Wednesday’s Workout| Tone Your Arms in 10 Minutes

Now I know I have been concentrating these Wednesday workouts on my abs, bum and legs recently because that is the area I’m working on at the moment. However the other week, my legs and tum could not take any more squats or crunches so I decided to find an arm workout and came across Cassey’s Workout “Victoria Secret Angel Arm Slimming Workout.” At first I wasn’t so sure but after the first couple of workouts my arms really started to burn. Cassey gives you simple moves to complete but makes you repeat them for at least 30 seconds… now that is a long time to be lifting a weight and you soon feel the burn. However as always Cassey is super motivating and encourages you complete every rep.

This has quickly become one of my favourite arm workouts and I am yet to complete it all the way through without taking a mini break. It is only 10 minutes long, so give it ago. You won’t regret it and if you do is a couple of times a week, you will soon really notice the difference in the tone of your arms as your arms are one of the easiest areas to build muscle and tone.

As always, let me know if you give it ago! Have to ever tried the Blogilates workouts before? Which one is your favourite? What other workouts do you recommend for your arms?

Go check out Christina’s gorgeous blog Kimi and Me for fashion, lifestyle and all things pretty.

Wednesday’s Workout| Bums and Tums

As you all probably know by now, I am off on holiday in 9 days time! It was booked last minute, but lucky for me I have been working on my “bikini body” for the past 6 months so no need to stress and panic diet, just continue what I’m doing and perhaps increase the intensity a little. So this past week and in the week to come I have been getting up in the morning and cramming in a short cardio workout to get my metabolism up and working hard all day, then doing at least a solid hour of toning exercises and interval training in the evening in my living rooms seems my bootcamp trainer is on holiday... I know, what’s a girl to do!

So as I have been busy watching countless YouTube workout videos I have found two that really stick out for me and made me really ache the next day... and aching is great as I know my body worked hard and is changing. So below is one of my favourite ab workouts and bum workouts.

If you go and check out my YouTube channel I have compiled a load of playlists full of my favourite workouts for cardio, legs, abs, arms etc. So there really is no excuse not to work-out from home when I have done all the leg work and found the best workouts for you and put them all into one easy place!

Go check out Christina’s gorgeous blog Kimi and Me for fashion, lifestyle and all things pretty.

Wednesday's Workout| Tough Toning Workouts

 

So as of last Friday, summer is officially here! How does that make you feel? I feel excited and motivated. I bought my first bikini on Sunday and am ordering a few others now I know what size I am! I also ordered a load of holiday clothes which this year are 3 sizes smaller than last years clothes… happy dance! Even though I am feeling happy after trying on my bikini there are a few areas I want to tone up over the next three weeks before I do jet off on holiday. These are my thighs, bum and lower abs. So for the next three weeks I am going to share with you my favourite and toughest workouts that target these three areas.

Many, myself included have been left disappointed this week after Lucy Mecklenburgh revealed she is now charging for her workouts on her Results With Lucy website. For those who were disappointed,  I just want to highlight that you don’t need to splash the cash on workouts when there are so many amazing free workout videos on YouTube. I admit there are a million videos on YouTube that are rubbish, whish is why I watch a load of them to find the best one’s out there so that you don’t waste your time on the rubbish ones. So if you want to have access to the best free workouts then subscribe to my YouTube and watch the Wednesday’s Workout Playlist, you won’t regret it!

An example of my recommended daily workout is 30 minutes cardio…. get out there and run… make the most of the sun! Then come home, get your yoga mat out and do two toning workouts. Concentrate on one area a day or two. I tend to pick one 15/20 min workout for my abs, then one 15/20 min workout for my legs and bum. I completed the bottom two on Monday night after a 30 minute run. Overall I did a 1 hour workout, burnt 520 calories and worked my muscles hard… I was definitely aching the next day! 

Have you tried the workouts above? What areas are you concentrating on at the moment?

Check out Jennifer's gorgeous, cute and fun lifestyle blog Infinitely Charming. Full of beauty, crafts, fitness, life and more; all with Jennifer's humorous edge on top... what's not to love.

