Best Snacks 80 Calories or Less

Best snacks, from the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Nutrition Director, Delia A. Hammock, M.S., R.D.

Sweet Treats

-5 Nabisco Nilla Wafers
-1 Whole Foods Market Two-Bite Brownie
-1 Healthy Choice Mocha Fudge Swirl Bar
-9 Tootsie Roll Midgees
-1 pouch Keebler Sandies Right Bites Shortbread Cookies
-½ cup Sharon’s Lemon Sorbet with 1/4 cup blueberries
-1 Skinny Cow Fat Free Fudge Bar
-1 Nestlé Butterfinger Stixx
-12 vanilla Miss Meringue Minis
-4 Country Choice Certified Organic Ginger Snaps
-1 Vitamuffin Vitatop

Savory Bites

-29 pistachios
-60 Pepperidge Farm Baby Goldfish Crackers
-1 Jolly Time Healthy Pop 100 Calorie Mini Bag popcorn
-25 EatSmart Café Fries
-12 Back to Nature Sesame Ginger Rice Thins
-12 Quaker Quakes Cheddar Cheese Rice Snacks
-40 Rold Gold Classic Style Pretzel Sticks

Dairy Delights

-1 Laughing Cow Light Creamy Garlic & Herb cheese wedge and 3 Triscuits
-1 Kraft Polly-O Superlong Twist-Ums string cheese stick
-1 Yoplait Light Smoothie
-½ cup low-fat cottage cheese with 5 strawberries

Hearty Helpings

-Campbell’s Soup at Hand Blended Vegetable Medley
-1 hard-boiled egg with 1 slice Melba toast
-4 slices Sara Lee Honey Ham with 2 teaspoons honey mustard, rolled in lettuce leaf
-½ mini bagel with 1 ounce smoked salmon

Fruits & veggies

-2 cups raspberries
-28 grapes
-1 cup blueberries
-1 cup mango chunks
-½ medium cantaloupe
-15 strawberries dipped in 1⁄4 cup Cool Whip Lite
-45 steamed edamame (green soybeans)
-2 tablespoons each of mashed avocado and chopped tomatoes stuffed in 1⁄2 mini pita
-½ red bell pepper dipped in 3 tablespoons hummus

Six Exsersise for Six Packs

Ab rollers, ab sliders, ab swingers. Think those gizmos work? Think again. Although some devices can be useful, the experts will tell you: If you want six-pack abs, low-tech generally works best.

 

Alan DeGennaro, a certified athletic trainer, strength and conditioning specialist, and director of the sports performance program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, shares his wisdom on ways to sculpt that sought-after six pack:

 

1. Forget gimmicks. You have to burn calories to lose fat. Until you lose the fat, the abs won’t even become visible, no matter how much you develop them, or how many gadgets you use.

 

2. Check out your parents. Genetics dictates your physique, to a large extent. “Some are born lean, others have to do exercises every day, have to watch their diet,” DeGennaro tells WebMD.

 

3. Skip the ephedra. Dietary supplements containing ephedra can help control appetite and help you burn more calories while you’re working out, so you do lose weight. But ephedra also increases heart rate, which can cause heart rhythm problems. Ephedra has even been linked to strokes. Also, when you stop taking ephedra, your appetite — and the weight — comes back.

 

4. Cut 500 calories a day. Proper nutrition and exercise are important to help burn calories. One pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. If your goal is losing a pound a week, you’ve got to do some calorie-cutting daily and fat burning. Cut back on little things — half a sandwich, cream in your coffee, afternoon candy.

 

5. Buy a Swiss ball. Lie on the inflatable ball to do your exercises. You’re working muscles through a full range of motion. Building muscle burns calories.

 

6. Vary your routine. A little variety — swimming, running, walking, working with the Swiss ball — will keep your calorie burn consistent, says DeGennaro. If your body gets used to one exercise, you’ll soon quit burning calories — the plateau we know too well.

 

Changes like these lead to “true weight loss that’s going to stick,” he tells WebMD. Whether you achieve six-pack abs – and with enough tenacity, you just might – at the least you’ll lose weight, look better, and feel better. Go for it.

How to Have Six-Pack Abs

Shortening the Road to a Six-Pack

Good nutrition, Calabrese says, is absolutely essential for overall physique. Calabrese employs the garbage-in, garbage-out theory. Consuming most of your calories from processed and fast foods, she says, is going to produce an unhealthy body lacking in nutrients. Make good food choices, on the other hand, and you’re on your way to a leaner you.

“If you’re eating natural and whole foods you can eat more than if you’re eating processed foods,” says Calabrese.

Though Calabrese says it comes down to the equation of calories-in, calories-out, she doesn’t recommend counting calories. She advises eating five to six small meals a day. This way, she says, your metabolism keeps stoked all day long, which gives you energy and keeps you from overeating.

“Exercise alone is great for expending calories, but without watching your diet, it’s going to be a long, slow road to getting a six-pack.” For your abdominal muscles to show, you have to shed the fat that lies on top.

Cardiovascular conditioning, whether it’s running, walking, or taking a cycling or dance class, can help burn calories. Combined with a balanced diet, aerobic exercise helps you lose the fat built up above the muscle.

Experts agree that the combination of a healthful, nutritious diet and cardiovascular exercise are needed to train your abdominal muscles.

Ab Workout: More Is Not Better

“You’re not going to reduce fat content without either a whole heck of a lot of abdominal work — which is unnecessary and a waste of time — or some kind of aerobic activity,” says Richard Cotton, exercise physiologist and spokesman for the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

Abdominal muscles consist of three layers. The very deepest layer is the transversus abdominis, which acts as the body’s girdle, providing support and stability and plays a critical role in exhalation. Next is the rectus abdominis, which flexes the spine. Closest to the surface are the internal and external obliques, which turn the trunk and provide the body with rotation and lateral movement.

Exercise physiologist and certified diabetes expert Rich Weil recommends training the abdominals much the way you would any other part of the body.

