Posts Tagged ‘weight loss program’

A Guide To Joint Health When Losing Weight

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Joint health is arguably one of the most overlooked aspects of a weight training program. And poor joint health can permanently shut down your exercise career.

After all, once a joint wears out, there is not much you can do to restore it naturally. And keep in mind that artificial joints wear out much faster than natural joints.

So here is how to keep your joints healthy when lifting weights for toning:

1. Use heavy pressing movements sparingly: When you press with heavy weights, your AC joint (in the shoulder) takes on a lot of stress. And the bad news is that it doesn’t handle this stress very well. So make sure you don’t go overboard with pressing here.

2. Strengthen all the muscles in your legs equally: If you only focus on quads, your patella won’t move correctly. If you only focus on hamstrings, your patella won’t move correctly. If you neglect the inside part of your thighs, your patella won’t move correctly.

3. Make all the muscles in your legs flexible: Most people simply focus on their IT band or hamstrings. However, you should strive to also work on all the other muscles in your legs as well. If you don’t, your knee cap might get out of alignment. And over time, this can destroy cartilage.

4. Never keep on going if you feel pain in a joint: You see, once a joint becomes injured, it takes a very long time to heal. This happens because joints have very poor blood supplies, unlike muscles. So if it hurts, stop all aggravating and potentially aggravating activity immediately.

5. Never let your back round out: Now when I say never, I mean never. You want to avoid lower back rounding in the gym, in your car, in your daily life, etc. Doing this will keep your back healthy for many years to come. And keep in mind that back pain is one of the top complaints in the western world.

Since joint deterioration happens slowly over time, most people completely ignore it when structuring their exercise programs. So make sure you don’t make this same mistake and enjoy a lifetime of exercise health.

Author Katherine Crawford, an fitness physiologist and recent arm fat sufferer, instructs women on how to shake weight. Unearth how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her blog about the shake weight review right now!

How To Make Sure Lower Back Pain Doesn’t Retard Weight Loss

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Lower back pain is becoming a plague in modern society. You see, because of increased hours in the sitting position, lower backs are degenerating faster than ever.

So, without further ado, here are 5 tips for reducing lower back pain for better fat loss:

1. Get lumbar supports for everything: They are cheap and will provide automatic support every time you sit down. I recommend getting a lumbar support for every single thing you sit in. This will give you ease of mind and ensure proper posture when sitting.

2. Avoid early morning back flexion: In other words, do not bend over or flex your lower back at any point in the early morning. During this time period, your lower back has more fluid in its discs than usual, so you want to avoid movement for at least an hour.

3. Stabilize your lower back before getting your six pack: If you only focus on major abdominal movers, you will compromise your lower back health. However, if you focus on stabilization first, you will make your lower back very healthy.

4. Eliminate every instigator: This will help you increase your lower back health and avoid pain at an accelerated rate. You need to get rid of all aggravating factors for the best results here. So keep a mental note or a written log of everything that makes your lower back hurt.

5. Don’t pick things up with just your lower back: Instead, use your free hand to latch onto something and then use it to lift your body up. This will take your lower back out of the equation when lifting heavy things, a critical ingredient for lower back relief.

6. Don’t become dependent on temporary quick fixes: For instance, make sure you don’t rely on alternative practitioners for lower back relief. Use them to get you out of painful situations, but make sure the core of your focus in on strengthening the stabilizers in your lower back.

Ameliorating lower back pain can take time, it won’t happen overnight. So make sure you approach this with patience. And take action on this information now, not later!

Author Katherine Crawford, an exercise expert and former flabby arms sufferer, instructs on the best flabby arm exercise. Unearth how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her website about how to shake weight right now!

5 Ways To Reduce Knee Pain When Exercising

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

If you suffer from knee pain, getting in shape will seem like pushing a giant boulder up a steep hill. Unfortunately, knee pain is becoming more and more common because of the lifestyle most people lead.

Thus, here are 5 ways to reduce knee pain when exercising:

1. Stretch your hamstrings: Chronically tight hamstrings are a surefire path to eventual knee pain. Makes sure you have an integrated flexibility plan for stretching them. This is even more relevant if you have a desk job like the majority of the population.

2. Strengthen your quadriceps: Your patella is fastened in place by your quadriceps muscles. Thus, having strong quadriceps translates into more stable and pain free knees. One great way to strengthen your quads is by doing leg extensions.

3. Lose weight: This is a catch 22, but as you lose more and more weight, your knees will bear less and less pressure. This is good news and should be motivating since losing weight is much more than just about looking good, it also lengthens the life of your joints.

4. Keep your front thighs pliable: Similar to tight hamstrings, having tight front thighs can disrupt the natural movement patterns of your knee cap. And this in turn will cause accelerated wear and tear on the cartilage in your knees.

