The Basics of the Women's Health Abs Diet

The entire fitness world is buzzing about the Women's Health Abs Diet. This popular diet was actually first published in Men's Health and then adapted for its sister magazine Women's Health. These magazines are the pinnacles of health information, and you know you can trust tips and tricks that come from these sources.

The Women's Health Abs Diet is an effective plan for getting your total body in shape. Why do you need a plan? Because you want to maximize your fat loss and create muscle each day so you can take a step closer to your ideal body.

And this plan works!

The basics of the Women's Health Ab Diet are simple. In order to get your abs in top condition, you must burn fat. There's no way of getting around that. In order to burn fat, you have to stimulate your metabolism. You do this by toning your muscles and replacing fat with muscle.

Did you know that by replacing just one pound of fat with an equal pound of muscle would help you burn an extra 150 calories everyday?

You'll burn those calories each day without even trying.

In order to build muscle, you need to emphasize all parts of your body...not just the abs. Why? Because your body is not a robot with different components and parts. All of your muscles work together to create your sleek physique. When you emphasize just one portion, you'll be denying yourself a proper, balanced work out.

This is where the term "compound exercises" comes in. The exercises involve several different muscle groups so your body is working as one unit to tighten muscles and burn fat.

Remember, in order for your body to be as fit as possible, you must work all of your major muscle groups together. The Women's Health abs diet exercises make your workout more fun, more challenging and increases the demands on your muscles. All of this leads to a tighter, leaner stomach in less time!

After all, no one wants to spend their whole day exercising. Celebrities can afford to do it...but we live in the real world. We want real results, real fast. And the Women's health abs diet exercises can do that. The key is in getting the most out of every workout. The workouts are short, focused and powerful. It's no doubt that you'll be feeling and seeing the effects of this workout in no time at all!

Boost Your Metabolism For Better Heart Health

Being overweight is linked to a 45% increased risk of developing heart disease. Shedding extra pounds is not easy, but by boosting your metabolism you increase the calories you burn throughout each day. This will lead to the heart healthy weight loss you desire.

You've probably heard the term "metabolism", but do you really understand what it is and how to use it in your quest for heart health? Let me give you some pointers.

First, the definition of metabolism:

Metabolism is the minimum energy the body needs for basic bodily functions when resting and just awakened. Metabolism is more commonly referred to as the rate at which your body burns calories.

Why should you be concerned about metabolism?

If you boost your metabolism the more calories you burn when at rest and throughout your basic daily activities. This means fewer calories stored as fat and promotion of weight loss. The opposite is true also. If your metabolism drops, the calories you burn drops, and the result is weight gain.

Your muscle mass has the greatest impact on your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. The less muscle equals the fewer calories. To add another wrench in your weight and heart health struggle, metabolism decreases as you age. The rate of decrease is about 2% every 10 years beginning at age 30. You can counteract this decline by being active and maintaining your muscle mass.

Building an extra 5 pounds of muscle will boost your metabolism by ~100 calories each day.

So, how do you build muscle?

The best way is to start strength training. If this is an area you are unfamiliar with it's best to work with a trainer for one or two sessions until you feel comfortable. Remember to always consult your MD before started an exercise program.

You may be thinking, but what about my time on the treadmill? Yes, cardiovascular exercise does build muscle through repetition, but the main purpose of cardiovascular activities is to increase your heart rate to burn calories, not building muscle. Cardiovascular exercise temporarily boosts the rate you burn calories during the activity, but this rate decreases back to your normal level after the activity is complete and your heart rate returns to normal. It does not affect your metabolic rate throughout your day like strength training.

Okay, you've decided you need to build some muscle and you're gung ho to start. Great! But wait one second.

A mistake I frequently see people make is trying to make too many changes at once. If you're not currently active, suddenly jumping into lifting weights and jogging 5 days a week is not realistic and you set yourself up for failure. You need to take it one step at a time.

Establishing a realistic plan is critical to your success when you strive to boost your metabolism, lose weight, and achieve heart health.

Free Exercise Plan - 3 Keys For Those Over 50

Regular exercise is good for all ages and even better when you can find quality free exercise plans. Throughout life exercise is important for preventing disease, maintaining proper body weight, relieving stress, and continuing or enhancing ones life activities. We are also human, and can be forcefully driven by our sexual needs and aroused at the sight of another's physical state. The appearance of another's body that is utilizing a well developed exercise program can not only be very pleasing to the eye, but also extremely advantageous to the overall health and wellness of the exercising individual.

As we age, the effects of gravity, diet, parties, disease, sport injuries, etc. weigh in (no pun intended) on our physical appearance and health. The American Heart Association and American College of Sports Medicine (AHA & ACSM) have addressed this aging issue directly by issuing guidelines for those over 65 and those over 50 with disease or function impairment.

Free Exercise Plan Guidelines:

Aerobic Activities

Suggested activity levels include equal or greater than 30 minutes, 5 days per week of moderate exercise OR 20 minutes of vigorous activity 3 days each week. On a scale of 1-10 a 5/6 is considered moderate exercise and a rating of 7/8 is considered vigorous. Your exercise plan may start with less than this, but you will be working toward reaching these minimums.

Resistance TrainingWe all lose muscle as we get older, especially after 50. You will want to follow your free exercise plan to offset this natural muscular atrophy. At a minimum you should participate in 2 days per week of resistance training. You may use machines, weights, bands or even body weight for your exercises. Mixing these exercise options will provide you the best results. You should perform 8-10 exercises for your major muscle groups and perform 10-15 repetitions to get started. Exercise plan progression is important and you will need to change your program every 4-6 weeks to prevent the negative effects of program stagnation. To do this you will want to look for a free exercise plan that teaches you several ways to progress your program.

Flexibility & Balance

Muscle not only atrophy's as we age, but is often accompanied with tightening, reduced joint range of motion and instability. These flexibility and balance issues can affect many of the simple activities of daily living such as household chores or yard work.

For flexibility training, after a short warm up period, perform 10 or more minutes of stretching activities for your major muscles. You will want your exercise plan to attribute two or more days each week to this.

For balance and stability enhancement, your exercise plan should include training options on two or more days each week as well.

Benefits of an exercise plan are great. There are several free exercise plans available of varying degrees of effectiveness. As we age it becomes more and more important to find a well designed program that will assist us in meeting our health needs as well as our physical aesthetic needs/wants. When you find and follow that quality exercise plan you will not only make yourself look better nude, but will alleviate many of the experiences of disease that accompany the ongoing addition of birthdays.