The Summertime is finally here!

The summertime is finally here and April has been a very warm and dry month which has been fantastic for outdoor circuit training.

At Get Fit Boot Camp we do lots of different press ups, sit ups, squats and lunges etc.

I'll add a video clip soon but in the meantime if you can remember any of the basic press ups, sit ups / crunches or squats you could work on them by yourself along with some light cardiovascular (CV) work such as walking, cycling, jogging or swimming.

Find out how many repetitions you can do in one go (your endurance maximum).

Then work out roughly what 75% of your maximum is and perform 3 sets of them:

3 sets of 15 if you're trying to improve your general stamina.

3 sets of 12 if you're trying to improve your general strength.

Then after a few weeks of doing them yourself and attending the boot camps you should start to find them easier and you can either increase the repetitions, sets of move to a harder version of the exercise.

How to Exercise Early in the Morning

Early morning exercise is a great way to kick start your day and has many benefits:

- Avoiding air pollution, which climbs as more cars hit the road
- Missing the heat of the day or evening in the summer
- Can lead to clearer thinking and increased energy levels during daytime activities
- A positive start to the day will inspire you to keep up the good work and eat well
- You won't need an additional shower in the middle of the day

The following website has some very useful information / tips about morning exercise:

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_2192789_exercise-early-morning.html

It also has other useful sections about developing and sticking to exercise routines under the photo of the women stretching. You can click on ‘From Quick Guide: A Fit Lifestyle’, scroll through the numbers or click ‘See All Articles In This Quick Guide’.

Boot Camp Boxing / Boxercise

Over the Easter holidays I will go to Sports Direct or order online enough boxing pads and gloves for everyone to do boxing at the same time.

Then when the weather is good I'll start introducing boxercise into the circuits.

Boxing is good for upper body strength and cardiovascular as well as self defence and stress release.

People will take it into turns to hold the pads (do the pad work) and wear the gloves (do the boxing).

If there is an odd number I'll hold the pads for someone and go in the middle of the group so I can keep an eye on everyone.

They will be quite simple drills more for fitness training then technical boxing and will include jabs, hooks and uppercuts. In between boxing you'll do leg exercises and sprints etc before changing the pads and gloves over.

For some of my one to one clients I use boxing straps with them to strengthen their wrists. They take a little time to get on but the next best thing is wrist sweat bands like the ones pictured.

You can put the gloves or pads on and move the sweat bands down a little bit if need be and they will help to strengthen your wrists and help to absorb some of the impact. Also handy for press ups, tricep dips and wiping down your brow in the summertime etc.

You can buy them cheap online or from any sports store ranging from £1 - £6 a set depending on how fancy you want to go (Umbro / Nike / Puma / Adidas / Lonsdale etc). You can buy them brand new on eBay and also from SportsDirect.com

I should have them ready to use the first week back after Easter so be good if you could buy some sweat bands by then (likewise you might be fine without them).

Exercise Calorie Calculator

Please visit the following website to find out how many calories you are approximately burning during exercise:

http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/calorie_calculator.htm

Type into the box your weight in pounds (lbs) and how long you are exercising for then click 'Compute Calories Burned'.

For Get Fit Boot Camps the time would be 45 minutes (Circuit Training).

1 stone = 14 pounds
1 kilogram (kg) = 2.2 pounds

For example:

10 stones = 140 pounds
60 kg = 132 pounds

It will work out according to your weight approximately how many calories you burn during all the different exercises that are listed. Circuit Training is on the right hand side 4 rows down under the Gym and Home Activities title.

Interval Training 2 (Duration Approximately 25 minutes)

Go to your local park, common or athletics ground or anywhere that has a hill or set of steps.

Jog around for 5-10 minutes performing mobilisation exercises (shoulder circles, heel flicks etc) and short controlled sprints (10-20 metres / 18 yard line on a football pitch) to fully warm up.

For beginners even a few steps 10-20 or a hill with a slight gradient will be beneficial to start off with and overtime you can make it progressively harder.

The more advanced your fitness the steeper or longer the hill should be or the more steps you should run up.

Once ready perform a 50% warm up sprint to the top of the steps / hill so that you familiarise yourself with the area and watch out for any potential trip hazards.

Then as active recovery jog or slow walk back down to the bottom making sure that you’ve rested for 60-90 seconds.

Then perform a 75% sprint to the top of the steps / hill and same recovery time on way down.

Then after that depending on your fitness level perform 15-20 minutes of step / hill sprints.

For beginners keep the sprints around 75-80% of maximum effort and for advanced exercisers go for 95-100% of maximum effort every time and adjust your recovery levels accordingly.

You’ll most probably become a bit slower and more tired towards the end of the sprints but still try to work hard.

Afterwards perform a good controlled cool down and stretch and if you want to make the session longer then combine with a continuous / steady state jog afterwards or sit ups, weights etc.

Fitness Training All Year Round

Well done to all my outdoor boot camp members’ and one to one personal training clients who continued their fitness training through the coldest winter in 30 years.

It’s very beneficial to train all year round. Some people slow down and don’t do as much during the winter which means they have to work a lot harder in spring and summertime to get their fitness back up. It’s also good to train in all seasons as your body’s immune system becomes stronger and you’re less likely to catch common colds.

When you train in the winter you burn more calories from your body trying to keep warm and when you get a bit wet from the rain you also burn more calories as your body tries to evaporate the water that is on your skin.

Boot camps last for 45 minutes and after the warm up everyone soon warms up and most people end up removing a few layers of clothes. 45 minutes of work for boot camp or 60 minutes for personal training then a short walk, jog, cycle or drive and you’re back home in the shower!

This is the first winter that I have ever done any outdoor training on snow and I have to say I enjoyed it a lot. The snow was dry, crisp and clean and was good to jog and sprint on and actually made the sessions a bit more challenging as the leg muscles have to work harder to move through the snow. My members and clients who turned up said they enjoyed the sessions too!

Berry Boy Smoothie

Decadent and delicious.

- 150g strawberries, hulled and chopped
- 150g raspberries
- 150g blackberries
- 300 ml apple juice
- Crushed ice to serve
- Extra raspberries and blackberries to garnish

Place all of the fruits and juice in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass over ice and garnish with raspberries and blackberries.