Workouts

1/ Squats – Stand up straight, squat down so your thighs are parallel to the floor, your weight is through the heels of your feet and your knees haven’t gone further forward than your toes. Then extend legs and stand back up. Repeat 20 times as quickly as possible.

2/ Split Jumps – Stand with 1 leg forward and 1 leg back. Jump switching the legs over, moving the back leg forwards and vice versa. Do this as fast as possible and jump legs forwards and backwards as far as possible. 40 reps.

3/ Kick Outs – Kneel on all fours, kick legs up and sideways as high and fast as possible. 40 reps

4/ 180 Jumps – Start in a half squat position. Spring/jump up and as you do so twist round so you rotate 180 degrees (i.e. face the other way). As you touch down, bend the knees so you go back into half squat position and are ready to repeat movement again. 20 reps.

5/ Front Lunges – Step forwards as far as you can and bend both kneed so back knee is just off the floor. Repeat alternating between legs. 30 reps.

 6/ Star Jumps – Stand upright with feet together. Jump your legs out sideways and swing your arms out at the same time. As your feet touch the floor jump back in bringing your arms down at the same time. Repeat 20 times.

Have a go at this circuit, taking as little rest between each exercise as possible. Rest for 30 seconds at the end of the circuit, then repeat. Do 3-5 circuits depending on fitness level.

For the vast majority of people burning as many calories as possible from your workout is one of if not the most important goals. Heart rate is an essential component in this.

The old school approach is that you should work at lower intensities to stay in the ‘fat burning zone.’ This is largely a myth. The truth is the harder you work the more total calories and fat you burn. You don’t have to be an expert to work that out, it’s basic common sense. Of course there is no point working out so hard in the first 10 minutes of your 60 minute workout that you can barely do anything for the remaining 50 minutes. You have to strike the balance between working as hard as you can whilst still lasting the duration of your session.

But the higher you can keep your heart rate the more calories you burn during the workout.

So for example on average if you walked/ran the same distance, 5km, the heart rate at which you do it impacts the total calorie burn massively.

Let’s say you walked it and your heart rate was 100 bmp throughout, you may burn around 300 calories.
But if you did the same workout with your heart rate at 150 bpm you would burn about 600 calories. That’s double! For some people keeping your heart rate up at that level may mean running throughout, for others it may mean half walking and half running. In terms of calorie burning it makes no difference it’s the heart rate that determines the calorie burn because the distance is the same.

How do you know what your heart rate is? You could get a heart rate monitor, but basically you are just looking to work as hard as you can. Obviously if you haven’t exercised for a while you are not going to be able to work out with your heart rate constantly at 150 bmp straight away anyway. You would need to build it up. But the point is, push yourself as much as you can, keep the rest periods down as much as you can, and your will burn far more calories.

This workout circuit is designed to keep you working hard throughout the circuit but really spiking your heart rate with the final exercise in the circuit. This heart rate spike will really get your metabolism and fat burning hormones going after your workout is finished;

1/ Press Ups – On all fours, lower your body towards floor, then push back up. 15 reps.

2/ Squats – Stand upright, squat down until thighs are parallel to floor, then push back up through heels of your feet. 25 reps.

3/ Leg Sways -Lay on back and lower your legs as close to the floor and as straight as possible without your back arching up. Just moving your legs, sway them from side to side. 30 seconds.

4 /Rolling Plank – Start in side plank position, roll into front plank, then into other side plank. Try not to touch down on floor with body or other arm as you do this. 15 seconds in each position.

6/ High Knees – Put your hands out in front of you at hip height. Alternately jump your knee up touching your hand. Go as fast as you can. 20 seconds (or as long as you can). The key with this exercise is to push as hard as you possible can for as long as you can.

Today’s Takeaway -Have a go at this circuit. Make sure you push yourself hard on the final exercise. Take 20/30 seconds to recover between each circuit. Aim to repeat the circuit 4/5 times.