Inline Skating

Exercising outdoors is a refreshing and invigorating way to get fit. Some researchers have found that taking regular outdoor exercise provides health advantages over exercising in the gym or fitness classes. During the winter when the days are shorter this is especially true as often people do not see daylight for days at a time.

If you live in the countryside then you will have a lot of options available to you, such as running along public footpaths and bridleways or cycling the country lanes. For everyone else in the cities or suburban towns a trip to the park can provide some great ways to get some exercise in.

Running in the Park

Jogging and running is a very effective way to get fit and also to lose some weight. Ideally you should run on grass to reduce impact on your joints. However, with good running shoes and a quality asphalt surface running on the pavements it not going to cause you any problems. When running in the park it is a good idea to find a circular route and time how long it takes to do one lap. Then you can work on running faster or performing more laps. This makes it much easier to work on your fitness and keep pushing yourself harder. Runners World provide lists of clubs and events around the UK.

Cycling around the park

Some larger parks offer pavements and tracks for cycling. If your park provides this then why not buy yourself a bike? Cycling is a lower impact form of exercise and still very effective. However, the park does need to be large to get the most from this. But in large towns it will still be better than cycling on the streets. Just be careful of the other park users. For more on cycling in the UK take a look at British Cycling where you can find details of events and cycling clubs in your area.

Inline Skating

If you park is equipped with a well maintained and level path then in-line skating is a fun way to exercise. Many parks in London are filled with skaters in the summer months. Skating is a low impact (if you do not fall over!) form of exercise that really works the legs and thighs. All you need is a pair of inline skates and you are off. If you would prefer to start with some organised classes and outings then head over to the United Kingdom Inline Skating Association where you can find a list of clubs and societies that offer training and weekly “skate outs”. For Londoners CitiSkate offers many classes and events.

Circuit Training Exercises

If you can get to the park at a time when there are no children around, generally early in the morning or as it is getting dark, you can use the climbing frames to help you perform some circuit training exercises. Pull ups, dips and push ups can be performed on most climbing frames and if there are some monkey bars using these will really help to strengthen your torso and burn some calories. If you are in any doubt about how to perform these exercises ask a personal trainer, or better still, see if there are any outdoor boot camp classes running nearby. To find a personal trainer always use the National Register of Personal Trainers to ensure that you are hiring a fully trained and qualified instructor.

Kayaking

Many towns have canals and rivers running through them, and sometimes you can find kayaking clubs or rowing clubs that organise regular classes on the river. This can make a real change from the usual form of exercise and they often have a really good social scene. The Canoe England organisation keeps a database of clubs so if there is something nearby you should be able to find it there.

Overall, exercising in the park is a refreshing and enjoyable way to get fit. If you exercise with others you will also have more fun. Circuit training with boot-camp class, cycling or skating with your family or jogging with the local running clubs, all will brighten your day and make you healthier.

Reference

“A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments” by
Diana E Bowler, Lisette M Buyung-Ali, Teri M Knight and Andrew S Pullin. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:456 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-456.

Many women are put off weight training because it has a very masculine image, and women fear that they will bulk up. However, unless supplements and steroids are taken, women will not bulk up when weight training. Weight training will help to reduce stomach fat, and tone the buttock and thigh muscles much more than just cardio exercise alone.

Weight training routines are generally broken down into repetitions (often shortened to reps) and sets. A set describes one exercise done repeatedly for a specific number of repetitions (or until muscular failure) and repetitions are simply the number of times the weight is lifted through its full movement.

The video below provides a great introduction to weight training. Here are the exercises that are covered:

• Squats – the basic leg, thigh and butt workout. Squats are the most important weight training exercise as they work the largest muscles of the body – the glutes. These are the muscles that form the buttocks.
• Bench press – works the chest and arms. Many women are concerned that bench pressing will develop a manly looking chest, however, this is not the case. If anything toning the muscles in the upper chest will give you more support and lift in the areas that matter!
• Upright rows – works the shoulders. A great exercise. Go slow and keep good form. These are best done with dumbbells really to prevent risk on wrist injury.
• Bent over rows – work the back more and the arms slightly. When performing a bent over row focus on lifting with the back muscles and not pulling with the bicep.
• Twist crunches – best way to hit the abs. Perform crunches with your feet up on a bench and twist into the crunch.

