This 5-Minute Core Workout Will Improve Your Balance

Posted on 18/05/2022 by Boris Clair

You’re reading Move, the nudge we need to get active, however makes us happiest and healthiest.

Do you have atrocious balance? Your core might be to blame. So this week, we’re delivering a five-minute workout that helps to improve both.

The quick, equipment-free routine has been written by Fiona Hawker at Curves, a fitness community designed specifically for women.

It’ll help improve your balance, whether you’re constantly wobbling during yoga classes or find it impossible to do a basic quad stretch on one leg.

“Balance exercises are especially important as you age because your
proprioception (your ability to know where you are in space) gets worse as you age,” says Hawker. “Improving balance is also excellent for posture – it teaches you’re the static and dynamic positions that are natural to your human form.”

Add these moves to the end of your next workout or try them while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil. They really are that simple.

1. Leg swing

Stand with your feet together and your hands on your hips. Transfer your weight to your right leg and slowly swing your left leg out to the side as high as you can comfortable without leaning to the side. Maintain your balance by keeping your core tight, swing your leg back slowly and with control to cross slightly in front of your supporting leg and repeat. Keep your torso upright and facing forwards. This is a great exercise for the muscles in your inner and outer thighs, hamstrings, quadriceps, abdominals and hip flexors. Do this for 30 seconds then change legs and do the same on the other side.

2. Statue of liberty

Start with your feet about hip width apart. Raise your left arm straight up and raise your left leg up to 90 then take your left foot down and crossed behind you dropping your knee to the floor and bringing your arm to your side. Perform this exercise slowly to focus on balance and keep your chest facing forwards. This is a great exercise for your abdominals, hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps. Do this for 30 seconds then change legs and do the same on the other side

3. Single leg rotation

Stand on one leg with your hands on your hips and place the other foot against your knee or upper calf. Rotate your knee out to the side as far as you can without twisting the hips. Keep your hips and torso facing forwards then bring the knee back to the front. Perform this exercise slowly and with control. This is a great exercise for your abdominals, hip flexors and glutes. Do this for 30 seconds then change legs and do the same on the other side.

4. Standing side stretch

Start with your feet together and cross one foot over in front of the other keeping the feet close together, flat on the floor and pointing forwards. Raise both arms straight up and bend to the same side as your front foot. Keep your core tight and your back aligned so that you are not leaning forwards or backwards. Look up slightly towards your hands. This is a great exercise for your trapezius, deltoids, rhomboids, triceps, obliques, abdominals and hip flexors.

5. Balance table

Start on the floor with your hands stacked below your shoulders and your knees stacked below your hips. Extend your opposite arm and leg out until you form a straight line from your finger tips to your toes, hold for a couple of seconds then return to the start position and extend the other arm and leg out. Look at point on the floor between your hands. Keep your core in tight and be careful not to extend your leg out higher than your shoulder. This is great for your abdominals and lower back strength as well as improving flexibility in your shoulders, and hips. Do this exercise for 30 seconds.

6. Forearm plank

Support your weight on your forearms with your elbows stacked under your shoulders and your legs extended out behind you on your toes. Keep your head in a neutral position so its not hanging down or raised above your shoulders. Pull your core in tight and keep your hips down so your abs are engaged but not sagging as this puts pressure on your lower back until you create a straight line from your head down to your heels. This is a great exercise for your abdominals, obliques, your back, shoulders, triceps, glutes and hamstrings. Hold this position for 30 seconds and don’t forget to breathe!

Move celebrates exercise in all its forms, with accessible features encouraging you to add movement into your day – because it’s not just good for the body, but the mind, too. We get it: workouts can be a bit of a slog, but there are ways you can move more without dreading it. Whether you love hikes, bike rides, YouTube workouts or hula hoop routines, exercise should be something to enjoy.

This 5-Minute Leg Day Workout Builds Muscle And Increases Strength

Posted on 11/05/2022 by Boris Clair

You’re reading Move, the nudge we need to get active, however makes us happiest and healthiest.

For many fitness lovers, leg day is often the least favourite of the week. But that’s often because of the misconception that you have to push your body to the point of struggling to walk the next day.

Instead, why not try a short but effective lower body workout?

David Wiener, training and nutrition specialist at Freeletics, has shared a five-minute circuit with HuffPost UK that can be added into your next gym session or practiced during spare moments of the day.

“Lower body exercises are beneficial and vital for making daily tasks, such as walking, easier on us. Performing these exercises not only improves your stability, but it is a chain reaction on the rest of your body for helping improve your strength and posture,” he says.

