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From nytimes.com

By PETER JARET
Published: May 3, 2007

Some gymgoers are tortoises. They prefer to take their sweet time, leisurely pedaling or ambling along on a treadmill. Others are hares, impatiently racing through miles at high intensity.

Each approach offers similar health benefits: lower risk of heart disease, protection against Type 2 diabetes, and weight loss.

But new findings suggest that for at least one workout a week it pays to be both tortoise and hare — alternating short bursts of high-intensity exercise with easy-does-it recovery.

Weight watchers, prediabetics and those who simply want to increase their fitness all stand to gain.

This alternating fast-slow technique, called interval training, is hardly new. For decades, serious athletes have used it to improve performance.

But new evidence suggests that a workout with steep peaks and valleys can dramatically improve cardiovascular fitness and raise the body’s potential to burn fat.

Best of all, the benefits become evident in a matter of weeks.

“There’s definitely renewed interest in interval training,” said Ed Coyle, the director of the human performance laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that after just two weeks of interval training, six of the eight college-age men and women doubled their endurance, or the amount of time they could ride a bicycle at moderate intensity before exhaustion.

Eight volunteers in a control group, who did not do any interval training, showed no improvement in endurance.

Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, had the exercisers sprint for 30 seconds, then either stop or pedal gently for four minutes.

Such a stark improvement in endurance after 15 minutes of intense cycling spread over two weeks was all the more surprising because the volunteers were already reasonably fit. They jogged, biked or did aerobic exercise two to three times a week.

Doing bursts of hard exercise not only improves cardiovascular fitness but also the body’s ability to burn fat, even during low- or moderate-intensity workouts, according to a study published this month, also in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Eight women in their early 20s cycled for 10 sets of four minutes of hard riding, followed by two minutes of rest. Over two weeks, they completed seven interval workouts.

After interval training, the amount of fat burned in an hour of continuous moderate cycling increased by 36 percent, said Jason L. Talanian, the lead author of the study and an exercise scientist at the University of Guelph in Ontario. Cardiovascular fitness — the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to working muscles — improved by 13 percent.

It didn’t matter how fit the subjects were before. Borderline sedentary subjects and the college athletes had similar increases in fitness and fat burning. “Even when interval training was added on top of other exercise they were doing, they still saw a significant improvement,” Mr. Talanian said.

That said, this was a small study that lacked a control group, so more research would be needed to confirm that interval training was responsible.

Interval training isn’t for everyone. “Pushing your heart rate up very high with intensive interval training can put a strain on the cardiovascular system, provoking a heart attack or stroke in people at risk,” said Walter R. Thompson, professor of exercise science at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

For anyone with heart disease or high blood pressure — or who has joint problems such as arthritis or is older than 60 — experts say to consult a doctor before starting interval training.

Still, anyone in good health might consider doing interval training once or twice a week. Joggers can alternate walking and sprints. Swimmers can complete a couple of fast laps, then four more slowly.

There is no single accepted formula for the ratio between hard work and a moderate pace or resting. In fact, many coaches recommend varying the duration of activity and rest.

But some guidelines apply. The high-intensity phase should be long and strenuous enough that a person is out of breath — typically one to four minutes of exercise at 80 to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate. Recovery periods should not last long enough for their pulse to return to its resting rate.

Also people should remember to adequately warm up before the first interval. Coaches advise that, ideally, people should not do interval work on consecutive days. More than 24 hours between such taxing sessions will allow the body to recover and help them avoid burnout.

What is so special about interval training? One advantage is that it allows exercisers to spend more time doing high-intensity activity than they could in a single sustained effort. “The rest period in interval training gives the body time to remove some of the waste products of working muscles,” said Barry A. Franklin, the director of the cardiac rehabilitation and exercise laboratories at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

To go hard, the body must use new muscle fibers. Once these recent recruits are trained, they are available to burn fuel even during easy-does-it workouts. “Any form of exercise that recruits new muscle fibers is going to enhance the body’s ability to metabolize carbohydrates and fat,” Dr. Coyle said.

Interval training also stimulates change in mitochondria, where fuel is converted to energy, causing them to burn fat first — even during low- and moderate-intensity workouts, Mr. Talanian said.

Improved fat burning means endurance athletes can go further before tapping into carbohydrate stores. It is also welcome news to anyone trying to lose weight or avoid gaining it.

