photo credit: Mr. T in DC

We all love a nice round butt. We love the way it looks in a pair of jeans and how it makes us feel when we go out. But achieving that round, firm butt can be difficult. Here is a simple women’s butt workout that you can do in around 20 minutes.

Warm up
Firstly you will need to spend about five minutes warming up well. The exercises themselves are quite difficult and as such you need to make sure your legs and joints are well warmed.

A good warm up for the legs is to do a bit of jogging followed by a few sprints. Once you are a little warmed up do some stretches and then maybe a few light squats. This should prepare your legs nicely!

The 20 minute butt workout

Now we can get in to the main workout. It is simple, easy to do and requires only some basic weight training knowledge. Remember, if you aren’t sure how to do the exercises go back through our exercise archive.

1. The lunge – 4 sets of 15 reps
Start off with a simple weighted lunge. All you need to do is grab two medium heavy dumbbells and hold them by your side as you lunge forward, alternating legs each time. Make sure you tense your glutes as you perform this exercise and do it in a slow and controlled manner. Make the decline slow and steady.

2. Jumping Squats – 3 sets until failure
The jumping squat is my all time favorite legs and butt exercise. It punishes your lower body like nothing else and will leave you sore and in pain! But, this baby burns more calories than just about anything else in the gym and gives you a fantastic butt workout. Only have about 30 seconds rest inbetween each set and make sure each set is explosive and powerful. You want to make sure you are hitting this one hard. Check out this post on how to do a jumping squat if you want more information.

3. Step ups – 4 sets til failure
I always think of the step up as a bit of a reverse lunge. Instead of stepping down you are going up! Again, take two heavy dumbbells and find a very stable bench a little higher than you knees. Step up and down again and again until you cannot do anymore. As always, make sure the motions are slow, controlled and well timed. This exercise is as much about control as it is about muscle isolation.

That’s it!
That there is your simple 20 minute workout. As you progress you can add more weight or more reps or even repeat the whole workout again. The exercises here are simple to do and will have you building a new butt sooner than you think.

photo credit: sun dazed

I hear a lot of woman saying they don’t want to use heavy weights. They say they don’t want to get too bulky or too masculine. While these are legitimate fears they are not based in logic. In this post I want to tell you why all women should use heavy weights.

Why women don’t use heavy weights

Take a picture of any gym in the world: women on the cardio machines and men in the weights section. There is a bit of crossover but in truth this is the way it is. Women seem to only want to do cardio and some lighter weights machines at the gym but they never want to do full heavy weights workouts.

Why is this?

Like I said in the introduction I think it has a lot to do with fears of losing the female figure. Women want to have small arms, tight buttocks and a flat tummy. They do not want bulging muscles and broad shoulders! Fair enough. Why would you.

But the fact of the matter is, women will NOT get to this stage. A heavy weights routine twice a week will not leave you looking like a female version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It just isn’t going to happen.

Why?

Simple. Women do not have the necessary testosterone levels to make that kind of muscle gain. And it takes a lot of testosterone to build muscle. When you see female bodybuilders, all tanned and huge, you can rest assured that they took a lot of supplements and steroids to get to that stage. They might deny this is true, but it is.

Why all women should use heavy weights

So now we know why you aren’t using weights let’s get on to some reasons as to why you should be.

1. Weight loss
The main advantage of weight training is that it burns calories. Lots of them. Many fitness experts will tell you that a session of weight training is more beneficial than a session of cardio for losing weight. This is because weight training increases the ratio of muscle to fat and turns you into a fat burning machine. You will burn fat while you are working out and you will burn fat when you finish.

2. Happiness
Weight training causes your body to release chemicals in to your blood called endorphins. These chemicals have been scientifically proven to make you happier and cure depression. An hour at the gym is more likely to make you feel happy than chocolate, anti-depressants and a new car all put together. It is extremely good for your mindset. Furthermore, weight training will make you look fantastic – another reason to be happy!

3. Strong bones
Women are susceptible to osteoporosis. This is a weakening of the bones which can be painful and lead to breakages and other nasty things. The good news is weight training goes a long way to help prevent this. Women who train with weights are much less likely to experience bad osteoporosis than women who don’t. It is good for your bones.

4. Good health
Weight training is good for your immune system. Often get the local cold? Try weight training regularly for a few months and see if you get it when everyone else has it. I am betting you don’t. Since I started weight training I have experienced much better mental and physical health. I have more energy and have been sick at least half as often as I used to be.

Conclusion
Women need not be afraid of training with heavy weights. It will work towards building a lean, tight and fat-free body and it will boost your health and immunity. Weight training is one of the best things you will ever do for yourself. Give it a go.

photo credit: Marco Gomes

Flabby arms are not a woman’s favorite thing. Along with tight abs, firm legs and a good butt it seems that women want toned and defined arms. In this post I want to show you how you can tone your arms and get rid of the flab in just six weeks.