Basic Weight Training Techniques for Women

This video is provided by www.getrealfit.org who provide workouts design to help women workout at home.

Weight training resources

If you liked the look of this workout then there are many website that offer more advanced training, here are a few of our favourites:

• ExRx (Exercise Prescription) on the Net - search by exercise or by muscle, comes with videos and instructions. Plus a nice community.
• Strength Training for Women | Mark’s Daily Apple – if you have not looked at Mark’s Daily Apple before do so. Great blog, helpful advice, well explained.
• Female Training Articles – Bodybuilding.com – Don’t be put off by the name of the photos of incredibly muscular men and women. This is an excellent resource for all things related to weight training. The community can get a little opinionated at times, but then it is one of the largest communities on the Internet so attracts a lot of strange people!
• Take a look at this one first: Train Like A Man – Look Like A Goddess! 

Tone Up! Best Butt Exercises

I just came across this video on YouTube. It is called the “best butt exercises” (sorry, that’s bums to us Brits!) and does indeed provide a few pretty good workouts to tone bums (butts, buns, glutes etc).

• They start of with some side step ups on a park bench, then move onto Bosu squats, which are done on a Bosu balance board.
• Then there are some plank glute kickbacks, which also work the arms a little as you hold your weight as if in push up position.
• Walking lunges with a twist are done next, which really do result in a burn.
• Glute Hips Lifts come next which work the glutes, inner thighs and core muscles.
• Single leg squats come last, these are a real great thigh and glute exercise.

Watch all the exercises here:

High impact step aerobics workout – 8 minutes

This high impact workout provides an excellent quick exercise routine. Firstly, you need to do a gentle warm up for a few minutes before starting, as this is a high impact routine. It involves lots of jacks, cross country skis, double step touches, power low squats, and “scoop it forwards”, plus knee runs and speed skates.

After 8 minutes of this your heart will be thumping and your blood flowing. Remember, the goal of high impact aerobics is to really work the cardiovascular system to condition the body. This means that you will be sweating, panting and aching afterwards. No pain, no gain!

Cathe Friedrich’s Cardio Fusion:

Home Fitness With Dumbbells and Bodyweight Training

Here fitness instructor Zuzana from BodyRock.tv takes us through a dynamic dumbbell and bodyweight routine. This routine is fast an intensive and designed to burn fat and tone.

It starts with a combination move with dumbbells: bent over row followed by a power clean and press. This really gets the blood flowing and hits the major musles.

Next up are push ups with leg lifts. These work the chest and shoulders as well as the glutes and thighs.

Tone Your Bum with the Yoga for the Butt workout

This routine is derived from yoga, and is designed to help tone and firm the buttocks.

Classic yoga postures such as the warrior pose and downward dog, are utilized. It is quite an energetic and advanced yoga routine, so really for those more experienced with yoga. Tara Stiles does a very good job at explaining each movement throughout the routine. The stomach muscles are also used.

Here we share 3 of her short video workouts. Do not be fooled by the length of these workouts, they may be short but they are intensive. Also Zuzana has edited the videos down, so the actual workouts are a little longer than we see here.

Upi can perform one of these every day or put them all together for one longer workout to perform a few times a week. Remember, just doing these workouts alone will not get you a body like Zuzana. She does a lot of exercise, and that includes daily cardio routines to burn off all excess fat as well as intensive weight training routines.

Full Body Core Workout Exercises 1

Supersets on a stability ball. Many people own a stability ball, few people work themselves to this level of intensity with it! Perform these supersets and you will be burning fat and toning muscles in no time.

Full Body Core Workout 2: Back and Chest

This is a great workout. Many women neglect to exercise the back and chest, fearing that they will become too muscular or too bulky. This is not the case though, a strong back and chest helps to support your whole body and make you look healthier and fitter. Also it improves posture so that you are less likely to become hunched as you grow older.

