Effective Work-outs for Women - MONDAY: Abs and Legs

MONDAY: Abs and Legs

Stomach fat burning exercises for women:

How to bring out the lower abs?

The important part of abs training is weight loss. As everyone knows, if you have a bit of fat covering your abs you will not be able to see them. Your abs training workouts might be coming along excellently but if you have fat covering them no one will be able to see your good abs muscles.
For this reason it is important that you approach your abs program with your diet and weight loss exercise foremost in your mind. Abs exercises that are aimed at developing midsection muscles should actually come a distant second in importance.

Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym!

Also, upper abdominal muscles are much weaker than the lower abdominal muscles. For this reason always work out the lower abs first and finish with the upper abs so that you wont wear out the lower abs.

Lower abs workout:

Lower abs workout is to try to split your 3 daily meals to 5-6 small meals. Take small quantities of food. This will be easy to digest and when the food is digested it takes just a small place in your stomach.

#1. Reverse crunch (Leg raising)

If you want to bring out your lower abs you need to lose some fat and develop them with an abs exercise that uses your legs to target the lower section of your stomach. The lying reverse crunch is the best one for this as it teaches you the technique you will need for more advanced exercises like the hanging leg raise and the hanging knee raise.

How to do reverse crunch?

Press the hands on the floor at your sides. Raise your legs without bending knees so that they are perpendicular to the ground. Now, lift your buttocks an inch or two off the floor, keeping shoulders on the floor. The decline motion should be much slower and controlled and is the most important part of the movement. Do not just allow your legs to drop down. Keep it slow and keep your abs tight.
Repeat 15 times.

This is one version of the reverse crunch and is somewhat harder than the bent leg version. If this is too difficult try bending the legs so that your heels are on your hamstrings as you do the final hip rock. This is the traditional way to do a reverse crunch.

#2. The hanging leg raise

The hanging leg raise is basically an extension of the movement we covered in the reverse crunch. However, as you are hanging from a bar you have to fight against gravity and lift your whole legs. This makes it a much more intense exercise. Many professional fitness models attribute their firm abs to the
hanging leg raise.

How to do the hanging leg raise?

The hanging leg raise really isn't that hard to master in terms of the technique. Doing it, however, is a very different thing! It really takes it out of you.

a) Find a high bar or head over to the chin up bar if you go to the gym. Jump up and hang off it and let your body stretch out and relax. Try to feel the stretch in your abs and learn what it feels like to tense them whilst hanging from a bar.
b) Keeping your ankles and feet together, tense your abs and lift your legs up towards your chest. You will reach a point where you cannot raise them any further and when you do, you should rock back on your hips and lift the legs up even further. This requires that you use a little bit of motion and momentum but in this case it is ok. Once you get to the top of the raise, lower your legs back down super slowly.
Try and keep your legs straight throughout the whole exercise. If you can stick to this exercise for a while you will find faster results than ever before.

Upper Ab workout:

#3. Basic Crunch

The next exercise is the basic crunch. When done correctly the crunch really is second to none. It targets the abdominal muscles perfectly and doesn't bring any other muscles into play.

How to do the crunch?

As before, lay flat on your back with your lower back firmly pressed against the floor.
Lay down on the floor, knees bent, feet and lower back pressing into the ground. Place your finger on your temples, not behind your head as this may tempt you to tug on your head and hurt your neck.
Squeeze the abs as you lift your upper body toward your knees. Lower. Exhale up, inhale down. Repeat 20 times.

#4. Cross Crunch

Lay on your back, knees bent. Use your hands to support the head, thumbs right behind your ears. Keeping your right shoulder on the ground, twist the left side of your body up and over, pointing your left shoulder toward your right knee. Lower. Repeat 15 times each side.

#5. Crunch with Alternate Twist

Same position, knees bent, hands supporting the head. Crunch up, twist your body to the right, twist your body to the left, and crunch forward again. Release, but do not lower your head all the way to the ground. Repeat this series of fluid movements 10 times.

#6. Bicycle crunch – Upper and lower ab workout

The bicycle crunch is one of the best ab exercises because it uses both the lower and the upper abs in conjunction with a twist. These are all the elements needed for a complete abs workout so in theory the bicycle crunch can do it all.
It is also an excellent exercise because it gets your heart rate up more than other ab exercises.
Repeat this process slowly making sure your legs go out nice and far and you get a good stretch in your abs.
Some people like to punch the bike crunch out as fast as they can. This does work the abs but the results come much faster when a slow, tight and controlled movement is used.
Do not worry if you cannot touch your elbow to your knee, it is the fluid motion of twisting and crunching that provides the benefit. You should stay in a crunched up position throughout the whole exercise.

Master the correct abs crunching technique:

The correct technique for most ab exercises involve a rolling motion where you curl your torso much like you would if you were rolling a newspaper. You start with your head, neck and shoulders and curl it towards your legs so that you can give your abdominal muscles the maximum crunch effect.
The reason this movement is so crucial is because of the way the abdominal muscles are formed and the way they work. If you do your crunches and sit-ups in this fashion you hit the muscles much harder and as such make your progress move along much quicker.

