Once you’ve dialed in your nutrition, leave the kitchen and head to the gym for your workout. To help you, here are four abs workout strategies to improve your core muscles and build a scroll-stopping torso. Regardless of your current routine, these ab moves can make a big difference.

Tip 1: Use Weighted Core Exercises In Your Workout

The abdominal muscles are like everything else you train; in that sense, they’re no different from, say, your shoulder muscles. They all benefit from weighted resistance, whether from a cable, a dumbbell, etc. There’s this fear in the fitness world that using weight in your training will expand the circumference of your waist and mess with the symmetry of your torso. That’s not the case. If anything, doing weighted movements as part of your workout will make those abs pop, even more, when you cut down.

When done correctly, the weighted rope crunch is a great exercise for your abs workout. Your stomach works hard to contract, and the cable pulley applies continuous tension where you need it. Use your ab muscles, not your hip flexors, to crunch. Squeeze your abs hard when you pull in on this exercise. Feel that contraction fully on each crunch.

Hit your oblique muscles by crunching and dipping your shoulder to either side.

Tip 2: Lift Slowly, Lower Even More Slowly During Your Workout

You should know this by now, but it bears repeating: When training, momentum helps no one. Your six-pack is no different from every other muscle group in this respect, and if you’re trying to build, each rep counts. As you perform each rep, slow your tempo and maintain control throughout the movement. Your abs will work harder this way, leading to better results from your training.

Wake that abs workout favorite, the hanging knee raise. If all your knee raises look like the beginning of a Kipping pull-up, you’re not alone; it’s easy to generate momentum and lift those legs high by swinging. Unfortunately, this kind of momentum doesn’t do much for your abs or your ab training.

Instead, start by tucking your knees to your chin, which will force your hips to lift and contract your ab muscles. Exhale at the top of the contraction to further activate your abs. Slowly lower your knees with control. Slower means you’ll do fewer reps, but each of those reps will benefit your lower abs a lot more. Only move to straight-legged lifts once you’ve mastered the bent-leg version in your training.

Want to shift the emphasis to your oblique muscles? Raise your knees to either side. Want to add some resistance? Hold a dumbbell between your ankles.

Tip 3: Focus On Stability During Your Workout

The core isn’t just about the six-pack. It’s also responsible for helping you stay upright and maintaining stability during other tasks. If you have a weak core, it will affect your training on other exercises, like the squat or even something as simple as a dumbbell curl. You need core strength to stabilize the weight before you can lift it for an exercise.

Additionally, the transverse abdominals—the “girdle” muscle that wraps around your midsection—becomes stronger and tighter through stabilizing isometric exercises, not through crunches. This means all those flailing ab exercises you’ve included in your ab training are missing the one muscle that helps tighten everything up.

Tip 3: Focus on Stability During Your Workout

Not to worry, there’s a simple solution: an exercise called planks. I don’t just mean the traditional version of the exercise, using the standard plank position. You should be working side planks into your training, too. By doing regular planks, then a plank for each side, in your abs workout, you will soon see a noticeable improvement in the look and strength of your core.

Tip 4: Don’t Forget To Vacuum During Your Workout

Any bodybuilding fan has read about the top pros getting ripped for having distended stomachs onstage. Champions from the so-called Golden Era of bodybuilding used vacuums during a workout to keep their tummies tight. After previously falling out of favor, this classic waist-slimming exercise has made a comeback in recent years among the ab routine of today’s fitness stars.

Not only can you include vacuums in your ab training, you can also do this exercise in between sets when you’re training other muscles. It’s a simple way to double-down on your ab gains, and it can be a killer superset no matter what you’re training that workout.

Perform your normal set and follow it up by trying to do a vacuum before you start your next one. With a little practice and consistency, you’ll gain better control of your waistline and your breathing. This exercise can benefit your other training and workout routines, as well.

But all of this is just advise.

You can do whatever the f**k you wanna do.

Your friend and coach,

Crystal aka Barbell_Barbie.NY IG

N.A.S.M Personal Trainer
N.A.S.M Nutrtion Trainer
N.A.S.M Golf Trainer
N.A.S.M M.M.A.

References:

NHANES, 2008. Trends in intake of energy and macronutrients in adults from 1999-2000 through 2007-2008. NCHS Data Brief. Number 49, November 2010. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db49.htm; retrieved 09/01/12.