“Abdominal muscles are no different than any other muscle group. They should respond the same way.” Hence, if you wouldn’t do 50 bicep curls, you don’t need to do 50 abdominal crunches, he says. Just work smarter by slowing down to try to isolate the muscles you’re working.

Six-Pack Abs: Reality or Pipe Dream?

So what about the six-pack? Is it attainable? Can anyone get it?

Although possible, most experts say it’s rare.

“Six-pack abs is really a pre-cellulite phenomenon. It tends to be reserved for those in their teens and 20s,” says Cotton. “It gets more difficult as we age because we get more subcutaneous body fat.” However, with the right genetics and strict program, even people in their 30s and 40s can have six-pack abs.

Genetically, women have a disadvantage when it comes to that. Their bodies store more fat than men. For good reason, says Calabrese. Women’s bodies are designed to bear and nourish babies and fat is the primary energy source to support fetal development. In addition, Calabrese says, men generally lose weight quicker as a result of regular exercise.

For women to lower body fat enough to have a six-pack, says Cotton, “that might even interrupt their menstrual cycle.”

That’s why Cotton doesn’t encourage such extreme goals.

“I personally think it’s on the order of ridiculous,” he says. “If you’re spending that much time on your abs, you’re wasting time and taking time away from other muscle groups. It’s a show muscle.

“When I have clients that are obsessed with that, I work on values and self-acceptance. People want a perfect body, they want a Lexus and they want a 3,000 square foot home. They’re objectifying the body.”

There are important reasons to train the midsection, however. The core muscles of the abdominals strengthen the torso, improve posture, decrease low back pain, and reduce risk of injury.

Abdominal training can also improve other areas of fitness. If you’re a golfer or tennis player, working with a stronger core is going to give you more power behind your stroke or serve and reduce risk of shoulder injury. A stronger torso, for example, will put less strain on your knees while running.

Ab Exercises

So let’s get to it. Here are the experts’ choices on the most effective abdominal exercises. These should be performed two to three times weekly (for beginners, two is plenty to start). Each exercise should be executed until the point of momentary muscular failure, which should happen between 30 and 90 seconds. This is considered one set, which should be no more than 15 to 20 repetitions. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds. Concentrate on performing each exercise slowly with good form. Work up to completing two to three sets of each exercise.

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Reverse Crunch: Lie flat on the floor with a neutral spine, with knees at a 90-degree angle, feet a few inches off the floor and legs together, hands by your sides (behind your ears if you’re more experienced). Focus on contracting your abdominals to lift your hips up and in toward your rib case. Exhale as you contract; inhale to return to starting position. Done correctly, this exercise isolates the lower half of the rectus abdominis and the transverus.

Ab Exercises continued…

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Bent-Elbow Plank: This exercise works the whole trunk, particularly the transversus abdominis. Start by lying on your belly and then lift yourself up onto your toes and forearms (elbows in line with shoulders) while contracting your abdominals and keeping your back neutral. Hold that position for five seconds, then rest and repeat. Ultimately, strive to hold the pose for 90 seconds without any rest — for one set. If you’re more experienced, you can also do this exercise on your hands and toes. (As a beginner, start on your hands and knees with a neutral spine and simply contract the abdominals on an exhale without moving your back.)

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Bicycle: This exercise works your obliques as well as your rectus abdominis. Lie on your back, hips and knees bent at 90-degrees, chest curled over ribs, hands behind your head. Extend the left leg out while bringing the right knee in towards the chest and rotating the left shoulder toward the right knee. Keep the arm from crossing the face. Rotate from the trunk through the center to the other side without dropping your chest. Move in slow, controlled movements without shifting your hips.

If you perform these exercises consistently, says Calabrese, you will notice a significant difference in the strength and tone of your entire torso within six weeks.

“Be consistent,” she says. “Be patient and believe a flat stomach is possible.”

Shape Up Your Butt and Thighs

If you’re looking to have a better looking bottom half, keep reading. WebMD’s Fitness Series can help you with everything from what and when to eat to exercise photographs with step-by-step instructions.

The trick to getting nicely sculpted thighs and glutes is specifically targeting these muscle groups — the quadriceps (front of the thighs), hamstrings (back of the thighs), and gluteals (butt).

Building these muscles will increase stamina in most everything you do, including climbing stairs, getting out of a chair, squatting to pick up a baby off the floor, or walking the grocery aisles.

Some of the largest in the body, the upper leg muscles, are made up of quadriceps, hamstrings, abductors (outer thighs), and adductors (inner thighs) and it is important that they be worked with some balance, says exercise physiologist and personal trainer Nicole Gunning.

“You want to develop these muscles in a balanced way for optimal function,” says Gunning. “Otherwise you end up with things like improper gait, problems with balance, and trouble with normal daily living activities.”

Weak, tight, or imbalanced muscles are going to manifest in more than just reduced performance. Over time, these imbalances cause bigger problems.

“Over-attention to any muscle group is going to cause a compromise in another,” says Gunning.

When one part of the leg is more developed than the other, it can pull the hips and pelvis out of alignment, which challenges stability and eventually leads to back, hip, knee, and ankle pain, she says. The next thing you know, people are treating back or knee pain, when what they really want to be doing is balancing muscle development.

Gunning sees many clients with tight hamstrings, for instance, runners.

“Using these muscles over and over on hills and different terrain,” she says, “and repetitively contracting the muscle and not stretching can reduce the range of motion.”

Stretching is a huge part of the equation, says Gunning.

“A lot of people that have injuries, I believe a big part is that they don’t make a conscious effort to stretch. They’ll do two minutes of stretching after 50 minutes of working out.”

That is wrong, says Gunning. Stretching should be incorporated into any weight training and cardiovascular program, just the way a healthful, nutritious diet should. You can’t expect to work out but eat Twinkies all day and look good. By the same token, you shouldn’t expect to prevent injury by constantly contracting a muscle group and never extending it.

