Countdown to Christmas get fit plan

November 22, 2011

Are you looking forward to a few festive parties – but definitely not keen to try on your party clothes? Perhaps you ditched the summer exercise plan the minute that winter arrived – and you could hide your legs and arms in jumpers and jeans.

But all is not lost. With a bit of focus on exercise and diet you’ll be pulling on your gladrags for Christmas and staring into the mirror with a huge smile on your face.

A healthy, well-optimised diet, combined with regular exercise, are vital for improved health and well-being at all times of the year. Ensuring that you are a healthy weight and taking part in cardiovascular exercise has a wealth of benefits including:

• Reduced risk of heart disease and some cancers
• Lower risk of a stroke, type II diabetes and other obesity related illnesses
• A longer, healthier life
• Improved mental wellbeing
• Greater self-confidence and esteem

Here we bring you a series of Get in Shape for the Christmas Party exercise and nutrition blogs.

The benefits of this Countdown to Christmas Workout include:

• Workouts can be done anywhere
• No equipment needed – uses your own body weight for resistance training
• Burn more calories and lose fat
• Toning in all the right places, especially if you plan to wear a little black dress!
• Improved overall health
• Boosted metabolism
• Release of happy hormones
• Improved motor skills, including balance and coordination.
• Stronger bones and joints
• Great looks!

Tips for your fitness plan:

• If you suffer from any health issues please consult your doctor before doing any exercise
• Always warm up and cool down with every session
• Have a rest day (or a weekend off) from training if you find it is too much or are experiencing severe delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)

First step: Body weight workout

Perform the exercises in the order listed, going directly from one move to the next. It only takes about 90 seconds to complete each sequence of exercises. Repeat each sequence of three exercises 10 times in a row without stopping. Do the entire workout three times a day, every second day. 

• You will get a cardio effect from these exercises, but it is aimed more at toning.
• The idea behind this is to spread the activity throughout the day, i.e. morning, afternoon and evening.
• This will help to boost metabolism and burn calories throughout the day
• When training with body weight resistance your body will burn calories at rest
• The more calories burned, the greater the chance of dropping body fat
• This workout is based on compound movements (working more than one muscle group), which will lead to faster results. 

There are the three variations to suit your level of fitness. Complete the exercises throughout the four week period but if you are finding it too easy move on to the next level.

Beginner level for body weight fitness exercises

(Thanks to Naomi at Norma Ann Photography, Glasgow, for the photographs)

Squat to shoulder press. Please see the photo, left, for squat positioning. When standing up after the squat, press hands from shoulder height and then straight up into the air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half press up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alternating forward lunge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intermediate level for body weight fitness exercises

Squat jump on the spot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superman press up

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reverse lunge to shoulder press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advanced level for body weight fitness exercises

Lateral squat jump

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full press up

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jumping lunge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the next Countdown to Christmas blog find out the secrets of great cardio workouts