We’ve all heard the phrase little and often, especially connected to eating and weight loss, but does this apply to exercise too? Yes, it does.

While it’s brilliant to see your trainer and get a serious full-body session in, it’s also beneficial to fit extra exercise in when you can. As little as a few minutes a day challenging your muscles can be enough to improve fitness levels and tone your muscles.

We’ve put together some tips and workouts to utilise in between seeing your trainer or when you’re on holiday and left to your own devices but still want to get your heart pumping and body burning.

 

Walking

Walking can burn almost as many calories as running, so is great for burning quick calories each day. Walking can strengthen your muscles and bones, improve your stamina and help with balance and coordination. Sometimes in London walking can be far easier and quicker than getting a cab or driving, so try to walk a couple of times a day when you know the traffic is bad or the journey is short. Our founder Jennifer Irvine loves walking meetings and getting her steps in when she may otherwise be sat indoors. Even a short each day can help your memory, mood and cognition and help to break up your day. Try reaching 10,000 steps a day and you’ll be surprised at how much easier weight loss and management become.

 

Yoga

Yoga is both fantastic for de-stressing and stretching the body, but can also be great for gaining strength and toning. Yoga can easily be practised at home as well as in the studio, and with your yoga instructor, it’s easy to change your flow to suit your needs and goals. A workout could be as short as 10 minutes or longer if you have the time.

You may even want to try Power Yoga- which is a much more fast-paced style of yoga that focuses on building strength and endurance, burning calories, and enhancing stamina. You’ll sweat far more than in the steady style of classic yoga, both are fantastic to squeeze into your routine.

 

Stretches

Stretching is important if you’re thinking of adding exercise to your daily routines. Stretching can help to prevent and ease muscle soreness, help with a better posture, alleviate back pain, and more. Stretching can be done in most settings, so utilise a few minutes to stretch out your arms, legs, hips and back, or anything else that may be giving you pain or tightness.

There are a number of sources online that can show you an array of stretches to target specific areas of your body that you feel need attention. Apps like ROMWOD can be fantastic for improving your flexibility through stretching, and the Stretchit app is great for personalising your own programme and tracking your results, though there are many accessible apps and videos that can help your stretching progress.

 

Bodyweight exercises

Bodyweight exercises are great for doing at home in a rush to help you tone and build muscle, helping to speed up your metabolism. They can be made more difficult with weights but are effective without. Find a routine that works for you that includes exercises that burn your glutes, abs and anything else in-between, going for 10-20 reps of each. Include exercises like planks, glute bridges, inchworms, jump squats, burpees, star jumps, push-ups, lunges, mountain climbers, and more. These exercises can be completed quickly and in a short, changeable period of time, so try completing them a few times a week.

 

 

Quick and easy

There are a number of easy exercises you can try to include into your daily activities that might not even feel like workouts at all but still help.

• Tighten your abs. Breath in for 4 seconds and blow your tummy outwards until it’s full of air, then exhale for 4 seconds and squeeze your abs in tight towards your spine. Repeat this 10 times a day and it can help to tone your core muscles while helping to relieve stress.
• One of our in-house nutritionists likes to do squats while she heats her Pure Package meals. ‘I get into a sumo squat pose and hold it for a second then stand, then squat for 2 seconds and stand, then hold for 3, etc until my food is piping hot. Squatting is great for strengthening your knees and ankles and is a great calorie burner too.’
• Stretch while you’re in the shower or bath. Hot water and steam can be fantastic for loosening up your muscles, making them easier to stretch which increases your flexibility and relieves tension much more effectively.
• Do calf raises as you’re standing in a lift or waiting in a queue. They will help to strengthen your calves to make running and walking easier and reduce the risk of injuries. Stand straight with your feet flat on the ground, then roll up onto your toes, hold for a few seconds, then slowly lower back down to the floor and repeat.
• For an inner thigh burn, try squeezing a mini exercise ball or medicine ball between your thighs for 10 seconds and repeat. This can be done while sitting and can be great for strengthening your inner thighs and hips.

Tips

• HIIT- Tabata- High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a type of cardio exercise that concentrates on using short sharp bursts of intense exercise followed by a short rest period. These intense exercise periods should be filled with an anaerobic exercise which will increase your heart rate and get your blood flowing. HIIT has been considered a better calorie-burning exercise than standard cardio due to the way the body continues to burn calories once your workout is over.

Due to the sharp and speedy nature of HIIT workouts, they are often easy to achieve in short time-frames, so are perfect to fit into a busy schedule. Tabata workouts are a great quick                         workout format to utilise. Spend 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off- 20 seconds doing a high-intensity cardio exercise and then 10 seconds recovering and breathing.

WebMD suggests this quick 4-minute Tabata workout to try twice a week, but this can easily be changed to suit your needs and preferences.

4-minute HIIT Tabata [1]

20 seconds of Mountain Climbers; 10 seconds rest

20 seconds of High Knees; 10 seconds rest

20 seconds of Burpees; 10 seconds rest

20 seconds of Squat Upper-Cuts; 10 seconds rest

20 seconds of Mountain Climbers; 10 seconds rest

20 seconds of High Knees; 10 seconds rest

20 seconds of Burpees; 10 seconds rest

20 seconds of Squat Upper-Cuts; 10 seconds rest

 

• Schedule your workouts: If you schedule your workouts into your day and create time for them, you are allowing yourself the time to complete them and don’t have to feel rushed or guilty.
• Take the stairs instead of the escalator or lift: Taking the stairs can be great for burning calories and improving cardiovascular fitness, so can be beneficial for weight loss. Try skipping a step for an additional burn.

 

Just a few minutes of exercise each day is better than none at all, and getting in a number of these small sessions a day can make a big difference to your fitness and health. You may need to get creative with how you fit exercise into your day, but consistency is key and could result in more toned muscles, better cardiovascular health, and an increase in weight loss.

Ensure you’re exercising alongside a healthy diet, such as those supplied in The Pure Package programmes, to ensure you are making the most of the benefits of exercise and movement. Our Training Support plan will supply you with a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat to support your fitness needs, while also filling your plate with healthy plant and whole foods to support a healthy immune system. Why not book a nutritionist consultation today and discover a tailored meal plan prepared and delivered just for you.

 

[1] https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/the-4-minute-fat-loss-workout#2