Give me Strength

He's doing better than I do

I did strength exercises in high school...  Yeah that's it.  I've never seen a reason for it.  After all, I don't want to be a body builder or have huge bulging muscles (that would look funny on someone who is 5 foot though).  That is a huge mistake.  With the right strength routine you can help boost your weight loss potential and you can target certain areas.

 

Here is the series that I've been using.  For people who haven't read this full series this is a routine for women created to target stubborn belly fat.  I'm not saying that men can't do it or that if you have a flat tummy it's not for you.  But this workout is designed with women in mind because we burn fat differently then men do.

Description of the workout

 Okay, I already gave you most of this in the previous entries but I thought I'd put it on here.  If it's not big enough for you to read just click on it to enlarge the picture.  All of these images are scanned from the Prevention magazine.

I found when I started out that I couldn't hold my head up for this one.  So in the beginning I kept my head on the floor.  After 2 weeks I was able to hold my head while I performed the exercise.  Remember to be careful not strain your neck.

I do not have a smile on my face while I do that workout

The first one's pretty easy, but the second is again something I struggled with.  I was only able to do 5 in the beginning and I still struggle to make it to 10 after 3 weeks.

I don't have a special ball for exercise 2, I actually used my daughter's playground ball.  She has lots of them and didn't seem to mind at all!

This chick is way too happy

I still struggle with this one.  I'm still only able to hold it for 30 seconds after weeks of practicing.  But I refuse to give up and am thinking of adding more arm exercises to my routine.

There is a lot of debate surrounding sit ups.  If you have a bad back then use an exercise ball for this one.  But these are more like roll ups because you are meant to take your time.  It's almost like a mixture of yoga and sit ups.  This is another place I'm behind, I'm able to complete 3 without help but after that my daughter sits on my feet for me.  She has fun and gets to be involved.

The exercise where you lie on your belly is very important.  Do not skip this.  No matter how tired you are.  When you exercise you have to work the opposing muscles of a group or you will hurt yourself.  So, make sure you don't skip this one, no matter what. 

As you can see this is a great strength routine because it's for all fitness levels.  I started doing 5 reps in each area and now I'm up to 10.  After having a child you are likely to not have any belly muscles.  The only way you're going to change that is to slowly rebuild those muscles.  While you're rebuilding those muscles you'll also be burning fat in that belly roll area.  Yes, we all have one after pregnancy and this is a serious problem area for all women.

Don't forget to never do a strength routine 2 days in a row.  Your muscles need a day to repair themselves.  And remember that I am not a licensed health professional so please see your doctor before beginning any new routine.

Also, if you are building muscles as well as burning fat then the scale might not move as quickly as you like.  Muscle weighs more than fat.

*Please note all exercises pictures are scanned directly from Prevention magazine.