Proper Technique

Run on the balls of your feet – all accomplished runners do this. Your foot needs to strike the surface of the ground with toes pointed forwards, without your heel touching the ground.

When your foot lands, it shouldn’t land heavily. Instead, it should land lightly and ‘grip and scrape’ the ground. Your knees should be bent on contact, with your feet landing just below you centre of gravity.

You shouldn’t be twisting your stomach from side to side as you run, instead your hips and waist should be steady without side to side movement.

Relax your shoulders, with your arms bent at 90 degrees even when moving back and forth. You might not think your hand position matters, but it can help your overall motion if you hold your palms facing inwards and not down.

Cycling Motion

Running should be a circular motion from the hip joint – think of it as a cycling motion. The hip joint brings the heel of your foot behind the body, with your hamstrings and buttock muscles playing a big part. The thigh moves to the front with this action, and the leg is extended and then drops down again – landing on the ball of your foot.

Of course, make sure to look where you’re going – looking up and ahead will not only help you to avoid those lampposts but will help keep your motion balanced. Your head is heavy in comparison to the rest of your body, and so keeping your eye line up and ahead will help a lot.

This seems like a lot to think about – but, as you run, just think of the cycling motion. You will be able to feel when you’ve got it right, and it will make a big difference to your running efficiency.

Shrugs

These tone the very top of your back, as well as tying together all your back muscles. They tone your trapezium, which sits on top of your shoulders and extends down through your middle back. First, get some dumbbells or a barbell and just try to shrug your shoulders – think about touching your ears with your shoulders, though you won’t be able to get all the way.

Chin Ups

These shape your lats and teres major and minor like no other exercise. These muscles help with giving definition to your upper back. While they might be tough to start with, it’s worth persisting and working your way up to a few full sets as these really do give excellent definition.

Dead Lifts

These are simple exercises which only involve grabbing a barbell off the floor and trying to stand up. However, they work a whole range of muscles from your lower back, upper back, trapezius muscles, buttocks and legs. If you’re looking to build overall definition across your back, these are a great exercise to concentrate on – and they’re one of the best ways to build strength in your lower back.

Toning any muscle group needs a low enough body fat percentage to let you see the muscles, and enough muscle size to provide shape. Working in terms of 8 to 15 reps for each exercise is a good bench mark to go for.

So, if you’re looking to tone up all over, don’t forget your back – just because it’s out of sight doesn’t mean it should be out of mind.

Working on your core is what’s needed for a true six pack. The muscles in your stomach are not the only ones you need to tone in order to get the definition you’re looking for. You might find there are stubborn bits of flab around your middle even if you’re not carrying much fat on the rest of your body – and this is where core exercises come in.

Sit-Ups and Crunches

These are the best known way to tones your abs, and though you need to do additional exercises, they are a good place to start. Half way through your sit-up keep your body in the air with your abs tightened – this will increase the effectiveness of your exercise.

Leg Lifts

These work on your lower abs, which aren’t necessarily targeted with sit-ups and crunches.

Lying with your hands behind your head or crossed on your chest, tighten your abs and buttocks and lift your legs off the floor. Keep them in the air, then lower to a few centimetres off the ground, then repeat the lift.

These are surprisingly hard and you’ll be able to feel the pull on your abs almost straight away.

Jack Knife Sit Ups

These are a more complex version of the sit-up, and involve all parts of your abdominal muscles. They are like a combination of a leg lift and a sit up – start by lying flat, and lift your legs and your upper body at the same time. Maintain this lift for a few seconds, then release and repeat.

You’ll feel the benefit of all these exercises, and it’s pretty clear that working your lower abdominal muscles is very different to those stretched by sit-ups.

So, expand your abdominal exercise repertoire and you’ll soon find your results will improve – just because you’re a sit-up master doesn’t mean this will translate into that six pack you want.

Antioxidants

These include Vitamins C and E, Beta Carotene and Selenium. They can help to protect from cell damage, delay muscle fatigue and help to give your immune system a boost.

These supplements address imbalances in your diet and help with the underlying processes fuelled by these micronutrients. They can help with oxidative stress, caused during intense periods of exercise. Alongside a balanced diet, antioxidant supplements can help to make sure your body has all it needs to function.