Wednesday Workout| Results with Lucy| Lucy TOWIE Workout

I don’t know if you have noticed on Twitter, I certainly have, but Lucy Mecklenburgh from TOWIE has launched a new fitness video website and subscription service with the aim of making you look as good as her on the beach; www.resultswithlucy.com. Now I have to admit the girl looks good and its great that she’s promoting healthy living and inspiring former couch potato's to workout, but she’s not a personal fitspiration of mine, because I think it’s a bit unrealistic to think that I would ever look like her as to me she has always been slim and not struggled with her weight like I have. Plus I like a little bit more muscle tone. However I know millions of girls who would do anything for a body such as hers, so for you, she has shared her workout regime in an attempt to show you how to get #abslikelabs

Anyways after hearing about the website I was disappointed to find that there are no videos as of yet, just daily suggested mini circuits to complete at home. By the sounds of it I think when the website launches some areas of it will only be accessible after paying a fee as she is currently offering 2 free 1 year subscriptions if you sign up now.

So as the workout are just written down on Twitter or Facebook I decided to make a few little pictures so they are easier to follow and look better. The workouts themselves are designed by her trainer Cecilia and are mini circuits to be completed at home. The idea is that you complete a different circuit each day so are getting your 30 mins of exercise. as they are circuits the idea is to perform them quickly and to get your heart rate up so you are burning calories! For people who already workout a lot these workout may not be intense enough so do them a few times through, they are great if you want a quick workout.

It think these workouts are great for those who are pushed for time and want to burn calories quickly, but as with all circuits you get out what you out in. So make sure you perform each move correctly and quickly. If you move quickly between each movement you will burn more calories. They aren’t the most technical or imaginative or circuits so for those who workout often they may not be ideal but give them ago and let me know how you get on.

Had you seen Lucy’s new website? What do you think of it, effective and fun or nothing you haven’t seen before? I would love to know what you think.

Be sure to check out Chrissy Lilly’s amazing fitness and health blog. Need inspiration? Her blog will keep you right on track. Plus she’s a lovely girl!

Wednesday’s Workout| 100 Calorie Workouts| The Truth!

 

It is that time of year when everyone starts to panic about that bikini and the body they are going to be showing off on the beach, and already I have had people email and ask me how did I lose weight and how long did it take, well I lost weight through hard wok and commitment and it took me what many would say is a long time. I started to work on my “bikini body” in January! This is probably not the answer that you were looking for and are already clicking off my page and Googling “ how to lose weight quickly,” and it is because of these tweets I have been saying that this post was created.

I have seen for a long time the pictures detailing workouts that “Burn 100 calories now!” “Burn 100 calories in two minutes!” “Do this 10 minute workout every day for 2 weeks and lose a stone”… you get my gist! However I have seen hundreds of those workouts over the past few weeks from girls hoping that a 10 minute workout will help them look fab in their bikini, so I thought I would take on a few a see if you really can burn 100 calories in 2/5/10 minutes.

I decided to do the two workouts above that I found on Youtube and monitored my calorie burn with my new Polar Heart Rate Monitor. So after filling in my age and weight to the watch and securing the electrode band to my chest I put in 100% effort for both of them, and here are the results. 

Workout 1

Wow this is tiring! The burpees definitely got my heart rate up and you move very quickly from one move to the next. I burnt in 75 calories in the 7.07 minutes.

Workout 2

Again a very tiring workout! This one flows a little less smoothly than the other, so I feel like I waste precious seconds moving from lying down to standing up, but still a good workout. However I only burnt 63 calories in the 5.25 minutes.

Now obviously the calories that each person burns in a workout varies depending on your own age, weight and fitness level. This is why I thought these “100 calorie” workouts were a load of rubbish. So even though I burnt between 60 and 75 calories, typically a person who weights less than me would burn less calories in that workout and a person who weights more than me would burn more. But again it all goes down to your fitness level and the effort you put in.