Tips for better women's ab:

When one starts training the abs it is easy to get stuck in a routine doing the same thing day in and day out. While its believed that one should stick to a routine if it works, changing it will keep your workout fresh and exciting.

Here are some of my favorite tips for the abs:

a) Go as slow as possible:
Ab exercises are most frequently abused and misused. Pumping out the reps like it is a race is not good.
Each repetition should be slow, controlled and strong. You can tell yourself that only the strong do their ab reps slowly. The proof of this is the wobble that starts to happen when you slow things down. This is a sign your abs aren't as strong as they could be.
The decline part of the exercise is particularly important. Jazz up your workout by doing the crunch quickly but do a nice slow decline to a count of about 5 seconds.

b) Add weight for faster abs growth:
You should start to add weight to your chest when you do your crunches and sit ups. Adding weight increases the amount of work the abs have to do and forces them to rebuild themselves bigger and stronger. Women with the flattest abs are those who workout hard with exercises like gymnastics, boxing, martial arts and other gym exercises that require a lot of strength. Don't allow yourself to stay on the same level for months at a time.
One of the best ways to add some weight and resistance to your crunches is to get a partner to throw a medicine ball at you. As you sit up you toss the ball to them and then as you are about to decline they throw it to you. Catch it, decline and then as you sit up throw it back again. This is a really big shock for the abs and really serves to boost you beyond any stubborn plateau that you might be on.

c) Protein shake immediately after the workout:
Whenever you do a physical workout (especially with weights) you create tiny little tears in your muscles. The body then goes about repairing these tears and the result is muscle growth.
When you are trying to develop a muscle you need to get protein into the area as quickly as possible. Scientific research has shown that having a liquid source of protein straight after a workout can increase your results by 40%. That is a big number! Have a protein shake as soon as you finish your workout and you will find results come a lot quicker.

d) More rest:
Best abs growth come when you stop working them out so much and let them rest. Muscles don't grow when you are working them out. They grow afterward when they are repairing. If your goal is to add some muscle to your abdominal area so that they are visible and firm then it is counter-productive to work them out again while they are still growing!
If you have been working on your abs for a while now and haven't seen any real change then try reducing the amount you are doing. Most people will tell you to increase the amount you are doing but a lot of women are actually over killing it. Have some more rest, get your diet sorted out and see what happens.

e) Tense them during the day:
Many people think that the main crux of the abdominal exercise happens as a result of the actual movement of the exercise. For example, they think that it is the action of curling your legs up in a reverse crunch that works the abs. This is a little misleading, however, as a lot of the work comes from you tensing your abs, not the movement.
If you tense your abs during the day you will become more expert at tensing them and as such will be able to get a deeper contraction when you hit the gym to work them out. If you keep your abs tensed throughout the entire movement of the abs exercise you will have much better results than if you only tensed them at the "crunch".

Five lower body strength exercises for women:

# 1. Static Lunges

Lunges in general are really good for developing lower body strength. It works a bunch of muscles (quads, hamstrings, gluteus) and it's a fairly easy exercise to get used to.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and keep your head straight and shoulders back.
Step out with one foot and bring your opposite knee down toward the ground.
Keep your back straight and head looking forward.
Keeping that same leg forward, repeat the motion for the required time or reps.
Switch sides to work the other leg.
Breathe out as you push yourself back up.

#2. Squats

Another great exercise for the lower body. The squat will work mainly the front of your thighs and most importantly your butt. One of the biggest mistake women make when doing the squat, is they tend to have their weight forwards on their toes rather than on their heels.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with your knees slightly bent and head looking forward.
Bend your knees and stick your butt out to the back as you squat.
Once your thighs are parallel to the ground, use your legs to push yourself back up.
When you are in the down position, you can extend your arms outward to help keep your balance.

#3. Sumo Squats

All women love this exercise. Why? Two words. Inner thigh. This is a great exercise to work your inner thighs. The key to really toning and defining your inner thighs is to use a decent amount of weight when you do your sumo squats so working up to a weight of 30 lbs and beyond would be ideal.

Stand with your feet double shoulder-width apart with your back straight and head looking forward.
Bend your knees and squat down until your knees cover your toes. Push yourself back up and squeeze your butt.
You can place your hands in front of you to act as a counter balance.
As you push yourself up, breathe out. Maintain a straight back throughout the exercise.

#4. One-legged step ups

With the 1 legged step ups you'll be able to develop that lower body power. Similar to the squat this exercise is going to work the front of your thigh and butt.

Place one foot on a bench and bend your knee to a 90-degree angle.
Using the front of your thighs (quads), push yourself up until your opposite foot is fully on the bench.
Step back down carefully and switch legs.

#5. Hamstring Pull-ins with Stability Ball

This is an exercise that works the back of your legs. The exercises that we took a look at before mainly worked the front of your legs. So we need to have that balance. And plus you want the backs of your legs to look good too, right?

