You don’t have to be a pro fighter to get inspired by the some of the exercise routines kickboxers use to get their ultra toned bodies. High Intensity Interval Training, functional training methods and incorporating active recovery into your own gym regime can rev up your training time and take your body shape and fitness to the next level. Marco Mastrorocco, master trainer at Epic Gym and a Thai Kickboxing Champion has identified eight exercises that will really make a difference….fast! [Link]

Repetitions/Sets
All exercises: For the first 4/6 sessions work them one at the time, 3 sets each, starting from 20 reps and increasing by 4 reps each time you practice. Rest in between sets no longer than 30/45 sec, in between exercises rest for 60/90 sec.

When you are well familiar with them, you can put them in a circuit to add some variety and increase your HR (heart rate); so you will end up working three big sets (basically no rest in between exercises, or as little as you can) with at least 40/50 reps each! Do you want to add more fun? Start skipping in the active recovery.

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Round house squat

From a standing position, take a wide stance, with your feet wider than your shoulders and your toes turned out at 11 and 1 o’clock. Keeping one leg still and fixed, raise the other leg to perform a round house action carefully positioning the leg back to its start position. Once you have performed the desired amount of repetitions, swap sides. Beginners should perform three sets of 12 on each side, intermediates perform three sets of 15, and advanced perform three sets of 20 with weights.

Stiff legged dead lift

From a standing position grab hold of a pair of dumbbells, palms of your hands facing your thighs and your knees soft. Keeping your back straight lean forward slowly, keeping your arms straight and close to your thighs. Feel the stretch in your legs (hamstrings) and slowly come back to starting position squeezing your glutes. Perform this exercise under control for the desired amount of sets and repetitions. Beginners perform three sets of 12 with light weights, intermediate perform three sets of 15 with light weights and advanced perform three sets of 20 with heavier weights

Keep Your Body Guessing

In order to stay motivated and stop your body getting used to the same routine, it’s important to change your workouts regularly.  For example, in one week, follow a treadmill session with upper body strength training, switching to lower body and then back to upper body again.  The following week, switch things around again.  You’ll see faster results and you won’t get bored.

One arm row

Steady yourself with one hand on a chair, and pick up a light dumbbell with the other then bend your knees and slowly lean forward. Making sure that the hand with the dumbbell is in line with the shoulder, gently pull the weight in towards your hip and squeeze the shoulder blade before slowly moving back to the starting position making sure that the arm is straight but not locked. Perform the desired repetitions and then change and do the other side. Beginners perform three sets of 12 light weights, intermediates do three sets of 15 light weights, and advanced perform three sets of 20 with heavier weights.

When it starts to bite – keep going!

In order to get real results, you’ve got to go all out.  When exercises start to burn, push on through a few more repetitions.  Really push yourself to the limit, which will take your body into anaerobic mode.  This is when you’ll see a real change.

Push ups

Position your hands shoulder-width apart with your arms tucked in towards your sides. Make sure you are either on your knees or toes in the full push up position. Lower your body slowly bending at the elbow joints until you are close to the floor. Push you body back to the start position and repeat the movement.  Beginners should try to complete three sets of 10 to12 box push-ups on your knees and over time slowly increase the level of difficulty until you can do three sets of 12 to 20 reps of full push-ups with short rest intervals.

Don’t be afraid to snack

In order to change your body shape, you need to keep your metabolism high.  This means snacking between three balanced meals. Ideal snacks include cottage cheese on Ryvita or a handful of apricots with some unsalted nuts.

Dips

Sitting down on the floor place the palms of your hands behind you, your knees bent at 90 degrees and your feet firmly on the floor.  Now lift your pelvis up, bend the elbow joints and perform a dipping action with the body, isolating the muscles in the back of your arms. Try to do three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Waist workers

Lie down on the floor with both legs bent at a 90 degree angle. With your feet placed firmly on the floor, lift your heels up.  Place your left hand behind your head and neck for support and then reach with your right hand towards your left knee. Raise your upper body and continue reaching around your left knee with your right hand in an anti clockwise motion.  Change arms after completing each set.  Exhale with each rise. Beginners should try to do two sets of 10, intermediates do three sets of 12 and advanced do three sets of 20.

Keep it simple

Walking is by far the best exercise if you don’t want to spend any money. Not only is it incredibly easy to do, if you walk fro 20 minutes a day for five days a week without any change in diet, you will reduce your body fat by 14 pounds over the course of the year.

Mark Anthony is also the UK’s first trainer to launch his celebrity endorsed ‘London 6 Week Body Plan’ through an iTunes apps package for download directly onto your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Each of the six podcast sessions focuses on a specific body part and can be easily downloaded from the web, either separately or as a package. To find out more about the package and download the plan visit www.markanthonysuk.com

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Top 10 tips for increasing metabolism

1. Green Tea

Green tea is full of antioxidants and also gently speeds up the brain and nervous system which burns more calories. So ditch the Tetley for a couple of mugs of Green instead and if you don’t like the taste, just add a slice of lemon.

2. Interval training

Interval training involves incorporating short bursts of anaerobic exercise into your routine to up your heart rate and get burning more calories, even after you’ve finished exercising. A good way of doing this is to go for a 20 minute run and then every three or four minutes sprint for a minute.

3. Cinnamon

Great for helping your body to metabolise sugar and balance your blood sugar levels and it also help to keep sugar cravings at bay.

4. Weight training

Many women make the mistake of skipping the weights in favour of cardio but your resting metabolic rate is actually increased by gaining muscle mass. So invest in a pair of three pound weights and get lifting at least three times a week to give your metabolism a boost.

5. Don’t skip breakfast

Yes it’s one way of saving on calories when you want to lose weight but skipping breakfast will have the catastrophic effect of slowing down your metabolism as the body adjusts to cling on to any nutrients and calories. It also increases the chances of you reaching for a biscuit or chocolate when you’re ravenous at 11.30am or over eating at lunch time.

6. Regular exercise

Try and get moving every day, preferably in the morning, for about 30 minutes. Being regularly active will speed up your metabolism and by exercising in the morning you’ll be burning more calories all day.

7. Increase your fruit and vegetable intake

Fruit and vegetables are complex carbohydrates which take the body longer to break down therefore using more energy and burning more calories.

8. Increase your fat intake

No, that doesn’t mean rushing out to McDonalds and feasting on burgers, the key here is to eat the right kind of fats. Stay clear of saturated fats and stick with unsaturated which can be found in foods like nuts, seeds, oily fish and avocados.

9. Hot pepper

Capsaicin – a chemical found in jalapeno and cayenne peppers – temporarily stimulates your body to release more stress hormones, which speeds up your metabolism and causes you to burn more calories so if you can take it spicy, pile on the peppers!

10. Get plenty of shut-eye

Sleep deprivation increases production of the chemical cortisol which in turn increases hunger and reduces your ability to tell when you are full. It also interferes with the body’s ability to metabolise carbohydrates and leads to more fat storage so try and get a few early nights if you want to keep the weight off.

For more information about the Fitness Café visit http://www.thefitnesscafe.co.uk/ or call 0207 372 4913.