UPDATE: You might want to check out our super article called the Busy Woman’s Guide to Staying Toned, Sexy and Healthy for more arm toning tips and hints.

How to tone flabby arms in six weeks

The first thing you need to realize is that this workout/diet is not going to be easy. It is going to take a fair amount of strength on your part. But, if you can hold on and do the work I can guarantee you some pretty special results.

Week One: Make some diet changes

In the first week you are going to be changing your diet. What we are going to do is gradually cut out all man-made foods and replace them with natural and fresh foods. We are going to cut out pasta, bread, soda and junk food and replace them with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, free range eggs and so on. What you need to do in this week is spend time shopping for healthy foods and find recipes for dinner and lunch that will taste good but also be made solely of natural foods.

Hint: Asian dishes are great!

Week Two: Begin your weight training program

Weight training is going to be a crucial part of this six week program. The reason for this is because weight training is the primary way to burn calories and turn your body into and fat burning machine. Fat hates muscle. The two don’t work well together. And muscle always wins. But don’t worry, you will not end up looking like a huge bodybuilder. All that will happen is the fat on your body will start to be replaced with firm and healthy muscle. In short, your body will firm up.

Your weight training program is going to consist of these compound exercises and these sets and reps:

• Squats 4 x 10
• Bench Press 4 x 10
• Pull Ups 2 x 10
• Dips 2 x 10
• Barbell Bicep Curls 4 x 10
• Overhead Presses 4 x 10

These exercises use lots of muscles at once and as such are a great way to get yourself in shape quickly. What you are going to do is spend week two learning and practicing these exercises. Make a time with a gym instructor and tell them you want to learn these exercises for your new workout.

Technique is Queen! Do not perform weights with a bad technique or you will end up with bad results and possible injuries. Learn them well and always consult a professional.

You are to do this workout three times a week. It should take no longer than an hour. The first number denotes the number of sets you are going to do. The second number indicates the number of repetitions. So if it says 4 x 10 that means you will do the exercise for 10 repetions and do it four times. And 10 does not just mean 10 reps with any old weight. No! It means you pick a weight that allows you to ONLY perform 10 reps. Got it?

You will continue with this workout for the whole six weeks. You can do it any day you like as long as you leave at least one day in between each workout.

Week Three: Add some cardio to the mix

Your task this week is to start adding in some cardio to your weight training workout. You can do any type of cardio you like but it must be done on the day that you DON’T do a weights workout. For example, if you do weights on Monday you should do cardio on Tuesday.

photo credit: naama

Pick a highly intense form of cardio like kick boxing or hill climbing. Make it fun and interesting. You can do it for as long as you want but make an effort to start doing it this week. If you really want to see results try and add at least three sessions in.

Week Four: Start adding a protein shake to your day

This week I want you to continue with all the other stuff but also start adding a protein shake to your day. You can drink it at one of three times: morning tea, afternoon tea or post workout. Any of these will do at this stage.

The protein shake should be made of natural ingredients like raw milk, free range eggs, banana and whey protein powder. Have this drink as a replacement to your regular meal. This is a wonderful way to boost your training progress as well as burning some pesky fat.

Week Five: Pick Up the Pace

Week five is going to be all about intensity. By this stage of the program you should be past the feelings of tiredness and past the sugar cravings. You should be feeling fit, healthy and inspired at your new progress.

Using this inspiration you should start to pick up the intensity. You have had over a month’s practice of weight training and by now you should be pretty good at the exercises. Endeavor to add more weight and a little bit more speed this week. Run faster, lift heavier, become more intense. That is the motto of this week.

You should also start to shift your cardio workouts to before your first meal of the day. This is a special technique that allows you to burn fat instead of available calories because your body hasn’t had anything to eat yet. If you cannot manage to get up and workout before breakfast then you should do it after dinner.

Week Six: Make a vow

Week six is not about training. Of course, you should keep doing what you are doing but the emphasis of this week is on something new. Mental toughness.

This week I want you to make a vow to yourself that you will continue training well and eating healthy for the rest of your life. You see, losing weight and firming up is easy. Maintaining it is hard.

Go somewhere quiet and peaceful that you like to go. Go there alone. Take a pen and some paper and write down your goals and your vow. Then keep it on you at all times. This is one of the best ways to stay fit and healthy for your entire life.

Take a vow and mean it.

Post Program Follow Ups

After the six weeks is up you should start to become more adventurous and experiment with new weights workouts and new exercises. Try some pump classes or some yoga. Start experimenting with exercise and really learn to enjoy it.

There are a whole host of weights exercises out there that are called isolation exercises. These exercises deal with one muscle group at a time. For example, the concentration curl just works the biceps and the lateral side raise just works the shoulders. You should try to find out more about these exercises and add them to your routine when you feel like it.

This program is fail safe. I have used it myself and I know many people who have done similar things with great success. The hardest part is believing in yourself and not giving up too early. 90% of people give up when it gets tough. Make sure you are one of the 10%.