Top 10 Tips for Staying Committed to a Fitness Program

Have a WHY. You must have a reason why you want to start an exercise/nutrition program. It can't simply just be, "I want to lose weight." Dig deeper and ask yourself "Why do I want to lose weight?"

Be excited. Congratulations! You have just started one of the best things you can do for yourself. Be EXCITED! Realize this is the start of something beautiful, one of the biggest reasons I love what I do is to be able to change the lives of others. You can have such a huge impact on someone and not even realize it in todays world; social media has allowed us to all find others who encourage and support us.

You will have to make sacrifices. First things first, you have decided to make a healthy lifestyle change. You cannot keep junk food in your house - I don't care how much you tell me you have the will power not to eat, GET RID OF IT! Throw away your pizza delivery coupons & get rid of the Oreos. You also cannot go out and eat fast food everyday for your lunch break - always ask yourself, "does this get me closer or further to my goal?" If its further, leave it alone.

Break TV, Social Media habits in favor of exercising. MAKE THE TIME! So the biggest excuse I always get, and is proven to be the biggest barrier to exercise is not having "the time." We all have 24 hours, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Steph Curry, WE ALL HAVE 24 HOURS! You may have a busy schedule, so do they. Instead of watching 30 minutes of television after work or before bed - grab some resistance bands off Amazon and do a small at home workout! Even if you just do this, you are doing way more than 99% of the population - and you are taking action not just talking about doing it!

Be consistent. This one is very important - as this helps develop the mindset needed to be successful at a workout program. BE CONSISTENT!

Don't make excuses. Finally taking that vacation you've been dying to go on? Family is in town? Didn't have the time today? These are all extremely common excuses we make to convince ourselves that falling off the path is okay. One major tip is purchase resistance bands for yourself like stated in #4 - that way if you are short on time, you can at least do something at home - something is always better than nothing. Family is in town? That doesn't mean you have to skip your workouts and eat garbage just because they do. Prep your meals as you always would, set aside time for the gym as you always would - if you are serious about your goals, these are things you have to learn to do. Your family may make fun of you at first - but once they see the changes from your lifestyle change, they will be coming to you for advice. I can guarantee it. Plus, not everyone is going to understand your journey - its' YOURS! Eventually they will say something like "yeah she went to the gym." "Yeah, she has lost alot of weight and looks great from doing all that she did." We all have that one family member who is the loud drunk, right? Well you will be known as that one family member who is a health freak. And thats not such a bad thing - now is it?

Avoid Procrastination. I always suggest to get your workout done sooner, rather than later. Exercise in the morning can result in a better mood, and more productivity for the rest of the day. Plus, who wants to actually workout at 6pm after work in a crowded gym when thats the last place you want to be? I'm not a morning person either, but from experience I always had better results & was able to stick to a routine better by getting it done first thing. Do the things you don't want to do first everyday - that way it's over and done with, then you can enjoy the rest of your day.

Allow cheat meals. So you've been eating your asparagus, chicken & rice all week. You have lost weight - and feel great.. but you are getting cravings. I highly suggest that you allow yourself a reward system, especially in the beginning stages of this change. If you are used to eating greasy foods, drinking wine, or just having your usual burger - cold turkey almost never works. You will stick to your routine until you mentally drive yourself insane - and then go on an all out binge. Throwing all your hard work out the window. Implement a reward system - depending upon your goals, this may be once or even three times a week (discuss this with your coach or trainer if you aren't sure). If you stuck to everything for the week, and you are on track with your goals - REWARD YOURSELF! Not only does this have a better rate of you sticking to the plan, but you feel more accomplished for sticking to the plan. & just to re-iterate, this is a cheat meal NOT a cheat day!

Self-motivation. If you want to stick to a plan - you have to want it. Bottom line. It doesn't matter who wants it for you, you have to want it for you. One tip I recommend is to spend the first 15-20 minutes of your day listening to motivational speeches or positive music, read a book on self improvement, anything positive. Put your cell phone in the drawer - do not check social media, do not check your messages, do not check your bank account, put it away I promise it will all still be there in another 20 minutes. Nowadays we have so much access to information - and a lot of it is negative. How do you think your day is going to go if you start by reading an article that makes you upset first thing in the morning? Probably not good. This has been proven to have a positive effect on the rest of the day - I have been doing this for a few months now and have noticed a huge improvement on my overall mindset and productivity for the day ahead.

Break bigger goals into smaller ones. So your goal is to lose 30 pounds? Well i'm here to tell you that it wont happen in 30 days. Did you gain the weight in 30 days? NO! So stop falling for these extreme weight loss gimmicks - put in the work, and stay committed. I promise you will see the results. Set a smaller goal - for example: I want to drop 2% body fat this week, or I want to lose 2 pounds this week. These are much more reasonable goals - sometimes we lose sight of all the progress we are making because we are too concerned with the end result. Step back, see how far you've came and enjoy the journey!

The 30-Day Burpee Challenge That Will Totally Kick Your Butt

Nail the Basic Burpee

Mondays: Burpee Kick-Outs

Tuesdays: One-Legged Burpees

Wednesdays: Burpee Broad Jumps

Thursdays: Burpee Roll-Backs

Fridays: Lateral Jump Burpees

Saturdays: Burpee Mountain Climbers

Sundays: Spider Push-up Burpees

30-Day Burpee Challenge How-To

Whether you've pushed your limits in a HIIT class or during a marathon, you probably already know that having a strong mental game is just as important as being physically fit. Multiple studies have looked at how mental toughness can boost your performance inside and outside of sports. Pros talk about training their brains using visualization techniques and mindful meditation.
In her new book, Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body, Jo Marchant, Ph.D., looks at just how powerful your mind can be. In the excerpt below, Marchant explores your brain's surprising control over your muscles. Hint: Your muscles aren't tired because they're running low on fuel.

