Exercise

Coming soon... new exercise video-clips

The key is simply to get moving more. Your body works at its best when you do some physical activity every day - and you'll feel great as a result.

Exercise doesn't just mean going to the gym. There are hundreds of ways of getting more active - walking, running, swimming, cycling, dancing - or taking up a sporting activity.

The secret is to do a wide variety of physical activity, so you're boosting all aspects of your fitness - cardiovascular, endurance, strength, flexibility, and mental fitness too. It's the best way to combat the stress of city life, and get the most out of your leisure time.

Don't wait til the perfect moment to exercise - build exercise into your everyday routine.

Last week I asked you to email me with your methods of incorporating more exercise into your daily life. Here are some of your replies:

"I've started walking to and from work instead of taking the tube. It takes less time than I expected, and now I don't have to endure crammed tube trains. It's actually quite relaxing to walk, and you notice so much about your surroundings that you miss when travelling underground. Better still, it's added an hour and a half of exercise to my daily routine."

"Instead of standing on the escalators, I now walk. And at work I use the stairs rather than the lift. It all adds up!"

  Click here to contact me and tell me how you've incorporated more activity into your life, and I'll post more replies next week.

Mary in SW1 says, "my personal trainer bought me a pedometer, and now I aim for 10,000 steps a day. Sometimes I do less, sometimes more, depending on what the weather's like and what's happening that day. It gets addictive to try and reach my daily target. What I've found is that I tend to use the car less, in order to get more walking done. Much less hassle to walk, no need to find a parking place, and good exercise carrying shopping too."

Gordon in NW1 says, "Playing frizbee in Regents Park with my son has proved a good way to get more active. He seems to have more energy than me!"

Exercise FAQ's

"Can I build muscle and burn fat at the same time?"   Definitely you can. Building muscle is a very effective way to burn more fat. When you build muscle, you will automatically start burning more fat, because the more muscle you have, the more metabolically active you are generally, as muscle burns fat as a source of energy in your everyday life. Your resting metabolic rate will rise, which means you'll be burning more fat 24 hours a day.

"What's better for fat loss, weight training or cardio?"   Weight training is best, for the reasons above. You'll burn fat and build muscle at the same time. Cardio exercise is vital for heart and lungs and circulation health, but it's not the most efficient way to burn fat. Many people get confused and ask "what's better for weight loss, cardio or weight training" - the key is fat loss not just weight loss. If the weight you're losing is muscle or water or glycogen stores (carbs stored in your muscles and liver) then that's not healthy weight loss. The key is to lose excess fat.

"Do you need the right genetics to build muscle?"   Everyone can build muscle, but genetics will determine how fast and how much muscle you build. Don't use 'poor genetics' as an excuse not to train as hard as you can to get fit and toned, everyone can achieve a good physique with the right amount of dedication.

"What exercises are best for a flat stomach?"   You need to be doing several things if you want a flat stomach. The key is to burn off the excess fat around the stomach, which is achieved by a combination of exercise and healthy eating. Just doing sit-ups and nothing else, will not achieve a flat stomach, although abs exercises will help to strengthen and develop the abdomnial muscles. But you can't spot-reduce fat by doing lots of sit-ups. Fat is lost throughout the body exercising and developing the larger muscle groups. So exercises like squats and lunges (for the legs and glutes), and weight training for the major muscles of the upper body (chest and back and shoulders) will build muscle, which in turn will burn more fat, including fat from your stomach, which will then reveal toned abs.