So even though I didn’t burn 100 calories in the above workouts, what I need to stress is that yes burning 100 calories in a workout is all well, but to lose 1 pound you would need to burn 3500 calories, so doing these 100 calories workouts once a day for 2 weeks isn’t even going to help you lose half a pound! If you are going to keep your diet the same and use these 100 calorie workouts to lose say 4 pounds in 2 weeks you would need to do the workout 140 times! Which works out at 10 times a day, so a solid 1 hour and 10 minutes of exercise every day for two weeks! And I bet to do these workouts 10 time through giving it your full effort would be tough but more importantly boring! So as I said at the beginning… to lose weight quickly you need to work incredibly hard! Do not buy into quick and easy fixes, they just don’t work and they aren’t healthy either!

What do you think of these 100 calories workouts… do you dislike them as much as I do? Have you seen any other “Quick Fixes” that people are being lured into under false pretences  Are you upping your effort over the next few weeks to make sure you are bikini ready?

 

Check out Jennifer's gorgeous, cute and fun lifestyle blog Infinitely Charming. Full of beauty, crafts, fitness, life and more; all with Jennifer's humorous edge on top... what's not to love.

Wednesday’s Workout| Tone your arms

 

How is your week going? My week started yesterday seems it was a Bank Holiday and it started with a bang! I am attempting a modified version of the Tone It Up Seven Day Slim Down to kick start my diet seems it was lacking last week and Bootcamp last night was a killer! Like have to stand to the side for a minute to gasp air into my lungs killer… but no pain no gain! I may not be the fastest in the class but I kept going. I would love to get a Polar HRM Watch so I could  see how many calories I’m burning… maybe on payday!

Anyway, this weeks workout is going to concentrate on an areas many young girls ignore, their arms. However did you know that your arms are the easiest part of your body to tone up. If you try lifting some dumbbells, holding the plank or doing some push ups for a good 15 minutes a couple times of week you will notice a difference.

Now I understand that many of you do not want muscly arms, but you won’t… women aren't built so that they bulk up. Women's bodies tone up before you bulk then up. If you tone your arms, you will be less susceptible to bingo wings when you are older, and your arms will be lean and no longer look fatter in your side on photos… if you know what I mean. 

As your arms are one of the easiest parts to tone up you will see results very quickly which is a great motivator! My arms have toned up loads from doing regular toning exercise and it’s great to see muscle there instead of fat. My arms now have shape to them.

If you want to tone your arms then dumbbells are a great investment. You can buy them form anywhere now.. I think I’ve even bought some from Tesco before. If you don’t have dumbbells get inventive and use tins of beans, or water bottles filled with pebbles or sand. However you do not need equipment to tone your arms. I have included two videos in today’s post one that you don’t need equipment for and one that you need equipment for. Both are only about 7 mins long, but you don’t need long to feel the burn in your arms!

Do you want to tone up your arms? Which exercises do you use to tone your arms?

 

P.s If you enjoy my posts or my blog inspires you to workout and eat healthier, it would mean the world to me if you could vote it as “Best Lifestyle Blog” in the Cosmo Blog Awards.

 

Don't forget to check out my blogger of the week Cantara from Gym Bags and Glad Rags. If you enjoy my fitness post you will fall in love with her blog. She is a stunner with a great blog!

Wednesday’s Workout| Plank Challenge

Who’s ready to get some amazing abs? I’m sure the thought of bikini season being just around the corner is pushing you to try a tone up a little so you are your most confident on the beach. Now abs are completely made in the kitchen, so if you are wanting some definition yes you need to work out your core but you also need to shed the fat so you can show off your new abs.

One of the most effective moves for toning the whole of your core is the plank. Not only is it effective, it is super simple to do, requires no equipment and only takes minutes to work you hard. You can see all the muscles that the plank works in the picture above.

The Tone It Up Girls know that the plank is a super effective and have started a challenge of their own the; #bikiniseries5minplank challenge… yes we even have our own hashtag! You can see mine and others attempts in the picture above, but follow everyone’s journey on instagram and Twitter with the hashtag. So the challenge is fairly self explanatory we are aiming to hold a 5 minute plank in 6 weeks time. Yes it seems like a long time! I’m still a long way off, with my max being 1.25, however each day I rack up more seconds so I should be there in 6 weeks!

