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Olivia Cooney, personal trainer and founder of Pop-Up Fitness reveals her tips for maximising your fitness regime this summer. From powering up planks, to swapping pizza for beetroot brownies…
Fuel up
New research has proven beetroots are a purple powerhouse that have post work-out benefits to help you maximize your recovery time. Beetroots contain anti-inflammatory properties that prevent muscle soreness so you don’t to lose momentum. Studies show beetroots ability to boost sports performance and improve recovery is heightened in less fit individuals rather than elite athletes. The ready to eat beetroots come in a range of infused flavours which makes them so easy to pop into a salad or meal.
HIIT
Pop-Up Fitness training is all about functional movement with the majority of the workout focusing on what you can do with bodyweight. An excellent training technique we use is ‘High interval training’. Using almost any explosive bodyweight movement you can perform 20-30 seconds of this movement to your maximum intensity ability and recover with short rests 10-15 seconds. Repeat each exercise 3 times and move on to the next. This energetic style of working out can help double your results in half the time!
Do what you love
There is endless information and advice out there about what is the best workout to do for your body. Ignore what you read and get ‘trial and testing.’ Have a go at a selection of workouts that take your interest from boxing to barre, CrossFit to run club, boot camp and yoga- there are plenty. Take the complimentary trial at fitness concept studios near you and find out what ignites the fitness fire in you. The only workout you will continue to do, and be able to maintain is a workout that you actually enjoy most.
Team workÂ
If you can work as a team with your partner or a friend, you will get the results faster. You are more likely to keep healthy if you eat together than if you are with someone who is chomping on a piece of pizza whilst you dig into your salad leaves. Resentment will kick in you’ll be thinking of caving in. Taking classes together, ‘going dutch’ on a PT session will also have a high impact on motivation.
Pop-Up those planks!
Gone are the days of a basic plank. Try these 3 additions;
1. Drop your right hip bone to kiss the floor, make a rainbow shape over to your left hip bone to do the same.
2. Keep your hips low, raise and lower your locked out leg alternating between legs focusing on glute contraction.
3. Start the plank on your forearms and push up onto the palms of your hands into a ‘high plank’
Position, then return back to forearm plank and keep switching.
Move to the beat!
It is a fact that listening to music can lift your mood in 0-60 seconds. Invest some time in downloading your favourite tracks and when you are about 20 minutes away from leaving for your workout put those buds in and let the music do the magic.
Walk more
Do you take an escalator every single day at the office? Do you always jump off the closest tube station even if it’s a sunny day? If you can try one alteration, make it a walk from the second or third closest station and take the stairs. On the weekends is another opportunity to make the most of the time you have by taking more leisurely strolls.
Cheat
Don’t cut out things that you enjoy. Be it chocolate, champagne or pizza – the minute you ‘cut it out forever’ will be the moment you have put a black mark on your healthy routine. But try and sneak in something healthy to balance it out, like making brownies with ready to eat sweet chili beetroots to get all the nutritional benefits even on the cheat days because life is there to be enjoyed not to be restricted! You won’t feel so bad on Monday morning when you start back on the workouts and healthy food knowing that you are able to enjoy one of your favourite cheats at the end of the week.
