Who is Jennifer Nicole Lee?

Jennifer Nicole Lee (sometimes abbreviated to JNL) was a typical American mother for a while. After starting a family her weight rocketed and she was soon weighing in at 200 pounds (over 14 stone,  90 kg).
She decided to take action and started to teach herself how to exercise and eat properly. However, she did not stop there.

She worked harder and harder on her fitness and started to discover a new passion. In time she started to compete in fitness model competitions and she eventually won, winning both Ms. Bikini America and Ms. Bikini Universe.

She also studied sports sciences at university to give herself the best knowledge possible in human biology, biomechanics, nutrition  and health.

To share her success with others she wrote the Fitness Model Program, which is a fitness and weight loss system available on ebook. From there she started to develop more fitness products. The latest innovation from JNL is the Bun and Thigh Wave Machine which is designed to give you a cardio workout and also tone your bum and thighs in the process. She says that the new machine will get you “the hot, sexy body of a surfer and you don’t even have to get wet“.

The key is that the machine is fun to use, or at least that is the idea.

See the Bun and Thigh Wave Machine in Action

A German infomercial with JNL demonstrating the Bun and Thigh Wave Machine – we can expect to see these soon on TV in the UK! Many US celebs are already promoting it, including Oprah.

JNL Diet Plan!

Of course, as we all know, exercise is only part of the solution. To lose weight you have to also eat healthy, which means “going on a diet” for most people.

The key to Jennifers excellent body is a healthy diet that avoids all processed foods, focuses on fresh fruits, vegetables, plenty of healthy protein from eggs, flax seeds and lean meats, as well as fish and salads.

Photo Source: MotleyHealth – Jennifer Nicole Lee via Pinterest

If you’re like me then your usual exercise routine involves your local gym, a bottle of water and a very bland 30 min on a certain treadmill. The problem with such a routine is that it is very easy to get bored just thinking about it, not push yourself during the workout, or convince yourself to skip yet another workout.

This is a problem many people have, we all know we should exercise, whether we’re trying to lose weight or whether we’re trying to just stay heart-healthy. If our exercise routines aren’t that enticing we are either not going to want to do them or not get the most out of them. And if “jazzercise” is for you, then it can be pretty difficult to find a fun workout.

Last week, I was having lunch with a friend from college and she told me all about a great climbing class that she and her husband just went to. They were in the same position as me, sick of just going to gym (probably not as much as either of them would care to admit). So they decided to use a Groupon for a local rock wall climbing class. No, this wasn’t some pro-climbers training course or anything, but it was enough to make them want to exercise. What were the three reasons that made them want to continue climbing?

Social Exercise

One of the best parts about rock climbing is that you need a partner. Most workout routines consist of isolated activity. Whether its being alone on a treadmill or elliptical with your headphones on, most workouts are done solo.

Climbing is different, its a social workout. Rock climbing is done in pairs with partners alternationg bewteen climbing and belaying. Each person takes turns and gains a different perspective and takes on different responsibilities. Climbing partners can instill confidence in one another and encourge each other to push themselves, an element missing from a solo treadmill run.

Endless Possibilities

Another thing they raved about was the endless array types and difficulties of climbs, each offering a new and different challenge. Unlike a treadmill, each rock wall offers many different paths to the top so you can select the right one for your level of fitness and ability. As you get better, it is easy to increase the difficulty of the climb and add new obstacles and challenges.

Total body workout

A great benefit of rock climbing is that it offers a total body workout. Unlike most exercises that target a specific muscle or muscle group, rock climbing worksout your entire body. Climbing exercises your fingers gripping the hold and your arms holding on to the wall, your core holding yourself steady and close to the climbing surface, your legs holding yourself up and your feet pushing off and gripping the holds. You will feel a whole body burn but don’t worry, you have time to rest and recover when its your turn to belay!

So my friend and her husband are planning on completely the 12-week class. What I’m saying is, a rock wall can be a great alternative to your regular gym activities. Try climbing today!