Unfortunately, many people aren’t active enough to keep muscles healthy. At the sedentary extreme, one result can be what Dr. Coyle calls “metabolic stalling” — carbohydrates in the form of blood glucose and fat particles in the form of triglycerides sit in the blood. That, he suspects, could be a contributing factor to metabolic syndrome, the combination of obesity, insulin resistance, high cholesterol and elevated triglycerides that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

By recruiting new muscle fibers and increasing the body’s ability to use fuel, interval training could potentially lower the risk of metabolic syndrome.

Interval training does amount to hard work, but the sessions can be short. Best of all, a workout that combines tortoise and hare leaves little time for boredom.

From MayoClinic.com

Interval training is a powerful tool for novice exercisers and accomplished athletes alike. Here’s how it works.

Are you ready to shake up your workout routine? Do you wish you could burn more calories without spending more time at the gym? Consider aerobic interval training. Once the domain of elite athletes, interval training has become a powerful tool for the average exerciser, too.

What is interval training?

It’s not as complicated as you might think. Interval training is simply alternating bursts of intense activity with intervals of lighter activity.

Take walking. If you’re in good shape, you might incorporate short bursts of jogging into your regular brisk walks. If you’re less fit, you might alternate leisurely walking with periods of faster walking. For example, if you’re walking outdoors, you could walk faster between certain mailboxes, trees or other landmarks.

What can interval training do for me?

Whether you’re a novice exerciser or you’ve been exercising for years, interval training can help you jazz up your workout routine. Consider the benefits:

* You’ll burn more calories. The more vigorously you exercise, the more calories you’ll burn — even if you increase intensity for just a few minutes at a time.
* You’ll improve your aerobic capacity. As your cardiovascular fitness improves, you’ll be able to exercise longer or with more intensity. Imagine finishing your 60-minute walk in 45 minutes — or the additional calories you’ll burn by keeping up the pace for the full 60 minutes.
* You’ll keep boredom at bay. Turning up your intensity in short intervals can add variety to your exercise routine.
* You don’t need special equipment. You can simply modify your current routine.

How will my muscles respond to interval training?

During intense exercise, muscles produce waste products that can contribute to muscle soreness. Too many accumulated waste products can make exercise painful and exhausting. But by alternating bursts of intense exercise with easier intervals, you’ll help reduce the buildup of waste products in your muscles. The result is more comfortable exercise.

Are the principles of interval training the same for everyone?

Yes. But you can take interval training to many levels. “If you simply want to vary your exercise routine, you can determine the length and speed of each high-intensity interval based on how you feel that day,” says Tom Allison, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. This casual approach to interval training is known as fartlek, a Swedish term meaning “speed play.”

After warming up, you might increase the intensity for 30 seconds and then resume your normal pace. The next burst of more intense activity may last two to three minutes. “The intervals can vary throughout your workout,” Dr. Allison says. “How much you pick up the pace, how often and for how long is up to you.”

If you’re working toward a specific fitness goal, you may want to take a more scientific approach. A personal trainer or other expert can help you time the intensity and duration of your intervals — which may include movement patterns similar to those you’ll use during your sport or activity — based on your target heart rate, the ability of your heart and lungs to deliver oxygen to your muscles (peak oxygen intake) and other factors.

“This type of interval training also adds variety to your workout, but it requires more discipline and concentration,” Dr. Allison says. “You’ll plan shorter periods of intense activity and shorter recovery periods.”

Does interval training have risks?

Interval training isn’t appropriate for everyone. If you have a chronic health condition or haven’t been exercising regularly, consult your doctor before trying any type of interval training.

Also keep the risk of overuse injury in mind. If you rush into a strenuous workout before your body is ready, you may hurt your muscles, tendons or bones. Instead, start slowly. Try just one or two higher intensity intervals during each workout at first. If you think you’re overdoing it, slow down. As your stamina improves, challenge yourself to vary the pace. You may be surprised by the results.

Check out this article from MSNBC.com:

By Winda Benedetti
MSNBC contributor
updated 8:54 a.m. ET, Mon., May. 19, 2008

Here’s the thing: I’m supposed to be training for a triathlon — a race that just so happens to be a mere three months away. But have I done a lick of exercise in preparation? As a matter of fact, no.

A friend of mine is fighting breast cancer and I’d like to get in shape for the Danskin Women’s Triathalon, which raises money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. But here’s the hitch: I’m lazy. Also, I did a lot of exercising when I was a whippersnapper (I was a distance runner in a past life) and now I’m bored of it. All that huffing and puffing and sweating — why bother when I could be sitting on my ever-expanding buttocks playing video games?