Ainsworth, BE, Haskell, WL, Herrmann, SD, Meckes, N, Bassett, DR, Tudor-Locke, C, Greer, JL, Vezina, J, Whitt-Glover, MC, and Leon, AS, (2011). 2011 compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 43(3):1575-1581.

American College of Sports Medicine (2014). ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (9th Edition). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.

Wansink, B, (2006). Mindless Eating – Why we eat more than we think. New York, NY: Bantam-Dell Books.
Stiegler, P, and Cunliffe, A, (2006). The role of diet and exercise for the maintenance of fat-free mass and resting metabolic rate during weight loss. Sports Medicine, 36(3): 239 – 263.

The post 4 tips to Awesome Abs appeared first on .

Aesthetics, bro! That particular proportion can be found in nature, in things like leaves and trees, and has been used to structure everything from sculptures to architecture to analyzing financial markets. It’s also a standard the golden-age bodybuilders considered as the ideal physique: the shoulders measuring around 1.6 times the waist. Diehard aesthetic-seekers can also find ways of making it apply to your biceps and quads, but honestly, it works better on the shoulders. So, let’s focus there, shall we?

The humble lateral raise has been the width-builder of choice for lifters chasing the golden ratio (whether they knew it or not) for many years. And for good reason: When the movement is done with strict technique, it very effectively targets the lateral or middle deltoid and not much else. In fact, one study concluded that the middle deltoids generates up to 65 percent of the torque generated during glenohumeral joint abduction—the term for lateral raise in the exercise physiology world.[1] (Pretty much all of the rest of the torque is generated by two tiny rotator cuff muscles, the supraspinatus and subscapularis muscles, which, if we pointed them out on your body, would be more or less visually indistinguishable from your medial delt anyway.)

The message for you? First, don’t skip lateral raises. And second, have many, many variations in your arsenal to keep your shoulders growing for years.

How To Lateral Raise Correctly

Since the deltoids are a relatively small muscle, strict adherence to proper technique is important to optimally target the middle deltoid, and not have other muscles, like the traps, take over the movement. The natural tendency of a lifter is to cheat their way through a heavy set of lateral raises, which may overload the shoulder muscles, but isn’t very safe.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to properly perform a lateral raise:

Stand tall with a weight in each hand and your arms by your side. Your hands should be roughly 4 inches off your hips.
Keeping your elbow straight, bring the dumbbells up to the side until your arms are 90 degrees to your torso. At the top of the movement, purposely squeeze the deltoids to accentuate the contraction.
Under control, slowly lower the dumbbells to the starting position and repeat.
Not too hard, right? Now, let’s spice up this bodybuilding classic to bring your delts up to golden-age status.

Variation 1: Alternating Reps And Holds
This is a great variation on the lateral raise that will have your delts screaming at you.

Grab two dumbbells and start by holding your left arm out at 90 degrees to your torso. Now, perform 10 repetitions as described above with you right arm. Next, switch arms and hold your right arm out and do 10 repetitions with your left arm. Switch arms again and complete 8 repetitions with the right, and so on. Continue this pattern for 6, 4, and 2 repetitions. As a finisher, try this for 2-3 sets to feel an unreal delt pump.

Alternating Reps and Holds
Variation 2: Combine It With Arnold Presses
Arnold loved his lateral raises. Of course, he also loved Arnold presses. So why not combine the two in his honor?

This is a simple enough protocol: Perform 10 lateral raises, then with the same weight, perform 10 Arnold presses. The weight will feel light for the presses, but that’s the idea. Next, immediately perform 9 raises, then 9 presses. Continue this sequence, dropping a single rep at a time until you reach 1 rep. At JKC conditioning, we normally only perform one descending ladder set to cap off our shoulder workout, pun intended.

Combine it With Arnold Presses

For those new to Arnold presses, start with a dumbbell held in each hand in front of your chest, as if you just finished a supinated (underhand grip) biceps curl. Press the weights overhead as you rotate your arms. Finish with the dumbbells overhead with your palms now facing forward. Return the weights to your chest by rotating your arms in the opposite direction.

Variation 3: Change The Angle
As noted above, the lateral raise is generally performed in the standing position with the arms raising from the sides of the body to the 90-degree position. So how do you get a greater range of motion? By leaning, of course.

