Tag performance

THE NO-EQUIPMENT FULL BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE

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Pushup ImagePeople frequently ask me how they can exercise when they do not have gym memberships and also do not have any exercise equipment whatsoever, so I have designed the following full body routine with these people in mind.  There is no equipment needed for this workout, but you should expect to break a sweat and work out intensely with this routine!

THE ROUTINE:

Squat into Side Leg Raise:  stand with feet shoulder width apart.  Squat down so that you are sitting back behind your heels with your back perpendicular to floor (if you need support, hold onto the back of a chair for balance).  Come up from squat position, raising right leg straight out to side as you straighten up.  Bring leg back to floor and return to squat position, then raise left leg straight out to side.  Keep squatting then raising one leg out to side, alternating legs.   Perform 10 to 12 repetitions.

Do not rest, but go immediately to:

Jump Squat:  Get into squat position with feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart.  Jump up, then return quickly back to squat position without resting.  Perform 20 repetitions.

Do not rest, but go immediately to:

Front Lunges:  Stand with feet close together.  Take a big step forward so that back knee almost touches floor and front knee is bent at a 90 degree angle.  Make sure knee does not go beyond your toes.  Pause for 3 counts, then return to start.  Repeat with other leg.  Perform 15 repetitions.

* Repeat above sequence four more times for a total of five complete supersets.

Mountain Climbers:  Start in pushup position with arms straight.  From this position, lift right foot off floor and move right knee to chest.  Return to starting position and repeat knee to chest move with other leg.  Continue without stopping, alternating legs.  Perform 15 repetitions.

Do not rest, but go immediately to:

Wall Pushups:  Stand facing a wall with hands shoulder width apart on wall and your arms parallel to the floor. Place feet together about two feet away from the wall. Bend at the elbows and bring your chest toward the wall.  Perform 15 repetitions.

* Repeat above sequence four more times for a total of five complete supersets.

Dips:  Facing away from a sturdy chair, hands palms down on edge of chair and place legs straight out in front of you with heels on floor.  Lower body to floor by bending elbows (keep elbows in and pointed straight back during movement) until butt almost touches floor, then return to start.  Perform 10 repetitions.

Do not rest, but go immediately to:

Back Pushups:  Start position is similar to traditional pushup, but place your forearms on the ground with your fingers touching, forming a triangle with your elbows. Bend at hip until butt is up in the air, with your torso and legs forming an upside down V. Slowly lower your chest toward your hands by bending at the elbows. Perform 15 repetitions.

* Repeat above sequence four more times for a total of five complete supersets.

Traditional Pushups:  If you have problems supporting your weight on your toes, place knees on floor during movement.  Perform 10 repetitions.

Do not rest, but go immediately to:

Arm Circles:  Hold arms straight out to sides so that they are parallel to floor, palms down.  Rotate arms in a circular motion from front to back at an approximately 12 inch diameter.  Perform 20 repetitions, then switch motion so that you are rotating from back to front and perform another 20 repetitions.

Do not rest, but go immediately to:

Supermans:  Lie face down on floor with arms straight out in front of you.  Raise your arms while slightly extending the spine and raising your chest off the floor while also raising your legs off the ground so that both your arms and legs are several inches off the floor.  Hold raised position for a count of five, then return to start.  Perform 10 repetitions.

* Repeat above sequence three more times for a total of four complete supersets.

Calf Raises:  Stand on a step so that your toes and balls of feet are on step and your heels drop below level of step.  Hold onto something sturdy and raise up so that you are on your toes.  Return to start.  Perform 20 repetitions.

Do not rest, but go immediately to:

Toe Taps:  Stand with feet about six inches apart.  Raise up on toes and tap one foot, then the other, as if running in place while on your toes.  Make sure to remain on your toes during the entire set.  Perform 25 repetitions.

* Repeat above sequence three more times for a total of four complete supersets.

Planks:  Start position is similar to traditional pushup, but place your forearms on the ground with your fingers touching, forming a triangle with your elbows.  Make sure your torso and legs form a straight line with no arching, bending or sagging.  Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds, then relax.

* Perform four sets of this exercise.