I have only been doing the challenge for 7 days but already I am seeing great results. My abs are definitely stronger, especially my lower abs, I feel more toned and solid… if you know what I mean… less jiggly! So I could not recommend this challenge enough!

If you want to plank it out and mix it up a little, the below video is a great super short workout that is full of modified planks. It is only about 7 minutes long and you hold each move for around 30 seconds, so it is very manageable if you are a beginner, but the length of means it is still a good workout for those that are a little fitter. I cannot recommend the plank enough! If you want to have a toned core in time for your bikini then start today you will soon see results within a few weeks.

What do you think of the plank? Are you a lover of a hater of it? Which other abs moves do you recommend?

Don't forget to check out my blogger of the week Rhiannon from The Barbelle. If you enjoy my fitness and health posts you will love her blog. It is crammed full of fitspiration!

Wednesday's Workout| Tone your Muffin Top & Love Handles

Firstly I would just like to thank each and every one of you for your amazing comments on the progress picture I posted on Friday. Your feedback has completely overwhelmed me and made me very proud of my achievements so far, however it is has also encouraged me to work harder so that my next progress picture will be just as impressive. I was literally brought to tears by some of your kind words; I've even had old uni friends comment on how much better and happier I look.Yesterday my Granddad rang me to inform me that he'd read my blog and just wanted to let me know how amazing I look and how proud he is of me. All of your support and amazingly kind comments always make my low days easier, and they always encourage me to lace up my trainers and drag myself out for a run when I really don't want to. So thankyou so much for reading my blog, commenting, tweeting and instagramming me, your support means the world to me.

Anyways enough of the smoochy stuff and onto our next workout! How is your week going? We are now half way through the month, so you should be half way through your newest fitness and health goals... if you aren't what are you waiting for... start now! There are only 6 weeks until summer so if you don't start now, when are you?

This weeks Wednesday Workout is going to concentrate on your muffin-top; that area of fat that sticks out from over your jeans, and Love Handles; the area at the side of your waist. Now you may be very lucky and have very little fat on your lower or side Abs but these workouts will help you tone up so still give them a go. These workouts will work the side, middle and lower Abs. They are both short videos of around 10 minutes long and both incorporate a number of moves all designed to work your Abs. Some of the moves are repeated in both videos, but there are new moves in each video so I wanted to share both of them with you. They are a little tough and will work you hard, but if you do manage them with ease just do the workout another 2 or 3 times to increase intensity. 

Please be warned the intro to the second video is very weird and a little scary so if you scare easily please skip it to 32 seconds in. If you don't scare easy then you will sit and wonder what the hell did you just watch as I do every-time I see it. 

What are your favouirte moves to tone the Muffin Top and Love Handles? Let me know what you think of the workouts. Or if you have any areas you would like to tone and would like me to find a good video for you. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube so that you have all the workouts in one easy place! 


Don't forget to check out my blogger of the week Cantara from Gym Bags and Glad Rags. If you enjoy my fitness post you will fall in love with her blog. She is a stunner with a great blog!

Wednesday's Workout| Inner Thigh Workout Challenge| Thigh Gap Musings

It's the first of May! Which firstly means, it's my birthday month... one week exactly.. yeah! But more importantly (well for you) is that a new month presents the chance for a new start. If April wasn't the month for you, lets own it in May! This month I am working hard on my diet, aiming to attend all 13 of my bootcamp classes, partaking in the Tone It Up Bikini Series and completing both the 30 Day Squat and Abs challenges! 

Anyways onto this weeks workout! This week is another challenge video brought to you by the ever so cheerful Casey Ho from Blogilates. Similar to the Call Me Maybe Squat Challenge I posted about the other week, this video requires you to complete one move in various forms for around 3 minutes! The video targets the inner thigh which I know may of you like to know how to tone, so here's a video to show you how!

