In last week's column we looked at a power endurance workout, which although not hugely complex was certainly for those who have a reasonable understanding about training and lifting. So for the slightly more advanced shall we say.
As a consequence I have been inundated over social by people saying, hey, we are really interested but we are either completely new or very new to this sort of thing, so can I write something for beginners.
Always here to help.
Of course I am in no way professing to be an expert on anything. However throughout my career I have learnt a great many things with perhaps the golden rule above all else being you must never stop learning and never stop adapting.
There is no point rushing out to make drastic changes to your routine, as the changes may not always be easy to stick to. It is always far better to drip feed a few ideas and tips into your daily routine, as well as your diet and if beneficial to you, make sure they last.
I was pleased to get the messages I did asking for help and advice because I believe far too many people rush out and start lifting weights; they end-up hurting themselves, or causing physical changes and problems, which affect them later in life.
The big muscle groups get developed through lifting weights, but often as not the smaller connecting muscles get missed with certain muscle groups never being attended to at all.
The beauty of body weight work is you don't need a gym. In truth you don't actually need to have ever done any training before or be in any particular shape. You can do it at home, in the park, in fact anywhere which works for you - at any time of the day or night. Plus it is completely free, which is a bonus for anyone!
If you are strong with your body weight, it gives you the foundation to move forward into proper weight. Body weight training is a great starting point for women and will help tone-up arms, legs and bums in no time. There will of course be the added benefits of strength development, which is always helpful.
I have complied some reasonably straightforward exercises below. Select all or some of the exercises from the list and aim to achieve 10-20 reps in each one of them. Then move on to the next exercise, taking if possible, very little rest in between.
Ideally you want to complete 3 full rotations of the 3 or 4 exercises you selected.
If you are starting out, take 45 seconds to 1 minutes rest between each exercise.
So perform 20 press- ups. Then rest for 45 seconds. Then do another 20 press-ups then rest and so forth. As you become more experienced, look to cut down the rest internals in between reps from 45 seconds down to 30 and then 15 seconds.
Press ups (different hand placements)
•Choose one or 2 of these different hand placements. Then do 10 normal and 10 wide in a set or 10 normal and 10 narrow in a set.
•Normal hand placement
•Wide placement
•Narrow placement
Sit-ups crunches
•Back flat on the floor. Knees raised at 90 degree with your feet crossed over. The aim is to try and get your chest to your knees and back to the floor again, whilst maintaining tension through your stomach.
•Lower till you are nearly back to the floor and then come up again.
•Try to keep your hands by the side of your head, so you can't use them to throw yourself up.
•Don't put them behind your head, as doing this can cause neck strains.
Shoulder width - apart squats
•Stand tall. Move your feet a shoulder width, apart.
•Then squat down with your first movement to drop your bottom towards the floor, while keeping your back straight. Feel the weight through your heels at all times; don't come forward onto your toes.
• Get to 90 degrees then stand back up, driving from your hips, glutes and hamstrings.
•Then repeat this 10-20 times
Lunges
•Start tall, lunge one leg out in front of the other, maintaining a tall posture. The idea is to keep your weight down, towards the ground, not lunging forward over your out stretched leg. You need to imagine you have a line running through the top of your head and out between your legs, pulling you down.
•You then push back into a tall starting position and lunge the other leg forward.
•Undertake 10 lunges for each leg
Simple Plank
•Lie flat on the floor on your stomach, and get into a press-up position, but instead of having the weight through your hands, which should be a shoulder width apart, rest on your elbows and forearms.
•You legs are together and you are resting on your toes like a press-up.
• You keep your body perfectly straight. You need to switch on your stomach muscles and bottom muscles to keep you held in place.
• Hold for 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds, repeating 3 times.
This should keep you busy and out of mischief for a while
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