I found this video today and thought it would be a nice fit into your busy schedule. It’s only 2 minutes long.

For the folks that sit in front of the computer or behind a desk all day, then sit some more at night watching television and hardly move around, you might feel sore at the shoulders, pain at the arms and numbs on the legs, here are a few exercise you can do whenever you have a few minutes. It’s best to get up a do a few every hour you are sitting. I learned this from a Shaolin Kungfu monk and it works great.

1. Standing, legs shoulders wide, slowly raise both arms over your head, back straight, raise your calves so your weight is on the toes, inhale slowly to maximum capacity. Now exhale quickly (through the nose) then stumping very quickly on your heels and lower your arms at the same time. This will help reduce your feeling of numbness.
2. Also standing, legs shoulder wide. Back straight, head straight. Slowly turn your head and shoulders to the right and as far back as possible (180 degree), inhale. Now slowly turning back to the starting position and exhale through the nose. Repeat with turning to the left. This will stretch out the neck, shoulders and back muscles.
3. Extend both arms to the sides. Extend all fingers like claws, pretending you are twitting two jar caps, turning both arms. This will strengthen your arms muscles.
4. With your eyes closed, standing, slightly pick up one foot putting all the weight on the other foot and try to balance yourself for as long as you can, the longer the better. While your body is trying to balance on one foot, the weight is swaying around, your legs muscles and nerve will be stronger. Alternate the legs and stand close to a wall or something in case you need support.

These are very simple to do and you can do them anywhere, anytime. They work well for me beside all the cardio and weight training exercises. Try and let me know if it works for you.

Building muscle is important for the unexpected times when we need strength, such as an unexpected emergency or in case of a fire and you find yourself hanging by your arms on the ledge of the building. Do you have the body strength to pull yourself back into the building? How long could you hold on to the ledge? While such a circumstance rarely happens, but did you know that muscle mass is metabolically more active than fat? With more muscle mass will use more calories 24 hours a day!

If you want to look fit and toned, then be an artist and a sculptor using your own body as the medium. Use weight training like the sculptor uses the chisel and create for yourself the body you want.

With the Opposition Muscle Training System, you train the muscles that oppose each other - the push and pull muscle- one after another, you can cut your training time by one-third, because you don’t have to rest between exercises — just between sets. And you are training you whole body at each workout, three times per week.

Muscle groups that oppose each other are biceps and triceps, pectorals and trapezius, deltoids and latissimus dorsi, quadriceps and hamstrings.

Note: The Foundation Exercise Program and the Foundation Meal Plan work synergistically: Carbohydrates power workouts, fat powers recovery, and protein builds muscle. You need all three in the proper ratio to maximize your fitness.

This workout is actually three different workouts that your perform on three different days, every other day, of the week. Just make sure you have a day off between workouts.

Each workout is focused on a specific area of the body, but all major muscle groups are trained in every workout. The focus areas are Arms/Shoulders, Chest/Back, and Quadriceps/Hamstrings

This series of workouts stresses each set of muscles in such a way as to stimulate growth for fitness and toning - and keep to 30 as promised. Stick to this Opposing Muscle Training System techniques, and use the large muscle groups with the basic exercises known to get results. If you follow the sets, reps, and rest intervals, you’ll get the biggest possible gains from only 30 minutes of weight training.

This workout is designed for use with dumbbells, barbells, or a weight training machine. It can be done at home if you have the correct equipment, but a gym may be the better choice.

• You can substitute one exercise for another. For example, you may like Preacher Curls with dumbbells instead of Standing Biceps Curls with barbells. Just don’t change the sets, reps, and especially, the rest periods.
• Remember: we’re using opposition weight training. That means you do two exercises one right after another without resting between the paired exercises. Rest after both sets are completed.
• When you can perform 8 reps for all three sets for an individual exercise, it’s time to increase the weight by 5-10 lbs. You don’t have to wait until you can do 8 reps for all three sets of both paired exercises before you increase the weight.
• It should take no longer than 30 seconds per exercise. Performing exercises back to back means you have 60 seconds to complete the reps for both exercises. Organize your workout equipment to minimize transition time from one exercise to another. Set up for the next exercise during rest periods.
• This type of workout is only for those who have been training for at least 12 weeks. It’s not difficult, but it is strenuous. Be sure you are ready.

Arm/Shoulders OP Weight Training Workout

Chest/Back OP Weight Training Workout

Quadriceps/Hamstrings OP Weight Training

**Note:The Optimal Performance Exercise Program and the Optimal Performance Meal Plan work synergistically: Carbohydrates power workouts, fat powers recovery, and protein builds muscle. You need all three in the proper ratio to maximize your fitness.

