When I was trying to get tight and toned arms I came across many workout programs and methods that failed. Instead of leaving me with sleek, sexy arms, they left me with batwings that couldn’t take me anywhere but a world of frustration.

I found various training methods that worked - following a tempo and lowering the reps on each exercise – making these two small changes to my workouts helped me see progress that I was desperate to see. Read the full story

After a 16 week journey of dieting and training it was time to hit the stage….

Show Time

Read the full story

With time a precious commodity – most of us run in and out of the gym – without even considering spending time stretching our overworked muscles. However, spending five minutes a day doing stretching exercises for your legs can help you prevent major injuries that will slow you down.

Most of us rarely stretch our legs – you get to the gym – run through your workout and head home – without considering stretching.  However, leaving the gym with tight leg muscles can lead to extreme back pain and result in injuries during other activities.

Not only does stretching your legs prevent injuries, but it helps to increase the circulation of blood through your muscles, reduces muscle tension, and increases your energy levels. Read the full story

Need a new exercise for your upper body to keep your workout exciting? Or are you trying to sculpt lean, sexy arms? Whatever the reason for your need of a new exercise you need to make sure that you add push-ups to your workout today.

Now it might seem weird that I’m telling you to add push-ups to your workout – right? They seem like such a simple exercise that there couldn’t possibly be so many benefits – I agree. However, push-ups are a great exercise to help you further your progress towards a flat stomach and build strength in your upper body.

Doing push-ups is going to help you build muscle (which we all know helps us burn more fat), and also helps our upper body become stronger. Unfortunately, many women lack necessary upper body strength, and push-ups are a great simple exercise to help you increase that strength.

Not only do push-ups benefit your upper body (chest, triceps, shoulders) but doing push-ups correctly will help to strengthen your core muscles.  Having a strong core will prevent back injuries and get you to that flat stomach faster.

I think my favorite thing about push-ups – they’re portable! Haha – yes – no equipment required! Plus, you can use your stairs, books, coffee table or even the couch to help you make them more difficult.  Personally, I also like to challenge myself and like to see how I get stronger – tracking how many push-ups you can do is a great way to do that. For example – lets say you can barely do one push-up (without going on your knees) – no problem. If you keep trying everyday (doing 10 push-ups on your knees and trying one push-up without being on your knees) – you’re going to see your strength increase and pretty soon you’ll be doing 5 push-ups without going on your knees. Seeing the increase in number of push-ups is an instant picture to show that your hard work is paying off and you are getting stronger.

So – what types of push-ups are there? There are 100s of different variations of push-ups, but I’m not going to show or tell you about all of them. This short video shows four of my favorite types of push-ups that are going to help you get stronger, sculpt lean, sexy arms, and get a strong, tight core.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3f3duOkpvk[/youtube]

**Side Note – If you don’t do push-ups with the right form or sag your lower back -they are going to prove to be no benefit to you – you will instead only hurt yourself. Make sure you start off slow and gradually and daily build your strength.**

Your core muscles help stabilize your body during every single activity. In order to prevent injury it is important to make sure that you have a strong core.  Also, having a tight strong core will help you get those flat abs you have always wanted, faster.
These are my three favorite core exercises I do during my workouts to make sure I don’t injure myself again and that my core is strong to help me become stronger.

1)    Bird Dog – Lift your right arm straight out, while you lift your opposite arm out – hold for a count of three. Continue this alternating arms and legs for a total of 16-20 reps, for 3 sets. [singlepic=10,200,200,,center]
2)    Plank – Rest your elbows on the floor and raise yourself onto your toes – hold.  Hold for 30 seconds then rest 15 seconds and repeat. To make it more difficult extend the period of time you hold the plank. If you have back pain or are just beginning to work out try resting the hold on your knees instead of your toes. [singlepic=8,200,200,,center]
3)    Bridges – work your core and glutes, which work together to make your core stronger.  Lie on your back, bend your knees about shoulder width apart. Lift your glute to the ceiling and hold for 3, then lower your glute back to the ground. While you are holding in the up position, make sure to squeeze your glute muscles and tighten your core. [singlepic=9,200,200,,center]