Top Rock Climbing Walls in the UK

There are many rock climbing walls in the UK, here are a selection of a few of the best from around the country:

• Alton Sports Centre - Hampshire
• Writhlington Sports Centre - Bath
• Redpoint Climbing Centre - Birmingham
• Rock Court – Brighton
• Undercover Rock – Bristol
• Bear Rock – Coventry
• Whickham Thorns Centre - Gateshead
• Lakeland Climbing Centre – Kendal
• The Leeds Wall – Leeds
• Mile End Climbing Wall – London
• Manchester Climbing Centre
• Big Rock Climbing Ltd – Milton Keynes
• Newcastle Climbing Centre
• Nottingham Climbing Centre
• The Climbing Works – Sheffield
• Oaklands Climbing Centre – York

About the author: JustRopes.com is your one-stop-shop for climbing rope. Founded in 2004 by five climbing enthusiasts, JustRopes.com aims to deliver the widest selection of climbing ropes on the web.

Image cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by Susanica

Facebook and the Apps Race

Since launching in 2004, Facebook has never struggled to keep up with the ever evolving world of technology and it now performs numerous functions on a daily basis.

Facebook first launched its own apps available through the site in 2007. Since then, apps have been growing in popularity day by day, with companies and individual developers all creating their own systems.

Facebook and Dieting

Thanks to technology, diet books have almost become a thing of the past. Many apps now give users the opportunity to build their knowledge of diet plans and workouts, helping them to lose as much weight as possible.

On top of the apps which are available through Facebook, the ability to connect with other dieters is also seen as a huge benefit for those looking to lose weight. This network ensures that those on diets get the encouragement and support they need to stay on track, giving them a convenient and easily accessible form of contact with businesses and other dieting individuals.

Facebook offers a vast number of services to aid those who are dieting, some examples of which are listed below:

My Diet: This Facebook application is connected to an external dieting site, allowing some of their best features to be accessed via the Facebook website.

The service is a diet plan app that gives users the opportunity to keep track of their diet by creating a profile that states their target weight. This can be updated regularly to create a ‘diet journey’. Facebook friends and other users of the app can interact with one another, offering advice and discussing any diet issues.

Groups: Other popular ways of losing weight through Facebook include creating or following diet planning groups.

Currently there are hundreds of groups dedicated to diet planning available on Facebook, giving users a wealth of choice.

Followers can receive food and exercise advice online. This covers topics such as monitoring food intake, setting achievable goals, counting calories, counting liquid calories, food portion control, stress eating and physical activity.

Podcasts: Facebook podcasts have also proven popular with group followers, giving them weekly advice and tips about diet plans and regular exercise.

These can see nutritionists teaching users how to resist the temptation of snack of ‘junk’ foods, improving their nutrition and helping them to lose weight.

Dieters can also receive daily messages to encourage their diet plans, helping them stick to their goals and resist those dreaded diet demons.

Rachel Vickers is an experienced blogger and regular Facebook user. Through her experience with these systems Rachel has identified a number of key trends and features. She likes to focus her blogs about how Facebook users now utilise the platform to help with their diet plans.

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!

Michelle Obama

In the last week we have seen Michelle Obama in the news twice for her fitness antics. First up was her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in America. Ellen challenged Michele to a push up contest and Michele Obama comfortable won – she did 25 push ups and looked like she still had plenty of strength in her arms to continue for another 25.

The latest news reported on the Daily Mail shows Michelle dancing in front of 14,000 people in Des Moines, Iowa, during her Let’s Move! tour. Let’s Move! is now 2 years old whereas the ever athletic Michele Obama is 48 years old.

“In the past two years, Americans have come together to provide children with healthier choices and and ensure more people have access to healthy, affordable food.” - letsmove.gov

Let’s Move! was set up to encourage children to get active again. It is not just about dance, but dance is certainly a popular way to get an audience of 14,000 people moving at once – although according to The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson there is not much else to do in Des Moines.

What is impressive about the Let’s Move! campaign is that Michele Obama is really making an effort to drive the idea forward. Although we have similar projects here in the UK, the most recent being the Change4Life project, celebrities and politicians are not taking a very active role in promoting the message. Some certainly are making a big effort, but how often do we here about our own politicians, their families or major celebrities getting up on stage and showing the nation that everyone can get active and move?

If there is one thing we can learn from the past it is that well meaning campaigns need to be constantly backed up by words and actions, otherwise people just forget the message. To really make a Change for Life, and not just a change for a few weeks or months, people need to be constantly reminded until healthy living becomes natural and automatic.