Tim Noakes, a sports physiologist at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, is not the type to bow to authority. In fact, he makes a habit of overturning dogmas—sometimes making enemies but also saving athletes' lives.

In the 1980s, for example, he carried out studies that revealed an epidemic of catastrophic neck injuries among rugby players in South Africa. His results were hotly denied at the time but ultimately led to a change in the rules. Then he investigated why so many marathon runners were collapsing. He concluded that it wasn't because of dehydration, as everyone thought, but the reverse: they were drinking too much. According to Noakes, the official advice to runners—that they should drink around 50 ounces an hour—was poisoning them.

U.S. experts, influenced by the sports drink industry, rejected his findings. The advice wasn't changed until 13% of participants in the 2002 Boston Marathon suffered water intoxication—and one runner died as a result. "My clash with the multibillion-dollar-a-year U.S. sports drink industry taught me that medical science can as easily be bent to serve commercial interest as it can be used to produce 'the greatest benefit to humankind,'" Noakes said.

Perhaps it's not surprising then that Noakes has also spent years attacking one of physiology's most basic assumptions. As an athlete himself, he was interested in fatigue. "If you are exercising, you are always getting tired and trying to understand why," he tells me. "I realized quickly that it wasn't what we were taught."
The dogma was that athletes get tired when their bodies hit physical limits—their muscles run out of oxygen or fuel, or become damaged by the accumulation of toxic by-products such as lactic acid. This in turn triggers pain and fatigue, forcing us to stop exercising until we recover.

This basic theory had never been questioned since it was proposed by Nobel Prize–winning physiologist Archibald Hill in 1923. Yet when Noakes tried to test it, his results didn't make sense. First, Hill's theory predicted that if athletes exercise to their limit, then shortly before they stop with exhaustion, oxygen use should level off, because the heart can't pump fast enough to get any more oxygen to the tissues that need it. But just as with the experiments at high altitude, that didn't happen. "We couldn't find that athletes were running out of oxygen when we tested them," he says. "We couldn't see it."

Meanwhile other studies have shown that although levels of fuel inside muscles (glycogen, fat, ATP) diminish with exercise, they never run out. Noakes also studied muscle use, by asking cyclists to ride exercise bikes with wires attached to their legs. Hill's theory says that athletes should recruit all available resources as they tire, engaging more and more muscle fibers until, with nothing more to give, they finally hit the breaking point. But Noakes found the reverse. As the cyclists neared exhaustion, muscle fibers were being switched off. At the point at which his volunteers said they felt too fatigued to continue, they were never activating more than about 50 percent of their available muscle fibers. Exhaustion forced them to stop exercising, yet they had a large reserve of muscle just waiting to be used.

All of this convinced Noakes that the old idea—of fatigue being caused by muscles pushed to the limit—couldn't be true. Instead, he and his colleague, Alan St. Clair Gibson, proposed that the feeling of fatigue is imposed centrally, by the brain. Obviously there is a physical limit to what the body can achieve. But rather than responding directly to tired muscles, Noakes and St. Clair Gibson proposed that the brain acts in advance of this limit, making us feel tired and forcing us to stop exercising well before any peripheral signs of damage occur. In other words, fatigue isn't a physical event but a sensation or emotion, invented by the brain to prevent catastrophic harm. They called the brain system that does this the "central governor."

From an evolutionary point of view, such a system makes perfect sense. Relying on signs of damage in the muscles to alert us to fatigue would put us perilously close to collapse every time we exert ourselves. Shutting down physical activity in advance ensures a safe margin of error, and means we can continue to function even after an exhausting challenge. "We say that's the way humans evolved, because you always need energy afterwards to do other things," says Noakes. We might suddenly need to run from a predator, for example. "And when we were hunting, we always had to take the food home."

The Ultimate Snow-Day HIIT Workout

Winter has a way of making the gym feel impossibly far away. Have no fear—you can still get your sweat on with absolutely no equipment in the comfort of your living room.

One of the best ways to get an efficient HIIT workout done at home is to use Tabata intervals: Alternating 20 seconds of maximum-intensity effort with 10 seconds of rest, for eight rounds. Tabata intervals were developed by researcher Dr. Izumi Tabata to maximize anaerobic and aerobic conditioning. These are perfect for any skill level and can burn up to 13.5 calories per minute—that's more than running!

This workout combines some of the best body-weight exercises used in group classes at The Phoenix Effect, an LA-based studio focused on improving clients' strength, form, agility, coordination, and speed. Each set has two exercises, and you'll do one move for 20 seconds "on" (all-out effort) and 10 seconds "off" (rest) before moving to the next exercise. Repeat for a total of four sets. The entire workout only takes about 20 minutes to complete, but it's designed to push you to your limits!
Get ready to sweat, have fun, and torch some fat! Try downloading a timer on your smartphone, such as Tabata Timer Pro, to alert you when it's time to change between intervals.

