Sunday, March 29, 2020

A Chemistry Graduation Can Help You With Your Future Careers

A Chemistry Graduation Can Help You With Your Future CareersAn entry-level college student may be quite surprised to learn that there are several universities that offer a program in chemistry graduation. In some instances, the university offering the program is also the one offering the degree. If you are considering a career in this field, a chemistry graduate degree could be an excellent choice.The program itself can vary depending on the school or department. For example, if you are considering a PhD in chemistry, you may only need to take a required course on organic chemistry, and then complete a short course on introductory chemistry and related topics. If your interest is more toward higher education, a bachelor's degree program is likely the way to go.In order to be accepted into a graduate school, you will need to submit a letter of intent to the program. When applying for this program, you will need to create a detailed personal statement describing your hopes for a career in chemistry. Additionally, you will need to declare a major. It's important to be as specific as possible, so it is advisable to ensure that the department in which you wish to work matches up with your major.After choosing a program, you will need to submit specific information such as a transcript or resume, and all academic credentials, such as letters of recommendation from professors. Be sure to include all of your work and hobbies, so that a committee will know what type of person you will be. Make sure that you mention the type of coursework you plan to complete prior to entering the program.Once the program has been finalized, you will need to wait for a decision on whether or not you will begin the program. In order to do this, you should contact the admissions office to find out when the next admissions application period is, and how long it usually takes to receive a response. If you don't receive an offer of admission, there is always the option of returning for the fa ll semester.If you decide to pursue a graduate student's degree in chemistry, then there are several things you should consider. One of the best options is to take advantage of a combination of chemistry courses. While you're still in school, you can take chemistry courses from your lab science coursework. This gives you a solid foundation in chemistry and allows you to expand on the knowledge you already have.As with any type of degree, your degree will open a lot of doors in life. However, it is also important to be sure that you choose a chemistry program that fits your particular needs and interests.

Friday, March 6, 2020

3 Resources to Use When Looking for Internships

3 Resources to Use When Looking for Internships Photo by Anete L?si?a on Unsplash Uloop While Uloop provides plenty of insight for college students through daily articles, the website also connects its users to job opportunities in its Jobs section. Whether youre looking for part-time or full-time work, Uloop has several internship opportunity posts to connect applicants to different opportunities. The job postings themselves are categorized to make your search all the easier you can find internships in multiple categories, ranging from business development to education. You can add opportunities to your favorites to make applying to them later much easier, or if you dont manage to find your ideal internship, you can sign up to join a weekly newsletter that has the latest internship opportunities sent directly your way. Uloops internship section also has links to its multiple articles regarding internships and its internship QA category. The featured news articles will give you plenty of insight -  interview help, dealing with coworkers, or resume help. WayUp Similar to the popular LinkedIn, WayUp helps professionals network through profile-based job searches. Its specifically for college students and recent graduates, like Uloop, and is a great resource for internships. WayUp invites you to build a profile, just like you would for other social media platforms, but with a career-oriented feel. Your profile showcases your work history, education, skills, volunteer works, and leadership roles to help recruiters see if you are the perfect fit or not. While recruiters can come to you via your profile, you still can manually search for internship opportunities yourself. Through WayUps search engine, you can put it in your preferences when it comes to your ideal internship. You can narrow your search down to part-time or full-time, industry, specific location or remote, and more. When you already have your resume uploaded to WayUp, the site allows easy, one-step applications for several companies that require your resume and/or a few answered questions. If youre lost on connecting to different internship opportunities, WayUp is a great resource for internships during your internship search. Your universitys career center/platform, like  Handshake When it comes to resources for internships, your universitys career center is a useful resource to tap into. If you visit your universitys career center, you can personally connect with career counselors instead of blindly searching for help on the internet. Throughout the year, your universitys career center will hold plenty of career talks, networking events, career-oriented workshops to help you get closer to your ideal internship or career. Many career centers have their own digital platform that helps its universitys students and alumni connect to internship and job opportunities or allow their students to access a larger networking platform, like Handshake. Handshake offers its services to over 475 universities and much like LinkedIn and WayUp, allows its users to build a professional profile and connect to internship and job opportunities. Through Handshake, you build a profile that advertises your school year, GPA, education, work experience, courses, skills, extracurriculars, projects, and much more that will attract various recruiters that view your Handshake profile. Handshake helps you connect to job opportunities that match your preferences and jobs that have application requirements that you actually fill. Because Handshake is typically offered by your universitys career center, its also allows you to view different events at your university like career fairs or workshops, and connect to your classmates to help elevate your network. These resources will help you search for internships more easily when you have help on how to improve your resume and another platform to find opportunities. During your search for internships, finding resources for internships will help make your search much easier and help you connect to your ideal internship much quicker.