“Ultimately, improving your lower body workout routine will give you
lean muscle and achieve a stronger and more toned lower body, including the calves, thighs, hamstring and glutes.”

Try the “no glutes, no glory” workout today and you’ll never* be tempted to skip leg day again.

(*Well, until next week at least.)

1. Squat Jumps

This exercise is great because it’s an all over body work out, but especially good for the lower body. It can help build your muscle and enhance strength, as well as boost your cardiovascular fitness, tone your lower body, strengthen bones, boost your circulation and burn many calories.

To do one:
Start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Point your toes slightly outwards. Always keep your back straight. Always keep hands off your body.

Lower down until your hips are below knees. Jump up so both feet leave ground and then return to the starting position before repeating.

2. Lunges

Lunges are a great exercise to increase the muscle mass in your lower body whilst building up your strength and toning. Not only this, they also help to improve your posture, balance and range of motion. Whilst a lot of exercises put strain on your spine, lunges help give your spine a chance to relax whilst working many of the larger muscles in the lower body.

To do one:
Start standing upright, with your hands on your hips. Always keep your shoulders above the hips. Step forward with one foot Keep your front foot flat on the ground. Bend your back knee so it touches the ground below your hip Alternate lunging leg for the desired number of reps.

3. Squats

Much like a jumping squat, a normal squat has similar benefits but not as much cardio. Whilst this exercise will of course not burn as many calories as a jumping squat, it is still a great exercise to put your quadricep group of muscles to work. There’s a misconception that squats put too much pressure and strain on your knees, but squats will actually strengthen your knees and make them less prone to injury as you get older.

To do one:
Start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Point your toes slightly outward. Always keep your back straight. Always keep hands off the body. Always keep weight toward your heels. Lower down until your hips sit below your knees and rise back up to the starting position

4. Split Lunges

Much like the normal lunge, split lunges are a great way to work your quads, glutes, hips and hamstrings. As they are a unilateral exercise (meaning they only train one side of your body at a time), they are proven to increase your balance and posture too. Not only this, your hip flexor muscles are most commonly tight, but performing split lunges will help you improve the mobility of these muscles.

To do one:
Start standing upright. Always keep your shoulders above the hips. Step forward with one foot. Keep your front foot flat on the ground. Bend your back knee to touch the ground below hip. Jump up to switch sides. Make sure your feet leave ground at same time.

Rest.

5. Table Twists

To enhance the flexibility of your lower body and spine, table twists are simple to perform and will stretch out all the major muscle groups in your body, helping to boost flexibility and enhance range of motion.

To do one:
Start with your hands below your shoulders, heels below the knees, and hips on ground. Push up until your hips are in line with your shoulders and knees. Reach one hand up and behind you. Return to the starting position. Alternative sides
Always keep your arms straight.

Rest and repeat.

Exercising With Long Covid Is Tough. This Gentle 5-Minute Workout Can Ease You In

Posted on 27/04/2022 by Boris Clair

You’re reading Move, the nudge we need to get active, however makes us happiest and healthiest.

Re-establishing your fitness routine after having Covid can have major benefits for your physical and mental health, but it needs to be approached cautiously if you’re still experiencing long Covid symptoms.

The NHS advises those experiencing long Covid to ease themselves back into exercise slowly. “Exercise is very important for regaining your muscle strength and endurance but this needs to be safe and managed alongside other long Covid symptoms,” it says. You can read further information about exercising after Covid infection on the NHS website.

Jeannie Di Bon, founder of the Moovlite app, is a movement therapist specialising in working with people experiencing chronic fatigue and chronic pain. More recently, she’s been designing workouts for those experiencing long Covid.

“You may find that your energy levels have dropped post-Covid and you may experience fatigue and post-exertion malaise (PEM),” she explains. “With this in mind, I recommend taking it gently and slowly. We need to keep the nervous system calm to allow the body to repair and we need to start moving without causing a fatigue flare-up.

“Listen to your body and try not to push yourself to pre-Covid fitness too soon. The more you fight the impact of long Covid, the harder it may be to recover.”

Below, Di Bon has shared a gentle, five-minute workout created for those who feel ready to start moving again.

But remember, always speak to a healthcare professional about resuming physical activity if you’re experiencing chest pain or severe breathlessness, or if physical activity is worsening your long Covid symptoms.

Exercise 1: Belly breathing

Start with some gentle belly breathing, allowing the lower ribs to expand. For many people, Covid causes a cough and cold so we want to start moving the lung tissue in the right way. Try to breathe quietly in through the nose and out through the nose. Lying on your back does not require strong inhales so take it very gently, allowing the breath to come to you.