Lower Body Workout 3: Step Exercises

There are more core body workouts in the series, but these lower body exercises from Zuzana need a mention. Excellent for toning thighs and buttocks. You could possible do this workout every day. Combined with some regular cardio and a healthy diet this routine will certainly help you to tone your thighs and bum.

To see more of  Zuzana Light’s workouts visit her at www.bodyrock.tv. She is an inspiration to all women and is proof that working out at home can be extremely effective. No gym membership required!

Before we start exercising for weight loss we must know why we are exercising. Although you burn calories while exercising, the biggest advantage comes from building new muscle tissue. Muscles are very demanding in terms of energy, so to grow and maintain muscle you need more energy. Muscles therefore increase your metabolism and make you burn fat quicker.

This is why when we are talking about weight loss we always advise you to do full body workouts. It is not worth just exercising the abdominals because you want to increase total muscle mass as quick as possible to help burn more fat. To do this you need to perform compound movements (movements which utilise several different muscles groups at the same time) and also work the largest muscles in the body. This means legs, glutes, back and chest.

Do not worry about muscle – you will not bulk up or look all veiny like Angelina Jolie. The aim is to look healthy, athletic and curvy. Muscle provides curves, glutes are the main muscle of the bottom, and to get a good shape you need to work the muscle rather than rely on fat deposits. Muscle is fit as well as sexy! So lets look at our 4 workouts.

Exercise Workout Number 1

We start with the weight training. You can perform these exercises using free weights and a weight lifting bench or by using machines. Dumbbells and barbells are both allowed.

• Squats. Squats are possibly the most important exercise that you will do. To perform them properly you stand with your feet just over shoulder width apart and then squat down until your legs are almost parallel to the floor before returning to stand upright. Always look forward when squatting and not down, this helps maintain correct spinal alignment. Perform 3 sets of 10 squats with a weight that is challenging.
• Reverse Lunges. These involve standing up straight, usually while holding a dumbbell in each hand. Step backwards with one foot and sing your weight downwards, bending the front knee. Then return and repeat on the other leg. Again, 3 sets of 10 is best to start with.
• Bench Press. Bench presses work the chest. Do not worry, they are not going to make you look like a bodybuilder, and they will not burn off all your fat either. But they will help your muscles shape and support your chest. Use a solid flat bench and with dumbbells or a barbell press the weight directly upwards from your chest until your arms are straight. Many gyms have chest press machines that you sit upright on and perform the same movement.
• Shoulder Press. This helps to tone the shoulders and also triceps that help with under arm fat and “chicken wings”. Sit upright and press a bar (or dumbbells straight overhead).
• Curls. You can either curl dumbbells or a barbell. Excellent exercise for building stronger arms, not only will you look fitter and healthier but you will be able to carry your shopping and kids with ease!
• Calf Raises. These help build shapely lower legs. Just stand on a step with your heels off the step and lift your bodyweight up and the lower again. Repeat 20 times. You can hold weights if you need to.
• Pull Downs. These work he back, another major muscle group. A strong back helps to give your body an elegant structure and improves posture. Simple sit on a pull down bench and pull the weight towards your chest. You can instead do pull ups (modified of assisted).

Exercise Workout Number 2

The second workout is a traditional bodyweight circuit training workout to help increase muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness. It also burns a lot of fat.

• Bodyweight squats. Same motion as the weighted ones, but with just bodyweight. Aim to complete 100 squats in a session. Either all at once or in any number of sets.
• Star Jumps. Classic old school gym exercise that gets your heart thumping and tones and strengthens your legs. The lateral movement of the legs helps to build stabilising muscles that will help you in other exercises.
• Skipping. Skipping is something that only school girls and boxers do, which is odd as it is such a great exercise, everyone should learn to skip. A great fat burning cardio workout.
• Burpees. They sound odd, but are very effective. From a standing upright position, you squat down to touch the floor, then kick your legs backwards, perform 1 push up, then hop your feet forward again to under your body, then explosively jump upwards with your arms in the air. Land on floor, and repeat. Excellent fun, burns a lot of fat and tones the muscles of the legs, core, and arms.
• Push Ups. Often a hard exercise, so “quarter push ups” are allowed which are when you support your body on your knees instead of your feet. Try to perform up to 50 in a session. Building up push up strength will really help to tone muscle and burn fat.
• Crunches. The classic abs exercise – although alone they will not get you a flat stomach, you still need to do them to tone the stomach.