Lie on your back with your hands by your sides.
With good control, dig your heels into the stability ball and lift your pelvis off the ground by contracting your butt.
Slowly roll the ball out by extending your legs.
Repeat this "in and out" motion as you keep pressing your heels into the ball.
You should feel this in the back of your upper legs.
Breathe out as you extend your legs.


Thigh (legs) fat burning exercises:

Legs workout + diet plan = good legs

Legs workout:

Thighs:

Your thighs look good when their muscles are firm and there is only a thin layer of body fat under the skin. It is important for the good look of your thighs to use their muscles in order to keep them in good shape.

Thigh muscles can be divided in four major categories:

- Front thigh muscles
- Back thigh muscles
- Muscles on the inner side of thighs
- Muscles on outer side of thighs
You can not perform legs workout for special leg muscle without involving all leg muscles. For example, muscles on the inner and outer side of thighs are supportive and front and back thigh muscles take part in all kind of leg exercises.

Diet plan and exercise:

Exercise firm you.

Diet makes muscles visible.

You can do leg workout and your muscles tighten but lie under the fat they are invisible. So the result is you are a tightened fat woman. Of course this is better than flabby fat woman. So take ideas for healthy food.
Spend 10 minutes every evening and morning to keep your thighs firm. Work on the front and inner side of thighs in the evening and on their back and outer side in the morning.

Front thigh muscles:

Once your front thigh muscles are firm, you'll look great in those new pants.
Warming up your knees:

You can make this exercise also in the morning but you will have to spend at least 5 minutes to warm up your knees. This is how you warm up your knees:

Lie on your back. Place your hands under your butt. Raise your legs straight up. Bend your knees and then push shins up until legs are straight. Make 3 sets of 20 with 30 seconds' breaks in between.

If you got out of bed only a while ago, do the warm-up from a standing position. Stand up, grab onto something sturdy (a chair or a wall) and raise your heel backwards and kick - 20 times. Alternate for 3 sets of 20 repetitions on each leg.

Lie down for another 3 sets of 20 repetitions but this time kick hard so that you feel the tension in the muscle above your knee. You are now ready for the squat exercise

#1. Squats or Sit ups

The front thigh muscles participate in all movements associated with squatting or extending the shins forward. For these muscles do the following exercise:

Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart. Back is upright and straight, not bent at the waist. Abs are tightened. Squat slowly, while breathing in and taking care to keep your back straight, rise and breathe out. The important points in this exercise for front thigh muscles are:

- Warm up your knees first.
- Control your motions, i.e. do not squat quickly by letting your body weight bring you down. It is important to feel every inch of moving down.
- Hold your back straight and your abs tightened throughout the exercise.
- Breathe: breathing properly will allow you to make more repetitions and you will have firmer thighs.

Here is a squat exercise that will tighten your front thigh muscles:

Squat 20 times, rest 90 seconds and complete another two sets of 20 squats.
Do this exercise in the evening (rest during the weekend) and you will have good-looking front thigh muscles.

#2. Outer thigh blaster

If practiced regularly, this exercise will really firm up the outsides of the hips and thighs and strengthen the lower body. Stand by facing the wall with your hands at chest level and flat against the wall. Keeping your spine neutral, take one leg positioned at knee level out to the side. Exhale as your leg travel away from your body, inhale as you bring it back. Repeat 10 times with each leg.

Back thigh muscles:

Back thigh muscles allow us to fold legs back.

Warm up back thigh muscles

In the morning your body needs time to get in shape for exercising so warm up the back of your thighs in the following manner:

While standing up, bend down towards the floor and relax. Do not push or move to the sides, relax in a convenient position that causes neither pain nor discomfort.

Breathing calmly without making effort. If breathing is difficult, you are pushing too much and need to rise a little. Remain bent down towards the floor for 30 seconds. Rise slowly. Breathe in and out 3 times and bend down again. Relax and let your hands hang down towards your toes. Bounce really slightly with your hands towards the floor, feeling no pain and breathing normally. Rise slowly. Bend slowly down towards the floor and rise slowly up; repeat the movement 10 times.

In this warm-up it is important to keep your back straight while moving up and down. When you are rising, flex the muscles on the back of hips and the butt. Visualize pulling yourself up by means of the back of your legs and butt.

#1. Backward leg raises

Stand up and hold to a chair (table, wall) for support. Flex your legs and butt. Bend the knee of the support leg slightly and raise the opposite leg backwards and up, holding the leg straight; hold for a while at the top of the movement to feel the tension on the back thigh muscles.

The important points in this exercise for back thigh muscles are the following:

- Keep your toes counter-pointed. It will insert more tension on the muscles and prevent stiffening.
- Hold at the top of the movement to increase the effect from the exercise.
- Breathe out while raising the leg and breathe in while lowering it.
- Bring down your legs close to the floor but do not touch it.
- Hold your back straight to protect the waist from injury.
- Tighten the butt and abs to draw additional benefit from the exercise.

Raise one leg back 20 times. Rest while shaking it slightly. Raise the opposite leg 20 times. Make 3 sets of 20 on each leg. Perform the exercise every morning except on weekends.