SET 1: 4x

Interval 1: Windmill Running Men
1. Start with right foot forward, with right knee bent at 90 degrees and left foot back. Left hand should be at right heel with right arm in the air.
2. Jump up and land with left foot forward, with left knee bent at 90 degrees and right foot back. Right hand will now be at left heel.
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 2: Body-Weight Squats or Squat Jumps
1. Start standing with feet shoulder-width distance apart. You can slightly turn toes out.
2. Push hips back and drive knees out over toes as if 're sitting in a very low invisible chair.
3. You can choose to stand up at the bottom of the squat or explode into a jump with hips fully extended at the top.
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 3: Windmill Running Men
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 4: Body-Weight Squats or Squat Jumps
Rest for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your fitness level.
SET 2: 4x

Interval 1: Frog Push-Up + Donkey Kick
1. Begin with hands and toes on the ground. Elbows should be rotated inwards toward knees.
2. Keep knees bent while bending elbows and lowering yourself to the ground. Knees should hover just above the ground at the lowest part of the push-up.
3. Push back up and then jump both feet up at once and give a little kick, as if you're a donkey kicking in the air.
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 2: Hollow Rock
1. Lie on back with body in a crescent moon shape. Lower back should be touching the ground.
2. Rock back and forth, being careful to bring heels almost to the ground without touching it. Arms should remain behind head the entire time.
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 3: Frog Push-Up + Donkey Kick
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 4: Hollow Rock
Rest for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your fitness level.
SET 3: 4x

Interval 1: Wide Mountain Climber
1. Start with palms down on the ground with right foot forward on the outside of right hand. Right knee should be bent at 90 degrees and left leg extended behind you.
2. Jump left foot to the outside of left hand, landing with left knee bent at 90 degrees and right leg extended behind you.
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 2: Split-Squat Jumps
1. Start standing. Jump up and land with right foot forward and left leg back. Knees should be flexed when you land.
2. Explode up and jump left foot forward with right leg back, keeping knees bent.
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 3: Wide Mountain Climber
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 4: Split-Squat Jumps
Rest for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your fitness level.
SET 4: 4x

Interval 1: Burpees
1. Start standing. Place hands on the ground just in front of you.
2. Jump feet back while lowering body down to the ground so chest touches the ground. Landing position will look like a low push-up.
3. Jump feet forward to meet hands and jump up in the air with hips extended and arms extended above head.
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 2: Hollow Rocks
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 3: Burpees
Rest: 10 seconds

Interval 4: Hollow Rocks
Rest and hydrate!

Get in your best shape ever

If Metabolism 101 were a class, you'd be the teacher's pet: You never skip breakfast you know a little food in the a.m. kick-starts the day's calorie burn. And you don't crash diet, either, because that leads your body to hang on to Every. Last. Calorie. Ready for the advanced course? We found out what real people with high metabolism do right. Adopt their ways to shrink your waist and get in peak shape

Eat the correct number of calories

Science time! Metabolism is the chemical process in the body that converts the food you eat into fuel. The result: You get the energy that keeps you going each day. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories per day your body naturally burns at rest, says Louis Aronne, MD, an obesity specialist at the New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. Knowing your number is key because it means you'll be aware of exactly how many calories to consume to maintain your weight (or lose or gain, if need be).

Calculate your calorie burn

Of course, you don't just sit around all day even a couch potato has to lift the remote once in a while. So in order to get a more accurate figure, factor in how active you are by using this calculator. Your result is the number of calories per day you need to maintain your current weight. Want to lose? Shave 500 extra calories a day by eating less, working out more or, ideally, doing a combo. You'll drop 1 to 2 pounds per week.

Make workouts a regular thing

"Doing cardio exercise three to five times a week is associated with a higher metabolic rate at rest," says Wayne Westcott, PhD, professor of exercise science at Quincy College, in Quincy, Mass.

That means that even when out of the gym, your body is burning above and beyond what it would have had you never hauled butt over there. And there's new research to show how you can boost your rate while you're exercising, too. You've probably heard of Tabata, a workout in which, for four minutes, you alternate 20 seconds of all-out effort with 10 seconds of rest.

When Michele Olson, PhD, professor of exercise physiology at Auburn University, in Auburn, Ala., had subjects try it with squat jumps, they burned 13.5 calories per minute; most moderate-intensity cardio burns just 6 or 7 calories per minute. "You can do it with almost any exercise," she says, like sprints, jumping jacks or—better yet—burpees.

Don't blow off lifting

A pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat. Up to nine times the amount, in fact. "Lifting weights is the top way to stave off age-related metabolic drop," says Pamela Peeke, MD, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. For some key moves to incorporate into your workouts twice a week,

Never yo-yo diet

Yet another reason not to let your weight seesaw: You'll hamstring your metabolism. "My patients with the lowest metabolisms are the weight cyclers," says Scott Isaacs, MD, clinical instructor of medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. "When you lose weight, you lose muscle and fat, but when you gain it back, it's mostly fat, which burns fewer calories." To avoid rebound pounds, check out these proven, lasting weight-loss strategies.

How to Become a Morning Workout Person

t's time to say "see ya!" to the snooze button. Exercising early in the day has been proven to help you sleep better. Plus, with a morning workout, "you won't have an excuse to skip it later on when our schedule changes," says Jacque Crockford, an ACE exercise physiologist and education specialist in San Diego. And if you have a race coming up, odds are that it'll take place in the a.m., so it's wise to train at a similar time. Keep reading Crockford's tips so you can actually (finally!) motivate yourself to kick off the covers and slip on your sneaks on a regular basis.

Plan a Rude Awakening

"Set an alarm that's super-annoying and put it across the room. That way you have to wake up, get completely out of bed in order turn it off," Crockford says. You'll be less likely to fall back asleep once your feet hit the floor. (Better run for it fast to spare your significant other.)

Gear Up

The fewer barriers between you and the treadmill, the better. Pack or select and set out your exercise clothes, headphones, watch, and sneakers the night before so you have them staring you in the face when you wake up—and so the decisions are already made, Crockford suggests.