Exercise Workout Number 3

High intensity interval training workout. This workout involves performing high intensity intervals, which just means sprinting then slowing down to recover  and then sprinting again. You can perform them on exercise bikes, elliptical machines, treadmills (although harder), rowing machines, while out running or swimming.

Short workouts with multiple intervals have been shown to be very effective at improving fitness and burning fat.

Warm up for a few minutes first, and then perform a 30 second sprint. At the end of the 30 seconds slow down to work at a gentle recovery pace for 60 seconds, then as soon as the recovery minute is finished perform another sprint.

Using a machine is easier as it can either be programmed or will have a clock. It is harder to perform this type of training while running. If you are outside you need an interval timer to beep at you for each stage. If you are on a treadmill you have to be careful to not go too fast that you can no longer control the machine! Ellipticals, bikes and rowers are really the best options.

Exercise Workout Number 4

Endurance training. Even though intensive workouts are best for fitness and weight loss, longer sessions are still important. Walking is actually a very good option, so walk for 45-60 minutes at a time to build up stamina and muscular endurance.

So there you go, 4 types of exercise to do each week that will get you fit, tone your muscles and burn fat. Hop to it!

Web Sources and Resources

These sites and articles provide more information on the options we discuss above. The research papers provide evidence to support our workout ideas.

• “11 At-Home Exercises For Women – Save Time And Money” by Angelique Millis. Bodybuilding.com
• “Reduction in intra-abdominal adipose tissue after strength training in older women” by M. S. Treuth, G. R. Hunter, T. Kekes-Szabo, R. L. Weinsier, M. I. Goran, and L. Berland. Journal of Applied Physiology April 1995 vol. 78 no. 41425-1431. Abstract: jap.physiology.org/content/78/4/1425.short
• “Effects of Sit Up Exercise Training on Adipose Cell Size and Adiposity” by Frank Katch. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, v55 n3 p242-47 Sep 1984. Abstract: www.getcited.org/pub/103341727
• “Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism” by Angelo Tremblay, Jean-Aimé Simoneau, Claude Bouchard. Metabolism Volume 43, Issue 7, July 1994, Pages 814-818. Abstract: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0026049594902593

Single arm crunchies

Start as with normal crunchies lying on the floor with knees bent and hips width apart. Engage your abs, keep your neck and head in line with your spine, avoiding any curvature. Place your right hand behind your head and rest your left hand on your thigh.

Lift both shoulders off the floor while sliding your hand along your thigh to your knee. Hold, then return to the floor. Do not pull on your head. Switch hands and repeat. Aim to do 20 reps in total (10 on each side, alternating after each one).

The idea is that rather than performing the more common straight crunch your twist slightly to work one side of the stomach and then the other.

Knee Push Ups

Push ups are a great exercise, they strengthen your arms, shoulders and back as well as the chest. They will not make you look bulky! Performing knee push ups makes the exercise easier so that you should be able to perform 10 repeats. With your palms flat on the floor and fingers facing forwards lower your chest to the floor, keeping your back straight. The push yourself up. If your knees hurt try kneeling on a towel for better comfort.

Inner thigh raises

The legs hold our biggest muscles, and exercising the legs is key to toning the thighs and buttocks.

These are done by laying down on your side with your legs straight and one foot resting on top of the other. Start on your right side.

Support your head with your right arm and place your left hand in front of your chest. Contract your abs and then move your left (top) leg so that it is pointing away from you, still on the floor.

With your right leg straight, lift it upwards off the floor. You should be able to lift it 10-15cm (4-6 inches) comfortable. Hold the lift for a few breaths and the relax, lowing the leg, but do not touch the floor. Repeat, ensuring that your foot does not touch the floor during the exercising. Perform 10-20 reps before rolling on to your left side to do the same with your left leg.

Squats

Squats are one of the best exercises, both for building strength and toning. Athletes, footballers, dancers and martial artists all perform squats to build strength and muscle. These are key to toning up the thighs and bottom.