Once you have picked the mode of cardio exercise, get started. Get out door, jump on the bike, get in the pool, put on the skate and get moving.

5 Begin at a comfortable pace—one that is easy to sustain without getting out of breath. You may feel a slight glow and have to take the deep breaths occasionally, but you should be comfortable. If not, back off, because you have started too fast.

20 After 5 minutes, increase the speed, grade, or intensity in a way appropriate to your mode of exercise so that you are moving faster and breathing deeper in a rhythmic way. If you are gasping for air, slow down! This is a pace you want to sustain for the next 20 minutes. You should start to sweat – that’s good because it means your cooling system is working just fine.

5 Reduce the intensity for 5 minutes to cool down—same pace as you warm-up—and you are done. Time to hit the showers

This is the simple as approach to cardio exercise and it’s effective. Listen to music or watch television program, practice a second language, or just flush out the stress of the day. It’s always good to have a workout buddy to make sure your form is correct, to make the times go faster, and to drag you to the weights when you feel like skipping your workout.

Although it is recommended that you do 30 minutes continuous exercise for better result, you can do 10 minutes three times a day. You can also change the type of exercise you do. Walk in the morning and ride an exercise bike in the evening. Variety can spice up your workouts.

Note: The Foundation Exercise Program and the Foundation Meal Plan work synergistically: Carbohydrates power workouts, fat powers recovery, and protein builds muscle. You need all three in the proper ratio to maximize your fitness.

Nobody is excused from this exercise program unless your doctor says so. Young. Old. Overweight. Thin. Doesn’t matter. You don’t have to go to a gym. You need only 30 minutes. You can do the cardio and weight training at home. Cardio exercise is commonly referred to as “aerobic” which means “with air”. Exercise in creases the heart rate, and when your heart rate increase, so does your breathing rate. This is to pull in more air containing oxygen to compensate for the increased oxygen you’re using in the muscles. Blood flows faster to deliver oxygen and other nutrients to muscles and to remove waste products. The types of cardio exercise, also called modes, are whatever uses large muscle groups in rhythmic patterns, such as:

• Walking, jogging, or running outdoors or on treadmills.
• Cycling outdoors or on cycle ergometers.
• Swimming or pool-walking.
• Cross-country skiing or Nordic-Tracking
• Stair climbing using stairs or stair-climbing machines
• And others too numerous to list.

Find something you like (or dislike the least) and go for it. You can use a combination of various exercises on different days or even withing each workout. It’s up to you, but you must pick something.

THE FOUNDATION 5-20-5 CARDIO WORKOUT:30 minutes is plenty to burn fat as long as you don’t over eat. Exercise as hard as you can to use as much total energy as possible, then after you body uses up all the readily available carbs, it will have to burn fat.

THE FOUNDATION WEIGHT TRAINING WORKOUT:If you have never lifted or weight-trained ever or it has been a while, this is where to start. You can use elastic bands or surgical tubing as the resistance. They are inexpensive and you can take them with you anywhere. You can use light dumbbells if you prefer. No expensive equipments needed. No more than 30 minutes a day for three days per week. Weight-train every other days so there is a day of rest in between when you can do the cardio exercise the other 3 days, and you have 1 day off!

STRETCHING is usually done for two reasons: warm-up and improved range of motion. Both cardio programs have you do at least five minutes of warm-up to increase the flow of blood into the muscles. That’s a sufficient warm-up. However, the primary purpose of stretching is to maintain the range of motion of a joint. If you weight train as outlined in the Foundation and Optimal Programs and lift through the entire range of motion of each movement, you will be actively stretching each joint.

Note: The Foundation Exercise Program and the Foundation Meal Plan work synergistically: Carbohydrates power workouts, fat powers recovery, and protein builds muscle. You need all three in the proper ratio to maximize your fitness.

Warm-up is not really necessary for the beginning level. If you can’t do 10 reps, use a lower grade elastic band, or reduce the weight if you’re using dumbbells. If you get to 15 reps without any burning in the muscles, you need more resistance. Go up in weight if you’re using dumbbells or add another elastic band. Wrap the elastic bands around your hands a couple of times to prevent slipping. Keep increasing the resistance until you get slight burning after 15 reps.

Whether you stand on the bands, sit on the bands or have them closed in a door frame, sooner or later they’ll slip. Avoid looking at them directly as you perform the exercise so you won’t get hit in the face.

You can do the groups in any order, but don’t change the matched exercises within the group. Since we are using the Opposition Muscle Training, each pair must be performed together. Use a stop watch to time the rest intervals. You can rest no longer than 30 seconds!

The exercises shown here are for the people using elastic bands or surgical tubing. In most cases the exercises can be done the exact same way using dumbbells.

