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Fun Ways to Fight the Flab By Maggie FosterAnxious to get rid of all that excess weight but can't stand the thought of a rigid exercise routine? Getting fit doesn't have to be torture, and it doesn't mean spending hours in the gym either, there are dozens of other ways to lose weight, tone up and slim down and have some good fun at the same time. Here's our definitive guide to just a few of them: BORN SKIPPY Skipping is a really good, fast way to tone up your body. It burns off a very impressive 800 calories an hour, and is a much-loved favourite of personal trainer Gunnar Peterson, who trains the likes of J-Lo and Lucy Liu. Here are his top tips to get you started skipping, taken from his new book G-Force: The Ultimate Guide To Your Best Body Ever (Regan Books, GBP14.99). TIP NUMBER ONE: Get the right rope length - stand on the middle of it and raise the handles up to your chest to check that it's right. If they reach just below your shoulders, it's perfect. TIP NUMBER TWO: Don't jump too high - aim for just one inch or two inches off the floor. This will allow you to jump faster, which will burn off more calories for you. TIP NUMBER THREE: Move around - jump left, back to the centre, then to the right and back to the centre - as well as up and down, which will work your inner and outer thighs just that little bit harder. TIP NUMBER FOUR: Smile and enjoy it, and just think how much fitter and healthier you are going to be at the end of it! Happy skipping everybody! HAVE A SWISS BALL If you want to greatly improve your posture, strength and overall fitness, get yourself a Swiss ball. A really diverse training tool, you can use your Swiss ball to sit on at your desk to stop you from slouching (you'll fall off if you do!) but you can also use it to perform a great range of exercises to help you to tone up and slim down. Use your Swiss ball to perform abdominal crunchies, leg raises, press-ups and upper body exercises as you sit on it. If you are new to Swiss ball, it's best to buy an instructional DVD to go with it, or just ask your instructor down at the gym to demonstrate some exercises using a Swiss ball to you first. STRAP ON YOUR BOOTS FOR A CHARITY TREK Why not get fit and help a deserving charity into the bargain? Strap on your boots or your cycling helmet and take on a charity challenge to help fight the flab, there are lots of them around and they cover everything from cycling in Ecuador to trekking the Great Wall of China to the Coto Paxi Volcano Trek. Just surf the net to find out more and then take your pick. PUMP UP THE VOLUME If you're not a gym junkie, don't enjoy the great outdoors and don't want your house cluttered up with faddy, over in a flash exercise equipment, then home workout DVDs could be the perfect answer for you. Of course, there's a massive range to choose from out there but you don't have to go for the obvious route and confine your workout to squats and lunges. Instead, why not widen your search to include dance craze DVDS? There's a huge range on the market including Hip Hop and Salsa. And for those who prefer clubby dance music to get fit to then check out "Pump it up" - the Ultimate Dance Workout DVD from The Ministry of Sound. Inspired by the infamous video for the No 1 hit, Call on me, by Eric Prydz, the release features top 10 hits. The workout is choreographed by Deanne Berry, who appeared in the Call on me video. Deanne has compiled a 70-minute aerobic dance routine featuring a warm-up, three dance workouts and a cool down. The DVD is available in the shops and costs just GBP13.99 - a small price to pay for fitness really - or for those who prefer other types of dance, check out the dance DVDs at www.amazon.co.uk TRY OUT TAE BO Tae Bo, a form of high impact aerobics that combines the moves of Tae Kwon Do, karate, boxing, ballet, and hip-hop dancing is the newest craze in gyms and homes across the country. Tae Bo, which stands for Total Awareness Excellent Body Obedience, was developed by Billy Blanks in the late 1980's. Blanks, a seven-time world karate champion and black belt in six martial arts, developed Tae Bo in the basement of his home. After encouragement from family and friends, The Blank's World Training Centre in Sherman Oaks, CA was opened, introducing Tae Bo to local townspeople and limited Hollywood celebrities. By word of mouth, Tae Bo has gradually increased in popularity. Overall Blanks says his Tae Bo workouts can improve balance, coordination, flexibility, and will tone and define muscles. The workout regime is exhaustively aerobic and therefore yields phenomenal cardiovascular benefits. Finally, perhaps the most appealing aspect of a Tae Bo workout is its proven calorie burning effectiveness. An hour-long Tae Bo workout will burn 500 to 800 calories, compared with the 300 to 400 calories burned with a more conventional aerobics class. THE ULTIMATE IN SPIN If you fancy jumping into the saddle for 'the ultimate in spin,' then The Complete Guide To Studio Cycling by Rick Kiddle is the 'must-have' book for you. Whether you are an enthusiastic amateur, an instructor, coach or athlete, you can use this guide to train effectively on an indoor stationary bike. 'Spinning' is an effective but enjoyable form of exercise that is fast becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Rick Kiddle is a former British Triathlon Champion and was one of the first people to introduce spinning to the UK. The Complete Guide to studio cycling is priced £14.99. SAUCY BUT NICE And Angelina Jolie's best fight the flab advice for all? "Have lots of sex!" That's what she came out with when questioned about the best way to get in shape and stay that way. (We're just not asking who with though!) BALLROOM BLITZ The raving success of the Strictly Come Dancing TV show has led to a nationwide surge in applications to join dance classes. What attracts these would-be Jill Halfpenny’s is not just the opportunities dancing offers to meet new people and learn a new skill, but also that it makes you feel good, both emotionally and physically. Regular dancing reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and cancer - but most people take up dancing simply because it's good fun. For this reason, participants are less likely to quit than those who try other, far more obvious forms of exercise, such as going to the gym or running, more than half of whom give up within a year. Though most people do not take up dancing with the sole aim of getting fit, they soon find they have shed quite a few pounds and feel a lot better in themselves without even trying. You will, for instance, burn just as many, if not more calories during an hour of ballroom dancing than spending the same amount of time taking a brisk walk. Here's a comparison: Ballroom dancing: 180 to 480 calories Belly dancing: 180 to 300 calories Jive/swing dance: 250 to 400 calories Line dancing: up to 300 calories Salsa: 400 calories A brisk walk: 200 to 300 calories Dancing is also good for the circulation, being, as it is, an aerobic activity. What this means is that when you dance you work your heart hard, use more oxygen and burn off even more calories. Regular dancing can also help to reduce levels of unhealthy blood fats clog up the arteries and can cause heart disease. Though dancing has clear health benefits those who become hooked also testify to the 'buzz' that they get from it. And anyone who has tried ballroom dancing - or any form of dance for that matter - will also know that it is virtually impossible to think about anything else while you are focused on getting your feet in the right position while at the same time holding onto your partner. To find out more try surfing the internet for dance classes local to you. |
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