5. Have easy exercise days: Going heavy and hard all the time is a surefire way to prevent your joints from completely healing after workouts. Just like your muscles, your joints break down a little bit and then have to repair themselves.

6. Enjoy the water: Exercise in the water is fantastic for your joints since all the weight is removed. Gravity doesn’t have the same effect on you when you are underwater. So make sure you swim as much as possible to burn more calories while preserving your joint integrity.

Avoiding knee pain by increasing knee stability is a surefire way to keep you going and going for many years to come. Even better, it can prevent a painful, invasive and expensive surgery from setting back your goals. So take action here now, not later!

Author Katherine Crawford, an exercise expert and former arm fat sufferer, teaches women how to shake weight. Unearth how to get sexy and toned arms by exploring her blog about the shake weight review right now!

Get Thin, Lean, Sculpted, Defined and Sexy Arms By Hydrating

Monday, March 15th, 2010

You are probably aware of the importance of proper hydration for getting thin arms. But are you aware of how to manage your hydration? Unfortunately, learning how to manage water intake has become quite confusing.

When did water consumption become so involved? Well, I firmly believe that excessive caffeine intakes are partly to blame. You see, caffeine does a very good job at hiding the ill effects of dehydration and it also makes it harder to optimize how much water you should drink.

You could be constantly dehydrated without even knowing it.

So here are 5 more reasons to stay hydrated when trying to get skinny arms:

1. To keep you cool. Heat is the enemy of exercise because once your body heats up its over! You’ll begin to feel sluggish and your body will not want to do any more exercise.

2. Less blood. Blood carries nutrients to all the tissues in your body. And the biggest component of blood is water. So if you’re dehydrated your body will get less fuel when it needs it.

3. Waste buildup. The cells in your body need water to excrete waste. Without enough water you’ll suffer from toxic buildup, not good!

4. Less calories burned 24/7. You need water so that your metabolism doesn’t drop. And a slow metabolism will bring arm fat burning to a screeching halt. Not good if you want to get thin arms!

5. Poor mental outlook. This effect from dehydration is absolutely horrible. Anything that decreases motivation or worsens mood should be avoided at all costs. Getting thin arms is hard. Getting thin arms with poor mental functioning is harder.

6. Less exercise ability. Without sufficient water your muscles will not be able to exercise at full capacity because they are mostly made of water!

I must admit that this list is by no means comprehensive. In fact, water does many more things in the female body. But it’s impossible to cover everything in the space of a single article! The take home point here is to make sure you are never dehydrated. How do you do this? Always carry a water bottle around and understand that caffeine will mask the feeling of dehydration.

Writer Katherine Crawford, a Harvard fitness physiologist and recent flabby arms sufferer, teaches women how to win the weight loss war. Discover how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her website about how to get toned and tight arms with the best techniques right now!

Odd Nutrition Tricks To Help You Lose More Weight

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Losing weight is not easy, but it doesn’t have to be insurmountable either. Luckily, there are certain tricks you can implement here and there that can lighten the burden.

The problem here, however, is that many people rely on quick fixes like diet pills to do everything for them. The problem with this unrealistic approach is that you could end up so disappointed that you simply give up.

So here are some odd nutrition tricks that work to help you lose more weight:

1. Start eating fat and protein before you begin eating carbs: The more you can space this out the better. You see, it takes 20 minutes for your body to secrete feel full hormones from your fat and protein foods. So if you have fat and protein beforehand, by the time you start eating carbs you will feel full already.

2. Have fiber: Now you already know that fiber is good for you and that it slows down digestion. However, having lots of fiber early in the day seems to have the biggest effect on weight loss. So make sure you really focus on fiber early in the day.

3. Reduce the size of your eating implements: Your body uses a lot of cues for feeling full. And one such cue is visual input. Thus, if you eat with smaller plates, bowls and utensils, you can trick your visual system into feeling fuller sooner. Also keep this visual effect in mind when you go out to eat.

4. Enjoy your food: And eat it slowly, with patience for maximum effect here. You see, when you eat slowly, you give your body time to secrete feel full hormones. And with lots of feel full hormones, you will eat less per meal.

5. Heat up your diet: Adding lots of hot spices and hot vegetables like peppers to your diet, produces feel full feelings. The key here is to spread out the intake across many meals. So get creative and start including hot foods in your daily routine.

Losing weight is no walk in the park. However, it doesn’t have to be an insurmountable undertaking either. So start implementing these tricks today, don’t delay!

Sought after writer, Katherine Crawford, a Harvard exercise physiologist and former arm fat victim, is an expert on effective upper arm exercises for women. Discover how to get toned arms right now by exploring her blog on bingo wings exercises.

