8 Minutes to Get Rid of Your Upper Body Wobbly Bits

Whether it's the little black dress in winter or, for men, stripping down to your shorts in summer, those wobbly bits around the upper arms, chest and back can easily spoil the look. Here's our 8 minute body toning workout to banish the wobbly bits.

Equipment Needed

Any exercise aimed at toning your body needs something to provide resistance for your muscles to work against. Most of the exercises below use hand-held weights to provide resistance: these can be as simple as water bottles (or even tins of food) you can grip comfortably, or dumbbells in the range of 1lb-5lb/0.5-2kg.

Timing and Repetitions

10 reps of each exercise should take about 8 minutes. As with all exercise you should warm-up first. Marching or jogging on the spot for a few minutes interspersed with some gentle stretches will do the trick.

Caution

Body toning exercise can be a pretty painful experience if muscles have lain dormant for a while. The problem is, it's not until 24-48hrs after your workout that you'll realise you've overdone it! Body toning exercise should not be painful while you are doing it - if it is you're using too much weight.

If you've not been exercising your muscles recently it's best to start with a weight that feels "very easy" and build up gradually from there.

The Workout

Exercise 1 - Chest and Shoulders

Lie on your back and grasp your weights with the palms of your hands facing up, and your arms outstretched to the sides. With your elbows slightly bent, lift your arms above your chest until your hands are almost touching. Return to starting position and repeat.

Exercise 2 - Chest and Shoulders

Lie on your back and grasp your weights with the palms of your hands facing up, and your arms outstretched above your head. Grip your weights and bring them over your head and down to your hips, by your sides - a semi-circular motion. Lift back to starting position and repeat.

Exercise 3 - Chest and Back

Sitting with your back straight (preferably supported) and legs straight out in front of you, hold your weights in at your chest with your elbows out to the side (parallel to the floor). Push your arms out straight in front of you then pull them back in. Repeat.

Exercise 4 - Back and Shoulders

Stand with feet shoulder width apart and arms by your sides, gripping the weights with palms facing outwards. Making sure your movements are slow and concentrated, tense your shoulder and upper back muscles, then slowly "shrug" them up and down.

Exercise 5 - Shoulders and Upper Arms

Stand with feet shoulder width apart and arms raised straight up above your head, grip your weights with your palms facing behind you. Slowly bring your arms forward and down, without bending at the elbow, until level with your shoulders. Lift back to starting position and repeat.

Exercise 6 - Upper Arms, Shoulders and Back

Standing with feet slightly apart, grasp your weights and bend at the waist until your torso is parallel to the floor. Extend your arms towards the floor with palms facing outwards. Lift your arms out to the side, keeping them straight, until parallel to the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat.

Exercise 7 - Upper Arms, Shoulders and Back

Standing with feet slightly apart, position your arms straight down in front of you almost against your body - with your weights almost touching. Bend your elbows and lift your weights towards your chin, bringing your elbows out to the side, in line with your shoulders. Return to the starting position and repeat.

Exercise 8 - Arms and Chest

The classic push up. With your hands shoulder width apart place your palms on the floor. Stretch out your body with either your knees on the floor, or if you're feeling ambitious, your toes - so you are supporting your body weight. Keeping your back straight and using your arms lower yourself gently toward the floor until you are hovering just over it. Push yourself slowly back to your starting position and repeat. Remember - don't lower yourself to the point where you come into contact with the floor, it'll be much harder to push back up.

Exercise 9 - Arms

In a sitting position with your back straight, relax your arms in line with your body. Grip your weights with your palms facing upwards and curl them up towards your shoulders, then back down again. Repeat. Keep your torso still and back straight, let your arms do the work.

Exercise 10 - Forearms

Holding your weight with your arm outstretched in front of you, tilt your wrist up and down repeatedly. Try doing this with both an overhand and underhand grip on your weight. Do one arm at a time.

Results

The secret of successful body toning is regularity. If you do this exercise sequence every other day you'll start to see results in a few weeks. 

Source:weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/body_toning/upper_body.htm

6 Life Tips To Burn Belly Fat Fast

Want a flat stomach? Or maybe just shift a couple of pounds hanging onto your belly?

There are many alternative ways to do so than spending all your time breaking strenuous sweats in the gym (although working out is a key factor!)

It is amazing what certain small changes to your routine can do and how quickly belly fat can disappear.

1. Plenty of Vitamin C
While Vitamin C is perfect for fighting a cold; it also produces carnitine a compound used by the body to turn fat into fuel and help burn it off. Kale, bell peppers and kiwi along with the traditional orange are rich in Vitamin C.

