1. Sizzling Squats: Ignite Your Lower Body!

Get ready to set your glutes and quads on fire with squats – the ultimate lower body blast! Not only do squats help burn calories and build strength, but they also shape your booty and tighten your thighs. Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, lower yourself down as if sitting in an imaginary chair, and then push through your heels to rise back up. Amp up the intensity by holding dumbbells or adding jump squats for an extra cardio boost!

2. Marvelous Mountain Climbers: The Calorie Incinerator!

Calling all cardio queens! Mountain climbers are your secret weapon to torching calories and activating your core muscles. Begin in a high plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders. Alternate driving your knees towards your chest, as if you were climbing a mountain. Engage your abs and keep your hips low for maximum effectiveness. Trust us, you’ll feel the burn in no time!

3. Dynamic Dance Workouts: Sweat It Out and Shake It Off!

Who says working out can’t be fun? Unleash your inner dancing diva and shed those kilos with dynamic dance workouts! Whether it’s Zumba, hip-hop, or belly dancing, these high-energy routines will have you grooving, sweating, and smiling from ear to ear. Not only will you burn calories, but you’ll also improve your coordination and boost your mood. So turn up the volume and get your groove on!

4. Planks That Pack a Punch: Core-Crushing Delight!

Ready to sculpt a strong and toned core? Look no further than the almighty plank! This exercise targets your abs, obliques, back, and shoulders, all while helping you develop stability and balance. Start by assuming a push-up position, resting on your forearms instead of your hands. Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels, engage your core, and hold for as long as you can. Feel the burn and watch your midsection transform!

5. Jumping Jack Joy: Cardio Blast with a Twist!

Rev up your heart rate and get your blood pumping with the classic jumping jack! This full-body exercise is a fantastic calorie burner and an excellent addition to any flat-blasting routine. Start with your feet together and your arms at your sides. Jump your feet out wide while simultaneously raising your arms overhead. Return to the starting position and repeat. For an added challenge, incorporate variations like squat jacks or plank jacks. Get ready to jump your way to a fitter, more fabulous you!

Before embarking on any drastic changes in your lifestyle remember to consult your healthcare practitioner, especially if you have a medical history that may be cause for any concern. Also, remember to stretch and warm up before any exercise and cool down properly afterwards to help prevent injury.

Here are some of the easiest and most popular forms of exercise, no matter your age or fitness level:

Walking

We are walking less every year yet the benefits are tremendous. Walking improves the condition of your heart and lungs (cardiovascular fitness) and works the muscles of the lower body. It’s a weight-bearing activity, so it may improve bone density, yet it’s also low impact, putting less stress on the joints than some other forms of exercise.

Jogging/Running

As long as you’re healthy and take it easy to start with, anyone can run. It is arguably one of the most accessible and therefore the most popular form of exercise in the world. As a high-impact activity, running can increase bone density, but it can also put more stress on your joints than lower impact activities such as walking and cycling, especially if you’re overweight.

Swimming

Swimming is a great way to tone up and trim down and is an effective fat-burning exercise. Just swimming a few lengths involves most of the major muscle groups, giving your body a good workout. Water supports your weight and takes the stress off your joints. This can also make it a great exercise if you’re recovering from an injury that means you can’t run or play your normal sport.

Cycling

Many of the short trips we make by car are ideal for a quick spin on the bike, plus you’ll be helping to protect the environment. Cycling promotes a healthy heart and burns about 300 calories an hour, so if you do it twice a day, the numbers soon add up. It’s also good for people with certain bone and joint problems because it puts very little pressure on them.

Dancing

Dancing is largely an aerobic activity that improves the condition of the heart and lungs, as well as testing your balance. To dance for any length of time also requires muscular endurance and motor fitness.

The only thing required is to enjoy moving to music, so dancing is suitable for people of all ages, shapes and sizes. As well as keeping you fit, something like a salsa class is an easy way of meeting other people.

Team Sports

If high social interaction and competitiveness is your ‘thing’, why not join a local team? There are clubs that offer soccer, softball, basketball, indoor cricket, volleyball – the list goes on. Leagues are organised through sports and social clubs, health clubs, schools and businesses. Ask if your office or local pub has a team! They are usually accessible to players of all levels, from social to professional and varying degrees of fitness are required, but these sports will usually encourage high levels of aerobic fitness.

