Learn to Love Morning Workouts

This post was written by guest contributor Angela Simpson, a Fitness Instructor Specialist, Nutrition & Wellness Specialist, and blogger at Eat Spin Run Repeat.  All views and opinions expressed in the piece are hers.

Throwing back the covers may feel like a Herculean feat when it’s still dark outside. But during my seven years (and counting) of commitment to my morning sweat date, I’ve come to find the effort is well worth it.

My family moved from Canada to the Middle East when I was 13, and due to culture shock, initial unhappiness, and just plain laziness, I gained a lot of weight. As a kid I’d been super active, but once we moved, the opportunities for physical activity weren’t as plentiful as they’d been for me back home. At 16, I decided to do something about it. I vowed to lose the weight I’d gained by replacing the junk in my diet with nutritious foods. I started running on a nearby track and played golf about five times each week. My family also purchased an elliptical trainer and a rowing machine, and I made a one-hour non-negotiable cardio date with these machines every morning. That hour before anyone else in my house woke up was my me-time. And it didn’t take long before I noticed the scale tipping – this time in my favor.

Two years and 70 pounds later, I was back in Canada, running races for my university’s varsity cross-country team and training to become a group fitness instructor. Even today, I find time for some physical activity well before the sun comes up — whether it’s running, strength training, teaching spin classes, or doing yoga. Sure, it’d be nice to lie in bed a little longer on some days, but that would mean postponing my workout until later when other commitments might get in the way.

And it turns out there are a lot of other early risers out there! Last year, a new member walked into my 6 am spin class and said to me, “I don’t know how you get up this early and have enough energy to work out.” Still, she was determined to develop her cardiovascular fitness. Since she didn’t have time to get to the gym after work, she turned up to my Monday morning class almost every week without fail. Now she even shows up at the gym before I do to squeeze in some strength training before we hop on the bikes. How’s that for a positive life change!

10 Tips For Becoming a Morning Gym-Goer:

1. Schedule it. You probably wouldn’t miss an appointment with your doctor, your dentist, or your hairdresser. Just like these appointments, make your morning exercise session something you can’t skip.
2. Get out your gear the night before. That way, you won’t arrive at the gym without socks or with your shirt inside-out.
3. Write it down. Jot down an exact workout plan before going to bed. When you wake up, you won’t have to think about what machine to do next or how long you’re going to run.
4. Consider a workout you have to pay for. I used to work out with a trainer at 5 am, and some days it was very tempting to stay in bed. But then I’d think about how much money I’d waste if I missed a session, and a few minutes later I was out the door and on my way. A commitment to personal training sessions or small group fitness workouts like TRX might help make sure you get out of bed.
5. Find a buddy. Maybe it’s a friend you already know, or maybe it’s someone you meet on your first early-morning trip to the gym. Make a commitment to each other that you’ll show up and hold each other accountable.
6. Make it a competition… with a reward, of course! If you and a gym buddy are both on a quest to make early exercise dates a habit, come up with a little challenge. Maybe you’ll decide the first one to miss a day has to do 20 extra push-ups. If you’re working out solo, treat yourself to new gym gear after a solid month’s worth of commitment.
7. Do a class. Many gyms offer one-hour classes that start around 6 am. Since no one wants to be the person that walks out in the middle of the class, I’d be willing to bet you’ll stay through the end.
8. Take baby steps. Start by setting back your alarm by five minutes this week. Next week, go for another five. You’ll be getting up an hour earlier before you know it.
9. Have something tasty to look forward to. Some experts say the golden window for post-workout nutrition is 30 to 60 minutes after we finish exercising, so make breakfast your next priority. Try a blended smoothie with greens, protein powder, and frozen berries or a parfait with granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit.
10. Preserve those endorphins! Make great feelings last by writing them down. The next time you think hitting snooze sounds like a better idea than lacing up, read what you wrote and remind yourself how on-top-of-the-world you felt last time. Then get moving!

Intense Abs

Workout Nurition

Why Should You Do Interval Workouts?

Copyright: Shutterstock

What are Interval Workouts?

Interval workouts, also known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), consist of alternating intense bursts of activity with less intense aerobic activity. You do this off and on throughout an entire workout.

For instance, you alternate between sprints and easy jogs, counting 1 minute for sprints and 2 minutes for jogs, or you can just sprint for as long as you can and jog when you need to. 

