Best Lunges for Firm Glutes & Toned Legs

Lunges that sculpt a firm butt and lean legs are challenging, require big full body movement that burn loads of calories, and target all the little problem areas like the inner things, the saddle bags, the crease between the leg and the glutes, inside the knees, behind the knees, etc. Ordinary lunges are great but the targeted lunges below really deliver big time results fast.

Walking Lateral DB Lunge
1. Holding one dumbell between your legs take left foot and step 2-3 feet out to the left side (or the 3 o’clock position). Lean torso forward and sit the right glute back. DO NOT allow lunging knee to extend past the big toe – may cause injury.
3) Pushing off lunging foot, return to start position.
4) Remember to keep head and back in a neutral position. Reaching forward should be performed at the hips and not the low back. Shoulders, hips, and front foot should point forward at all times.
5) Watch for proper knee alignment – do not let lunging knee extend past big toe or deviate laterally or medially. Opposite leg should remain straight during lunging phase as shown.

Slideboard Bodyweight Reverse Lunge
1. Start by placing your hands on top of your head and placing one foot on the slideboard or a “val slide”.
2. Proceed to lunge by sliding your foot back until you reach full range of motion. Your front leg should be bent to about 90 degrees.
3. Return to the starting position by standing up using the front leg.
4. Repeat for the desired repetitions and then repeat with the other leg.

Walking is a low-impact exercise with numerous health benefits. Here’s how to get started.
Walking is a gentle, low-impact exercise that can ease you into a higher level of fitness and health. Walking is one of your body’s most natural forms of exercise. It’s safe, simple, doesn’t require practice, and the health benefits are many. Here’s more about why walking is good for you, and how to get started with a walking program.

Benefits of walking

Lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol)
Raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol)
Lower your blood pressure
Reduce your risk of or manage type 2 diabetes
Manage your weight
Improve your mood
Stay strong and fit

Counting your steps with a pedometer can motivate you to keep walking.

Walking paves the way to fitness. But are you taking enough steps? Use a pedometer to find out.

A pedometer is an inexpensive device that tallies your steps — whether you’re fitness walking or simply going about your daily activities. A pedometer can be a powerful reminder that every step counts on the path toward better health.

Check out my store. The pedometers I have designed will help you keep on track.

What Is A Body Detox?
What exactly is a body detox and most importantly, how can it help you? It is one of the latest trend right now and for a good reason. Many experts now believe that a lot of illnesses and diseases are brought on by our self. In another word, we are the cause of these illnesses because of the way we live our lives. From smoking to oily foods, these will sooner or later cause our body to break down because of the toxins we put into our body.

Why Do I Need A Body Detox?
Toxins that are not easily discarded by our body will build up and after some time will cause problem as our body is unable to get rid of it easily. The cleaning process done by our body requires a lot of effort and eliminating them requires a lot of energy. This energy draining process can weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to allergies, colds and flu. Even though our body tries it’s best to rid it of these substances, it’s not exactly very efficient at eliminating hard substances such as heavy metals cadmium and lead. These will leave your body working double hard and eating away your energy level. This is the reason why you find yourself tired the whole day. It’s the side effect of the natural cleaning process done by your body. Fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, stomach pain, constipation, weight gain, insomnia, etc are some of the problems that we will face when our body fails to get rid of these toxins. This is where body detox comes in; you need to assist your body in the cleaning process.

Body Detox
Body detoxification is a full and thorough cleansing to remove built up toxins naturally. Any chemical that your body becomes dependant on and you then try to remove from the system will go through the detoxification process. It’s just like your car’s engine, you need to service it periodically to clean out the oil clog and it goes the same with our bodies, we need to service it once in a while to take out the garbage. Detox serves as a preventative health measure to help you lighten your load of the excess “garbage” in your body and essentially help to cleanse the colon, lymph glands, kidneys, lungs, liver, and skin. It’s important to know that no matter how young or healthy one thinks he or she may be, or how pure we try to keep our bodies, we live in a world whereby many toxins are forced upon us, (especially in the big city whereby pollution is everywhere) which ultimately impacts our well-being.

Our body is not able to remove the accumulated poison and toxin without help, so we need to assist our body to remove the build up.