Move with Music

Create a playlist full of pep-up tunes that's just long enough for you to get your gear together, eat a quick snack, and travel to your workout (if it's not at home). Beyoncé, anyone?

Set the Right Route

Speaking of environment, if you're exercising outside of your living room, choose a gym, studio, or track that's as near as possible to home or between your home and office, so it's a natural stop during your morning.

Invest in Your Health

"You'll be much less likely to skip out if you've already invested some money," Crockford says. Buy a few sessions with a personal trainer or pay in advance for group classes or memberships, then keep the receipt handy to remind yourself of the financial sacrifice you've already made. Who doesn't want to get the most for her money?

Go Social

The night before a workout you're afraid you might skip, tell your friends that you'll be sweating, then ask them to follow up with you about the experience. A review published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that having accountability buddies on Facebook, Twitter, and wellness-minded social networks like DietBet greatly increases the likelihood you'll make healthy choices. That's right: These don't even need to be IRL friends for you to benefit!

It takes more than just healthy eating to change your lower body. That’s because when we lose pounds, we tend to shed the weight from our face, arms and stomach, not our bottom and thighs. To get firm, lean legs and a lifted bum (think Jennifer Lopez), you need targeted exercises, like my sculptors in the graphic below. This move mix ensures that you’re not making the mistake of overdeveloping your quads; if you do, your body will start to look out of balance.

Don’t be fooled into thinking squats and lunges are all it takes to whip your lower half into top form. You need to engage the muscles above the waist, too. These exercises tackle those tough-to-reach muscles that suck in your stomach, boost your backside, and sculpt your thighs. Go through the series six times a week, adding in 30 to 60 minutes of cardio, to start seeing a difference this month.

For maximum toning, do all the moves on one side first, then repeat on the other.

4 Moves to Accomplish Any Fitness Goal

The Moves

Squat
Stand with feet hip-width apart and shoulder blades tucked back and down (imagine trying to tuck them into back pockets). Push hips back and bend knees until thighs are parallel with the floor, keeping chest up, weight in heels, and knees tracking over middle toes. Push through heels to stand back up.

Tip: Lead the movement with your hips by imagining that you’re pushing a door open behind you with your butt.

Bent-Over Row
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Hold dumbbells in front of thighs, palms facing body. Push hips back and bend forward until back is parallel to the floor, letting the dumbbells hang downward and maintaining a flat back. Pull dumbbells to sides of torso, then lower them to starting position.

Tip: As with the squat, lead the move with your hips by imagining that you’re pushing a door open behind you with your butt.

How Bad Is Skipping the Gym for a Week?

If you've entered full-on hibernation mode for the remainder of the winter, you may need to reconsider. Slashing the amount of physical activity you get for even a few days can take a toll on your health, according to a recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Researchers examined regular exercisers who trekked more than 10,000 steps per day. That's the equivalent of about 30 to 60 minutes at the gym plus additional physical activity. They then told participants to cut out any exercise and reduce their activity to less than 5,000 steps per day for five days.

After just five days of inactivity, volunteers experienced a decrease in blood vessel function. Specifically, the blood vessels in their lower legs showed a significant reduction in their ability to dilate, which can be a precursor to peripheral artery disease and, possibly, coronary artery disease. Eek!

"We're not sure why this occurred so rapidly, but our results clearly show how vulnerable the vasculature is to a sedentary lifestyle," says study coauthor Paul Fadel, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Missouri. Whether a gym-free week will wreak havoc on your heart health in the long run is still to be determined as well as whether—and how
quickly—your blood vessels bounce back when you return to your regular level of activity.

In the meantime, however, Dr. Fadel recommends incorporating as much activity as you can into your day even if you can't fit in a workout. "Doing something is better than nothing and trying to maintain some activity is important," he says. He also suggests investing in a pedometer and aiming for 10,000 steps per day. "If at the end of the day you have limited steps, a pedometer can help motivate you to get out and go for that walk after dinner instead of sitting on the couch," he says.

How to stay motivated

We all have friends who, despite hectic schedules, never miss a day at the gym. Who can't stop talking about the next 10K. Who can't stop smiling after yoga class. Sure, they’re a little, well, obsessive about working out. But we envy them! The good news is we all have the potential to become fitness-obsessed, says Tom Holland, a Connecticut-based celebrity fitness trainer, exercise physiologist, and expert in sports psychology. Here are 20 proven ways to make exercise a habit.

Get up earlier

Right this minute, go set your alarm and lay out everything you need for your morning workout . (Switch on a lamp as soon as your alarm goes off, says fitness blogger Tina Haupert, so you wake up faster.) Working out at the same time every day may help you improve more quickly, a study from the University of North Texas found, and other research has shown that people who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick with their workout than those who exercise later in the day. After all, if you get your sweat session out of the way first thing in the a.m., you won't miss out if unexpected distractions come up later in the day. (And while we're on the subject, skip the snooze button: Research suggests that those extra few minutes in bed may actually make you more tired.)

Give it six weeks

There's an urban legend that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit, but there's little evidence to back up this claim. For exercise, it's probably more like six weeks, says Rebecca Woll, manager of personal training at Equinox in New York City. "This is when you start to see aesthetic changes in your body," she explains. "Once you see these changes you won't want to go back to the old you!" This is also about the time you'll start to notice the difference in how you feel if you miss a day or two of exercise, and you'll start to appreciate the natural high that comes after a good workout.

