A regular exercise routine is an essential part of your weight loss plan and helps you to look and feel your best. You want to make sure to include core exercises within your routine while you are losing weight. Your core muscles are the ones around your trunk and pelvis, including your abs. Ab exercises are perfect for burning fat and strengthening your core, along with flattening your belly. A flatter belly is a great goal to work towards for both your appearance and your health.

Although winter in the southern states tends to be milder than winter in the northern states, we all have unpleasant weather days. Those days make it difficult, if not impossible, to enjoy a cardio workout outside. Luckily, there are plenty of convenient and effective indoor alternatives, no matter where you live or how the weather is. One great example is by exercising on a stationary bike. This is one way to accomplish a fun and effective cardio workout to help with your weight loss plan. Stationary bike workouts burn fat and calories, which can also help you lose weight fast. Even better, you don't even have to know how to ride an outdoor bike. You don't need to wear a helmet or worry about losing your balance. Just hop on a stationary bike and start pedaling away the pounds.

It's very easy to get out of your workout routine during the holidays, especially when you are busy with family and festivities. When things finally settle down again you may find you have lost your motivation to get back into your regular exercise routine. Although it helps to remember that healthy weight loss depends on both diet and exercise, you sometimes need a little extra inspiration to get back on track.

Have you been working hard to lose weight? If so, you are probably seeing positive results and feeling better about your body. Toning exercises help you get in shape after weight loss so you can look and feel your best. An obvious (and visible) benefit of having toned thighs is how they make your legs look beautiful. Just as important, if not more so, is how having increased thigh strength protects the health of your knees, hips and lower back muscles. Having stronger thighs also reduces the risk of injuries to your knee and hip joints.

Many people use exercise balls as part of their regular workout routines, especially when they want to strengthen their core muscles. Without a doubt, they help make your workout routine more challenging and effective. One popular exercise ball, the Swiss ball, has a modified version know as the BOSU Ball. 'BOSU' stands for either "Both Sides Up," or "Both Sides Utilized." The BOSU Ball is half of the Swiss ball. Both sides - either the flat platform side or the soft dome-shaped side - are used during a workout routine. Most importantly, the BOSU Ball helps you lose weight by giving you a great core-strengthening workout tool.

Walking is one of the easiest and most cost-effective forms of cardio exercise. You can do it anytime and anywhere, without any special equipment, other than a good pair of walking shoes. It is no wonder many people choose power walking for their primary exercise and as part of their weight loss program. However, if you want to lose weight, you need to make sure you are walking fast enough and long enough. This is accomplished through power walking.

Bikram yoga, better known as hot yoga, is a hot exercise choice for many people. This type of yoga earns its name since people perform specific yoga poses in a studio that is heated to 100 - 110ºF with only 40% humidity. Hot yoga also lives up to its name since you are guaranteed to sweat and burn calories; one session of hot yoga burns approximately 630 calories. Burning calories and being active through regular exercise is an important part of helping you achieve your weight loss goals.

You have worked hard to look good in those skinny jeans, so keep your rear in gear - literally. These simple exercises will help tighten and strengthen your glutes. The advantages to having toned glutes goes beyond looking better physically. Other benefits include reduced stress on your lower back and knees and improved posture. Are you ready to get started?

Physio Ball Plank This exercise is intended to strengthen your core and the stability of both your lower abs and your pelvic girdle. For this exercise you only need a yoga mat and a medium sized physio ball. To begin this exercise lay on your stomach with the ball near your feet, rest your upper body’s weight on your elbows and forearms. Next, carefully place one foot at a time up onto the ball and cradle between the top of your foot and shin. Now that the only points of contact are your forearms and your feet on the ball hold this position with your hips level for 40-60 seconds while focusing on taking slow deep breaths. Repeat this 3 times or until failure.

What does stretching your muscles have to do with weight loss? Have you ever had a sore muscle and attempted to stretch it only to feel even more soreness? Have you ever had a massage and had the masseuse focus on one area and work it until it loosened? The reason for the soreness is because the muscle is torn, knotted and excited. Not excited like you and I may traditionally think about excitement, but muscle excitation is where the neurons in your muscle are continually sending out messages to keep the muscle under tension. This happens when a muscle is sore or over-worked as a protective measure to avoid over stretching or straining of the muscle.