Biceps Curl

Starting position: Stand on elastic band or tubing with palms facing forward. Knees can be slight flexed to relieve any pressure on lower back. Raise arms toward chin while keeping elbows pointing downward. Return to starting position. After 10-15 reps, GO immediately to Triceps Extension.

Triceps Extension

Starting position: Begin with hands behind your head with elbows pointed upward. Extend the hands toward the ceiling until full extension; then return to the starting position. After 10-15 reps, STOP and rest for 30 seconds. Do this pair of exercises with rest periods 3 times, then go to the next set.

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Overhead press

Starting position: stand or sit on elastic band or tubing, elbows flexed at sides, palms forward. Extend arms overhead until elbows are fully expanded. Return to starting position. After 10-15 reps, GO immediately to Lat Pulldown.

Lat Pulldown

Starting position: insert the elastic band or tubing in door or over beam, kneeling or sitting on feet depending on height of door or length of band. Grasp each end with arms extended overhead. Pull band down toward shoulder maintaining at least a shoulder width between arms and preferably more. Return to starting position. (Note: tie a knot in the center of the elastic band so it won’t slip through and snapped you in the head!) After 10-15 reps, STOP and rest for 30 seconds. Do this pair of exercise with rest periods 3 times, then start the next pair of exercises.

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Lateral Raise

Starting position: stand on elastic bands or tubing with hands at your side, elbows slightly bent with your palms facing backward. Raised arms up and to the side away from your body until your hands reach shoulder level then returned to the starting position. After 10-15 reps, GO immediately to Shoulder Shrug.

Shoulder Shrug

Starting position: stand on elastic band or tubing with hands at side and palms facing backward. Drop shoulders as far as possible while keeping back straight. Try to touch your shoulders to your ears, while squeezing the trapezius muscles as far as you can. Then relax to starting position. After 10-15 reps, stop and rest for 30 seconds. Do this pair of exercises with rest periods 3 times, then start the next pair of exercises.

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Bench press

Starting position: sit in the chair with elastic band or tubing around for back, elbows flexed, and palms facing forward. (The use of the bench is prefer to but when in your home or on a business trip, doing the exercise with a restricted range of motion is better than not doing it at all). Extended arms by pushing away from the body until full extension is reached. Return to starting position. After 10-15 reps, GO immediately to Seated Row.

Seated Row

Starting position: sits on the floor with legs extended and elastic band or tubing around the sole of the feet, palms facing down. Pull back toward chest, trying to touch shoulder blades together. Return to starting position. After 10-15 reps, STOP and rest for 30 seconds. Do this pair of exercises with rest periods three times, then move on to the next pair.

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Legs Press

Starting position lie on your back with knees flexed and the elastic band or tubing across the sole of your feet. Extend the legs while keeping both arms firmly on the floor to maintain balance. Return to starting position. After 10-15 reps, GO immediately to Calf Raise.

Calf Raise

Starting position: stand on the elastic bands or tubing holding onto the ends with palms facing backward. Raise up on your tiptoes as high as you can. Returned slowly to starting position. You may stand on a 2- inch block of wood to increase the stretch of the starting position, but be sure it is firmly attached and that you can maintain your balance.

After 10-15 reps, STOP and rest for 30 second. Do this pair of exercises with the rest periods 3 times then start the next pair.

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Abdominal curl

Starting position: lie on your back with legs elevated on chair and arms across your chest or by your sides. Contract abdominals and lift shoulders off floor. Return to beginning position. Use your abs to perform this exercise – not momentum. After 10-15 reps, GO immediately to Modified Leg Lift.

Modified Legs Lift

Starting position: arms at side, knees flexed, head flat. Lift legs using lower abdominal muscles. Again, use abs and don’t rock. Return to beginning position. After 10-15 reps, stop and rest for 30 seconds. Does this pair of exercises with rest period one more time.

You are done. Mission accomplished.

Note: The Foundation Exercise Program and the Foundation Meal Plan work synergistically: Carbohydrates power workouts, fat powers recovery, and protein builds muscle. You need all three in the proper ratio to maximize your fitness.

Cardio Exercise is commonly referred to as “aerobic” which means “with air”

The body depends on the heart and the blood vessels to transport good things into your body’s cells and cellular waste products out. To be fit and healthy, you need this system working at peak capacity. When this system works well, you can:

• Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease-both heart attack and stroke
• Reduce the risk of developing Type II Diabetes
• Make bones stronger
• Reduce body fat
• Improve the functioning of your digestive system
• Improve immune function
• Reduce stress level
• Increase libido and decrease impotence
• Improve your hearing and memory

The list goes on and you should get the point. No one guarantee that by exercising regularly will cause you to live a day longer, but there is no question you’ll live a better quality of life. No one would like to be in their 90’s with aches and pains all over, would you? To live every day you’re alive. There’s a different between living and simply being alive.

