I know first hand that walking helps me stay fit, I am a postman and have to walk many miles a week plus carry a heavy pouch. See when you start getting fitter and into your comfort zone, you can start pushing yourself by adding resistance, and walking faster and longer there are loads of variety to getting fit from walking. Remember as with all exercise you have to look after your body, do not over do it walking to get fit is not a race.

If you want to walk your way to maximum fitness you have to start off slow, you have to condition yourself properly. Start of walking for 10 minutes twice a day let your leg muscles and feet get used to it, you don’t want to end up with sore and painful feet in your first week. Make sure you stretch properly and drink plenty of water before, during, and after your exercise. Have fun get a friend to start walking with you, or if no one wants to do it take your iPod along. Keep safe too make sure you are visible to road users wear some high visibility clothing, and make sure you have some good walking shoes.

Remember start slow have fun and build it up to where your fitness program is consistent in helping you keep and stay fit. This is just a summary of how walking can improve your health and fitness.

10. Go Shopping - Walk at indoor locations like shopping malls or a grocery store. Avoid escalators by taking stairs. The more you walk the more calories you burn. Walk with a friend or spouse to keep you motivated.

9. Drink More – Just because you don’t feel as thirsty in the winter it doesn’t mean you aren’t dehydrating yourself. Drink about 1 liter of water daily for every 50lbs of body-weight and even more on days you exercise.

8. Soak up the Sun – A day without sunshine affects your mood. Studies show almost 4 times more anxiety and irritability in people on cloudy days which can lead to lethargy and depression.

7. Shovel off the Pounds – Shoveling your own driveway is a great physical activity giving you both a cardio and strength workout, burning roughly 500 calories/hr.

6. Set up a Home Gym - This isn’t expensive. For as little as $50 you can purchase a set of weights, resistance ball and jump rope to keep you active indoors.

5. Stay Cool - Keep the temperature of your house at a moderate 68-70°. The warmer your surroundings the lazier you will feel and more tired you will become.

4. Play Video Games – Nintendo’s Wii is one of the best gaming systems on the market today. It will have you working up a sweat in no time while spending quality time with family and friends.

3. Winter Wonderland - Building a snowman or making snow angels will have you burning over 300 calories/hr. Dress warm and join your kids in the backyard.

2. Proud to Be – Enjoy the winter sports our countries have to offer. Whether it’s playing a game of ice hockey or hitting the slopes for some skiing/snowboarding, just get out there and play.

1. Hit the Gym – Lift weights and stretch to keep your muscles strong, agile and flexible. Use cardio machines to keep your heart and lungs well conditioned throughout the winter.

Make this the year you do not shut your mind and body down for the long winter haul. Stay active and stay in shape by enjoying what old man winter has to offer so that you can feel young and look great come summer.

The most important thing you can do before starting any exercise regime is to speak with your doctor.  Especially if you are overweight and haven’t exercised in a long time.  Your doctor will possibly put your through some tests to ensure that you aren’t at risk of harm when starting a new programme, and this will give you peace of mind that you won’t get injured or worse. 

There are two different categories that all exercise types can be classed in to – aerobic and anaerobic.  Aerobic exercise is also known as cardio.  This is things like walking, running, cycling, or classes in the gym.  Aerobic exercise helps the heart become stronger and improves your endurance.  Anaerobic exercise targets your muscles – things like bodybuilding and general weight lifting are anaerobic.

A regular aerobic programme consists of a minimum of three 30 minute exercise sessions a week, although trying to do something every day, even if for only 20 minutes is even better.  A particular exercise has benefit if you increase your heart rate to a minimum of 65-70% of your maximum heart rate.  You can determine a rough estimate of this by subtracting your age from 220.  So a 33 year old would have a maximum heart rate of 187.  Obviously this is not a very accurate measure, but it is a good guideline for a beginner.  If you’re interested in determining your actual maximum heart rate, then you’ll need to speak with your local sports scientist who can put you through your paces.  However, this should only be undertaken if you are very fit, as the process is very demanding.

Anaerobic exercise consists of strengthening the muscles and ligaments of the body.  This can be done by lifting weights, or by doing simple things like push ups and sit ups.  Building muscles actually increases the metabolic rate of the body, and is a huge factor in losing excess fat. 

A simple anaerobic programme doesn’t involve going to the gym.  Simply perform the following three times a week:

Crunches – perform 5 to start with, and slowly increase the volume every session until you can do 20.  When you’re at 20, that’s one set.  You can do 2-3 sets each session.

