The Best Workout For Weight Loss - Cardio or Weights?

You know exercise is good for you, and you want to have a fit body, but you only have so much time in your day and cannot do it all. What do you focus on, cardio or weight training? On the other hand, perhaps you want to buy some home fitness equipment, but are not sure about the best thing on which to spend your limited funds. Do you buy the treadmill or the weight set? Despite weight training's reputation as a "jock" thing for he-men who want to bulk up, the answer for most people is weights. While cardio exercise can help you to increase your heart health and stamina, and can burn some extra calories while you are engaged in it, weight training can help you get stronger, tone your muscles, improve your appearance, increase your metabolism to burn calories more efficiently all day long, and fight age-related muscle and bone loss. If you must choose between the two, weight training comes out the winner, easily.

Weight training is strength training, using a variety of weights for resistance. In the same way that cardio exercise strengthens your heart and lungs by providing stress on your breathing and circulation, weight training improves your overall body strength by providing enough stress to different muscle groups that they adapt and grow stronger. Weight training also helps with the following:

•Lose weight and maintain fat loss: Muscles are thirsty for calories, so the more lean muscle mass you have, the more efficient your body will be at converting that smoothie into the energy you need to keep going all day. For every 3 pounds of muscle you develop with weight training, your body will burn an extra 120 calories a day simply vegging out on the couch! That can mean about 10 pounds of fat lost per year, without even forsaking your favorite treat. Yes, please.

•Reduce the possibility of injury: Unlike the pounding action involved in many cardio exercises, correctly training with weights can actually protect your joints and spine. Strong muscles connected to joints helps to protect them from injury, and increased core muscle strength contributes to better balance and a stronger back.

•Develop bone density: Just as muscle mass naturally diminishes with age and inactivity, bones lose strength and density too. Strength training increases bone density, helping to prevent fractures due to brittle bones or osteoporosis.

•Boost your stamina: As you develop stronger and more efficient muscles in all parts of your body, fatigue will be outdated, and everyday activities will no longer make you want to lie down for a nap in the middle of your day.

Too often, people focus solely on the number of calories burned during their workout, or the number they see on the scale. Focusing on either of these is shortsighted when it comes to your health and fitness. Instead of watching the "calories burned" readout on the treadmill and being satisfied when you hit your magic number, consider how your body is expending calories outside the gym and after your workout. Weight training exercise, by developing calorie-thirsty muscle tissue, increases the number of calories you burn all day long, no matter what you are doing.

So, spend those limited funds on the weights, and the majority of your limited workout time on weight training to build your muscle strength. Your body will thank you, and your mirror will become your friend.


Courtney Prather is all about keeping it real- real simple tips that get you REAL results. If you are tired of trying the 100th diet you heard about this year or are sick of spending hours in the gym with little progress, check out http://www.fitnesslifeadventure.com to learn how to start living your life and make fitness fun!

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What is the best exercise to lose weight?

Weight training, cardio, Pilates, yoga ... that helps you lose weight faster? The short answer, which burns more calories, more efficient, says Michele Olson, Ph.D., professor of exercise science at Auburn University Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama

Cardio is king when it comes to burning calories, Olson said, and look even better if the training has an "after burn effect.

Interval training (alternating between short bursts of high intensity effort followed by short periods of active recovery) style is one of the best ways to transform this "after burn" that can increase your metabolic rate up to four hours after session, which means you burn more calories even after the workout is over, says.

"Every time you raise your heart rate at the upper end of the target area, the extra fuel (aka calories) you burn continues to bring the heart rate and muscle activity to normal and created metabolize lactic acid".

But before embarking on an all-range, all the time marathon cardio, there are some important points to consider in order to maximize your exercise time for weight loss: First, excess cardio high intensity can burn your body, leaving you tired, irritable and too tired to go on with their routine.

To avoid this, alternating two or three days a week on the intensity of interval training sessions over more sessions focused on resistance (exercise at an intensity where you can still talk without too wordy).

Second, it is important to build metabolically active lean muscle to help give your body shape and definition while still losing weight. For best weight loss results, Olson recommends doing cardio (45-60 minutes), five days a week, with two or three non-consecutive days of resistance training.

