Quadriceps Stretch

Video: This stretch targets your quads, but you will feel it all the way up to your hip.

Young, Overweight and Stressed Out in High School

An obese teenager can feel like high school is some sort of punishment. The teenage years are difficult enough with puberty, acne, dating and peer pressure. But add being an obese teenager into the mix and it can make the teen years pretty miserable.

High school is hard. First of all, there’s the coursework to worry about. High school is usually a huge switch from grade school and middle school. Everything is more difficult, and the homework amount can be enormous. But if you’re an obese teenager, that’s probably not the thing you hate most about high school.

High school and the teen years are the years when kids are turning into adults. And these years don’t bring out the best in everyone. There are always those kids who enjoy bullying other kids. There’s name calling and sometimes it escalates to physical violence.

The targets of these bullying kids are often those who are perceived to be easy targets and weak. Unfortunately, obese kids are often chosen as someone who can be picked on.

When a teenager is constantly picked on, that can make going to school each day feel like a certain type of torture. It can ruin a kid’s motivation to do well in school and make good grades. When you’re scared or embarrassed constantly by bullies, worrying about a test or getting an A seems far less important by comparison.

Aside from the very obvious humiliation that can come from being picked on, called names and bullied, being an obese teenager can be painful in more subtle ways, too.

The high school years are usually when the tradition of school dances starts, like the homecoming dance and proms. An obese teenager might miss out on these fun activities. While not every overweight teen sits at home, some might be embarrassed to ask someone to go to these dances.

Being overweight or obese, because of the bullying or the disapproval that might be obvious from some classmates, can cause low self-esteem. This is why some overweight kids avoid social activities that other kids enjoy.

A heavy teen who wants to go might not get asked because others perceive them as not being good enough because of their weight. Some might be embarrassed at the idea of others knowing that they asked a fat person on a date.

High school is usually when it’s required for kids to change into uniforms for PE class. This requires kids to change their clothes in front of their classmates, something than obese kids might feel very uncomfortable doing.

Sadly, this can cause or escalate bullying. And when a kid who might have self-esteem issues already is taunted and teased about their sized while they’re undressed, it can only make any lack of self-confidence and self-esteem even worse.

Fortunately, the teen years are an ideal time to find a good eating plan and lose weight. It’s much easier for an obese teenager to lose weight and get in shape than it is for an older person to do so.

How to do a hop squat

Video: A demonstration of a squat with a light hop to give you a little more of a burn through your quads.

Veggie Wraps

Ingredients

1/4 cup tub-style fat free cream cheese

4 10-inch fat-free flour tortillas

4 rinsed spinach leaves, patted dry

1 cup alfalfa sprouts

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1/2 cup chopped tomato

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

2 tablespoons finely diced red onions

Directions

Spread 1 tbs cream cheese over each tortilla; top each with a piece of spinach. Divide sprouts and remaining ingredients evenly among tortillas; roll up. Cut each wrap in half diagonally.

Alternating Bent Over Rows

Video: In this video a personal trainer instructs a model on how to perform standing bent over rows with dumbbells.

Demonstration of one arm dumbbell side bends

Video: This exercise targets your oblique muscles.

The Hamstring Curl

Video: The hamstring curl targets your hamstrings, glutes and calves. A great lower body exercise

General Low Impact Fitness Tips

The following fitness tips can be applied to all low impact exercises. It is important to follow these tips as they will help reduce your chances of injuring your body especially if you have not exercised in a while.

If you have not exercised in a long time check with your doctor before beginning a new program.

While exercising if you feel dizzy or experience pain stop exercising immediately.

Work out at a pace that is comfortable for you.

Never exercise if you are sick and have a fever.

Perform exercises which incorporate both stretching and have a cardiovascular component.

Drink plenty of water, around 70of your body is water which you lose during sweat, so it is important to replace this each day.

A protein bar or banana make a good pre-workout snack.

Make sure you have all the correct equipment so you can work out effectively.

Wear loose, comfortable clothing.

Good shoes are crucial for exercising without getting sore feet.

Choose running shoes which are cushioned and which support your arches.

Performing a warm up will enhance your exercise.

Stretching after exercising helps to reduce the severity of aches and pains the next day.

Eat a high energy snack after you have completed your exercise.

Don?t eat a large meal for at least an hour after your workout.

Incorporate exercise into your life gradually.

If you are new to exercise start off with 10 minutes segments a couple of times each day.

Getting 8 hours of straight sleep will help improve your exercise performance.

Eating sensibly goes hand in hand with leading a healthy lifestyle.

No one is ever too old to work out, start slowly and seek medical advice if you have an ongoing medical condition.

Try to choose a low impact exercise that helps to target any trouble areas. For example bending and stretching will help tone and tighten your legs and buttocks. Performing crunches will help tighten your abdominal muscles. Exercises like walking, swimming and cycling will provide you with a whole body workout and help to increase your stamina and energy levels.

