Let’s Get Physical

Kickboxing is a great, fun way of keeping fit and I’ve listed some tips below which will help you in the right direction.

• Ensure that you warm up and stretch off properly so your muscles don’t cramp up and cause you pain
• Focus on the basics. Don’t try to run before you can walk, so aim to perfect the jabs, kicks and other moves before adding power or moving to more complicated moves
• Don’t overdo it. If you’re tired, that’s your body telling you to stop. Have a drink of water, rest for a minute and start back where you left off.

Most girls will be put off by weight training by the mere thought of gaining muscles and ending up looking like Arnie. While this is almost physiologically impossible for us women to build muscle up like this due to lack of the testosterone hormone, our muscles are metabolically active meaning that they burn calories even when they’re not exercising.

With age comes the loss of muscle mass; from the time we reach our 30s we begin to lose thee to five percent of our muscle mass per decade so adding resistance to our training will help to fight the middle age spread and counter the effects.

Training for a 10k can be hard work but great fun. 10k runs are popular throughout the UK with seasoned runners and beginners alike. I think 10k is a good distance to run and upon completion you get the satisfaction of accomplishment and pure satisfaction of having completed the distance.

It’s a brilliant challenge that anyone can train for, whatever your fitness level but the ideal training timescale would be eight to ten weeks before the actual run. If you worry about being able to fit the training in due to work and a busy lifestyle, don’t worry. It can be easily fitted around with a little organisation.

Whether crunches are more beneficial then situps is a difficult one to decide. Both have their slight advantages and disadvantages and cannot really be compared with one another. I don’t think so anyway.

Some people say crunches have no effect as lacks the full range of movement therefore does not use the majority of the muscles in the abs. What is true however, is that the situp does not use any more muscles than the crunch, believe it or not. The only extra workout you are getting from a situp is the movement is from the hip with the hip flexors. People who say situps is better then crunches will most likely have limited knowledge of biomechanics.

If there’s one exercise that provides better, faster results and gives an all over body workout over them all, it has to be the burpee. That’s why burpees are favoured amongst the elite military forces worldwide, every football team and Crossfit trainers.

This simple, easy to learn exercise uses the whole body with each repetition, working your abs, arms, thighs, chest, front deltoids and the hamstrings. It tests not only your core body strength but also your aerobic capabilities and is one of the best exercises for burning fat. What I love the most about burpees is it can be performed anywhere, from the park, living room and on the road.