Summer Fitness Tips!

Well so much for my ‘summer fitness tips’ last week! The weather seems to have shifted back into ‘miserable London weather’ again…

Still, the fact that the sun is not out in full pelt means you still have time to get back into the gym and give your body one last blast to get the ‘ultimate bikini body’ before Summer really hits!

If you are not a regular gym bunny and would really like to shape up or tone your body for summer this year here are some tips on how to ‘quickly but effectively’ sculpt that body of yours….

1) Aim to do at least 30- 45 minutes of cardio a week- alternate your cardio. One day do the treadmill, the next day use the bike and the next use the cross trainer etc..

2) Break your cardio into intervals- of course after you have done your warm up- find your comfortable pace, then up that pace to ‘out of your comfort zone’ for 2 minutes then come back to your comfort zone again for 2 minutes and continue. An example of this could be on the treadmill- hold a flat jog, then sprint for 2 minutes, then go back to normal or you could even try going up into a hill for 2 minutes. Doing interval training not only helps your heart get stronger but will increase your metabolism hence meaning you burn off more calories after you finish training!

3) Hit the weights! The urban myth of ‘I don’t want to get big muscles’ is exactly that- an urban myth! Aim to train your big muscle groups- such as Chest, Back, Shoulders and Legs and do between 12 and 15 reps of each exercise. Doing the big muscles groups will again help increase your metabolism and doing higher reps will tone your muscles – not create massive muscles!

4) Don’t eat carbohydrates after 7pm- carbohydrates are your body’s main source of fuel, so if we eat them late at night and do little or no activity then your body doesn’t have anything to do with them and they get stored as fat instead! Carbohydrates convert in glucose in your body and it is this glucose that provides us with energy for the day!

5) Eat breakfast! Breakfast literally means ‘break the fast’. If you don’t eat breakfast you slow down your metabolism, and you will end up craving more refined sugary foods later in the day as your sugar levels will have dipped!

Of course all the obvious still apply- such as limiting your alcohol intake (preferably NO alcohol for a while), no eating takeaways every other night, trying to drink your 2 litres of water a day, and of course trying NOT to deep fry every home made meal!

And of course the most important part is to enjoy it of course!