Find your niche

So you tried spinning and you hated it, or you hurt yourself on your first day of CrossFit. That doesn't mean that all forms of fitness aren't for you—so get back out there and try a different one. "Find something that makes you tune out and gives you a release from your daily grind," says Woll—whether that means focusing on the ground ahead of you on a trail run, or following the instructor in a Zumba class. "You'll know you found it when you look at the clock and an hour flashes by without you noticing." Holland agrees: "I always tell my clients, 'I don't exercise,'" he says. "I'll go for a run or go to the gym, but I don't think of it as exercise because that suddenly gives it a negative connotation."

Hire a trainer

Whether you're a total newcomer to the fitness scene or you just need a little motivation and guidance, a personal trainer can help you set goals and develop a plan to make them happen. "People think they can't afford it, but they don't realize that even just one or two sessions with a trainer can be so beneficial," says Holland. "Investing just one or two hundred bucks can go a long way." Plus, a good trainer will also hold you accountable and will motivate you to work your hardest, Holland adds. "It's all about positive reinforcement and being there for the client when they need it."

Join a club

Working out is more fun with friends—and it's a lot harder to bail on when you've got other people relying on you. "I think that's why groups like CrossFit and Weight Watchers are so successful," says Holland. "It shows the value of the support system, which should be an integral part of any workout plan." Your exercise club could be an entire gym full of people, a regular fitness class where everyone knows your name, or just one exercise buddy who makes sure you're out of bed to meet her for your morning walks. Feeling ambitious? Start a fitness or weight-loss contest with your friends or coworkers, suggests Woll. "A little healthy competition always gets you motivated!"

Don't overdo it

One way to put a stop to your new exercise habit before it even gets off the ground? Getting hurt. Beginners (or people just returning to fitness after a long break) need to be careful about trying to do too much, too soon, which can leave you sore and exhausted—or worse yet, with a real injury that will keep you sidelined for even longer. It's normal to have some muscle aches and stiffness a day or two after working out muscles you haven't used in a while, but if you start to feel sick or overly tired, you could be training too hard. Following a training plan (like a Couch to 5K program) or working with a personal trainer can help you make sure you're progressing at a reasonable pace.

Dancing Bug

Targets abs and obliques
By moving a stability ball between opposite arms and legs, you're hitting your abs from every angle, not just focusing on the middle muscles.

Lie faceup on floor with arms and legs extended up, palms and shins pressed into a stability ball.

Lower left arm and right leg toward floor, getting as close as you can without touching down. Return to start, then lower right arm and left leg.

Do 25 to 30 reps, alternating sides.

Superman

Targets back and butt
Make sure to squeeze your glutes to help lift your legs for this double-duty back and booty burner.

Lie facedown on ground with arms extended in front of you.

Simultaneously lift arms and legs a few inches off ground and hold for 5 seconds. Lower slowly to start and repeat.

Note: The closer to the ground your legs come with each rep, the more difficult the move.

Oblique-Twist Triceps Push-Up

Targets triceps, obliques, and outer thighs
Banish bra bulge with this Pilates-inspired move. By using your body weight as built-in resistance, you can strengthen your arms.

Lie on mat on your right side, hug rib cage with right arm, and place left hand on floor in front of right shoulder. Bend right leg behind you and lift leg a few inches to hip level, toes pointed.

Press through left palm to lift torso off floor until left arm is nearly fully extended. Simultaneously raise left leg as high as you can.

Lower to start.

Do 20 reps, switch sides and repeat. Do 2 sets.

Frog Lift

Targets back, abs, and butt
It might look like a good position for a snooze, but this move will boost your backside by focusing on small, controlled pulses to target multiple muscle groups.

Lie facedown on ground with hands folded in front of you and elbows out; rest forehead on hands. Bend knees out to sides so that shins are perpendicular to ground and heels are touching.

Pulling navel in toward spine, pulse legs up 1 to 2 inches, then down, without moving upper body.

Do 12 pulses.

To make it harder, reach arms out in front of you and lift chest off ground while doing leg pulses.

Butt Burnout

Targets butt and outer thighs
Melt your hips, thighs and butt in one swoop! If you don't have an exercise ball, substitute with a tennis ball or rolled towel in the crook of your knee, making sure to squeeze so you don't drop it.

Start on floor on all flours, then lower right hip to floor so that hips, knees and ankles are stacked. Place ball behind left knee, squeezing ball between calf and thigh, and lift leg slightly.

Raise bent left leg behind you as high as you can, then lower to start position.

Do 10 to 15 reps, switch sides and repeat. Do 3 sets.

Corkscrew Plank

Targets shoulders, back, chest, triceps, abs, and butt
Pump up a standard plank with this trimming twist. Using your upper body to lift and extend your legs will stoke your calorie burn and hit tricky to trim back muscles.

Start on floor in full plank position, feet together, hands directly under shoulders.

Keeping palms planted, rotate torso to sit on floor on right hip, bent right knee on floor in front of you.

Press through palms and lift hip and bent right leg off floor to return to plank; without touching right foot to floor, bring right leg slightly out to side at about hip level.

Return right hip to floor and repeat.

Do 15 to 30 reps. Switch sides on next circuit.

The Shimmy

Targets abs
Light up that core! Crunch up and shimmy back down from side to side so you work your obliques.

Sit on floor with knees slightly bent, heels on floor, fists near chin; lean torso back 45 degrees.

Crunch up, then slowly lower your upper body, twisting torso slightly to the left; then twist torso to the right until it is at a 45-degree angle (about 4 twists total). Crunch up and repeat.

Continue for 45 seconds.

Lying Half-Jack

Targets, shoulders, abs, and butt
Take your jumping jacks down to the mat. Keep your toe pointed as you tap down to tone your thighs and butt.