Vertical Leg Crunches:  Lie on floor and extend legs straight up in air with knees crossed.  Place hands behind head for support.  Contract your abdominal muscles to lift your shoulder blades off the floor so that chest moves towards feet without moving legs.  Lower and repeat.  Perform 12 to 15 repetitions.

* Perform three sets of this exercise.

Booty Building Superset Routine

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Find original post at:  http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles.html?start=36

If I had given into my natural genetic setpoint which gave me a relatively flat booty due to my Japanese ancestry, I would never have transformed my posterior into what it is today.  In recent years the quest for a round butt has been one of the most highly coveted physical attributes for women.  In keeping with this highly sought goal, I am providing readers with a superset routine which will create the full and curvaceous look which fills out a pair of jeans nicely and turns heads in a good way!

THE ROUTINE

Make sure to move from one exercise within a superset to the next quickly, without rest.  Once you have completed a superset, rest for 30 seconds then begin your next superset.  Complete all sets in Superset 1, then complete all sets in Superset 2, etc.

Superset 1 –

5 sets of the following:

25 jump squats

20 stiff-legged deadlifts with dumbbells

15 stride jump crossovers            How to do: Using a bench or plyo box, place one foot up on bench with that leg almost parallel to floor.  Jump explosively over bench, springing off bench and landing with your other foot on the opposite side of the bench.  Repeat on other side.

Superset 2 –

5 sets of the following:

15 walking dumbbell lunges

20 Butt Blaster

15 prone leg curls

Superset 3 –

4 sets of the following:

20 one-legged dumbbell deadlifts

20 one-legged cable kickbacks

Superset 4 –

20 one-legged leg press (lying on your side and pushing through your heel)

20 plie dumbbell squats holding dumbbell between legs with wide stance and squatting LOW

12 barbell good mornings

How to Bling Out Your Own Suit

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Find original post at:  http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/6387-how-to-bling-out-your-own-suit.html

Peacock Suit I Blinged Out! - Copy

Most of us ladies love the dazzle of crystals and sequins when seen on competition suits, but such embellishments can be pretty expensive, especially when suits are custom made and crystallized by a professional suitmaker.  However, it is possible to bling out your own suit at home as long as you have a somewhat creative hand and a lot of patience.  I have endured the laborious process of applying crystals by hand on three suits.  Despite the fact that this was very time-consuming, it was well worth it considering the fact that I saved hundreds of dollars by crystallizing the suits myself.

You may be wondering where to purchase a plain competition suit.  Good sources are eBay, Jagware,  Suits You Swimwear and Chynna Dolls, or you can have a suit made by a professional suit designer (examples are Passion Fruit, CJ’s Elite, TameeMarie) and then apply the crystals yourself.  Once you have your suit, you can determine what design you would like to apply on the fabric.  You can get ideas from looking at competition images of ladies in suits you like, or you can go to a site like www.Dreamstime.com and select a clip art image.  After this is done you need to make a copy of the design so that it is the appropriate size for your suit, and also make copies of the mirror image so that your suit design is symmetrical.  These prints will serve as templates when you are ready to start mapping out the design.  If you are very artistic, you can sketch a freehand design.

The next step in the process is determining the colors, sizes and quantities of the crystals, beads or sequins you want to purchase for your suit design.  Rhinestone Depot is an excellent wholesale online site for crystals.  I also like Artbeads but the prices are higher.  Make sure when you place your order that you order extra materials just in case some of the crystals pop off.  Generally speaking, you should only purchase flat-backed stones as they are much easier to glue onto fabric and much less likely to pop off.

There are two options available to you with Swarovski crystals when you are trying to decide how to affix the stones to your suit.  Swarovski crystals come in a “Hotfix” variety which already has adhesive on the back, but you will need to purchase the application tool (which looks like a soldering iron) in order to apply the stones.  The other option is to get the regular flat-backed crystals and use a fabric glue such as E6000 or Aleene’s Flexible Stretchable Fabric Glue.  If you are using very small stones, you should have a pair of small angled tweezers on hand to pick up the crystals.  Other supplies to have on hand are toothpicks (for setting a crystal in the exact spot where you want it and for cleaning off excess glue) and a piece of sturdy cardboard large enough to stretch out the fabric in your suit while you are working on it.