Exercise 2: Arm rolls

Staying supine (lying on your back) is a good way to start moving – especially as some people experience dizziness with long Covid. You may find you don’t want to be standing for too long or doing exercises that involve inversions or squats. Keep it simple. This arm roll exercise can help stretch into the thorax and open the chest.

Start with your arms by your side. Try to keep the back heavy as you move the arms above your head and gently stretch. Let your breath settle the spine into the floor and allow the tissues to relax. You can add arm circles to this for a beautiful stretch across the chest.

Exercise 3: Ankle roll

To help with the dizziness that can happen, some simple leg exercises like calf pumps or ankle circles are recommended. You can do these lying on your back: hold on to one leg and try to circle to the ankle without the rest of the leg moving. Gently lower it back to the ground and repeat on the other leg.

Exercise 4: Resistance training

To build leg strength further, you can add a band for resistance work that is also gentle. This is another great exercise for circulation and helps prevent dizziness. Take a band and place it around your foot with the knee bent. Focus on gentle rolling the back of the thigh along the mat until the leg straightens.

Try not to lock the knee or hang into the band. Keep the energy flowing down the leg into the band. The back stays heavy into the mat – if your back is arching, raise the leg higher. Once the leg is straight, press the balls of the feet into the band and start to point and flex the foot. This is a brilliant way to utilise the calf pump.

Exercise 5: Seated twist

A seated twist is great to help circulation and digestion. Many people do experience stomach cramps and pain with Covid. Find a comfortable seated position and cross one leg over the other straight leg. Use your arms to guide yourself around to look over the opposite shoulder. Try to lift the spine up as you twist, rather than compress the spine. It’s also important to go gentle and not force into the twist. Stay in the position and breathe softly allowing tight muscles to release. You can then repeat on the other side.

This 5-Minute HILIT Workout Will Boost Your Fitness, Without Wrecking Your Joints

Posted on 13/04/2022 by Boris Clair

You’re reading Move, the nudge we need to get active, however makes us happiest and healthiest.

HIIT, or high intensity interval training, was all the rage a few years back. And if you love getting your sweat on with rapid circuits and burpees, you do you.

But there’s a new trend in town that might appeal to those who found HIIT, well, a little too intense.

Enter HILIT, which stands for ‘high intensity low impact training’. Instead of throwing yourself around at the gym, HILIT is all about small, targeted movements that lead to mighty results.

And according to Amber Johnston, assistant head trainer at Barrecore, this type of exercise is “suitable for everyone,” including “new people to exercise, prenatal and postnatal people, plus athletes recovering from injury”.

“Very simply, via HILIT work outs, you are putting less impact on your body, especially your joints,” she tells us.

The benefits of HILIT, according to Johnston, include:

• Raising your heart rate

• Improving cardio fitness and muscle strength

• Protecting you from joint damage, pain and injury

• Burning calories

Below, Johnston has shared a five-minute HILIT workout that focusses on squats. “Squats are great for ankle and hip mobility, you will work your quads, glutes, hamstrings and core whilst getting your heart rate up with the full range movements especially the arms above your head,” she says.

“Watch your alignment; knees in line with toes, knees and ankles stacked and keep breathing! If you have trouble with your knees/hips/ankles keep the range of motion smaller and higher.”

Give this a go at home or in the gym.

1. Start with slow squats, feet wider than your hips, toes turned out slightly, weight in your heels as you drop down for two counts and up for two counts, repeat for 30 seconds. Speed up to single count down, single count up, repeat for another 30 seconds.

2. Raise arms above your head as you come up, repeat for 60 seconds, then hold at your deepest squat position and do tiny pulses for 30 seconds.

3. Hold your squat position and start walking to the side as if you are a crab, maintaining your deep squat position, step five times to left, five times to right, then four, then three, then two then one. This should take around 60 seconds to complete. Come back to your squat position and start to do single full range [as low as you can squat] again with arms and legs together for another 30 secs.

4. Finish your workout in a 30 second straight arm plank with mountain climbers.

5. Then finally lower onto your forearms for the last 30 seconds for an active recovery whilst targeting all of your major muscle groups in a full isometric hold.

Focus on keeping your elbows under your shoulder, head in line with your spine, tailbone slightly tucked to prevent arching in the lower back, whilst focusing on drawing your belly button to your spine on each exhale breath. Modify onto your knees if you are struggling with your form in this position.