Wall squats – lean your back against the wall, and slide down, bending your legs.  Once down and up is a single rep.  Try to start at 5, and increase until you can do 20.  That’s one set.

Push ups – if you can’t do full push ups, start on your knees, and try to build up to 20.  When you can do 20 of these, try full push ups.  You’ll surprise yourself!

Toe raises – A great exercise to get pretty calves!  Stand on a flat surface, and raise yourself up onto your toes.  Once up and down is one rep.  Try to increase up to twenty a day.  When you can do this, you can add some weight by holding a book or something.

Starting an exercise regime is not difficult, and as can be seen doesn’t involve joining an expensive gym, or even a lot of time.  Now you have no excuses not to get out there and get fit!

Running hills is a great and hard way to get yourself in better condition and into better shape overall. It will burn calories and you will lose fat if you do it regularly. It isn’t just about shaping your butt. Running small hills or to do short sprints against elevation, duration about 30s to 1 minutes, will get your heart rate up and your body burning fat like never before. The high heart rate is the reason, why it is so effective to burn calories and to get your body slim.

Running hills doesn’t just make your body more slim. It makes your legs and butt muscles also work, hard. The benefits of it is that your legs and thighs will get that sexier lean look, but your butt will get rounder, lifted look which sprinters have. Running hills or stairs, makes your butt also do more work than it would if you where just running flat 100m. Hill running combined with gym exercises makes your butt work and gets you a better looking butt and body overall. Run regularly 3 – 4 times a week, for about 30 minutes at least and you should be on your way of having a better looking butt.

Running hills isn’t a magic trick and requires much more from the exercises than going to gym and doing butt exercises there. Both ways get you good results, but combined the results will be excellent.

Since 7 she has been actively involved in gymnastics and retired from the sport at the ripe old age of 15.

Gina has Competed up to the Olympic Level in gymnastics, played for a top field hockey team until she was about 14, was a popular Australian Swimsuit Calendar model in 1994. Gina has also competed in numerous IFBB-NPC Bodybuilding Shows back in Australia

Gina entered the fitness model scene with a chance meeting of a Miss Australia bodybuilding champion, Which prompted her to Join a gym in 1992. This 5 ½ inch Aussie (she’s a native of Perth) began her stellar 13 year rise to the top of the fitness game in her native land

She is a highly sought after fitness trainer in Perth and in the USA. Her physique comes from a strict diet of “chook” which is Australian for chicken and a lot of grilled fish. Her training weight is usually 48 kilos and below and off-season she weighs about 52-54 kilos

Her advice for would-be fitness models is to try to eat clean (boiled, grilled, steamed foods) five days a week and to cheat a little on the weekends. Cardio should be a big part of your routine to really get that ripped look.

Gina advises that “you shouldn’t take too many supplements, “as they could damage your liver” she takes glutamine and a fat burner before working out and lots of whey protein – “nothing special in the way of supplements”

“If you really want that lean fitness model look, limit your fat to 25 grams per day nd cut out a lot of carbs, just doing those two things will carve your physique up in no time at all” One look at her abs and you know she knows what she is talking about.

Firstly. Understand that body fat is stubborn. In order to get rid of stubborn fat, proper nutrition should be your top priority.

You must be eating properly if you want to see results. Don’t listen to those gurus out here preaching to you that all you need to do is get on their magical “fad diet” or take this magical diet pill and voila….there goes your stubborn body fat! It doesn’t work that way and your body knows it…..that’s why it doesn’t respond well to diet pills and fad diets.

So, make sure you place your primary emphasis on nutrition if you want to see results fast.

Proper nutrition consists of eating protein, fiber, complex carbs, healthy fats (monounsaturated, Omega), and foods rich in vitamins and minerals.

Now, onto the best exercise for body fat reduction….

Now, as I stated earlier, body fat is stubborn, and to reduce stubborn body fat, you are going to have to get more intense with your workouts. High intensity exercising is the best type of exercising for body fat reduction.

Some examples of high intensity exercises are:

- Incline treadmill
- Heavy bag boxing
- Sprinting
- Super set weight training (alternating between two different weight training workouts without resting)
- Sport activities (tennis, racquetball, basketball, etc.)

Increasing the intensity with your workouts is a surefire way to reduce stubborn body fat….and KEEP IT OFF!

