Best 4 Dumbbell Exercises For Legs

If you want to build an awesome pair of legs, this dumbbell leg workout will put you well in the right direction!
Legs are often neglected in the gym because of the effort you’ve got to put into training them.
But it’s so important that you do train legs – no matter whether your goals are to build muscle, lose fat and tone up or strengthen your muscles.
Dumbbell exercises for legs target the upper, lower and inner thigh muscles as well as the calf muscles (calves).

1. Goblet Squat

The goblet squat can be a great alternative to squatting with a bar on your back, especially for beginners to learn the squat technique properly.
Having the weight distributed in front of you causes a different challenge, and will also give your abs a blasting.

- Hold the dumbbell with your palms facing up (hence the ‘goblet’ part of the name), with your feet around shoulder-width apart and your chest forwards, shoulders back.
- Keeping a straight back, bend your knees and move your butt back and down, so your weight is through your heels. Aim to get your butt as close to the ground as possible.
- Keep your chest facing forward.
- Tense your abs and push back up through your heels to your starting position.

2. Lunges  For leg and glute development, it is a close competition between Squats and Lunges as to which is the best. Both are great and worth doing in your leg workout. What I can tell you is that if I don’t do one for a few weeks, when I bring it back into the workout it blasts my legs. For that reason I suggest Lunges AND Squats. As for the lunges you can do variations such as: Standing, Walking, Forward, Angled, et cetera.

3. Step-Ups  Here is a great exercise that takes your leg training to A New Level LITERALLY! The Step-Up done properly may be the best Glute Developer. Men may not worry about shaping their glutes as much as ladies do. Ask a woman though and I bet you she tells you, “WE SHOULD!”

4. Calf Raises  Pick up a Dumbbell or Two and get to Raising. Single or double leg variations are both great. Depending on balancing I ssues you can hold one or two dumbbells and work your way down to just bodyweight for a drop set thoroughly burning them out.

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Top 11 Amazing Health Benefits of Making Love

Most people think that making love is a kind of physical enjoyment and a good way to have a healthy relationship. But making love can do more than make you feel good and close to your partner. It can actually make you both physically and mentally healthier. Sexual activity benefits your body in the same way as exercise, it boosts heart health and immunity and reduces blood pressure. Thinking beyond the pleasure of making love, there are other various Health benefits of love making, that it keeps you young, boost your mood and immune system, helps you live longer and much more. Read the article to see how making love can benefit you.

Here I will try to discuss 10 amazing health benefits of making love. You may like this !

1. It Helps You Sleep Better.

The sleep that you get just after you’ve made love will be much more relaxed. Getting a good night’s sleep will make you feel alert and overall healthy. One of the brain’s stress-relieving chemicals, oxytocin, is released during it. That oxytocin does not only increase endorphins and decrease pain, but it can also help put you to sleep. Feeling loved, decreases stress, which makes worries disappear and allows you to fall into a deep sleep.” It also involves muscle contractions and movement that deplete the body of energy, allowing it to be flooded with those feel-good, soothing hormones.

2. It boosts mood

Oxytocin promotes feelings of joy and happiness.An investigation of 30,000 American people somewhere in the range of 1989 and 2012 found that having intercourse at any rate once every week in a submitted relationship was sufficient to satisfy individuals.It’s more than the coital demonstration that brings Health benefits of love making. Investigations of more established grown-ups found that clasping hands, embracing, kissing and common stroking likewise add to a more prominent personal satisfaction.

Getting it on can avoid sadness, as well. Studies demonstrate that people who have sex with their accomplices have more prominent fulfillment with their psychological well-being. (Lamentably, the advantages didn’t reach out to masturbation.)Yet, the lift doesn’t seem to work for easygoing sex or hookups. One investigation of about 7,500 US undergrads crosswise over 14 state-funded colleges found that the individuals who had more hookups had brought down dimensions of bliss and confidence, and more elevated amounts of sorrow and uneasiness.As opposed to the thought that men are bound to approve of easygoing sex, the scientists found no contrasts between the genders.

3. It Burns Calories.

 S-x is a great form of exercise and helps burn those stubborn calories. Studies suggest that s*x on a regular basis is as good as pumping some iron in the gym. Also, it involves muscular movement of the thighs, legs, arms, shoulders and lower abdomen which equals a total body workout. The average session burns about 150 calories, comparable to an easy yoga session or a walk. It’s a nice exercise. It burns calories, especially if it is doing by a variety of styles and position. S*x is a good way to lose weight.

4. It Boosts Your Immune System.

Making love just once or twice a week has been linked to having higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin, which can increase your protection from colds and other infections by up to 30 percent.

5. It Keeps You Young.

There’s no doubt that an active romantic life makes couples live a happy and longer life. Research suggests that regular lovemaking allows the release of endorphins and boosts the skin’s production of vitamin D, which in turn makes one look and feel young.

6. It Helps to Get Relieves From Stress.

A big health benefit of making love is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their activity. Researchers found that it helps to get relieves from stress.

7. It Helps to Improve Fertility.

Frequent exercise regulates menstrual cycles, which makes conception easier. Orgasm is a fact here which actually assists with fertilization. All those of you who are planning to become mommies anytime soon, here’s good news! According to this report, better practice leads to better chances of conception (Yay). The best way to achieve this is by not treating it like a chore; instead better the quality to increase your chances of getting pregnant.

8. It Helps Fight Disease.

A good session of lovemaking helps in combating a lot of diseases in both men and women. You will be surprised to know that making love reduces the risk of cancer, heart diseases and even common cold.


9. It Helps to Reduce Pain.

Making love is a nice natural pain reducer. According to studies, vaginal stimulation may lead to increased pain tolerance which in turn has the power to ease out pain during periods, arthritis and migraine. As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain declines. For chronic pain sufferers, forget about popping toxic pain pills, it is the way to go. Migraines and chronic back pain have been shown to be reduced, thanks to these incredible natural healers. It also wards off the flu and colds. A lovemaking session can release the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.

10. It Helps Women More Beautiful.

It helps women to be more beautiful. During making of love, women produce the estrogen hormone in significant amounts. These hormones can make women’s skin smoother and makes hair becomes shiny. Sweat that released during practice can cleanse the pores and make skin glow. Beside that, love relationships can increase the amount of pheromone in the body that can make a woman look more beautiful and attractive.

11. It Promotes Overall Well-Being

If you are comfortably happy, then be assured that nothing else can challenge your health. And it has the capacity to promote the overall well-being of a couple. A steamy session powered by love can easily perk up your mood and keep you in a happy zone.

Researches shows that a positive relationship significantly improves the overall health and well- being. Happily married couples are less likely to develop health problems such as cancer and heart failure, and will live longer on average. Your body will experience a whole roller coaster of hormones during, and reminisce afterwards. The main hormone is oxytocin, also known as the hormone of love is called. This particular hormone is important for binding and cherish with your partner and will be released when you’re hugging and have contact with your partner.