Some may say that this level of intervention, promotion and health propaganda should be avoided in a free and fair society, however, recent history has shown us that we really do need that little nudge to keep us on the right track.

The American way, led by Michele Obama, makes fitness and health look like a fun and enjoyable option. In the UK we still seem to be hooked on the bad news aspect, focusing on all the side effects and ill health that results from being overweight and out of shape.

The UK needs a Michele Obama. But who can fill her boots? Jamie Oliver is a great chef and sends out a great message about healthy eating but nobody really takes him all that seriously, and if he got up on stage to strut his stuff this probably would not improve his image a great deal. We need someone charismatic, fit and athletic, well respected and focused. Who?

Well, Nick Clegg is not in bad shape, but the once Public Health minister, Caroline Flint, would make an excellent role model. While Public Health minister she managed campaigns to combat obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. She is also in great shape!

The First Day of The First Lady’s Lets Move! Anniversary Tour

How many times have you seen people spend an hour killing themselves on the treadmill, only to go to Starbucks and have a large coffee and a cookie afterwards.  In their head, they did a 5k run, so they deserve the treat.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as “exercise to lose weight”.  Exercise can help, but it isn’t a magic solution.  A Starbucks Venti Chai Latte with low fat milk contains 332 calories, and a chocolate chip cookie from the same store has about 430 calories in it.  That’s 763 calories in one after-exercise snack.

Let’s assume you’re a 150lb man, and you do your 5k run in 35 minutes – a decent pace for the average person.  You’d burn around 357 calories for your efforts, just slightly more than the calories in the drink, but your 5K run hasn’t “paid for” the cookie.

Calories In VS Calories Out

The equation for weight loss is quite simple.  If you burn more calories than you consume in a day, you’ll lose weight.  If you eat more calories than you use, you’ll gain weight.  The amount of calories your body burns in a day is known as your maintenance calories – the number of calories you would have to eat to stay at the weight you are.

If you’re trying to lose weight, a good goal is to consume between 250-500 calories fewer per day than your maintenance level.  That would amount to between 2 and 4lbs of weight loss per month.  Slow, steady, and sustainable.

How Does Exercise Fit In?

Exercise can help with that goal because exercise uses calories.  Let’s say that your maintenance calorie allowance on an average day, with no exercise at all, was 2,500 calories.  You’ve decided to aim for 4lbs of weight loss per month, which means you need to be 500 calories under.  2,000 calories might feel like a pretty strict allowance when you first go on a diet.

By doing that 5K run, you’ve increased the number of calories that you burn that day.  If you’re counting calories, you’ve just bought yourself an extra 357 calories to play with.  Whether you spend those calories on a beer, a couple of chocolate biscuits, or an extra serving of chicken and veggies is up to you – but for many people, that extra treat saves their sanity.

It’s the Math That Matters

Exercise is important, and does offer other health benefits, but exercise alone won’t make sure those extra pounds come off.  If you’re eating junk day in, day out, then no matter how hard you train in the gym, your waistline won’t go in the direction you want it to.  The only way you can guarantee weight loss is if you get your diet under control.

Written by Amy Fowler on behalf of The Poppy Run, who organise 5k runs in aid of The Poppy Appeal.

Womens Fitness Tips

This workout video from Femme Fatale Fitness is perfect for toning bums, tums and thighs. These workouts will target those stubborn areas to reduce fat and tone muscles.

Warning: The sound is not good on this video, the trainer speaks quietly and the music is very loud! Nevertheless, it is worth watching to learn the correct form of the exercises below.

This workout is done as a circuit, you cycle through each exercise and if you are fit enough you repeat them all again. To start with work on going through the exercises just once. The video provides instructions on how many of each exerise to perform. You generally perform 8 to 12 of each exercise.

You can do these exercises at home or in the gym. Home workouts can be very effective and do not cost anything. Plus they can be done at any time of the day. No more gym memberships, no more excuses for not being able to get to the Pilates class. Get out your yoga mat, put on some music, and start working out!