Just remember that eating a healthy diet is very important. You can make small changes like cutting back on the amount of soda you drink each day. Small steps really do make a huge difference when it comes to improving your lifestyle.

How Do You Lose Belly Fat A Healthy Approach To Six Pack Abs

How do you lose belly fat? That seems to be the million dollar question. Many people say the key is to “obey.” But, I’m going to give you a more thorough answer to the question how do you lose belly fat in this article. A firm, flat stomach is the ultimate symbol of sex appeal. But researchers have also found that losing abdominal fat is one of the most important things you can take to stay healthy for life.

While you probably realize that excess fat is unhealthy, you should also know that where the fat is distributed is key to health. People who are fattest in the abdomen (the so called “apple shaped body”) have a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes than those with pear shapes (fattest in the hips, buttocks, and thighs).

You won’t be surprised to learn that the best way to lose abdominal fat is to eat right and exercise regularly. And there’s a growing body of evidence showing that the quickest way to burn off the fat from your belly is with a mix of weight-training and aerobic exercise.

One study tracked 30 obese women for six months. The women were assigned to either a control group, an aerobic exercise group, or a combined exercise group.The aerobic exercise group did a full hour of cardio exercise for six days a week. The combined exercise group did weight training on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and aerobic exercise on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

At the end of the six month period, the women in the aerobic group had lost 23.1 cm of abdominal subcutaneous fat while the combined group lost 61.8 cm, nearly three times as much. The combined group also did better on the abdominal visceral fat measure with 93 cm lost compared to 82 for the aerobic only group. There was no change in the control group.

How do you lose belly fat starts with developing a combined exercise plan that is strenuous. 30 minutes a few times a week won’t cut it. You need a full body training program combining cardiovascular and resistance exercises. You don’t need to do hundreds of crunches, sit ups or any of the complicated routines being touted by the “six pack abs” hype machine. The key to losing belly fat is to burn more calories than you eat. These fancy exercises don’t burn the kind of calories you need in order to be really successful.

Getting killer abs has a lot less to do with training and everything to do with lowering your total body fat. The next step is to eat the right foods. There is a lot of conflicting information on nutrition. From the Adkins “eat no carbs” people to those who eschew all fats, there are radicals on every side.

How do you lose belly fat starts with taking in enough protein to maintain muscle mass. At least 20 to 30 percent of your diet should come from fats. Then, you balance your carbs around the other two factors depending on whether you want to lose weight or not. And if you are trying to lose belly fat, you do want to lose weight. You must take in fewer calories than you burn.

How do you lose belly fat? Basically, if you lose the excess fat in your system, your belly will go away too.

Dramatic Weight -Loss Strategies

Are you trying to lose weight pounds? While some people only want to lose 5-10 pounds for a specific purpose, if you have more than 50 lbs. to shed, you need to consider more dramatic weight loss strategies. You are not going to lose weight pounds overnight. Instead, try a balanced approach to losing the weight over time.

Aim to lose weight pounds at a rate of 1-2 lbs. per week. But, don’t dive right in. Instead, spend a week planning your diet.

First of all, weigh yourself. You will also want to keep a journal of everything you eat each day for a week. Include portion sizes. Also note any activity including working out, heavy house or lawn work, and sporting events or active play with children. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary during this week. Specifically, don’t decrease your normal calorie load or alter your normal foods. Also, don’t try to do anything different with your activity levels.

The reason you start with this is that you want to develop a baseline for lose weight pounds. When you see what you are actually doing, you can plan a strategy for change.

Go back through your food journal at the end of the week. Calculate how many calories you ate each day. Calculate how many calories you burned each day. Then weigh yourself at the end of the week. Have you gone up, down or stayed the same?

Now, you can begin the substitutions. If you gained a pound, you will have to burn an extra 3500 calories each week just to stay even. If you want to lose 2 pounds, you will have to burn an extra 7000 calories.

Here are some simple substitutions:

- Eat only two servings of red meat per week. Substitute chicken or fish for all other meat meals.

- Consider substituting legumes (beans) for some protein sources.

- Add salads and vegetables to your meals. You should have one or the other at lunch and both at dinner.

- Add a broth based soup to your dinner. Eaten before the meal, it will help you fill up faster.

- Eat breakfast every day. People who eat breakfast lose more weight and lose weight faster than those who don’t. Great diet breakfasts include oatmeal and yogurt based fruit smoothies.

You should also add exercise to your lose weight pounds program. Don’t think that this requires you to join a fancy gym. Fire the maid and do your housework yourself. A 180 pound woman who cleans the house for an hour will burn 250 calories. And, more vigorous cleaning such as 20 minutes of scrubbing your floors on your hands and knees burns over 100 calories. Even playing with your kids can help you lose weight. 30 minutes of vigorous play can burn off 200 calories.

So, if you are trying to lose weight pounds and you have 50 or more lbs. to go, consider doing a week of baseline monitoring followed by making a food lifestyle change. Also, try to increase the amount of physical activity you get in your life.