Hitting that hour-long cardio class today?  Read this recent study and you may just skip the class all together.

In a recent study, people who used kettlebells torched a whopping 400 calories in 20 minutes.

Kettlebells have made strength training fun and interesting with its new design, enabling the exerciser to perform a multitude of moves that were otherwise not possible with simple hand weights.

Entire classes, and even gyms, have been created based on the practice of kettlebell exercise.  Consider jazzing up your strength routine with kettlebells, and torch 400 calories in 20 minutes while you’re at it.

Now that Old Man Winter is rounding third and heading for home, your skin is probably at its height of being dry and itchy.  Not to worry, this is a super-simple fix.

By simply using exfoliating gloves in the shower, you gently exfoliate your dry skin away with each and every shower.   Shower gloves are slightly abrasive, yet gentle enough to not  scratch your skin.

Soap the gloves up with a great soap, either liquid or bar soap, and scrub every square inch of your skin.  Follow up with a fabulous moisturizing lotion or body oil, and your skin will be shorts-ready this Spring.

Lifting weights will burn calories for up to 38 hours after your workout!  Strength train with weights at least twice a weeek to charge your metabolism and burn calories longer, not to mention, give you a long, lean, sculpted body.  If you are a cardio-queen, yet feel like your weight loss is stalling…add two days of strength training to your schedule and watch your body lean down in 3….2….1.

Regular use of a body scrub, which sloughs dead skin cells from the skin’s surface, can help eliminate keratosis pilaris, also knows as rough, bumpy skin on the back of the upper arms.   KP looks like tiny pimples or bumps, but it’s actually a build up of dead skin cells around individual skin follicles.  To keep follicles from plugging, regularly use a great skin scrub, (try Supernatural Botanicals Body Scrubs) to keep your skin super soft.  Follow by an ultra-moisturizing body lotion (try Supernatural Botanicals Body Lotions) and your skin will look amazing in a matter of days. 

Did you know that you lose 20 percent of the top layer of underarm skin each time you shave?  (ew!)   

To lessen the pain of shaving, wait until the end of your shower to shave.  The steam softens hairs for smother results.  And always use shaving cream to avoid knicks and cuts. 

Stretching is to exercise as dessert is to dinner.  It’s the icing on the cake.  It’s the feel-good part of both exercise and dinner.    After a great workout, be sure you are stretching every muscle that you worked.  This is one of the best stretches for the tricpes, the back part of your upper arm.  Place arm up and behind your head, as shown below, and slightly push the elbow back with your other hand.  Stretch and breathe into the movement.  Take your time.  Hold the stretch from 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes.  When you feel like you can’t go any further, take a deep breath and stretch just an inch more.  Toned tricpes look gorgeous in a cute summer dress or bikini.  Lose the giggle and get your arms looking hot.

Professional yogis don’t use yoga mats just to keep their feet on a soft surface during yoga postures, they use yoga mats because they are incredibly beneficial to help you stretch further.  Yoga mats, sometimes called sticky mats, are thick rubber-like surfaces, about 4 feet wide, designed to be under foot while you are doing yoga or Pilates workouts. 

When you place your hands and feet on a yoga mat, they almost stick (and sink) into the soft mat, keeping your hands and feet securely firm, with no worry of slipping out of your posture.  They are also fabulous for doing stretches, enabling you to stretch deep into your stretches with your feet and/or hands essentially glued to the mat.  It truly makes a difference in your workouts. 

Also great to stimulate the spine.  How to:  Lay on your back, hold your bent legs to your chest, wrapping your arms around your bent legs, and rock in a boat pose from head to feet.  The thickness of the yoga mat keeps it comfortable for your spine.  It will feel like a back massage!

Kiss the carpet goodbye, and try using a yoga mat during your next yoga/Pilates/stretching session.  It increases your flexibility by 25% to even 50%.  (Those aren’t scientific percentages…it’s just what I can feel in my own workouts.) 

If you zoom through your repetitions when strength training, you’ll be using momentum instead of muscle power.  You won’t get the same stimulus for muscle building, and you won’t burn as many calories. You’ll also be more susceptible to training injuries such as torn muscles.

Take 6 seconds to perform each repetition: 2 seconds to lift the weight and 4 seconds to lower it.  Experts agree that slowing down is the single most significant change you can make to get better results from strength training. 

Fat burning Pilates is my secret weapon in the morning.  Pilates makes your body feel so good when you wake up…it’s the ultimate good morning stretch.  It also feels great to break a sweat by 6 a.m.!  I love the Crunch series workout videos.  I’ve also seen them at the library (an excellent source to try before you buy.) 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRDUG8j4FB4