As the video targets the inner thigh, this obviously brings up the subject of the thigh gap. If you are unsure of what a Thigh Gap is, it is a small, hollow cavity with a huge following on social media. Basically if you can stand straight with your knees together and see a space between your upper thighs, you have what thousands of young girls are willing to starve themselves for. Now I'm unsure as to whether this elusive goal is something that people of my age (mid twenties) aim for or whether it is just a teenage fascination. But the  picture above demonstrates perfectly that a thigh gap is only achievable for around half of the population; those with wide hips.

Now unfortunately I do not have a measurement on how to know whether you have wide or narrow hips, but I know that personally a thigh gap is not something I aim for. Yes I want to tone my inner thighs so that they don't rub together so much on a hot day... painful! But I know that when I was at my lowest weight I never had a thigh gap. To be honest I was never aware of this obsession with thigh gaps until I joined tumblr and found hundreds of pictures of waif like girls with gaps between their thighs and the sheer obsession and longing for this gap by other girls. Many of the images are of girls who have clearly starved themselves to reach this thigh gap goal, which is sad. If you Google thigh gap it is synonymous with eating disorders which shows that it's not a healthy aim for many. Obviously a thigh gap can be achieved by some through healthy eating and exercise, so if you naturally have a thigh gap or have gained it through a healthy lifestyle then great! As always it goes back to my personal beliefs that girls should aim to be strong and toned not skinny and waif like! After all skinny girls may look good in clothes... but strong, toned girls look better naked! 

Please do enjoy the video I posted above, but please also remember that a thigh gap may be an unrealistic goal for you. Listen and learn about your own body, do not aim for a body that someone else has! You can only ever be the best version of yourself... not someone else... so why aim to look like someone else! If you naturally have a thigh gap, then good for you, if you have a thigh gap from healthy eating and exercise  then good for you, if you don't have a thigh gap, then good for you! The thigh gap is attainable by some, but not a realistic goal for everyone. You can only do your best to tone the area, so play the video and lets get some toned thighs!

What are your health and fitness goals for May? Write them down and make yourself accountable  Let me know if you enjoy the video, or if you have any thoughts on the nations obsession with the thigh gap? 


Don't forget to check out my blogger of the week Cantara from Gym Bags and Glad Rags. If you enjoy my fitness post you will fall in love with her blog. She is a stunner with a great blog! 

Wednesday’s Workout| 30 Day Abs Challenge

Image from Carly Rowena Instagram

How did last weeks workout go girls? It was a tough one! This weeks workout is again all about the abs… it’s only 6 weeks until June, so it’s definitely time to work at those abs to make sure you look and feel great on holiday! This weeks Wednesday workout is again a challenge, it is the 30 day Abs Challenge from the gorgeous Carly Rowena. Carly is an amazing fitness and beauty blogger who is stunning, has a great attitude to health and fitness and posts regular videos, so if you need some motivation go and check her out! She is definitely one of my favourites and I find her so inspiring and refreshing.

Her 30 day Abs Challenge asks you to workout for only 5 minutes each day for 30 days continually. She gives you 2 moves to carry out for 30 seconds at a time and then repeat then 5 times over. So it is super simple, but will be super effective. As you can see from the picture above, the moves vary each week, and they are all tough! I do a few of these at my Bootcamp Class and can promise you they are tough! However if you want to improve your abs in 30 days with only 5 minutes of work, the work has got to be hard work! You have to put in the effort!

As Carly states in the video, abs are made in the kitchen. To achieve definition and a nice toned middle you need to have a great diet. Abs are 80% diet and 20% exercise, so remember to put in the effort in the kitchen aswell! Carly explains the whole challenge very well in her video, so check it out for info, tips and the demonstration of each of the moves mentioned in the picture above.

I am going to start the challenge today! Are you going to join me? Just think of how good you will look in 30 days! If it looks too tough, just try to complete 1 minute worth of moves and build it up from there! It’s completely adaptable to your fitness level, and a little exercise is better than none!