If you suffer from low energy level, fatigue, bloated stomach or excess weight, you shouldn’t just except and ignore the problem, these are some of the signs that your body is in need of a body detox. A thorough body cleansing is necessary to purify your system inside out to return it back to its normal state. Itfs crucial to maintaining a good health that you detoxify and cleanse your body thoroughly and often to get rid of harmful toxic substances. These toxins are the cause of a lot of health issues. Okay, now that you know you need a body detox and how important it is, how do you go about doing it? Before that though, you need to understand first what happens when you detox your body.
So what exactly happens when you detox your body?
During a body detoxification process, you will:
1. Cleanse your colon with special herbs designed to clean out colon debris, parasites and toxic plaque.
2. Replenish the good bacteria that have been lost while cleansing the colon. Good bacteria help protect the flora balance and protect you by boosting your immune system.
3. In the final step, use detoxifying herbs, vitamins, amino acids and minerals to cleanse your liver, blood, brain, tissues and other parts of your body.

Now that you know how happens during a body detoxification, how do you go about detoxing your body? There are different ways for you to achieve these goals. One of the simplest and safest ways is probably to purchase a detoxification kit or body cleansing system. There are many different products out there on the market for you to choose from.

These packaged programs come with all the things you need to detoxify your body as well as instructions on how to use them correctly. Normally, it is simply a pill or sometimes a liquid or both that you consume orally. Some of these contain some of Mother Naturefs best detoxing agents such as aloe vera, ginger, grape seed and many other natural ingredients. These natural ingredients are combined together to provide you with an effective body detoxification supplements that will cleanse and detoxify your body.

Before you go out and get yourself a detox system, do some research and make sure that the system is able to provide you with the followings:
– Removing heavy metals such as lead and mercury
– Detoxify your liver, kidneys and other organs
– Replenish the friendly bacteria with a pro-biotic formula
– Recharge your immune system with a powerful antioxidant support

Body detoxification tips to ensure results and success
1) Follow a balanced dietary plan
2) Maintain proper nutrition at all time
3) Obtain all of your vitamins from food and supplements to address your need
4) Eat MORE whole foods from all food groups
5) Consider all the elements of a healthy diet and stay with them
6) Understand and support, following the basics of healthy and nutritional eating
7) Make sure that there’s balance, variety and moderation in all aspects of your life
8 ) Diversity in your diet is vital in all stages of detox. Try to pick from natural bread and other whole-grain products such as vegetables. fruits. dairy products and fish, meat, poultry and other protein foods. Fiber-intake and hydration is still very important.
9) Low-fat products and lean proteins are good.
10) Maintain a healthy weight.
11) More, smaller, healthier meals, more often, smaller portions, consume frequently to maintain a stable blood sugar and keep your metabolism ticking!
12) Avoid too much sugar, starch, salt and refined foods.
13) Very important, fried foods and fats have to go and be removed from your palette, menu and plate!
14) Do not skip meals, get hungry, thirsty or suppress/deny your appetite.
15) Make healthier selections for your vitality, balance, well-being and even longevity.
16) Get involved in activities and practices that encourage good wellbeing and decrease risk of major chronic illnesses.
17) Drink lots of water to hydrate the body. It’s also advised to drink at least three glasses of low-fat milk per day.

1. French-Fries

Deep-frying in oil adds the carcinogen acrylamide into potatoes and most chips. A large serving of fries can contain over 300 times the allowable limit set by other countries such as Sweden.

2. Processed Breakfast Cereals

Avoid those which use genetically modified grains. They are packed with refined sugar and offer little protein value. Just wander into the cereal aisle and see if you can find a bag of plain oatmeal.

3. Diet Soda

It contains aspartame and has no nutritional value. Aspartame is metabolized into a formaldehyde compound, which can lead to problems. There is evidence that artificial sweeteners can stimulate the desire for sweet food.

4. Soda

It is packed full of refined sugar and has no nutritional value, yet high school students use it as a primary source of hydration. Large amounts have the potential to demineralize bones. We do not have to look far to see that the osteoporosis cycle begins before the bones are fully mature.

5. Decaffeinated Coffee

If you are going to drink coffee, then do so. Some of the decaffeination processes utilize filtration that imparts active chlorine into the coffee. There is a study suggesting women who drink decaffeinated coffee have a higher incidence of rheumatoid arthritis.

6. White Bread

It is made with refined flour stripped of vitamins, fiber, protein and minerals. Refined liquid sugar is added.