Protein

Protein supplements can increase muscle mass, as well as decreasing muscle fatigue. They are some of the most popular supplements, and with good reason.

Protein is needed to build and repair muscle tissue, replace red blood cells, produce hormones and enhance the immune system. Hard training increases the amount of protein needed, meaning the right nutrition as well as the right supplements are important.

Multivitamins

Intense training gives an increased demand for micronutrients, meaning that athletes need to make sure they’re getting all the vitamins and minerals they need – multivitamin supplements are especially good at achieving this.

The most common deficiencies are B-vitamins, antioxidants, vitamin D, calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium. If you don’t already eat a balanced diet, making sure you’re getting the right nutrition is essential. Taking a vitamin supplement once a day, or even once every other day, can help with the essential processes that may be impacted by a vitamin deficiency.

So, just because you’re not bodybuilding doesn’t mean that supplements can be ignored. While there’s little that can replace dedicated training, good diet and a bit of natural talent, supplements can make your running just that little bit easier.

Two of the big pay as you go gyms are The Gym Group, who have around twenty gyms across the UK at the moment, with twenty more currently in the pipeline. The other, newer company is easyGym – yes, Stelios of EasyJet fame has got into the gym market. So far, there are only two easyGyms in the UK, but expect to see more – 50 are planned to open this year in the UK alone.

Pay as you go gyms operate on a monthly basis, often costing less than half of a standard gym membership. Right away, you’ll be saving a lot of money and won’t be committed for however many months. You pay for a month at a time, and can buy one off passes as well. If you find it’s not the right gym for you, you can just not renew at the end of the month. Easy.

However, there are some disadvantages. We’ve been to the odd class at easyGym, and have found it’s busy at the best of times. This does give a friendly atmosphere and it feels inclusive, but don’t expect going to the gym to be a quiet affair. Expect company, and lots of it. Classes such as Zumba and Body Pump aren’t included in the standard package, and there’s not extras like swimming pools or saunas. It’s generally evident these are ‘budget’ gyms as well.

However, at such a low price, who’s complaining?

Expect to see more pay as you go gyms as time goes on. We’ll be intrigued to see if the format takes off – it’s gym membership, but not as we know it.

Better Grip

Firstly, gloves do of course improve your grip while weightlifting. If your hands get sweaty, which is quite likely, you could be prone to slipping when holding weights. This is obviously dangerous, and becomes even more so the more weight you’re lifting. It can also be annoying when doing chin up sets when you can’t grip the bar. Gloves help with both these problems.

Protection

If you weightlift a lot, then your hands will suffer from the added wear and tear. While you might be used to it, calluses aren’t always desirable. Painful blisters can also form if you’re a bit out of practice or a beginner. Again, gloves can prevent both for seasoned lifters and those just starting out.

Relieved Pressure

Weightlifting gloves can also go some way to relieving pressure on your hands, which have a lower tolerance than your chest, back and arms. That added bit of support and protection could make a small difference that adds up to big gains.

Support

As well as supporting your hands, most gloves also give a degree of wrist support. This is a joint that’s vulnerable to injury when you’re lifting, especially when working with heavy weights. Gloves can act like extra ligaments or tendons when you’re bending wrists backwards, helping to prevent you from over stretching and causing injury.

So, whether you’re a long time weightlifter or if you’re just hitting the gym for the first time, weightlifting gloves have a lot of pros which should be considered.

When you train your legs you’re working more than half your body in one session. It doesn’t just work on your lower half, but also increases heart rate and burns fat all over your body. Muscles are interconnected, so working your bottom half will also work parts of your top half as well.

It’s important to know what your main leg muscles are, so you can go about training them in the most effective way possible. Your legs consist of a whole group of muscles: the gluteus (buttocks), quadriceps (front of the upper legs), hamstrings (backs of lower legs), and the calves (back of lower legs).

If you were to do only one leg exercise, the standard squat should be top of the list. This will work you gluteus and quadriceps, but also works your entire body – it will build leg muscles as well as work on overall fitness. This is suitable for all levels, and you can increase weights according to your ability.

Leg Presses are a good overall exercise for your quadriceps, and lets you press more weight much quicker than some comparable exercises. However, it’s important to keep your back aligned whilst doing these in order to avoid hurting back muscles.

