Best AB workout routine

All of us struggle with the stubborn tummy – that just won’t go away!

I have done quite a bit of research on this for some time now and let me tell you, it’s not easy to get rid of it.

The truth is, you can do as many sit ups, crunches or whatever exercise and as many as you want to – but it won’t get you that flat tummy or six pack that you want.

The key here is body fat loss. Abdominal exercises will certainly strengthen your core muscles, but a six pack only becomes visible by reducing your body fat to lower ranges (about 10% for men and 20% for women).

Six packs are primarily made in the kitchen 🙂

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Here are some of the tips and tricks I have learned:

• Exercise your abs everyday
• Eat clean, high protein – low carb diets
• Eat more regularly, but keep your portions small – this will increase your metabolism
• Drink loads of water – water assists with fat loss and removes the waste from your body – this also increases your metabolism believe it or not
• Cardio and strength training goes hand in hand for me – the required cardio per week is about 30 minutes 3 – 4 times a week
• HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is one of the best ways to lose fat, you can combine multiple workout in one
• Regarding strength training – I prefer doing supersets (A superset is when one set of an exercise is performed directly after a set of a different exercise without rest between them. Once each superset is complete, then rest for one minute
• Fat loss cannot be area specific, meaning you cannot just loose fat on your behinds or just on you tummy

My superset Ab workout routine looks like this:

20 Side bends

20 Crunches on stability ball

12 Russian Twists

20 V-sits

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3 sets of the superset with 1 minute rest

Hope this helps

Toddles♥

Weight loss vs Fat loss

 

Weight Loss		VS	Fat Loss
by means of crash diets and improper traing			Stored body fat loss
–	Decreased Fitness		–	Improved Fitness
–	Decreased Strength		–	Greater Strength
–	Poor Performance		–	Peak Performance
–	Early Aging		–	Delayed Ageing
–	Reduces Immunity		–	Reduced Risk of Diseases
–	Decreased Metabolism		–	Increased Metabolism

Fat loss has so mush more added benefit than just looking good, you feel good too!

Does the number on the scale really matter??

Toddles ♥

Be fit, be healthy ♥

Exercise to be fit, not “skinny”

Eat to nourish your body

and always….

Ignore the health doubters and unhealthy examples that were once feeding you.

You are worth more than you realise.

The best deep moisture treatment for your face, hair, hands and feet – that you might already have in your fridge!

The best deep moisturising treatment I have ever come across is Mayonnaise.

Mayois packed with loads of Protein, Calcium and vitamins.

Seeing that you skin, nails and hair is primarily made out of protein (Keratin), this will definitely work.

Fun fact about Mayo:

Mayo is said to be the invention of the French chef of the Duke de Richelieu in 1756. While the Duke was defeating the British at Port Mahon, his chef was creating a victory feast that included a sauce made of cream and eggs.

*Extracted from: http://www.hellmanns.com/home/about

Nowadays, mayonnaise is most commonly used as a dip, salad dressing or sandwich spread.

Ways to use mayo as a deep moisturiser:

Mayo “Facial”:

Apply mayo directly to your face as a “facial”, wait 15 minutes for it to dry or when the mayo’s colour becomes  transparent. Wash the mayo off with lukewarm water, and then wash your face with your regular face wash you use every day.

Feel your amazingly soft skin!

Hair Mask: 

Massage the mayo into your scalp, add mayo to the rest of your hair and leave it for about 30 minutes. You will have to wash your hair about 2 – 3 times or until all the mayo has been removed. Try air drying your hair – blow-drying is one of the main causes of dry and frizzy hair.

Applying mayo to your hair will reduce frizziness and seal in the moisture to prevent your hair drying out. The egg and oil will strengthen your hair shaft and penetrate deep into your hair follicles – which will help hair growth as well.

Manicure & Pedicure:

We all want soft hands and feet, nothing is worse than shaking someone’s hand and you feel the rough callus or lying in bed and feeling your partners’ crocodile feet, but not all of us have the time or the money to go to a salon and have a mani or pedi professionally done.

You can simply apply the mayo onto your hands or feet, leave it for a few minutes and wash it off. Remember the longer it stays on the softer your skin will be. Or try this super exfoliating scrub: take ½ teaspoon mayo and mix it with 1 teaspoon brown sugar, rub it over your hands or feet, leave it a few minutes and wash it off.

