Holiday workouts? Pipe dream or reality? January 13, 2011

Sorry for the blogging absence since the end of the summer, I have been on holiday, travelling and navigating the ups and downs of job applications!

However on the travels note I though I would blog about holiday workouts.  Is it realistic to expect that you will work out on your break from the norm and when push comes to shove are you really going to get out of bed half an hour early to practice your yoga by the pool whilst watching the sun rise?  Hmm well I went to Florida full of good intentions, I would run whilst it was cool either in the early morning or late evening and I would take advantage of the heat to practice my Bikram Yoga by the pool, I was also adamant to keep up my sit-ups and push-ups to retain muscle tone.  Madness?  Well almost- I did run and I did do some yoga and some sit ups but only 3 or 4 times on a two-week holiday.  In the end the sun lounger and the chance to catch up on reading for pleasure after a year of master’s degree reading was too much to resist – not to mention that after a couple of poolside margaritas my ability to pull off a non-wobbly “dancer pose” was vastly reduced, ah well, when in Rome!  Therefore I have come to the conclusion that in the future I will still take a capsule workout wardrobe on holiday as when I did workout it gave me an energy boost to hit those theme parks harder, but I won’t expect to use it every day…or every two days!

If you think you will work out on holiday then here are my tips for baggage restriction friendly exercises.  Obviously in the days of restricted baggage weights you would have to be nuts to consider packing your kettle bell or dumbbells but do consider taking a resistance band!  You can stand on a resistance band or wrap it around a (sturdy!) banister and use the resistance to do bicep and tricep curls.  Another useful piece of lightweight kit is a skipping rope.  This is particularly useful if there is nowhere suitable or safe for you to run as you can use it indoors or poolside.  Ten to twenty minutes of fast skipping is excellent exercise and will really get your heart rate pumping.  Finally you can always keep those abs in shape by using time when you are waiting for people to get ready to do five minutes of crunches or a few core-stabilising planks.  If you do all that when you are on holiday you really do deserve that margarita!

Happy holidays/workouts!

Gym Bunny Blog

Good Cheats! August 25, 2010

off the back of the last post I thought I would share some positive ways to look and feel better or to supplement your workout without hitting the gym!

1. Fake tan! Ok so you have to get this right but when it works it really works! Remember preparation is key to exfoliate and moisturise and experiment until you find the right one for you!

2.I suggest you take the stairs… This is an oldy but a goody, whether you work on the 5th floor or you take the underground to work and it’s 200 steps to the street, go for it! Feel the burn and think of the toning effect on those legs and the CV benefits for your heart!

3.Ab holds.  Use your commute to your benefit whether your drive get the train or the underground, use pauses in your journey (stations, traffic lights etc) to pull in and hold your abs tight for 30-60 seconds. Engaging your abs makes them work and every little bit helps!

4. Carry your food don’t push it! Next time you are nipping into the store for your mid-week shop ditch the trolley and grab a basket! Engage your core to protect your back and work out those arms at the same time!

5. Warm up en-route, if you are going to the gym try to power walk/take the stairs on your way there it will save you 10 mins on the treadmill or whatever your usual routine.  This is key especially if you are paying for a personal trainer, why pay to have them watch you warm up?  Put the extra ten minutes of their time to good use and get straight into your workout with them, even agree to meet them at the treadmill so you are already there and ready to go!

Happy work outs

Gym Bunny Blog

Are you cheating?

Sometimes in life it’s the small things that make a difference and from time to time I pick up a tip or make a slight alteration to my routine/an exercise that makes me realise that previously I’ve been letting myself off lightly.  Therefore I have compiled a list of cheats, some that I have learned and others I have seen other people do and others that are just common misconceptions of how to work out.  Hopefully these will help you improve your work out!

1.  Hills DON’T have handles!! OK this may actually be one of my biggest pet peeves in the gym so please ignore the ranting.  Walking or running up hill is a great way to get your body working hard and is great for interval training too BUT there is no point in putting the incline in the treadmill up so high that you have to hold on.  I see so many people leaning back almost at a right angle to the treadmill so really they are just walking flat but at a tilt.  Don’t cheat, let go of the handles (maybe decrease the incline till you can do this safely!) and feel the burn- if you are holding on you are taking the pressure away from your legs and decreasing the effort your body has to make aka cheating and pointless.

2. Situps – hand positioning: This is a great one I learned in a PT session.  When you are crunching up keep your hands at your temples and don’t bring your elbows forward of your head, when you do this you engage back and shoulder muscles instead of your abs and your muscles will work less hard.  Try it out in the gym the next time you’re there and see the difference!

3.Too low weights.  It’s a common misconception that by using heavier weights women will build massive muscles.  Not true.  In order to look like a body builder you would have to be taking some major “supplements”…So don’t worry about the bulk, if you don’t push your muscles you will not get the tone you’re looking for!  Also if you can do a few reps of up to 12 (and just make it to 12) then you are working with roughly the right weight, if it’s too easy up your weights or you’re cheating!

4. Commit to the squats! Are you getting low enough when you are doing your squats? Bring your butt right back so it’s like you are sitting on a chair (not lower).  Next time your doing squats try pushing it that final few centimetres and feel the burn!

5.Push it to the end.  Are you’re reps of 12 more like 10 with a couple of half attempts thrown in?  Make sure you push all your reps right to the end, do this and feel the difference in the muscle fatigue the next day!

6. Sports Drinks. Not so much a cheat but again a common misconception that going to the gym requires a lucozade, no doubt helped along by the presence of vending machines in every gym foyer….But unless you are really training hard, like marathon training etc rather than just you usual gym workout you may be working against yourself.  If you are trying to burn fat or lose weight then taking on glucose whilst working out is a bad idea, your body uses the lucozade rather than searching for fat stores to give you energy.  Some workouts are so intensive that you do need the extra energy to keep you going though so I would suggest consulting your trainer or someone in the gym.  When I was doing boxing with a trainer I used lucozade but this was some intensive working out and I wouldn’t use it for my usual gym sessions.

7. Finally- are you cheating yourself?  Have you gone into the gym thinking “I am so tired, I really don’t have the energy”? If so then you are cheating yourself out of a good workout.  Try to approach your workout really positively, have a hit of energy e.g. a banana beforehand and then crank up some good gym tunes on your I-Pod!

Happy working out!

Gym Bunny Blog

xx