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Six Pack Abs Diet – The Top Diet For Amazing Abs!

First, the bad news: No matter how much physical effort you put into sculpting a smokin’ six-pack — crunches, planks, squats, cardio, HIIT — no one’s going to see them if they’re covered by a layer of flab.
Now, the good news: You can learn how to get abs by eating healthy.
You’ve probably heard the phrase “abs are made in the kitchen.” Well, that’s about 50 percent true — nutrition and exercise go together like Bey and Jay or Elizabeth and Philip; one without the other is “meh,” but for real fireworks/results, you need both.

So if you’re already crushing the exercise portion of the equation, then all you need to do is get your nutrition in order.

1. Limit Your Calorie Intake

Your ideal diet must be such that it creates a calorie deficit within. This would ensure that the insulin production is kept under check and the blood sugar levels remain regulated. On the whole you must aim at cutting down substantial calories on an everyday basis. To give you a basic idea, 3500calories form 1lb. of flab and so cutting down on 500 calories a day would ensure a lb. of weight loss every week. Depending upon your potential and the ideal weight loss limits, you can work out the amount of calories to be sacrificed everyday and then eat accordingly. The link at the end of the article would help you on figuring out the exact calories that each food item contains by providing you with a detailed calorie chart of various foods.

2. Increase The Number Of Meals, Reduce Portions

A particularly good strategy is to eat several short meals a day. You must eat sensibly to spread the same diet throughout the day by increasing the meals and cutting down on meal sizes. This would ensure a steady metabolism and you would witness quick fat loss.

3. Eat The Right Foods

A low Gl. diet would be really beneficial as the bad carbs which cause a steep rise in blood sugar levels would be successfully avoided in this manner. Also, high protein, high fiber foods intake to increase the metabolism are advisable. On the whole, avoid trans-fats and any junk stuff or soft drinks as that would prevent calories from mounting within and would thereby invest you with the much desired six pack abs.

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The 9 Best Muscle Building Foods for Size and Strength

People who are training for gaining size and strength can sometimes overlook the importance of the right diet in their transformation. Eating the right food can put you on the fast-track to muscle gain.

Contrary to the popular belief, you don’t have to rely on supplements for your transformations. You can achieve your dream physique by eating real food. In this article, we’ll take you over the nine food items you should have on your grocery list.

Red Meat Red meat is a great source of protein.  It promotes muscle growth, thanks to its levels of zinc, iron and vitamins. Choose lean cuts though to avoid saturated fats.

Chicken/Turkey Breast Chicken and Turkey breast is probably the most consumed muscle buildings food due to their high protein yet low fat content.

Fish Most sources of fish are full of protein .Fishes rich in Omega-3 such as salmon and trout are excellent for muscle building and should be a part of your regular diet.

Eggs Eggs (the white in particular) are very high in protein and the white has no fat.  Many body builders eat a large number of egg whites as part of their daily diet to enhance muscle growth.

Dairy Products -Milk and Cottage cheese are great sources of protein and calcium. Cottage Cheese is a casein type of protein meaning it is slow releasing therefore is excellent to eat before bed to help muscle repair during the night.

Nuts Nuts also contain protein and also contain healthy unsaturated fats.  Because of their high fat content, you should restrict the amount you consume.

Oatmeal – Whole grain oats contain seven B vitamins, vitamin E, and nine minerals, including iron and calcium and they are high in protein – in fact, did you know that one ounce of oats has twice the protein of wheat or corn flakes??

Vegetables/Fruits Vegetables, and Fruits of all varieties are an important part of your muscle building diet. This is because they contain lots of minerals and vitamins and have high antioxidant profile that will help reduce the amount of free radicals from heavy training and accelerate recovery by healing damaged muscle cells.

High Complex Carbs Foods such as bran, barley, buckwheat, beans, brown rice, cornmeal, oatmeal, pasta, potatoes and whole grains are essential for muscle building. The slow releasing energy they provide helps you train harder and stops your body breaking muscle down to use as an energy source.

Your muscle building foods should come from a variety of Protein carbohydrate and fats. A well-balanced diet that includes sufficient levels of three of these nutrients , will insure you maintain build muscle , have energy, recover well and keep your immune system strong.

However  it is important to remember that for gaining muscle size you must consume enough calories and spread this out over 5-6 meals every day to optimise nutrient absorbtion and keep body fat levels under control.

By combining a well-balanced diet which includes all types of muscle building foods, with plenty of hard training you will soon begin to see your muscles increase in size.

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Diet For Abs – Ripped Sexy Six Pack Abs

Are you set on flattening your tummy or maybe you have a burning desire to show off a six pack stomach? Well, that goal is well within reach, you may just not know where to start. Many times, we get so wrapped up in how awesome we would look and feel and immediately jump into a less than perfect plan to achieve those six pack abs.

Your results may have been less than spectacular.

Your plan fizzles within a week or so because the emphasis is on ineffective diet and exercise strategies that cause us to work waaaaaay too hard and not smart, so you see NO change!

You need to step back and envision a plan that you know WILL work, results you can SEE. It worked for me and will for you.

The first step is educating yourself on what works and what doesn’t work so you can set realistic goals and expectations for achieving a six pack, or even just flattening your stomach. You can’t just decide one day ” I want flat abs” And start doing 100 sit ups and expect anything resembling a six pack!

So let’s relax and a get a plan that will not only get you six pack abs, but help you keep them as well.

The best most successful plan to get ripped abs used by thousands works because it puts diet first. Diet is 80% of the process in gaining ab definition. Cutting out foods that convert into belly fat need to be eliminated immediately. Like NOW. This needs to be done before you do one sit up or crunch!

It’s simple..reduce body fat percentage and you’ll lose fat around your gut as well. And the best way to do that is by radically changing our diet. I’m barely talking about exercise in this article for a good reason. Direct ab exercise without considering diet will not achieve your goals for a six pack, it’s a proven fact.

So work smart not hard! You can see results in about 4- 6 weeks, and look awesome at the pool or beach, following this mindset. Get pumped up about achieving your new body because it’s totally within your reach!

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4 Simple But Powerful Men Leg Workouts - Quickly Achieve the Athletic Looking Legs You Want

Want to get big legs? Well maybe not, but you're after the best leg exercises to build and tone your thighs, calves and glutes.

If you're reading this, you are probably on a mission to get in shape, bulk up, get ripped, get shredded or turn some of that superfluous tub into powerful muscle that's both functional and, dare we say it, attractive (to some people, at least).
 You can see why it is important to include leg workouts in your workout routine. 4 of the most effective men leg workouts include:

    Leg Extensions

 If you want to work on your quadriceps and strengthen your thighs then you should be performing leg extensions. To perform leg extensions workout  you are going to have to sit on a leg extension machine and place your foot below the foot pad. Grab a hold of the handle and slowly raise the weights with your legs until your knees are straight. Hold this position briefly and then slowly lower your legs back to the position you started in. You should perform the up and down motion of this exercise slowly so you can get the most out of it.

