Tone Up Your Arms From Home With These Exercises!

I get ask a lot how can you get  your arms toned if you don't have access to a gym so here are some exercises that you can do from home and will give you results.

This a routine I started with at the gym and I still use a lot, except that now I add a few other machines and bars from the gym but my point is, this routine gave me a great start, great toned arms and strength.

To make this work, you definitely need some dumbbells to lift. You can invest in a few lose dumbbells on which I advise you not to get any dumbbells that are less than 3kg. If you are a very beginner buy 3 and 5 kilos to start with at the very least. If you are a bit more advance you can buy 2 small bars with interchangeable disc to add and take off weight.

Another option you can invest in, is a pair of adjustable weights like the ones in the picture above. You will then have a set from 5 to 25 kilos. The thing is they are expensive and you would have to buy 2. My husband bought them for 75 euros each in Argos and that's because they were on sale but price at the moment are 150 euros. I am pretty sure you can find them cheaper on amazon or eBay. In the mean time here is the link for Argos in case you wanted to check them out:

http://www.argos.ie/

First of all I want you to understand what a superset is because this exercises are more effective if done in supersets.

Supersets:  A superset is performed when two exercises are performed in a row without stopping. When you start doing these for the first time, you will find that your endurance may be a problem, but before long you will learn to love them.

So in the following exercises you will find 6 exercises in total. 3 for biceps and 3 for triceps. You can do them in the order below starting by the first bicep exercise followed by the tricep one then rest. Doing 3 sets of 15 on each. Then you go to the second superset and you the bicep one followed by the tricep one then rest, etc. 

I hope that is clear enough for everyone. If you have any questions please mail me on any of my social media channels and I will get back to you as soon as possible. 

1. Bicep Curl:

2. Tricep Extension:

I actually do this exercise but I do it individually, first one hand then the other one. But this for is also good, so do the one that you feel more comfortable with.

3. Hammer curls:

Make sure you don't confuse this exercise with the bicep curl. The positioning of the hand is different 

4. Tricep Dips:

With the help of a chair dip up and down! is that simple and amazing how a simple chair can help us get some toning in the tricep area.

5. Bicep Lateral Extension

I actually love this exercise I really feel the burn. I do this in the cable machine in the gym. Definitely will make you be sore the next day

6. Tricep kickbacks

This is actually a tough exercise as simple as it looks! make sure you have correct positioning of the arm at all times and that you are doing a correct weight. I only do 7 kilos on this exercise. I find it really tough!

Hope you enjoy this post. If you did, let me know and I can share more exercises ideas for different body parts to do from home that will give you a toned body!

Tone Up Your Arms From Home With These Exercises!

I get ask a lot how can you get  your arms toned if you don't have access to a gym so here are some exercises that you can do from home and will give you results.

This a routine I started with at the gym and I still use a lot, except that now I add a few other machines and bars from the gym but my point is, this routine gave me a great start, great toned arms and strength.

To make this work, you definitely need some dumbbells to lift. You can invest in a few lose dumbbells on which I advise you not to get any dumbbells that are less than 3kg. If you are a very beginner buy 3 and 5 kilos to start with at the very least. If you are a bit more advance you can buy 2 small bars with interchangeable disc to add and take off weight.

Another option you can invest in, is a pair of adjustable weights like the ones in the picture above. You will then have a set from 5 to 25 kilos. The thing is they are expensive and you would have to buy 2. My husband bought them for 75 euros each in Argos and that's because they were on sale but price at the moment are 150 euros. I am pretty sure you can find them cheaper on amazon or eBay. In the mean time here is the link for Argos in case you wanted to check them out:

http://www.argos.ie/

First of all I want you to understand what a superset is because this exercises are more effective if done in supersets.

Supersets:  A superset is performed when two exercises are performed in a row without stopping. When you start doing these for the first time, you will find that your endurance may be a problem, but before long you will learn to love them.

