Home Workout and Diet for Women

Q. Can u tell me how to lose flab using weights at home. How to reduce the flab on arms n belly fat .I think i should be using lower weights with higher number of reps. So could u plan a workout regimen for me.
My lifestyle is very active, overall I am active and eat quite sensibly.
Here is my food habit.

breakfast : rice based preparation
lunch: rice +gravy...(veg or non-veg)
evening i keep nibbling at biscuits etc....nothing in particular
late supper again rice preparation

I do cooking etc, walk around all the day. (since i have little kids.)

So i need a food chart so that i don miss out the nutrients name of diet n don’t be tuff on hair n skin .I am addicted to coffee like hell. So i m looking for a lifestyle change...i have already brought about changes like reducing the oil in cooking etc.

(Before giving a solution to her problem I ensured that her health conditions are normal and that she did not have any thyroid related problems. Moreover she said that she had few weights at home which helped me in planning a workout regime for her)


A. Let me answer your questions part by part.

1. Spot reduction: Spot reduction of fat is impossible. So let us target at a overall body fat reduction and strengthening the muscles.

2. Diet:
The problem with your diet is, your carbohydrate intake is very high and your protein intake is very low. So based on the diet given by you, we will try to plan a better diet to suit your lifestyle.

You are a coffee addict - so i will allow you to take a big glass of coffee first thing in the morning and then no more coffee for the rest of the day, instead we will switch to green tea once or twice during the day and before evening. Because taking any of caffeine filled food in the evening can disturb your sleep.

Have a leisurely walk in the morning and then have your breakfast

Breakfast
- continue your rice based preparation as you need energy for the rest of your day. But add( 2 egg whites and one yolk to your breakfast and reduce the quantity of rice based prep)

Mid time snack
-1 fruit [or] fruit juice with less sugar and 2-4 badam(almonds)

Lunch
- 2 roti(Indian Wheat bread) and (non veg gravy or gravy prepared with soy or any dal) + any green leafy vegetable (never miss the greens)

Afternoon snack
- green tea + 25 grams peanuts

dinner
- NO rice
take in 2 roti(Indian Wheat bread) + 2 egg white + 1 yolk + veggies


3. Workout:

Here is the workout plan that you will be following 7 days a week for the next few months.
warm up - neck rotation, shoulder rotation, hip rotation, walking on the spot

day 1:
warm up
Push ups 2 sets
dumbbell flys - 2 x 15
dumbbell pull avers - 2 x 15
dumbbell rows - 2 x 15
shoulder press - 2 x 12
lateral raises - 2 x 15
triceps extension - 2 x 20
biceps curl- 2 x 12
bamboo twisting - 5 mins

day 2:
Walking for 30 mins

day 3:
warm up
Squats 2 x 15
squats with wide legged stands 2 x 15
stiff legged dead lift 2 x 15
calf raises 1 x 15
floor crunches - 2 x 20
leg raises - 2 x 15
dumbbell side bends 2 sets to failure

Day 4:
Walking for 30 mins

day 5:
Target problem areas - here we target problem areas, but remember spot reduction of fats is not possible but by targeting them we can make the muscles toned and make them appear in a better shape
Here we will be targeting the butt / gluteus

Butt kicking/Donkey kicks -

This butt kickback can be performed as shown by kneeling down with one leg behind your body slightly raised and bent in a 90 degree position. Now raise the leg as high as you can and slowly lower it to the starting position. This exercise can be very good for physical therapy and other recovery type exercises.
Refer Video guide - http://workouttube.blogspot.com/2008/06/donkey-kicks.html
Perform 5 sets of this exercise

Reverse crunches - 2 x 15
Skipping (rope jumping) - 10 mins (this will help you improve the overall shape of the body)

Day 6 :
Walking for 30 mins

Day 7:
rest

For the first two weeks you will follow this program, after that you will be changing the cardio to slow jogging and so on...

Always remember, you have to stay active throughout the day. So play with your kids when ever you get time to play...

As weeks progress you can increase the number of walking sessions that you perform.

All the best for your fitness goals.

Broad shoulders

Q. Hi. I’ve been working out for the past 8 months. I have added considerable amount of muscle in my arms, chest and legs. But my problem is I have a narrow shoulder. Is there any way of making the shoulders broad? I am 22 now and do modeling. So it would be great if you can help me out in this situation. Thanks in advance!!

A. If you are in your teens, then there are possibilities of modifying your bone structure by workouts and you might develop a broad shoulder.

But in your case you are already 22. So let me tell you a trick. Have you watched bodybuilders standing on stage in a contest? Let us consider one bodybuilder in particular - “Jay Cutler”. Actually Ronnie Coleman’s shoulders are wider than jay’s shoulders, but still jay creates an illusion of bigger shoulders on the stage.

How is this possible?
If you watch Jay closely, he would have full development in all the muscles, but in particular watch his upper pectoral muscles (chest), his upper lats and his lateral deltoids. These three muscles would be extraordinarily developed. This would give an illusion that Jay’s shoulders are indeed as big as Ron’s.

So in your case we will follow the same strategy. We can add extra focus on the following muscles,
Lateral deltoids
Upper pecks and outer pecks
Upper lats

The game plan:

Do all your workouts religiously and with full dedication.

Pecks:
From now on you would concentrate on two exercises with priority in your chest workouts. The inclined bench presses (drop the bar near your upper peck) and wide bar dips.
A complete upper peck development would create an illusion of a broad frame and development of the outer lining in the peck will endorse the illusion. That’s the reason why we have added inclined presses for upper peck and wide bar dips in the program. Add one more exercise of your choice to your chest workout

Delts:
Do your presses and rear lateral raises in your workout, but the main focus would be to develop an extraordinary lateral delts to give you the rounded appearance of the shoulders to add extra width to the illusion. Adding half inch on both sides would result in one inch increase in shoulder width.

Back:
If we train the pecks and delts properly then we create an illusion of broad shoulders from the front side. But Modeling and Bodybuilding are no puppet shot to view from one side only. People watch you from the front as well as from the back. So never miss your wide grip chins/wide grip pull downs in your back workout. Because the upper lat adds the extra width which looks evident from the back.


All the best…