    Squats

Some people complain that performing squats hurt their knees or their back. However, the only way squats can hurt your knees or your back is if you perform them incorrectly. Your body must maintain a good posture when performing a squat and if you lean too far forward while performing a squat you can damage your lower back. To properly perform a squat you need to stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart. When using a barbell you should hold it firmly with your hands and position it steadily on your upper back with your palms facing forward. Now slowly bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground. You must keep your back straight and both feet flat on the ground. Once you have squatted all the way down you must slowly raise your body back up to the position you started in. Performing squats is one of the most effective leg workouts that will build athletic legs and also work the rest of your body as well.

    Leg Curl

Leg curls are also known as hamstring curls and this leg workout will tone the back of your thigh. To perform the leg curl you should be face down on a leg curl machine. First you must place your feet below the foot pad with your knees slightly off the pad and your ankles touching the foot pad. Grasp the handles of the machine firmly and slowly lift your heels towards your backside. Hold that position for a second and then slowly lower your leg back to the position you started in.

Bodyweight Lunge

  50 reps in as few sets as possible
This is the ultimate workout finisher and typically requires a favoured playlist or some pumping tunes to get you through the burn.
It's super simple: you are going to perform 50 controlled lunges in as few sets as possible.
To perform a lunge, simply step forward with one leg and drop the opposite knee until the shinbone is parallel with the floor.
That's one rep, so return to the starting position and swap legs until you've completed 50. This will hurt.

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Will a 2-Week Vacation Ruin All Your Gym Progress?

It’s probably happened to you. You’ve finally gotten into a steady routine at the gym, showing up like clockwork every evening at 5:25 p.m. It’s taken you about a month, but your squats have been feeling great, you’ve managed to go a whole week without getting sore, and you swear your shoulders are looking more toned.

But your vacation is coming up, and you’ll be going to France for two weeks. Naturally, you’re thrilled to go because it’s been a lifelong dream to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. But if you’re being completely honest about it, it’s stressful knowing you’ll be away from the gym for that long.

Not only are you worried that you’ll gain 10 pounds from all the croissants you plan to eat, but you’re afraid of losing a month’s worth of fitness. You know all those gains won’t stick around while you’re off galavanting in Europe, and that you’ll have to start all over when you get back.

Maybe you’re thinking you should just skip the gym tonight. After all, why are you working so hard for something you’re about to lose?

Before you get hasty and banish your gym sneakers to the darke

How Long Does It Take to Lose Strength?

You already know it takes a while to get stronger. You’ve also probably heard that if you don’t use those muscles, you lose them. But how quickly does that happen?

In 2016, a group of researchers was curious about how long it would take to gain strength, as well as how long it would last. So they designed a study to test it out. If they could show that even short-term training helped build strength, it would allow physical therapists and other rehab professionals to develop simpler and cheaper programs to help their patients recover from injury.

The researchers recruited 19 healthy men who were minimally active and didn’t have a regular gym routine. They divided them into two groups: a control group that didn’t exercise at all throughout the study, and an experimental group that participated in a resistance-training program.

What’s cool about the exercise program is that it wasn’t your typical eight-week cycle consisting of a variety of total-body exercises. No, the training program lasted only three days, and it consisted of only one exercise that worked only one limb. That’s right — the experimental group did only leg extension exercises with their dominant leg for three days.

After completing all three days of training, the participants came back to the lab three times for follow-up tests: 48 hours, one week, and two weeks after the final training session. All three assessments indicated that three days of training was enough to elicit strength increases from the participants. The strength of the trained leg, on average, was about 22% greater than it was during the pre-training assessment.

Yet that’s not even the most impressive statistic. All three post-training assessments showed about a 16% strength improvement in the untrained limb. Even the leg that wasn’t trained got stronger.

What’s more, these effects didn’t disappear instantly. The post-training assessments showed that even after the participants went back to their minimally-active lifestyles, their strength gains stuck around for two weeks.

How Does This Happen?

A lot happened in this study, and it might be challenging to comprehend. How did three days of training have such a noticeable impact on strength? How did those gains not vanish within one day of inactivity? And, for Pete’s sake, how did the untrained limb get stronger too?

It seems the brain might be responsible for all three of these effects. Let’s break them down.

1. Short-Term Strength Increases

When you first started working out, you probably noticed that you got a little better each time you stepped foot in the gym. Personal records came quickly, and improvements in strength and endurance were frequent and sometimes astonishing.

The initial improvements you saw were mostly due to neural adaptations. That means it’s not so much your muscles getting bigger (although that happens); it’s more your brain’s ability to activate the muscles you have. This effect is called neuromuscular efficiency.

That’s likely what happened to the participants in this study. It’s not that they suddenly developed more muscle fibers — it’s that their brain responded eagerly to the training and learned to activate the right muscles in just three days.

2. Detraining

Losing part or all of your strength after you stop working out is a principle called “detraining.” You can blame your brain for the bulk of this effect — at least at first. It likely happens because your neural drive — that is, the sum of all the brain signals going to your muscles — gets weaker. This decreases motor unit activation (which is your brain’s ability to stimulate the appropriate muscles) and prevents you from being able to bench press as much as you used to.

Some studies suggest that elite athletes experience detraining more quickly than recreational exercisers (or novices), but this doesn’t seem to be a hard-and-fast rule. A study done on both rugby and American football athletes showed that they maintained their strength levels for three weeks after pausing their resistance-training program. However, they did continue to practice their sports during this hiatus, which may have helped preserve their gains.

Even though it’s possible to retain strength for weeks without training, that doesn’t mean athletes are wasting their time by working out so frequently. Other research has illustrated that lack of exercise can cause rapid, significant declines in power output, even if strength is still unaffected — so it’s crucial that athletes stay in the gym.

3. Contralateral Strength Gains

Now, what about the leg that didn’t work for its strength? How can it just mooch off of the other limb?

You may notice that the researchers in this study had participants train their dominant leg. That wasn’t just an arbitrary choice.

In motor control theory, there is a concept called bilateral transfer, which means that learning a single-handed task is easier if you’ve already learned it on the opposite hand. While this effect happens in both directions, it’s generally accepted that the result is more pronounced if you train the dominant side first. That’s why the researchers had participants use only their preferred leg.

How do strength gains transfer to the untrained leg? There are a few different theories, but again, you can thank your brain! One theory is that you have a motor schema (a representation in your memory) of how to perform the movement, which is accessible by both limbs. Another is that the motor neurons activated during exercise also trigger the neurons that go to the same muscles on your body’s other side.

