Top 10 Exercises Without Weights

If you hate to go to the gym, you are not alone. The good news is - you can get results in the comfort of your own home with some simple home exercises.

Bodyweight training CAN be effective. It CAN be a substitute for weights, if necessary. Training using your own body weight as a source of resistance is a time tested technique to get results fast.

Here are the ten best bodyweight training exercises that give you great workouts and great results - without the gym.

1. Supine Pull-Ups (works major muscles in back, shoulders, and biceps) Use two chairs and a pole - a heavy broom handle works well. WARNING: make sure the chairs are stable and that the broom handle is strong enough to take your weight. You could be SEVERELY injured if the pole were to break or the chairs to slip. Lie on your back underneath a low bar. Grab the bar with a wide overhand grip. Pull up. Lower and repeat for 6-8 reps.

2. Supine Biceps Pull-Ups (biceps, some back) Use the same chairs-and-pole arrangement from #1. Sit underneath a low bar. Grab the bar with a reverse grip (palms facing you), hands about shoulder-width apart. Keeping your body upright, pull up until your chin just clears the bar. Focus on the tension in your biceps, trying to relax the rest of your body. 6-8 reps.

3. Push-Ups (chest, triceps, shoulders) The key when targeting the chest with Push-Ups is the direction in which your elbows travel. As with bench presses, the elbows must move AWAY FROM THE BODY to target your chest, and be kept CLOSE TO THE BODY to target the triceps. Place each hand just outside your shoulders, slightly behind the line of your shoulders. Hands pointing straight ahead, upper body rigid as a board. 6-15 reps.

4. Tent Push-Ups (primarily upper chest) Assume the position in #3, but walk your feet forward so your body is bent at the waist, and your hips are up high in the air. Bending at the elbows, lower yourself until your nose touches the floor. Push up. Repeat. 6-8 reps.

5. Push-Ups, Triceps Position (you guessed it - triceps, and some chest) Begin with fingers facing forward in position from #3, hands slightly LESS than shoulder width apart. Lower your body to the floor keeping arms in against your body. Push up. 6-8 reps.

6. Triceps Dips With Chairs With your hands behind your back, support yourself on your palms at the edge of a chair. Your hands should be touching; your elbows should angle outward. Dipping in this position relieves a lot of stress on the elbow and shoulder joints. Lower yourself, keeping your back close to the chair. Bend your elbows back and slightly to the sides. Keep your body angled slightly forward throughout the motion. Press yourself up until your arms are straight. 6-15 reps.

7. One-Legged Squats (front thighs, glutes, hamstrings) Stand perpendicular to a wall, about arm's length away from it. Extend your arm out to the side and place your palm against the wall at just under shoulder-height. Angle the foot farthest from the wall at 45 degrees. Bend the other leg back. Keeping your body upright, lower yourself until the non-weight-bearing knee is close to (but not touching) the ground. Support yourself by leaning against the wall. Press yourself back up to starting position. Repeat 6-8 reps.

8. One-Legged Hamstring Bridges Lie on your back with one leg extended, heel on the ground. Hold the other leg up off the floor. Pushing through your heel, flex your hamstrings to lift your body. Lower and repeat for 8-10 reps. Repeat with other leg. You can control the resistance and the degree to which the glutes contribute by changing the distance you place your heel relative to your butt.

9. Lunges Begin the lunge by taking a large step forward, keeping your head up and torso erect. Lower your hips and allow your trailing knee to drop to a point just before it touches the floor - never let the knee touch the floor. To return to the start, push off with your forward leg and then step back when the knee is completely straight. Repeat with other leg, 10-15 reps each leg.

10. Stair Running Stair running isn't usually considered a resistance exercise, and in fact, it makes hefty demands on your cardiovascular system. However, it also does an incredible job of conditioning the lower body. If your knees are in good shape, try doing 10-20 one-story sprints, preferably two stairs at a time. As you get stronger, work up the number slowly, keep one hand on the stair rail to catch yourself if you lose your balance. Give yourself a bigger challenge by wearing a backpack filled with nice and heavy books.