How you CAN beat your 'fat genes' and lose weight... with exercise

When getting in to last season’s clothes is a struggle, it is all too easy to tell ourselves that being plump is in our genes. 

But those cursed with the ‘fat gene’ are mistakenly shunning exercise in the belief they are powerless to shift those extra pounds, a study claims.  

Experts have found that when it comes to our weight, we are not slaves to our genes after all.

Being active can melt away unsightly rolls of fat – even in those who have inherited DNA that makes them prone to obesity. 

Their study focused on the ‘junk food gene’, a strain of DNA carried by around two-thirds of Britons which makes them crave fatty and sugary foods.

hose with a flawed version of the FTO gene, as it is known, eat 100 calories more per meal than people without it. Over a week, this amounts to an extra 2,100 calories – a whole day’s food.

Researchers at the Medical Research Council’s Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge examined data on genes, weight and the exercise habits of 220,000 adults from around the world. 

Like others before it, the study linked flawed FTO genes with obesity. But it also highlighted the value of exercise.

In couch-potatoes with one copy of the gene, odds of obesity were 30 per cent higher than in those who do not have it. In those who exercised, the gene only raised the odds 22 per cent.

It means exercise cuts the effect of the FTO gene by 27 per cent, the PLoS Medicine journal reports. 

Some 49 per cent of Britons have one flawed copy of the FTO gene. 

Another 14 per cent have two copies and are on average almost half a stone heavier than people without the gene. Exercise can help them too, the study found.

Those with two copies of the gene who did not exercise had a 69 per cent higher chance of obesity than those without the gene. The figure fell by 29 per cent in those who exercised.

A summary by the journal’s editors said: ‘The wider public view of genetically determined obesity not being amenable to exercise is incorrect.’

source: dailymail

Aerobic exercise: Top 10 reasons to get physical

Need inspiration to work out? Consider the top 10 benefits of aerobic exercise.

From MayoClinic.com

At least 30 minutes of daily aerobic activity — such as walking, bicycling or swimming — can help you live longer and healthier. See how aerobic exercise affects your heart, lungs and blood flow. Then get motivated to reap the rewards!

How your body responds to aerobic exercise

During aerobic activity, you repeatedly move large muscles in your arms, legs and hips. You'll notice your body's responses quickly.

You'll breathe faster and more deeply. This maximizes the amount of oxygen in your blood. Your heart will beat faster, which increases blood flow to your muscles and back to your lungs. Your small blood vessels (capillaries) will widen to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and carry away waste products, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Your body will even release endorphins, natural painkillers that promote an increased sense of well-being.

What aerobic exercise does for your health

Regardless of age, weight or athletic ability, aerobic activity is good for you. As your body adapts to regular aerobic exercise, you'll get stronger and more efficient. Consider 10 ways that aerobic activity can help you feel better and enjoy life to the fullest.

Aerobic activity can help you:

1. Keep excess pounds at bay. Combined with a healthy diet, aerobic exercise helps you lose weight — and keep it off.
2. Increase your stamina. Aerobic exercise may make you tired in the short term. But over the long term, you'll enjoy increased stamina and reduced fatigue.
3. Ward off viral illnesses. Aerobic exercise activates your immune system. This leaves you less susceptible to minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu.
4. Reduce health risks. Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of many conditions, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
5. Manage chronic conditions. Aerobic exercise helps lower high blood pressure and control blood sugar. If you've had a heart attack, aerobic exercise helps prevent subsequent attacks.
6. Strengthen your heart. A stronger heart doesn't need to beat as fast. A stronger heart also pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body.
7. Keep your arteries clear. Aerobic exercise boosts your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol and lowers your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad," cholesterol. The potential result? Less buildup of plaques in your arteries.
8. Boost your mood. Aerobic exercise can ease the gloominess of depression, reduce the tension associated with anxiety and promote relaxation.
9. Stay active and independent as you get older. Aerobic exercise keeps your muscles strong, which can help you maintain mobility as you get older. Aerobic exercise also keeps your mind sharp. At least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three days a week seems to reduce cognitive decline in older adults.
10. Live longer. People whoparticipate in regular aerobic exercise appear to live longer than those who don't exercise regularly.

