Bott Fitness

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NECK GLIDE

Helps realign your head over your shoulders-and relieve neck strain

While standing or sitting, simply move your head back over the middle of your shoulders. Think of trying to touch an imaginary wall with the back of your neck (do not actually tip your head back to touch the wall as that will cause your neck to arch).

Hold for ten seconds and relax. Do this whenever you realize your head has been hanging forward for a while, i.e., after reading or leaning over your desk, computer, handwork, hobby, etc.

SHOULDER BLADE SQUEEZE

Strengthens the muscles between the shoulder blades and mid-back. This movement/exercise will correct rounded shoulders¬-and also relax all neck muscles.

Lift rib cage. Think of pulling up with your midsection.

Press your shoulder blades back, towards your spine, and then press them down towards your waistline.

Hold for a slow count of ten, without holding … Read the rest

Abdominal crunches work only one area of your abdomen–the part along the front of your belly above the belly button. Unfortunately, this happens to be the one area of the stomach that’s often strongest for most people. So, crunches simply make an already strong area of the abdomen even stronger, ignoring important weak spots that are the true source of your problem.
The ABS are actually more than just one muscle. The abdominal muscle group is made up of the oblique muscles (internal and external), the abdominus rectus and the hidden transverse abdominus.

The obliques are thin muscles that form a continual wrap around the torso, enclosing your bony structures and internal organs in a protective support. Unfortunately, even the most developed obliques can be hidden under layers of fatty love handles.

The rectus abdominus is what forms the classic and sought after six-pack. It attaches the sternum and ribs … Read the rest

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• Engage in a light workout.

The purpose here is to EASE back in to your normal workouts. Do not expect to go all out at this point. I would suggest choosing to start off with a less intense version of your intervals or a modified resistance training workout. If either of these options includes jumping, you may wish to find a substitute.

Options may look like:

Intervals – instead of a normal 1 min. low/1 min. high, choose to perform 2 minutes low, 1 minute high but all variables are less intense than your regular interval session. This may extend your time spent and that is okay. No need to go past 20 minutes….remember the goal is to EASE back into your routine.

Resistance Training Workout – you have a couple options here. Depending on your fitness level and how you are feeling, you may choose to complete a beginner … Read the rest

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The classic sit up position is flat on the back, hands behind the head and you sit up without aid of any other muscle groups and touch your knees with your elbows and then go down. Do that about 500 times and you will have yourself great abs. Right?

Probably not. Any skilled weight training instructor will steer you away form sit ups and particularly the kind we just discussed. There are some very good reasons why you can and should design a program of abdominal health without ever doing a single sit up.

Sit ups are not the optimum abdominal muscle work out. For one thing, there is a tendency by the exerciser (you) to jerk forward as though to pull oneself into the sitting position using the hands behind the head. When this happens, your ab muscles are not getting any work out at all. You are using … Read the rest

Your body will adapt to the stimulus you give it. So, if you give your body a reason to keep or build muscle, it will. If you don’t, it won’t. Maybe oversimplified, but valid. And that’s the reason you can lose muscle mass if your main mode of exercise is traditional cardio, like walking or jogging. Low intensity exercises like these can help you lose weight, but they don’t give your body a reason to keep its muscle.

So, what’s the solution? The simplest step is to add an element of resistance to your workouts. A simple weight training program of large-movement, multi-joint exercises will do the trick for most. If you’re just starting out, try a program of deadlifts and overhead presses, five sets of five repetitions, two to three times a week.

The next step is to get more out of your cardio workouts. One method that is … Read the rest

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Forget endless situps. Fat doesn’t melt away by moving it around, if it did, those silly vibrating belt machines would be in every living room. Remember those machines from old black and white movies? You stand on a platform and let the belt vibrate the fat away. Great idea, but they don’t work and neither do situps. Also, doing the same exercise over and over and over again is boring-what’s the chance, even if situps work, that you’ll keep doing them? I’m falling asleep thinking about it.

Situps won’t melt the fat off of your gut, but they do have value, they will strengthen your abdominal muscles. These muscles are used in sports, used in everyday activities around the house and office, promote a healthy posture, and produce a six-pack abs when they push through the fat. For the best effect, do two or three sets of eight to twelve … Read the rest