It is the all time favorite abs exercise for stronger abs because that is what we needed as the number one gymnastics team. I learned the V sit from my high school gymnastics coaches, Ron and Joan Ganim, who have run their own Gynmastics school in Brecksville Ohio ever since our big year as number back in 1973.

To do the V sit you simply lay flat on the floor, with legs straight and arms over your head in the beginning position. While pointing your toes and keeping your legs perfectly extended you raise your torso with arms reaching for your toes while you raise you legs up. You touch your toes with each repetition and do one hundred of those each day and your will have the best abs in the world.

There is a great variation to the V sit stomach exercises that I also love to do. I still do these exercises every morning since I never want to lose that great muscle tone and trim figure that I had as a gymnast in my high school days.

The variation is done in the same position as the V sit but hold yourself up in the V sit position and take you arms to the sides of your legs and pump them with palms parallel to the floor in rapid fire beats and count to 100.

This is done with your legs straight and fully extended with toes pointing up at the ceiling and your torso in the upward position holding in the V sit position for the entire time you are pumping your arms counting to 100.

You will have some of the best abs on the planet if you do these exercises for love handles everyday!

And then it happened. One winter day it occurred to me that I was filled with dread about going running. To psyche myself up to run in cold weather had become a real chore, stemming in part with the challenge of keeping my “stems” warm on the warmest of winter days, never mind the cold ones.

My fitness program no longer fit.

It was easy for me to be fit in the summer with a variety of physical pursuits I enjoy. But winter left me, well, . . . cold. I wasn’t experiencing just the occasional off day. This feeling of dread was more the norm than the exception. I realized I wasn’t walking my talk in terms of having a fitness program tailored to me. I was now in the market for a gym.

And perhaps the gym was long overdue, as my upper body has been somewhat neglected. My primary focus has been largely aerobic activity that favors my legs. My biggest upper body workout is washing and drying my hair. Hey, I have more hair than the average bear.

Now I am a proud gym member and am enjoying it tremendously. It’s amazing to me the benefits I’ve realized in just one months time when I’m lifting weights barely bigger than a hairbrush. I feel stronger and am more aware of my posture. And I really enjoy using muscles I didn’t know existed. It just feels good. What is the best part of all? No dread. I go happily and feel annoyed when I can’t go.

Choosing a gym
If you’re thinking about joining a gym or fitness centre, you need to clarify your priorities in a long list of potential features. Location, for one, is very important because you want to make this as easy as possible, setting yourself up for success.

Surprisingly, with a small gym three blocks from my home, location proved less important to me than the clientele. After test-driving a few options I learned I was clearly more comfortable in a women’s only environment.

In addition to location and clientele, here are other features to consider:
o Hours of operation
o Qualified staff
o Gym size (in both area and membership)
o Equipment
o Cleanliness
o Cost
o Daycare
o Group Fitness Classes
o Locker room perks, i.e.: towel service and SHAMPOO
o Access to other sports, i.e.: swimming, racquet sports, running tracks

I encourage you to try a few different places at the time you would likely be using them before you make any commitments. Most offer a free session. Your priorities and what feels right just might become crystal clear. You can’t ignore that.

Why Weights?
You know my reasons. Here are six more that might resonate for you.
1. You will reduce your risk of injuries, strains, aches and pains from sports as well as everyday functions like reaching, stretching and lifting.
2. You will reduce blood pressure and improve HDL cholesterol.
3. You will look better, as toned muscles do not sag. Say goodbye to underarm “wiggle wings.”
4. You will have more energy.
5. You will feel better about yourself.
6. You will lose weight.

We naturally lose muscle mass as we age. We also tend to put on weight. Coincidence? As it turns out, the greater proportion of lean muscle mass we have, the better our bodies are at consuming calories. In other words, weight training is the best form of physical activity for increased metabolism and weight loss, if you enjoy it, that is. You’ve got to do something you enjoy. Remember the running story.

If you’re new to weight training, make sure you get instruction on proper form and technique. Better yet, work with a fitness trainer for optimum results.

Of course you don’t have to join a gym to increase your muscular strength and endurance. You can use your body as resistance with exercises like lunges, squats, push-ups and abdominal crunches. Or you can use free weights, resistance bands or even soup cans – slightly heavier than a hairbrush. However, most people are more disciplined when they have someplace to go, at a specific time, particularly if they have someone to go with. Know thyself.