So in the following exercises you will find 6 exercises in total. 3 for biceps and 3 for triceps. You can do them in the order below starting by the first bicep exercise followed by the tricep one then rest. Doing 3 sets of 15 on each. Then you go to the second superset and you the bicep one followed by the tricep one then rest, etc. 

I hope that is clear enough for everyone. If you have any questions please mail me on any of my social media channels and I will get back to you as soon as possible. 

1. Bicep Curl:

2. Tricep Extension:

I actually do this exercise but I do it individually, first one hand then the other one. But this for is also good, so do the one that you feel more comfortable with.

3. Hammer curls:

Make sure you don't confuse this exercise with the bicep curl. The positioning of the hand is different 

4. Tricep Dips:

With the help of a chair dip up and down! is that simple and amazing how a simple chair can help us get some toning in the tricep area.

5. Bicep Lateral Extension

I actually love this exercise I really feel the burn. I do this in the cable machine in the gym. Definitely will make you be sore the next day

6. Tricep kickbacks

This is actually a tough exercise as simple as it looks! make sure you have correct positioning of the arm at all times and that you are doing a correct weight. I only do 7 kilos on this exercise. I find it really tough!

Hope you enjoy this post. If you did, let me know and I can share more exercises ideas for different body parts to do from home that will give you a toned body!

Energy Green Bars

Did you ever imagine you could be eating a treat and greens at the same time? Me either! but with these bars you certainly are as the secret ingredient is: Wheatgrass!

WheatGrass is a powder which is  a great healer. It is Absorbed within minutes after swallowing. Your energy levels are kick-started into high gear. That sluggish, lethargic, heavy feeling is literally flushed away.

Two ounces of wheatgrass juice has the nutritional equivalent of five pounds of the best raw organic vegetables. 

In addition to flooding the body with therapeutic dosages of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and phytonutrients, wheatgrass is also a powerful detoxifier, especially of the liver and blood.

So here is the recipe:
1 cup of cashew nuts

1 cup dates (16 dates)

2 tablespoons of wheatgrass

1/4 cup goji berries

1/4 cup hemp seeds

Here are the products I used and where you can get them:

This recipe is as simple as blending all the ingredients on food processor, pressing mixture into a mould and setting in the fridge for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy them!

This has been one of those recipes my boys have asking for more non-stop! They are delicious!

Hemp seeds are excellent to improve digestion, balance hormones and improve metabolism! Hemp seeds are also very high in protein containing all 20 amino acids on which 9 of them are the ones our body can't produce! better than eating any animal out there! 

So use them! specially if you want to stop eating animals. Use your  hemp seeds on smoothies or sprinkle on salads and soups! 

Energy Green Bars

Did you ever imagine you could be eating a treat and greens at the same time? Me either! but with these bars you certainly are as the secret ingredient is: Wheatgrass!

WheatGrass is a powder which is  a great healer. It is Absorbed within minutes after swallowing. Your energy levels are kick-started into high gear. That sluggish, lethargic, heavy feeling is literally flushed away.

Two ounces of wheatgrass juice has the nutritional equivalent of five pounds of the best raw organic vegetables. 

In addition to flooding the body with therapeutic dosages of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and phytonutrients, wheatgrass is also a powerful detoxifier, especially of the liver and blood.

So here is the recipe:
1 cup of cashew nuts

1 cup dates (16 dates)

2 tablespoons of wheatgrass

1/4 cup goji berries

1/4 cup hemp seeds

Here are the products I used and where you can get them:

This recipe is as simple as blending all the ingredients on food processor, pressing mixture into a mould and setting in the fridge for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy them!

This has been one of those recipes my boys have asking for more non-stop! They are delicious!

Hemp seeds are excellent to improve digestion, balance hormones and improve metabolism! Hemp seeds are also very high in protein containing all 20 amino acids on which 9 of them are the ones our body can't produce! better than eating any animal out there! 

So use them! specially if you want to stop eating animals. Use your  hemp seeds on smoothies or sprinkle on salads and soups! 