To do this, find a sturdy post that can support your weight. This could be the post on a power rack or cable tower. Grab the post with one hand. Move your feet into the base of the post and stack them together. Now, hang from the pole with your hand so your body sits at about 45 degrees from the post.

With the other hand, using a dumbbell, perform a lateral raise, being sure to control both the up (concentric) and down (eccentric) phases of the movement. This technique is great to keep constant tension on your delts throughout the set. For a great delt finisher, try alternating left to right with no rest for 3 sets of 16-20 repetitions.

Change the angle

That’s a version you may have seen before. If so, try this one instead. Lie on your side on a bench that is set to a low incline. Hold a dumbbell in your top arm. Perform a lateral raise while moving through the full range of motion slowly. At this angle, the side lying lateral raise also keeps your delts under constant tension throughout the movement. Similarly to the leaning lateral raise, try alternating between sides with no rest for 3 sets of 16-20 repetitions.

Variation 4: Change The Resistance

Typically, the lateral raise is done with dumbbells. While dumbbells are a great tool for muscle-building, they do not provide uniform resistance—that is, there are points in the movement where it is harder/easier.

For uniform resistance, try using a cable or band, or if you want to look hardcore, a chain in each hand. The best part about these implements is they provide a smooth resistance throughout the range of motion and force you to remove any jerking that you may have a tendency to introduce into the lateral raise.

Variation 5: Hold Kettlebells

To increase the lever and to challenge your grip strength, try holding light kettlebells while performing the lateral raise. We suggest holding very light bells, like between 5-15 pounds, since the goal of this variation is to keep the kettlebells parallel to your arm as you raise them up to the side.

This will challenge your grip strength as you’re preventing the kettlebell from turning in your hand. Your delts will also feel a bigger challenge as the center of the weight you’re holding will be farther from the shoulder joint.

How To Program The Variations
If you feel like your delts look more like pinballs than cannonballs, try introducing some of the above variations into your regular program. We suggest trying each variation for a three-week cycle, then moving to the next variation, so that you have some consistency in your routine, and then a fresh stimulus when you need it.

But all of this is just advise.

You can do whateve the f**k you wanna do!

Your friend and coach,

Crystal aka Barbell_Barbie.NY on IG

N.A.S.M. C.P.T.
N.A.S.M. F.N.S.
N.A.S.M. M.M.A

References
Escamilla, R.F., Yamashiro, K., Paulos, L., Andrews, J.R. (2009). Shoulder muscle activity and function in common shoulder rehabilitation exercises. Sports Medicine, 39(8), 663-685.

The post 5 Ways to Spice up Your Lateral Raises :) appeared first on .

After doing a lot of research and experimentation, I find myself in the middle. In other words, I believe you have some power over inflammation, but you have to be serious and methodical in how you approach it.

It’s All About The Gut

For me, fighting chronic inflammation begins in the gut. Gut health relates to effective digestion and absorption of the foods and nutrients we eat, as well as the overall health of the gastrointestinal tract. This isn’t limited to your stomach, but includes your large and small intestines and colon, too. These are some of the largest organs and systems in your body, so you can’t expect to make significant impacts with just tiny changes to your lifestyle.

However, the payoff can be significant. When you do not maintain positive gut health, inflammation is the body’s natural response.

What Are Some Signs of Inflammation In The Body?

Weak immune system
Joint pain and stiffness
Fatigue
Headaches
Symptoms of autoimmune diseases
Poor sleep
Low energy
Weight gain
Poor digestion and bloated belly
Constipation and overall irregularities, that’s a lot of symptoms, and most of us have experienced at least a few of them. That doesn’t mean you are experiencing chronic inflammation. But, if any—or several—of these conditions are your norm rather than the exception, you have nothing to lose by taking a good look at your diet.

How we treat our digestive system determines not only how well our body digests and absorbs nutrients, but also how well it resists inflammation. Simply put, our health starts with what we eat.

Different foods can trigger inflammation within our bodies, and getting down to the root cause of your inflammation is key to creating a meal plan specific to your body that brings about improved health.[1,2]

Food allergies play a prominent role in the inflammatory response, as do processed foods and foods high in sugar. Many of us consume inflammation-causing foods and don’t even realize it.

Which Foods Are Anti-inflammatory?