TRY THESE 5 EXERCISES THE NEXT TIME YOU’RE AT THE BEACH:

1. Soft sand running
Soft sand running is the original and best beach exercise. Running in soft sand expends 1.5 times more energy than running on the road, while also helping to reduce impact on the ankles, knees and hips.

How to do it: Break up periods of soft sand running at a slower pace with faster pace running on the hard sand. This form of interval training will amp up the intensity and help you to burn more calories.

2. Bodyweight jump squats
Jump squats are great beach exercises, as they help to improve lower body strength and power. The soft sand allows for an increased degree of difficulty, as well as improvements in balance and joint stability.

How to do it: Place your fingers on the back of your head and pull your elbows back so that they’re in line with your body. Dip your knees and explosively jump as high as you can. When you land, immediately squat down until your upper thighs are parallel to the sand and jump again.

3. Surfer get-ups
Surfer get-ups are the burpees of the beach. It’s not only a great full-body exercise – it will also help aspiring surfers get out of the water and on their boards quicker and easier.

How to do it: Start on the ground in a low plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your belly touching the sand. Push up from the ground and jump into a squatting position with the right leg in front of the left, as if you’re balancing on a surf board. Remember to squeeze your glutes and engage the core. Return to the original plank position and repeat with your left leg in front of the right for the surf stance.

4. Bear crawls
Bear crawls are an excellent conditioning exercise. While it looks deceptively easy, you’ll be surprised at how quickly it will have your arms, shoulders and quads burning. Add some soft sand into the mix, and you will be sweating and breathing heavily in no time.

How to do it: Start on all fours, brace your abs in tight and lift your hips slightly to raise your knees off the floor. Propel yourself on all fours without allowing your knees to touch the ground.

5. Ocean swimming
Swimming is one of the best exercises to work out the entire body. And because more muscles are being used, you burn more kilojoules in a shorter amount of time.

How to do it: Start slow, go at a pace that you can manage comfortably and focus on rhythm. Build up your total distance over time. If open-water swimming isn’t your thing, you’ll still get plenty of exercise catching waves and body boarding the day away.

Sand Tips:

• Try exercising with bare feet to give your feet and ankles a workout. But if you have a history of weak ankles, wear shoes.
• Always wear sun protection.
• Don’t forget to drink water.
• Check your training area for any sharp objects or other hidden nasties.

Let’s be honest – letting go of the warm embrace of your cosy bed on a frosty, pitch-black winter morning to exercise is HARD! So how can you make it less dreadful?

#1 Heat up your bedroom before getting up:
Find a heater with a remote, and as soon as your alarm goes off, turn the heater on full blast. Within a few minutes, your room will be toasty warm and getting out of bed will be less daunting.

#2 Tune your alarm:
Use your iPod or smartphone to wake you up with a song that you know will lift your mood and get you going.

#3 Be accountable:
Find someone who will commit to joining you in the morning for walks or workouts, and hold you accountable for not showing up.

#4 Warm-up indoors:
Do some jumping jacks, squats or push-ups in your living room before heading out. Not only will it get your heart rate going and your blood circulating, you’ll be less likely to get back into bed.

#5 Try something new:
Switch up your routine and get excited about exercise again by joining a new class at gym or trying a new walking/running route.

#6 Reward yourself:
Give yourself something to look forward to after your morning walk/run/workout in the bitter cold, like a hot cup of coffee with cinnamon sprinkles, a warm and nourishing breakfast or a steamy shower.

#7 Get your four-legged friends involved:
Dogs don’t care what the weather’s like. A wagging tail and disappointed eyes might just guilt you into getting up when you really don’t feel like it!

#8 Commit to ten minutes:
Tell yourself that you only have to exercise for ten minutes. Once you get going, chances are that you’ll keep on going even after your ten minutes are over. And if you don’t – at least you did something!

1.    Take ‘workout’ out of your vocabulary

Fitness routine. Living an active lifestyle. Following a wellness plan. All of these sound a lot more like you’ve incorporated fitness habits into your life, rather than forcing yourself to squeeze in a workout at the gym. Changing the way you think and speak about exercise is an easy way to help you overcome the mental barriers against it.