Worldly Workout 5 Core Components of a Foolproof Language Study Plan

Worldly Workout 5 Core Components of a Foolproof Language Study Plan Worldly Workout: 5 Core Components of a Foolproof Language Study Plan Deciding to learn a new language is great!Just making this decision is an important first step.But its a little like deciding to lose 20 pounds.Its easy to start dieting and going to the gym tomorrow, as soon as this party is over or next week.In the same way, as soon as you get caught up with various distractions at work or home, its tempting to put off language study.Life pretty much always gets in the way.Have you recently decided to learn a new language, or recommitted to improving your language skills?If so, you should know that learning a language, like any other major goal or commitment, requires long-term, consistent follow-through.Thats why the key to real language learning success often lies in a rock-solid study plan.Want to know how to create that plan?Read on. Why You Need a Language Study PlanConsistencyYou know you need to put in some time reading in your target languageâ€"or doing grammar exercises or meeting with a language partnerâ€"but then a friend calls and inv ites you out for a drink. Do you have enough self-control to say no?If you have a set time when you do your language study, its easier to explain to your friendâ€"and yourselfâ€"that you have to stick to the plan and study. If, however, you just study when you have time, pretty soon you end up never having time and always opting to have a drink with friends instead of memorizing vocabulary.So You Can Align Your Activities with Your GoalsWe all learn languages for different reasonsâ€"some need to communicate with their in-laws, others want to advance at work and still others want to read literature in its original language. There is no right or wrong reason to learn a foreign language. But its important to make sure that how you study fits your goals: The person who wants to talk to his or her in-laws in a foreign language should study differently than the person who wants to read literature.Having a study plan allows you to think through your goals and how each one of your study act ivities will help you move closer to each specific goal.So Youll Spend Time Studying, Not Deciding What to StudyEvery time you sit down to study, you have options. Languages are complex monsters, and learning one requires mastering a huge set of skills.  So every time you sit down to study, there are a range of activities you could do and skills you could work on.If you only have a limited amount of time (like most people), you dont want to spend any more time than necessary deciding whether to listen to a radio interview or doing a reading comprehension exercise or writing something to be corrected on Lang-8.  If you have a good plan, youll know not only when youre going to study, but exactly what youre going to study at each time.So when the time comes, you dont have to even think about what to doâ€"you just dive right in.Worldly Workout: 5 Core Components of a Foolproof Language Study Plan1. Its Realistic Considering Your Other CommitmentsHave you ever met someone who says they a re going to study four hours per day, in spite of having a full-time job and three kids? Maybe they can pull it offbut its more likely that they will burn out after a few weeks and then stop studying entirely.Plan Around Your Job, Family, etc.We all have things going on in our lives, and its important to realistically assess all of our other commitments before starting a project like language learning. Heres how you can go about doing so:On a sheet of paper, make a grid showing Monday through Sunday, with each day broken down into hour-long intervals.Fill in the grid with your activities on a typical week. Include everything and be specific: If you spend an hour commuting, that should be labeled commuting, not work. If you typically go out with friends on a particular night of the week, include that.  If you watch a TV show, include that.Identify any times you dont usually have any activitiesâ€"those are your first targets for scheduling language study!Secondly, identify activities that you might be willing to give up in order to make more time for language study (especially if you didnt have any downtime in your schedule!).Lastly, find any activities in your schedule that could be overlapped with language study. Commuting is the perfect exampleâ€"its a great time to listen to language materials (but obviously not a good time to work on writing or reading if youre the one driving).Put your proposed language study times into your calendar!You can also use time management apps like Rescue Time or Focus Booster to help you locate the downtime in your scheduleâ€"and make the most of it!Dont Be Overly Ambitious!As youre working on creating a schedule that will work around your other commitments, resist the temptation to fill every waking hour with language study. That will just burn you out. A good language study plan is sustainable. So dont plan on giving up your favorite TV show or staying up two hours later every night.2. It Incorporates Diverse Learning Activit iesIncorporate Both Independent Study and InstructionYour language study plan should include time aloneâ€"time that youre listening to podcasts, learning and practicing grammar and memorizing vocabulary.But you also need to work with native speakers and get some kind of instruction, whether its from a class, from a private teacher or a language exchange partner.You can kill two birds with one stone on italki. Its a smart platform for finding