Start slowly

Aerobic activity is safe for most people, but sometimes it's important to get a doctor's OK first — especially if you have a chronic health condition. When you're ready to begin exercising, start slowly. You might walk five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. The next day, add a few minutes to each walking session. Pick up the pace a bit, too. Soon, you could be walking briskly for at least 30 minutes a day — and reaping all the benefits of regular aerobic activity.

Other options might include cross-country skiing, aerobic dancing, swimming, stair climbing, bicycling, jogging, elliptical training or rowing. If you have a condition that limits your ability to participate in aerobic activities, ask your doctor about alternatives. If you have arthritis, for example, aquatic exercises may give you the benefits of aerobic activity without stressing your joints.

1 Dumbbell, 650 Muscles

1 Dumbbell, 650 Muscles It's the simplest total-body workout ever. Editors of Men's Health Here's a new approach for the new year: Use one dumbbell instead of two. By not tracking reps in this fast routine, you'll focus on form and trigger more muscle fibers, says creator C. J. Murphy, co-owner of Total Performance Sports in Everett, Mass. Complete the circuit by doing each exercise for 45 seconds. Rest one minute. Repeat two or three times. Start with a 15-pound dumbbell. Add weight as you progress, but don't go so heavy that you need to rest between exercises. 1. Woodchopper With arms nearly straight and feet just beyond shoulder-width apart, hold a dumbbell over your right shoulder. Bend your knees and forcefully rotate your torso left as you draw your arms down and across your body. When your hands go past your left ankle, reverse the motion. Then switch sides. Keep your abs tight to prevent injury. 2. Arms-Out Squat Standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, grasp a dumbbell by the ends and hold it straight out from your eyes. Now try to press the ends together as you simultaneously push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pause, and push back up. 3. Standing Pressout With your feet shoulder-width apart, hold a dumbbell by its ends and next to your chest. Try to press the ends together as you simultaneously push the dumbbell away from your body and slightly up (to eye level) until your arms are straight. Pause, and pull the dumbbell back as you squeeze your shoulder blades together. 4. Towel Row Secure a towel around a dumbbell's handle. Grab an end of the towel with each hand and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Bend at your hips, keep your lower back flat, and lower your torso until it's almost parallel to the floor. Pull the towel ends to either side of your abdomen. Pause and lower the towel. Provided by Men's Health

Abs in No Time

Grab a medicine ball for an intensified crunch workout that will flatten your belly before beach season.
By the Editors of Men's Health

Get ripped fast

In these days of bogus infomercials, fat-burning concoctions, and fitness contraptions that promise incredible abs, there's something reassuring about a workout with a medicine ball. The heft of a vintage medicine ball makes us want to put on gray sweats and start heaving it around with the fellas, grunting contentedly. On the other hand, you can take the vintage thing too far. Leather is out; vinyl is in. Medicine balls now have easier-to-grab surfaces, and they come in many sizes and weights. (They still need a new name, though. Medicine?!)

What are you waiting for?

Here's a leave-me-alone, in-a-hurry, 21st-century set of exercises that uses the weight of a medicine ball to blast your belly from top to bottom, and your obliques on the sides—those all-important muscles you use when doing twisting, turning moves in sports. The workout was designed by Jacqueline Wagner, C.S.C.S., a strength coach in New York City. The added weight of the medicine ball will give you a more intense workout than you'll get with conventional crunches.

Use a ball that's light enough so you can do one set of each exercise without straining or arching your back. A good weight for ab workouts is a 4-kilogram medicine ball (just shy of 9 pounds). Start with one circuit and build up to three sets of the circuit. Use a slow, controlled movement for the Double Crunch and Reverse Crunch.

Double Crunch

Starting position: Lie on your back, with your hips and knees bent as shown and your feet off the floor. Rest your hands lightly on your chest. Position the ball between your knees.

The move: Exhale as you lift your shoulders off the floor and bring your knees toward your chest. Grab the ball with your hands and bring it to your chest as you inhale and ...

The finish: Return your shoulders and legs to the starting position. Transfer the ball back to your legs on the next repetition, and keep alternating ball positions for the entire set.

Seated Twist

Starting position: Sit on the floor, your back straight but leaning slightly toward the floor, as if in the "up" position of a sit-up. Your knees should be bent 90 degrees, your heels about 15 inches apart and resting on the floor.