An anti-inflammatory diet is more about what you don’t eat than what you do. That said, the foods you eat can have a tremendous impact on your gut health and reducing inflammation, so choosing whole foods naturally low in sugar is a great place to start. For certain people—but not everybody—this may also involve eliminating dairy products.

Simply put, just eat real food! A solid beginning for an anti-inflammatory diet is composed primarily of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, plant- or animal-based protein, and hypoallergenic grains such as rice and quinoa. There’s more room to customize for taste than you might think!

The idea of eating whole foods for better health is not new. You may have heard of the paleo or Mediterranean diets, both of which promote the health-enhancing benefits of eating minimally-processed whole foods.

Regardless of the label you put on it, eating simple, largely unprocessed food is key for reducing inflammation and improving gut health. If you are already eating a diet based mostly on whole foods and still have symptoms, you may consider a visit to a food specialist or allergist to dive a bit deeper into what is initiating your symptoms.

But all of this is just advise. You can do whatever the FU** you wanna do!

Your friend and coach,

Crystal- N.A.S.M CPT

References

O’Keefe, J. H., Gheewala, N. M., & O’Keefe, J. O. (2008). Dietary strategies for improving post-prandial glucose, lipids, inflammation, and cardiovascular health. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 51(3), 249-255.
Shahidi, F. (2009). Nutraceuticals and functional foods: whole versus processed foods. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 20(9), 376-387.
About the Author

The post Design Your Diet To Fight Chronic Inflammation appeared first on .

1. You’ll be bright-eyed and raring to go—even at 3 PM.
If you’re totally spent by mid afternoon, a stretch break will invigorate you in less time than it would take for a barista to whip up your usual mocha venti skim latte. Just a few minutes of stretching increases blood flow through your entire body—including your brain, says Jennifer Warthan, a certified personal trainer in Surry, VA. “It wakes you up and helps you feel less sluggish.”

2. You’ll be less likely to trip and fall.
A recent study tested 42 college students to see whether stretching would impact how long they could stay on a contraption called a stabilometer. The students who stretched for 30 minutes beforehand were able to balance longer than those who sat quietly before they hopped aboard. Researchers think stretching could help with fine-muscle coordination—meaning those who stretched first might have been able to avoid a tumble by making small balance
adjustments.

3. You’ll move around more easily and with less pain.
Regular stretching can relieve stiff muscles and creaky joints, but to reap those benefits, it’s important to stretch the correct way. “Avoid the static stretch, or ‘stretch and hold,'” says Michael Ross, MD, medical director for Rothman Institute Performance Lab. “Focus on mobility by doing range-of-motion exercises and soft tissue work with foam rollers.” Range-of-motion exercises include shoulder shrugs, wrist bends, and knee lifts—anything that keeps your muscles and joints moving through (you guessed it!) their full range of motion.

4. You’ll make the most of your sweat session.
Unless you’re a yogi or a barre aficionado, flexibility may not seem like a huge priority. But regular stretching can help you achieve better form in just about any workout: “For something like a squat, it means you could get a deeper squat. Your knees and hip flexors will bend farther,” Warthan says. “You’ll get more out of the workout.”

5. You might be less likely to injure yourself.
The scientific evidence on this one is iffy, but incorporating stretching into your warm-up—never try to stretch cold muscles—might help your body get ready for exercise as well as switch your brain into “workout mode,” says Charles Drass, a certified personal trainer in Marlton, NJ. “Stretching can’t totally eliminate injury, but it could certainly help from a mindset perspective” by getting you more focused so you’re less likely to make an ouch-inducing misstep. Try a few minutes of dynamic stretching, like arm circles and lunges, before you really get going.

6. You may lower your blood sugar.
Exercise is well known for helping keep glucose levels in check, and it turns out that benefit might kick in even before you lace up your sneakers: A 2011 study of adults who had type 2 diabetes or were prediabetic found that those who stretched for 40 minutes after drinking a sugary beverage had lower blood sugar levels than those who did “mock stretching”— in other words, assumed the same positions but didn’t actually stretch their muscles.

7. You’ll stress less.
Are your shoulders practically touching your ears? Is your back in knots? Stretching can help tame tension both physically and mentally, as it relieves tight muscles while tricking you into feeling more relaxed. (Try this 60-second fix for a sore neck.) Just don’t overdo it, especially if you’re wound pretty tight: “Stretching should never be forced,” Drass says. “You should be able to relax into a stretch. If you’re in pain, you’re doing it wrong.”