Following are a few exercises for the thighs and gluteals. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just a few options to develop the muscles of the lower body. Gunning does warn however, that there is no such thing as spot reduction.

“It’s a combination of working the muscle and changing the diet,” she says. “Sometimes a person can lose weight and train properly and do everything right and some areas are harder to change.”

Gravity, connective tissue, age, and genetics all play into the shape of our butt and legs, she says. But don’t let that be a roadblock, either.

“You’re still going to tone muscles and feel better and look better.”

LEGS/BUTT:

Beginners should strive to complete one set of 10-15 and work toward completing two to three sets.

MUSCLE GROUP: FRONT OF THIGHS (QUADRICEPS)

Tip: Gunning says when performing each exercise, put your mind into the muscle(s) you’re working and complete a full range of motion with slow, controlled, and deliberate movement.

Dumbbell Lunge:

Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Step forward with one foot. Slowly lower the whole body downward in a controlled movement for a count of four. Both knees bend as the body lowers. Go no farther than 90 degrees with the knee joint. Slowly work up to lowering yourself so that your front thigh is parallel to the ground — being sure that your front knee does not reach out past your toes (this increases the risk of a knee injury). Return to standing, starting position without locking the knee. Do 10-12 repetitions, then alternate legs.

MUSCLE GROUP: BUTT (GLUTEALS), QUADRICEPS, AND HAMSTRINGS

Dumbbell Squats:

Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Slowly lower your body down for a count of four. Slowly work up to lowering yourself so that your thighs are parallel to the floor — always keeping in mind not to let your knees reach out past your toes. One way to help avoid this is to reach back with your butt while lowering your body. Return just as slowly, pressing through the heels, to the starting position.

Bridge:

Lie on your back with knees bent, feet on the floor, hip width apart. Beginning with a pelvic tilt (tucking the hips), peel the spine off the floor one vertebrae at a time until you’ve created a diagonal line from the shoulders to the knees. (The heels should be directly under the knees at the highest point.) Hold for a few counts, then slowly lower spine squeezing the butt so it is the last thing to touch the ground. Repeat 10-15 times.

Variation: For more of a challenge, from the top of the bridge, lower the spine halfway down, then squeeze the butt to lift back up.

MUSCLE GROUP: INNER THIGH

Lying Abduction:

1. Lie on your side with your hips stacked one on top of the other, head resting on your arm or propped up on your hand.
2. Take legs about 45 degrees in front of you for balance.
3. Lift the top leg off the bottom leg about an inch. Hold it parallel and flex the foot (toes pointed forward, not up.)
4. Slowly raise and lower the top leg without touching the other leg between repetitions.
5. Do 10-15 repetitions, being careful not to rock forward or back off your stacked hip position. Alternate legs and repeat.

MUSCLE GROUP: INNER THIGH

Lying Adduction:

1. Lie on your side and bring your top leg in front of the bottom leg. Bring the front foot up towards your thigh and rest your foot on the floor just above your knee — toes pointing forward.
2. Raise your bottom foot about 1 inch off the floor.
3. Slowly raise your bottom foot up as much as comfortable, keeping a slight bend in your leg.
4. Hold for 2-4 counts and slowly lower back to starting position. Complete 10-15 repetitions.

Arm Exercises to Tighten and Tone

Whether you want to tone and define weak arms so that you can wear something sleeveless with confidence or you want to increase muscle mass, working the muscles in the front and back of the upper arms will help you get there.

But toned arms give you much more than visual satisfaction.

“These are the muscles you use on a daily basis for the activities of daily living,” says WebMD exercise physiologist Rich Weil, MEd, CDE.

Richard Cotton, spokesman for the American Council on Exercise, agrees. “It is the arms that help you lift the groceries out of the trunk, pick up a chair, and rake the leaves,” says Cotton. Those, he says, are the more important reasons for including arm exercises in a fitness program.

It’s Not All About Looking Good

“We’re really stuck on wanting to look good and that’s alright, but it’s really one goal of the program and only one of the benefits,” he says. “Exercise is a body tune-up, and if we’re keeping our body exercised, we’re keeping it tuned just like a car.”

When working the arms, be sure to balance the body, Cotton says.

“We tend to make the mistake of exercising only our show muscles,” he says. “And that’s actually an imbalanced program. We pay too much attention to the muscles in front of our body and not enough attention to the back of the body.”

On the most basic level, this doesn’t build the whole muscle.

“The reality is,” says Weil, “if you want big arms, you’ve got to work both sides of the arms. When someone flexes their biceps, it’s the whole arm that’s working. The triceps are a part of that.”

Taken to the extreme, imbalances can lead to physical injuries, he says. If you consistently work the front of the thighs (quadriceps) but never the back (hamstrings), for example, the hamstrings will weaken, tighten, and cause you to pull or strain a muscle. Over time, it may lead to back pain from the tight hamstrings pulling you out of alignment.

Staying Motivated

But sticking with any new exercise program is the real challenge. Cotton contends that becoming a conscious exerciser will keep you motivated longer than the functional strength and physical appearance aspirations.

“I believe that in order for someone to become highly motivated to exercise, the motivation must come from a level that is much deeper than the desire for thinner thighs, ripped abs, stress management, or even disease prevention. The motivation must come from the depths, from a place that takes us closer to knowing who we really are and why we are here.”

 

He recommends staying present in the moment when you are lifting a free weight or running on the treadmill. Instead of watching the news, reading a magazine, or chatting with people around you while you workout, he says, connect to your body. Be in touch with your breathing. Be aware of how your body feels.

“[Stay] present in the moment when lifting a free weight or running on the treadmill…connect to your body.”

The following program consists of two exercises each for the biceps and the triceps. This allows you to work different areas of each of these muscle groups.

Pick a weight that allows you to complete between 8 and 12 repetitions. Perform two to three sets of each exercise before moving on to the next exercise. Give the muscles time to recover between workouts — at least 48 hours.