The move: Hold the ball close to your chest, rotate your torso to the left, and place the ball on the floor behind you. Rotate around to the right, pick up the ball, rotate left, and place it behind you.

The finish: Repeat eight to 12 times, then do eight to 12 more starting with a rotation to your right; that's one set.

Hint: Keep your head in line with your torso throughout the movement. Perform this move as quickly as possible.

Reverse Crunch with Knee Drops

Starting position: Lie on your back, hands resting on the floor at your sides, hips and knees bent 90 degrees, and feet off the floor. Position the ball between your knees. Keep your lower back on the floor throughout the exercise.

The move: Contract your abdominals and pull your knees to your chest, then return them to the starting position.

The finish: Lower your knees to the left and return to the starting position. Drop your knees to your right on the next repetition, and alternate sides for each rep.

The Best New Fitness Gear

Overhaul your physique with this power-boosting, fat-blasting equipment.
By Kyle Western, Men's Health

Wall Street shouldn't rule your workout. But marketing fitness products is a big business—$5 billion in 2007—so the industry is full of gear meant to deliver fiscal dividends first and physical results second, says Fabio Comana, C.S.C.S., an educational curriculum developer for the American Council on Exercise.

"There are a ton of bad fad products out there that are either ineffective, unnecessary, or dangerous," he says. His fail-safe rule for filtering out the duds? Seek out simplicity. "Recent research into how the body's muscles and joints move has given us a better idea of what type of equipment is actually effective," says Comana. Read on for our favorite low-tech, high-intensity power tools.

Best home gym

FreeMotion EXT Dual Cable Cross

Most home gym machines lock your limbs into one range of motion, limiting potential strength gains. The arms on this machine swivel like shipyard cranes into 108 different positions, recruiting stabilizer muscles and increasing the time muscles stay under tension.

The net benefit is a superior workout, according to a 2008 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Scientists found that compared with users of fixed-form equipment, men who work out on free-form machines saw a 58 percent greater improvement in strength and a 196 percent greater improvement in balance, and they felt 30 percent less pain.

"The repetitive motions on fixed-form equipment probably cause muscular imbalances that lead to structural changes and the increase of skeletal-frame stress," says study author Keith Spennewyn, M.S., president of the National Institute of Health Science. "Free-form exercise reduces these factors by training muscles and joints together, the same way they function out in the real world."

The FreeMotion machine isn't cheap, but free delivery and in-home setup sweeten the deal. ($4,000, freemotionfitness.com)

Best lo-fi fitness tool

Iron woody woody bag

The rugged PVC shell of this amped-up sandbag allows you to perform dynamic moves, such as snatches, jerks, and throws, without creating a dust storm in the process.

"We have about 400 athletes a week using them," says Tracy Sibley, director of strength and conditioning at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C. "Even with all that punishment, the bags are nearly indestructible."

($60 to $120, ironwoodyfitness.com)

Best total-body tool

Fitness Anywhere TRX Suspension Trainer Force Kit

Designed by a Navy SEAL as a go-anywhere workout, this set of nylon straps creates resistance from two sources always at your disposal: body weight and gravity. Lock the straps onto any elevated fixture—a pullup bar, door, or tree branch—and you'll unlock new dimensions in your training.

"Traditional isolation exercises, such as the biceps curl and side lunge, primarily occur in only one of the three planes of motion," says Todd Durkin, C.S.C.S., owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego. "But with multiplanar training on the TRX, we're able to strengthen muscles and joints as a group, ironing out any muscular imbalances. That makes the moves more effective, realistic, and challenging."

Resistance can be adjusted from 5 percent to 100 percent of body weight by changing the incline of your body. ($210, fitnessanywhere.com)

Best stability trainer

Valslides

These foam-topped plastic sliders transform hard floors and carpets into ice rinks, intensifying old standbys like pushups, lunges, and squats.

"We can replicate the glute, hamstring, and core-focused exercises that can be done on a 10-foot slideboard in a fraction of the space," says Mike Boyle, C.S.C.S., cofounder of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, in Winchester, Mass. "The collegiate and pro athletes we train are always shocked with the workout intensity that can be achieved with two pieces of plastic."