Be sure to check out my blogger of the week and fellow Cumbria Blogger Anna from On The Dressing Table. She has the most amazing beauty blog, full of insightful and honest reviews, plus she is the sweetest girl!

Wednesday’s Workout| 6 Week Six-Pack Abs

 

It’s that time of the week again, it’s workout time! Firstly, thankyou to you all for the amazing feedback you have given me about this feature. There really are so many of you who say it helps them and inspires them to try something new, and I’m always over the moon to hear that I can help others. I hope that you all workout more that once a week, but even if you only manage the workouts I post on Wednesday, it is a lot better than doing nothing!

As last weeks workout was for the booty this weeks will focus on the majority of people’s problem area the abs. I am currently on a massive mission to gain a flat stomach in time for my birthday in exactly 4 weeks time! I currently have a little flabby bit on my lower abs and would love for it to be gone by then. Obviously abs are gained in the gym but shown in the kitchen so I am upping the strength moves for my abs but also trying my best to eat clean and lean so I can reduce my body fat and start to show off some of my abs.

The below workout is from one of my favourite trainers Jillian Michaels. Jillian is to credit for the 30 Day Shred that I’m sure many of you have heard of, but in America she is most know for being the tough trainer on The Biggest Loser. She takes crap from no one and makes them work hard, but after watching her on many programs it is easy to see that she truly cares about her “victims” and only wants them to be the best they can be.

This workout is similar to the 30 Day Shred but more concentrated on the abs and a little tougher. It really works all the muscles in your middle and makes you sweat. It is only 30 minute long, which is a short workout so there is no excuse not to try it. I have tried it only a handle full of times and found that I have had to adapt a few of the moves until I build up my strength but I am enjoying it.

I hope you give it a go. Let me know if you do and how you get on with it. Do you have any Ab workouts that you recommend for me? Or are there any workouts that you would like to see featured on Wednesday’s Workout?

Don’t forget to check out my blogger of the week Natalia from Natalia’s Beauty Blog. If you enjoyed this post Natalia often posts about fitness too, so be sure to give her blog a read. She also has the most gorgeous OOTD posts.

Wednesday’s Workout| The Best Ab Workout| Ab Ripper X

Image from tumblr

Today is the start of a new feature that I am going to run on my blog. I decided that since you all seem to love my Fitness Friday posts I will offer you even more help with your health and fitness by sharing some of my favourite workouts with you. I am going to create a playlist on my YouTube channel so that they will all be in one place for you and will be easy to find when you want to try them.

This weeks workout is one of the hardest ones I do but also one of the most effective ones. I have previously reviewed the P90X workout program and this is one of the workouts from that program. It is a 16 minute ab routine that is to be followed no more than 3 times a week! For legal reason I cannot post the actually video on here, but thanks to Youtube there are plenty of kind people who demo the moves for you so it’s exactly the same!

Ab Ripper X is a very short but very intense workout, that encompasses 11 different ab moves repeated for 25 reps. I warn you, you will not be able to complete all the reps the first time you do it, you may not even be able to do some of the moves, but give it a try and work your way up. You will be surprised at how quickly you can improve your performance. I still don’t attempt the Cross Leg/Wide Leg Sit Ups or the V-Up Roll-Up as I don't have enough core strength to do these without putting strain on my back or neck. Instead I do one of the other moves from the routine or good old bicycle crunches.

Here is a complete list of the moves;

In & Outs- 25 reps

Seated Bicycle- 25 reps

Crunchy Frog- 25 reps

Cross Leg/Wide Leg Sit Ups- 25 reps

Fifer Scissors- 25 reps

Hip Rock & Raise- 25 reps

Pulse Up (Heels To Heaven)- 25 reps

V-Up Roll-Up- 25 reps

Oblique V-Up- 25 right, 25 left

Leg Climb- 12 per side

Mason Twist- 40 reps, 10 bonus. 

It really is one of the best ab workouts there is out there because it works all areas of your core. Don't be put off at the difficultly give it a go and you will soon master it.

What do you think of my new Feature Wednesday's Workout? Have you ever tried this workout before? What is your favourite ab workout?