To read reviews on home exercise equipment and learn how to choose the best exercise gadgets for your needs, visit Nitin Chhoda's new site guide to exercise equipment

Hugh Jackman Training Program For X-Men Origins Wolverine

More and more of today's top celebrities have to train like bodybuilders just to do a simple movie. Such is the case with the new X-Men origins Wolverine film that was released this week. In it, Hugh Jackman plays the role of Wolverine and since this particular film focuses on how Wolverine became Wolverine, Jackman was asked to put on 20 pounds of rock hard muscle to his already impressive build. Read this article and learn about Hugh Jackman's training program for X-Men origins Wolverine.

For this film, Hugh Jackman went back to his old friend and celebrity personal trainer, Michael Ryan to help him get ready for his most demanding role. The training started 12 months out; Ryan did not give his old friend any breaks.

Hugh Jackman's Training Routine

Jackman trained with very heavy weights for this program. He ate 5 to 6 times a week. Jackman recently commented that he lived on steamed chicken and vegetables for almost an entire year!

The training program was broken down to two phases. In phase 1, a quick tempo to the workout was established. In phase, 2 heavy weights were used in order to get Jackman stronger.

In both phases, compound movements were used. The typical bench press, squats, deadlifts, and presses.

Jackman's cardio was mostly running utilizing a high-intensity interval training format. Ryan had Jackman change the exercises and applied the muscle confusion principle. Jackman utilized creatine as well as protein shakes made from high quality whey protein isolates.

One look at Hugh Jackman in this recent film and you know that his training program was effective in producing a more massive physique than what he has had before.

Would you like to add 15 to 20 pounds of hard muscle to your body?

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Best Lower Ab Workout - How to Blast the Lower Abs

Finding the best lower ab workout is not always an easy thing to do. It can be frustrating to keep trying to work the lower abs if you feel like you are not doing it right.

In this article, you will learn what it takes to have the best lower ab workout around.

Before we get into 3 exercises, it is important that you understand some basics about training the lower abs.

The first thing that you should understand is that just working the lower abs will not result in losing fat in that area. In order to lose fat in that area, you need to lose fat all over your body. This is how basic fat loss works. If you have a lot of fat to lose, then the best lower ab workout in the world won't do the trick all by itself. The same goes for someone who just has to lose the last few pounds.

The good news is that doing a great ab workout safely and effectively will help to strengthen your core, as well as tone those muscles up for when you are in the single digits with body fat percentage 

Losing fat all over your body requires that you do the right combination of strength training (don't worry you will not get big and bulky), a special type of cardio called interval training, and most important, have a great diet.

Once you have those things under control, your fat loss efforts will be guaranteed.

But you came to this page looking for the best lower ab workout around, so here are a few exercises you can try right now.

Remember that training your abs is different than training other muscles. If you were working your biceps, you might try doing 3 sets of 10 reps for a few different exercises. For your lower abs, you will want to do a special sequence of exercises with little rest in between. This is called abdominal circuit training.

Here are some of the best lower ab exercises to try:

1. Alternating Supine Leg Walks

Start off by laying on your back with your hands under your buttocks. Lift your legs so they are vertical. Contract your abs so your midsection is tense.

Then, lower 1 leg so your foot is a few inches from the ground. Hold there for about 1 second, then return that leg to the starting position. Alternate which leg you lower.

Try a reps and really try to feel the lower abs working.

2. Supine Reverse Crunches

Start off by laying on your back with your hands under your buttocks. Lift your legs so they are vertical, then bend your knees at a 90 degree angle. Contract your abs so your midsection is tense.

Keeping your knees bent at the same angle, slowly lower them until the back of your feet are a few inches above the ground. Then, bring your knees up towards your chest and really squeeze your abs while doing this.

Repeat.

3. Leg Lifts

Start off by laying on your back with your hands under your buttocks. Lift your legs so they are vertical.

Contract your midsection by engaging the upper abs.

Then, lower both legs so that the back of your feet are right above the ground. After holding that position for a few second, return your legs to the vertical position.

The Connection Between Indigestion and Breathing Problems

When someone is diagnosed with GERD or acid reflux disease, they are already well aware of many of the symptoms. They probably experience upset stomach, acid pain in the esophagus and throat, and they may already know that they need to adjust their diet, eat smaller meals and take some form of medication. What might surprise them is that there are other impacts that GERD can have, and one of those factors is the lungs. There are many people that have indigestion and breathing has become a problem for them. When a person isn't aware of the connection between GERD and breathing things can become very scary.