Squats work the largest muscles of the body, the glutes, which are the muscles that form the shape of the bum. They also work the thighs and hips too.

To perform a squat simply stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your toes pointing forward or slightly to the side. Then bend at the knees and keeping your back straight lower your body downwards as if you are about to sit down. Make sure that your bodyweight is kept to the rear and that your knees do not extend further forward than your toes.

Squat down as far as is comfortable, aim to squat so that your thighs are parallel to the floor. It may take some practice to go this low.

If you struggle to squat low enough you can assist yourself by holding on to the back of a chair with arms stretched out. Face a chair away from you and then as you squat support yourself and aid yourself when push to come up again.

Warming up and cooling down

It is important that you perform a warm up and a cool down before and after your main exercises. A warm up ensures that blood is flowing to your muscles and that your ligaments and tendons are ready for some work. This is a good time to do your cardio workout – a gentle job for 10-15 minutes is a good way to warm up.

The cool down is best done with stretching. Stretching helps your body to become more flexible and this reduces risk of injury from exercise. Also when you can move through a greater motion you can work yourself harder, such as squatting lower or running with a longer stride.

Ideally by the time you have finished your cool-down your heart rate should have returned to normal and you are no longer sweating heavily.

Web resources

• “The ultimate legs, bums and tums workout“, by Jacqui Ripley, iVillage
• Advice and instruction on exercising thighs: www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt.html
• Which is best? spinning…or bums, tums and thighs?! - NetMums.com

“There are no truly effective treatments for cellulite.“ Mathew M Avram, 2004.

We have started with this quote from Mathew Avram as it is important to know that currently there are still no known cures or effective treatments for reducing cellulite. However, one method that some people have claimed to help to reduce the visual appearance of cellulite is exercise. By exercising you reduce fat (a possible contributing factor for developing cellulite) and tighten the skin and muscles to help make the skin stronger and more elastic.

Cellulite affects around 9/10 women – you are certainly not alone in trying to reduce cellulite!

Step 1 – Cardio Exercises

A health diet can help you prevent cellulite, but it will not get rid of it. The only way you can remove cellulite and have a smooth bum, tummy and thighs is by exercising regularly!

Exercise will not only help you to remove cellulite, but it will also help you to lose some inches on the waist and hip area and get you toned, fit and slimmer.

The more you sweat better results you will get! When you exercise your body circulation speeds up and increases the levels of oxygen in your blood. This stimulates the lymphatic system to work and dispose of internal body waste more effectively, helping to break down the fatty deposits that can cause cellulite.

Exercise regime targeted to fight cellulite

Go running – To help the body to remove cellulite you have to do some cardiovascular exercise to boost the circulation. So, you can do a 20 minutes session of intensive running on a treadmill three times a week. Start the session according to your fitness and increase the intensity of the running time as you get fitter. If you can talk comfortably while exercising you are pacing yourself correctly. At the end of each session do a quick sprint for the last couple of minutes until talking becomes difficult.

Aerobic exercise – Start a cardiovascular activity that you enjoy such as running (as above), dancing, skipping, cycling or brisk walking. The idea is to improve your cardiovascular fitness, helping the body to tackle cellulite.

Aerobic workouts

Choose a workout that you like and go for it. Some breath-taking exercises include:

• Kick Boxing: This exercise is great to shape the bum and burn some calories.
• Cross Trainer: Go for a 3 to 5 percent incline to really work on the bum and legs and switch direction every 5 min if you can to work the muscles all around.
• Power Yoga: If you are into yoga, practice the Sun Salutation, as this will keep you moving and help your body to detox, which also helps to improve bumpy skin due to cellulite. Also try poses such as the warrior and the chair to work your thighs.

Step 2 – Dynamic Exercise Routine

After each 20 minutes cardiovascular session, start a five minutes exercise routine workout with 10 to 20 repetitions each, as follows:

Shrinking Squat – Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hold a 5lbs weight on each hand, toes pointing forward. Bend your knees down into a squat position, keeping the body weight on your heels, leaning forward slightly and keeping the back straight. As you straighten the legs and stand up from the squat, lift one foot and extend one leg at a time sideways in a slow movement, tensing your bum muscles as you do it.