Enter “Wii Fit,” Nintendo’s newest product for those of us who spend too much time perched on our dimpled derrieres doing things like playing games or watching TV or, you know, pretty much anything other than what we know we should be doing with our spare time, which is exercising.

Balance Board: Gateway to better fitness?

Acting like a cross between a personal trainer and a video game, “Wii Fit” offers up more than 40 different exercises and activities that are supposed to help those who play it not only get into shape but actually have fun while getting into shape. Fat chance, you say? Well, to spice things up a bit, Nintendo has packaged “Wii Fit” with the Wii Balance Board, which is essentially what you’d get if a bathroom scale and a video game controller shacked up and had a baby together.

The Balance Board is a slick-looking and sturdy thing that connects to the Wii wirelessly and senses weight and movement, thereby opening up some interesting possibilities. Once it’s connected, “Wii Fit” then basically gives you two ways to pry your backside from the couch and get moving.

On the one hand, you can have a somewhat realistic-looking personal trainer walk you through a multitude of yoga poses and strength exercises within the serene confines of the world’s most desolate gym. As your trainer guides you through downward-facing dog and sun salutation, you perform the yoga poses from atop the Balance Board as it keeps track of where your center of balance is, showing you if you’re shifting too far in one direction or the other. In the strength-building department, you can do torso twists, push-ups and rowing squats, earning points based on how well you execute the moves.

On the other hand, there are a multitude of video-gamey activities that allegedly help you work on your aerobic stamina and your balance. In these mini-games, you import your Mii avatar into various colorfully animated settings not unlike what you might have seen in “Wii Sports.”

You want cardio? How ’bout hula-hooping?

To get your cardio pumping, there’s a hula hooping mini-game that requires you to swivel your hips atop the Balance Board at high speeds (I suggest you draw your curtains before you perform this activity because you will look like a convulsive nut job no matter how hard you try not to.) There’s also a step class that has you stepping on and off the board to the beat of a song (imagine “Dance Dance Revolution” with way less cool music).

To work on your balance, you can take your Mii avatar skiing down a mountain or send him walking a tight rope between buildings. There’s also a soccer game in which you have to lean to and fro on the Balance Board, trying to head butt soccer balls while avoiding shoes and other objects being kicked square at your noggin.

Beyond that, “Wii Fit” is kind of like “Brain Age” for your thighs. That is, the game regularly runs you through a battery of tests that are supposed to assess your fitness age — the idea being, the worse you do on these balance-oriented tests, the “older” and more out of shape you must be. The game then tracks how you progress over time in the hopes that regular “Wii Fit” usage will give you a “younger” state of fitness.

What’s my ‘Wii Fit’ age?

When it comes to the aforementioned triathlon, I’ve been operating under the rather dubious if not downright delusional theory that the many years I spent exercising during my youth will somehow give me the juice I need to limp my way through the race. And so I was keen to find out what my “Wii Fit” age was.

But after running through the tests a couple days in a row, I wasn’t sure if I should dance a happy little jig or break down into a wet weeping puddle. That’s because, according to the wildly bi-polar “Wii Fit” assessment process, I’m either in possession of a dilapidated body 10 years older than my actual age, or I’m a surprisingly sprightly lass with the balance and the bod of a woman 14 years her junior. That is, on the first day, the game told me my fitness age was 47, and on the second day, it told me I was 23. I am, as it happens, 37 years old.

My gut tells me that the first assessment is the more accurate one and that, barring a serious lifestyle change, I’m going to finish that triathlon in roughly the amount of time it takes a Twinkie to go stale. But geez, so much for an accurate measuring tool.

Longterm fitness tool? Doubtful

Which brings me to this: After spending several days with the game, I have mixed feelings about “Wii Fit’s” long-term use as a fitness tool. On the positive side, when you’re doing yoga poses or strength exercises, the game gives you immediate feedback — you can see your center of balance shifting right there on the screen in real time and that’s an incredibly helpful tool for improving your technique.

Meanwhile, I can say that as I sit here typing away, I do so with sore thighs and calf muscles, which I attribute to several vigorous rounds of hula hooping (curtains firmly drawn) as well as the burn I got from doing the tree pose and some rowing squats with my personal trainer.

