Exercise

One of our Women to Watch in 2012 is US Open Tennis Champion Sam Stosur. Although she didn’t make it past the first round at Melbourne Park last week, her physique definitely caught our eye.

While not every female wants to bulk up as much as Stosur, we can admire the work she’s done to don some of the most toned arms on Centre Court. If you want just a little bit of what Sam has got, here are some tips to be well armed while the sun’s out.

Resistance training, also known as weight training, is a great way to burn fat, enhance your strength, and improve posture and muscle tone. Whether you’re new to resistance training or have been throwing iron around for years, the same basic principles apply for getting the most out of your time in the weights room.

Knowing why we exercise and how it effects our body’s composition is just as important as seeing the benefits it provides. By pushing ourselves and making exercise part of our daily lives we can see better results and have a better chance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Here are our 10 top tips to getting the most out of your exercise!

No longer are personal trainers only for the rich and famous. Personal training is for everyone and could be the missing link in your health and fitness regimen. A personal trainer's job is to push you more than you would yourself and getting you fantastic results in the shortest amount of time.

New research reveals that middle-aged people who do 30 minutes of vigorous activity three times a week are half as likely to suffer physical decline and impaired mobility as they age compared to those who do nothing.

Every woman wants the leanest, shapeliest legs possible, but many worry about doing the necessary leg work in case they end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the reality of exercising legs means that nothing could be further from the truth.

A girl needs purpose, so rather than casually turning up to the gym and jumping on a few machines, know what you want to get out of your program. To keep yourself on the job, write down your fitness goals and post them where you'll see them every day.

You’ve been exercising regularly – but you’re not getting any fitter or slimmer. To figure out what’s wrong, and how to fix it, ask yourself...

Gluttony and sloth aren’t the only ‘deadly sins’ for anyone who wants to get fit. Some of the sins women commit while exercising at the gym are...

Music is one of the most powerful motivational tools you can use when working out. It can lift your performance, keep fatigue at bay, and kill boredom. Its impact on our physical efforts has made it a ‘must have’ when training.

Calcium isn’t the only thing you need to keep your frame healthy. Strength training can also hold off, or even reverse, dangerous bone thinning.

When you discover the high of getting fit and losing weight, it’s easy to get carried away. Before you know it, you’re doing classes back to back, throwing in weights sessions and doing a run every morning. If someone suggests you take a day off, you panic. “I don’t need a rest!” you insist, but the fact is you do. Even highly trained athletes need recovery days and you can’t become fitter, stronger, healthier and stay injury-free, without them.

Exercise Physiologist from Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs Maryanne Long, says scientific research has long shown that exercise can slow the physiological aging clock and explains that while strength training is essential for women of all ages, it is especially beneficial to women going through menopause.

Here are five great ways to get the most out of your workout -

It’s a relationship that can transform not only your body, but also your life, but having the wrong personal trainer for you could mean you give up on your fitness goals. In fact, having a poor ‘fit’ with a PT is one of the top reasons why people stop going to the gym – which means they’re often losing the chance to become fitter, healthier and happier.

Make your metabolism work for you. Every time you swallow food, it becomes fuel for your body through a process called metabolism.