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26 Jul 2007 05:54 AM

T is for Total Body Workout

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

Your body is a fantastic machine. Seriously, have you ever paused to consider all the things that your body can do? It's self-repairing. It has its own personal army to protect you from infection. It metabolizes most forms of food and it can strip mine itself for nutrients when it is necessary. So is it any wonder that when you have this fabulous creation that is your body that you are better off when you take care of the whole thing and performing a total body workout?

Total Body Workout

A total body workout takes into account the need to work your core muscles such as your abdominal and lower back muscles; your upper body also requires work including your arms, shoulders, chest and upper back and finally your lower body which includes your glutes, your hips and your legs. A total body workout is exactly what it sounds like: it strengthens tones and shapes your whole body.

So how do you build a total body workout? Let's take a moment to explore that. After all, you could do all of the exercises needed to work your whole body including biceps curls, triceps presses, shoulder presses, chest flies, pushups, sit ups, crunches, bicycle crunches, plank, bridge, lunges, squats and calf presses. But chances are that's a lot of exercise to squeeze into the 30 minute window most people give themselves for their workout - especially when you combine your cardio with your strength training.

A better way to do it is to focus on one area of the body per session, for example:

• Sunday - 30 minutes of walking, no strength training
• Monday - 30 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of upper body training
• Tuesday - 30 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of core body training
• Wednesday - 15 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of lower body training
• Thursday - 30 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of upper body training
• Friday - 30 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of core body training
• Saturday - Day of Rest

The great part about walking regularly or most any cardio workout is that it is already working your lower body on a regular basis, but it does not necessarily strengthen or tone it. That's why you need a lower body component to your workout. You also can alternate between different areas of the body because when you strength train upper body one day and core the next - the upper body is able to rest and recover and repair while your workout focuses on other muscles.

Do you engage in a total body workout?

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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