Without doubt, the best training for anything (including weight loss) will be one that will do! So while burning calories is important, find a way to make fun of fitness too. Changing the treadmill during a high energy Zumba class or weight change machines TRX Suspension Trainer to avoid boredom while sticking to your training program.

And if you really want to maximize your time and the gym, consider workouts that has both a strength and cardio element to them, such as kettlebell training (a recent study by the American Council on Exercise found that whole body exercises performed with a dumbbell burned a huge 20.2 calories per minute, or the equivalent of running a mile 6 minutes).

And that means that you should jump into the sometimes less intense workouts like Pilates or yoga if you are trying to lose weight? Of course not, says Olson. "The body thrives on new and different movements such as Pilates and yoga, so include them in your efforts to lose weight."

An active style yoga class, for example, that keeps your heart rate elevated can count as a cardio workout, and a Pilates class that incorporates increased resistance bands or weights can count as strength training.

Finally, remember that it is very easy to eat back all the calories you have burned in the gym in a few minutes, so that the real success for weight loss, pair your workouts with a healthy diet to create a deficit of calories. To stay on track to lose a healthy and realistic 1.5 pounds per week, Olson suggests eating about 500 fewer calories per day and burn an extra 300 calories through exercise.

Upper Body Workout For Women - Some Great Exercises For You To Try

Typically women tend to avoid exercises that revolve around muscle building, and instead focus on activities that are associated with weight loss. Instead of doing more explosive exercises such as lifting weights, it is more common to see women doing long periods of cardiovascular exercise in an effort to lose body fat.

Doing a series of cardiovascular exercises is good if the goal is actually to improve the cardiovascular health. Long periods on the exercise bike or treadmill can strengthen the heart and lungs tremendously, but are not the most efficient exercise for reducing body fat.

One of the typical reasons why women tend to avoid undertaking an upper body workout for women is that it is thought that a direct workout will make the body more bulky rather than slim. This is a quite false way of thinking about these workouts. There are many men who carry out an upper body workout and are unable to achieve a bulky frame. Women, who do not have the quantities of testosterone as men do, would find it even more difficult to have a bulky upper body unless they used performance enhancing drugs. In fact, the most likely outcome of an upper body workout for women is to have a toned upper body, and reduced body fat.

A workout that is focused on weight lifting will increase the amount of muscle - but this will barely be notable. The muscles in the body will become hungrier for energy and will consume more carbohydrates and fat, so that overall, a woman is likely to lose body fat and have a slimmer appearance.

As well as cosmetic improvements from an upper body workout for women, having stronger muscles in this area improves the posture, reduces the chances of back pain and injury, and improves strength for everyday life.

A typical upper body workout for women should focus on the major motions of the upper body. The workout should include push exercises for the chest and shoulders, pull exercises for the back and rear shoulders, and bicep and tricep exercises. You can also include a series of core exercises to improve the strength around the stomach area. Workouts for the upper body need only take around 30 minutes to complete, and only needs to be done once to twice per week to give the body plenty of time to recover. You can also add a cardiovascular element by reducing the time spent in between lifting, and adding more repetitions.

Workouts should be composed of around 6 exercises, with 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions per exercise. Each set should be fairly demanding to complete the last few repetitions without having to resort to bad form or cheating weights up. A sample of a typical workout is given below:

Warm up and stretching 2-3 minutes

Bench Press 10-15 repetitions

Barbell Row 10-15 repetitions

Shoulder Press 10-15 repetitions

Assisted Pull ups 10-15 repetitions

Upright rows 10-15 repetitions

Bicep Curls 10-15 repetitions

Tricep Pushdowns 10-15 repetitions

Abdominal exercises

Repeat routine for final circuit and then warm down. This can be done in addition to cardiovascular exercise for optimum weight loss and losing stomach fat.


By following a simple upper body workout for women, you will easily be able to increase your strength and muscle tone. Visit http://www.buildingmuscleforwomen.com/upper-body-workout-for-women today to get your Free Report and get started on your journey towards fitness and health!

