Push through your workouts and keep going
New year for most of us means getting back into shape after slobbing about over the festive season. There’s no time like the present to get started but where do we begin and how can we remain motivated?
Anna Reich, Fitness Expert for Simple shares her top five tips
1) Firstly ditch the guilt - any exercise is better than none so if you can only start by exercising once a week, that’s a great start. I recommend that you should try 30 minutes of exercise five times a week to really see the benefits but this gives you something to aim for. Busy bees can still find time for fitness – you can split your exercise into two 15 minute intervals, one in the morning and one in the evening. Try power walking or jogging in short bursts on your way to work or when you get home, spend 15 minutes skipping, star jumping, doing squats and vigorous dancing in your living room. So long as you are getting sweaty, its exercise!
2) Say hola to hula hooping. This is a great fun and an effective work out for your arms, abs and buttocks. Try 3 sets of 30 in 60 second bursts. Stand with your feet slightly apart, with one just in front of the other to aid the motion. Hold the hoop with both hands above your hips and then throw/spin in a counter-clockwise direction with your hands, matching the rotation by moving your hips back and forth. Keep arms up and out of the way of the hoop and for added resistance, wear wrist weights
3) Don’t be a dummy – it’s all about the hand weight action! Dust off those dumbbells and get curling and lunging. Stand with your hips and shoulders in alignment and then lunge forward onto one leg. Bend the leading knee and drop the back one so that its hovering above the floor. Both knees should be at a 90 degree angle. Curl the dumbbell inward as you lunge and uncurl as you push off with the leading foot back to start position. Doing this really helps get your quadriceps, buttock and biceps working
4) Clever circuiting. Circuits are one of the best ways to make the most of a short exercise window because it gets your heart pumping and works every muscle in your body. Circuits increase cardio vascular fitness, burns calories and boosts your resting metabolic rate (the rate at which your body utilises energy and burns fat post work out)
5) Be inspired and keep motivated. Buy fitness magazines or sign up to fitness blogs to help spur you on. Publically commit – telling your friends, family and work colleagues about your new get fit regime means you will find it harder to give up. Seek support – book a session with a personal trainer, join a running club or buddy up with a fitness friend. Invest in some nice new gym kit. Looking the part helps you feel the part. Final it’s all about go setting. Be realistic and don’t try to do too much in one go but set achievable goals e.g. in 3 months drop a dress size or in 9 months run a marathon etc.
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