9 fitness rules you should break

Each year fitness researchers release thousands of studies that challenge conventional fitness thinking, or at least shed light on ways to tweak it. Here are 9 "old-school" fitness approaches or strategies and some ways to tweak them to be up-to-date and to see results!

1. Position your hands shoulder-width apart.
You often see this in instructions for upper-body moves like bench presses and lat pull-downs. Why? Because it gives you a stable starting point. But that doesn't mean you need to stay there set after set. Switch up your position after every set for balanced strength and overall tone.

2. Crunches for a flat belly.
Turns out Pilates abdominal moves are superior to traditional crunches for sculpting your midsection and uncovering those abs. An exercise called "the teaser" is one of many highly effective exercises. It activates 39% more of your rectus abdominus muscle and 266% more of your external obliques. To do it: Lie face-up on a mat. Lift your legs so your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and your knees are bent 90 degrees. Raise your hands toward the celing. Lift your torso and straighten your legs, so you body forms a V. Hold for 1 second, then roll back down, keeping your legs raised. Perform 20-30 reps.

3. Squats=a perfect bum.
Although squats are a great exercise, try doing hip extensions too. The move hits 55% more of your hamstring muscle and 79% more of your glute muscle. To do it: Get on your hands and knees. Keeping your knees bent, lift your right heel toward the ceiling, then lower it back down to the starting position. Perform 15-25 reps each leg.

4. Eat lots of extra protein for less jiggle and more tone.
While it's true that protein is a vital muscle food, your body can use only so much of it. Any extra protein calories you take in will be stored as fat. As a general rule, remember that 20% of your calories should come from protein. So, if you're eating an 1,800 calorie diet, try to shoot fora maximum of 400 calories, or 90 grams, of protein each day.

5. Up-down-up-down. Repeat.
Instead of raising and lowering a weight (or your body weight) in one continuous motioin, pause for a second about halfway up, continue the movement, then pause again about halfway down. You'll fry more fat (by exhausting the muscles more efficiently) without sucking more time out of your scheudule.

6. Watch yourself in the mirror while you workout.
While the occasional glance at your reflection to check form is a good idea, for exercises that involve balance, such as the one-legged squat, you'll get a bigger boost if you face away from the mirror and close one eye. Doing so activates neural pathways between your brain and your muscles that you don't otherwise use, which forces your body to establish better balance.

7. Burn the most calories with cardio.
According to many studies, 30 minutes of weight training burns as many calories as running at a blazing six-minute-per-mile pace for the same amount of time. (And it has the bonus of building more muscle tone then running.) What's more, unlike aerobic exercise, lifting weights has been shown to boost metabolism for up to 39 hours after you finish your last rep! Interval training has yielded similar benefits. For optimal results, do a total-body weight-training workout three days a weeks, resting at least a day between sessions and do intervals on at least tow fo the off days.

8. Rest between sets.
Less rest increases your calorie burn and adds a cardio component to strength training. Try doing multiple exercises back to back (circuit training) using different muscle groups and combining large muscles and small muscles in as many exercises as possible. When you have completed a circuit, rest for a minute and then repeat.

9. Weigh yourself daily for motivation.
The scale measures water and muscle, too. It's not a great indicator of fat loss. A better way to measure success is by measuring inches or getting your body fat tested, say every month to see progress.

Source: Womens Health