I’m trying to convince 20 of my closest friends to join me, as I miss the camaraderie of a team sport. Then one day at the gym I ran into one of my soccer buddies. She wanted to go for a beer. I said, “No thanks. I still have to wash my hair.” Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

My three key components to a fantastic workout include a proper warm up, a planned out training session and a proper cool down that includes stretching. Today I want to talk to you about a proper warm up.

I have been around long enough to see plenty of injuries, cramping, and just poor performances that probably could have been avoided with a proper warm up. Would you rather spend a short amount of time doing a proper warm up, or would you rather get injured and spend three weeks away from the gym healing from your injury due to the fact that you didn’t do a proper warm up? I know, I know, you barely have time to get your work out in as it is without adding a warm up and cool down with stretching. Well, if you want to risk injury and have poorer results from your workout, then keep doing what you are doing. However, if you want to be safer and get more out of your workouts then listen up!

My first point regarding this will be especially important to those people that barely have time to do a full workout. Mental preparation during your warm up is point one. When I am warming up I am using that time to get myself mentally prepared for my workout that lies ahead. I am an Olympic athlete that had to balance on a four inch beam while flipping and turning all over the place in front of thousands of people, and millions more watching on television. Therefore I know the benefits of mental training while warming up. This is where you focus in on the job at hand. You prepare yourself for having the best workout you could possibly have. This is where you remember what you achieved last workout and you decide to go above and beyond that. You focus in on your short term and long term goals to keep that motivation peeked. You need to use this time to clear your mind of everything else that is hectic in your life and relax it to what you know you need to do and can do in the upcoming workout. Try and remember the form you want to have in your exercises, especially if you are just learning a particular exercise or have been recently corrected by someone. If you learn to focus in on your workouts you will see dramatic improvements in your achievements and you will dramatically cut down your workout times due to selectively focusing on your performance.

How would you like increased energy, endurance and performance for your workouts? Of course you would. While you do a proper warm up your bodies various hormones responsible for regulating energy production make more carbohydrates and fatty acids available for energy production. As you start to warm up your blood temperature will raise as it travels through your muscles, as this happens the amount of oxygen it can hold is reduced. This results in a higher volume of oxygen available to the working muscles, enhancing endurance and performance.

As your body and muscles continue to warm and rise in temperature even more benefits kick in that you should be aware of. A warmed muscle contracts more forcefully and relaxes quicker, translating into enhanced speed and strength. On the safety side of things which should always be considered, your muscles will also have improved elasticity thus reducing the risk of strains or pulls.

A proper warm up activates more efficient sweating which in turn helps prevent overheating during your workout. This will enable you to perform better and endure longer. Thanks to Elizabeth Quinn, I have also learned that your blood vessels dilate which reduces the resistance to blood flow and lower stress on the heart.

The last thing I wanted to mention to you is to listen to your body as you warm up as well. It will tell you how it feels and if any precautions should take place during your workout. You are not going to be in optimum condition every time you workout. Pay attention to your body before you go ahead and over train or injure yourself. There are times when I have to stop my clients from coming in, usually against their wishes, because they just need a break. Or perhaps they were doing vigorous work the day before and they just weren’t up to lifting quite as much as usual. That’s understandable. So take the time and pay attention to any warning signs before it’s too late. Now get yourself mentally prepared to tackle your goals and elevate that motivation level and enjoy your workout.

A couple points I would like to finish with when it comes to actually doing your warm up:

It’s a good idea to start slow and gradually increase your speed, range of motion and intensity of movements. Although I always do a full body warm up, I hope that you would at least concentrate on warming up the muscles that you will be targeting in your workout.

If you are going to stretch as part of your warm up I highly suggest waiting until near the end of your warm up when your muscles are more warmed up and ready to be stretched without damage.

A few days later, as I was watching the Olympics with a few of my friends, I began thinking to myself – How is it that athletes are able to recover so quickly from their high intensity training sessions? What’s the missing link? Well, naturally a large part of it is nutrition.

But that wasn’t the answer I was looking for. I was already eating rather healthy. So, I needed to know what exactly I was doing wrong if I were to lose any more fat and improve my athletic performance. After some searching, and examining the training programs of bodyweight training athletes such as gymnasts, yogis, and dancers, I came across the answer.

The biggest mistake I was making was not varying my training intensity enough. You will never make any long term progress if you perform high intensity training all the time, and you will never make any progress if you perform low intensity training all the time.

For optimal fat loss, you need to alternate between the two intensity levels. When I stared incorporating high intensity bodyweight training and low intensity yoga, I started getting results again. And the best thing is, they results have not slowed down yet!