Simple, portable, and versatile, they're ideal travel training tools, turning hotel floors into proving grounds. ($30, valslide.com)

Best new cardio tool

Art of Strength Ropes Gone Wild

Jump ropes are for playgrounds, right? Not if you're hurling around these python-size cables, which had us sucking wind after a 15-minute session. Instead of hopping over the ropes, though, you guide them through undulating and rotating motions, recruiting your core and taxing your heart and lungs while sparing lower-body joints from treadmill torture.

"Some players love it because it's so challenging, and others hate it for the same reason," says Jason Novak, C.S.C.S., an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the NFL's Tennessee Titans. "But when any of them want a conditioning boost and need to keep their legs fresh, the first thing they go for is one of these ropes."

Be forewarned, however: These 30- to 100-foot manila monsters require plenty of room and a sturdy anchor point. ($85 to $350, artofstrength.com)

Best upper-body upgrade

JC Predator Band

Elastic resistance bands create constant tension that dumbbells can't match, recruiting more muscle fibers during a movement. The problem is, most bands are more brittle than Eli Manning's ego.

"The Predator Band is one of the only sets that uses dipped rubber tubing comprising several layers, as opposed to the cheaper and weaker extruded rubber made of a single layer," says Grif Fig, C.S.C.S., a coach with the Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, Florida.

Tougher guts means these bands can handle more explosive repetitions and be attached to rougher surfaces, like park benches.

We also like the 4-foot, tri-tube design, which makes it easy to switch resistance between sets: Simply snap bands in or out to adjust the difficulty level. ($50, ihpfit.com)

Bikini Yoga: Boost-the-Burn Cardio

By the Editors of Prevention

Prevention

All the toning in the world isn't going to deliver the results you want if your body is bathed in flab. On your quest to look better at the beach—and have a healthier body, stress-free mind, and soaring spirit—a bit of heart-thumping activity is a good thing. Not only does a cardio session burn major calories during and after the exercise, but getting your blood pumping produces feel-good hormones and can wipe away a bad mood. So if you've just returned from that first outing to the try-on rooms to look at new bathing suits and you're in a funk, try this yoga session. Then keep at it and you'll be rewarded with a brighter outlook and leaner body.

Lunge Jumps

What it does for me: Gets my heart rate up while toning my legs, arms, and abs.

Why do it: Two words—it works!

Lunge jumps are my favorite for getting the heart rate up. Come into a Low Lunge with your fingertips on the ground.

Spring upward, switch your feet in the air, and come back in a Lunge on the opposite side. Repeat until you've done 10 to 20 on each side. Try to do them without making a sound is the trick! Thumping around is just going to be hard on your legs. Use your focus and control to jump lightly like a cat!

Plank Pose

What it does for me: Holding Plank pose for longer than usual builds strength and endurance and is good for the ticker!

Why do it: You'll get addicted to it and have fun holding Plank Pose competitions soon!

Hold Plank Pose for 10 breaths. Keep your tummy lifted and reach through your heels for extra inspiration.

Take a quick break and repeat. Keep your breathing steady.

Sun Salutes

What it does for me: Sun Salutes feel really amazing and work the whole body at the same time.

Why do it: Because you know how, and it's good for you!

Try flowing through 10 Sun Salutation variations breathing deeply. Stand with your feet together, and reach up with your arms. Fold forward into a Standing Forward Bend. Jump or step back into Downward Facing Dog. Come into Warrior 1, and then push back into Downward Dog. Jump forward into the Standing Forward Bend. Reach up and rest your hands in prayer. Repeat until you've completed 10, alternating sides.

Try to match one breath for each movement. If that's too fast for you, stay in each pose until you can get a hold of your breath. The goal is to keep moving and train your breath so you don't get that heavy panting that we see in gyms. You will be working really hard but not have to show it through heavy rapid breathing. Good stuff!

Chair Pose

What it does for me: Holding chair pose really gets into the hips and challenges my brain to focus on anything besides the difficulty factor!

Why do it: You'll be happy when it's over!

Stand in Mountain pose, with your arms at your sides. Bend your knees deeply. Squeeze your inner thighs together and straighten your arms, lifting them above your head and stretching your fingertips toward the sky. Hold for 10 breaths. Then stand straight up for five breaths. Repeat five times.

Now grab your iPod and head to the beach to relax. You look great, and you've earned a rest!

The Core Back-and-Belly Challenge

Say goodbye to the same old ab work. These 8 moves will target your core muscles and help strengthen your back.

By Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness

For decades, people worked their abs by doing traditional ab moves such as the crunch or ab curl, sit-ups, or extended-leg exercises like the bicycle or Pilates V-sit (such as for the "Teaser"). But these moves tend to flex (or bend) the spine and concentrate on the abs. Not only is this a potentially unbalanced way to strengthen muscles in the torso, but bending the spine repeatedly, or putting great load on it (as when lifting straight legs away from the body) can over-stress the spine.

Instead of hammering away at the belly by bending the spine up and down or back and forth, the new, more functional approach is training muscles to stabilize the spine. By engaging muscles both in the front and back of the torso, abdominal workouts rise to a whole new level. Think of it as a 360-degree approach that targets core muscles all around the spine.

This workout targets the ab and back muscles. By training in this way you'll develop more support for your back. But if you also want to flatten your belly, you'll need to do workouts that reduce body fat. The recipe for fat loss is to do more cardio so that you'll burn more calories: Aim for 30 to 90 minutes of aerobic activities such as walking, running, dancing, cycling or swimming on most days of the week. Eating or drinking fewer calories will help reduce belly fat, too.

How to do it:

• For moves with weights, choose a weight that is heavy enough to challenge your target muscles, but not so heavy that your joints feel strained. Start with dumbbells that are at least two to three pounds and gradually work up to heavier weights as the exercise gets easier.

• Core moves are more about building endurance, rather than strength. Each exercise varies. In moves 1, 2 and 8, you'll start by perform 1 set of 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise, and work up to doing 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps. In moves 3 through 7, you'll simply hold the position or repeat the movement for longer periods.

• Do this workout two to three times a week.

• Modify this workout to match your fitness level. Adapt each move as needed to make it easier.

• What you need: Weights and a resistance band.

from msn health

The Core Back-and-Belly Challenge

Say goodbye to the same old ab work. These 8 moves will target your core muscles and help strengthen your back.

Start: Hold a weight in each hand and hang your arms by your sides while standing on your left leg. Raise your right foot off the floor and spread your left toes in your shoe to help balance. Soften your left knee slightly and push your hips back to shift your body weight to your front heel, rather than toe. Lift your ribcage and elongate your spine while tightening your core muscles.

Technique tip: Touch your right toe to the floor behind your hips if you need help with balance.

Finish: Push your hips back as you lean your straight back slightly forward. Bend your left knee to 90 degrees or greater as you lower into a one-legged squat. Let your arms hang straight down, weights on either side of your front, bent knee. Drop your hips as low as you comfortably can. Squeeze your butt to straighten up, then lower and repeat. Then switch legs.

Safety tip: Hold your chest high and your abs tight to keep your spine lengthened.

Common error: Your shoulders slump

Fit fix: Avoid letting the weights pull your shoulders forward by holding your chest high and flattening your shoulder blades to your back.

Start: Hold one light weight in both hands and lower your body into a squat position. Push your hips back away from your knees and bend the knees until your hips are at, or just above, knee level. Hold your spine straight and your chest high as you rotate your torso to the right and reach the weight out away from your body, just outside of your right thigh.

Technique tip: Do not bend at the waist or slump forward when your reach the weight out.

Finish: Contract your butt and stand up, moving the weight in a diagonal line forward in front and across your body and up to the opposite (left) side. Stop when your arms are extended and just above shoulder level. Hold, tightening the core muscles. Then slowly return back to the starting position, rotating to the right again. Repeat and make sure that your head turns with your chest. Then switch sides.

Safety tip: When you lower the weight, do not bend forward. Lean at a diagonal, keeping your chest high and your back straight.

Common error: Swinging the arms without rotating the torso

Fit fix: Allow your arms to act as a lever to help turn your entire body as a unit. Do not swing the arms; move slowly and with control. Tighten your abs while rotating in both directions as the weight lowers and lifts.

Start: Lie on your back with your left knee bent, foot flat and your right leg extended straight. Slide both hands underneath your lower back to prevent it from flattening to the floor. Tighten your core muscles, but without pulling your bellybutton in or pressing your back against your hands.

Finish: Continue to "brace" your core muscles by tightening as much ab muscle as you can without sucking in. At the same time, press your elbows up creating more resistance as your arms are held up and your core muscles are tightening.

Safety tip: Think of this contraction as a squeeze without any movement in your torso.