7. Commercial Pizza

High in sodium, carbohydrates and fats, pizza is heated at over 180C, destroying a great deal of the nutrient value. Making your own, by using pure flours, vegetables, minimizing cheese and sodium, may be an alternative.

8. Low Fat Ice Cream

It is made from genetically modified soy. Taking fat out of the ice cream drives up the glycemic index. Either eat ice cream or don’t. Don’t think that there is any such thing as healthy ice cream.

9. Donuts

Donuts are deep fried white bread coated with sugar.

10. Fruit Drinks

They are mostly water, sugar with some coloring. Even the labeling on fruit juices can be misleading.

Is sugar addictive?

A wedge of rich, dark chocolate cake iced in thick, sweet ganache beckons.
Each bite melts onto the tongue, delivering a delightful rush and a feeling that all is well. Soon after the plate is empty, the mind wonders when the next piece may come along, inviting the question: Is sugar habit-forming?

In medical terms, a substance is addictive if it:
• induces a pleasant state or relieves distress,
• causes long-term chemical changes in the brain,
• leads to adaptive changes in the brain that trigger tolerance, physical dependence and uncontrollable cravings,
• causes dependence, so that abstaining is difficult and creates severe physical and mental reactions.

Specifically, in analyzing how rats react to sugar consumption, scientists have found similarities to the response to drugs like heroin and cocaine. When humans and rats eat sweets, their brain levels of dopamine (a neurotransmitter that regulates reward and is at the heart of many addictive behaviors) increases.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOOD SUGAR PROBLEM ?

ARE YOU INSULIN RESISTANT AND ON YOUR WAY TO BECOMING A DIABETIC? THE MORE OF THE SYMPTOMS YOU SAY YES TO BELOW, THE MORE YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR BLOOD SUGAR.

SUGAR QUESTIONNAIRE
– Eat when nervous
– Excessive appetite
– Hungry between meals
– Irritable before meals
– Get shaky if hungry
– Fatigue, eating relieved
– Lightheaded if meals delayed
– Heart palpitates if meals missed or delayed
– Afternoon headaches
– Overeating sweets upsets
– Awaken after few hours sleep, hard to get back to sleep
– Crave candy, carbohydrates or coffee in afternoons
– Moods of depression, blues or melancholy
– Abnormal craving for sweets or snacks

Sugar cravings are a real problem for many of us. They can cause much frustration as well as feelings of low self-worth as we give in to those cravings.

Here are just 10 of many reasons why sugar is so bad for you …

1. Sugar causes blood glucose to spike and plummet.
Unstable blood sugar often leads to mood swings, fatigue, headaches and cravings for more sugar.

2. Sugar increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Large-scale studies have shown that the more high-glycaemic index foods a person consumes (those that quickly affect blood sugar), including foods containing sugar, the higher their risk for becoming obese and for developing diabetes and heart disease and cancer.

3. Sugar interferes with immune function.
Animal studies have shown that sugar suppresses immune response.

4. A high-sugar diet often results in chromium deficiency.
If you consume a lot of sugar and other refined carbohydrates, you probably don’t get enough of the trace mineral chromium, and one of chromium’s main functions is to help regulate blood sugar. Chromium is found in a variety of animal foods, seafood and plant foods. Refining starches and other carbohydrates rob these foods of their chromium supplies so think wholegrain!

5. Sugar accelerates ageing.
It even contributes to that telltale sign of ageing: sagging skin. Probably another reason ever-young celebrities like Yasmin LeBon steer clear of the sweet stuff. Some of the sugar you consume, after hitting your bloodstream, ends up attaching itself to proteins, in a process called glycation. These new molecular structures contribute to the loss of elasticity found in aging body tissues, from your skin to your organs and arteries. The more sugar circulating in your blood, the faster this damage takes hold.

6. Sugar causes tooth decay.
With all the other life-threatening effects of sugar, we sometimes forget the most basic damage it does. When it sits on your teeth, it creates decay more efficiently than any other food substance, and all the money in the world can’t reverse this process.

7. Sugar can cause gum disease, which can lead to heart disease.
Increasing evidence shows that chronic infections, such as those that result from periodontal problems, play a role in the development of coronary artery disease.