But all of this is just advice. You can do whatever the fu** you wanna do!

Your friend and coach,

Crystal aka Barbell Barbie.NY

References:

Hilyer, J.C., et al,. 1990. A flexibility intervention to reduce the incidence of severity of joint binjuries among municipal firefighters. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 32(7), 631-637.

Pope, R.P., et al. 2000. A randomized trial of preexercise stretching for prevention of lower-limb injury. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 32(2), 271-277.

Shier, I. 2004. Does Stretching Improve Performance?: A Systematic and Critical Review of the Literature. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 14(5), 267-273.

Small, K, McNaughton, L. & Matthews, M. 2008. A systematic review into the efficacy of static stretching as part of a warm-up for the prevention of exercise-related injury. Research in Sports Medicine, 16(3):213-231.

Woods K, Bishop P, Jones E. 2007. Warm-up and stretching in the prevention of muscular injury. Sports Medicine, 37(12):1089-1099.

Vazini Taher, A and Parnow, A. 201. Level of functional capacities following soccer-specific warm up methods among elite collegiate soccer players. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. Epub Jul 6.

The post 7 Incredible Results You Can Get From Stretching Every Day appeared first on .

Conventional wisdom hasn’t been particularly helpful in figuring out how to get in the groove and become that person who says, “I’ll meet you for brunch later. Gotta fit in my run first.” You’re told you have to “want it” enough. Or that you have to do something 21 days in a row before it becomes second nature. But what do you do on the 29th day when it’s cold outside and you’re dying to skip your run and sleep for another hour instead?

Fitness Motivation Made Easy

Fortunately, economists and psychologists have been studying how to crack the code of what compels us to repeatedly do something we don’t always want to do. Here are some of their best strategies.

1. Give Yourself a Real Reward

Sure, some people might be motivated by vague goals such as “better health” or “weight control.” But if that’s not doing it for you, journalist Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business advises making the benefits of working out more tangible, such as by treating yourself to a smoothie or an episode of The Leftovers afterwards.

“An extrinsic reward is so powerful because your brain can latch on to it and make the link that the behavior is worthwhile.”

He describes creating a neurological “habit loop,” which involves a cue to trigger the behavior (setting out your spinning shoes next to your bag), the routine (making it through spinning class) and then the reward. “An extrinsic reward is so powerful because your brain can latch on to it and make the link that the behavior is worthwhile,” he explains. “It increases the odds the routine becomes a habit.”

Over time, the motivation becomes intrinsic, as the brain begins to associate sweat and pain with the surge of endorphins — those feel-good chemicals released in the brain that are responsible for that “I-feel-freaking-amazing” rush you get after a great gym session. Once you’ve trained your brain to recognize that the workout itself is the reward, you won’t even want the treat.

2. Sign a Commitment Contract

We can make promises to ourselves all day long, but research shows we’re more likely to follow through with pledges when we make them in front of friends.

You can up the ante even more by signing a contract agreeing to pay a pal $20 every time you skip Pilates. “It’s a simple notion of changing the cost,” explains Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University who studies health decision science. “I say I’m going to make a commitment to do something for a certain amount of time, such as exercising 30 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks. If I don’t do that, I’m going to pay some kind of penalty, whether it’s monetary or the embarrassment of having friends know I didn’t live up to my word.”

In studies of people who created online contracts via the site www.stickk.com, Goldhaber-Fiebert and his colleagues found that those who signed longer contracts ended up exercising more than those who agreed to shorter durations. “We have to get past the initial experience of displeasure in order to recognize the longer-term benefits,” he says. “The challenge is designing tools to help make that happen.”

3. Rethink Positive Thinking

Devotees of positive thinking have long promoted visualizing the benefits of a behavior as a motivational strategy. For example, when I’m deciding whether to get out of bed to go running in the morning, it helps to imagine how the sun will feel on my face as I run around the reservoir. Or how delighted I’ll be when I see my new muscles developing.

“After you imagine the obstacle, you can figure out what you can do to overcome it and make a plan.”
But such feel-good fantasies are only effective when accompanied by more realistic problem-solving methods, according to Gabriele Oettingen, PhD, psychologist at New York University and author of Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation (due out in October).