Jiggly Arm Flab And Wide Curls

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Unfortunately, there are way too many opinions on the best exercises for losing arm fat. And many women are completely lost amongst all the conflicting advice.

Maybe you are frustrated with all the advice.

If so, I have the solution. You see, I’ve been researching arm exercises for a very long time and I am ready to share my findings.

So here is my review of wide grip barbell curls for losing arm fat:

1. Snap shot: This is a great exercise for toning the inside part of the biceps. It can cause a little wrist strain so be careful here. And remember that the biceps muscle is the first part of your arm someone will see when greeting you from the front.

2. Technique: Find a barbell and grasp it with a wide grip. Maintain an erect posture and keep your abs very tight. Slowly raise the bar until it comes close to shoulder height. Then lower it and repeat until you reach exhaustion.

3. Frequent mistakes: Jerking the weight back once it’s close to the top. Allowing the elbows to move around. Flexing and extending the forearms when contracting the muscle. Not keeping the chest up and shoulders back. And using momentum to get the barbell up.

4. Final word: You should do this exercise frequently for maximum arm toning. It’s a great tool for toning the upper arm area when done with perfect form. Just make sure that you experiment with different grips if your wrists begin to hurt.

Finding the right exercises to get toned arms doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, it can be very easy if you are learning from the right sources. So be weary of flashy gadgets and flashy exercises. Because as the level of flash goes up, the level of effectiveness goes down. Stick to what works and ignore the rest!

About the author: Katherine Crawford M.S., a Harvard fitness expert and former arm fat casualty, instructs women on how to lose loose arm fat fast. Unlock how to get sexy arms by visiting her blog about upper arm lifts for women now!

How To Bust Out Of Your Plateau

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Training in your comfort zone is a surefire way to never get the body you want. After all, the majority of change happens when you are pushing yourself on the outer edge of your capabilities.

Yet, most people fail to push themselves hard enough because of fear. Perhaps you don’t have the body you want because of fear.

So here is how to bust out of your plateau:

1. Break out of your routine: We are creatures of habit, and exercise is no exception here. So trying something entirely new may seem daunting and a major pain. But if you venture out of your comfort zone and push your body in ways that it hasn’t been pushed before, you will notice some major changes.

2. Delineate your fear: By outlining, writing and delineating your fear, it will lose most of its power. You see, when you let fear float around in your head, it gets magnified many times over. So make sure you write it down and take an objective view of it.

3. Visualize the next level: Now this isn’t some type of psychological trick, although there are benefits in this department. It’s also a way to get your nervous system acclimatized to the new training or routine without having to physically go through it.

4. Attack the new routine piecemeal: If there is a new style of training you want to try, don’t go for it all in one workout. Slowly incorporate the elements into your existing routine so that you don’t have to jump into the deep end, so to speak.

5. Recruit help: Having a training partner, or at the very least, someone to voice your concerns to can make a world of difference. You see, we are all social beings, and tapping into social support is a great way to overcome new obstacles.

Not pushing yourself is a surefire way to never get the body you want. If you really want to reach the next level, you have to push yourself very hard and always strive to take it further.

Author Katherine Crawford, a Harvard exercise expert and recent flabby arms sufferer, instructs women on how to get thin arms with exercise and diet. Learn how to get sexy and toned arms by exploring her website about slim and defined arms now!

Are You Accumulating Too Much Arm Flab Because Of Night Eating Syndrome?

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Losing arm fat can be tough. And if you have night eating syndrome (NES) it will be that much tougher. What is night eating syndrome? It’s when you have an excess of food late at night without restraint. Unfortunately, this leads to massive gains of arm fat.

And modern society has pushed women away from eating breakfast because of ever increasing workloads. Do you find it nearly impossible to eat breakfast in the morning?

Unfortunately, skipping breakfast will lead to massive consumption of food during the night. A bad situation if you want to get lean arms quickly.

And here are 5 more negatives of NES and arm fat:

1. Too much muscle loss. Cortisol is at an all time high right when you wake up. And this hormone loves to eat muscle so that you can have energy. Unfortunately, skipping breakfast allows cortisol to keep on rising. And don’t forget that less muscle will have you burning less calories.

2. Higher levels of insulin resistance. A little known fact, skipping breakfast alters your levels of insulin for the entire day! So if you skip breakfast, expect a higher percentage of calories going to arm fat cells.

3. Negative mental states. Skip breakfast and your mood will be lower than it could be. Multiple research studies have shown that people who eat early in the day have much higher levels of mental positivity.