To begin the process, line up the crystals on the design which you have printed out.  This will give you a familiarity with the design and also ensure that you have enough crystals to create the design.  You can also place marks on the fabric with a washable marker so you have some guidelines.  Put your suit on the cardboard in such a way that the fabric is completely stretched out.  KEEP FABRIC STRETCHED WHILE YOU GLUE RHINESTONES AND ALLOW GLUE TO DRY!  If not, the crystals will pop off.

Start at one end of the design, placing a small amount of glue on the back of the crystal and then pressing into place. For smaller crystals, you can use angled tweezers and toothpicks to move the crystals into their exact spots.  It is a good idea to switch back and forth from one side to another to ensure your pattern remains symmetrical.

Most importantly, TAKE YOUR TIME!  This will take HOURS and HOURS to do.  Trust me, it really takes a while.  When I crystallized the peacock feathers on the suit I wore in 2011, it took me a total of 38 hours to complete the work.  I had no choice but to keep returning to the project over a number of sessions until it was completed.  Then again, there were over 3,000 crystals, so I created quite a challenge for myself.

Once you are finished, you can celebrate your creativity and rest in the knowledge that you have a one-of-a-kind suit!

Supplements Women Need

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Find original post at:  http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/7082-supplements-women-need.html

Natural Woman

The number of nutritional supplements which are available today can be pretty intimidating to those who are not familiar with the benefits which they confer on those who take them.  If you also consider the performance supplements which are marketed to fitness-minded individuals, and which are marketed mostly to men, women are often left bewildered.  Since it is my aim to address the issues of women in this article, I will not discuss general supplements such as multivitamins, CLA, fish oil, CoQ10 or the like.  Rather, I will focus on supplements which have demonstrated efficacy in treating female-specific woes.

Biotin:   This substance promotes growth of healthy hair and nails and is something I have taken daily for many years.  Though I have horribly thin nails (and continue to suffer from them despite biotin), my hair has actually gotten considerably thicker in the past ten years, and I honestly believe that biotin has played a large role with respect to my hair health.  Another great benefit of biotin is the demonstrated effect it has on regulation of blood glucose.  I recommend taking the maximum dose possible, 5,000 micrograms per day.

Calcium:  Calcium is a mineral which is a critical component of bone health.  There are three mistakes I see people making when taking this supplement:

  1.  Taking it without Vitamin D or magnesium – Both Vitamin D and magnesium must be present in order for the body to be able to absorb calcium.
  2. Taking it on an empty stomach – Calcium is best absorbed when taken with food.
  3. Taking large doses at one time – The body is unable to absorb much more than 500 milligrams of calcium at one time.  Since the general daily dose in women of childbearing age is 1,000 mg, supplementation should be broken up into 2 doses of 500 milligrams each per day.

DHEA: Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a precursor hormone which is produced in the adrenal glands which is later converted to sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.  Levels of DHEA fall with advancing age and can also decline as a result of exposure to stress.  Signs of declining DHEA include stress, fatigue, memory loss, depression, dry skin, and decreased libido.  Women are struggling with infertility may also find that DHEA will increase their fertility by promoting hormonal balance and ovulation.  I generally feel that any woman over the age of 35 would benefit from supplementation with DHEA at 5 to 15 milligrams per day.

Folic Acid:  Many women are aware that supplementation with folic acid decreases the risk of neural tube defects in a developing fetus, but not many know that folic acid has been proven to lower blood pressure in women and prevent development of hypertension.  A daily dose of 800 micrograms is advised.

ALA:  Alpha lipoic acid, or ALA for short, is effective in regulating blood glucose, optimizing carbohydrate consumption and reducing sugar cravings.  Effective dose ranges are between 100 to 200 milligrams, taken two to three times daily.

Chromium Picolinate:  Chromium picolinate can decrease sugar cravings and is effective at regulating blood glucose.  A dose of 200 micrograms three times daily is optimal.

Vanadyl Sulfate:  This is another supplement which can curb sugar cravings.  Take 10 milligrams three times daily.

Phosphatidylserine Complex:  This supplement supports the adrenal glands during stressful times.  Those with poorly functioning adrenal glands should not take this supplement.  A daily dose of  200 milligrams taken earlier in the day is recommended.