10 Tips To Sleep Better

Sleep is involved in the repair and restoration of the body. The rest that happens during sleep really rejuvenates your body for the next day.

The more sleep-deprived you are, the higher your levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which increases your appetite

Sleep duration affects hormones regulating hunger — ghrelin and leptin — and stimulates the appetite. Another contributing factor might be that lack of sleep leads to fatigue and results in less physical activity.

When you’re stressed, your body tries to produce serotonin to calm you down. The easiest way to do that is by eating high-fat, high-carb foods that produce a neurochemical reaction

When you’re sleep deprived, the mitochondria in your cells that digest fuel start to shut down. Sugar remains in your blood, and you end up with high blood sugar

One reason you might pack on pounds when you’re sleep deprived is because your body goes into survival mode. Sleeplessness can fool your body into thinking you’re in danger. Your metabolism slows because your body is trying to maintain its resources, and it also wants more fuel

So if you have problems sleeping here is a few tips to sleep better:

1. Give yourself acupressure

An Italian study found sleep quality improved in 60% of people who massaged the HT7 acupuncture point that is linked to insomnia. Hold your thumb firmly at the crease where your wrist meets your hand, directly below your little finger for 2 minutes to induce sleep.

2. Try valerian

Drops of valerian help you relax. You can buy this drops in any health shop and add to your tea or even your bath. Some research has shown you have to take valerian for up to a month before improves sleep. As anything use this drops in extreme cases of stress. Remember that nothing in excess is any good

3. Sniff Lavender

Its long had a reputation for its sedative benefits. Inhaling lavender oil before bed has a soothing, hypnotic effect that promotes good sleep. Try diffusing some in a burner before bed and sprinkle a couple of drops on your pillow

4. Accupunture

Studies show acupuncture can help improve sleep and may even tackle chronic insomnia. Chinese medicine practitioners believe it allows the body's 'chi' energy to flow smoothly, boosting feelings of relaxation.

5. At night time snack on snooze-inducing foods

Foods that have a sedative effect: Chamomile tea, honey, banana, oatmeal, almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, peanut butter and dates

6. Try Ginsen tea

Although it hasn't been used traditionally as a sedative herb, recent research has found ginsen can improve sleep quality and quantity. 

7. Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day

Dehydration can lead to restless muscles and disrupted sleep. Drink your 2 ltd of water a day and stop a couple of hours before bed so you don't wake up needing the loo.

8. Turn off technology

Switch off screens! You should avoid them for 2-3 hours before bedtime. The bluwlight wavelengths produced at high levels by laptops, tablets and smart phones screen suppress production of melatonin,  the sleep inducing hormone.

9. Cut caffeine after 4 PM

You probably know is best to avoid caffeine at night time. But having a caffeinated drink after 4 pm can knock at least an hour off your sleep. Swap your afternoon culpa for a soothing chamomile tea.

10. Yoga pose 'Fold forward'

The easy forward bend is a great yoga pose for getting sleepy. Sit cross-legged and simply fold forward from hips, streching your arms out in front of you, to ease tension in your body. Hold for 30 seconds and then inhale as you come back up.

10 Tips To Sleep Better

Sleep is involved in the repair and restoration of the body. The rest that happens during sleep really rejuvenates your body for the next day.

The more sleep-deprived you are, the higher your levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which increases your appetite

Sleep duration affects hormones regulating hunger — ghrelin and leptin — and stimulates the appetite. Another contributing factor might be that lack of sleep leads to fatigue and results in less physical activity.

When you’re stressed, your body tries to produce serotonin to calm you down. The easiest way to do that is by eating high-fat, high-carb foods that produce a neurochemical reaction

When you’re sleep deprived, the mitochondria in your cells that digest fuel start to shut down. Sugar remains in your blood, and you end up with high blood sugar

One reason you might pack on pounds when you’re sleep deprived is because your body goes into survival mode. Sleeplessness can fool your body into thinking you’re in danger. Your metabolism slows because your body is trying to maintain its resources, and it also wants more fuel

So if you have problems sleeping here is a few tips to sleep better:

1. Give yourself acupressure

An Italian study found sleep quality improved in 60% of people who massaged the HT7 acupuncture point that is linked to insomnia. Hold your thumb firmly at the crease where your wrist meets your hand, directly below your little finger for 2 minutes to induce sleep.

