Monday Moves: Hate the 'love handles'

Yes.
They may sound cute but they are lethal. Once that piece of chocolate cake, you so indulged yourself in owing to the love for the dessert itself, is completely ingested, these love handles will appear as villains avenging the death of chocolate.  

get away from me you evil!

Love handles are in love with your body - especially around the waist, where they accumulate as a layer of fat so hard to get rid of. 

So come on, let's jointly wage a war against them. Let's hate the love handles!

Side-bends

These are so easy that you can do these while heating up your food in the microwave.

Stand straight with your hands on your hips or at the sides, and legs a little apart. 

With your back straight and your tummy tucked in, lower your torso a few inches towards the left, and then back again. repeating the motion on the right side. This is one rep.

Continue to do 10 reps in total, or if you're adventurous, till your food heats up.

Torso twists

This time you can wait for the kettle to boil. Till the tea is ready ..

Stand straight with legs seperated. Gently twist the torso to the right and hold for 3 seconds. Repeat the motion to the left then. During all times, try to restrict the motion from the hips. Continue to 10 reps.

Bicycle crunch

Laying down on the floor, bring your hands behind your head and raise your hips above the ground to a 90-degree angle. Pull your left leg inwards towards your chest. At the same time twist yor right elbow to meet the knee of the leg. Repeat with the opposite leg and elbow. 

Work up to 10 reps.

Planks

Lose weight around the waist while also toning your arms. Check out the last exercise in the post.

Side plank hip dips

A variation of the plank, start in a plank position and slowly lift your body to a side, resting the body's weight on your right forearm. 

When comforatable in the position, drop your hips to the floor as you inhale. Exhale as your bring them back to the original position,

Do up to 10 reps, increasing 5 each week. 

Since they are a tough son of a glute to get rid of, the exercises will demand attention and consistency to see significant results. But once that waist is back in sight, you will love your curves and hate the love handles!

Monday Moves: zero displacement cardio

Playpens are God sent. They are easy to setup, convenient and all in all a mini miracle. But what if your child is too stubborn to stay within?

mama: 'now don't you get out of there, mister'

He adores you so much that in return he demands your constant attention, and wails if you move even for a second.

baby: 'but i love you mama'

*sigh* 

What to do then?

A simple exercise: zero displacement cardio - jog in one spot for 30 minutes daily.

Sound seemingly pointless? Well surprisingly it's not. If done correctly, the cardio exercise is very useful in burning a significant amount of calories. 

Typically, a 150 lb. person will burn about 540 calories by jogging in place for an hour. For every additional 10 lbs. of weight, you will burn about 40 more calories. For example, 160 lb. person will burn 581 calories and a 170 lb. person will burn 617 calories. 

So ..

Let the Jog begin!

• Start by warming up your body by doing simple stretches or jumping lightly on your toes for 3 to 5 minutes.

• Begin the exercise with a light jog. Hop from foot to foot by lifting your feet only 1 to 2 inches off the floor. Coordinate the muscles of your body.

 

• With arms parallel on either side of your body, form a fist with your hand and lift your forearms so that they are perpendicular to the floor. Raise your right arm in front and left at the back, so that the forearms are parallel to your body. Alternate positions and build rhthym as you keep hopping on your feet. 

• Lift your knees higher, closer to your chest, with each hop. The higher you hop, the more calories you'll burn. Work up to aligning your thighs parallel to the floor at each hop.

• Increase speed.

• To increase intensity of the workout for burning more calories, lift your arms up over your head and then pull them down. repeat the motion throughout the routine.

This is a very effective exercise for individuals who lack the gym equipment, or like the protagonist of this post, is space bound. 

All the while you can comfort your baby by staring right in his face and making sure he knows you're keeping an eye on his every move. Eventually he will lose interest and get bored of your face.

baby: 'ok mama. i think i'm ready to be left alone now'

Mission: Accomplished!