free language exchange partners (native speakers of your target language, who also want to learn your native language). You can also hire professional language tutors on the platform, and youll be able to identify the ideal tutor for you based on your schedule, budget and language goals. Either way, the options here can be a huge boon for your language progress.A good language study plan needs both independent study and instructed timeâ€"and it has to be scheduled.Practice Different Language SkillsFluency in a foreign language requires mastery o f reading, writing, speaking and listening, and the best language study plans make time for all of those skills.Truly masterful study plans align the type of skill to practice with your energy level and other activities. For example, if you commute to work and can listen to a podcast in your target language every day during this time. Alternatively, if writing is the most difficult skill for you to master, schedule your writing practice at a time when you can be 100 percent focused and when you tend to be alert and energetic.3. Its Targeted Towards Your GoalsPractice the Language Skills Important to Your GoalsEveryone has different goals, and you need to make sure your language study plan reflects yours, not someone elses. So if your language goal is to read original-language literature, your study plan should be heavy on reading practice. If you need to use the language at work, it should focus on business vocabulary.Make Goal-specific BenchmarksBenchmarks in general are essential to a good language study plan, but you also need benchmarks that are specific to your aims. Scoring high marks on a test that measures reading ability isnt that useful if you really want to improve your speaking ability. Here are some sample benchmarks that might be relevant to specific goals:Have a conversation in your target language with a native speaker.Read a complete book in your target language. (You could even be so specific as to specify which book to read.)Watch a movie without subtitles in your target language.4. It Includes Periodic, Measurable EvaluationYoull need some way to determine if your plan is workingâ€"and those evaluation mechanisms should in fact be part of your study plan. There are two main ways to evaluate how youre doing:Take Language Proficiency TestsMany languages have standardized language proficiency exams that people use to prove to employers or others that they can speak the language. Some of the more well-known exams are the HSK for Chinese, the DE LF/DALF for French and the DELE for Spanish.Incorporate taking these exams into your general study plan. They will provide an outside, objective evaluation of your progress, and give you an idea of which language skills you are comparatively weaker in. Knowing that a test is coming up can also be a powerful motivator to put in a little extra study time!Get Individual Evaluation from TutorsFinding a language tutor in your area is easy with WyzAnt, where you can immediately search and filter tutors by rates, availability, distance from you and more. You can look at a tutors profile and get an extensive idea of their experience and their schedule before even contacting them!If youd prefer to look exclusively at your  online tutoring options, you can skip over to Verbling and browse hundreds upon hundreds of language tutors from all around the world. Verbling even offers their own video technology, so you can have your lessons right on their site.Your language tutors canâ€"and shouldâ€" also provide you with feedback about your progress. Its appropriate to ask for a progress report every month or every two months, so that you can make sure youre on the right track.5. Its ConsistentThe whole point of a study plan is to be as consistent as possible. Heres how to make sure your plan fosters consistency.Schedule Each ActivityEvery language learning activity should have a time and a place. You dont want to say, Ill do one hour of listening practice this week. Instead, it should be, Every Tuesday and Thursday I do half an hour  of listening practice while I ride the train to work between 8:30 and 9 in the morning.Youre more likely to follow through week after week if you have the exact time and place nailed down in advance!Avoid InterruptionsYour language time must be sacredâ€"no text messages distracting you, no roommates offering you dinner and no kids begging for attention. Having scheduled activities helps manage interruptions enormously, because you can communicate to the people around you that youre not available.With the right language study plan, you can make continued progress towards fluency in your target language.Learning a language often requires slow but steady progress, and having a solid plan will help you keep on track for the long haul.Happy studying! And One More ThingAre you looking for study materials that provide enough structure to create your own lesson plans? Then youre going to love learning with FluentU!FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.  Its all stuff that native speakers  actually watch.  With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is w ithin reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.Interactive transcript for Carlos Baute song.You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs Quiz Mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU has quizzes for every videoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website  with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the  iTunes  or  Google Play  store.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

