Belly Beautiful Workout Media

January 15, 2013

5 Moves to Minimize Your Muffin Top – iVillage

iVillage

Get rid of your middle and tone your waist with these targeted exercises (6 Photos)

Jessica Smith on Jan 11, 2013 at 2:18PM

Work Your Waist With a Twisted Side Plank

Doing exercises that work the oblique muscles that line the sides of your waist can help you strengthen and engage your abs for a tighter, more pulled-in look. This twisted plank exercise is a favorite of Nicole Nichols, a certified personal trainer and star of the Total Body Sculpting DVD.

How to do it: Come to a side plank position with the feet and legs stacked, hand directly under your shoulder and your top arm extended [as shown in photo A]. As you exhale, reach your hips higher from the floor while threading your top hand under the body, reaching behind you [as shown in photo B]. Return to face forward to complete one rep. Work your way up to three sets of 15 reps on each side.

Try This Graceful Gut Buster

For a quick and efficient way to target the muscles that line your waist (and work the rest of your body, too), try this move from Nichols: How to do it: Come to a side plank position with the legs staggered (top leg forward, bottom leg back), hand directly under your shoulder and top arm extended (A). Inhale and reach your top arm up and over (next to your ear) while lifting your bottom hip even higher from the floor, flexing the spine while keeping the hips and shoulders square (B). Exhale and lower your bottom hip halfway down toward the mat, sweeping your top arm down next to your thigh (C). Continue back to the lifted (A) and lowered (C) position without pausing to complete 15 reps before switching sides. Work up to three sets of 15 on each side.

Squeeze Your Sides

Strengthen your waist with this side-slimming move from Patricia Friberg, certified Pilates instructor and star of the Power 4 Pink Workout DVD.

How to do it: Lie on your left side, legs extended out straight, with your left arm extended and your head resting on it, with your top arm resting on the side of your thigh (your body should be making a straight line). Squeeze your inner thighs together and lift your feet slightly off the floor [as shown in photo A]. Next, press down with your right shoulder, reaching your right arm towards your feet as you lift the left side of your torso off the floor, pressing down with your left hand for support [as shown in photo B]. Hold for one count and then slowly lower back to starting position. Work your way up to three sets of 15 reps on each side.

The Most Effective Abs Exercise

“While bicycle crunches may seem like a basic exercise, an American Council on Exercise research study found this exercise to be one of the most effective,” says Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. It gets the job done by activating the abdominal wall and obliques.

How to do it: Lie on your back on the floor and place your fingertips behind your ears. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the ground by contracting the abdominals (avoid pulling on the neck). Straighten the right leg out to about a 45-degree angle while drawing the right shoulder towards the left knee. Then switch sides, bringing the left shoulder towards the right knee while extending the left leg at a 45-degree angle. Continue to alternate sides in a pedaling type motion.

Chop Away Love Handles

“Wood chops are one of my personal favorite exercises, as it’s not only functional, but also effective,” says Matthews. She prefers to use a dual grip medicine ball. If you don’t have one, try holding on to both ends of a dumbbell or full water bottle.

How to do it: Begin in a split stance with the left foot forward. Holding the medicine ball in both hands, slowly bring it to the starting position, just above the left shoulder without rotating your torso. Keep your abdominal muscles engaged. Throughout the exercise, continue to keep the chest, hips and head facing forward at all times. Keeping the medicine ball close to your body, slowly bring the ball down and across your body to your right hip. Hold this end position briefly before returning to your starting position. Do 15 repetitions and then switch to the opposite direction. Work your way up to three sets on each side.

September 3, 2012

14 Exercise Mistakes Beginners Make – iVillage.com

iVillage.com

Get results and stay motivated with your new workout routine by avoiding these common pitfalls

G. Pace/FilmMagic/Getty Images
A Jessica Smith on Jun 11, 2012 at 8:26am

#1: Setting Unrealistic Goals

If you decide that running a 5K is your goal, but you’ve never run before, trying to finish one by the end of your first week of training isn’t the best idea. ”The biggest mistake that new exercisers make is setting incredibly unattainable goals,” says Samantha Clayton , a certified personal trainer and former Olympic sprinter in Malibu, California. Starting your first week off by going for your first run in years, several days in a row, will most likely have you throwing in the towel by Wednesday.

Before you can run, you need to start walking. “Small, simple and easy goals will build your confidence and help you to stick with it,” says Clayton. If, for example, your ultimate goal is to run a 5K but you’ve never run before, break down your larger goal into smaller, more realistic steps. Start off with brisk walking the first week, graduate to a walk/run combo the next, and then eventually progress into running longer distances until you’re ready to race to the finish line of your long term goal.

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April 5, 2012

Pilates Style – Band Stand

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Pilates Style: January/February 2012

Pilates Style – January/February 2012

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BOTTLES, STROLLERS, DIAPERS, OH MY! – SHE KNOWS

BOTTLES, STROLLERS, DIAPERS, OH MY!

You voted, we listened! The winners of the 2011 SheKnows Parenting Awards have been chosen, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share them with you. We rounded up the latest and greatest products available, and picked our favorites based on functionality, safety, affordability and more.

So grab your rattle and make some noise, because here come the best products in parenting!

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January 5, 2012

Getting back in shape after baby is easy with Belly Beautiful Workout

Jasmine Jafferali

Pregnancy Health Examiner

Ready to get your pre-baby body back? Patricia Friberg does it again with her award winning postnatal fitness DVD, Belly Beautiful Workout: Postnatal Fitness and Busy Mom Workout. What I love about this DVD it is something ALL new moms can do. It is not one of those bootcamp, make you feel bad workouts. This 80-minute workout is broken into five segments:: (more…)

October 4, 2011