Get up and moving!

Are you sitting in from on the TV, eating your favorite bag of chips, watching your favorite show? It is because you bored and have nothing else to do?

Well here's an idea GET UP AND WORK OUT!

Whether you go to the gym or work out at home there are so many opportunities for you to tone your body. If you work out at home there are videos online that can help you without needing any equipment. If you want to go to the gym but can't afford it. The YMCA has a great program for that!

I'm going to first start of with showing you some ways you can tone your body at home without equipment. Below are four simple workouts you can do everyday to tone your body.

Squats:

Stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart. Lower your hips and bend your knees (almost like you're sitting in a chair. Your thighs should be parallel with the floor as you are bending your knees.

Make sure your knees do not go beyond your toes. Hold this position for a few second the stand back up.

Recommend: 3 sets of 10.

Triceps Push-Ups:

Place your hands on the floor and keep them under your shoulders. Holding your body straight, bend your elbows close to

your body. Lower your chest between your hands and push
back up into the starting position. If you're having trouble
completing a push-up, place your knees on the floor to make things easier.

Recommend: 3 sets of 10.

Skaters/Leaps:

Get into a semi-squat position and leap sideways to land
on your right foot. Immediately push off in the opposite
direction and land on your left foot. Make sure you perform
these skaters continuously.

Recommend: 3 sets of 15.

Plank Crawl:

Start in a push-up position with your hands directly under your shoulders. Lower yourself down one arm at a time into a plank position on your forearms, while keeping your elbows
directly under your shoulders. Push back up one arm at a time
into your starting push-up position. Alternate the arm you lead
with and maintain a straight body throughout the movement. Lower
your knees to the floor to decrease the difficulty level.


Recommend:10-15.









Below is a GREAT online workout! It only takes ten minutes of your time and leaves you feeling satisfied! Great part is you can do it anywhere and don't need equipment.

Try it out!

Now lets talk about some exercises that can be done with equipment. Running and lifting weights is a great way to start losing weight and toning your body.


Running on the treadmill is a great way to tone your legs and loose stubborn tummy fat. You should always start out with a walk before you begin your jog. Start walking for two minutes then when you feel ready begin your job. You should jog for 10-15 minutes and the begin to walk again. When you start to feel for comfortable you can begin to run faster and for longer.


Another way to tone your legs on the treadmill and doing short sprints. To do this you would walk for 30 seconds and run for 45 seconds. You should start out by doing 5-7 at a time.












Here are some great excises that can build muscle. You will need to dumbbells and a medicine ball. For beginnings start out with a lighter weigh, once the workout becomes easy for you, you can begin to get heavy dumbbells.

















Tanya Batts is a personal trainer at Gold Gym. She also has posted many videos online teaching people the proper way to use weights and machines at the gym. Here is a short video from her explaining how to use dumbbells and a weight bar.




Check out more of her videos and subscribe to her channel!

History, it's everywhere!

If you like learning about history and seeing beautiful art, like me, going to museums is a great things to do and it’s even cheap!

Museums allow you to get up close to the greatest masterpieces that our history provides. Walking through gives you the chance to learn about different societies, ideas and values.

One of my favorite Museums in Pittsburgh is the Carnegie Science Center. The Science Center has four floors full of different exhibits, theaters and themes. It also includes a USS Requin Submarine that is open from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Across the street from the Science center is SportWorks, which uses sports as examples for physics, anatomy and biology. The Science Center along with SportsWorks is highly interactive and is fun for all ages! Visit the Carnegie Science Center for directions and more information on what’s new!

One museum that I found interesting was the Mattress Factory Museum. The museum contains contemporary art. All of the exhibits are created on-site by the artists. At this museum all of your sense will be engaged by means of variety of media. Each exhibit includes educational programs, hands-on projects, workshops tours, and so much more! For more information concerning the museum visit Mattress Factory Museum.

Below is a list of links to the different museums in the Pittsburgh area:

• Andy Warhol Museum
• Children’s Museum-Pittsburgh
• Carnegie Museum of Art
• Carnegie Museum of Natural History
• Phipps Conservatory
• Photo Antiquities-Museum of Photographic History
• Air Heritage Museum

Not only are there great museums in this area but, below is a list of the top five best museums in America:

1. Art institute of Chicago: Chicago Illinois  
2. The Getty Center: LOS Angeles, California
3.  The metropolitan museum of art: New York, New York  
4. The National WWll museum:New Orleans, Louisiana
5. National Gallery of Art:Washington DC, District of Columbia

  I also found the top five museum in the world:

1. Art institute of Chicago: Chicago, Illinois  
2. National Museum of Anthropology: Mexico City, Mexico 
3. State Hermitage Museumand Winter Palace: St. Petersburg, Russia
4. The Getty Center: LOSAngeles, California
5. Accademia Gallery:Florence, Italy

While I was researching best museums to visit in the U.S. and in the world mostly all of the websites pointed to the Art Institute of Chicago located in Chicago Illinois. The reviews for this museum are outstanding. The museum is home to some of the worlds greatest art collections, which includes the trademark “American Gothic” painting by Grant Wood. It also holds over 300,000 other pieces and has 30 rotating exhibits. Next time you’re in Chicago be sure to stop there!

I was surprised to see that the Musee Du Louvre was ranked the 19^th best museum in the world. I went to the Louvre when I travel abroad to Paris, France. It doesn't compare to the museums that I've been to in Pittsburgh and Washington DC. There were some many beautiful works of art there like:  Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading the People,  Psyche Revived By the Kiss of Love and so much more! I highly recommend if you are ever in Paris to stop by the Louvre!

Here are some of the picture I took while I visited the Louvre:

I look this picture right before I enter the Louvre. The outside of the building was beautiful!












This was the first thing I saw when I entered the museum. It was a very interesting piece to say the least!











                                                                         When I first saw the Mona Lisa I did not expect to see this! At first I couldn't find a way to the front.















After about an hour wait I was able to get his close up of her. This picture doesn't show it but I had to stand behind a red rope and couldn't get within more than ten feet of her.