5 online resources for English tutors

5 online resources for English tutors If you are considering becoming an English tutor, you may find the following websites useful: 1) Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) provides a comprehensive library of out-of-copyright texts. The accurate and unabridged texts are a fantastic resource, and the easy search function means finding that half-remembered quote is a doddle. 2) Amazon. A trusted favourite, www.amazon.co.uk is the largest book store on the web. It is also more often than not the cheapest, due to a lack of overheads. They have a section dedicated to literary classics, with most set texts for GCSE upwards, available from a thrifty 1.99. 3) Spark Notes. Spark Notes have become a byword for study guides, and their website is a treasure trove of additional information for tutors and students alike. www.sparknotes.com 4) Youtube. This ubiquitous pop culture site has recently started a new trend in education - public access lectures. Typing 'English lectures' into Youtube brings up a host of videos from around the world, showing you in real terms how certain topics have been successfully approached. www.youtube.com 5) Biblio. This independent online store contains an excellent first resource for author biographies, with key works and dates highlighted. With over 300 biographies, ranging from the classic to the cult, it's a great first stop for background research. It's hidden well within the site, but can be found at: http://www.biblio.com/authors.php As usual, we welcome all feedback! Please feel free to add comments about any useful English tutoring resources you've found online.

Chemistry, Structure and Properties 2nd Edition - Prepares You For a Better Understanding

Chemistry, Structure and Properties 2nd Edition - Prepares You For a Better UnderstandingThe Chemistry Structure and Properties 2nd Edition will help you develop a better understanding of how your body is prepared for the development of a healthy life. The study of the periodic table will become easier when you have all the chemistry information at your fingertips.It will also prepare you for understanding the various chemical compounds that are being made in this world as well as how they can affect our health and well-being. Through the comprehensive explanations and diagrams, you will get a better understanding of how different molecules interact with each other and how they are formed into materials such as solids, liquids, gases, and crystals.A lot of theory will be included in this book, which will provide students with a clear understanding of all the concepts of chemistry. It is possible to make an almost complete program from this book since it is divided into sections that are designed to introduce a particular theme or topic.This book is perfect for a well-rounded science student who wants to understand the basics of chemistry. It is beneficial for students who plan to study it in the future because it will provide them with a clear idea of the contents of the book. If you plan to attend school for chemistry at some point in the future, it is important that you have access to this book.These books are usually used by teachers to teach students for courses in the college. So, this book is also available to anyone who wants to learn more about the basic elements and their related compounds. It is also beneficial for businessmen who want to prepare themselves for more business and management related courses.This book has been a useful and valuable way of learning chemistry since it was first introduced. This material has been used by the teachers to teach students for courses in the colleges and universities as well as for professionals who are looking for a way to enhance their learning capabilities.Students who want to learn chemistry can find this book very helpful. This book will allow you to understand the process of the chemical reactions and the properties of the compounds.