4. Unnecessary arm fat gain. Your body naturally shuts down as the day progresses. And when you’re sleeping, your active tissues absorb calories at half their normal rate. So if you have a giant meal sitting in your stomach when you fall asleep, guess where it goes? To your arm fat cells!

5. Lethargy. Without all the extra energy you get from early day feedings, you’re more likely to suffer from energy lulls. And if you have less energy you’re probably not going to move around as much. This translates into less calories burned.

Overcoming night eating syndrome should be a top priority for any women wishing to lose arm fat quickly. It’s very very hard to lose arm fat if you don’t overcome this obstacle. So no more skipping breakfast or lunch! After all, having food early in the day will increase your quality of life by leaps and bounds.

Author Katherine Crawford, a Harvard fitness physiologist and former arm fat sufferer, instructs women on how to get a skinny arm or arms. Learn how to get sexy and toned arms by exploring her website about how to get rid of bingo wings efficiently now!

Common Mistakes Women Make When Losing Fat

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Have you seen all the free information out there on how to lose weight? It can be overwhelming. Even worse, a lot of this information is simply outdated and dangerous.

Unfortunately, if you buy into these misconceptions, you could end up failing to get the body you so desperately want. Even worse, you may simply lose any motivation you had.

So here are 5 common errors women commit when losing weight that you have to avoid:

1. Doing squat movements with improper spinal alignment: Most often, women make the common mistake of squatting with the head drooped downwards. Well, it’s absolutely critical that you squat with your eyes level. If you don’t, you could end up with some nasty lower back injuries.

2. Abusing the treadmill: Treadmills should be used sparingly. You see, when you abuse a treadmill, you put a lot of stress on the lower body. Over time this isn’t so good for you. So make sure you focus on machines that work your upper and lower body for the best cardio benefits.

3. Not training outside of comfortable levels of intensity: Intensity is the name of the game when it comes to getting in shape. And if you don’t constantly push the envelope of your training, you will never get the physique you are looking for.

4. Focusing on core training early in the workout: Doing this will compromise your performance in more important exercises. So train your core after you’ve completed the bulk of your primary workout. This is also a safer way to train because you are less at risk for injury.

5. Using too many balancing gadgets: Look, the fitness industry loves gadgets because they make lots of money and keep people looking. But if you want to lose fat as fast as possible, make sure you use these sparingly. You see, if you go overboard here, you will sacrifice the speed of fat loss.

Fast fat loss requires that you stay away from the fads and focus on what has been proven to work by science. Only then will you get the results you need while avoiding injuries. So don’t delay here and take action on this advice now!

Obtain free information on the best arm toning exercises engineered for women immediately by going to Katherine Crawford’s M.S. website Sleeveless in 7. And unearth how to get toned and lean arms in no time by visiting her blog about the best flabby upper arm exercises right now!

5 All-Too-Common Myths On High Protein And Arm Toning

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Because of the popularity of high protein diets and the aggressive marketing of supplement companies, women are more confused than ever about protein. Are you confused because so many women are?

I used to be lost amongst all the information.

After all, separating the wheat from the chaff can be virtually impossible for the average woman because of all the marketing hype. And not knowing how to manage your consumption of protein can put a serious dent in your arm fat goal.

So here are 5 misconceptions about flabby arms and protein:

1. Supplements are better than food. While this will make your purse lighter and the supplement companies richer, it will not benefit your arms. Whole food digests much better in the female body because we have evolved to do so. Moreover, regular food has a gigantic variety of additional nutrients the supplements will never provide.

2. Having protein shakes galore reduces flabby arms. While protein from REGULAR FOOD improves hormonal profiles and regulates hunger, going overboard with shakes will set you back because you’ll get tons of calories without a sense of fullness.

3. Fast absorbing protein is best. Just like with carbohydrates, slower digestion is better. Any time you spike a nutrient in your bloodstream there is going to be a subsequent drop. And protein is no exception.

4. The more the merrier. This is an outdated bodybuilding myth. While protein does positively affect hormones and gives you a sense of fullness, going overboard negates all the positives. Protein should not be more than 30% of your total caloric intake.

5. Steroids in animal protein affect health. While there are ethical and ecological reasons to avoid steroid-enhanced meat, there have been no conclusive studies showing a direct impact on female health. Having said that, you are better off eating grass fed meat because of higher omega-3 content.

Getting rid of flabby arms doesn’t have to be hard. The key here is to ignore the marketing hype and stick to what has been proven by solid research. And knowing how to properly manage your protein intake is critical for losing arm fat.

Writer Katherine Crawford, a Harvard fitness physiologist and former flabby arms sufferer, teaches women how to reduce arm fat once and for all. Learn how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her website about how to get rid of upper arm fat with ultra fast methods now!