All of these exercise use a customised sandbag. It is a “sand bag” fitness routine. A sandbag simply acts as a dead weight. It has some advantages over traditional barbells and dumbbells. For a start it is softer to you can hold it to your body more comfortably. It provides many grip options. Watch the burpee, press and squat combos at the end for the video to see how you can use it to effectively increase the intensity of a traditional bodyweight workout – the burpee.

1. Clean to Reverse Lunge – works thighs and buttocks – a great leg strengthener
2. Squat Presses – works thighs, buttocks and arms/shoulders – a combination exercise to burn more fat
3. Single Leg Deadlifts – works the thighs and lower back and improve stability
4. Shovelling - these work the core and simply mimic a shovelling movement. A simply twist and squat.
5. Lateral Lunges – these focus on the thighs. Step wide and sink low for best results.
6. Bent-over row to clean and press – clean and presses work the back, shoulders, arms, great for toning and strength
7. Get-up Bridge – another excellent core strength exercise, similar to the Turkish Get Up. A fantastic core strength exercise.
8. Sandbag Ab Isolation Exercise – works the abs of course! Really these are leg raises, but very effective at improving hip strength.
9. Windmills – a core workout that is most often seen in kettlebell classes.
10. Shoulder lunge press – complex movement that works the legs, shoulder and the stabilizing muscles.
11. Around the world – works upper body and core, a very dynamic exercise.
12. Marine Burpee and Squat – very intense workout that requires a good fitness level. A squat, squat thrust, leg split, then jump squat back. If you want to go really hardcore add a push up!

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.

Weight Training Myths

Basic Weight Training Techniques for Women

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

Step-by-Step Strength Training by Petra Kolber – Fitness DVD Review

Petra Kolbar’s Step by Step Strength Training DVD is a great way for you to learn how to perform strength training workouts as part of  your exercise regime. This DVD also highlights that strength training is for women too.

The instructions are clear and Petra reminds you that you should focus on quality of exercise not quantity. This is often refereed to as keeping good form or technique. Not only quality of exercise give better results, but it also reduces injury and makes the exercises more enjoyable.

Strength training for women explains how strength training not only tones the body to give you healthy and athletic curves rather than fatty ones, but it also explains that strength training increases your metabolism so that you burn fat quicker.

The DVD provides 6 separate workouts which last from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. This ensures that no matter how hectic your life is, you can still fit in a workout. The workouts:

• Upper Body Workout (10 minutes)
• Lower Body Workout (10 minutes)
• Total Body Workout (20 minutes)
• Strength and Balance Training (20 minutes)
• Abdominal and stomach exercises (5 minutes)

Petra performs the workouts with 2 assistants, one of which performs modifications of the harder exercises which can help if you are very new to the exercises.

Exercises performed in the upper body workout include bicep curls, dumbbell rows, tricep kickbacks, diagonal raises, push ups and a variety of other exercises. The lower body workout includes all the main strength exercises, such as squats, lunges and calf raises. These produce strength and help tone thighs, buttocks and the core.

The 20 integrated workout combines upper and lower body for a full body workout. This is great if you want to give yourself a full workout, starting off very aerobic before moving on to some light weight dumbbell exercises.

The strength and balance workout is the most dynamic of the workouts and will provide a great fat burning workout that will tone bums, tums and thighs.

This DVD is called Strength Training but many of the exercises are quite aerobic, especially in the main 20 minute integrated workout. If you want a real strength training DVD that teaches you how to safely and effectively use heavy free weights and resistance machines to build strong, athletic muscle, then this DVD is not for you.

However, if you are looking for a refreshing new full body workout which also includes separate upper, lower, abs and balance workouts, so that you can split your routine across the week, then this DVD does provide that. You can increase the weight of your dumbbells to make this more of a strength workout.

All you need to follow the 65 minutes of these workouts is a chair and a pair of dumbbells. If you perform one of these workouts 3 or 4 times a week you will get fit and start to tone up and strengthen your body. A strong body is a healthy body and this is something that many women neglect. If you want to start strength training for the first time then this DVD is a great place to start.

Order Step by Step Strength Training DVD from Amazon.com

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!

The global economic crisis and credit crunch has resulted in a large reduction in new gym memberships. More people are letting their club memberships expire, and deciding that it is time to go it alone. So, what are the best ways to get fit, without burning a hole in your bargain bucket pocket? Exercising at home of course.