Mayo can remove dead cells on your hands and feet. Mayo contains fat and oil which will nourish and strengthen you cuticles and hydrate your nails. Place the mayo on your palm and rub your hands together then massage the mayo into your nails and cuticles, take your time with this – as I have said before – the longer it stays on, the softer your skin will become. Rinse with water after a few minutes. The mayo will soften your palms too.

Voila! Your diy mani or pedi at home.

Before using mayo on your skin or hair, please check if you are not allergic to any of the ingredients used.

My conclusion

Mayo is an all-rounder when it comes to moisturising and softening skin, hair and nails.

Definite my favourite!

Toddles ♥

Cool facts about squats

 

1. Squat exercises improve your circulation, so that you can forget about the cellulite!

Squats stretches your muscles and gets the blood pumping throughout your body, it improves overall health. Good circulation means that more oxygen and nutrients get to all the vital organs and muscles. And bye-bye cellulite.

*squats needs to be done regular basis for the best results.

2. Squat exercises are even good for the digestion

Squats help you to remove waste from the body. The muscular action of the squat exercise improves circulation and the flow of fluids in your body. So it helps to keep you regular too. J

3. Squat exercises help build muscles throughout your body

Even though you are working primarily on your leg muscles, squats also promote muscle growth around your entire body. The exercise is so intense that it creates an anabolic environment and makes the body release hormones that are vital for the growth of muscle tissue; squats improve strength in both your upper and lower body.

4. Squats are non-impact

Other means of working out can put undue strain on your joints like your knees, ankles and back, whereas squats, being a low impact exercise, do not have this effect, which is pretty useful to know, if you have back problems or weakened joints.

5. Squat anywhere, anytime! No equipment needed

You don’t need to join a gym of spend money on equipment, you can do squats at home, at the gym or even do a mini-squat work out in the park when you walk your dog.

6. Walk like you own your body!

Improved posture is one of the many benefits of squats. Squats are a great way not only to improve your posture, but also build balance. The balance that you need to do them will help to sit, stand and walk tall and straight, just like a beauty queen; and it will also strengthen your back muscles and help to avoid the back pain caused by sitting in a chair for too long, which is especially great for all the women who work in office buildings.

7. Squat exercises burn fat and can help you to lose weight

Squats tone your muscles and burns calories at the same time. Increased muscle mass means your body can burn more calories, so squats make an awesome general work out for health and weight loss, and muscle toning.

8. Squats help keep your knees supple and strong, improving your flexibility and preventing injury

The bending and stretching of your knees will strengthen your knee muscles and allow more oxygen and blood to flow around the joints, thus helping to keep them supple and strong.

9. Squats exercises tone your whole leg

One of the greatest benefits of squats is that squat exercises tone your whole leg. Unlike any particular exercise equipment at the gym, which target only specific muscles, you use every single muscle in your leg, when you perform a squat. The act of keeping yourself balanced and upright will give your entire leg a workout, all in one go!

There are different types of squats which you can do

• Bodyweight Squat

• Back Squat

• Front Squat

• Overhead Squat

• Bulgarian Squat

• Hack Squat

• Jump Squats

These are only some of the squat types.

10. Get rounder butt!

Squats tone your butt, of course! Benefits of squats wouldn’t be complete without including a butt toning on my list. Squats can firm up your buttocks in no time at all. So, if you want a rear to be proud of, squat!

The benefits of squats are endless; these are only just a handful of them.

Toddle ♥

The anatomy behide squats

Squats work the entire lower body, quads, hamstrings and specially those stubborn glutes.

Quads are the major muscle group that act on the hip and knee-joint, they consist of these muscles:

Iliacus, Psoas, Rectus femoris, Vastus, Adductors.

Hamstrings are the major muscle group that act on the hip and joint, they consist of these muscles:

Iliacus, Psoas, Rectus femoris, Semitendinosus, Semimembranosus.

Quads are the major muscle group that act on the hip-joint, they consist of these muscles:

Iliacus, Gluteus.

Hope you enjoy!

Toddles ♥

Squats are a girls’ best friend!!

Okay…okay! I know we all don’t like doing them, but they really do wonders for them behinds.

Try this for 1 month and see the difference…

You will have rounder and firmer behinds than ever before – NO guy will be able to resist them 😉

I promise you – this works!!

If you are interested in joining the 30 Day Squat Challenge, click on Follow Belle Femmes.

30 Day Squat Challenge will start on the 15th of July 2015.

Toddles ♥