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.

This is where the “core four” comes into play. All you need is some free weights – just a bar and a bench – although only the bench press is done on the bench.

The Core Four Workout:

“Core four” are the four key weight training exercises to kick start you into building a better, fitter and stronger you. The four core exercises are:

1. Squats – 3 sets of 10
2. Bench Press – 3 sets of 10
3. Bent-over row – 3 sets of 10
4. Barbell Curl – 3 sets of 10

Start with a light weight, or no weights on the bar (bars weight from 5kg to 10kg, 10lbs to 20bls), which is plenty if you have never done any weight training before.

There are many other weight training exercises that can be added to these four at later stages, but just performing these four exercises once or twice a week will tone your muscles and strengthen your core, helping to firm up your thighs and upper body. The main reason that these are the core four is that each of these is a compound exercise, meaning that it works more than one muscle at a time.

There are really 5 key elements to losing weight. If you can do something to tackle each of these 5 areas you will lose weight:

1. Increase cardio exercise. More cardiovascular exercise is vital for healthy weight loss. So running, swimming, walking, cycling – they all help you to burn more energy and lose weight.
2. Increase resistance exercise. Resistance training, or weight training, is vital for improving your strength. Stronger muscles allow your to workout to a higher intensity and therefore burn more energy. Also, more muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate.
3. Eat a really healthy diet. Diet is so important. The average person will throw away all their weight loss gains by binging a few times a week on junk food. You must learn to eat healthy every day.
4. Sleep well. People who do not get enough sleep often fail to lose weight. Lack of sleep messes up your body clock which plays havoc with hormones and this affects weight loss.
5. Be more active generally. It is all very well doing 3 or 4 exercise sessions a week, but we lose most calories by being generally more active. More walking and less reliance on private transport really helps you to burn more fat.

The Core Four forms a part of the Motley Health Fitness and Weight Loss Plan, soon to be available on eBook from Motley Health