What This Means for You

Yes, the study exploring the effects of three days of strength training was intended to help clinicians write smarter rehab programs. But you don’t have to be injured to take advantage of this information.

Everything you just read means it’s okay to go on vacation and leave the gym at home. Especially if you’re active (walking along the beach, exploring Tokyo on foot, climbing the Swiss Alps), you won’t have to start over from scratch when you come back. Even though you may feel out of shape when you return, it’ll only take a couple of sessions to get your brain back online. Then you can pick back up where you left off.

This also means that it’s never too late — or too overwhelming — to start exercising. Your body can benefit from doing just one exercise for three days, which means you don’t need the fitness level of an elite athlete to see some meaningful improvements in your health.

So, lace up your shoes and get on your way! Your brain will be very excited.

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Exercises At-home Workouts to Get Six-pack Abs

If your goal is to get abs fast, then it's important to do a combination of exercises that'll target all these different areas in your abdominal wall like the ones on the list below. In addition to instructions on how to do each move, straight from Anna herself, you'll also find info on what specific areas of your abs they target. Just pick a few ab exercises from the list below and turn them into the ultimate ab workout.

Assisted Reverse Side Situp

How to: Start lying on left side, resting most of weight on left hip, with legs in the air at a 45-degree angle, and place left forearm on the floor for support. Bend knees as you bring them toward chest, and lift chest to meet them. Lower back to start. That’s one rep. Do 15 reps on each side.

Unilateral powerhouse

This one is great for targeting the deep core muscles and emphasizes good posture.

Do three rounds of the following workout:

   - 20 Dumbbell Renegade Rows
   - 20 Single-Arm Dumbbell Overhead Press with a twist (each side)
   - 8 Split Squats (each side)
   - 30 Dumbbell Suitcase Walking Lunges (each side)
   - 8 Single-leg Squats with Dumbbell Lateral Raise (weight in hand of the working leg), each side
   - 15 Single-leg Deadlift with Upright Row (each side)
   - Side plank with 15 dumbbell flyes, each side

No-crunch workout

There’s so much stabilizing going on here, your entire core will be burning way more than your abs do after a hundred crunches.

Do three rounds of the following:

    - 20 Lying Bicycle Crunches with Overhead Dumbbell (hold the weight just off the ground, but don’t let it touch)
    - 10 Pushups
    - 1-minute Side Plank
    - 20 Supermans
    - Side Plank with 15 Dumbbell Flyes (each side)
    - Forearm Plank Series: Hold a plank for 15 seconds in each position:
    – Forearm plank
    – Right leg lifted
    – Left leg lifted
    – Right arm back to hip
    – Left arm back to hip
    – Right arm and left leg lifted
    – Left arm and right leg lifted
    – Forearm plank

Leg Raise and Reach Clap

How to: Start lying on back with legs lifted in air at 45-degree angle and arms by side pressing into mat. Without letting lower back lift off floor, raise legs to hip level while curling upper body off floor and bringing hands to clap behind knees. Return to start. That’s one rep. Do 15 reps.

Plank variations

Because holding still in a simple forearm plank for an eternity is both boring and counterproductive, most people lose form after a minute, causing strain on their back. This routine keeps you moving so you keep seeing results sans the back pain. Bonus: No equipment needed.

Do the following plank series twice, resting between series:

    - 15 Forearm Side Plank with “Thread the Needle” (curl top arm under and back up), each side
    -  10 Pushups to Straight-arm Side Plank
    - 1-minute Side Plank
    - Forearm Planks with 20 Toe Taps (do all 20 with one foot then switch sides)
    - Forearm Plank with 20 Side-to-Side Hip Dips
    - 20 Knee-to-Shoulder Knee-ins
    - 20 Knee-to-Opposite-Shoulder Knee-ins
    - 15 Forearm Side Plank with “Thread the Needle”

Plank With Hip Dip

How to: Start in a forearm plank position. Engage abs, squeeze butt, and slowly dip right hip to right side but stop just before the touch the floor. Reverse the movement and repeat on the left side. That's one rep. Do 15 reps.

Bicycle Crunch

How to: Start lying on back with left knee pulled toward chest, right leg extended in air at 45-degree angle, shoulder blades and head curled off mat, hands behind head with elbows wide, and torso rotated toward left knee. Reverse the position of legs while rotating torso toward right knee. Return to start. That's one rep. Do 15 reps.

Deep V workout

The aim of this one: to create that deep-V definition in your abs. Do three rounds of the following circuit:

    - 12 Lying Alternating Leg Lifts (each side)
    - 20 Supine Reverse Crunches with Overhead Dumbbell (hold the weight right above the ground, and raise your legs up to a reverse crunch)
    - 20 Bicycle Crunches (make sure to fully extend your legs)
    - 10 Inchworms (hold briefly in plank position)
    - 20 Knee-to-Shoulder Knee-ins
    - 20 Knee-to-Opposite-Shoulder Knee-ins

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Everything You Need To Know About Eggs Protein ?

If Egg is Your go-to Protein Source, You Need to Know this!

Ah, the humble egg. Eat it by itself for breakfast, or whip it into a meringue masterpiece. And at 6 grams of protein per egg, it’s a great ingredient to keep in your vegetarian repertoire!

But how much do you really know about eggs? Like, what do the colors mean? And what is free-range, actually? We’re breaking down everything you need to know about eggs before we dive into the egg-cellent recipes this week!

 Eggs have been recognized as one of the best bodybuilding foods. Rich in protein, low in everything else, if you skip the yolks, and healthy when cooked in a variety of delicious recipes. However, what does supplementing with eggs look like?

•     AA Eggs: Have a small air pocket with a white that stands well around the yolk

•     A Eggs: May have a larger air pocket and a thinner egg white

•     B Eggs: The air pocket may be large with possible staining on the shell 

What do egg labels mean?

You may see a variety of different labels slapped onto your carton of eggs. Here’s what they all mean!

    Cage-Free: Hens are not confined to a cage; however, they may not be running happily around a field. Cage-free can constitute a wide array of chicken environments, from cramped in a warehouse to wandering around outside.
    Free-Range: Hens are free to roam outside for at least part of the day.
    Natural: The term “natural” is not regulated so this could mean anything the manufacturer wants it to mean.
    Organic: The term “organic”, unlike “natural”, is mandated. Certified organic hens are fed organic vegetarian diets free from genetically-

modified foods or foods produced with pesticides. The hens do not receive antibiotics or vaccines, and are often also cage-free.
Pasteurized: Pasteurized eggs have been heated in their shells to 140 degrees F for 3.5 minutes. This kills many of the bacteria, namely Salmonella, making this a good option for those with weakened immune systems.

 Why Should I Care About Egg Protein?

