Five Rep Workouts for a Bikini Body

A five rep weight training program creates lean, defined muscles.

Doing just a few reps with a heavy amount of weight you can only lift for about five reps burns more fat in less time and helps you create a more defined, muscular physique. Women won't bulk up from this type of lifting, due to the lack of testosterone levels required for large, fast muscle growth. The fastest way to get a bikini body is to do cardio workouts and do strength training exercises optimal for fat-burning using heavy weights.

Benefits

If your goal is to shed body fat, lifting heavy weights for five reps is better than lifting for sets of 10 or more reps. In five challenging, explosive reps, you'll burn more body fat by recruiting your fast-twitch muscle fibers instead of slow-twitch fibers. This releases more fat-burning hormones and muscle-growth hormones. So you won't just burn more fat, but also build sexy, lean and defined muscles to show off in a bikini.

Choosing Your Weight

Use dumbbells, kettlebells or machine weights to lift heavy weights if you're a beginner, but when you get stronger try using barbells, which can help you easily pack on more weight. You should be able to lift the weight slowly for at least one rep but no more than four reps, so that when you lift for five reps you use explosive power. This ensures you activate your fast-twitch muscle fibers to burn more calories. If you can't do five reps without losing correct form, your weights are too heavy and could put you at risk of injury. Once you've chosen the right amount of weight for an exercise, do at least three sets of five reps, resting about a minute between sets for muscle recovery.

Related Reading: Six-Week Intense Bikini Workout Plan

Choosing Your Exercises

Start each workout with the most effective exercises for fat-burning before doing a variety of other exercises. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, exercises like squats and lunges that work multiple muscles at a time stimulate more muscle-growth hormones and burn more fat. Make sure you target all your major muscle groups. For example, do hamstring curls for your hamstrings, leg extensions for your quads and overhead triceps extensions for your triceps.

Variation is Important

The more you vary the exercises you do, the more you challenge your muscles and activate different muscle fibers. Target each major muscle group with at least two different exercises at least twice a week. You can also vary the range of repetitions you do from workout to workout so that you work your slow-twitch muscle fibers as well, which are responsible for muscular endurance. For example, you may do one or two 5-rep workouts a week, and one or two 20-rep workouts a week. Get at least three hours of cardio activity each week to burn more calories and for balance in your exercise regimen.

Safety Considerations

Especially when lifting heavy weights, it's important to use proper form and correct technique to avoid injuries. Have a personal trainer help you if you're new to strength training. Avoid over-training by letting your muscles recover for at least 48 hours before strength training them again. If you feel muscle or joint pain during exercise, stop immediately and rest, elevate and ice the affected area.

Source:- http://livehealthy.chron.com/five-rep-workouts-bikini-body-4023.html

30 Minute Ice-Packs Could Be Key To Burning Away Body Fat

30 minute ice-packs could be key to burning away body fat, say scientists

Strapping an ice-pack on to flabby areas could help burn calories, scientists have found

The cold compress works by triggering the body into turning flabby white fat into calorie burning ‘beige’ fat Photo: Alamy

Ice-packs have been known to bring down inflammation and prevent swelling in sports injuries, but now scientists have shown they could also help people lose weight.

Simply strapping an ice-pack to a fatty area like the thighs or stomach for just 30 minutes can burn away hard-to-shift calories.

The cold compress works by triggering the body into turning flabby white fat into calorie burning ‘beige’ fat.

Humans have two types of fat tissue. White fat is the type of fat we associate with chubby stomachs and hips and which circulates in the blood to fuel muscle.

Alternatively, brown fat is used by the body to generate heat. The colder you become, the more brown fat disappears.

Now scientists have discovered that when white fat gets very cold it can turn into a kind of brown fat, which researchers have dubbed ‘beige’

And beige fat can burn away to generate heat.

"We wanted to investigate whether human adults had the ability to transform some white fat deposits into beige fat when they were exposed to cold," said Dr Philip Kern, one of the study authors from the University of Kentucky School of Medicine in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Browning fat tissue would be an excellent defence against obesity. It would result in the body burning extra calories rather than converting them into additional fat tissue."

Researchers took thigh fat tissue samples from 16 people after they held an ice pack on the skin for 30 minutes then checked for specific genetic markers that showed which kind of fat was present.

They found elevated levels of three genetic markers tied to beige or brown fat in samples taken during the winter.

They also analysed belly fat tissue samples from 55 people to see if the tissue samples taken in winter showed more evidence that they were becoming beige.

The analysis revealed belly fat tissue biopsied in the winter was higher in beige fat, compared to the samples taken in the summertime.

