Fitness

Female Figure Competition

Have you ever thought about entering a women’s figure competition? Or even a men’s competition, come to that, because most of what this article is about applies equally to anyone interested in body building.

For some people, it is a scary but exciting thought. Having the opportunity to display the results of weeks and months of training, exercise and clean eating can be highly motivating and the competition aspect can keep you working at your skills and diet long after you might have given up without it. Of course, on the other hand, getting up on stage in front of hundreds of people, in a figure competition suit that is little more than a bikini (or swim trunks) and high heels (or bare feet) could be pretty scary to some people.

Dream Big

If fitness, a strong toned body and the opportunity to display the results of your body building diet and hard work are important to you, then go for it. What sort of legacy could you leave behind with all this? Many of those who take part in these types of figure competition, whether male or female become interested in nutrition and sports coaching or life coaching or even coaching others to enter these competitions. The very fact of taking part in these events provokes in some the wish to know more about how their body works, what foods suit it best and even how to push it harder than many others in this day and age will ever do. (Interesting fact: did you know that men these days are not as strong as their fathers were? The amount of physical work done is much less and children don’t get out as much as in previous generations. The same probably holds true for women.)

Go For It

If fitness, exercise and good nutrition interests you, then dream high and get what you want. Sounds too good to be true? Remember, you have to believe in your dreams to actually achieve them.

Evaluate What You Want

The formula for getting what you want is to multiply YOU by your thoughts and actions and that will lead to success in whatever field you try. Of course, you need to be clear about what you want in the first place. Try relaxing back in peace and quiet, whether on a beach or in your favorite place, closing your eyes and just dreaming about it. You may see many things you don’t actually want to do but as you relax and stop “thinking”, your true wants and desires should appear and provide inspiration for achieving what you want from life. This might be competitive body building or it might be something else.

Believe In Yourself

Belief in yourself is the first step towards achieving anything. You have to believe in your efforts, your skills and your capabilities. Even sticking to a figure competition diet requires belief in yourself, the fact that you CAN do it and the worth of doing it.

Be with positive people

Evaluate the people you associate with. Make sure they are positive and encourage you in what you want to achieve, as you do with them. Connect with those who help you in both good and bad times. They may be coaches, friends, mentors or family.

Take the plunge

If you have chosen what you truly want to do, then make a plan about HOW you will achieve it and stick to it. Enjoy your journey towards your goal and you will be successful with everything that you ever wished for.

It Takes Willpower & Discipline to Form Good Habits

As you probably already know, it takes willpower, discipline and good habits to really get the most out of life. These three things work together. While this may sound just too simple; it isn’t always easy, in fact it can be downright difficult. It’s all very well to KNOW what should be done. Doing it is different, as you may already have experienced.

If you have willpower, it will be much easier to commit to doing the necessary tasks that are needed to achieve the goals you want to meet. Willpower is not always easy to apply. It takes time, effort and self-control to use it effectively and the results are not always seen immediately. This can be a little daunting to some people because you are putting in maybe a lot of real, hard work without seeing any results. This might make you feel like giving up.

Willpower includes self-discipline. This helps you keep on with the tasks you need to carry out in order to reach your goals, for instance with weight loss and exercise. You have to eat healthily and exercise regularly to achieve results.

Developing Good Habits

To develop ANY habit, good or bad, you need to repeat the task or activity over and over again. The more you do something the easier it becomes. You no longer see it as a chore: you begin to see it as part of your normal routine.

When you repeat something you are creating a new routine. When your new routine becomes second nature, then you have formed a good habit. This doesn’t always have to take that long either. If you are determined to form a new habit , it is said that you can do so in as little as 21 days. The “21 days to a new habit” is a popular idea but it doesn’t always work. For some habits or some people, it may take 60 days of repetition to develop the habit. If the habit is worth developing, then that 60 days is a good investment and there are many ways in which you can keep your repetition going.

The other necessary ingredient to help you form and keep your good habits is that of motivation. You need motivation to (a) develop willpower and (b) to stay disciplined.

Motivation to become healthy can be negative, for instance, if your doctor tells you that you are heading for a heart attack if you don’t lose weight or improve your fitness levels.

Positive motivation comes from deep within you. With this type of motivation your willpower and discipline levels may well seem easy to use because you are so determined to achieve your goal. As you start your journey you will find that nothing can stop you, you are totally focused on your end goal. That is forming a new, lifelong habit of health.

Ab exercises for women

The Abs are one body part everyone wants to focus on. Men or women, it’s the abs. A flat stomach is like the “bad boy” of the fitness world because it’s hard to get ripped abs.

For many women, getting and keeping a lean midsection is not easy. Men and women’s muscles aren’t significantly different, but women tend to be wider through the pelvis and have a longer waist. They also carry more body fat naturally, so though they may have top toned abs, they may not always be visible. Women also want to ensure they stay looking feminine as well as strong and fit.

Visible abdominal muscles aren’t impossible, but you may need to do more than just standard sit-ups or crunches.

There are three sections to the abs, the upper abs, the obliques, and the lower abs.

You need exercises for all three parts and combine these with regular cardio and clean eating to keep flat abs throughout the year.

There is a Pilates technique in which you pull the belly button in while exercising to ensure you work the deepest ab muscle (known as the transverse).

Crunches are one of the main causes of back injuries in athletes.They put pressure on your discs and may throw your spine out of alignment. Unless you are used to doing them correctly and have no back problems, try these instead.

Bird dog.

Start on hands and knees, with your knees aligned under your hips and your wrists directly under your shoulders.

Reach your left arm forward at shoulder height and your right leg backwards at hip height. This leaves you resting on the floor on just your right arm and left knee

Hold for a count of 2 counts, making sure you reach forward with your fingers and back with your toes.

Repeat on the opposite side.

Do 10 reps on each side.

Plank

Yes, don’t groan. It’s super simple, just hard, but it builds the core muscles like almost nothing else.

Get into the pushup position. Make sure your palms are on the floor beneath your shoulders and your head is aligned with your spine. Contract your abs.

Hold for 30 seconds. Over time, gradually increase to two minutes total, as you get stronger.

There are some additional moves you can try as you get better. Try lifting one arm at a time, touching your fist to your chest. If you have room, do crab walks, moving your arms and legs sideways.

Abs

We all want them, and there are interesting exercises to build them, combined with diet and cardio.