1. Sort out your CV
Work on your endurance
Prolonged aerobic activity will make you stronger, recover faster, burn more calories and you won't get as tired doing daily tasks such as cleaning and grocery shopping. And here is a little something to keep you on your toes: it is called the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), and it is a simple way of gauging how hard you are working. Whatever exercise you are doing, ask yourself: on a scale of one to 10, how much is this hurting? One = very, very light exertion and 10 = exhaustion. This scale will be used to prescribe future cardio and will help define desired workloads, especially when intervals are used. This week:
Keep on running
Run for longer this week - be active for at least 30 minutes. Last week, your continuous running goal was 10 minutes; this week, make it 15. If you are feeling up to it, you could attempt a 5km (3.1 miles) run. Don't worry too much about the time; just, as they say, do it.
Making waves
Try to swim half a mile - that's 32 lengths of a 25m pool. If you find this easy, then try some sprint swims afterwards. For these, do one length steady (RPE=6), then do the return length flat out (RPE=8/9), then repeat. Try to do at least three sets.
Head for the hills
De-stressing and calorie burning, hill walking can be a liberating experience. Try to walk for a continuous hour, don't get lost and go at a pace where your RPE is 5 or more to get some cardio benefits. You don't want to scale Everest yet, so choose something manageable and close to home, where you won't need hundreds of pounds' worth of outdoor gear.
2. Tone it
The lunge
The lunge strengthens the legs, improves balance and flexibility and sculpts the lower body. Once you've perfected the technique, try adding the straight-arm twist to activate the core muscles of the hip, pelvis, abdomen and back. Combine the lunge with the other exercises. Do one set of 20 squats, one set of 12-15 press-ups and one set of 12-15 lunges on each leg (see previous weeks). Repeat three times.
a) Stand with your feet together. Place arms by sides or, if doing the advanced lunge with twist, lock hands and start with them touching your chest.
b) Take a step forward, inhaling on the way, descend slowly by bending at the hips, knee and ankle. Keep your lead foot flat on the floor. Lunge twist - push arms out straight as you step forward, then twist to right if right leg is forward or vice versa.
c) Exhale and push back using the lead leg, returning to the start position. Do 12-15 reps on one leg then on the other. Lunge twist - retract arms back to chest as you return.
Tips: Keep torso upright as leaning forward can cause injury. Step 10 degrees off centre to stop your knees pointing inwards; this will protect them and strengthen your VMO (the part of your thigh that stabilises the kneecap).
3. In seven days' time ...
By now you should be able to see definite improvements, such as being able to jog, swim or walk further than before. Your legs should be feeling stronger and more mobile: 3 x 20 squats should be a breeze. You should have cut down on the white flour and caffeine and increased your water intake, leaving you feeling less sluggish and increasingly sprightly. This week aim to:
Put the lights out
Try to get seven to nine hours' sleep per night. Reduced levels of sleep lead to fatigue and, when tired, the brain craves the most easily digestible, quick-releasing source of energy - sugar. This can cause insulin overproduction, storing sugar as fat and increasing cholesterol.
Embrace good fats
Fat has a bad reputation, with some people afraid to eat any at all. You should aim to have a balanced diet incorporating all of the food groups. Fat does have more calories than protein and carbohydrate, so the amounts have to be carefully monitored, but certain types are good for you. Avoid saturated fats from animal sources and include unsaturated plant-based fats into your diet. Ways to increase good fat in your diet: throw some pumpkin seeds into your cereal or porridge, snack on small amounts of unsalted organic nuts and incorporate olives, olive oil and avocado into salads. Oily fish is another rich source of unsaturated fat.
· Matthew Robinson is a qualified personal trainer
