Alesha's fit tips

1. HIIT up and Split up

“Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.” Douglas Adams. Time is an issue for most of us these days so the idea of compressing a workout and still getting the same results – or better – is likely to be attractive to those of us who are chasing our tails. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is one way of getting the cardio part of your workout done faster, burning more fat and working on the old heart and lungs. If you do the same workout all the time, your body will adapt and figure out how to conserve energy – it’s smart like that; the beauty of HIIT is that it keeps your body guessing, which means that it has to work hard to keep up. If you’d like to give it a shot, try picking your favourite piece of cardio equipment and increasing your usual speed for a couple of minutes, then slow down and recover for a minute and repeat this cycle a further five or six times. If you are in any doubt just ask one of our coaches before you start.

2. A nice little back exercise.

You’d have to have been on a long holiday on another planet not to have heard how important core strength has become in the exercise equation. The low back is a particularly vulnerable part of the core that pretty much everyone should be strengthening and stretching on a regular basis. The opposite arm, opposite leg raise is a great little exercise that will help to keep the muscles of the low back fit and strong. Start by kneeling on all fours. Now slowly raise your right arm and left leg and extend them away from your body so that they are horizontal to the ground. Imagine a glass of your favourite tipple balanced on your back, tighten your buns and hold for three seconds. Now return to the kneeling position and do the same with the opposite arm and leg. Do a half a dozen of these on each side and you’ll be as right as rain. Again, check with our coaches if you are in any doubt about technique.

3. Tense and Relax.

If you stop in the middle of a busy day and do a quick body scan, I bet your shoulders will be somewhere in the vicinity of your ears. Here’s a quick set of exercises that you can do at your desk that will help to relax you. Clench your fists for 5 seconds, then release them and relax for 20 seconds. Now shrug your shoulders for 5 seconds, then release them and relax for 20 seconds. Press your head back so that your eyes are looking at the ceiling for 5 seconds, then release and relax for 20 seconds. Tuck your chin to your chest for 5 seconds, then release and relax for 20 seconds. Arch your spine (chest out) for 5 seconds then release and relax for 20 seconds. These are just a few examples of what you can do with progressive muscle relaxation – you can modify the technique to target the areas of your body that hold the most tension for you. You’ll probably get a few funny looks from your work mates but will they have your relaxed persona? I think not.

4. Too much of a good thing.

You know those little endorphins that make you feel good and come out to play after a workout? Well some people get to like them so much that they will do almost anything to get that feeling. Bit like chocolate but less fattening. The problem is that this can lead to overtraining and overtraining can lead to sore muscles, a decrease in performance, injury, apathy and general grumpiness. Butler University's Adrian Shepard says, “Overtraining … happens when you're not allowing your body the opportunity to adjust, adapt and recuperate in response to the training regimen you're taking part in." If you are working your tush off in the gym but it’s not making you feel like it used to, then there is a strong chance that you need to lighten up, back off and regroup. This doesn’t mean that you are going to be any less fit – in fact quite the reverse. Talk to our coaches for advice.

5. Put on a happy face.

If you won big on the lottery, do you think that it would make you happier? In her book, The How of Happiness (www.thehowofhappiness.com), social psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky suggests that we all have a genetically determined set point level of happiness to which we return, even if we win the lottery. However that set point only accounts for 50% of our happiness. A further 10% is controlled by life’s circumstances and the remaining 40% can be influenced by us. How do you make that 40% work for you? I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said: “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be,” and I reckon he was right on the money. Two main ways of improving your mood fast: 1. Change your physiology – put on a happy face 2. Change your psychology – adopt an attitude of gratitude.

6. Try taking a nana nap.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have found that a 20-minute ‘nana nap’ works better than a double espresso for improving concentration and efficiency. I thought it was just me, but apparently everyone’s energy tends to fluctuate during the day and taking forty winks whenever that happens is positively good for your performance. The theory is that the brain gets clogged up with information as the day goes on – just like your email inbox – and a quick snooze clears the decks. What actually happens is that the morning’s information is stored in the hippocampus and then downloaded to an area of the brain called the pre-frontal cortex. Anyway next time you feel like resting the eyes for a moment just tell the boss you’re doing some filing.

7. Only eat when you are hungry.

The general feeling about dieting is that, within reason, it really doesn’t matter which diet you are on, it’s whether you can stick to it that counts. That being the case, the more user-friendly you can make your eating habits, the better. I tend to subscribe to the idea of sensible eating and portion control combined with the odd treat when you fancy it – eat the right stuff, don’t pig out and the odd muffin won’t kill you kind of thing. If you want a thought that is likely to help you sustain a sensible diet, why don’t you try this little rule: Only eat when you are genuinely hungry and stop when you are full. Simple isn’t it? But it is very powerful maxim. Another good question to ask yourself is why you want to eat. If the answer is boredom, depression, anxiety, comfort, guilt and so on, the chances are that you’re eating for eating’s sake and that is not a good thing. Talk to our coaches for advice with your diet.

8. Don't cut corners.

One of the mistakes that some people make when they are strength training is to sacrifice a full range of movement for increased weight. Smaller movements mean that you can shift more weight, which means that you must get bigger and stronger right? The problem is that while it might look impressive to push out another 5kgs – although quite who we think is looking at how much weight we use I don’t know – it doesn’t strengthen the muscle throughout its full range, and this kind of training is therefore a less-than-efficient use of your time. So reduce the weight, slow down the speed and work through the full arc. If you do want to impress the other boys with how strong you are move the pin down a couple of notches after you have finished – works every time. If you would like some advice with your technique talk to one of our coaches.