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Top Workout Apparel for Women

Exercise and a healthy lifestyle is a crucial part of life and keeping active can make you feel great. Women take on many different types of sports and activities to get the body and health they desire and part of the process is the clothes they work out in.

Workout apparel can help make exercise easy, with no restrictions or bulky fabrics.

There is so much available for the modern active woman to choose from to enhance their chosen sport or activity.

Quality is key and a higher price is often a clear hint at higher quality of fabrics. The more detail and time that has been put into your apparel, the better it is going to work for you body. For example, clothing that is streamlined to fit the body perfectly and to repel sweat will ultimately improve your comfort during your workout. You want to feel like the clothes are part of you and so looking for professional, detail-driven sportswear is a great move. The most important factor of your workout apparel is its breathability as we all know we sweat quite a bit during a tough workout. Fabrics that draw the sweat from the skin and release/evaporate it into the atmosphere are definitely a top pick. These fabrics often contain polypropylene or fabrics such as coolmax and supplex. Also look out for tops and shorts with a mesh layer that stops the thick outer fabric from clinging to your skin, keeping you cool and supported.

Workout apparel comes in all shapes and sizes but the most common would likely be standard spandex infused sports tops, bras and pants. Yoga pants and form fitting leggings are very popular in the gym as they allow flexibility and do not restrict movement. They are also made of comfortable fabrics that do not rub or chafe the skin.

Workout apparel can also be designed for outdoor activities such as hiking or climbing. Many women these days take to the outdoors and enjoy exploring their local mountains or hills. For this, hiking boots and waterproof outerwear are top choices. The quality end of outdoor active wear always boasts durability. Top quality women's apparel will always use the most appropriate waterproof or sweat resistant fabrics to protect your body depending on the climate.

Another top choice for women is a supportive sports to keep themselves protected during exercise. Good quality sports bras are usually classified for the activity you intend on using it for. For example, high impact running, moderate impact and casual/low impact. This allows you much more choice and a guide in choosing the correct item of clothing for the sport they are interested in. Try to avoid cheaper, more general sports bras to get the best support.

One obvious and very important apparel for active women is footwear. The correct shoe can make a lot of difference in terms of performance and comfort. Good quality sports shoe manufacturers pay a lot of attention to detail in the science of creating the most supportive shoe for you activity. There is a lot of difference between a running shoe and a hiking boot and each is designed to make the chosen activity easier on the joints and body overall.


Workout Apparel

Women's Activewear

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The 15 Minute Workout For Women at Home

It's 100% true! It is entirely possible to acquire an excellent workout without ever setting foot in a gym or spending money on expensive, bulky home workout equipment. You do not need elaborate equipment, the money for an expensive gym membership, or extra time to drive to and from a work out center.

You can achieve excellent fat burning results, increased aerobic benefits and fantastic body toning by utilizing exercises that burn fat and produce dramatic results. Contrary to the information presented in the media, you can also do your workout at home with no equipment required.

Maintaining a successful workout can often be difficult. However, the fact remains that to reap all of the health and aesthetics benefits that working out consistently will provide, it is essential to allow nothing to interfere with your progress. Major factors that contribute to not working out consistently are:

o Perceived lack of time
o Lack of money
o Lack of knowledge

With the workout for women at home, those three obstacles will no longer be an issue. Knowing which exercises to choose, how to most effectively complete them in the least amount of time and having the option of doing the exercises at home without expensive equipment or a gym membership will facilitate consistency as you begin your at home workout.

Before we get to the sample 15 minute workout, we must first go over some very important, but simple workout tips.