BICEPS

Standing Biceps Curl with Dumbbells

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent, or sit in upright position.

1. Grasp dumbbells with an underhand grip (palms facing forward), arms hanging down at your sides.
2. Flex at the elbows and curl dumbbells up to approximately shoulder level. Keep elbows close to sides throughout movement — don’t allow them to move forward. This exercise may be done one arm at a time.
3. Return to starting position.

 

Hammer Curls with Dumbbells

1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent, or sit in upright position.
2. Grasp dumbbells with palms facing each other, arms hanging down at your sides.
3. Flex at the elbows and curl dumbbells up to approximately shoulder level. Keep elbows close to sides throughout movement — don’t allow them to move forward. This exercise may be done one arm at a time.
4. Return to starting position.

 

Note: Remember to keep back and head straight in a neutral position throughout movement. Shoulders should be stabilized by squeezing shoulder blades together slightly — only the elbow joint should move.

TRICEPS

Lying Triceps Extension with Dumbbells

1. Sit in upright position on a flat bench. Rest dumbbells on corresponding thighs.
2. Lie on back and bring the dumbbells to your chest. Press up so they are directly over shoulders with palms facing in.
3. Lower dumbbells toward forehead by bending elbows to 90°. Elbows should remain pointing forward. Arms shouldn’t move from the shoulder to the elbow.
4. Return to start position.

 

Triceps Kickback with Dumbbells

1. Place right knee and left hand on flat bench. Keep back flat.
2. Grasp dumbbell. Raise right arm up so that upper arm is parallel to floor with lower arm hanging straight down toward floor — palm facing in.
3. Keep upper arm parallel to floor and raise dumbbell straight back until arm is almost straight. Don’t lock out elbow.
4. Lower dumbbell slowly back to starting position, keeping your upper arm parallel to the floor. All the movement should be in your elbow, not your shoulder.
5. After performing all the repetitions with the right arm, reverse position and perform move with left arm.

Note: For both exercises, remember to keep back and head straight in a neutral position — hyperextension may cause injury. Keep shoulder stabilized throughout movement.

Back Exercises to Wow Them Coming and Going

Whether you’re looking to strengthen your back to help with pain or just to look and feel better, experts say back exercises are a big part of the game.

According to the CDC, back pain is the leading cause of disability and missed work in the U.S. and results in $50 billion annually in costs.

With exercise and proper strengthening of the back muscles and the abdominals, the muscles that support the back, experts agree the frequency of back pain could decrease.

The back is an area vulnerable to injury. Why? One reason is a weak back and supporting muscle groups. Another is poor form in exercise or lifting or whatever daily activities you perform.

Show Off Your Back

“The back should be just as important a muscle group as the chest and biceps, but it is often neglected,” says exercise physiologist Kelli Calabrese.

“The muscles of the back help to keep you upright, and if the muscles are strong, they don’t fatigue as quickly,” she says, “(so) you’re less likely to get injured when lifting or bending.”

“We tend to overemphasize pectoral (chest) strength and under emphasize back strength,” says exercise physiologist Richard Cotton.

The “show” muscles, as Cotton calls them — chest, biceps, and shoulders — tend to get our attention because they are the ones we see and show to the world.

Life Is Hard on the Back

But just the nature of daily living tends to tighten the front of the body, leaving the upper back weak and overstretched, he says.

“We spend a fair amount of our day at computer keyboards,” he says.

There’s no back work in that. Besides that, without the strength of the core — the abdominals and the lower back — posture suffers and lower back pain ensues. Abdominal strength is essential to back strength. You cannot have one without the other.

“If you’re only working the abs or only working the back,” says Cotton, “you’re only doing half the job.”

Weakness or tightness in other muscles can pull the back out of alignment as well, says Calabrese, including the hamstrings (back of the thighs) or hip flexors.

Since the back tends to be prone to injury, Cotton says to work back muscles no more than three times a week, being sure to include a rest day in between. He advises beginners to proceed very slowly when strengthening the back, particularly the lower back. Start by trying to complete only five repetitions, he says, wait a day, and be sure you don’t experience any discomfort or pain.

It’s About More Than Big Muscles

Strength training alone is not enough when it comes to a healthy back.

“It is important to stretch every day,” says Calabrese.

As we age, without a balance of strength and stretching, we tend to develop poor posture, she says, which encourages injury as well as making us look and feel weaker, older, and heavier.

Stretching should include a flexion and extension of the spine. For flexion, sit with your knees bent, butt on your heels and arms out in front of you (child’s pose in yoga). For extension, place your hands on your lower back for support and gently arch, tightening your abdominals for support.

Reverse Fly

1. Starting position: Standing with a slight bend in your knees, bend forward at the waist. Keep your back flat, with dumbbells hanging down towards the floor. Be sure to choose a light weight as the shoulder muscles are small.

2. Begin contracting the muscles of the upper back as you lead up with a slight bend in your elbows. Stop when the elbows are even with the shoulders, pause for a second, and slowly lower to the starting position, stopping just short of the arms hanging down without tension.

3. Picture hugging a beach ball as you return to the starting position. Repeat 10-15 times.

One-Arm Dumbbell Raise

1. Starting position: Place your right knee on a flat bench, bend at the waist, and rest on your right hand. Keep your back flat. Place a dumbbell in your left hand.

2. Slowly pull the dumbbell up toward your abdomen. Pause here for one second and then slowly lower the dumbbell to the starting position. Repeat 10- 15 times.

3. Switch positions and repeat on the other side

LOWER BACK

Opposite Arm & Leg Raise

1. Starting position: Position body with hands and knees on floor approximately shoulder-width apart. Hip should be flexed at 90°.

2. Raise right arm and left leg off floor level with the back while stabilizing with the back and abdominal muscles.

3. Lower and alternate sides. Repeat 10-15 on each side.

Note: Remember to keep head and back in a neutral position. Shoulders and hips should remain squared and stable throughout movement.