2.    Stay constantly active and on your feet

Stay on the move, even if you’re at work. If you tend to lose track of time, add reminders to your phone to get up every hour or even half hour to stretch and take a quick walk. Walk briskly around the office, take the stairs whenever you can and make yourself take lots of bathroom breaks by constantly sipping water. On weekends, enjoy some downtime on the couch, but make sure to also get out in the fresh air.

3.    Make use of technology

Whether it’s simply a pedometer that counts your steps, or a much more advanced fitness tracking device, use this technology to help you keep moving. You don’t need something that tracks every heartbeat or calorie, you can simply have it as a reminder to rather take the stairs instead of the escalator or to park a little further away to get more steps in during your day.

4.    Reconnect with your inner child

Stop seeing the kids’ toys as clutter that need to be put away, and rather view them as an opportunity to get moving! Pick up a hula hoop and see if you can keep it going for a fun workout for your whole body. See if you can beat the kids at a game of Guitar Hero or grab a water pistol, fill it up and delight them by chasing them around. Making fitness fun is not just good for the body – it’s great for the soul!

5.    Make the TV ads count

Relaxing on the couch with your favourite series is often the only thing you feel like doing after work. Instead of raiding the fridge, use the ad breaks to do short bursts of exercise. An hour-long series or show has about 18 minutes of advertisements, and a half-hour show about eight. If you spend an average of two to three hours watching TV per day, that’s a lot of ad time you can spend doing jumping jacks, push-ups, ab crunches or even skipping.

6.    Dance like no one’s watching

Bad day at work? Put the wine back in the fridge and rather crank up the music. Jumping, shaking your hips, twisting, bending and singing at the top of your lungs will not only burn kilojoules and leave you out of breath, but will lift your mood by releasing feel-good endorphins and a burst of energy.

1. Question:

I joined a gym today and I wanna know can I possible see the difference. I was told that I’ll first gain I just don’t get why and which machines must I use the most?

1. Answer from Carla:

Muscle weighs more than fat. If you are following a toning or strength training exercise program you will be gaining lean muscle mass. Try to focus on your measurements more than your scale weight. To get a more accurate idea of how much body fat you have in comparison to your lean muscle mass you can have it checked by a Personal Fitness Trainer or a biokineticist. You should start seeing results between 8-12 weeks if you follow a healthy diet and regular exercise program. You can follow the circuit at the gym. Perform each exercise 3 sets of 15 and start off with a light weight.

2. Question:

Need help with my bat wings!

2. Answer from Carla our trainer:

Exercise to tone up those arms: rTricep dips Sit at the edge of a bench/ couch / bed. Put your hands at your sides and hold onto the edge, make sure that your hands are shoulder width apart, bend your knees, feet together. Keep your tummy tight and your back straight. Slowly bend your arms and lower your body off the seat. Next lift your body back up using your arms into the starting position using your arms. Perform 3 sets of 12-15 Remember to follow a healthy die.

3. Question:

Vibro trainers help to burn fat etc and if u have a machine must u do other exercises as well

3. Answer from Carla our trainer:

The vibro machine is great for circulation. You need to follow a healthy diet and a regular cardio program at least 20-30minutes of walking/running/jogging/skipping or dancing at least 3x week. I would recommend that you also follow a toning program for your tummy area.

JOIN US AGAIN NEXT WEEK between 1-2pm on Facebook.

Learn to prioritise
Understand the importance of your health and what a fitter you will mean, not only to your own overall health, but to those around you: you’ll probably be around longer, spend less on medical bills, have the energy to spend real, quality time with them and be better able to cope with the stresses of everyday life. Does this all sound too good to be true? It’s not. This is what a healthy exercise routine can do for you. Once you have exercise set as a high priority, finding the time to spend doing it, becomes that much easier.

Timetable
Or as the hot label in business says, learn Time Management. Learning to successfully manage your time is a vital skill, especially if you’re running a household, have kids and trying to hold down a paying job or two. Even if your life is simpler than that, managing your time effectively can increase your productivity and your general sense of fulfillment.

First, as with money, you need to spend a little time to make a little time. Create a timetable filled with all the things you currently do and think carefully about how long it really takes to do each one. Notice any blank spaces? Or do you notice blocks of time where you are occupied but not really doing much? Or are you doing something, but it has a much lower priority rating than exercising? See if you can shuffle some of your activities around, shorten their length or even drop them altogether if they don’t serve your lifestyle purpose.