Types of cardio exercise, also called modes, are whatever uses large muscle group in rhythmic patterns. Use it or loose it. Get moving!

Note: The Foundation Exercise Program and the Foundation Meal Plan work synergistically: Carbohydrates power workouts, fat powers recovery, and protein builds muscle. You need all three in the proper ratio to maximize your fitness.

Most people when come to getting that flat tummy back, they first thought of doing all the exercises that are abs related, such as abs crunches, sit-ups, leg press… but little did they know that is the fat around the tummy that they need to lose. While doing tummy exercises will help tone up the tummy muscles, but it will not help much in losing the fat. So you need to incorporate both fat loss exercises and toning exercises and a healthy eating habit in order to regain the flat tummy you have always wanted.

You don’t have to go to a gym to do these exercises. All you need is 30 minutes a day, 5-6 days a week, right out of your own home.

For fat loss or fat burning exercise, do 30 minutes of cardio or often known as aerobic exercise, 3 days a week, preferably first thing in the morning. Since your body has not had any thing to eat all night, it will have to reach for stored body fat for energy when you exercise. Use the 5-20-5 workout pattern. First 5 minutes to warm up, then 20 minutes intense workout, end with 5 minutes cool down exercise. You can use exercise video, treadmill, or if you like to go out door, biking, jogging, walking, just so you will start to sweat. Find some thing you like and go for it. You can use a combination of various exercises on different days or even within each workout. It’s up to you, but you must pick one and stick with it if you want to flat out that tummy.

For the other 3 days, do some abs crunches and sit-ups, along with the whole body tone up program - weight training. Doing whole body weight training will build strong muscles. Building strong muscles will burn more fat, because muscle mass is metabolically more active than fat, and that means muscle will use more calories all day long. Roll out of bed, grab your elastic bands or dumbbells and in 30 minutes, you’ll build strength, muscle tone, help make those bones stronger, and in no time, you should see your flat tummy appearing again.

Well, most people don’t have much time in the morning. Do you have to do all 30 minutes of exercise at one time? No. You can do 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at noon, and 10 minutes in the evening, all 30 minutes in the evening, it doesn’t matter. Although it is better if you do 30 continuous minutes, you do benefit from cardio exercise performed through out the day. However, 10 minutes is the least amount necessary to get benefits to the heart and blood vessels.

A brief tips on eating healthy: make sure to avoid fried food and refined food at all cost. Eat well-balanced meals and snacks during the day. Drink plenty of clean, fresh water, basically half your body weight in ounce. If you can manage, no foods 3 hours before bedtime, and your bedtime should be around 10:00 -11:00 at night, not 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. Your body needs to rest, rejuvenate and rebuild it self, and it is doing so between the hour of 10 pm and 2 am. So getting enough sleep at the right time is important in the effort to re-sculpting your body.

Here is an example of some core exercises that is good for flatting out the tummy to add to your cardio and weight training routines. Both only require 15 minutes.

Fore more health related topics, visit: fitnessguide101.com

CORE

ABS

This cardio exercise workout should be attempted only after completing the Foundation Cardio 5-20-5 workout for 12 weeks or those who have been exercise regularly.

• You must do to warm-up. This is strenuous workout, and your system must be warmed up for it.
• Used any form of exercise where the intensity can be controlled fairly quickly. Indoor bike, stair climbers, and Nordic Tracks work best, but you can use age treadmill as well. Of course, running, cycling, and swimming form the basic interval training.
• Use a stopwatch or other timing device to timing the work and rest intervals.
• Pace will vary by individuals. For some, walking at 3 mph will be a level 15 and raising the grade on the treadmill to 3% will take them to a 16. For others, they may be running at 6 mph for a 15 and raising the grade to 3% will take them to 16 or 17. The advantage of the RPE scale is that everyone can fine his or her own pace for a great cardio workout. As your fitness level changes, the page can be adjusted up so you are always in your own personal training zone.
• Do this workout once per week for six weeks of optimal program, then increase the to twice per week for the next six weeks. Don’t do it more than twice a week — you need some quality recovery time to let your muscles rebuild.

Note: Rest doesn’t mean stop and sit. It means keep moving at a slower pace.

Find the RPE (Ratings of Perceived Exertion) table here

The Optimal Performance Cardio Interval Workout

**Note:The Optimal Performance Exercise Program and the Optimal Performance Meal Plan work synergistically: Carbohydrates power workouts, fat powers recovery, and protein builds muscle. You need all three in the proper ratio to maximize your fitness.