Lying on ground on right side, torso propped up on right elbow, extend left arm straight up and touch left toes to top of step (left leg is turned inward so that toes point down).

Lower left arm 45 degrees as you raise left leg 45 degrees (toes point down throughout).

Return to start.

Do 12 reps; switch sides and repeat.

Mesomorph Body Type

Mesomorphs could be thought of as the “genetically gifted”. They are characterized by an athletic, strong,
compact and naturally lean body. They have excellent posture. Often, their shoulders are wider than their hips and women tend to have an hourglass figure. Mesomorphs are natural born athletes and tend to be lean and muscular without trying. They generally are described as being of “medium” build. The world’s leading tennis players, figure skaters and bodybuilders fall into this group.

MESOMORPH CHARACTERISTICS

Naturally lean
Naturally muscular
Naturally strong
Medium size joints/ bones
Wider at the shoulders than the hips – i.e. chest dominates over abdominal area
Broad/ square shoulders
Female mesomorph: defined hourglass figure
Male mesomorph: V or rectangular shape
Efficient metabolism
Gaining muscle is almost effortless
Losing fat is almost effortless
Responds quickly to exercise

FAMOUS MESOMORPHS

MALE examples include:

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sylvester Stallone
George Clooney
Bruce Wills
Andre Agassi
Mark Wahlberg

FEMALE examples with mesomorphic characteristics include:

Sarah Jessica Parker
Tina Turner
Jerry Hall
Jennifer Garner
Angela Bassett
Gabrielle Reese
Anna Kournikova
Madonna
Yasmin le Bon
Gloria Estefan
Halle Berry

MESOMORPH ADVANTAGE

It is a great advantage to have mesomorphic qualities, as one has great foundations on which to build. Mesomorphs don’t have to worry too much about what they eat and they can gain muscle mass and lose weight fairly quickly with relatively easily. This combination allows the mesomorph to achieve fantastic definition of the body. However, as easily as you lose fat, you gain fat also. Janet Jackson is a good example of someone who has struggled with fluctuating weight, but when determined is able to lose weight relatively quickly and look incredibly defined and boast amazing abs.

Get more from your core

You'll get more from your Pilates, yoga, or core-focused moves—meaning a slimmer, flatter belly—by following these tips:

•Move from your waist. Whenever you twist, make sure the movement happens from your bottom rib up. Keep hips still.

•Tighten up. Throughout each move, you should feel a tightening, similar to zipping up a pair of tight jeans, from one hip bone to the other.

•Exhale deeply. To help strengthen your abs and protect your lower back, be sure to exhale thoroughly with every breath.

A new kind of crunch

Try this two-in-one abs-and-obliques move from David Barton Gym owner David Barton.   Here's how: Sit so thighs and upper torso form a V shape, with lower legs crossed and lifted.

Hold a 5-pound medicine ball (or dumbbell) between both hands. Swivel left to right and back, bringing ball across body while maintaining the V shape.

Do 3 sets of 15 reps 3–4 times a week.

Bridge opposite arm-leg reach

Take inches off your waistline with this do-anywhere move from fitness expert and teacher Jessica Smith.

1. Lie faceup with your left knee bent, left foot flat on the floor, and right leg extended toward the ceiling. Reach toward the ceiling with your the left arm and keep your right arm down by your side.

2. Without moving your hips or shoulders, open your raised leg to the right and raised arm to the left. Now, concentrating on your abs, return your raised leg and arm to the center. Do 10–12 reps, then switch sides and repeat.

Low-belly leg reach

Targets corset and six-pack.   Lie faceup with knees bent to 90 degrees, hands behind head, and abs contracted. Keeping knees stacked over hips, lift shoulders and crunch up; inhale and hold for 3-5 seconds.

Exhale and extend legs to 45 degrees; hold for 3-5 seconds while squeezing lower belly. Do 2 sets of 10-15 reps.

Teaser

An advanced Pilates-inspired move. Lie on your back with knees bent to 90-degree angles and feet lifted. Tighten abs as you inhale, and lift arms up and back over head.

Exhale and swing arms forward, straightening legs so your body forms a V. If needed, put hands on the floor for support.

Roll down slowly, bending knees and bringing arms overhead. Do 15 reps.

Donkey kickbacks

A killer move that will torch calories as it works your core.   Kneel on all fours, toes tucked under, keeping your back neutral. Draw your belly in toward your spine as you contract your abs and lift both knees about 2 inches off the ground.

Keeping abs engaged, bring right knee to nose (shown). Then kick right leg straight out behind you, squeezing your butt (shown); keep lower abs contracted and hips facing the ground to protect your back.

Repeat 8 times; switch legs and repeat.

Advanced leg crunches

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and a 3-pound dumbbell between your feet. Place your hands, palms down, beneath your sitting bones.

2. Concentrating on your lower abs, use them to bring your knees in toward your chest while lifting your hips, head, and shoulders slightly. Return to the starting position; that’s 1 rep.

Do 15–30 reps 3–4 times a week; you should see results in 4 weeks.
A get-ready-for-swimsuit season move from celebrity trainer Eduardo Dias.

Ana Caban's belly blaster

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent in toward your chest. Hold 1 (3-pound) dumbbell with both hands.

2. Extend your left leg to 45 degrees, keeping your right knee bent. Lift your head and shoulders and move the dumbbell to the outside of your right knee, pressing into a crunch with a twist (shown above).

3. Pull your left leg in to meet your right leg and reach the weight up toward the ceiling, keeping your shoulders and head elevated off the floor. Now repeat step 2, but this time extend your right leg and keep your left knee bent. That’s 1 rep.