Organic Chemistry Tutors and Molecular Physics

Organic Chemistry Tutors and Molecular PhysicsPerseverance is one of the virtues that the organic chemistry tutor can gain by applying some momentum physics into his or her lessons. When your class is older, you may be able to focus more on new concepts and the details of each lesson. However, when you are younger, your interest will still be there, but it may not be as strong. If this is the case, you can take advantage of the momentum physics by taking a course with a momentum teacher and then reading from his or her student guide or reference materials.The simplest form of physics that can be applied to organic chemistry is Newtonian physics. In this system, your understanding of what happens in the macroscopic world is based on your understanding of what happens in the microcosmic world, where everything is so minute. Therefore, you can use Newtonian physics to help you understand and control things that are much larger and even microscopic, in nature.Your organic chemistry tutor can also use this method to help your students understand the principle of momentum. When they apply this science in the classroom, they are not going to consider things that are much larger than the basic particles that make up the molecules. For example, you might want to tell your students that the fundamental particle in organic chemistry is the carbon atom. However, you cannot tell them that the molecule is made up of many carbon atoms because those atoms are so large that they would dwarf the effect that a single carbon atom has.However, momentum physics tells us that the carbon atom can have its energy divided among many carbon atoms. We can therefore use this to show that there is more than one way to look at the amount of the total energy that is needed for the process of turning an atom's electrons into protons and neutrons, and that each path gives a different result.As an organic chemistry tutor, you can use this information to help your students understand how the crea tion of protons and neutrons from electrons creates molecules that are either negative or positive. This is called spin and is very important to understanding how organic chemistry occurs in the lab. This momentum method can also give students an idea of what it means to break chemical bonds.In addition to all of these, momentum physics can be used to help organic chemistry students learn how to do simple reactions and make simple additions and subtractions. Again, this can be used to help your students to understand that there are many different ways to formulate substances, and also to help them learn how to do complicated reactions like cross-coupling and addition. These methods are also used to help organic chemistry students understand the importance of using the right catalyst and all of the steps that go into making a chemical reaction go according to plan.Finally, momentum physics is very easy to use for your organic chemistry tutor. You can also use it in all types of setti ngs, from college classrooms to field trips, because momentum is a useful method that can help a lot of people. Use this wonderful science, and you'll find that your students will be very excited about organic chemistry.