Prone Back Extension (Superman)

1. Starting position: Lie face down on floor with hands down at sides. You may place a rolled towel under forehead to clear face from floor.

2. Tighten the abdominals to support the back, then float chest and head off floor while keeping feet in contact with floor. Be sure the neck remains in line with the spine.

3. Return to starting position. Complete 10-15 repetitions.

4. To increase resistance, extend arms and place hands overhead.

Note: Do not raise head more than 8-12 inches — excessive hyperextension may cause injury. To vary exercise, raise feet while raising trunk.

Shoulder Exercises to Sculpt and Tighten

Walk by the mirror and notice your posture. Do you like what you see?

 

Are you stooped forward and rounded at the shoulders? Is your upper back curved forward? Is your head forward of the rest of your body instead of floating atop your shoulders? If so, you may be overtraining the front of your shoulders and chest and ignoring the upper back of the body, including the rear shoulders. Training the shoulder muscles can help improve postural alignment when done in balance, say experts.

 

The shoulder is an important joint that functions with the use of many muscles. The rotator cuff consists of a group of muscles that help stabilize the shoulder and a site of many injuries. Other muscles help with movement and rotation.

An important shoulder muscle, explains exercise physiologist Kelli Calabrese, consists of the anterior (front), medial (middle), and posterior (back) parts of the deltoid. Their main function is to help lift the arm up to the front, the side, and the back, and to press overhead. Other muscles are also involved in these movements.

 

Poor posture comes from overworking the anterior deltoid.

 

“Everything we do we do forward,” says exercise physiologist Nicole Gunning. “We drive, reach to a shelf, we use the computer all day.”

 

Calabrese agrees.

 

“Generally, posture really encourages this overstretching of the posterior deltoid and tightening of the anterior deltoid. The back is stretched and weak and the front is so tight,” she says.

 

In addition, people tend to hold stress in their shoulders, pulling them up and creating tension, says Calabrese.

Balance Is Important

The most important thing to consider when working the shoulder, says Gunning, is to work all parts of the shoulder evenly.

 

“Overdevelopment of the anterior deltoid and chest gives you that hunched over kind of look,” says Gunning, who manages Unilever Cosmetics International’s corporate fitness center.

 

Besides working in balance, there are other considerations when training the shoulder, says Calabrese.

 

“The shoulder is a really vulnerable joint,” she says. “It’s a ball and socket joint but it’s floating in the socket, held by ligaments and tendons.”

 

Inherently, that makes the shoulder more at risk for injury.

 

“The shoulder is hypermobile and can easily be dislocated. It is easy to put it into a susceptible position.”

 

When working the shoulder with free weights as in a lateral raise, the weight is far from the joint moving it, which can create instability.

 

“As the poundage that you’re holding gets farther away from the joint your working, there is greater risk of injury,” says Gunning.

 

The heavier the weight, the more difficult it is to keep a joint like the shoulder stable. Lighter weights are a much better choice.

 

“Muscles in the shoulder are small,” says Gunning, “so weights should be pretty light.”

Another weak part of the shoulder for many people is the rotator cuff. It is prone to injury from overuse, she says.

 

“People should be actively training the rotator with internal and external rotation,” Gunning says. This can be done with tubing that is attached to something to hold its tension. The arm would begin bent at the elbow and holding one end of the tubing pull the forearm toward you for internal rotation and away for external rotation.

 

“People pay more attention to the vanity exercises that actually build the muscles but the tendons and ligaments need to be strengthened too,” Gunning says.

 

Another reason to train shoulders is that these muscles are assistors in just about any upper body exercise, including push-ups, bicep curls, and chest presses, Calabrese explains.

 

Calabrese and Gunning offer these safety tips:

 

“Start from a neutral position, relaxed with shoulders down. Start out with a resistance that will allow you to perform the move properly,” says Calabrese.

 

She suggests using a mirror to track and maintain proper alignment.

 

“If it feels awkward, sometimes you’re so misaligned that you get used to holding your body the wrong way,” says Calabrese. “A mirror can help. Keep resetting yourself and realigning yourself and focus on staying relaxed.”

 

Focus on the concentric (shortening) and eccentric (lengthening) equally, she explains. And always work slowly — two to three seconds in each direction.

 

“No momentum should be involved in strength training whatsoever,” she says.

 

Gunning advises people to work through a pain-free range of motion and progress slowly.

 

Flexibility can be an asset in increasing a limited range of motion, she says, so stretching is beneficial — particularly for the anterior deltoid. Something as simple as doing reverse shoulder rolls very slowly can help open the shoulders.

 

These exercises came from exercise physiologist and ACE spokeswoman Kelli Calabrese, who owns Calabrese Consulting LLC.

 

Perform two to three sets, 10 to 15 repetitions per set, of each of the following exercises:

Lateral Raise (Works Medial Deltoid)

• Stand with your feet together. With a dumbbell in each hand, slowly lift the arms up towards shoulder height so that you form a “T” shape.
• Pause at the top of the range of motion and slowly return to the starting position stopping just short of the arms touching the hips. To make this exercise more challenging pause for two to three seconds at the top of the range of motion.
• Be sure to keep your shoulders down as you are lifting your arms up.

Alternating Front Raise (Works Anterior Deltoid)

• Stand with feet together and a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing towards you.
• Slowly raise your right hand up in front of you with a slight bend in your elbow.
• Pause at the top when you reach shoulder height and slowly return to the starting position, stopping where there is still tension on the shoulder.
• Complete all repetitions and then repeat on the left side.

 

To make this exercise more challenging, pause for two to three seconds at the top of the range of motion.

Prone Shoulder Extension (Works Posterior Deltoid)

• Lie face down with your arms by your sides.
• Place a dumbbell in each hand and turn your palms facing up.
• Lift your arms up towards the ceiling pausing at the top of your range of motion.
• Slowly return to the starting position, stopping just short of your hands touching the floor.

