WOOOOOOOOO new workout is out! Get out of that lunch time slump with this fast and effective full body workout:
https://youtu.be/ZdSsbGJ4Lqc
Fast & simple beginner’s fat burn home workout
So I had a chat with my mum on Skype the other night. She told me she's started doing 50 sit ups a night to improve her fitness. I had to stop for a second to realise I'd failed to talk to mum about some very important basic fitness principles, and how sit ups are not the answer. I am ashamed. I've had hundreds of private clients over the years who know better than my own mum?!
She's going to fly over to visit us from Finland next month, and I'm sure as hell going to make sure she leaves a week later being a lot more educated. In this post you'll find out exactly what she'll learn.
Now, most people will take on doing ab work at home because they want their waist to be smaller... Correct? Yep, well working on your abs will do very little, if anything. They might even make matters worse if you're doing the exercises wrong. Loads of people have got ab work induced lower back pain, which is not fun and can take a long time to get rid of. Also, if your breathing is wrong you can be encouraging your belly to actually push out, not get any slimmer.
Like your experienced powerlifters, they might be in pretty decent condition but also do a lot of exercise whilst pushing their bellies out towards their belts... Not ideal if you want to look slim.
So instead, focus on a full body workout where you use all of your biggest muscle groups. That way your body will burn the most calories (and fat), and since you cannot target fat loss, it'll burn off the most overall fat and tone up your body in all of the problem areas, including your waistline.
Here's your exercises for an effective beginner's home workout:
- Squat (standing up and keeping your heels on the floor, lower your bum down as if you were going to sit down on a chair. Keep your knees aligned with your toes. Your hands can come in front of you for balance as you squat down. Aim to get your thighs parallel to the floor.)
- Push up (keeping your knees on the floor [and feet uncrossed] whilst resting on your arms, lower your chest down until your arms are parallel with the floor, then push back up whilst breathing out at the top. Make sure your arms are aligned with your nipples, not your neck!)
- Seal (or 'lying back extension'. Lie down on your stomach, holding your hands by your temples. Lift your chest up controlled off the floor as high as you can, hold for a second at the top and lower back down to where there is still tension in your back muscles. Repeat. If you want the extra benefit of working out your bum too, just lift your feet up off the floor whilst squeezing your glutes at the same time as lifting your chest.)
Do 3 sets of 15 repetitions of each of these exercises. That's it! These exercises also train your core when you make sure your posture is good throughout, so no need for specific ab work unless you're already lean or have a particularly weak core.
50 crunches every night
3 x 15 squat, push up, seal every night
Make it into a daily routine and soon you'll start seeing much better results than you would from doing sit ups .
Good luck,
/Erika
P.s. If you've got any questions, just drop me a message
How to easily burn up to 800 kcal more in a day
This is another one of those things....
If you think you need to go to the gym or out for a jog to burn calories.............. you're wrong
People often mistakenly think they have to do exercise to burn calories
You don't need to complete an official workout to burn energy
Instead..... There is this thing called NEAT. It stands for Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. It's revolutionary.
The idea is that every activity you do that is not classed as exercise still burns calories.
Every little bit of fiddling, choosing the stairs over escalators, parking a bit further away so you have to walk more, standing up instead of sitting down, cleaning up.... Everything counts.
And just by focusing on this, increasing your activity a little bit where you can, can make a HUGE difference.
So next time you're making a cup of tea...... Keep yourself warm by jumping around the kitchen (imagine the view)
Research shows you can easily burn 500 extra calories a day by increasing your NEAT... And even 800 kcals if you really go for it.
So....... GO FOR IT!
NOW
5 most effective gym exercises
you are serious about changing your body composition at the gym, these are the exercises you should be focusing on:
- Deadlift
- Squat
- Pull-ups
- Bench press
- Standing shoulder press
That's all you need, really. Compound resistance exercises are the most effective for fat loss!
Cardio+results? Here’s how to make it count —>
Intensity.
Intervals.
Going light over a prolonged period of time burns calories BUT it is certainly not the way to go if you're aiming for fat loss. Chances are that you'll just eat those "extra calories you earned".
Stable cardio will elevate your cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone which will encourage your body to store fat around your middle section. Not ideal.
High intensity interval training (such as Tabata), on the other hand, helps your body to keep burning body fat even for days after the actual workout. And it's great because you can do it despite your fitness level -- if you're not very fit then you'll just need to do things a bit slower to begin with. As long as you feel like you're genuinely trying hard, that's all that matters.
Because if it's hard, it will work and get you the results you want.
P.s. If you've got medical concerns, please have a catch up with your doctor first to make sure you're fit enough to embark on such a strenuous training protocol.
Tabata: The seriously fat torching training protocol
Tabata
If you haven’t heard of tabata training before you’ve totally missed out
A full tabata set = 4 minutes of work
THAT’S IT
20 sec high intensity intervals followed by 10 second rest periods – repeated 8 times.
It’s more powerful than over a half an hour run
Burns fat more than any other known training method to date
BUT
it must be done right. You have to go at it at 100%. If you’re really unfit you’ll just naturally do it a lot slower at first. Give it 2 weeks and the difference is IMMENSE.
It’ll make you ache like hell 
— and give you the results you want!!
No pain no gain!
VIDEO: Narrow squat
Narrow squats are great for working your quads (thighs). They also nicely boost your metabolism as they work the biggest muscles in your body.
Tips:
1) Keep your feet hip width apart, toes pointing straight forward.
2) Imagine sitting back on a chair. Your weight should be on your heels and your toes shouldn't go past your toes when going down.
3) Aim to get your bum so low that your thighs are parallel to the floor. This might take time to master.
3) Keep your chest up high all the time.
4) Use your hands to balance yourself through the movement.