Home exercise is practically free, and one of the easiest and most structured ways to exercise at home is to follow a circuit training program. There are many other advantages of circuit training at home:

• You can exercise at any time of the day, early in the morning, or late at night. There is never a reason to miss a workout.
• You will never have to queue for an exercise machine or space on the floor mats.
• You can choose which equipment to have in your home gym.
• You do not need to fight for a car parking space
• You do not have to clean the equipment after using it – if you don’t want to!
• You will not catch anyone else’s germs
• You will not catch fungal infections either!
• You do not have to resort to spending a fortune at the club bar to quench your thirst after the workout
• You do not have to leave home – great news in winter months with ice/snow on the roads.
• You can play the music of your choice without headphones!
• You do not have to worry if your bum looks big in your new Lycra shorts.
• You have your own private changing room and shower.

Disadvantages of Home Fitness Workouts

• You are on your own, there are no personal trainers to guide you (although you may be able to find a personal trainer to come to your house)
• You have to buy all your own equipment
• Home use equipment is not as durable as commercial quality equipment, and it can be costly to fix
• You have to clean your own equipment!
• Most people cannot install a swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi or squash court.
• No gym classes to attend, no sexy aerobics instructors.
• No socialising after workouts in the health club bar.

Best Ways to Get Fit and Workout at Home

Knowing various methods of exercising is essential to maintaining your fitness at home. If you think that you can get fit and stay fit with just the latest fitness DVD, then you are more likely to soon lose motivation and fail. Here are our recommended ways from MotleyHealth.com to workout at home:

1. Circuit training. Circuit training workouts are possibly the best way for anyone to get fit. The term circuit training is broad and it can include many different types of exercise. People often speak of weight training circuits, football circuits as well as cardio circuits. But we refer simply to the traditional style of exercise – old school physical training exercises: press ups, sit ups, star jumps, skipping, squats, squat thrusts, burpies, lunges, box jumps and sprints. Simple but effective. These traditional exercises are used by martial artists and military training instructors to get people fighting fit.
2. Boxing training. Boxers are certainly amongst the fittest professional athletes. Their training routines are intensive and designed to build stamina, speed and strength. These attributes will get you fit. You can pick up a punch bag and gloves online for a reasonable price, and the circuit training exercises require little or no equipment.
3. Weight Training with Free Weights. Unfortunately we do not mean free to buy, but free of cables. Many people think that to workout at home they require an expensive home gym. Although we welcome you to purchase a home gym from our store, free weights are best, and cheaper. To start strength training, you only need a set of dumbbells to start with. When starting out with weight training, perform the compound exercises: squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, upright rows, shoulder press, clean and press, power cleans. These will put you in good stead and define muscle quickly.
4. Yoga workouts. Yoga is something that is actually very much suited to the home. Yoga requires only a small space, little equipment (a yoga mat will suffice) and is not as complex as many people think. In fact, yoga clubs are often full of people that could quite happily do all the exercises without the aid of the teacher – the teacher merely acts as a prompt for each exercise.
5. DVD Fitness Workouts. Although we said that you may get bored with doing the same DVD workouts all the time, they are an excellent way to learn to get into shape, and also provide excellent motivation. Some people actually feel more motivated with a DVD – they feel more confident, as no-one can see them. The instructors are often professional presenters that are better at providing motivation. Also, many DVD’s are an excellent way to learn to get fit in the first place – whether you are learning yoga, weight training or Pilates.
6. Follow a celebrity workout. Celebrities often inspire people to get fit, and we have many celebrity workouts here for you to learn form.
7. Start walking, jogging or running. OK, unless you buy a treadmill, this is not strictly a “home workout” – but you do not need to be a member of a gym. Jogging is a very affordable and effective way to get fit. Although, not ideal if you have knee problems or are very overweight to start with.

There are many other ways to get fit and beat the credit crunch. Contact some old friends and see if they want to play football/soccer sometime, or just put on some music and dance the night away in your living room.

In fact, dance workout DVD’s are becoming more popular again, partly due to the success of Strictly Come Dancing and America’s Dancing with the Stars, but also due to the credit crunch.

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.