Tip: Always work the shoulders after your back or chest work since the shoulders are involved in all back and chest work. If you fatigue them first, you will not be fully challenging the larger muscles of the upper body.

Chest Exercises to Help Tone and More

Sure, chest exercises help give a man a nice physique, but working out the chest can help women, too, by lifting sagging chests and breasts.

Think of anything you do that involves pushing and you’ve discovered what you use the chest muscles for. Whether it’s pushing a lawn mower, baby carriage, or grocery cart, strong chests help us perform these tasks.

In addition, chest muscles are essential in sports like tennis, free-style swimming, and all sports where you throw a ball.

“Just because of the forward motion of daily life, the pectorals tend to get used,” says Richard Cotton, an exercise physiologist in San Diego.

Things like driving or working at a computer all day keep chest muscles activated at a low level. That’s good and bad, he says.

“The challenge is too much pec exercise,” says Cotton. For example, someone who sits at a computer eight hours a day can really suffer negative effects from having continually engaged pectorals.

Posture Is Key

“We tend to get shorter muscles from working keyboards,” he says. Shorter muscles mean a tighter chest and that usually translates to weak back muscles.

This can become a postural problem, having rounded shoulders and not being able to stand upright. It can also lead to shoulder injuries as the arms suffer a decreased range of motion.

When sitting at a desk, be conscious of posture, says Lisa Cooper, fitness director of Little Rock Athletic Club in Arkansas.

“Think about dropping your shoulders down and pulling your shoulder blades back and together; visualize holding a pencil between the blades while keeping your abdominals engaged to support the back,” she says.

Cotton says working the chest is great when done in balance.

“Chest exercises need to be integrated into a whole-body workout including other major muscle groups, especially the abdominals,” he says.

Cooper agrees.

“People need to think of working muscles in pairs, doing equal amounts of exercises with opposing muscle groups. If you’re working chest, you should also work back. If you’re working biceps, you should also work triceps.”

And, she says, if you alternate between the two opposing muscle groups, you don’t have to rest between sets, which can cut down your workout time.

If done correctly, many chest exercises simultaneously recruit and work other muscles groups.

“If you’re pushing a car or a lawn mower,” explains Cotton, “naturally the back and abs are also very activated. Having weak abs is going to hurt your back.”

Chest exercises primarily use the chest but recruit supporting muscle groups to assist. In a push-up, for example, not only are the pectorals engaged but the abdominals, the latissimus dorsi in the back, the deltoids in the shoulders, and the triceps in the back of upper arms are involved.

Experts say pectorals are not usually a neglected group among those developing a workout program. Quite the contrary

“The show muscles [such as pecs and abs] are usually something that people that are motivated to exercise are going to try to build — men especially,” says Cotton.

Many men focus solely on their upper bodies and particularly their chests, says Cooper, because they can see the progress.

But everyone should be wary of sacrificing balance in a zealous desire to have a nice chest.

“This is not a muscle group you want to overemphasize to the detriment of the opposing back muscles,” Cotton says. “You should balance the two for a healthy program.”

For women, chest exercises, done in balance can help to lift a sagging chest, strengthening the muscles that help lift the breast tissue, particularly in someone who’s overweight, losing weight, or has just had a baby.

“Getting the chest in shape lifts the chest,” says Cotton. “It may appear that you have a bigger chest (whether you’re striving for that or not), but it’s a healthier look. It’s better posture.”

Women concerned with building bulk shouldn’t be, he says.

“Only 10% of women actually gain significant muscle mass doing chest exercises,” says Cotton.

“You’d have to be on a pretty serious body-building regime to get that bulk,” says Cooper. “And you’d have to be genetically predisposed to it.”

“It would take heavy weights and low repetitions to create size,” says Cooper. Women are generally doing higher repetitions with lower weights so bulk is not really an issue.

Don’t Forget to Stretch

Regardless of which muscle group you’re working, stretching is an important component of a comprehensive strength-training program. Be sure to complete each workout with stretches for those muscles you’ve taxed.

Chest stretches would include standing in a doorway, elbows bent, palms on the inside of the doorway. Lean out to open the chest while straightening and holding with your arms. Another is to stand with your arms by your sides, palms facing backward and press back and long with your arms while lifting your chest slightly.

For beginners, perform two sets of either the push-up or the dumbbell bench press followed by two sets of the incline dumbbell chest fly. Intermediate and advanced exercisers should perform three sets of push-ups and/or the dumbbell bench press followed by three sets of the incline dumbbell chest fly. Both beginners and advanced should perform eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise. Once you can do 12 repetitions with good form, increase the weight used.

Incline Push-Up (Beginner)

• Lie face down with hands on a secure bench, chair, or desk. Place hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, with feet hip-width apart and toes on floor.
• Lower your body so that your chest is 4-8 inches from the bench.
• Return to the starting position by extending at the elbows and pushing the body up.

Challenge: As you get stronger, try the push-up on the floor, being careful to stabilize the back by tightening the abdominals. You should look like a straight, diagonal line from the toes to the head.

Note: Remember to keep the head and trunk stabilized in a neutral position by contracting the abdominal and back muscles. Never fully lock out the elbows and avoid hyperextending the low back.

Dumbbell Bench Press

• Lie back onto a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand.
• Starting position: Lie onto your back and bring the dumbbells to your shoulders. Press the dumbbells up directly above your chest with palms facing forward.
• Lower the dumbbells slowly, keeping your elbows pointed out.
• Let your upper arm go parallel to slightly past parallel to the ground before returning to the starting position.
• To end the exercise, place the dumbbells on onto your thighs or at sides.