University research studies have shown that egg protein stimulates muscle growth in the body and boosts the creation of protein. This is probably because of the large concentrations of leucine, around 9%. Leucine is an essential, branch chain amino acid and it’s the acid that takes care of synthesis stimulation when it comes to muscle mass in the after-meal period. Not a lot of things have more leucine than an egg – pure WHEY protein being one of them.
Eggs have an incredibly high percentage of leucine, anywhere from 10 to 20 percent more than other sources. Also, egg proteins have a much more anabolic effect on the body than soy or wheat protein. It even beat them in the university study, where people who took egg protein increased their body mass much more than the people who took the other two proteins, even when they had the same amount.
When you eat an egg, your body practically absorbs all of the contents and after eating one, your body gets a surge in plasma amino acids, which have an effect on the muscles themselves. Muscles are vulnerable when it comes to blood amino acid levels and so they grow even stronger than before, with amazing speed and consistency.our food intake in the short term.
So, if you want to lose some body fat, you should focus on eggs a little bit more, especially if you want to feel full most of the time. Eating egg protein has a lot more benefits though – it has a lot of macronutrients, as well as vitamins and minerals. All of these components provide a substantial boost to the overall healthiness of the egg.

 So When Should I Eat Egg Protein?

 How much of the stuff you eat will be egg protein is up to you, but there are of course way to calculate the needed amount. Factors in this equation are things like body weight, protein intake, amount of other protein food eaten etc. Because eggs have a lot of leucine, you don’t actually need to satisfy all of your leucine needs through eating tons of eggs – you can always measure and most of the time you will realize you don’t actually need that much.
If you weigh 200 pounds and you’re only eating egg protein, you will need anywhere from thirty to forty grams of it per day to maintain what you have and grow even more muscle mass. If you wanted to do the same but used soy instead of egg protein, you’d probably need about fifty grams of it for the same effect.
You can eat egg protein whenever you want and it will still have very positive effects. However, you will often see people consuming it before or after their exercises. McMaster University studies headed by Dr. Stuart Phillips showed that eating as little as five grams of egg protein after working out would boost your recovery time and protein synthesis speed. Don’t clap yet though – the best results of the study were those people who had twenty to forty grams of egg protein daily.

Eggs go through your system really quickly, so in order to slow down the absorption process, supplement companies have put egg protein and whey in combination with casein and other slowly-absorbing protein. What they’re trying to do is make a powder that will provide a steady protein release into your blood flow. It’s unknown if this actually does any good.

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Skinny People Build Muscle Differently / Tips

If you are on of those lucky people that are blessed with a skinny body that never puts on fat then you also know you carry a curse as well that makes it very difficult to put on muscle mass too. Skinny people build muscle quite differently to other body types you see and if you need to gain weight and pack on muscle you need to know how to gain muscle mass in a different way.

Tired of people telling you how lucky you are because you can't gain weight?  Kick your body into gear with these  tips for packing on the pounds.

if you need to gain weight and pack on muscle you need to know how to gain muscle mass in a different way.

in any activity in life there are three phases: Understanding, planning and action! So before you start building a workout schedule and hitting the weights you need to understand what it is that stops your skinny body from gaining muscle like other people who seem to be able to put on bulk but just looking at some weights and eating a diet of Twinkies and hamburgers. You see the same blessing of being skinny and not putting on FAT is also what limits muscles growth because of your high metabolism.

In case you do not know about metabolism, it is basically the process of your body breaking down food intake and converting it to energy which is used immediately, to keep you warm, stored as fat cells, used to repair and grow muscle or even just wasted. A skinny person will find they chew through energy and nutrients at a very fast rate leaving very little excess to be stored as fat cells and also nothing left to repair and grow muscles which both happen at the end of these phases. This does not mean you can never be fat nor can you never gain muscles it just means your approach to working out, diet and fitness needs to be altered from what the bodybuilding magazines suggest because they are not selling you the things you need to actually work WITH your metabolism.

How to gain weight quickly comes down to a few basic concepts when skinny people build muscle, or try to at least.

    Diet & Meal Planning
    How You Exercise & Lift Weights
    Workout & Resting Regime (this is often neglected by people looking to gain muscle mass fast)

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Best 3 Golden Rules for Muscle Growth !

As it is with everything in life, there are two ways to do things - do it as everyone else is doing it without questioning, or try to get the maximum output for the efforts you put in. When it comes to weight training, sadly most people don't have a clue about how to train.

 #1. The specific order in which you perform your exercises directly affects the order of muscles you fatigue, which greatly influences your gains from the whole ordeal. And if you want your overall size and power to grow, you’ll need to emphasize the big muscle groups. A good rule of thumb is to hit the smaller muscles only after you’ve finished with the heavy lifting and drained all energy from the big ones, so never place isolation movements which tire out the small muscles before compound exercises.

#2. Always place weightlifting before cardio. If not, long cardio sessions will use up most of your strength and fatigue your muscles before you even touch a bar. Keep in mind that this rule also applies for the day before having a heavy lifting session. On the other hand, if you do cardio the next day after a lifting session, the fresh muscle gains can improve your performance.

#3. Finally, try to put free weights before exercise machines. Free weights allow you to train functional movements with full range of natural motion, protect the health of your joints and increase muscle coordination, but most importantly, they work almost all muscles in your body. On the other hand, machines are great for isolating smaller muscle groups and we’ve already discussed their place in an efficient muscle-building routine. In general, free weight exercises are more difficult and place a lot more stress on the body, which is essentially the key to a ripped physique.
Got it? Good, because it’s really as simple as that. Now go and make every one of your iron-pumping sessions count!

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Resistance Training – Muscle Strength Burns Fat!

  In fact, I recommend that anyone wanting to lose body fat should incorporate resistance training into their regular routine.  The importance here is one of metabolism.  When you get metabolically active tissue (muscle) active on a regular basis, you will increase your metabolism, enhance the way your body utilizes calories and lose more fat.   This can have an impact by allowing your body to burn more calories even after you have stopped exercising, as your metabolism can be elevated for hours post-exercise.  In addition, elevating your lean mass (increasing muscle tissue through resistance training) will elevate your metabolism even when your body is at rest.  Resistance training is a must to improve fat loss success.

What Is Resistance Training?

Simply put, resistance training is any kind of movement of your muscles against an external resistance like free weights, weight machines, exercise bands, or even lifting rocks, that causes your muscles to contract. Doing these kind of muscle movements causes microscopic tears in the muscle in a process called catabolism, or break down, of the muscle fibers.

The healing and repair that our body does in response is known as anabolism. It causes the muscles to not only repair themselves but also grow stronger, denser, and more resilient. The result of that two-stage process creates a more toned you and increases your metabolic rate which helps you burn fat faster. If you burn fat faster, guess what? You lose those stubborn pounds of fat faster.

Here are some other side benefits of resistance training that I bet you’ll be surprised to know:

• Can help lower blood pressure – current research shows that resistance training lowers both systolic (upper) and diastolic (lower) blood pressure by several points. It also decreases stress hormones in the blood which helps lower blood pressure.