Most patients are aware that acid from the stomach can back up into the throat, mouth and even make it as far as the sinuses. What many don't realize however, is that it can seep into the lungs as well (called aspiration), causing damage and bringing on a host of problems.

People suffering with uncontrolled reflux often experience wheezing and other breathing difficulties, and they may go through a myriad of tests that are inconclusive until the reflux and lung connection is found. Most people with GERD know they have it, but there is a small percentage that have no idea it is a problem for them, and that makes the connection harder to find.

The stomach is equipped to deal with its own acid, but the other parts of the body are not. Even so, there can be damage in the stomach from the acid. This usually is found in the form of an ulcer. Though acid causes damage to the esophagus it can handle it in small doses, with damage occurring only over time.

The lungs, however, are very vulnerable when acid reaches the tissues, and damage will follow quickly. The larynx (or voice box) will be the first place with noticeable damage. The larynx performs the role of opening and closing to allow air into the lungs.

People with acid moving through the voice box might experience coughing, a rough voice, and some pain in the area. When the acid leaks into the lungs (usually while lying down at night) the lungs react to protect themselves from the caustic substance.

Normally, in healthy lungs there are small hair-like cilia lining the lungs that helps move toxins and mucus out of the lungs keeping them clean. However, when acid is present the cilia will be replaced with a growth much like the lining of the esophagus to protect the lungs. When this happens, the lungs struggle to perform their self-cleaning role like they normally do, and breathing problems are a result.

Left untreated, lung problems can become very serious. Infections can develop and turn into pneumonia and it can also trigger asthma. If left untreated, this can lead to serious and permanent damage to the lungs.

For more information on recognizing and treating acid reflux, heartburn and GERD symptoms naturally sign up for the free newsletter below.

When it comes to indigestion and breathing problems, there should be immediate treatment to get the acid reflux under control. Though heartburn might seem like an inconvenience at first, it is best to get it treated as soon as possible before the acid causes irreversible damage to other systems and organs of the body. Medications can clear things up in early cases, but other intervention might be necessary for severe cases and to get to the root cause of why the reflux occurred in the first instance.

The 4 Hour Body Review - Discover The Tim Ferriss Method To The Human Body

If you are already a fan of Tim Ferriss I'm sure it will come as no surprise, the focus for the new book is lifehacking, but with a twist. Lifehacking your own body! According to a 4 Hour Body Review, the book has been dubbed "The uncommon guide to the human body" and it quickly becomes clear that this book is worthy of such a title. With a chapter titled How To Achieve 15 Minute Female Orgasms, it certainly does have a lot to live up to. Anyone who has read the first book by Tim Ferriss, The 4 Hour Work Week will understand the approach used bu Ferriss in almost everything he does.

The calculated and sometimes backwards approach has paid dividends for Tim and made everything for doing laundry to losing weight seem easy, as any 4 Hour Body review will state. Of course The 4 Hour Body would be nothing without proof, and Tim Ferriss delivers in this department too. The data used is based on experiments carried out in controlled environments at some universities (San Jose State University in particular) and dates back to when Ferriss was just 18. Some of the themes in the book are weight loss, running, injury healing, increasing sperm count and increasing weight lifts. Amazing, right? There is not really a set theme to this book and makes a fantastic read even if you have no intention or interest in health and fitness.

5 Effective 6 Pack Tips

Use these 6 pack tips to help you get ripped. Getting ripped isn't that complicated, but it can be difficult.

Simply, use these tips. They'll really help you, and I used them myself to get ripped.

1. Focus Most Of Your Energy On Your Diet

Getting a ripped 6 pack is all about having a low body fat percentage. That's it, seriously.

I don't care how muscular your are, if you have extra fat on your frame then you won't be able to get ripped. It's as frustratingly simple as that.

So, to get there focus most of your energy on your diet. Working out will help, but eating a healthy diet to lose fat will do so much more than just working out.

2. Drop Fat

Lose fat. If you can't see your abs, then you simply need to lose fat until your chiseled abs shine through.

For guys, when you get down to about 10% body fat you'll start seeing your abs. At around 8% you'll start to look ripped, and at around 5% or 6% you'll start looking like a greek god.

For ladies, these numbers are a bit higher. With these 6 pack tips, you'll be able to see your abs when you're down around 12% body fat, and you'll look really ripped at around 10% body fat.

Choose a diet and drop fat. Do it.

