Top 5 Low Cost Cardio Exercises.

Do you have a low fitness budget but still want to keep fit? Well, cardio exercises are the way to go. Considered one of the most important components in any fitness program, cardio exercises offer you a variety of benefits. These include a healthy heart, increased energy, improved muscle tone and better sleep, just to name a few. Defined as any form of physical activity that increases heart rate and blood circulation, cardio exercises come in many forms. The following are five low cost cardio exercises that deliver amazing results.

Exercise 1 – Cycling

Cycling is a fun cardio exercise that costs very little, as you can just pick up a second hand bike at a great price and then you’re good to go. With cycling, you can schedule a certain time of the day to go riding or incorporate the exercise into your daily routines like riding your bike to and from work. Regardless of which option you choose, cycling on a daily basis will help you burn calories, improve leg strength and tone your leg muscles.

Exercise 2 – Jump Rope

Jump rope is an easy and inexpensive exercise that you can do anywhere. This exercise targets a wide range of muscles in both your upper and lower body. Jumping rope for at least 30 minutes each day will strengthen and tone the muscles in your shoulders, core, arms, chest, thighs, back and legs. In addition, jumping rope boosts cardiovascular health, burns a lot of calories, improves your agility, enhances your coordination and increases your overall endurance. The great thing about jumping rope is that you can pick up a high quality jump rope for as little as $5 and use it to enjoy all the benefits above.

Exercise 3 – Running

All that is required for this high-impact cardio exercise is an investment in some good running shoes. It’s important that you buy good quality shoes as they will help cushion you against the impact of running, especially when you’re speeding over rough terrain. When done daily for about 30 to 60 minutes, running helps maintain a healthy weight as it burns a lot of calories. Aside from that, running also improves heart health, adds years to your life, improves brain health, improves mood and strengthens your bones, joints and muscles.

Exercise 4 – Swimming

Swimming is a low-cost exercise that offers you a cool way to get fit. This exercise works your whole body but mostly targets your back, shoulder and arm muscles. Swimming also improves your flexibility, builds endurance, keeps your heart rate up and helps you maintain a healthy weight. The best time to go swimming is during off peak hours as you can often swim for around $1 during these times.

Exercise 5 – Walking

Walking is a safe exercise with minimum injury risk and can therefore be done by anyone including pregnant women and older people. The only investment required for this low-impact exercise is good walking shoes while the benefits are stronger leg muscles, lower blood pressure, weight reduction and better heart fitness. The best way to perform this cardio exercise is to walk daily at moderate intensity for 30 minutes or more.

Summary

If you’ve been telling yourself that you can’t afford to workout, you can use these exercises to shatter your excuses and boost your cardiovascular fitness today. Either choose one exercise to perform multiple times during the week or mix it up and do a mixture of these low cost cardio exercises throughout the week to add variety to your routine.

5 Tips For Building A Fitness Budget.

Do you want to exercise but cannot seem to find the money to buy home gym equipment or pay for a gym membership? Well, you’re not alone because this is a problem faced by many people. However, not having enough money to get as healthy as you want doesn’t have to stop you from achieving your fitness goals. You can raise money each month for fitness equipment, gym fees or any other expenses that will be incurred by simply cutting down on other unnecessary expenses. To help you with this we’ve put together five top tips for building a fitness budget.

1 – Check Your Subscriptions

Whether it’s out of forgetfulness or the unwillingness to change things, many of us are guilty of wasting money paying for subscription services that we don’t even use. Although these subscriptions only take up a small fraction of the household’s expenses, the accumulation of subscription fees can translate to a significant amount of money each month. Therefore, take some time to check and cancel off any of these unnecessary services and use the money you save to add to your fitness budget each month.

2 – Learn To Cook

In today’s fast-paced world, balancing a busy work schedule with family and social life leaves very little time left for preparing home cooked meals. For this reason, more and more people are turning to unhealthy but convenient processed foods. However, this habit of buying convenience foods may save on time but it costs you in term of money and health. By giving up convenience foods and tuning to home cooked meals, you can improve your health and save lots of money for fitness expenses at the same time. If you learn the right recipes, you’ll also find that it’s possible to cook tasty and healthy meals in as little as 20 minutes which allows you to still enjoy the convenience factor without compromising your health or wasting money.

3 – Give Up An Unhealthy Habit

Everyone has an unhealthy habit that drains away at his or her pockets. This could be smoking, drinking one too many alcoholic drinks daily, eating lots of fried foods and snacks or gulping down soda. The cost of supporting these habits may seem small on a daily basis but when you add it up for the entire month, it becomes quite significant. By quitting at least one of these unhealthy habits, you will not only boost your health but will also save money that you can add to your fitness budget.

