, assume the crunch position, then rest your right ankle against your left knee, as if you are crossing your leg. Lift toward the left knee, bringing your right elbow up to touch the knee if you can. Do as many as you can, then switch sides.

4. Do bicycle crunches every day. Lie on the floor with your hands behind your head. Draw your knees up perpendicular to your belly, and pedal the air as if pedaling a bicycle. Raise your shoulders off the floor and touch your elbow to each knee in turn--in other words, when your left knee is drawn up, your right elbow will touch the left knee, and when the right knee is drawn up the left elbow will touch the right knee. The key to this exercise is to keep your stomach tight and your shoulders off the floor.

5. Practice good breathing techniques. Proper breathing helps strengthen abdominal muscles from the inside out. When you inhale, your belly should move outward slightly. When you exhale, gently pull your abdominal muscles in.

How to Exercise With a Stress Fracture

A stress fracture is a very small sliver or crack in a bone, generally caused by repetitive motion or repeated stress on the bone. A stress fracture is common in athletes and most frequently occur in the metatarsals (foot bones) and tibia (leg bone). While a stress fracture usually takes six to eight weeks to heal, it doesn't have to keep you sidelined. With proper care and attention, you can still exercise with a stress fracture.

Consult your physician and find out what exercise is acceptable for you, given the type and severity of your injury. Most likely, your doctor will recommend non-weight bearing exercises while your stress fracture heals.

Go for a swim. Swimming is a non-impact exercise, which keeps your bones from taking the pounding they would on land, which is usually what causes a stress fracture. In addition, swimming in an excellent cardiovascular and all-over body workout. Try laps using the freestyle stroke, pool running with a weighted belt. paddling with the assistance of a water noodle or a water aerobics class in lieu of your regular workout. If your gym or community doesn't have a pool, check with your city's parks and recreation department to find out what pools are accessible to the public.

Hop on a bike. Like swimming, a stationary bike provides a great non-impact workout, perfect for those with foot or leg injury such as a stress fracture. Try using different settings like hills or intervals to vary your workout and mimic your on the ground routine. Use a bike with foot straps to minimize the impact on your feet and legs, especially where you have the stress fracture.

Try the elliptical trainer. Like swimming and the stationary bike, the elliptical is non-impact and provides a great cardiovascular workout. Again, use hills, intervals and the random settings to vary your workouts and increase the resistance for a more strenuous workout.

Hit the mat. Pilates, which was designed to help soldiers recover from World War I injuries, is by design a non-impact workout. Try a mat class at your local gym, studio or community center and get a full-body workout without your feet every touching the ground--perfect for those recovering from a stress fracture. Pilates is also great for developing core strength and flexibility.