• Prevents osteoporosis by building bone – friction of the muscle against bone during resistance training stimulates the bone to grow and become thicker.

• Reverse or slow down the aging process – along with a higher protein intake, resistance training helps release Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which slows aging.

• Improve glucose metabolism – weight training improves insulin usage by utilizing glucose for muscle work. Helps prevent type 2 diabetes.

Aerobic and Resistance Training – Both Work Together

Don’t get me wrong, aerobic exercise is very beneficial to your overall health. It also improves your mood, decreases your blood pressure, increases your metabolic rate, increases lung and heart capacity, and helps you sleep!

However, I have some patients who exhaust and dehydrate themselves doing aerobic exercise every day for 1 hour, trying to lose fat and tone muscles. This is actually counterproductive. You can shorten your aerobic exercise time to 20 minutes, 3 times a week, doing interval aerobic exercise instead which not only energizes you but strengthens your heart and boosts your metabolic rate far better and faster.

Interval aerobic exercise, is doing a 10 minute slower warm up with your chosen exercise (walking, jogging, traditional bicycling or “spinning” on a bike in a club, elliptical machine, swimming, brisk dancing) and then alternating between short, 2 minute bursts of more intense, faster, higher resistance level exercise and slow, resting exercise for the remaining 10 minutes. As you get used to doing intervals like this, you can gradually increase your length of high intensity bursts to 5 minutes.

Resistance training, on the other hand, specifically targets the strength of each muscle group and should be done 3 times a week. Whether you use free weights or standing weight machines in your gym is your choice. However, you may want to start out on weight machines and incorporate some free weight exercises into your resistance training routine after you’ve become comfortable with it. Also, a good warm up session of stretching before resistance training is important to avoid injury.

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How To Build Muscle Fast on A Budget: Top 8 Cheapest Sources of Protein

Do you want to build muscle but think quality food to reach this goal is unaffordable? Many of us feel this way and unfortunately, have based this conclusion on inaccurate nutrition information. The problem is many of us believe expensive protein powders and supplements are necessary for lean mass gains.

Nutritious foods are not only affordable but will enable you to achieve lean mass gains. Nothing fancy or expensive is required, just eating right for your fitness goals.

If you want to learn how to put on muscle mass as fast as possible without constantly feeling tired, consider this: take one to two grams of protein for every pound of their bodyweight! If you weigh 200 pounds, you would need anywhere from 200 to 400 grams of protein per day if you want to see good results!

The following budget-friendly tips will guide you on how to eat for the muscle you’re building while staying on track financially:

 1. Whole Eggs

Protein Amount: 7 grams/egg
Don't throw the yolk out as it is also a good source of protein and vitamins, but at it increases fat levels, reducing your cholesterol intake will help balance things out.

2. Canned Tuna

Protein Amount: 30-40 grams/can
Make sure to get the ones that are not packed in oil but rather in brine or spring water.

3. Milk

Protein Amount: 8-10 grams/glass
If you're skinny and want to put on weight, drink at least a gallon of milk per day to help you gain the necessary weight to help build a solid foundation for lean muscle mass development.

4. Ground Beef

Protein Amount: 25 grams/100 grams of ground beef
Get the ones that have 80%(or higher) lean beef content and rinse them to help decrease fat levels by 50%.

5. Beans/Lentils

Protein Amount: 18 grams/cup
Not only is this type of food cheap, but it is a good source of fiber and contains less fat especially when purchased dry and home cooked.

6. Chicken Breast/ Salmon/Turkey

Protein Amount: 23-25 grams/100 grams of chicken, turkey or salmon
A healthier red meat alternative that contains omega-3 fatty acids which is good for the heart. But be careful to stay away from the skin as it contains saturated fat and high levels of cholesterol.

7. Almonds

Protein Amount: 20 grams/cup
Less allergenic than peanut butter, one of the best protein-packed snacks you can bring around anywhere.

8. Beans

Now, we all know that beans can have an unsettling (and occasionally hilarious) impact on the human digestive system, but these innocuous ingredients are also incredible sources of protein.

Not all beans are created equal, of course, as there are various different types of available across numerous different cuisines. Depending on your choice, you can access between 15 and 30 grams of protein per cup, so it’s crucial that you seek out the options that boast the most nutritional value.

Yellow soybeans contain an estimated 28.6 grams per serving, with Navy beans also high in protein with a total of 15.8 grams in each cup.

Truly, nutrition plays a key aspect in order to achieve success in your muscle building program. Although, reading those nutritional labels and doing calculations can be boring, but it is surely one great technique on how to build muscle fast. If you want to gain quality lean muscle instead of that unwanted fat, then be it would be extremely advantageous to know which are the right types of food that provides quality and optimal nutrition.

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Best 10 Chest Exercises to Get Ripped for This Summer

Aside from building up biceps and abs, one of the main concerns of men is how to get a bigger chest. Having a well defined chest can give you a more confident posture. Here are some exercises that will help you increase the volume, size and definition of your pecs.

How to Get a Bigger Chest

#1. Barbell Bench Press

 

 This exercise helps to build the maximum power with barbells. Apart from being an easier alternative than pressing heavy dumbbells this exercise allows you to shift more weight. It is absolutely easy to learn exercise if not master it apart from which there are many prom bench press exercises you can follow to add on to your strength. It is recommended that you perform this routine at the start of the chest workout and if you change the width of your grip on the barbell it can help in complete chest development.

#2. Flat Bench Dumbbell Press

 

When you use a dumbbell for your exercise both the sides of your body get a workout as more muscles are brought into use. It is true that dumbbells are difficult to control as compared to barbell but even this is true that dumbbell allow a longer and wider range of motion as compared to barbell. It is recommended to do this exercise again towards the start of your chest exercises for heavy sets in lower rep ranges.

#3. Low-incline Barbell Bench Press

 

 When a barbell bench press is performed at a steep angle the pressure is on the front delts than the chest to move the weight. Instead of that try for a lesser steep incline to put back the pressure on the upper pecs rather than the delts. Usually chest exercises start from flat benches towards the incline. But it is a good habit to ever so often start with an incline first. This can be beneficial to put more stress on the upper pecs and induce more growth.

#4. Machine decline press

 

 While doing a machine decline presses the next time consider sitting side ways on the apparatus and pressing your body each arm at a time. This way it provides a completely diverse feeling unlike when you use the apparatus sitting straight. By sitting sideways on the machine you can increase the effects of the press. You could perform this exercise as the last mutijoint exercise of your routine.

#5. Seated Machine chest press

 

 As compared to free weight pressing moves on the flat bench, machine press has some additional benefits. Firstly it is easier to slow down your repetitions and secondly it is great for doing quick dropsets. If your soul purpose is to gain mass then this exercise is recommended in the last of the routine as machines provide higher chances at mass building with least assistance for the shoulder.