8. Sugar affects behavior in children.
It is believed that one trigger of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be consumption of sugar. All high Gi foods cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels, which causes a temporary surge of energy and at the same time, hyperactivity. Soon after this energy surge comes a dip in energy, with the end result being hypoglycaemia. This will inevitably lead to fatigue, irritability, poor sleeping habits and lack of concentration.

9. Sugar increases stress.
When we’re under stress, our stress hormone levels rise. These chemicals are the body’s fight-or-flight emergency crew, sent out to prepare the body for an attack or an escape. These chemicals are also called into action when blood sugar is low.

10. Sugar takes the place of important nutrients.
According to nutrition scientists, research has shown that people who consume the most sugar have the lowest intakes of essential nutrients –– especially vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, vitamin B-12, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and iron. Ironically, those who consume the most sugar are children and teenagers, the individuals who need these nutrients most.

Quitting Sugar
Now that you know the negative impacts refined sugar can have on your body and mind, you’ll want to be more careful about the foods you choose. And the first step is getting educated about where sugar is hiding and laced into. Believe it or not, a food doesn’t even have to taste all that sweet for it to be loaded with sugar.

When it comes to convenience and packaged foods, let the ingredients label be your guide, and be aware that just because something boasts that it is low in carbs or a ‘diet’ food, doesn’t mean it’s free of sugar.

Don’t let sugar take over and ruin your life. Sugar is so powerful. Large manufacturers today aren’t helping us live full, happy, heathy lives .. stop contributing to those companies that are more concerned about making money than making the world a better place – capitalism is truly ruining us. Start to make the change – thats all it takes – you cant change others but you can change you and hope that your changes are so noticeable that people want what you have and will naturally follow in your footsteps. Lets do this. Quitting sugar is not easy while you go through withdrawals – this will normally take around 3 weeks and will come to pass – I am on day 16 no sugar and feel better than ever .. come join me … you wont regret it.

Joey x

:0)

Start by lying on a mat with your legs straight out. Lift your legs straight up using only your abdominals and hip flexors. Lower your legs down without them touching the ground. Repeat.

IF YOU HAVE A PARTNER TO WORK WITH:
A spotter can go behind the participant and throw the persons legs down to create more resistance. Turning the exercise into a Throwdown.

TARGET MUSCLES:
Lower Abdominals

OPTION 1

Chicken Breast (4 oz)

Broccoli (1 cup steamed or boiled)

Salad (1 cup mixed greens)

OPTION 2

Chicken Salad (3 oz)

Dressing (2 tbl spoons of a lite dressing)

Fruit of Choice (1)

OPTION 3

Grilled Chicken (4 oz)

Vegetables ( 1 cup  lightly sautéed)

Wheat Tortilla Wrap (make a chicken wrap)

OPTION 4

Grilled Salmon (3-4 oz)

Spinach (1 cup lightly sauteed)

Sweet Potato (1 small mashed)

OPTION 5

Grilled Cod (4 oz)

Brown Riced (1 cup Boiled)

Sauteed Vegetables (1 cup)

OPTION 6

Roast Turkey(3 oz)

Green Beans (1/2 cup)

Butternut Squash (1/2 cup)

OPTION 1

Scrambled Egg Whites (3 to 4 Eggs)
Aspargus (3 sticks) & Bell Peppers (1/2 cup)
Grapefruit (1/2)

OPTION 2

Blueberry & Banana Smoothie
1 scoop of Whey protein powder, ½ cup Almond Milk, ¼ cup blue berries 1 small banana and ice (option would be to freeze fruit and use no or little ice)
Steel Cut Oatmeal

OPTION 3

(1/2 cup) w/ water, once cooked add almond slivers, coco nibs, goji berries, blueberries, stevia, strwaberries, banana slices, flax seeds, apple chunks, cinnamon, 1/2 scoop whey protein powder  .. the list could go on – get creative – mix and match and find what works for you, and this way you dont get bored of the same thing everyday.

OPTION 4

Scrambled Eggs (3-4 whites)
Grilled Ham slice  or Turkey Sausage
Fresh Seasonal Fruit (1 cup)

OPTION 5

Plain Omelet with Chicken/Turkey Sausage
Steamed Spinach (2 cups)
Apple (1)

OPTION 6

Cottage Cheese (1 cup)
Plain Yoghurt (1 cup)
Banana (1 small)