Incline Dumbbell Chest Fly

• Lie back onto an incline bench (45 degrees or less) with a dumbbell in each hand (you may rest each dumbbell on the corresponding thigh).
• Starting position: Lie onto your back and bring the dumbbells to your shoulders. Press the dumbbells up directly above the chest with the dumbbells almost touching and palms facing each other.
• Keeping the elbows slightly bent, lower the dumbbells out and away from each other in an arcing motion with hands aligned with the upper chest region.
• Let your upper arm go parallel to slightly past parallel to the ground before returning to the starting position.
• To end the exercise, place the dumbbells on shoulders, then onto your thighs or at sides.

Balance Your Way to a Stronger Body

Having a hard time lugging those groceries up the stairs? Feeling a bit wobbly when you get in and out of the shower? If you’re slowly losing your balance and coordination, don’t be surprised. It happens to all of us as we get older. But the latest fitness trend sweeping health clubs across the country just may help you keep your feet on the ground — literally.

 

Balance, or core training, is not new, says Kevin Steele, PhD, an exercise physiologist and vice president of sports and marketing for 24 Hour Fitness, headquartered in San Ramon, Calif. “Physical therapists and athletic trainers have used these techniques for years.” Now, though, gym rats everywhere are bouncing and wobbling their way to a stronger “core” — as the muscles that surround your trunk are called. Without strong trunk muscles, you’re more likely to suffer from chronic back pain, lose your balance and fall, or be more prone to injury when doing other workout routines.

 

“Your core is the essence of everything you do, from your day-to-day activities, to your athletic pursuits,” says Steven Ehasz, MES, CSCS, exercise physiologist and wellness coordinator for the University of Maryland Medical System. “It doesn’t matter how strong your arms and legs are if the muscles they’re attached to aren’t equally as strong.”

 

A strong core is also responsible for your sense of balance. “Balance not only requires equilibrium, but also good stability of the core muscles and the joints, particularly the hip, knee, and ankle,” says Leigh Crews, spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. There are several ways to address balance and stability training, says Crews, including balance boards, stability balls, the Reebok Core Board, Bosu (which stands for “both sides up”) balls, as well as yoga, and other forms of mind-body training and martial arts, such as Pilates and tai chi.

 

Maintaining one’s balance (or equilibrium, physical stability, or steadiness), is primarily coordinated by three systems, explains Gerry Green, director of the Fitness Center at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. The first is the vestibular or auditory system, located in the inner ear, which acts like a “carpenter’s balance” to keep you level. The second balance coordinator is the proprioceptive system, which uses sensory nerves called proprioceptors that are located in the muscles, tendons, and joints. They give signals to the central nervous system, which gives you a kinesthetic sense, or an awareness of your body posture and spatial awareness. And finally, there is the visual system, which sends visual signals from the eyes to the brain about your body’s position in relation to its surroundings.

 

Your balance may be “off,” says Green, for a number of reasons, including illness, injury, poor posture, muscle imbalances, or a weak core.

The popularity of balance or core training can be seen in health clubs across the country, says Bill Howland, director of research for the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association in Boston. “The majority of clubs and fitness centers now offer some form of balance training,” says Howland, who reiterates that the idea behind this activity is not new, but like yoga, seems to have found a new popularity.

“As we’re getting older, we’re becoming less concerned with sculpting our body, and more concerned with staying active and functional,” says Howland. “With core training, your joints and muscles work in tandem, just the way they do in real life when, for example, you have to balance yourself while walking upstairs with bags of groceries in your arms.”

 

Balance aids, such as the Bosu Balance Trainer — a vinyl dome that resembles a ball cut in half, with one side being flat and the other functioning as a platform on which to perform exercises such as push-ups and crunches — requires a collaborative effort of major muscle groups, says Norris Tomlinson, national director of group exercise for Bally Total Fitness. With the Bosu ball, says Tomlinson, you can get the benefits of cardiovascular training, strength training, and balance training. “It’s a much more efficient way of working out,” he says.

 

You can buy balance balls and boards for home use, but Steven Ehasz suggests that it’s better to work with a qualified trainer — at least at first — who can determine where your muscle imbalances are and plan a routine that addresses your specific weaknesses.

 

While boards and balls are popular and may liven up your workout routine, you can work on your balance and core strength on your own, with no apparatus at all. Simple yoga poses, such as the tree pose, can help improve balance and stability, says Leigh Crews, who adds that when practicing balance positions, remember to change the direction that you look in order to increase the challenge to your balance. You can also challenge your balance by standing on one foot and closing your eyes.

 

Exercises such as squats, lunges, step-ups for the lower body, and standing rows, shoulder presses, and other standing exercises for the upper body will also help develop balance, says Gerry Green, in addition to helping improve your posture.

 

Once you get started with balance training, says IHRSA’s Bill Howland, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you take to it. “We were all doing a lot of these moves in grade-school phys ed,” he says. “This is not rocket science. It’s a simple, proven, and time-honored regimen.”

7 Most Effective Exercises

1. Walking

Any exercise program should include cardiovascular exercise, which strengthens the heart and burns calories. And walking is something you can do anywhere, anytime, with no equipment other than a good pair of shoes.

It’s not just for beginners, either: Even the very fit can get a good workout from walking.

“Doing a brisk walk can burn up to 500 calories per hour,” says Robert Gotlin, DO, director of orthopaedic and sports rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. Since it takes 3,500 calories to lose a pound, you could expect to lose a pound for every seven hours you walk, if you did nothing else.

Don’t go from the sofa to walking an hour day, though. Richard Cotton, a spokesman for the American Council on Exercise, says beginners should start by walking five to -10 minutes at a time, gradually moving up to at least 30 minutes per session.

“Don’t add more than five minutes at a time,” he says. Another tip: It’s better to lengthen your walks before boosting your speed or incline.

2. Interval training

Whether you’re a beginner or an exercise veteran, a walker or an aerobic dancer, adding interval training to your cardiovascular workout will boost your fitness level and help you lose weight.

“Varying your pace throughout the exercise session stimulates the aerobic system to adapt,” says Cotton. “The more power the aerobic system has, the more capacity you have to burn calories.”