Start: Begin on your hands and knees. Then raise your right leg straight up in back, stopping when your thigh is parallel to the floor and hip level. Avoid letting your right hip tilt up, keep your pelvis level so that your abdomen faces down. With your right leg raised, raise the left arm up in front, stopping when it is parallel to the floor and in line with your back and leg. Stabilize yourself in this position by tightening all the muscles in your abs, butt and back.

Finish: With the arm and opposite leg raised, stabilize your body, then pull your left elbow down toward the outside of your ribcage, sliding your left hand horizontally through the air as if you were wiping a table. Feel the left shoulder blade move toward your spine as you complete this arm sweep. Then extend your arm straight in front again and repeat. Then switch sides.

Common error: Dropping the back leg when your arm moves

Fit fix: Keep your butt tight as you slide you arms back and forth.

Start: Lie on your stomach with your legs extended and prop yourself up on your forearms. Lower your shoulders. Pull your abs in away from the floor to engage the muscles in your entire torso, then raise your hips off the floor. Then raise one knee at a time off the floor until you are in a raised plank position, your body forming a straight line from head to toe. Without bending your elbows or dropping your hips, try to focus on your upper back and open the shoulder blades so they separate.

Technique tip: Avoid letting your shoulders inch their way up to your ears. Keep them low throughout the move.

Finish: Contract your upper back muscles and draw your shoulder blades in closer toward each other without bending your elbows. Hold then separate the shoulder blades again and repeat.

Safety tip: Keep the movement subtle and simply focus on increasing the mobility in the middle of your upper back.

Common error: Dropping your neck

Fit fix: Limit movement to the back of your shoulders and shoulder blades. Keep your neck and spine stable by tightening your core muscles and keeping your arms straight.

Start: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet hip-width apart and flat on the floor. Slide your feet forward, away from your butt. Place one weight in between your knees and press your thighs together to hold it in place. Rest your arms by your sides, hands flat on the floor.

Finish: Continue gripping the weight with your thighs and raise your hips and ribcage off the floor in one smooth motion. Squeeze your butt as your lift your torso. Then lower slowly and repeat.

Safety tip: Do not suck your bellybutton in or tilt your pelvis. Bend at the waist to lift up.

Common error: Overworking the back thigh

Fit fix: If you get cramps in the back of your legs, lower your hips, rest and move your feet farther away from your body.

Start: Lie on your left side and rest on your bottom (left) bent elbow. Bend your knees and shift them back so that your thighs are in line with your torso. Lift your ribcage away from the floor so your torso forms a triangle shape between your right side, arm and the floor. Position your head slightly sideways so that your neck stays in line with your spine.

Finish: Raise your torso as a unit sideways to form a straight diagonal line from your head to shoulders to hips to knees. Avoid letting your ribs sink. Tighten your abs, especially the right side of your waist, and align your top hip directly above your bottom. If your shoulders feel uncomfortable, make sure that your supporting elbow is directly underneath the shoulder, rather than in front or in back of it. Hold for five to 10 seconds. Then, lower and repeat. Then switch sides.

Common error: Letting your body collapse inwards or rotate out.

Fit fix: Position your body sideways and tighten all the muscles along the side of your body, as well as your abs and back, to anchor yourself in place.

Start: Wrap a resistance band around a sturdy piece of exercise equipment or a stable pole. Position it at chest height. Hold on to the handles, or if your band does not have handles, wrap the ends securely around each hand and face the point where the band is attached. Stand tall, but lower your center of gravity slightly by bending your knees and shifting your body weight to your heels. Hold both hands together and stretch the band, bringing your hands to rest against your ribs.

Technique tip: Step forward or back to adjust the band length. There should be no slack. But it should not be so taut that your posture crumbles.

Finish: Brace your torso by tightening your abs against the pull of the resistance band and rotate your rib cage toward the right as far as you comfortably can. Move your torso as a unit and allow your head to turn with your chest. Hold, then keeping your core muscles tight, slowly twist back to the center starting position.

Safety tip: If you feel any strain in your back, move closer to the band to lighten the resistance and/or limit the range of motion of your turn.

Common error: Using the arms to pull the band.

Fit fix: Anchor your hands to your chest, then use your core to pull against the band to turn. If your arms fatigue, step closer to the band and press your hands directly on your chest.

from msn health