Do 8 reps 4 times per week, and you should see results in 3 weeks.

1. Pushup

Place your hands directly under your shoulders.
Position your feet hip-width apart.
Maintain a plank position; your body should be in a straight line from from the back of your head to your hips.
Keep your neck neutral, keeping it in line with your shoulders.
As you lower, keep your elbows close to your body.

Don’t
Let your butt sag or stick up.
Tilt your head up or tuck it in.
Allow your shoulders to come towards your ears.

Make it easier
Widen the distance between your feet for better stability.
Or perform the pushup as described above, but rather than starting in and returning to a plank position, do the pushup with your knees touching the ground. Just make sure to keep your back and thighs in a straight line.

2. Plank

Do
Plant your hands under your shoulders, or slightly wider apart.
Squeeze your glutes. (That would be your butt.)
Keep your body in a straight line from the top of your head through your feet.

Tighten your core.
Tuck your chin.
Fix your gaze on the floor, either between or just beyond your hands.

Don’t
Let your butt lift or sag.
Lift your head.
Hold the position if your form is suffering — the only good exercise move is one that you do right.

Make it easier
Hold the position for a shorter period of time.

3. Glute Bridge

Do
Lie on your back.

Place your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart, toes pointing forward, with your knees bent.
Contract your abs.
Push through your heels to lift your hips off the floor.

Don’t
Stop contracting your abs.
Push your hips so high that the neutral position of your hips and back becomes compromised.

4. Spider Lunge

Start in the top of a pushup position.
Bring your right foot to the outside of your right hand.
Land with a flat foot.
Bring your foot back to the starting position.
Repeat on other side.
Maintain a strong plank position throughout.

Don’t
Allow your shoulders to move away from directly over your hands.
Allow your hips to sag.

5. Squat

Position your feet somewhere between hip- and shoulder-width apart.
Turn your toes out as needed to accommodate flexibility through the movement.
Keep your chest tall.
Look ahead and slightly up.
Be sure your knees are tracking in line with your toes.
Squat as deep as your flexibility allows.

Don’t
Let your knees travel forward past your toes.
Let your knees buckle inwards.
Lift your heels off the ground.
Shift your weight to your toes.

Make it easier
Keep the squat shallow if going deeper is difficult or pulling uncomfortably.

6. Side Lunge

Do
Keep your chest up.
Shift your weight through your midfoot and heel.
Lunge as low as your flexibility allows.

Don’t
Let your knees travel forward past your toes.

7. Squat Jump

Do
Squat until your thighs are parallel with the floor.
Keep your chest up.
Hold your arms straight in front of you as you squat, pushing them behind your back as you jump.

Jump as high as you can.
Exhale as you jump.
Land softly.

Don’t
Allow your knees to travel past your toes.
Shift your weight to your toes while squatting.

8. Single-Leg Deadlift

Do
Maintain a flat back.
Keep your core tight.

Keep your weight evenly distributed in your planted leg.
Raise one leg straight behind you, keeping your toes pointed down, as you bend forward, hinging at the hips.
Bend only as low as your flexibility allows.
Pull yourself back to standing using the hamstring (the back) of your planted leg.
Keep your head neutral.

Don’t
Reach for the floor by leading with your fingertips, which causes your back to round — instead, focus on keeping the back flat and hinging at the hips.
Try to touch the floor if your flexibility will not allow it.
Alternate legs between each rep — stick to one leg per set, and then switch to the other leg for the next set.

9. Reverse Lunge

Do
Start in a straight standing position.
Step one foot backwards.
Keep your front knee at a 90-degree angle.
Keep your chest up.
Distribute your weight evenly between front and back foot.
Allow your back knee to lightly touch the floor.
Push through your front heel as you stand up.
Coordinate your arm movements so that your front arm pumps forward while the opposite leg lunges back.

Don’t
Shift the weight in your front foot to your toes.
Allow your knee to travel beyond your toes.
Allow your front knee to cave inward.

10. Walkout

Do
Keep your legs as straight as your flexibility allows.
Keep your back flat.
Bend at the waist and place your hands on the floor in front of you.
Maintain a tight core as you walk your hands forward until you’re in plank position and then backward to standing.
Push your hips as high as possible and press your heels into the ground as you walk your hands back in.

Don’t
Walk your hands past the pushup position.
Allow your hips to sag below neutral.
Sway side to side from your hips.
Bring your shoulders up toward your ears.

Make it easier
Bend your knees slightly if you’re unable to reach the ground, with the goal of increasing your flexibility over time and working toward straight legs.

9 Totally Manageable Fitness Resolutions From The Pros

1 Hold A Plank

"A very manageable fitness resolution that most people can stick to is holding a plank every morning, first thing out of bed. If you can spend one minute brushing your teeth, you can definitely find one minute to hold a plank. Planks are truly one of the best exercises I know of: They work your core and your entire body. Start with 30 seconds and build up to one minute. By doing this first thing in the a.m., you remind yourself to stay active all day."

2 Find The Middle Ground

"Shift [your] mindset from the very common 'all or nothing' mentality. For many people, the start of the new year entails going from zero to 60, so to speak, almost overnight ... If you are currently not exercising or are exercising very sporadically, it's not very realistic to expect that you'll overnight commit to exercising for one or two hours per day, six days per week. Often when individuals establish these 'all or nothing' [goals], if they are not able to stick with the unrealistic expectations, they end up doing nothing at all."