Still, I’m not convinced that much of the experience was compelling enough to make me more inclined to work out than I was before. After all, if I thought real-world gyms were skull-crushingly boring environments, they seem downright titillating when compared to the sterile digital gym you’ll find yourself working out in during a round of “Wii Fit” yoga. Meanwhile, the jogging mini-game — which had me jogging in place in my living room as I watched my Mii run through tranquil animated scenery – was so tedious I nearly jammed my fist in the garbage disposal just to liven things up a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, the way I figure it, anything that gets people (and by “people,” I mean “me”) up off their couches and moving is probably a good thing. And “Wii Fit” does a really nice job making both a bit of exercise and a bit of gaming accessible to even those folks who’ve never executed a half-moon pose or laid hands on a gaming controller in their life.

‘Wii Fit’ more promising as a game

But it’s the gaming part of “Wii Fit” and not the fitness part of “Wii Fit” that I think shows the most promise. That’s because outside of the jogging mini-game, most of the video-gamey “exercises” were actually pretty darn fun (the skiing game in particular), and I wanted to keep playing to see how many more I could unlock.

So I think there’s a real decent chance the Balance Board is going to be a fine tool for opening up some clever and accessible new ways to play video games. Namco has already released “We Ski,” a more expansive skiing game than “Wii Fit’s,” and Electronic Arts has announced that its next “Skate” game will use the board as well. Imagine: A skateboarding game that actually feels like skateboarding rather than thumb twiddling!

Still though, as the triathlon looms in the near distance, I can’t help but hope that someone out there is working on a game that somehow allows me to get in shape while, at the same time, keeping my arse planted in the cushy confines of my couch. Nintendo? You’re working on it … right?

BUY IT FROM AMAZON!!!!

From bodybuilding.com

Madonna is very holistic in her approach to health & wellness and by the time you finish this article, you will hopefully have developed a newfound respect for her. Get details about her diet, training, and much more right here!

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By: Jaime Filer

How many of you have Madonna on your iPod? It’s OK, no one is judging you. Is it because her beats are always aggressive, exciting and at a speed that just seems to set the tone for an awesome workout?

Or is it because deep down inside, we hope that if we listen to her songs enough, by some super-human power of virtual osmosis, we’ll get shoulders and arms like her? The woman is about to turn 50, and at a ripe 20 years of age, I would kill to have a body like hers.

So How Does She Do It?

How does she have the time with constant touring, 3 children, and charity work? Much of her fitness is done in the form of cardio, and more specifically, dancing. If you’ve ever been to one of her concerts, you’ll see that she’s more limber, suave and flexible, than most of the dancers half her age.

Madonna is very holistic in her approach to health and wellness. You’ll understand what I mean when you read about her diet and training regimens. By the time you finish this article, you will hopefully have developed a newfound respect for her.

Diet

Madonna follows something known as ” The Macrobiotic Diet.” Macrobiotics means “the way of longevity.” Long-lived traditional cultures drew from Oriental and Japanese folk medicine to create a version of their traditional philosophy of health.

Whole foods, such as brown rice, are central to a Macrobiotic diet. In the 20th century, a few creative and brilliant teachers emerged, such as the Kushis (who immigrated to the United States from Japan), who distilled the wide-ranging ideas and interpreted them for modern, urban, and industrialized life.

The Macrobiotic Diet

Macrobiotics is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other local foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also address the manner of eating, by recommending against overeating, and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.

According to Michio Kushi’s book, “Macrobiotics emphasizes locally grown whole grain cereals, legumes, vegetables, seaweed, fermented soy products and fruit, combined into meals according to the principle of balance (known as yin and yang).

Dietary recommendations include whole grains, such as brown rice, and other whole-grain products, such as buckwheat pasta (soba); a variety of cooked and raw vegetables, beans and bean products, such as tofu, tempeh and miso; mild natural seasonings, fish, nuts and seeds, mild (non-stimulating) beverages, such as bancha twig tea and fruit.”

In an interview with CNN’s Larry King she described her typical dinner as “fish, some kind of grains, some kind of cooked vegetable, [and] salad. Simple, but tasty.” For dessert, “When I’m sneaking and I’m having a moment of decadence, I eat toast with strawberry jam,” she told King. Madonna picked up on the Macrobiotic lifestyle, and clearly, it’s working for her.

Cardio

The Daily Mail in Britain reports that Madonna works out two hours a day, six days a week. Her first two sessions are Yoga/Pilates (discussed later in the article), and for her third session, after lunch, she chooses from a variety of options including karate, swimming, weightlifting, running, cycling, and occasionally horse riding (except several years ago, she broke some ribs horseback riding).

