FitSugar

Move It at Home: Denise Austin - Shrink Your Female Fat Zones

FitSugar — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:06:35 -0800

I don't know if Denise Austin is a powerhouse or an exercise fiend on crack. Nevertheless, I have got to hand it to her - she really keeps you moving. There is something about her manic manner that is equal parts frightening and entertaining. My theory is to use whatever means necessary to keep the DVD on the screen and your body moving.

At the end of this 40 minute work out you really feel like you have worked your female fat zones (arms, back, abs, hips and backside) and you know for certain where you are going to be sore. The work out moves quickly between body parts, so it is hard to get bored with it even with multiple viewings. I believe her mantra might just be "You will have the sexy looking arms you always wanted" since she says the phrase repeatedly through out the work out. Her optimism and over the top positive energy are encouraging and almost make up for the boring unmotivational music.

My one serious complaint is that at least half of the work out relies heavily on exercises using a physio ball. For many of the exercises there really aren't variations you can do without a ball. You will also need 5 to 8 pound hand weights. Boy does Denise come up with some great things to do with them.

Try it before you buy it and put it on your Netflix queue. Or buy it from from Amazon for $9.99.

Locker Room Beauty Fixes in a Flash

FitSugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

I often love the way I look after a nice hard workout. The problem is that when I am working out at lunch, the "I've just sweat buckets" look doesn't always mesh with a post workout meeting with my boss.

Fitness Magazine consulted with workout diva Denise Austin on her own personal locker room beauty tips that make going from sweaty to sweet in minutes. Here are highlights:

Problem: Ponytail Crease
Fix: To prevent a ridge from forming mid-length, pull hair into a high ponytail and secure with a fabric holder instead of a tight elastic. "When you take hair down, it'll have extra volume," says Austin.
Problem: Flaky Skin
Fix: Avoid deodorant soap during your post-workout shower. Opt for a gentle body wash or simply rinse with water.

There are more easy tips so read more.

Problem: Flushed Cheeks
Fix: Tone down red cheeks with a blast of cool air from a blow-dryer, then apply moisturizer to soothe skin. "Skip foundation and let your natural rosy glow shine through," says Austin.
Problem: Melted Mascara
Fix: Remove smudges with a cleansing cloth. "Then curl lashes to revitalize the mascara that's still on," says Austin.

If you have a good locker room beauty tip, share it in the comments section below.

Source

Healthy Dose Link Time

FitSugar — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:00:00 -0800

What's the deal with the Engine 2 Diet - Daily Spark
How to lose 300 calories from your daily diet - Maragarita Shapes up
Why do we keep dieting? - Shape
How to make your relaxing bath even more lovely - Vital Juice Daily
Myths pregnant women keep perpetuating - Vitamin G
Get close and personal with fitness maven Denise Austin - Fit Bottomed Girls
Daily ab work dramatically changing belly of four time mom - Fresh Fitness Tips
Biggest Loser drama: Bob the trainer in tears! - That's Fit
Jennifer Love Hewitt in love with exercise after breakup - FitCeleb

Source

DVD Review: Tracy Anderson Mat Workout

FitSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:30:00 -0700

I wasn't too thrilled with Tracy Anderson's cardio dance workout. It seemed more personal performance than cardio, but I was still interested in trying her Mat Workout DVD ($29.95). Tracy's approach to body sculpting is to tone without bulking, so she avoids working the large muscle groups as well as heavy weights. Muscles are worked from a variety of angles, which makes sense since muscle fibers rarely run in a straight line. Many of the motions are small and isolated targeting the smaller, underworked, supporting muscles. She calls this "strategic muscle exhaustion," and you will feel the burn. Much of the workout reminded me of the Bar Method with a dash of sexy jazz dance thrown.

As with her cardio dance workout, this DVD is shot in a very lovely studio, with just Tracy leading the workout and soft music with a beat playing the background. The workout is divided into sections: standing legs, arm work without weights, arm work with weights, standing ab work, floor work for the legs, and a variety of crunches. All in all, I felt pleasantly worked following the workout, and my heart rate stayed slightly elevated in a fat burning zone for the majority of the workout. The entire workout takes just under an hour.

I do have some problems with the workout. To hear my pros and cons, just read more.

The warmup is incredibly short and involves some intense stretching, which if you have tight hamstrings could be dangerous. I prefer, and think it is safer, to get my body warm and blood flowing with a little light cardio before I stretch. Now, I know many women worry about bulking up and fear lifting heavy weights for that reason, but I am just not one of them. I feel this arm workout might tone the arms and give them endurance, but I am not so sure it will make my arms stronger. So in the future I will probably skip those sections. I liked the standing abs and the wide variety of crunches included in the workout. Similar to the dance cardio workout, I feel like Tracy is not leading me, the DVD viewer, through a workout, but trying somehow to make pendulum standing leg swings look sexy. She gives so little verbal cuing that you have to watch the TV constantly or you will miss something, and the worst of this is the ab routine on the floor. I would be crunching with my head positioned correctly when I would glance at the screen and see Tracy had moved onto another variation and not uttered a word. Unlike the overly chipper demeanor of Denise Austin or the infectious enthusiasm of Billy Blanks, Anderson often looks either bored or shy throughout the video, which I just find odd and uninviting.

Since I am always looking for ways to tone my booty, running and lunges do wonders, but so do back attitudes on acute angles, so I will definitely do the legs and abs part of the workout again. The only problem is the workout portion of the DVD isn't formatted in chapters for ease of locating the section you would like to follow. For arm work I will stick to my push-ups, and higher weights for strength training. Have you tried this DVD? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

You can buy the DVD directly from the Tracy Anderson Method website.