Leg Extensions are another gym exercise that are good for finishing up your work out, and can help with the whole quadriceps region of your legs. This is one of the only leg exercises where you can lock your knees without risking damage.

So, get your legs in shape with a few targeted exercises, and you’ll soon be feeling the benefits all over.

Not Working the Correct Muscles

One of the most common mistakes is just concentrating on bicep curls. This muscle receives a lot of attention, but only makes up about a third of your total arm size – and should receive a proportional amount of training.

You might need to cut down the time you spend on your biceps, spending more time on the backs of your arms instead. Tricep exercises can really boost the size of your arm muscles – and don’t forget about your forearms as well.

No Variety

Many men fall into two sorts, those who do chin ups (complex movements) and those who do curls (isolation exercises). Complex movements work a whole variety of muscles, whereas isolation movements concentrate on a single muscle.

Chin ups are great for when you start out working on your arms, but won’t deliver pure muscle size. Isolation exercises, however, are good for muscle size but won’t necessary boost your body strength. Combining the two gets the best results – curls and chin ups, or bench presses and tricep pushdowns are two pairings that give size and strength.

Work Out Binges

Packing your arm workout into one session is not only a recipe for painful muscle ache, but is also inefficient for building muscle. Doing arm exercises maybe twice a week alongside your normal workouts is a good option. Increasing the frequency of lighter training works as the arm muscles recover quicker than leg or back muscles. However, you must still be sure not to overdo it.

So, if you’re looking for bigger arm muscles, avoid these common mistakes and you’ll soon be well on the way to bulking up.

Simon was left without eyesight at the age of 18 after suffering from a degenerative eye disease. This hasn’t stopped him from competing in marathons and ultramarathons, however – he runs with a guide during some parts of races, but incredibly has taught himself to train solo.

Being blind might seem like an insurmountable obstacle, but Simon has been training for the past two years in the open air and running solo. He started out training in the gym, but soon moved on to running lengths of a local football pitch. Quickly getting bored of running between the goal posts, he moved onto a disused strip of road.

Incredibly, this wasn’t all. Over weeks of slow exploration, he taught himself a three mile course around local grass verges and pavements, including a strip of dual carriageway. Using the Runkeeper smartphone app, he was able to get aural updates on his run time and pace, and could calculate where and when the turnings in the course were.

This took immense concentration initially, but now he says it’s become completely automated. He says, “I did make a few mistakes early on – like running into posts. But you only run into a post once before you think, ‘Right, I’m going to remember where that is next time!”

Simon runs fluidly and naturally, albeit in shorter, gentler steps than most runners – he literally has to feel his way with his feet. He comments, “My successful footsteps must be something like 99.999%, and there’s just that one every now and again that goes wrong. I try to concentrate on the millions that go right rather than the 10 or 15 that go wrong.”

He is competing in the South Downs Way 100-mile race in June, and will be running the course in part with guides and partly solo. He has reaped the benefits of training in the fresh air and boosted his confidence – Simon is an inspiration for any budding runner. As he says, “Being visually impaired doesn’t mean you can’t run.”

Benefits

These work outs are great for toning the back, upper arms and abdominal muscles. They also provide high intensity cardio work outs, letting you burn off those extra calories quickly.

Boxing gives you a sleek and defined body tone, as well as boosting your reflexes and speed. It can also form an outlet for stress release, letting you take out your frustrations on the punching bag.

Hitting the punching bags is cardiovascular, while working on your arms and abdominal muscles. You’re also twisting and jumping, and can follow your routine by sit ups and push ups for an even more targeted regime.

Many work-out classes are quite hardcore, but you can still go at your own pace. Whether you’re doing six-punch combinations of moves or two-punch ones, you’ll still be feeling the benefits.

Can I get Involved?

Boxing work outs are great for any age, gender or weight. There’s no heavy lifting involved, so it doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or already muscled up. It’s also a great work out for women, as a growing trend has shown in the increasing numbers of females joining boxing work out classes.

This coincides with female boxing being included in the Olympics for the first time ever. It targets many of the areas that women often want to work on, as well as being a confidence booster. While there’s no pressure to be punching anything other than a punching bag, it does boost confidence in self defence and strength amongst many women.

Boxing is great for weight loss, muscle toning and all round fitness. If you’re looking for a more exciting way to work out, then why not join the growing number of people converting to boxing work outs.