The Daily Mail claims she also uses a StairMaster in her office as she takes calls. She supposedly maintained a 45-minute-a-day StairMaster regime until the day before giving birth to her first child, Lourdes. Now if that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

Everyone needs some days off though; to avoid fatigue. 1-2 days of the week of doing nothing but low intensity walking, playing with children in the park and activities like that would be excellent “Off day” activities.

Resistance Training

When someone has such limited time, as Madonna does, especially when she’s on the road, it would be advisable to condense one’s workouts. I say, pick 8-12 of your favourite exercises (1-2 per major body part: Chest, Back, Legs, Arms, Shoulders), and perform a circuit with them.

A circuit session consists of a series of exercises or stations performed in succession with minimal rest intervals in between; this cuts down considerably on time, which is probably important to someone with a schedule as busy as Madonna’s.

It works well for developing strength, endurance (both aerobic and anaerobic), flexibility and coordination. So the guidelines of circuit training are: 8-12 exercises, 12-15 reps per station, 50-70% of your one rep max, rest only as long as it takes to get from one station to the next, and 2-3 minutes rest between each circuit.

You can do a total of 1-3 full circuits depending on how much time you have. This full-body routine can be done 2-4x per week. Here’s an example of a circuit workout if you’re in a gym:

Warm up (5-10 minutes of cardio)
Dumbbell lunges
Dumbbell Rows
Dumbbell Flyes
Dumbbell Overhead press
Dumbbell curls

Flexibility/Stretching

She is credited with popularizing the vigorous Ashtanga style of yoga. This method of Yoga involves synchronizing the breath with progressive series of postures-a process producing intense internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body, and a calm mind. And her devotion to Pilates is also well known.

As I mentioned before, Madonna works out about three times a day: She starts with yoga at her home gym and then she moves on to a Pilates studio. Her third workout is either a hardcore cardio session or a resistance training workout.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a form of yoga that has had considerable influence on many of the modern forms of yoga taught today. This style of yoga is characterized by a focus on a dynamic connecting posture, that creates a flow between the more static traditional yoga postures. The ‘flow’ is a variant of the Sun Salutation, which is another yoga posture.

The whole practice is defined by six specific series of postures, always done in the same order, combined with specific breathing patterns.

The purpose of Vinyasa is to create heat in the body, which leads to purification of the body through increased circulation and sweating. It also improves flexibility, as well as tendon and hard tissue strength, allowing the student to practice advanced postures with reduced risk of injury.

According to Wikipedia, Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates. Pilates called his method Contrology, because he believed his method uses the mind to control the muscles. The program focuses on the core postural muscles which help keep the body balanced and which are essential to providing support for the spine.

In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aim to strengthen the deep torso muscles. No wonder Madonna’s abs are rock solid!

If you don’t have a gym membership, or your gym doesn’t cater these classes, there is an assortment of DVDs out there so that you can do Yoga and Pilates in the comfort of your own home.

Conclusion

So as you can see, Madonna takes great pride in her appearance, and much of her day is devoted to taking care of her mind and body.

I’m not suggesting you workout for 2 hours a day, everyday if you want to look like her, but every little bit helps; so as long as you’re getting out there, and getting active, you will reap similar rewards and benefits. Your own mind and body will thank you.

From msnbc.com fit list
By Jay Blahnik

There is a lot of discussion about the correct way to breathe during exercise. While there is limited research on the topic, most experts agree your breathing patterns during exercise should change depending on what activity you are doing.

Why does it really matter? Proper breathing during exercise helps in a few important ways. It makes cardiovascular training more efficient, helps with power and stability during strength and endurance training, and it fosters relaxation during mind/body and flexibility training.

Here are the ins and outs of breathing during exercise:

Cardio training – When doing cardio training, such as running, cycling or swimming, it is important to remember that breathing and the cadence of the cardio activity may not always be in sync. For example, when cycling up a hill, you may be pedaling a bit slower, but your breathing rate may be high.

The most important thing is to avoid shallow breathing during cardio training whenever possible. Shallow breathing is an indicator that you are either working too hard or have not established a good breathing pattern for the activity you are doing. Try taking stronger, deeper breaths during cardio training (without any feeling of holding your breath), and establish an inhale/exhale pattern that feels comfortable for you. For example, many runners will inhale once during three foot strikes in a row (right, left, right), and then exhale once during the next two foot strikes (left, right).

Strength/endurance training — When doing strength or resistance training, such as weight lifting, you should generally exhale on the exertion (or most difficult part of the exercise) and inhale on the recovery (easiest part of the exercise). For example, when doing a crunch, you should exhale when you lift your shoulders off the ground, and inhale when you lower your shoulders to the ground.