3 Touch Your Toes

"Setting a performance goal may help you stay more motivated compared to a weight-loss goal. For example, a goal of 10 pull-ups, or touching your toes, can create a healthy shift from focusing purely on aesthetics to performance. Keep in mind that in order for your body to move fluidly and efficiently, your joints need sufficient range of motion, which is why flexibility is so important. As the body performs better, the aesthetics typically follow. Think of a performance goal that really motivates you, and a goal that you can enjoy the process as you strive for it."

4 Make It SMART

"Set a SMART goal -- specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. For instance, 'I would like to take three CrossFit classes a week for 60 days.' If at the end of that 60 days, you achieved your goal, reward yourself with something worthwhile, such as a vacation or massage. Just as you set your resolution in the beginning of the year, also plan your reward. That way, when you're on week five and you want to throw in the towel, you can remember that sweet reward that is oh-so-close!"

5 Find A Buddy

"Working out with a friend allows for a little friendly competition and increased accountability. Choose goals together and get to work! It's always a little easier when you know someone is rooting for up and waiting for you at the gym."

6 Don't Stress About It

"Move how it feels good for you to move every day. Don't stress about it being an hour workout, but keep consistent. Five to 10 minutes of morning practice can set you up for feeling great so you make great choices all day long that [help you] continue cultivating a radiant you."

What's the hot new fitness craze?

Not so long ago most of us chased fitness via one of three defined routes.
You either had a contract gym membership (usually forged in the first weeks of a new year), a weekly sports club commitment and/or a "soul" or solo exercise, like running or surfing.
Then the 21^st century shook our treadmills.

Deborah Laurence and Abi Holman founded portal Fitness Calendar in October to connect Sydney consumers with fitness training providers. Photo: Ondrej Garaj

Traditional businesses must compete now with multi-national fitness centre franchises, some of which never close their doors, specialist personal training studios and thousands of micro-businesses run by mobile sole trading trainers.

There has never been a better time to hunt new ways to perspire, entrepreneurs Deborah Laurence and Abi Holman say.

The sport and fitness-loving siblings founded portal Fitness Calendar in October to connect Sydney consumers with its plethora of new "boutique"-style fitness training providers.
Laurence has a background in finance, most recently with Foxtel, while her younger sister is a software engineering graduate.

But motherhood changed things for Laurence who, left the salaried workforce last year to start developing the business model behind her e-commerce fitness-class enterprise.

"I had this idea to aggregate all these amazing classes being offering today across Sydney, because I personally love all kinds of boutique fitness classes, as I am not a gym class type of girl and could see all these new options out there but no way to easily find them," she says.

"In the US, ClassPass and Fitmob are trending (offering unlimited boutique fitness classes for a flat fee), but in Australia I guess Google is our closest rival and only if you can be bothered spending 100s of hours trawling for individual classes.

"I figured if we could build a portal full of content it has got to be a win-win for fitness suppliers and users."
In August, Holman left a corporate job with Deloitte to begin work on the portal, before hitting the road to begin "relationship building" with fitness suppliers.

So far more than 50 studios and personal trainers have agreed to offer more than 400 boutique classes each week to the portal's users.

Users type in their suburb, which generates a list of classes available nearby.
Using the secure site, they can then "click buy" a casual and heavily discounted spot in a chosen class from $10.
Popular options include Retrosweat, kayak fitness, dragon boating, RollerFit, pilates, and aerial yoga.
"All of those boutique activities are very expensive to do if you are paying for them individually. They can be like $35 a class, because many providers have really high fixed costs," Laurence says.

"And from suppliers' perspective, they have been very receptive to our unique proposition, because it is a great way for them to find new client leads, fill classes and grow their businesses too."

More than 1.4 million Aussies are exercising regularly, feeding a national industry that is worth more than $1.2 billion and contributing about $1.4 billion to the national gross domestic product, a Deloitte Access Economics survey commissioned by Fitness Australia in 2012 showed.
Traditional gymnasium numbers are still increasing by about 5 per cent a year.

But the biggest growth sectors are 24-hour fitness centres, up by 10 to 15 per cent, and personal training businesses, up by about 20 per cent year-on-year.

"It has always been a very rapidly changing and evolving industry full of very entrepreneurial people," Fitness Australia chief executive Lauretta Stace says.

"More people want to be fit and active and engaged, and they want an individualised approach to their regular fitness activities, so we see many examples of people with highly varied weekly routines for example visiting a 24-hour gym one day, swimming another day and then taking an occasional or drop-in yoga class."
Scenic Cycle spin studio founder Tom Sproats agrees there is a bit of a shift on from 24-hour gyms - "although there are still plenty of them" - to a more boutique fitness experience.

"There are now gyms that specialise in one niche area, which is a relatively new concept," says Sproats, who founded his specialist venture in Sydney in June.

He says it already runs up to six classes a day and many of them are full. It doesn't charge annual fees or contracted memberships.

"It is purely pay per ride and what we have seen is rather than people turning up disengaged and more likely to leave five minutes early, like they often do with contracted gym memberships, because our clients pay as they go they arrive on time, engaged, prepared to work-out and more likely to get results."

Laurence and Holman say Fitness Calendar is running very lean but they plan to explore other funding options soon.
They will also investigate whether their enterprise can expand to other cities, possibly Melbourne, and are building a personal trainer directory to sit beside the Fitness Calendar site.

By the end of next year they will be hoping for a few hundred sales a week and will want 10,000 site views a month, Holman says.

"We are a transaction-based business, so we take a commission from sales and at the moment there is no other fee (to our suppliers).

"Once we get to our short-term user goals, have intrinsic value, we'll revise our business model in due course."