How to Tone your Abdomen With a Personal Trainer

How to Tone your Abdomen With a Personal Trainer How Personal Training with a Fitness Instructor can Help you Get Great Abs ChaptersKnow Your BodyRules to Remember When Working Your AbsWays to Work Your Abs EffortlesslyPreconceived notion #1: working your abs will cause you to lose weight.That is not exactly true. While sit-ups, crunches and other moves meant to strengthen your abdominal muscles will in fact tone them, doing them will not trim your waistline.More specifically, doing only them will not trim your waistline. Exercise physiology dictates you need an entire fitness program for overall health and fitness.Preconception #2: people tend to overlook that poorly toned abs, painfully evident in those with bad posture, can lead to worse musculoskeletal problems: back pain, trouble breathing and, because of improper oxygen intake, fatigue.A final incorrect notion often held about stomach muscles: it is difficult to get them in shape.To get the flat stomach you crave, it is simply not enough to do exercises targeted to your abdominal muscles.Total body strength and conditioning is what a corrective exer cise specialist would prescribe.You have to make sure your back is toned and strong, with well-developed muscles.You have to hold good posture to ensure that your lumbars, cervical and thoracic muscles all work in concert to support your every physical endeavor.Let's follow this technical guide to how your skeletal muscles work together, before we see how to tone your stomach.Personal trainers will tell you: the key to physical fitness is knowing your body Source: Pixabay Credit: Teamsmashgame CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutor s LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsKnow Your BodyAnyone who is knowledgeable about physical education will tell you that you have to be aware o f your body composition before you can know how to work it.A personal trainer would tell you that you have to know which muscles your abs consist of.Your abdominal girdle is made up of:the rectus abdoministhe internal and external obliquesthe transverse abdominisA critical difference in these muscles is how they are worked. Effective flexing and conditioning exercises  should work all of these muscles.A gym instructor could demonstrate a training course tailored to your abs, or you could find a local or online  personal trainer to design a fitness and nutrition regimen targeted to building, working and developing your abdominals .Traditional exercises targeted to the stomach â€" those fondly-remembered sit-ups, for example, target only the long muscle strips that give the coveted six-pak abs look.A certified personal trainer, before permitting you the first stomach crunch, would conduct a physical assessment to see what condition your abs are in.S/he is also checking your endurance levels and what stage of strength training you are at in order to prescribe a bespoke fitness regimen.Injury prevention is foremost on every personal trainer's mind.Nationally â€" all across the UK, every personal fitness trainer, whether in a gym or an in-home fitness specialist, must  undergo First Aid Certification training before qualifying to work in any aspect of the personal training business.You can rest assured that your fitness trainer is not being overly cautious  in discouraging your from sit-ups straightaway.S/he is only trying to protect you from serious lumbar injury or disc herniation as you work your way to a healthier,  fitter you.The following three signature moves benchmark progressive levels of abdominal strength and tenacity. They make up part of the fitness assessment  every private training coach might instruct you on prior to determining your scope of practice.PlankingLay face-down on the floor. Angling your elbows at ninety degrees, prop your upper body on your forearms.Plant your toes firmly on the ground, and then raise your lower extremities, so that your back is ramrod straight.Your entire body should rest on your elbows and toes. How long can you hold the pose?To meet your fitness goals, you should strive to keep planking for one minute, and then release. Optimal repetition is three times.You will feel a burn in your abs, but that is good: it means they are working.Your fitness instructor will stop the test either when your hips dip toward the floor, or when your glutes peak â€" when you point your bottom to the ceiling.The Shirato-ItoThis abdominal muscle test consists of laying flat on your back, with your legs positioned at ninety degrees.Your hands should be laced behind your neck with elbows touching the floor.Your fitness professional will then assess your lift â€" head and torso off the floor, and how long you can hold the pose. S/he will end the test once your shoulder blades or head dip down.If you can hold the pose for two minutes, the standard for this test, your personal fitness trainer will modify your training program to reflect relatively good muscle tone.The SorensenThis move is preferred by professional athletes. It consists of stretching along an exercise table with your hips and lower extremities restrained, while your torso hangs free.On your athletic coach's command, you should lift your torso so that it is in line with your hips and legs, and hold as long as you can.This strenuous pose, held for three minutes, will test not only your stomach muscles, but also those of your back, neck and arms.And it will test your lung capacity: don't forget to breathe while you hold yourself straight!Discover how to tighten your back muscles.Bend at the knee to lift heavy objects Source: Pixabay Credit: 3Dman_euRules to Remember When Working Your AbsTightening your abs should be an integral part of your overall fitness training, but there are inherent risks if not done properly.Consider the advice we 've all heard: lift heavy loads with your knees, not your back.Training techniques such as how to move, lift and work out are all a part of the knowledge you would gain when you work out with an