Dead Lift – Stand with your knees slightly bent and feet hip width apart. Hold a 5lbs weight in each hand, clutch the tummy muscles in and lean forward hanging down the arms by the outer thighs, rolling the shoulders back and bending from the hips. Stand back up again in a slow movement.

Side Lunge – Stand upright, bend the elbows and hold the weights pulled in against the chest. Bend the right knee and take a long step straight out to the side with the left leg, toes turned out. Pressing the hip back and leaning forward slightly, lunging down to the right.

Pelvic Tilt – Lie down on your back, bend the knees creating a 90 degree angle to the floor. Keep the arms straight by your sides, palms facing down and touching the floor. Tilt the pelvis up and raise the hips, then open the left thigh out to the side, with a step movement bring the knee back in line with the hip, repeat with the other leg.

Stepping – Stand behind a low bench or step, position the right foot flat on the step, keeping the hand by the sides. Clutch the right bum and stand up onto the step. As you go up lift your left leg out to the side with a slow and controlled movement. Return to the initial position and switch sides after completing a set.

These five exercises should be performed with a slow and controlled movement to work the muscles correctly. In case you don’t have 5lbs hand weights, you can use two half-litre bottles of water.

References and web resources

• “Cellulite: a review of its physiology and treatment” by Mathew M Avram. Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy 2004, Vol. 6, No. 4 , Pages 181-185 (doi:10.1080/14764170410003057) Abstract.
• “Cellulite Treatment: A Myth or Reality: A Prospective Randomized, Controlled Trial of Two Therapies, Endermologie and Aminophylline Cream” by Collis N, Elliot LA, Sharpe C, Sharpe DT. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery: September 1999 – Volume 104 – Issue 4 – pp 1115-1117 Abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10654755
• “Thin thighs in 30 days” by Mandy Franis. Mail Online. Accessed Oct 2011.

Beyonce Knowles is one of the most famous singers in America and has an amazing body. There was some controversy over how she quickly lost weight for Dreamgirls when she went on a “lemonade fast”, which is a unhealthy way to lose weight. As a result a lot of people think that this is how she stays in shape all the time. Fortunately this is simply not true. Beyonce stays in great shape by eating a healthy diet and working out on a regular basis.

There are a lot of sites claiming to provide the official Beyonce workout, although some research shows that there is not actually any official workout that she performs. She goes to the gym and does a combination of cardio training and weight training to stay in great shape.

Maximus Gluteus - The Butt

The butt actually contains the largest muscles in the human body, the Maximus Gluteus muscles. These muscles give the bottom its shape, fat only plays a partial role in shape.

In Self Magazine she explained that she feels that it is important to both look and feel like a woman, and this means having curves. So because of this she says that she does not want to look like a woman that spends a lot of time in the gym. But, she still spends a lot more time exercising that the average person does.

Exercise 5 Days A Week

Beyonce exercises 5 times a week performing the most important exercises for women – squats and lunges. Squats work the backside (the Maximus Gluteus muscles) and lunges tone and strengthen the thighs. So between them these two exercises do more to improve a woman’s legs than any other exercise.

She also does a lot of running in the gym to help burn off additional calories. Her hectic work schedule and intensive rehearsals and practice sessions means that she burns off a lot of calories everyday naturally, but to stay healthy she also consumes more food, so additional exercise is still important for staying in shape.

She also works out with light weights, performing a series of exercises with 5 pound dumbbells, such as presses, curls, lateral raises and tricep kick backs.

The Workout

If you want to get in shape like Beyonce, this is our suggested workout, designed for the gym. It is in two parts, a cardio warm up which burns fat, and then a resistance section to tone muscle.

This is the cardio element:

• Jog / Run for 10 minutes – fat burning and cardio fitness
• Cycle for 10 minutes – tones thighs and glutes, burns fat
• Cross training for 10 minutes on a medium-high resistance – works the arms and legs

Running is a great way to get in shape and for women especially as it helps to tone and tighten the thighs and bum to give more slender legs. Most of the fit women you see in the Spring and Summer running around your local streets actually run all year round. Many only run on treadmills in the Winter months though, the evening Spring and Summer runs outdoors are a real treat.