The way to do it is to push the intensity or pace for a minute or two, then back off for anywhere from two to -10 minutes (depending on how long your total workout will be, and how much time you need to recover). Continue doing this throughout the workout.

3. Squats

Strength training is essential, the experts say. “The more muscular fitness you have,” says Cotton, “the greater the capacity you have to burn calories.”
And our experts tended to favor strength-training exercises that target multiple muscle groups. Squats, which work the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteals, are an excellent example.

“They give you the best bang for the buck because they use the most muscle groups at once,” says Oldsmar, Fla., trainer David Petersen.
Form is key, though, warns Petersen.

3. Squats continued…

“What makes an exercise functional is how you perform the exercise,” he says. “If you have bad technique, it’s no longer functional.”

For perfect form, keep feet shoulder-width apart and back straight. Bend knees and lower your rear, says Cotton: “The knee should remain over the ankle as much as possible.”

“Think of how you sit down in a chair, only the chair’s not there,” suggests Gotlin.

Physical therapist Adam Rufa, of Cicero, N.Y., says practicing with a real chair can help.

“Start by working on getting in and out of a real chair properly,” he says. Once you’ve mastered that, try just tapping the chair with your bottom, then coming back up. Then do the same motion without the chair.

Gotlin sees lots of patients with knee pain, and says quadriceps weakness is the cause much of the time. If you feel pain going down stairs, he says, strengthening your quads with squats may very well help.

4. Lunges

Like squats, lunges work all the major muscles of the lower body: gluteals, quadriceps, and hamstrings.

A lunge is a great exercise because it mimics life, it mimics walking,” only exaggerated, says Petersen.

Lunges are a bit more advanced than squats, says Cotton, helping to improve your balance as well.

Here’s how to do them right: Take a big step forward, keeping your spine in a neutral position. Bend your front knee to approximately 90 degrees, focusing on keeping weight on the back toes and dropping the knee of your back leg toward the floor.

Petersen suggests that you imagine sitting on your back foot. “The trailing leg is the one you need to sit down on,” he says.

To make a lunge even more functional, says Rufa, try stepping not just forward, but back and out to each side.

“Life is not linear, it’s multiplanar,” says Rufa. And the better they prepare you for the various positions you’ll move in during the course of a day, the more useful exercises are.

5. Push-ups

If done correctly, the push-up can strengthen the chest, shoulders, triceps, and even the core trunk muscles, all at one time.

“I’m very much into planking exercises, almost yoga-type moves,” says Petersen. “Anytime you have the pelvis and the core [abdominals and back] in a suspended position, you have to rely on your own adherent strength to stabilize you.”

Push-ups can be done at any level of fitness, says Cotton: “For someone who is at a more beginning level, start by pushing from the kitchen-counter height. Then work your way to a desk, a chair, the floor with bent knees, and, finally, the floor on your toes.”

Here’s how to do a perfect push-up: From a face-down position, place your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Place your toes or knees on the floor, and try to create a perfect diagonal with your body, from the shoulders to the knees or feet. Keep the glutes [rear-end muscles] and abdominals engaged. Then lower and lift your body by bending and straightening your elbows, keeping your torso stable throughout.

There are always ways to make it harder, says Rufa. Once your form is perfect, try what he calls the “T-stabilization” push-up: Get into push-up position, then do your push-ups with one arm raised out to the side, balancing on the remaining three limbs without rotating your hips.

6. Abdominal Crunches

Who doesn’t want firm, flat abs? Experts say that when done correctly, the familiar crunch (along with its variations) is a good choice to target them.

For a standard crunch, says Cotton, begin lying on your back with feet flat on the floor and fingertips supporting your head. Press your low back down and begin the exercise by contracting abdominals and peeling first your head (tucking your chin slightly), then your neck, shoulders, and upper back off the floor.

Be careful not to pull your neck forward by sticking the chin out; don’t hold your breath, and keep elbows out of your line of vision to keep chest and shoulders open.

For his part, Petersen teaches his clients to do crunches with their feet off the floor and knees bent. He says that with feet kept on the floor, many people tend to arch the back and engage the hip flexors.

“Crunches can be excellent, but if they’re not done correctly, with the back arching, they can actually weaken the abdominals,” Petersen says.

To work the obliques (the muscles on the sides of your waist), says Cotton, take the standard crunch and rotate the spine toward one side as you curl off the floor.

“Twist before you come up,” he says. “It’s really important that the twist comes first because then it’s the obliques that are actually getting you up.”

But keep in mind that you won’t get a flat stomach with crunches alone, says Cotton. Burning belly fat requires the well-known formula: using up more calories than you take in.

“Crunches work the ab muscles; [they're] not to be mistaken as exercise that burns the fat over the abdominals,” he says. “That’s the biggest myth in exercise going.”

7. Bent-over Row

Talk about bang for the buck: This exercise works all the major muscles of the upper back, as well as the biceps.

Here’s how to do it with good form. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, then bend knees and flex forward at the hips. (If you have trouble doing this exercise standing up, support your weight by sitting on an incline bench, facing backward.) Tilt your pelvis slightly forward, engage the abdominals, and extend your upper spine to add support. Hold dumbbells or barbell beneath the shoulders with hands about shoulder-width apart. Flex your elbows, and lift both hands toward the sides of your body. Pause, then slowly lower hands to the starting position. (Beginners should perform the move without weights.)

Technique

These seven exercises are excellent, efficient choices, the experts say. But with just about any strength or resistance exercise, says Petersen, the question is not so much whether the exercise works as how well you execute.

“Done with good technique, all exercises do what they’re supposed to do,” says Petersen.

The trouble is that poor form can change the whole exercise, putting emphasis or even strain on different areas than intended. This can hurt, rather than help you.

So especially if you’re a beginner, it’s a good idea to seek the advice of a fitness trainer – whether it’s a personal trainer or a trainer at your gym — to be sure your form is safe and correct.