Tackling Your Trouble Zones

We all have them… those areas on our bodies we wish we could shrink, tone or do a little of both.  For some women it’s their tummy, some their legs and butt and some even their arms. 

Tummy
Top 3 crunches

• Bicycle: Lay on your back with your hands behind your ears.  Put your legs up at about a 45 degree angle and crunch, allowing your elbow to meet your opposite knee.  The motion is similar to pedaling a bicycle.  These crunches target your lower and side abdominals. 
• Exercise ball:  Lay on the ball, positioning it under your lower back.  Put your hands behind your head and lift your torso off the ball.  Make sure the ball does not roll.  Using the ball keeps your work out focused on your abs as opposed to using your other body parts, like your legs, to help lift your torso. 
  

  Compliments of Google Images

• Vertical leg: Lay on the floor with your legs vertical and your toes toward the ceiling.  Put your hands behind your head and lift your shoulders off the floor. 

Tip: When you’re doing crunches, focus your eyes on the ceiling to ensure you’re keeping proper form. 

For additional abdominal workouts, check out Top 10 Effective Ab Exercise.    

Legs and tush
Top 3 workouts

• Jump on a trampoline:  You can do this in your home (if you buy a mini trampoline), in your back yard or at the gym.  You’re using your leg and butt muscles to launch yourself into the air.  This raises your heart rate, giving you a cardio work out simultaneously. 
• Lunges:  Lunge forward with your first leg, land heel to toe.  Lower your body until your knee is as close to the ground as you can get it without allowing it to touch.  If you’re up for a challenge, hold dumbbell weights in each hand.  You’ll feel this in your legs and butt the next morning. 
• Wall squats: Lean up against a wall with your back straight.  Place your fee about 1.5 feet apart and squat.  To work your inner things, widen your stance.  To work your outer thighs, shorten your stance.

Tip:  Concentrate on form to prevent yourself from hurting your knees, ankles or hips. 

Take a look at Discovery Health’s website for additional information. 

Arms
Top 3 workouts

• Barbell curls:  Stand with your feet a shoulders’ width apart.  Bend your elbow and pull the bar toward you chest.
• Pushups:  Place your palms on the floor about a shoulder’ width apart.  With your toes on the ground, lower your body toward the ground and push yourself back up.  Keep your back as straight as you can. 
• Triceps extensions: Stand with you a feet shoulders’ width apart, holding 5 pound free weights (if you can do more, you go girl!) in each hand at chest height with your elbows bent behind you.  Make sure your palms are facing each other.  Keep your elbows as still as you can and slowly straighten your arms behind you. 

Compliments of Google Images

Tip:  Stay slow and steady.  Slow movements tend to tone better and keep you concentrating on your form. 

Check out Body Sculpting for Women: 5 key exercises for a complete arm workout for additional information. 

To tone up your trouble zones, weight training is necessary.  Keep in mind; in order to lose the fat that covers the muscles you are working you have to keep up with your cardio, too.  A healthy diet is also a necessity.  Eating right and working out regularly will keep you in your best shape.  I hope you give these work outs a try.  Let me know what you think!