The study shows why people are likely to crave more fatty foods in the winters as more white fat calories are being used to keep warm rather than powering muscles.

The researchers also found that obese people could not convert their white fat to beige fat as well as slim people.

"Our findings indicate inflammation can hinder the conversion of white to beige fat," added Dr Kern.

It follows previous studies which have suggested you can ‘shiver yourself slim’ by turning the heating down a few degrees.

Most homes in winter are heated to around 69F (21C) but Maastricht University Medical Centre advise turning the thermostat down to between 62F (17C) and 59F (15) for a few hours a day.

Experts claim that because we spend so much of our time indoors, often in overheated homes and offices, are bodies do not naturally burn calories to keep warm.

It is a trend that has crept up on us over the past century as we have become more adept at controlling the temperature in our surroundings through central heating and air conditioning.

The research was published in the journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Elsewhere US scientists have discovered a new kind of fat molecule in the body which might be as beneficial as Omega-3 fish oil and could control blood sugar levels.

Named fatty acid hydroxyl fatty acids, or FAHFAs, these new molecules are in fat cells as well as other cells throughout the body.

In mice studies it was shown that increasing the levels of FAHFAs in the body protected mice against diabetes, even when they were obese.

"We were blown away to discover this completely new class of molecules," said Dr Barbara Kahn, at Harvard Medical School.

The researchers said it opened up new avenues for treatment.

"This is of critical importance as rates of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes remain at epidemic proportions worldwide."

Source:- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11152348/30-minute-ice-packs-could-be-key-to-burning-away-body-fat-say-scientists.html

3 Fitness Terms To Drop From Your Fitness Vocabulary   

There's a lot of great fitness information around today, in magazines, books and especially online. But there is also a lot of misleading fitness information out there, including these three terms you should stop using yourself...

No Such Thing As Toning Muscles 

Many articles and ads talk about 'toning muscles'. Often you see it in regards to women's fitness, implying that this is somehow different from other types of workouts. There are workouts for strength, power, size, cardio, aerobics, flexibility and sport-specific workouts, and beginner, intermediate and expert workouts for each of those. There is NOT some other type of workout that achieves some undefined notion called 'toned'.

Forget 'Workouts For Women' Too 

Your second fitness term to drop is workouts for women. Muscles on men and muscles on women have the same composition and the same purposes. A man's workout is a woman's workout is a man's workout - plain and simple. The difference in muscle size is chemical - men's testosterone levels are much higher than those found in a woman's body, and that's what makes the biggest difference.

Writers and marketers use the term 'women's workouts' to play on the irrational fears some ladies have that lifting weights will make them big and bulky. Don't let them put that same fear into you - hit the gym and lift weights all you like. You'll be healthier, stronger, have more energy and most likely look lot better, even though your weight may increase since muscle is denser (heavier) than fat. If you are even a bit concerned that you may bulk up from lifting weights, stick to powerlifting workouts - heavier weights with fewer reps per set. That style of workout focuses more on building muscle strength and less on building muscle size, for either men or women.

The Goal Is NOT Weight Loss! 

Probably the most destructive fitness term you should drop is weight loss, yet it's the number one term searched for at Google some years. If you have a higher percentage of body fat than you should for your body type and height, what you want is FAT LOSS, not weight loss...

If all you're concerned with is losing weight, and you measure it using the common bathroom scale, you're setting yourself up to fall victim to every weight loss scam that comes along and a lifetime of yo-yo dieting. Remember that muscles weigh more than fat, and your body is programmed to get rid of all unnecessary muscle and store energy in the form of fat. As such, any rapid weight loss will mean you've lost more muscle than fat, which isn't your goal - in fact, it makes you even less healthy.

Further, your body has a goodly amount of water in it, and water weighs about 62.5 pounds per cubic foot. Ridding your body of some of that water will also drop your weight - and your health right along with it. In fact, not only is that water needed by your circulatory system and organs, but as little as 3% dehydration starts to affect your mental prowess as well...

When you think in terms of fat loss, you'll focus on healthy nutrition and regular exercise - both of which can lead you to lose bodyfat, gain muscle, have more energy and generally be much healthier. Keep that focus and lose the term 'weight loss' starting today - you'll be that much closer to living your ideal fitness lifestyle!

D. Champigny is well known in the fitness world - he's a published fitness photographer, certified personal trainer, fitness author and publisher of the popular Flirting With Fitness website. For more help from Champigny, add him to your circles on Google+ today!

This article is by D Champigny and you can read it here:- http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D._Champigny