Another example of this breathing pattern can be found in many Pilates classes. Instructors will often encourage their students to think “inhaling on the preparation for the move,” and “exhaling on the execution of the move.”

This breathing pattern usually makes it easier to perform strength/endurance moves.

Relaxation – When doing mind/body, stress reduction or flexibility training, such as yoga, tai chi and qigong, you should generally focus on deeper, diaphragmatic breathing that will not only help you execute the moves more deliberately, but will also help you relax and focus on the exercises while reducing stress.

Diaphragmatic breathing is intended to help you strengthen the diaphragm, decrease the work of breathing by slowing your breathing rate, decrease oxygen demand and use less effort and energy to breathe. This type of breathing is marked by expansion of the abdomen rather than the chest when breathing, and is done with slow intakes of air, allowing the body to absorb all of the inhaled oxygen.

Most instructors and trainers can provide direction on how to breathe this way while executing these types of movements, or you can read about it in almost any comprehensive yoga or tai chi book.

From Bodyforlife.com

NUTRITIONAL JOURNAL
TRAINING JOURNAL

From Fit List at MSNBC.com

By Kathy Kaehler

Too cold for your usual outdoor routine? Then heat things up with a workout right in your home! Here are some easy ways to break a sweat without ever leaving the house:

1. Take to the stairs. Climbing stairs is a great way to strengthen your heart and legs. Try these variations:

*Take two stairs at a time for one flight and then one step at a time for the next.
*Turn sideways and go up the stairs one step at a time using the leg that faces the top of the stairs. Switch directions on the next flight.
*Start on one side of the steps and as you step up, step all the way to the other side of the next step up, like a zig-zag. Continue this until you reach the top.
*For a more advanced variation, hop up one step at a time.

These are all fun activities and you can do them one after another or just take a few flights at a time throughout your day.

2. Jump rope. This is a terrific exercise that you can do indoors to really work your arms, legs and heart. Skip, hop on both feet, alternate hops right to left, or get fancy and pretend you are a boxer and create some clever footwork. Any way you jump it, your heart rate will soar.

3. Build strength. You don’t need any fancy equipment for these strength exercises. Just grab a sturdy kitchen chair and you can do triceps dips, step-ups, sit-down squats and leg lifts (to the side and back).

4. Do calisthenics during commercials. While in front of the TV you can do this group of exercises to burn calories and tone your muscles:

*Do 25 jumping jacks.
*March in place 25 times.
*Do 25 abdominal crunches.
*Lie on the floor and place your feet up on your coffee table and do 25 hip lifts.

From Fit List at MSNBC.com

By Gina Lombardi

Worried that summer is closing in on you quickly and your abs aren’t in swimsuit-shape? Better start now to get a buff beach belly.

It’ll take more than just doing a few fast and furious moves. In addition to smart nutrition, you’ll need a consistent cardiovascular routine and a targeted strength-training abdominal workout to deflate that spare tire.

To really lose weight, aim to do cardio exercise at least five days a week. Ideally, work up to a minimum of 40 minutes of activity at an intensity that makes you huff and puff but doesn’t make you feel like you are maxed out.

And to firm up, plan to strength-train three days a week. Incorporate these four key abdominal moves into your toning workout:

1. Medicine Ball Reach — Lie flat on your back, knees bent, feet on the floor. Holding a 5- to 10-pound medicine ball (or a dumbbell) in front of you, reach between your knees while doing a traditional ab crunch and then lower. Do 20 reps. Then do another 20 with your feet high off the floor, knees only slightly bent, reaching for your toes with the ball.

2. Plank — Lie face-down on a mat or towel with your elbows bent and close to your chest, palms on the floor. Push up off the floor, rising onto your toes and elbows. Keep your back flat. Contract your abs and hold for 30 to 90 seconds. Then lower and repeat twice more.

3. Seated Abdominal Twists — Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet placed hip-width apart, flat on the floor. Hold the medicine ball out in front of you. Then twist all the way to the left and place the ball behind you. Quickly twist to the right to retrieve the ball. Do this 12 times and then repeat on the other side.

4. Stability Ball Crunch — Sit on a stability ball with your feet firmly on the ground about hip-width apart. Walk your feet forward, rolling your torso down behind until your thighs and torso are parallel to the floor. With fingertips by your ears, curl up into an abdominal crunch. Do two sets of 20 repetitions.