2. Goodbye Sugar! 
Fighting belly fat consists of eating an 80% healthy diet enriched with vegetables, protein, whole-grain and omega 3 filled foods. Sugar is an evil ingredient, which quickly adds weight without us even realising, and forever leaves us craving more and more naughty snacks.

3. Swim! 
Stereotypically it is suggested that in order to achieve a flat stomach you need to spend your time in the gym, obviously it helps but it’s not necessarily the only way. Instead, swim! It is relaxing, provides low impact on your joints and is fantastic cardio. Not only will it burn of the fat but also tone your muscles.

4. Eat Smaller Portions and More Often
Eating 5 – 6 small meals per day helps to lose weight as it keeps your metabolism constantly running as it is burning off the food, it also prevents the common problem of being hungry.  Try a light breakfast, small brunch, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, small dinner and possibly a small late snack.

5. Sleep
Studies prove that people who are regularly tired have slower metabolisms, taking longer to burn off calories. Getting a good and long sleep collects more energy to do more within the day and quickly burn off fat.

6. Strengthen your Core 
You cannot avoid exercise if you want to lose weight… you don’t have to make it your priority but you do have to involve some into your routine! Your stomach muscles are apart of your core and there are many activities you can do to improve this that don’t just involve sit-ups – so next time you exercise focus purely on your core and you will see the fat shift fast!

Source:mindthemunchies.com/6-life-tips-to-burn-belly-fat-fast/?pub_id=44&w_id=&pd_id=&link_id=80917&r_link_id=80917

4 Smart Anti-wrinkle Face Exercises

Smiling for just three minutes a day can help lift your neck, tone your lips and firm your cheeks, so keep smiling! Here are four more face-loving tricks to try

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Your workout regime might be in good shape, but how about the face that stares back at from the mirror every morning? It’s easy to forget one of the most important parts of your body, especially when you’re a busy mum. But with a few easy facial exercises, you can feel fresher and look younger. Try our face yoga workout…

Getting started

Here are four easy facial exercise routines to try.

• Do each of them every other day at first.
• Stand up straight in front of a mirror to do each exercise.
• Once you’ve mastered them, repeat once or twice a week. You could even do them in your break at work – a perfect way to relax and treat your skin.

Anti-wrinkle exercise 1: Posh pronunciation

This exercise involves fully articulating a series of vowels while laughing. This helps lift the neck and firm the corners of your mouth. It may also improve your word pronunciation!

• Breathe in deeply before you start.
• Try saying ‘A, E, I, O, U’ in a very deliberate, almost posh voice while smiling and laughing.
• Repeat the process three times in two minutes.

Anti-wrinkle exercise 2: Pucker up, baby

You might look like you’re a pouting fish, but this face exercise helps tone your cheeks and lips, and helps plump up the lower half of your face.

• Suck in your cheeks until your lips form a figure-of-eight shape.
• Hold this face yoga position for 10 seconds then release.
• Repeat the exercise 20 times in about three minutes.

Anti-wrinkle exercise 3: Say nothing!

By tensing up your lips you can effectively help prevent sagging of the skin surrounding the lips and give your smile a boost.

• With your mouth closed, pinch your lips shut tight.
• Stretch your mouth as widely as you can as if you’re trying to smile while your lips are glued shut.
• Hold this face yoga position for 20 seconds more before relaxing all the muscles. Repeat 10 or 12 times in three minutes.

Anti-wrinkle exercise 4: The Kiss

This facial exercise helps firm the lips and smooth out the fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth. You can max the impact by holding your face yoga kiss-pose in position with an extra squeeze between your fingers.

• Push the lips forward into an extreme pout, as if puckering up for a kiss.
• Hold this position for about 30 seconds.
• Repeat the process four times in two minutes.

Source: www.supersavvyme.co.uk/beauty-recommended/skin-care/article/4-smart-anti-wrinkle-exercises?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=beauty&utm_content=7157

Leg Lifts For A Toned Bum

Hone and tone a sculpted bum with this easy exercise

STANDING DONKEY KICK

Areas trained

Bottom, rear thighs

Technique

• Stand by a wall or sturdy surface and rest your hand on it for balance.

• Shift your weight onto one leg and then lift the other up behind you, keeping a slight bend in your knee.

• Lower your leg back to the start position. Change legs with each set.

Beginner: 2 x 10 reps

Intermediate: 4 x 15 reps

Advanced: 6 x 15 reps

Source: womensfitness.co.uk/workout-routines/973/leg-lifts