As you mull over your life that has been reduced to numbers and little word-filled blocks, the answer should become apparent. If not, and the answer doesn’t come to you after a good night’s rest, here are some ‘hidden timetable’ tips to help you breathe a little easier – or heavier.

Be efficient
When you do manage to get the time to exercise, don’t waste it. Push as hard as you can, keeping in mind your own skill and fitness levels to prevent injury. Running hard for 30 minutes burns more calories than walking for an hour. Also, always make sure you know the correct way of performing the exercise (preferably by consulting a professional), to get the most out of it.

BONUS TIP: Be Flexible
Even the best-laid plans can fail; be prepared to accept the unexpected. Keep your goals and key motivations in focus and carry on, even if it means re-planning and starting again.

1. Be specific and clear about what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it!

Example:

What: I want to lose 15kgs.

Why: I want to be fit, healthy and increase my self esteem

2. Write down the steps that you will need to take

Example:

– Start exercising 3 x week for 30 minutes
– Start a healthy eating plan
– Find the correct supplements to boost your plan (for example: Herbex)

3. Set a realistic timeframe for each goal

It takes at least 12 weeks to see major changes in the body. If you change your habits, follow a healthy eating plan and do some exercise, it is very realistic to lose 2kg every two weeks.

4. Break your goals down into smaller goals

Example:

– I want to lose 4kg in 4 weeks

– I want to lose 4cm from my stomach in 6 weeks

5. Set rewards for goals that you have accomplished

Example:

– If I exercise for 30min 3x week for 1 month, I can purchase a new pair of shoes

– If I stick to my healthy eating plan for 6 days during the week, I can reward myself with a cheat meal on the 7th day.

You are on your way to a healthier, happier you. Keep your notes close-by and remind yourself of your goals as often as you need to. Don’t get disheartened if you encounter obstacles along the way – it is all part of the process. Simply get up, and start again. GOOD LUCK!

By Carla Smith

So why do we exercise and why should we keep doing more of it?

1. Burn those calories

As your body becomes more active, so it needs more energy. Your metabolic functions literally burn away the calories you have consumed and, if you’re doing it right, those calories you have stored on the hips too.

2. Feeling good

Physical activity reduces stress and stimulates your endorphins – nature’s pain-killer, relaxant and an all-round feel-good neurotransmitter. It also brings your serotonin and norepinephrine levels back into balance – these are two other neurotransmitters that play a vital role in how you respond to stress and other daily events. Also, once those extra kilos start melting away and your body starts to move well and look good, that’s a tonic in itself.

3. More heart

Your heart is also a muscle and the more you engage in physical exertion, the harder it works and the stronger it gets. This means that as it gets stronger, the easier it is to get vital oxygen and nutrients to anywhere they are required in the body, resulting in better overall health and vitality. Exercise also helps regulate your blood-pressure by increasing the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol – the “good” cholesterol – and decreasing the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – the “bad” cholesterol – in your blood.

4. Better breathing

Oxygen is vital to sustain life and the more you have, the healthier you become. Getting a good, strong flow of oxygen to every cell in your body, ensures all the functions of your body work at optimum levels – detoxing, repairing and growing. What does this mean? If you push the right amount of oxygen through your body, you’ll experience higher energy levels, clearer thinking, strong immune and digestive systems and even better looking hair, skin and nails.

5. Stronger immunity

Exercise isn’t just a prescription for weight-loss; it’s a prescription for longevity too. Improved circulation through regular exercise will boost your lymphatic system. The lymph system is a network of vessels and nodes around the body responsible for defence against infection and disease. A lymphatic system in good condition will ensure regular, natural detoxing of unwanted bacteria and other nasties – and the more you move, the livelier it becomes. If your lymph system becomes sluggish, you may experience chronic fatigue, water retention and a host of other infections.

6. Sleep tight

Have you ever woken up still feeling drained and as though you could still do with a whole weekend in bed? Studies have shown that there is a positive link between being physically active and being able to sleep well. Obesity and excessive stress are known causes of insomnia and fatigue and regular exercise helps combat both.