Healthy Living: Working out for beginners

Hey Everyone

Hope you all had an amazing weekend and that you feel good, I'm in my bed feeling not so good.  Today I'm going to talk about my workout routine, I'm not doing a heavy workout, but it works for me. I'm having a normal body shape, but I needed to tone down, get stronger muscles en get flexible.

Taking dance classes is a great workout and you stay in shape. I'm not talking about only taking some hiphop. If you combine  hiphop, jazz ballet or normal ballet and dance technique, it will really help to be flexible and to have stronger muscles.

I stopped dancing so I'm not that flexible anymore and I lost the movement I had in a week, and I thought it was time to do something about it.

Step 1

I start my routing with stretching. I start from my neck, to my shoulders, arms, belly, hips and then I'm stretching out my legs. It's hard to explain, but this video below is an example on how you can stretch, I also do stretches lying flat on the ground, and the butterfly stretch,...  It is more of a stretch routine, that dancers do.

Step 2

In step 2 I'm doing exercises that are focusing on my but and thighs, because that is my problem area.

1. THIGH RAISE: Lying face down, raise your legs —from just above your knees — so your feet are a 

few inches off the ground (above top). Bend your knees, keeping them off the ground, and hold that position (above bottom). Start with five ­seconds and gradually work up to 15 seconds. Slowly unbend your knees and, with control, lower your straight legs to the ground, then repeat

2. BYE BYE TO YOUR INNER THIGHS: Sit on the floor with your back straight, knees bent and legs wide apart. 

Place your left arm directly over your left knee, using your right hand to support yourself by your hip ­(pictured left). While sitting straight, move your right foot to your left hand and hold for five seconds to start. Begin with five reps, then repeat on the other side

3. KICK-KICK: Sit straight, on the floor, with your right knee bent and left leg straight out (above, top). Lift up your left leg so that your foot is at least 6in off the ground (above, bottom). Hold for five seconds to start, then, with control, lower leg. Repeat on the other side

4. PONY KICK: Get down on your elbows and knees (above, top). Keeping your back flat, slowly raise your left thigh to about 45 degrees, with your knee bent and pointing your heel up to the ­ceiling (above, bottom). Hold for

five seconds. Lower leg and repeat five times or more — before repeating ­exercise and same number of repetitions with your right leg

5. BALLET THIGH: Holding on to a railing or the back of a chair, stand with both feet facing forward. With your chin up, move your right leg back with the toe touching the floor (left). Then raise your right leg back at an angle (not straight back) — lead with your heel, until your heel is 12in off the ground (right). Hold for five seconds, then lower leg and repeat. Start with five repetitions and work up to 20 or more. Repeat on the other side

6. THIGH CHAIR: Stand about a foot away from a wall with your feet straight ahead. Slide your body down the wall, until you are sitting with your thighs perpendicular to the surface (pictured). Hold this position for between 30 seconds and two minutes

Source: Dailymail

Step 3

Crunches and setups! I'm doing 5 x 10 setups, 1 x 10 crunches and 1 x 10 side setups (each side).

Step 4

I'm not using a kettlebell, instead I'm using a large bottle of water, or something else that is heavy.

I also use that bottle of water to train my arms.

I would suggest doing this routine at least 4 times a week, I'm trying to do it everyday but sometimes if I'm busy I'll do it 4 time a week. Once I get used to these exercises, I'll change up my routine and do a new post!

Don't forget to put on colorful and cute workout clothes and to listen to your favorite songs! Let me know in the comments below what your favorite workout songs are.

xoxo B.