Here’s the rest of the formula: After identifying your wish and visualizing the outcome, you have to identify what’s holding you back — a technique she calls “mental contrasting.” In one study of 51 female students who claimed they wanted to eat fewer junk food snacks, researchers asked each woman to imagine the benefits of nibbling on better foods. Those who identified the trigger that made healthful snacking difficult for them — and came up with a plan to reach for fruit when cravings hit — were most successful at sticking to their goal.

Feel too tired to go to the gym after work? “After you imagine the obstacle, you can figure out what you can do to overcome it and make a plan,” explains Oettingen. For example, you can switch to morning or lunchtime workouts or go straight to the gym instead of stopping at home first.

4. Get Paid

Still struggling? It may be time to turn to cold, hard cash. (Because, hey, money talks.) Research looking at monetary incentives and exercise found that people who were paid $100 to go to the gym doubled their attendance rate. “You just need to get people to keep doing an activity, and paying them money was effective,” explains study author Gary Charness, PhD, behavioral economist at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Don’t have a generous benefactor? Check out the app Pact, in which a community of fellow users will literally pay you to stick to your schedule. If you miss your session, you authorize the app to charge your credit card or PayPal account. When you reach your goal, you get paid out of a common pool funded by yourself and other pact-breakers.

No matter how you get there, you know you’ve succeeded once the day arrives when you can’t imagine skipping your workout. You can call it an addiction, a pleasure or an escape. But the important thing is that you’re doing it on a regular basis, and that you’re doing it for you.

But all of this is just advise. You can do whatever the F**k you wanna do..

Your friend and coach,

Crystal aka Barbell_Barbie.NY

The post 4 Science-Backed Ways to Motivate Yourself to Work Out appeared first on .

With Summer just around the corner, there will be plenty of focus on fitness, with losing weight and setting health goals the second most popular resolution for most people. Gyms can not only get crowded, but finding time to work out becomes difficult.

It doesn’t matter where you work out, it’s what you’re doing, how often you’re exercising and ensuring that it’s effective that makes it most beneficial.

You can easily get fit in the comfort of your own home — as long as you’re up to the challenge.

If you can avoid the phone calls, the television and chatty kids or family members in the background, I say you can set a schedule to reach your health and weight goals without spending any money on memberships or stability balls.

“Choose exercises that are full body movements that mimic everyday patterns. These will use more energy and incorporate more muscle groups and will teach your body how to move as a whole more efficiently.

Working out with weights has proven to both intensify and speed up your metabolism, according to Women’s Health magazine, but sometimes using just your bodyweight or sticking to cardio can combat stress better than strength training.

To make things a little easier on you, I suggest turning off your phone during your routine, invite a friend or another family member over as a fitness buddy and turn up your favorite music (like one of these awesome workout tunes from Southpaw the movie) to tune out everything around you.

Ready to get motivated? Here are my Favorite ways to train at home. So lets go!!!

Squat till you drop!!!!!!!!

Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and lower your hips (almost like you’re sitting in a chair). As you bend your knees, your thighs will be parallel with the floor, says exercise physiologist Andrea Doepker-Gavidia of Train For Life Fitness & Lifestyle Consulting in Saskatoon. Ensure your knees don’t go beyond your toes and keep your chest up and look straight ahead. Stand back up to start position and repeat.

Triceps Push-Ups:

Place your hands on the floor and keep them under your shoulders. Holding your body straight, bend your elbows close to you body. Lower your chest between your hands and push back up into the starting position. If you’re having trouble completing a push-up, place your knees on the floor to make things easier. For intensity, raise your feet up onto stairs or an elevated surface to increase the difficulty.

Skaters/Leaps:

To start, get into a semi-squat position and leap sideways to land on your right foot. Immediately push off in the opposite direction and land on your left foot. Make sure you perform these skaters continuously.

Plank Crawl:

Pace yourself for this one. We recommend giving yourself a goal of 15 to 20 crawls. Begin this move in a push-up position with your hands directly under your shoulders. Lower yourself down one arm at a time into a plank position on your forearms, while keeping your elbows directly under your shoulders. Push back up one arm at a time into your starting push-up position. Alternate the arm you lead with and maintain a straight body throughout the movement. Lower your knees to the floor to decrease the difficulty level.