Monday Moves: playground fun

When I was young, my routine visits to the playground comprised of us children exhausting ourselves endlessly on the swings, while our parents sat peacefully on the benches munching on a home-made snack. 
I mean they definitely deserved it. After all baby-sitting in itself is such a daunting task that it demands the extra calories' fuel.

I really need to eat .. *nom nom* .. or else I'll vanish in thin air!

But now that when I am a parent myself, instead of gaining calories, I choose to lose them by following these simple exercises that can easily be done at the playground, while your kid's busy. 

Standing Push-Ups

Stand at arm's length from either a bench or a slide, with feet shoulder width apart. Place your hands at the top of the bench, or at a bar on the slide ladder, that is no higher than your chest. Lift up your body in the air, so that the weight is resting solely on your toes. Keeping your body straight, and abdominal muscles tucked in, bend your elbows until your body almost touches the bar. Push back. This will be one cycle.

Attempt doing 12 to 15 push-ups.

Criss-Cross

Sit on a swing and hold on to the chains on either sides. Extend your legs straight in front with feet joint and toes pointed. Lean back into the chair at about 45-degrees. Open your legs slightly to form a V. While contracting your leg muscles, cross your left calf over the right, whilst trying to keep the swing still. The tension targets the abdominal muscles. Return to the V position. This makes one set. Start by doing 10 sets and then counting up to 15.

Bench Dip

As the title suggests, the exercise involves a bench and aims to tone the arms and focuses on the triceps.

Slide down the bench when sitting down to grp the end with your hands on either side of your shoulders. Extend your legs infront of you, with knees bent. Keeping your back close to the bench, bend your elbows and lower your body so it just only touches the ground, then pull up quickly.  

Do up to 5 sets. Take a break of 10 seconds and then repeat. Every week increase the sets by 5 or till you feel your arms might fall off.

Make the most of the time you get during these trips; make it the parents' playground and play along with your child to get a personalized workout of your own.

Monday Moves: mama's tummy time

Megan Fox had her baby this year. Three months later she is back to her business of showing off her oh-so-gorgeous self.

'look at me, I'm so gorgeous'

And then there's me. Staring at my screen and wondering 'why is this not me?'
I know why; cause I haven't been working hard enough. 
So today I have made a pre-new year resolution to look as stunning as the lady above (and buy that outfit too, to prove so).

Here's an easy exercise I've started in my routine which perfectly fits in during my baby's tummy time. I call it 'mama's tummy time'. 
Officially termed the 'mountain climbers', the oblique motion 

• builds cardio endurance
• develops core strength (targets glutes)
• tones triceps, thighs and abs

Preparing for Action!

Place hands on floor, shoulder width apart, and assume the plank position (similar to a push-up, only that arms should be extended perpendicular to the shoulders). Wrists, elbows and shoulders should be aligned.

Extend back your legs straight, resting your lower body on your forefeet.

Support your core by pulling your belly button in towards your spine. Maintain the contraction throughout the course of the exercise.

Bring your right leg inwards towards your chest, resting the foot on the floor (as shown in the picture below).

Alternate leg positions by jumping up and switching legs in the air, pulling leg towards your chest and resting your foot on the floor.

Continue alternating the feet, progressively increasing the speed.

Continue the routine for 30 - 60 seconds, working up to 2 minutes progressively.

For a detailed demo of the exercise, here's a video of a lady who takes her workout very seriously (you go girl!)

Beginners

If you are a beginner and complaining of back and/or shoulder pains, you can support your upper body against an elevated plain instead of lying on the floor.

Instead of making a complete foot-to-foot alternation, start by pulling one leg inwards and tapping your foot and then pushing back the foot to its initial position (where both the legs are straight). Do the same with the other leg, with double tapping of the same foot.



It doesn't matter if your baby's amused by what her mommy's doing jumping her hips in the air. Keep reminding yourself of the skin-tight green dress that's just waiting for you in Megan Fox's closet 

*sigh*