June 2016
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Fitness<br />
Roger Love continues our A-Z of fitness with… O<br />
Oh my god! It’s summer already Ok, you spent all<br />
winter thinking that you must get fit and toned<br />
ready for summer. Now, the sun has come out<br />
and you haven’t even started. Don’t panic – it's<br />
time to get down to work.<br />
Here are five ways to get started.<br />
➊ Start doing press-ups (or push-ups). These will<br />
tone your arms, shoulders and chest and work<br />
your core muscles hard. There are some great<br />
apps to get you started – for example PushUps<br />
Pro by Runtastic, which leads you through five<br />
sets every other day to take you to 20, 50 and<br />
100 reps.<br />
➋ Get running. Start with a time goal, say 20<br />
minutes. Then walk to get yourself warm, jog or<br />
run until you need to walk, and then walk until<br />
you are ready to run again. Don’t stress out<br />
about distance. Try to take up the total time.<br />
➌ If running is not your thing, try skipping,<br />
jumping, swimming, or cycling.<br />
➍ Get your food right. Use big principles to start<br />
with: Eat less sugar, drink less alcohol, don’t fill<br />
up with carbs. Eat more vegetables, drink more<br />
water, eat nice, tasty protein.<br />
➎ Join a boot camp. This will give you a broad<br />
mixture of exercise to hit all your goals. In<br />
Hackney, we have lots of quality options:<br />
Dean Lenton’s boot camp at London Fields<br />
Fitness, and British Military Fitness and Army<br />
Boot Camp Fitness in Victoria Park.<br />
As always, you are advised to consult your doctor<br />
or a fitness professional before starting a new<br />
programme, especially if you are new to exercise.<br />
Obliques These are muscles running along the<br />
side of your core. They help bend and rotate your<br />
torso – and stop it rotating to stabilise your spine.<br />
A simple bodyweight exercise to strengthen them<br />
is a side plank.<br />
Lie on one side with your legs straight and prop<br />
up your upper body on your forearm (elbow<br />
under shoulder). Raise your hips so your body<br />
forms a straight line from your head to your heels.<br />
Hold for 20 seconds on each side to start with.<br />
Perfect to do while watching TV.<br />
If that's too hard, hold the same position but with<br />
your knees on the ground and your lower legs<br />
bent back 90 degrees. If it's too easy, try holding<br />
your upper leg in the air.<br />
Roger Love is a personal trainer based at<br />
Netil House, Westgate Street, E8. hackneypt.com<br />
LOVEEAST JUNE <strong>2016</strong> 39
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