Walking Lunge:

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and place your arms to the side. Step forward with your right foot and lower your left knee towards the floor. Your knees should bend about 90 degrees. Ensure your right knee stays over your right ankle and don’t let your knee go past your toes. Step up to balance on your right foot and switch feet.

Single Leg Balance Stick:

Balance on your right foot with your left foot behind you. Lean forward, keeping a straight body position and lift your left heel towards the ceiling. Maintain a slight bend in your standing knee so you don’t lock your knee. If you’re having trouble balancing, focus on something in front of you or hold your back leg for initial support.

Bird Dog:

Begin on all fours (downward dog), ensuring your hands are directly under your shoulders and your knees are directly under your hips. Slowly extend your right leg behind you and reach your right arm forward into a straight line. Hold your balance without arching your back. Return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.

Side Plank Hip Drops:

Begin by lying on your right side with your right elbow directly lined under your shoulder. Keeping your feet on the floor, lift your hips off the floor and support your body with your forearm. Hold for three seconds and slowly lower your right hip onto the floor and repeat.

Bridge:

Lay on your back with your arms by your sides. Bend your knees while keeping your feet flat on the floor. Maintaining a straight back, raise your hips up to a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Hold for three seconds and lower your hips slowly back to the floor and repeat.

Superman Back Extension:

Lay on your stomach and reach your arms forward (like you’re flying). Gently raise your legs and upper body off the floor while keeping your head straight. Pause for three seconds and repeat.

But all of this is is just advise. You can do whatever the f**k you wanna do.

Your friend and coach,

Crystal aka Barbell_Barbie. NY

References:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/14/exercises-at-home_n_2287898.html

https://www.fitwatch.com/blog/10-ways-you-can-exercise-at-home-without-any-equipment

The post Exercises At Home: 10 Ways To Lose Weight Without Equipment appeared first on .

I just like you have tried numerous diets in the past few years. There was the low-carb approach for the Hawaiian vacation, the low-fat approach to fit into my friends bridesmaid’s dress, and the paleo diet for that new pair of jeans.

The omg. omg Its valentines day! I need to look hot!!!

Each time I started a new diet, though, it seems like I was trying to lose more and more weight. From 5-6 pounds two summers ago, now hoping to lose 14-15 pounds for the upcoming family vacation. How could it be that, despite all these years of dieting, I felt like I needed to lose more weight than ever?

Is It Time To Stop Dieting?

Dieting has become a habit for an estimated 100 million people in the United States, many of whom say they diet four or five times a year! Surprisingly enough, the answer might be to—wait for it—stop dieting! By understanding how your body reacts to dieting, you can make fundamental changes and finally attain that physique you keep starving yourself for!

Outside Your Comfort Zone

Our bodies view dieting as a stress, not some sort of weird Survivor-type fun vacation. It’s stressful, because eating fewer calories than your body needs pushes it beyond its comfort zone—the body-fat percentage (or weight) where your body feels most comfortable.

Note that this is the weight where your body—not you yourself—feels most comfortable.

To get back into that wonderful, comfy comfort zone (also known as your “body-fat set point”), your body starts sending all kinds of messages to your brain to tell you to stop dieting. The two big messages it sends are “I’m tired” and “I’m hungry.”

To deal with the caloric deficit your diet has created, your body conserves energy by reducing the number of calories you burn each day. Less calories burned means less energy, so, naturally, you feel tired.

Is It Time To Stop Dieting?

To make matters worse, your hunger hormones (leptin and ghrelin) go through an abrupt change as your dieting ways continue. It’s not fair (at all), but it’s true: The more you consistently take in fewer calories than you burn, the more urgently your hunger hormones tell your brain you’re really hungry.

Diet-Induced Adaptations

Decreased resting metabolic rate
Decreased thermic effect of food
Decreased exercise and nonexercise activity thermogenesis
Decreased thyroid hormone (T3) production
Decreased leptin
Increased ghrelin
Let’s dig down into how your body’s natural responses—and how you respond to them—can undermine your persistent efforts to lose weight.

Diet Deviation

Originally, My goal was to lose a few pounds before the Hawaiian vacation. The combination of eating fewer calories and bumping up my exercise worked well. Within two months, I neared my goal.