Choose These Exercises

The following exercises are excellent for maximizing the potential of burning fat, sculpting lean muscle, and increasing stamina. Exercises that utilize the greatest number of muscles and allow for a full range of motion will optimize your exercise efforts. The following exercises are the most powerful choices for increasing the fat burning, body sculpting benefits and decreasing the time necessary for an effective workout.

o Lunges and all variations
o Inverted rows
o Squats
o Squat Thrusts
o Push-ups and all variations
o Chin-ups, assisted chin-ups, and all variations
o Burpees
o Planks, side plank
o Mountain climbers

Choose This Format

o Never sit down. Always remain standing as this will allow you to burn more calories than sitting, and every bit helps if you want to get more results in less time.

o Keep your rest periods to a minimum. When performing circuits, try to keep the rest between circuits at one to two minutes.

o Over time, make sure you attempt more challenging exercises. This is one of the best ways to keep getting more results in less time.

o Try using different training techniques: for some sets perform the repetitions as fast as possible while maintaining control and perfect form. Other times perform the repetitions very slow and controlled.

o Make sure you improve your performance consistently. This can be accomplished by either performing more repetitions for an exercise, using more advanced exercises, performing more circuits, or decreasing the rest periods between exercises and/or circuits.

Sample 15 Minute Home Workout for Women

-Jumping Jacks x 50
-Squats x 15
-Elevated Push-ups x 12
-Beginner Inverted Row x 12
-Crossover Lunge x 10 each leg
-Plank x 30 seconds
-Squat Thrusts x 10

Perform that circuit one exercise right after the other for 15 minutes straight. Rest only as needed and try to complete as many circuits as possible in that 15 minute period.

Remember, you can also perform some repetitions fast, and other times perform them very slow to allow for variety and a different training effect.

Also, the next time you repeat that workout, make sure you improve your performance by using one of the previously mentioned methods.

That sample 15 minute workout will allow you to burn more body fat and sculpt lean, sexy muscle much more effectively than traditional gym workouts that take 30 minutes or more to complete!

If you truly want more results in less time while saving money, then home workouts are definitely the solution you have been looking for.


Nia Shanks is the world's best home workout specialist. To get more exercises and workouts that you can do at home to burn fat and sculpt your body in record time, subscribe to the Free Home Workout Secrets Mini-Course at http://HomeWorkoutSecrets.com You will get the best information available for a highly effective workout for women at home.

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Easy Exercises You Can Do At Home

Do you know that in order to keep your heart healthy and your weight under control, you need to walk at least 10,000 steps each day? This may sound daunting but many activities you're doing everyday such as running errands or doing household works can add up to a few hundred or even thousand of steps for you.

To maintain your health and make sure you achieve the 10,000 steps each day, here are some simple and easy exercises that you can do at home. These exercise routines not only help to keep you fit but also will tone your body as they work on some specific muscle groups. They are a lot more effective than the general exercises such as running errands and doing house chores. Here are the exercises you can easily do at home:

- Stretching exercises. Stand with both of your hands against a wall and move your left leg back so that your foot is flat against the floor. Hold for a few seconds; then repeat this move with the right leg. Another great stretching exercise you can perform is to lie on your back, use both hands, bring up your right knee to your chest and hold it for a few seconds. Repeat this routine with your left leg.

- Curl is very easy to do. Just lie on your back with both hands behind your head and raise your upper body. Repeat this move for 15-20 times.

- Leg exercises can be done by lying down on your side and lifting each leg repeatedly for 15-20 times. You can also stand and hold on to the back of a chair and lift your legs backward repeatedly.

- Arm exercises. This is important to improve muscle tone. For arm exercises, you can use an exercise band. Place both feet on one end of the band, hold the other ends with each hand and then repeatedly raise and lower the band (in an up and down motion for 10-15 minutes). If you have a pair of dumbbell, you can also use them to exercise your arms.

- If you are working at home and sitting in front of your computer most of the time, try to press down on your toes in an up and down motion frequently. This activity will help to keep the blood circulation flowing in your legs.

- If you know how to dance, put on a music CD and dance for about 20-30 minutes. This is a great cardiovascular workout. You can also incorporate push-ups, sit-ups and jumping rope into your daily home exercise routine.

- Abs workout. I have found a great 8 minute video showing you how to do abs workout at home. You can watch the video at "Best Abs Workout At Home - Only 8 Minute".

NOTE: Always do some stretching to warm up before starting any exercise routine to prevent injury.


Leon is an Infopreneur dedicated to sharing his online discoveries across the net. You can visit his blogs at Leon's Self-Improvement Blog and Health Buzz Zone.

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