beginner fitness tip

Plenty of women know how to bust it out in the cardio department but can't understand why they're not achieving the toned muscle definition they desire. Lifting weights can really change the game. If you fear the weight room at the gym, it's time to put those days behind you.

You won't bulk up: Getting bulky isn't a viable excuse anymore for staying away from weights. The age-old saying of weightlifting naysayers needs to be put to rest once and for all. Acquiring muscle mass requires testosterone levels that women simply don’t have in their chemical makeup. It's quite the opposite — you'll actually accentuate your feminine shape with lifting; muscle burns more calories than fat to help you achieve the definition you've been seeking.

You can handle it: Like anything else, the more you train, the stronger you'll feel. And lifting light weights isn't necessarily the way to go. In fact, one study found that women who lifted heavier weights with fewer repetitions burned more calories and had a bigger metabolic boost than those who lifted lighter weights with increased repetitions. Know how tough you are and push your preconceived notions of what your body is capable of handling. If you're not sure where to start, read up on these essential weight room tips to get going.

It might be the first stroke you learn as a child, but the crawl is complicated. While mastering freestyle might take hours upon hours in the pool, playing around with simple swimming drills, rather than aimlessly swimming lap after lap, can help you improve your stroke. Ross Haverlah, the swim coach at Equinox in San Francisco, suggests adding the closed-fist exercise to your warmup. "Without your hands pulling through the water, you become aware of how much your forearm participates in the pull of your stroke." Swimming with a fist might feel difficult at first, but the challenge will pay off in the long run.

The Drill
After warming up with 100 yards of swimming at an easy pace, swim the length of the pool with your hands in tight fists; it will feel utterly graceless and a bit like you're punching the water. Make sure to keep your hand in a closed fist to truly reduce the effectiveness of the hand sculling the water; focus on the power of the forearm pulling through the water. Return to swimming with an open hand for one length of the pool. Repeat this sequence three more times.

The Benefits
Incorporating more of your arm as you catch the water adds power to your stroke and helps you swim more efficiently. This means you can cover a larger distance in less time, a win-win.

Incorporate this drill into your next pool workout and see if helps you feel the water more.

How many times have you been told to pull your shoulders away from your ears in a studio cycling class? Keeping your shoulders down not only makes your neck feel better, it improves overall efficiency, from your posture to your pedal stroke. While spinning my pedals in a studio cycling class at Equinox, instructor Lisa Horowitz reminded us all that the position of the shoulder affects the rest of the body too. The concept, known as joint centration, means what goes on in one joint affects the joints above and below it — what's happening at the shoulder affects the spine and the hips.

When on a bike, whether indoor or out, many people hunch the shoulders up while leaning over the handlebars, which leads to a rounded spine — not the ideal position for cycling. Pulling the shoulder blades down and back opens up your chest and diaphragm: this makes it easier to breathe and helps put the back in a neutral position, which restores the arch to the lumbar spine and corrects the angle of the pelvis. With the spine and pelvis in correct alignment, the hip flexors can fire effectively, improving your pedal stroke. Correct shoulder positioning also engages the lats and turns on the abs to help support the torso.

Lisa also suggested raising the handlebars on a stationary bike a little higher than usual to see if it helps posture and positioning. Try it and let us know how it goes.

If wrist pain has you coming out of poses like Down Dog or arm balances like Crow and Sage, I'm not surprised. Our wrists rarely bear more weight than a plate of food or possibly a purse. Asking your wrists to take most of your body weight is a big request. I'm not saying your wrists can't handle the challenge, but aside from gradually working on the duration you hold postures and letting the muscles surrounding this joint strengthen, here's a little tip I learned from my first Ashtanga teachers to prevent pose-induced pain.

When you are in a pose bearing a good bit of weight on your hands, take pressure out of your wrists by transferring weight from the base of your palm to your fingers. Spread your fingers as wide as you can and slightly cup the ground; press both your fingertips and the knuckles at the base of your fingers firmly into the mat along with the heel of your palm. Though the movement is subtle, this technique spreads the weight through your entire hand, making it a strong base for weight bearing.

This active-finger technique works in any posture when you're leaning into one or both hands, and it also increases your stability when balancing on your hands. Your fingertips can act as brakes to prevent teetering in poses like Half Moon or Handstand. Try this tip the next time you practice and hopefully it'll help take your mind off your wrists and bring it back to your breath.