3. Count Your Calories

Calories count. I don't care what other marketers say to you, or what lies you've read - calories count.

To get down to a ripped 6 pack, you need very precise calorie control so that you lose fat without losing muscle. And really, the best way to do this is by counting the number of calories you eat.

This is a pain in the ass, but get over it. It's necessary, and if you're never counted your calories before you'll find it's a real learning experience.

4. Eat Healthy - It Actually Helps

If you eat more vegetables, you can eat a whole lot of them to get full. Without eating a ton of calories.

Most 'crappy' food is really calorie dense - doughnuts, cookies, petit fours, baklava, and honey all contain tons of calories packed into a really small space. Which makes it easy to put on weight when you're eating them.

By contrast, vegetables (and even many fruits) are much more calorie diffuse. Heck, you can eat an entire big roasted butternut squash, it'll totally fill you up, and it's only around 150 to 200 calories.

So, eating healthy actually makes losing weight easier. Rather than spending all you calories on eating a few large candy bars for breakfast, and then starving for the rest of the day.

5. Track Yourself

If it's at all possible, measure your body fat percentage. The best method is to get dunked in water (hydrostatic weighting), but even cheap plastic body fat calipers can be useful.

If you can't measure your body fat percentage at all, take weekly photos of yourself. Above all, tack your progress somehow!

Since you see yourself every day, it's easy to not notice how ripped you're getting. Tacking will show you how close to your goal body fat percentage you're getting, and that you're actually making progress. Both are great motivators!

If you want more info about how to get ripped, check out the links below. You'll find great ideas and proven methods to get ripped.

Creating Medically Correct, Realistic, Standardized 3D Anatomy in Polygonal 3D Software

3D modeling is not for everybody just as painting is not - if you ever tried to paint like Rembrandt and had a great motif in mind then you must have noticed that there were several rather strong physical obstacles in place to keep you from converting it into reality.

Oils are hard to handle, they do not mix well, the brushes behave differently from what you expected... the learning curve which lies in handling these physical side of art is probably what makes good painters so rare - more than an absence of creativity.

However computer artists (3D modelers sometimes see themselves as such), though they never dirty their hands have a similar problem: they need to be somewhat nerdy computer users which of course many of us are, and they have to specialize really deeply in the use of several 3D modeling/animation applications - it normally takes three years to make a bearable specialist just as it takes about the same time to make an excellent plumber or a mediocre neurosurgeon.

In my experience neither of the three will ever be an artist. In the creation of medically correct (human or other) 3D anatomy, no fantasy is allowed to play a role and neither is artistry called for when the surgeon deeply dives into the texture of brains with a scalpel - precision work can hopefully and rightfully be expected in both cases, of the three solely the plumber may allow himself some freedom - like the well educated and seasoned painter.

So how then are the best 3D anatomy models evolved? Mind you, most people will never be able to model a car - they need blueprints and scans, it is a rare person who has the ability to create a 3D model from 2D images, first in his mind and then inside computer memory. And I am not talking about spheres and boxes... a 3D car will be a good test of somebody´s 3D modeling abilities but human anatomy is always the ultimate challenge.

As a seasoned 3D modeling veteran one would like to sometimes use CT scans (there are always many available but it is rare that two fit each other), import these grotesquely unwieldy structures into the workspace if a bone or organ proves to be especially hard to fathom (think about the sphenoid bone or the inner brain ventricles) - and in the case of bones it may even just work...

in reality, scanned items are used to see if they roughly fit the area - which is then usually modeled to perfection by more sensible corrections eyeballed from an anatomy atlas or pathology shots,compared and painstakingly compared again.

A decent collection of several hundred good photographs, in practice, beat ct scans anytime and do not even hinder the work flow. "But", I hear the fanatical naturist scream in anguish, "this does not capture the real scanned parts of poor dead Mrs Elmory! It is not real, it is just an artist´s imagination - you have gone astray! Worse, you did not even study medical sciences, impostor!"

By no means is it the true individual but then again Mrs Elmory was just a person as we all are, in fact she was rather small with a relatively large craneum, thin legs and a pronounced gut. The best models for 3D anatomy would however be completely average persons (needs to be defined though we all know what it means, no gut) with no exaggerations in any organ or bone, nor hypertrophic musculation or the likes. And definitely no tumors - that being a special case for oncological 3D design, soon to follow.