Healthy Living: Achieve a sizeable waistline for a healthier you

A wedding of one of my very dear friends is in the offing, and the number one rule she has given me as her matron, is that I should reduce my waistline so that I can match her size. I can say that it is a very tall order for me since I am a two time mother and she on the other hand has not had a baby yet, and also my genes control my size at the end of the day no matter how much I try. But since this is a special day for my friend and I do not want to let her down after choosing me to be her matron, I decided to do a quick research on the net about the type of sports I can do to reduce my waistline before I hit the gym. Personally, am not looking for the waistline equivalent to that of Cinderella, but a reduction of even eight inches will do for me. Here are some of the best exercises to reduce waistline for both men and women. The Side twist Your obliques are going to go through some real gruel with these exercises like I did on the first day, though thats the entire point of exercising. Stand straight with your feet set wider than your shoulder length. Now hold both your hands straight above your head and slowly bend sideways along the length of your legs. Try and touch your little finger on the sides of your calf muscles while you bend. Do not bend forward or mid way, as that would be the wrong way of doing this exercise. Basic crunch Its a seemingly easy exercise, but it hurt my stomach when I tried it for the first time. Beginners must start slow and increase the number of crunches with every other day of workout. You will need to lie down straight on your back, after which you will need to place your palms under your ears and head. Do not place them on your neck, as that would increase the chances of injury. Lift your knees up by bending your legs. Set them apart. Now gradually lift your upper torso up. This will be your basic crunch. Bicycle Crunches Support your head just as you did while doing the basic crunches. The legs will need to be lifted parallel to the ground and the knees will need to be brought closer to the main torso. Now try and touch your left elbow to your right knee and similarly try and touch your right elbow to your left knee. These exercises will workout your entire stomach, the obliques as well as your legs. Pike Crunches Lie down straight with your arms resting above your head on the ground. Now lift both your legs perpendicular to the floor in a straight angle. Now bring your body up along with your arms and try to touch your feet. Remember to breathe in and out with every contraction of the stomach muscles. This is by far the best exercise for reducing belly fat as well as reducing those ugly love handles. Sprawled Eagle Lie down on your back and extend both your arms completely onto your sides. Now lift both your legs together so that they are sticking with each other. Make sure that your legs are brought up in a straight angle. Now move both your legs like a pendulum, though much slowly. Take the legs to your extreme right, but do not touch the floor. Try making the legs halt mid air for 5 counts. Repeat the same on your left side. Elbow to Knee An amazing exercise to fight off love handles. All you need to do is to stand with your feet apart, while you hold on to a chair for support. Now lift your left arm up straight above your head, while you left your knees on to the side of your body. While you lift your left leg up bring your elbow down so that it touches your thigh while your leg is lifted mid air. Repeat the same with your right arm and leg. Repeat this exercise as many times as you can. The above mentioned are some of the best exercises to reduce waistline, since they all focus on the obliques while providing workout to the entire body. These exercises plus eating healthy foods are your first step on loosing that extra weight. Swimming also reduces the waistline but it needs a lot of hard work. I can tell you these exercises have done me good for just two weeks that I have been training; my waistline has gone down by one inch, which is no mean feat for me. it is said the bigger the waistline the unhealthy you are, it is not just for my friend’s wedding that I will struggle to reduce my waistline but also for the sake of my health. So like me start these exercises today and achieve your dream waistline and a healthier you kayitesius@yahoo.com

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Healthy Living: Achieve a sizeable waistline for a healthier you