#6. Incline Dumbell Press

 

 Dumbbell presses are a priority in every exercise routine there can be a number of variations with a adjustable instead of a fixed bench. When a muscle is hit from different degrees of incline it helps the building process more thoroughly. This comes usually in the first position in your routine of exercises but can easily be pushed back to the third. Just remember that the later this exercise is done lesser is the weight you can push.

#7. Dips for chest

 

 First of all make sure you are doing the dips right for a chest exercise. The right form is to put your feet back and lean forward as much as possible and flaring your elbows as you dip. It depends on your strength as to when is this exercise performed.

#8. Incline bench cable fly

 

 There are not many single joint exercises on the list but this is an effective exercise for your pecs to segregate them after you finish your multi joint exercises. A continuous tension is maintained with the help of the cables throughout the exercise. This exercise is recommended at the end of the workout with slightly higher reps.

#9. Incline Dumbbell Pullover

 

 As compared to the flat bench pull over’s, these incline bench pull over’s create tension on your chest fibers for a higher range of motion. What you just have to do is settle back against a bench inclined at 45 degrees and just make sure that the dumbbell makes it to the top. Also try to keep this as a single joint movement which means no bending or extending of the elbows.

#10. Pec deck machine

 Chest flyers can prove to be hard for you if you have just started or a trainee. Because the arms are locked in a bent position for the duration of the exercise with dumbbells or cables. But the peck deck exercise proves much simpler because here it needs to be worked on just one pathway at a time. It is recommended to perform this exercise in the last of your routine for sets of 10-12.

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How Long You Should Train To Notice Muscle Gain? bodybuilding110

If you glance in the mirror after doing a set of push-ups or curling a set of weights, it might look like you managed to build muscle instantly. But that short-term pump is temporary, thanks to increased circulation in your muscles. Building permanent, measurable muscle gains takes a few weeks.

Tip

You may notice your weight-training exercises getting easier within a few weeks, thanks to neural adaptation. But real, long-term gains in muscle mass usually take about two months of consistent training.

When you see someone pushing forward towards their goals, you are probably wondering how long it will take you to get to where you want to be. Of course, there is no single rule that applies to everyone, so if you want to know the answer to this question, you’ll have to dig deeper and explore a multitude of factors.

First of all, you need to know what your goals are. If you want to lose weight, pack on lean muscle mass or completely change your body is a key determinant in how you want to go about fulfilling your plan. If you already know, the quest becomes easier and you can actually calculate how much time you’ll need to get to your goals. Let’s break these possible goals down and see the results.

1. Building Muscle Mass

You can put on a couple of pounds of muscle mass monthly, but if it’s your first time trying to pack on the beef, you might grow a bit more. Be aware of the fact that some of this will be body fat instead of lean muscle, which means you will need to do a cutting phase after a good bulk. If you get heavier really quickly, you might be putting on a lot of body fat, and you want to try to avoid this by burning more calories, working out longer or eating fewer calories. If your bodyweight stagnates, eat 300 extra calories per day. If that doesn’t work too, add on the calories until you can grow two pounds per month.

2. Losing Weight

More often than not, losing weight is a lengthier task than putting on lean muscle. This is because you can only drop one or two pounds of body fat weekly, so it needs a bit less time when compared to the time it takes to grow muscle. But when you want to lose weight, you might find it difficult to keep track of, simply because you can only drop about two pounds a week healthily – if you want to lose more weight, you can have issues with gallstones, your liver or loose, flabby skin. To lose weight easier, several things are key – getting enough sleep, eating healthy and drinking water. You want to eat lean meat, some nuts and green veggies if you want to cut properly. Also, you will minimize the amount of muscle mass lost when cutting, and you’ll be able to keep yourself healthy while losing weight.

3. Completely Transform Your Body

If you want to put on, say, 40 pounds of lean muscle, the calculations become a bit easier, meaning if you can grow 2 pounds per month, it would take you 20 months to get it done. If you find yourself stagnating, know that sometimes your body may refuse to grow more than two pounds per month. Also, remember that you will also be growing some body fat which you will need to cut later to appear more muscular.

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Workouts For Chest –Best 4 Exercises For Building Mass

Building mass is one thing many men can agree on. However, there are certain muscles that most of the attention and are chased after by everyone. One of these such muscles is the chest. Doing workouts for chest, are extremely satisfying as you get a huge pump, getting as solid as a rock, and just feel powerful.

I will go over, the four best workouts for chest below, both for getting bigger, and also for sculpting the muscles. If you do these exercises once or twice every week, you will notice your pecs becoming solid, and muscular.

1. Bench Press

 

If you’re not doing bench presses, you’re not working on your chest. If you can only find enough time to do a single chest exercise, this should be it, since it adds more mass than any other exercise, but it also makes you far stronger.

2. Incline Dumbbell Press

 

If you want your chest to be full through and through, especially at the top, this is the exercise for you. It fills in that area between your pectorals and your shoulder muscles and it’s versatile in regards to equipment as well – you can do it with a barbell or a dumbbell.

3. Dumbbell Flyes

 

This exercise works as a definer – it shapes already engorged muscles, particularly your pecs. It will also give them a bit of wideness and stretches them out after doing the heavier sets. You can do this exercise inclined, declined or lying on a flat bench.

4. Push-up

 

This one will squeeze all the juice out of your chest that you didn’t manage to squeeze with any of the others. Change the positions of your hands for variations – wider for the outer parts of the pecs, closer for your triceps and the inner part, but also incline and decline variations. A lot of pushups means an awesome chest!

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A 20-Minute Indoor Cardio Workout At Home

A 20 Minute Indoor Cardio Workout For Losing Fat And Shaping Up is part of Workout - This workout is perfect and makes way more sense to get in a cardio workout indoors to shift fat and shape your body! Here is a 20minute cardio workout to do at home without any equipment The workout below is all about “burst training,” which is highintensity interval training  Burst training is traditionally a twotoone ratio, 20 seconds on …

We hope will give you some good ideas for your project, You can see another items of this gallery. Build Muscle Or Lose Fat First to Maximise Muscle Gains, Get a certified personal trainer.

    Stationary sprinters — 20 seconds
    Boxer stance — 10 seconds
    Squat thrust — 20 seconds
    Boxer stance — 10 seconds
    Spider-Man mountain climber — 20 seconds
    Boxer stance — 10 seconds
    Criss-cross pickup — 20 seconds
    Boxer stance — 10 seconds
    Power plank — 20 seconds
    Boxer stance — 10 seconds

Repeat the above circuit eight times to make this workout 20 minutes. If you have only have 15 minutes, do it six times through. And don’t forget to properly warm up before and cool down after!

Here’s how to do the moves:

1. Stationary Sprinter — 20 seconds

Sprinting is a really simple way to increase your heart rate. Sprinting in the heat is dangerous, so the next closest exercise is sprinting in place. It’s important to engage your entire body.

