FitSugar

No Equipment Necessary: Balancing Windmill

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:47:10 -0800

Squats are essential in your strength-training tool belt if you want to tone your booty and thighs. Here's a variation that will also challenge your sense of balance and strengthen your core.

This is a four-part exercise. To see all the moves and learn the details on doing this exercise keep reading.

No Equipment Necessary: Tabletop Lift

FitSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:00:57 -0700

Tabletop may look easy (shown in the photo on the left), but once you hold it for a while, you'll feel your thighs, booty, and triceps burning. It's also a great exercise that will open your shoulders and chest. Here's a variation that will strengthen your core and increase flexibility in your lower back and hamstrings.

To give it a try read more.

Start off sitting on your bum, so your hands are planted eight inches behind you. Bend your knees and place your heels about a foot away from your hips. Make sure they are hips-width distance apart.
Inhale and lift your hips off the ground so your torso is parallel with the floor and your arms are straight. Your hands should be directly underneath your shoulders and your ankles underneath your knees, so make small adjustments if you need to. Lower your head behind you to increase the stretch in your chest and neck.
Hold for a complete breath, and then keeping your arms straight, exhale to lower your hips and straighten your legs, so your hips are hovering above the floor. Engage your abs and try keep your spine long as you balance on your heels and hands. After a complete breath, inhale and push yourself back into the first position.
Do three sets of 12 to 15 reps, flowing from one to the other, pivoting on your hands and heels. To make this move more challenging, hold each position for longer.

I love a full body exercise, don't you?

Lunge Combo: Side Lunge to Curtsy

FitSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:50:17 -0700

When I write that Hannah, my trainer at Equinox, is kicking my behind, I mean that she's really working my glutes. No joke. Here is a move she taught me recently; it's highly effective for toning the backside. The side lunge works the muscle on the side of the pelvis, that I affectionately call the glute med, as well as the inner thighs. The curtsy move really works your glute max and the smaller booty muscles that help lift the seat.

For instructions on this lunging combination, read more.

Holding a five- to 10-pound weight in your left hand, side lunge to the right bringing your left hand to your right foot. Lower your booty as much as possible. Keep your toes pointed forward and your right knee bent to no more than 90 degrees.
Push off gently with your right foot and come into a curtsy position with your right leg crossing behind your left as you press your weight overhead. Keep your hips square and your curtsy tight. Both feet should be pointed forward. This completes one rep.
Repeat by stepping immediately into a side lunge from the curtsy.
Once you have completed 15 reps, switch sides. Do three sets total.

If lunges are new to you, don't add dumbbells to this exercise until you are comfortable with the leg positions. Remember to keep your abs engaged to stabilize your torso throughout this exercise.

Multitasking Move: Balancing Side Leg Lift Squat

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:50:16 -0700

I love combo strength-training moves that target more than one part of the body, and I also love quick moves I can throw in throughout my day, even when I'm not at the gym. This balancing booty- and thigh-toning exercise can be done while blow-drying your hair, waiting for the bus, or talking on the phone.

Music: "Oh, Atlanta," by Alison Krauss

For detailed instructions, continue reading.

Get Beach-Ready: Tone Your Backside

FitSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:00:00 -0700

If you have been working your abs to get ready for bikini season, I am here to remind you not to forget your booty and the backs of your legs. All styles of suits bare your backside, so tone it with these moves after warming up with five to 10 minutes of cardio. Here is the downloadable PDF of this workout, so you can print it and take it to the gym.

Source

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Multitasking Move: Side Leg With Shoulder Press

FitSugar — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:00:00 -0700

If you don't have a lot of time to work out, strength-training exercises that target more than one area of the body are essential. Here's one that will work your shoulders and your outer thighs.

Grab a set of dumbbells and read more.

Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand, with your elbows bent.
Put all your weight into your right leg. Take a breath in and as you exhale, simultaneously raise your arms until they're straight, and lift your left leg out to the side. You should feel your glute med working - that's the muscle on the side of the pelvis. Do not arch your spine or lift your hip up. Do keep your shoulders and pelvis in one straight line. Move slowly and with control in order to stay balanced. It helps to actively engage your spine for this exercise.
As you inhale, slowly lower your hands and your left leg back to the starting position. This counts as one rep.
Complete three sets of 10 to 12 reps on each side.

Get on the Ball: Plank Booty Leg Lifts

FitSugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

If you're looking to tone up your rear, but you're tired of doing squats, here's a great exercise that targets your booty and the back of your thighs beautifully. Grab an exercise ball and give this a try.

For detailed instructions, read more.

Lie on your belly on an exercise ball and walk your hands out so the ball is underneath your shins. Your hands should be underneath your shoulders.
Draw your navel toward your spine to engage your abs, which will help keep your spine straight and your body stabilized.
Lift your right leg up into the air, then slowly lower it back toward the ball, but don't let it touch. This counts as one repetition. Keep your pelvis level throughout your reps. Complete three sets of 10 to 12 reps with the right leg, and then repeat with the left.

Source

Multitasking Move: Walking Squats With Bicep Curls and Overhead Press

FitSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0700

If toning your tush and thighs is on your mind, then you've got to get busy doing squats. They target your lower body like no other move, and just after a few repetitions you'll start feeling the burn. Here's a variation on the basic squat. It's similar to the side squat using a Theraband, but it uses dumbbells to add more resistance, and movement to make it more challenging.

Music: "East Meets West" by Althea W.

To give it a try, read more.

Hold a set of dumbbells in each hand. Start with your feet together with your arms by your sides, palms facing away from you.
As you take a small step to the right and squat down, do a slow and controlled bicep curl. Your feet should be hip distance apart, with your weight in your heels and your quads parallel with each other. Remain in the squat as you do an overhead press. Stay in the squat as you lower your arms down; your elbows are at your sides and your palms are facing you and pressed against your biceps. Then as your step your left foot to meet your right, straighten your arms, finishing the bicep curl.
Repeat this for a total of five steps to the right, then do five steps to the left. This counts as one set. Complete three sets.

8 Dynamic Booty Exercises

FitSugar — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Many of us are aching for shorts and bathing suit weather to hit permanently, but until it does, you still have some time to tone your tush. Check out these eight exercises that target your glutes, and also work your core, thighs, and upper body.

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Strike a Yoga Pose: Intense East

FitSugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 03:30:00 -0700

This next pose called Intense East is the fourth pose in Ashtanga Yoga's Primary Series. It strengthens and stretches your shoulders simultaneously, and also works your bum and hamstrings. If you've done the Pilates move called Reverse Plank, then this will be a cinch.

Sanskrit Name: Purvottanasana
English Translation: Eastern Intense Stretch Pose
Also Called: Intense East or Upward Plank Pose

To learn how to do this pose read more.

Begin sitting on the floor with your legs extended straight out in front of you. Place your palms behind your hips about six to eight inches away, with your fingers pointing toward your toes.
As you inhale, press into your hands and feet firmly, lifting your hips into the air. Lift them as high as you can so your spine is in a long line. Slowly release your head back, looking behind you, and opening through your throat.
Stay here for five deep breaths, then lower your hips back to the floor.