online personal trainer, a one to one fitness specialist, or even a coach at the gym.In personal fitness training, you must respect fundamental rules (and avoid grave mistakes), such as:Do Not Brace Your FeetAthletes at beginner level tend to do sit-ups by bracing their feet under the couch, or getting their workout partner to hold them down.With fingers laced at the nape, lift after painful lift is assayed, all in the name of muscular endurance.While bracing the ankles does make sit-ups easier, you are in effect working your hip and thigh muscles more so than your stomach.A bit of kinesiology would teach you that doing sit-ups  in this manner could actually hurt your back, especially if your abs are not ready for that level of work.Anyone in the fitness business will tell you: if a defined six-pack is what you are looking for, it would be best to train that muscle group with your legs extended and...Find the best fitness classes near me.The Hands Behind the NeckWhether doing crunches or the reviled sit-up, putting your hands behind your neck is counter-productive.Unwittingly, the novice sports practicer will use those laced hands to lift the head.Try it: do your elbows struggle to join in the lift, only to point at the ceiling?Pulling on your neck takes effort away from your stomach, so that you don't get the full effect of the work you are doing.Worse: you risk injuring yourself while working out.The better place for your hands is at ear level, with the fingertips just touching the cup of your ear.If you are more advanced on the fitness spectrum, you could try crossing your arms over your chest as you work through your training programs.Keep Tension on Your AbsThis is a fundamental health rule: no matter what the activity, even standing or walking, keep your abs tens e.Beyond that, every move you make should cause an abdominal contraction.Your abs and lumbar muscles work together to hold you up. Weakness in the abdominals forces the lumbars to work harder, possibly leading to long-term back injury.Besides, it is more difficult to rediscover your flat stomach under that body fat if you don't keep your abs flexed as you walk.Maintain a Straight SpineMany who have just enrolled at the fitness center, in their quest to get fit quickly, tend to follow bad form.They curve their shoulders inward and hunch their upper back while exercising, for example.If you are doing so, you are compressing your rib cage, limiting the amount of air your lungs can take in.And, you are overworking your back while under-working your abs.Bad form has no place in your exercise program.Your training specialist will tell you: shoulders and hips should always be in line, and stretched as far apart as possible.Another strong recommendation from the fitness industry: keep your perineum tight in order to force all of the work to your abdominal muscles.New mothers doing post-natal workouts should be especially aware of this suggestion.Discover also how to tone your thighs!Capitalise on every opportunity to work your abs, even while walking Source: Pixabay Credit: ijmakiWays to Work Your Abs EffortlesslyYou are motivated to tone your tummy. You are ready to engage in functional training to become the best you.How can you do it without any personal training sessions or knowledge of exercise science?Indeed, you can establish a personal training program to tone your abs without personal training certification.Before You Get UpWhilst still in bed, you can do a few gentle sit-ups. They will be most effective if your legs are kept tightly together.After a hard day's work, who would be motivated to do any exercise programs or resistance training?Instead of a visit from a certified personal trainer, you could do a few flexes and stretches, just before bed.Check out these functional moves  that you may already be doing.Ease your torso slightly forward and pull your arms back. Feel the tension on your stomach as your chest opens up. Take a deep breath, and then release and repeat.This is a textbook move practiced in gyms, in group training and during aerobic cool down sessions.Next, pull you legs straight up, and touch your ankle with your fingertips.This move is great for working obliques and busting up fatty tissue in the belly.Breathe Through Your StomachYoga trainers embrace this move as a way to cleanse airways prior to their workout session.This training technique requires minimal effort to show great results: breathe through your stomach, so that it is completely inflated, and then exhale with maximum force.You might see small groups following this technique in the gym, after a vigorous cardio workout.This deep breathing technique is great for releasing tension and stress from your everyday activity, just before bed.Tighten as You WalkFol low fitness programs while on the phone, while dealing with clients, while coding, while editing, while reviewing graduate papers, while punching a cash register...?The sad fact is, most of our day is sedentary: too many of today's jobs require sitting for long periods of time.Still, even while sitting at your desk, you can do some isometrics, strength training, resistance work and other general sports conditioning, all with no health club membership required.You can reach your goal for a tight stomach even as you answer the phone.You might not be able to get a cardiorespiratory workout in while sitting at your desk, but you can certainly have fun flexing various muscle groups in sequence and breathing deeply is not forbidden at work, that we know of.To summarise: you hold complete accountability for your personal fitness.If you want to lose weight, get a toned body and sculpt your abs, you can start while at work, continue on the way home and even work your body while walking to be d.Let every footstep be an opportunity to flex your stomach muscles â€" gently.You don't want to walk around like a penguin, after all!You will soon see a difference in your body mass and composition.Capitalise on that and let your motivation  to train grow!Learn how to work your hamstrings.