4 – Make a Shopping List

Making a shopping list should be the very first thing you do before heading to the grocery stores. Without a shopping list, you’ll end up spending more money than necessary because grocery stores are designed to make us overspend. However, with a shopping list in hand, you’ll be able to shop wisely by only buying what you need and save lots of money which you can put into your fitness budget.

5 – Review Your Exact Spending For A Month

One great way of finding ways to save a few extra dollars each month is by conducting a review of your exact monthly spending. The review will help you identify any unnecessary spending that you can cut out and put towards your fitness budget instead.

Summary

If you’re having trouble finding money to invest in your fitness, you can use these five effective tips to find some extra cash right away. So start putting them into action today and build your fitness budget.

Jennifer Aniston’s recipe for radiant beauty.

What keeps Jennifer Aniston looking so radiantly young and beautiful?

According to starpulse.com, Aniston has now confessed that her secret is her daily practice of Transcendental Meditation.

When asked about the number one thing which has kept her looking so amazing, Jennifer said:

“I’d say a little over a year ago I started doing TM and that’s really changed everything. Starting your day off with that and ending with that is pretty powerful. Twenty minutes, you just notice the difference. When I get lazy and don’t get it in, I can feel a difference. I do it first thing when I wake up.”

She also admitted that if yoga didn’t exist, she would probably have to invent it.

But what if she could trade bodies with someone for 24 hours?

“I’d love to be able to ski like a crazy person, like Lindsey Vonn. Then I’d also like to have Gisele’s body, just ‘cuz, why not?” Aniston referred to the supermodel and fellow fan of yoga and meditation, Gisele Bundchen.

http://blog.uk.tm.org/celebrities/jennifer-anistons-recipe-for-radiant-beauty/?leadsource=CRM1807&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=March2015

Gordon Ramsay's Plain Salmon Recipe.

Gordon Ramsay cooking a simple and easily prepared, using common ingredients - the perfect meal.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cAFkYm3u1Q

Gooey chocolate cake.

Gordon Ramsay serves up a rich and sumptuous, but not heavy, chocolate cake. See how to make it step by step.

Ingredients

120g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
5 eggs, separated
200g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
220g caster sugar
90g plain flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting

For the filling
284ml pot double cream
200g pot half-fat crème fraîche
2 limes or 1 lemon, grated zest only
For the ganache icing
150g dark chocolate
142ml pot double cream
25g grated chocolate, to serve

Method

Grease and bottom line a 24cm spring form cake tin.

Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas. Melt 120g chocolate in a bowl.
Cool for 5 mins, then beat in egg yolks.
In a bowl, beat the butter and 100g sugar until soft and creamy.
Mix in the melted chocolate and yolks.
Whisk the egg whites to firm peaks then beat in remaining 120g sugar in three batches and continue whisking until stiff.
Beat a third of the meringue into the chocolate mix.
Then, gently fold in alternate spoonfuls of the flour and remaining meringue.
Spoon into the tin, level and bake 40-45 mins until the top forms a light crust.
Test the centre with a metal skewer, it should come out clean.
Remove, cool 10 mins, before turning out of the tin.
When cooled, cut in half carefully as it is fragile, with a large serrated knife.

To make the filling: in a bowl beat the double cream until thickened, but not stiff.
Then mix in the crème fraîche and the zest.
Spread one half of the cake with all the zesty cream and sandwich together with the other half.
Place on a rack with a large plate beneath.
To make the ganache icing: break up the chocolate into a pan and add the double cream.
Melt over the lowest heat and stir until smooth, then cool until the consistency of thick pouring cream.
Pour over the cake.
Let excess icing run onto the plate and spoon it back over to fill any gaps.
Spread the icing evenly on the top and around the sides using the back of a spoon or a palette knife. While the icing sets sprinkle the grated chocolate on top and around the sides.
Make the curls: You will need a large block of chocolate.
Ensure the chocolate is at warm room temperature and placed on a worktop.
Gordon used a sharp knife to make the curls, but it’s easier to draw a swivel vegetable peeler down the side of a thick block of chocolate.

Place a large ring cutter (about 10cm) in the centre of the cake and fill with the chocolate curls. Carefully remove the ring and let the curls cascade gently out.
Serve at room temperature.
If chilled ahead the cake should be allowed to come to room temperature before serving.
about 100g chocolate shaved into curls, to serve.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2232/gooey-chocolate-cake