But is running right for you? Well, unless you have a medical condition or injury which prevents you from running, running is right for everyone. Running is an effective way to exercise for fitness and weight loss for two simple reasons:

1. It is free. You can run any time and anywhere so long as you have some suitable clothing.
2. It is east to progress. To lose weight through fitness you have to aim to get fitter. That means to exercise harder each session.

If you go to an exercise class it may be the case that after the first few months you are no longer being pushed hard enough to get fitter. You may fall into a comfort zone and continue to maintain your current fitness levels but not be pushing yourself to increase cardiovascular fitness or muscular endurance.

However, if you run it is very easy to push yourself harder. You can do this by either running for longer or running raster. Generally as runners progress they will do a combination of the two and do one long run each week (usually at the weekend) and then on the other runs aim for faster runs. If you follow the same running route it is very easy to monitor your progress with a simple watch (most mobile phones have a stop watch function built in).

Another effective way to run is to perform interval sprints. Many people start jogging with a period of jogging then a brisk walk when they get out of breath. This same method of alternating maximum intensity with a recovery period can be used throughout a running career. As you get fitter you will be combining jogging with running and then running with sprinting.

Research has shown that sprint intervals are the best way to lose weight and also a great way to get fit faster. As you body to work at maximum capacity you force it to develop and change to allow you to work even hard next time. This is the basic principal of fitness training and also an effective way to burn more fat.

If you feel apprehensive about running by yourself then join a running club to find local women looking for running partners.

You will need just a kettlebell to do this, although you can manage with a dumbbell.

The Healthy Weight Loss Exercise Workout

The first exercises are done to start warming up, but are repeated. Ideally you will perform routine 3-4 times in one session. If so start slow and increase intensity. After 50 squats and 60 seconds of star jumps you should be warmed up well enough to start the main exercises.

• Squat for 1 minute – aim for around 50 bodyweight squats. Remember to squat the bum down, do not allow the knees to go beyond the line of the toes.
• Star jumps for 1 minute – around 60-80 depending on speed you can manage. If you can only do 30 to start with it is OK.
• Kettlebell Twists – hold the kettlebell to your chest and twist the upper body from left to right. Be careful not to twist below the waist, keep the legs steady and knees slightly bent to avoid twisting at the knees.
• Kettlebell Swings – keeping the back straight and squatting low, swinging the kettlebell from between the legs to head height. Aim for 50 swings.
• Kettlebell Rows – bent over lift the kettlebell to your outside rib area and return. Perform on each side. Perform 10 on each side.
• Kettlebell Curls – standing up straight with the kettlebell held at wasit height, curl up to your chest and return. Perform 10 on each side.
• Burpees – Now that you legs have had a rest from the last 3 exercises, time to work them again. This time the classic old school burpee exercise. From standing up straight, squat down to the floor, place hands on floor shoulder width apart, then kick your feet back so that you are in the push up position. “Squat thrust” the feet back to under the body and then stand up. Repeat for 1 minute.
• Push ups – Either full or knee push ups, perform as many as you can in 1 minute.
• Leg Raises – Lie on your back on the floor and grasp a sturdy table leg or chair behind your head. Then lift your feet up to the sky, hold and return. Do not touch the floor with your heels. Lift again.
• Back Extensions – Roll over on to your front, then with your hands by your temples, lift your torso off the floor, look forward, then lower.
• The Plank – In a push up position lower on to your forearms and hold. Keep your body straight and abs engaged.

Watch the video here to see how the kettlebell exercises are done. If you do not have a kettlebell then these exercises can be done with a dumbbell. For safety reasons start with a light kettlebell. Many women start with 4 or 6 kg. You can also do these exercises with no weight at all if you wish. The swings and twists will still work the thighs, hips and core muscles. For curls you could use a 3 litre plastic bottle filled with water to create a 3 kg weight.

Work through the exercises once, twice or as many times as you can. Or increase the number or each exercise you do, or the time you exercise for.

So long as you aim to keep doing more you will get fitter and stronger and so will lose weight.