2. Try valerian

Drops of valerian help you relax. You can buy this drops in any health shop and add to your tea or even your bath. Some research has shown you have to take valerian for up to a month before improves sleep. As anything use this drops in extreme cases of stress. Remember that nothing in excess is any good

3. Sniff Lavender

Its long had a reputation for its sedative benefits. Inhaling lavender oil before bed has a soothing, hypnotic effect that promotes good sleep. Try diffusing some in a burner before bed and sprinkle a couple of drops on your pillow

4. Accupunture

Studies show acupuncture can help improve sleep and may even tackle chronic insomnia. Chinese medicine practitioners believe it allows the body's 'chi' energy to flow smoothly, boosting feelings of relaxation.

5. At night time snack on snooze-inducing foods

Foods that have a sedative effect: Chamomile tea, honey, banana, oatmeal, almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, peanut butter and dates

6. Try Ginsen tea

Although it hasn't been used traditionally as a sedative herb, recent research has found ginsen can improve sleep quality and quantity. 

7. Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day

Dehydration can lead to restless muscles and disrupted sleep. Drink your 2 ltd of water a day and stop a couple of hours before bed so you don't wake up needing the loo.

8. Turn off technology

Switch off screens! You should avoid them for 2-3 hours before bedtime. The bluwlight wavelengths produced at high levels by laptops, tablets and smart phones screen suppress production of melatonin,  the sleep inducing hormone.

9. Cut caffeine after 4 PM

You probably know is best to avoid caffeine at night time. But having a caffeinated drink after 4 pm can knock at least an hour off your sleep. Swap your afternoon culpa for a soothing chamomile tea.

10. Yoga pose 'Fold forward'

The easy forward bend is a great yoga pose for getting sleepy. Sit cross-legged and simply fold forward from hips, streching your arms out in front of you, to ease tension in your body. Hold for 30 seconds and then inhale as you come back up.

Signs You Need A Detox & How To Do It

The general goal to detoxifying the body is to cleanse, refresh, and restore the bowels, tissues, organs and cells of the body. 

All cells have limited lifespan, so tissues and organs are in content flux. Blood cells get replaced every 30 days; other cells can last for years. So as well as consuming food to fuel life processes and replace worn-out cells and tissues we also have to detoxify and eliminate the waste products from these processes.

The healthy human body comes with a healthy capacity to detoxify. But as we age, excess of poor food, alcohol, etc worsened by the lack of exercise can begin to strain and overwhelm the body's elimination and cleansing abilities. The main causes are:

- Poor Diet. Too much: fried foods, sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, smoking, environmental toxins, etc. 

- Sedentary habits (no exercise). Lead to stagnation in the gut, liver, blood, circulation, lymphatics, lungs, kidneys, joints, etc.

WHAT HAPPENS TO WASTE WE DONT ELIMINATE?

It tends to start a decline of health: less resistance to colds and flu, delayed recovery, poor weight control, digestive problem, bloating,allergies, skin rashes, sinuses, headaches and so on...

Lets start with the questionnaire to discover whether you need to improve your detoxification potential!