But a week before the trip, my figure still wasn’t quite where she wanted to be—and I didn’t seem to be losing any more weight. To “finish strong,” I made one last macro adjustment: Bye-bye, carbs; hello, fasted cardio. That got her to her target weight, but…

Once I got to the island and started tasting “local food” (Hawaiian burgers, macaroni salad—even Spam wrapped in seaweed and rice), it was as if I never learned the meaning of portion control.

Finally I mustered up the courage to step on the scale again after a 10-day hiatus from my diet and training routine, I was flabbergasted: I weighed more than I had before I left. But it wasn’t just because I had eaten more food.

My body has grown accustomed to burning significantly fewer calories during my dieting days. When I started to overeat, my body literally didn’t know what to do with all those extra calories, so it did what any sensible body would: it stored them as fat for the next time Crystal (ME) went on a diet.

Is It Time To Stop Dieting???

And the lesson I learned from all that? I started dieting again—and fast. My best friend’s wedding was only months away, and I had to fit into that dress!

Return To Reality

Within two weeks of dieting, though, My weight loss had stalled again, with 5 pounds left to go. I doubled down on my diet—and upped my cardio workouts. Although I had nothing but good intentions, this would lead to my biggest disappointment yet.

Running on an even greater caloric deficit, my body went into full-on “Operation Energy Conservation,” burning fewer and fewer calories. Even with a harsher diet, I still wasn’t losing weight, so I tripled down on my diet. Now I was eating very little and exercising a lot. Not a good strategy.

Finally, overwhelmed with hunger and fatigue, I put portion control on the back burner again, gained more weight, felt even worse about myself, and got back on the next yo-yo diet.

Breaking The Cycle

Rather than starving herself through countless diets, I would have benefited most from a complete break from dieting. Rather than letting my bathroom scale run her life, I should have focused on my energy, exercise performance and recovery, and well-being.

Is It Time To Stop Dieting?

This strategy is not designed for sudden weight loss. Instead, it’s all about working toward a healthier, more energetic body. You’ll be amazed to find that over time, the idea of harshly restricting your caloric intake will seem odd. You’re an active, energetic person. You need those calories to stay fit!

Cut back on weigh-in frequency: What you weigh at any given moment isn’t the best measure of your progress. Instead, lay the foundation for achieving the physique you want by paying attention to your energy (and attitude)—both inside and outside the gym.

Increase your calories by 10 percent: If you’re accustomed to eating 1,200 calories a day, add 120 more. I know—it doesn’t seem to make sense. And I’ll be up front with you: That number on the scale may creep up initially, but if you stay the course, your body will respond by ramping up your metabolism, which means you’ll start burning more calories than before.

Stay patient, and be consistent: As you increase calories, you should start feeling more energetic, which will improve workout performance. It becomes a virtual cycle: The more calories (within reason) you take in, the more you’re able to exercise, which increases your metabolism and helps your body burn even more calories. Plus, once you’re taking in enough calories, your appetite hormones no longer need to send those hunger signals to your brain.

But all of this is just advice! You can do whatever the ((FU**K)) you wanna do!

Your friend and Coach,

Crystal aka Barbell_Barbie.Ny

References:

http://www.lifehack.org/289618/6-signs-you-may-need-stop-dieting

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Fresh from their Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Warner Bros. Pictures has dropped two potential bombshells with the official Justice League and Wonder Woman teaser trailers. The first featuring several of DC’s most prolific and long-loved heroes joining forces (maybe, Aquaman is a bit of a tough sell…), and the second featuring the amazon warrior herself in a solo adventure unlike anything we’ve seen thus far from the DC Cinematic Universe. Both trailers can be viewed below.

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League will see Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot reprising their roles as the DC Trinity, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman in Justice League, and joining them are Jason Mamoa as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and Ezra Miller as The Flash. Amber Heard is set to play Queen Mera in the film as well before moving to the solo film slated for 2018, with Willem Dafoe appearing in a mystery role, and J.K. Simmons playing Commissioner Gordon.

Directed by Zack Snyder (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Justice League will debut in theaters on November 10, 2017.

Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman is produced by Charles Roven, Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder, with Richard Suckle, Stephen Jones, Wesley Coller, Geoff Johns and Rebecca Roven serving as executive producers.

As always, stay plugged in to SEV for more Comic Nook News as it develops.

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