Stationary Sprinter — 20 seconds

Sprinting is a really simple way to increase your heart rate. "Sprinting in the heat is dangerous, so the next closest exercise is sprinting in place," Kline says. "It’s important to engage your entire body. Clench your hands, pump your arms hard enough to rotate your shoulders, engage your core, and drive your knees above your belly button while staying light on the balls of your feet." Do this as fast as you can (the model is doing it slowly for demonstration purposes) for 20 seconds.

2 Boxer Stance — 10 seconds

This is your active rest. Between each move, recover for 10 seconds by doing boxer stance. Stand on the balls of your feet with your dominant foot a foot or so behind your nondominant foot, body angled to your dominant side. Hold your fists up by your face. Lightly hop back and forth from one foot to the other, keeping your knees soft, chest lifted, core tight, and arms up. Do this for 10 seconds (or more if you need a longer break in between the other moves).

3 Squat Thrust — 20 seconds

Kline calls this "the mother of all burst training moves." Think about exploding up when your feet hit the floor and you start to stand up—it's "key to elevating your heart rate," Kline says. To avoid injuring your hands, make sure to perform this movement with the palms of your hands flat on the ground instead of just your fingertips, he adds.

    - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms by your sides.
    - Bend your knees and reach forward to place your hands on the floor.
    - Kick your legs back into a plank.
    - Immediately jump your legs forward back to start and stand back up.
    - Continue for 20 seconds.

4 Spider-Man Mountain Climber — 20 seconds

"With restricted space, it’s important to find ways to engage your core like a brisk 20-minute run would," Kline says. This movement is a good option that works your whole core but concentrates on your obliques.

    - Start in a high plank.
    - Drive your right knee out and up toward your right tricep. As you do, turn your head to watch your knee meet your arm. "I often train clients be able to 'see' their knees with both eyes for maximum range of motion," Kline says.
    - Alternate sides as fast as you can while still maintaining a sturdy plank and keeping your torso in place.
    - Continue for 20 seconds.

5 Criss-Cross Pickup — 20 seconds

This move gets your heart pumping and fires up your glutes and quads.

   - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.
   - Lower into a squat and reach your fingertips toward the ground, keeping your chest lifted.
   - Jump up and cross your right foot over your left foot, and then jump back to start.
   - Repeat with the opposite foot in front. Continue this movement, alternating, for 20 seconds.

6 Power Plank — 20 seconds

This moving plank variation requires your arms, core, and legs to all engage. Plus, jumping and having to rebalance yourself each time increases how hard your entire body has to work.

    - Start in a high plank.
    - Jump your feet up to the outside of your hands. "You want to aim your big toes to touch your pinky fingers," Kline says.
    - Make sure to keep your core tight. As much as you can, try to avoid arching your back as you move.
    - Repeat for 20 seconds.

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The Upper-Body Dumbbell Workout You Can Do At Home

This dumbbell workout is a go-to full-body workout for any fitness level. You can do it at home or in the gym. It involves all major muscle groups and movement patterns (squatting, pushing, pulling…).

bent-over row

 

How Hold a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing each other. Bend forward, hingeing at the hips, then row the weights up to your sides, leading with your elbows. Lower the weights back to the start under control.

Why This move hits the major muscles of your upper back, while your lower back gets worked to keep your torso upright. Using a hammer grip also hits your forearms and improves grip strength.

Flat Bench

 

 This multijoint chest exercise is a proven mass-builder. Although you’ll quickly discover if one side of your pecs is stronger than the other, you get a longer range of motion over the barbell version because you can press both up and in rather than just up

Do it Right: Lie faceup on the bench with your feet flat on the floor. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand just outside your shoulders. Powerfully press the weights up and together, stopping when they’re an inch or so away from touching. Slowly return to the start

Power Pointer: Don’t let the dumbbells touch at the top, because you’ll release tension on the pecs and start getting into the habit of resting briefly at the top of each rep. Leave a few inches between the weights so your pecs don’t get a chance to relax

Spider curl

 

How Bend down and rest your elbows on your thighs, holding a dumbbell in each hand with arms straight. Curl the weights up, squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower back to the start under control.

Why It may raise a few eyebrows in the gym, but this exercise works your biceps through a full range of motion so you hit them from a slightly different angle, meaning even more muscle fibres are recruited.

Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press

 

Because you don’t have a bar in your hands, you can draw your elbows all the way back outside your ears. That places more emphasis on the middle delts, the one delt head that makes you appear wider. In contrast, with a barbell your elbows have to travel forward so the bar clears your face, calling upon more front delts than middle delts

Do it Right: Adjust the bench so your back is fully supported and upright, and grasp a dumbbell in each hand above shoulder level with a pronated grip (palms facing forward). Strongly press the weights overhead in an arc, but don’t let them touch at the top. Lower under control back to the start

Power Pointer: Don’t stop the downward motion when your arms form 90-degree angles; instead, bring the dumbbells all the way down until your elbows point toward the floor and the weights are just above shoulder level. It’s safe for your shoulders, and you recruit more muscle fibers when using this greater range of motion

Dumbbell Shrug

 

The range of motion here is only a few inches. The up-and-down movement should be fluid and controlled, not explosive. Because you’re using dumbbells, the neutral (palms-in) grip helps keep your arms and shoulders in the most comfortable and safest position possible.

Do it Right: Stand erect holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with your palms facing in. Keeping your chest up and abs tight, shrug your shoulders straight up toward the ceiling, squeezing your traps at the top. Slowly reverse the motion, letting the weights lower your shoulders as far as possible.

Power Pointer: Avoid rolling your shoulders — it doesn’t engage the upper traps more successfully and can actually cause severe strain of the delicate rotator-cuff muscles. Keep the motion strictly up and down.

Crunch

 

How Lie flat on the floor, holding a dumbbell across your chest. Engage your abs, then raise your torso off the floor. Squeeze your abs at the top, then lower yourself slowly and under control.

Why The crunch is great for developing your upper abs, but only if you do it right. And the added resistance of the dumbbell will force those muscles to up their game to lift and lower your torso without help from momentum.

Triceps extension

 

How Stand tall, holding a dumbbell over your head with one hand and arm straight. Keeping your chest up, lower the weight behind your head, then raise it back to the start. Do all the reps with one arm and then switch and repeat.

Why Working one arm at a time allows you to focus on making your triceps work hard to keep the dumbbell under complete control throughout the lift and lower, while your core must be engaged to keep your torso upright.

Squat

 

How Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your chest up and core braced, squat down as deep as you can. Push back up through your heels to return to the start position.

Why It’s the classic lift for building bigger and stronger legs and because it’s a big compound lift that recruits multiple muscle groups, it’s also effective at torching belly fat too.

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