1. Do you suffer from headaches or migraine?
2. Do you sometimes have watery or itchy eyes, or swollen, red or sticky eyelids?
3. Do you have dark circle under your eyes?
4. Do you sometimes have itchy ears, earache, ear infection, drainage from the ears or ringing in the ears?
5. Do you often suffer from excessive mucus, stuffy nose or sinus problems?
6. Do you suffer from acne, skin rashes or hives? 
7. Do you sweat a lot and have a strong body odour?
8. Do you sometimes have joint to muscle aches or pain?
9. Do you have a sluggish metabolism and find hard to lose weight, or are you underweight and find hard to gain weight?
10. Do you often suffer from frequent or urgent urination?
11. Do you suffer from nausea or vomiting?
12. Do you often have a bitter taste in your mouth or a furry tongue?
13. Do you have a strong reaction to alcohol?
14.Do strong smells like petrol and perfume make you feel unwell?
15. Do you suffer from bloating?
16. Does coffee leave you feeling jittery or unwell?

SCORE

7 or more
If your answer yes to 7 or more questions you need to improve your detox potential

4-7 
If your answer is yes to between 4 and 7 questions you are beginning to show signs os poor detoxification and need to improve your detox potential

Fewer than 4
If you answer yes to fewer than 4 questions you are unlikely to have a problem with detoxification

(Questionarie taken from Patrick Holford Book Nutrition Bible. Excelent nutrition book if anyone is interested I 100%reccomend it)

And no detoxing doesn't mean going and buying a bunch of juices and starving yourselves. You can do your own detox plan following this safe principles:

STOP EATING FOODS THAT MAY CLOG THE SYSTEM. Cut back on these foods: meat, dairy, sugar, refined carbohydrates products (bread, biscuits, cakes) alcohol, colas, black tea, drugs, tobacco

DRINK PLENTY OF FILTERED OR GOOD MINERAL WATER. About 1.5-2.5 ltd of water a day and 2 or 3 cups of decaffeinated herbal teas

EAT LESS FOOD THAN USUAL. 3 small meals and snack on fruit

EAT THE RAINBOW. To provide the liver with the nutrients it needs to function effectively and to provide antioxidants to help repair damage eat plenty of vegetables in your meals. Even better if these are organic

Specific nutrients include:

Cruciferous vegetables: cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc.
Sulphur rich foods: garlic, onions, spring onions, leeks
Vitamin B rich foods: Whole grains, nuts, pulses
Folate: leafy greens, legumes, organic eggs, sunflower seeds
Copper rich foods: seeds, cocoa powder, oysters
Zinc: spinach, pumping seeds, cocoa, oatbran, etc.
Food supplements: Spirulina, herbs like dandelion or bette
To keep the bowel functioning: eat plenty of fibre rich foods: brown rice, porridge with flaxseeds, linseeds, etc

Use fermented foods such as kefir and sauerkraut to improve natural beneficial flora, of the gut. Amongst other things, these beneficial bacteria can help regulate peristalsis and bowel movements, support the digestion of carbohydrates and promote health of the intestinal wall.

DONT START A DETOX UNLESS YOU ARE IN A GOOD SPACE TIME AND MENTAL FRAME

DETOX TIPS 

1. Start each morning with a cup of warm water and a few drops of lemon juice
2. Drink plenty of water
3. Drink 1 to 3 cups of fennel or dandelion tea and 1 glass of green smoothie or green juice a day
4. Add spices such as turmeric, dandelion or artichoke as they have liver cleansing properties
5. A good portion of properly cooked brown rice each day is good for cleansing and keeping bowels open
6. If constipated make sure you add flaxseeds to your meals
7. Fresh vegetables should be your primary food intake
8. Raw fresh fruit is excellent for snacking on trough the day (avoid too many bananas)
9. wheat grass, spirullin a and chlorella are very powerful
10. Avoid beau tie products that contain synthetic chemicals that can increase toxic load on the body (specially paragons, sodium lsuryl dulphstes.

And lastly REST & RELAX! Eat only when calm and unhurried, chew slowly, finish well before you feel stuffed. Because detox mechanism are run by the parasympathetic nervous system, stressful, tense behaviour is antagonistic and can cause unpleasant reactions.

Tips to relax:

- Have a bath
- Exercise
- Aromatherapy or some other type of massages
- 10 minutes of peaceful me time daily (no phones, no television)
- Smile! it strengths every cell, organ and function in the body!