Get fit for summer!
Arise, people of Britain! It’s time to abandon that sofa and get fit! No, come back – we promise this won’t hurt
Spring is in the air, and that means summer is just round the corner. Yes, it’s time to dust off those figure-hugging T-shirts, swap trousers for shorts and skirts, and expose those whitened limbs to the outside world once more. Summer, you see, is great in theory. But in practice it can be a reminder of just how you much you’ve let yourself go since the last time it came around.
But never fear! There’s plenty of time to get yourself into decent shape for those lazy afternoons on the beach or those long evenings with your friends – and it doesn’t have to cost the earth either. It’ll probably make you feel better, too, give you more energy, clear your head…look, just get out there and do it, you know it makes sense. However, before you go all Superman Returns, a big health warning: don’t run before you can walk.
‘Take it easy early is the take-home message,’ explains Greg Mullings, a former Australian Rules footballer [we looked it up – it’s a curiously violent looking rugby/football mutant from the people who brought you the outback, Russell Crowe’s musical career and a continent full of fantastically poisonous things – etc.] from Perth who is now the physio with Surrey cricket club. ‘One of the biggest problems people have when they start an exercise programme is that they often injure themselves. It’s important to keep the early phases fairly gentle.’
Greg, 33, knows what he’s talking about. He has two degrees, in Human Movement and Physio, and learned his trade at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia – widely regarded as one of the top three physiotherapy centres in the world. He has practical experience from his time as an Aussie Rules midfielder – he reckons he would run the equivalent of a half-marathon during a normal 120-minute match – and is now putting his research and expertise into practice at Surrey. When he says jump, you ask how high. So here’s how we do this…
Start beat
If, like most of us, your primary concern is to shed a few pounds, then the advice is simple: concentrate on the cardio-vascular – or, as Greg puts it, ‘any kind of exercise that’s going to increase your heart-rate to a training level for 20-30 minutes three times a week’.
So what is the training level? ‘Basically, you’re not going to lose weight unless your heart rate is being maintained in that training zone,’ explains Greg. ‘The rough formula is 220 minus your age to get the maximum heart rate, and then calculating 65% or 70% of that to establish the weight-losing training zone. So, the figure for an 18-year-old would be around 140 beats a minute. To lose weight, you need to maintain that.’
Run like hell
OK, not exactly. Jogging is the cheapest and most convenient way to enter the training zone (swimming, by contrast, might require twice the time to achieve the same results). But it can catch you out if you try too much too soon. ‘I tend to advise people who are starting off to do more interval-type training,’ says Greg. ‘Not going out and doing five miles for their first run. Their first run might be 20 minutes of walking, jogging, walking, jogging at 100m intervals and see how your body reacts. Then you can gradually build on that. A lot of people have these great ideals of getting fit but then break down.’
Greg also emphasises the need for a good pair of running shoes, and says that the short-term loss of a few quid far outweighs the potential long-term harm that a bad pair can cause. ‘If you can hold a trainer in your hand and twist it in the middle, then it’s not providing any support for your foot. And when you start taking impact as you’re running, it’s going to cause ankle, knee and back problems potentially.’ Any specialist running shop will be able to give you the advice you need.
Gym’ll fix it?
So what about the gym? Most offer reductions for students, and the benefits can be enormous. Greg says that variation is the key. ‘If you go into the gym use all the pieces of equipment. Start off fairly gentle and build up.’ Light weights with lots of repetitions – two or three sets of 20 to 30 – is a good way to work on strength, one of the four components of fitness along with cardio-vascular, flexibility and what Greg calls ‘core stability’, or abdominal strength. One or two exercises should be selected for each body part.
Abs fads
Interestingly, Greg says that the days when sit-ups and stomach crunches ruled the gym floor are a thing of the past: research suggests they result in rather more injuries – to the lower spine and the neck – than six-packs. In fact, the notion that you can create that dream abdomen by working the stomach muscles alone is one of the fitness world’s biggest myths – a Stefani-style midriff will come only if you have worked for a while on your cardio-vascular routine. Damn.
Instead, he suggests either Pilates or rolling around on a Swiss ball to create the crucial core stability in your abs. Of course, you’ll look like a collapsing jester the first time you try it, but it does work. And if it sounds like an expenditure too far, there is always an exercise to fall back on called ‘the plank’. Greg describes it as an ‘exercise where you’re in a push-up position but resting on your forearms and just holding your body in a straight line’. Start by holding the position for 30 seconds and gradually increase as your strength improves.
Bend me, shake me…
What about warm-ups and warm-downs? Again, the latest research suggests a change of thinking. Greg argues that stretching after you exercise is far more beneficial to your flexibility than stretching beforehand. ‘When you’re starting you’re using new muscles in a different way. So it’s important to counteract their use with some stretching. It’s after the exercise that you get your improvement. If you jog for half an hour, you should try to stretch for at least 10 minutes afterwards. It’s not just your calves, hamstrings and quads – also try to incorporate some lower-back exercises.’ Movement rather than static stretches are recommended.
Am I done yet?
Finally, the crucial question: how long before you notice the effects? Greg reckons that six weeks is a realistic timeframe, as long as you exercise regularly and maintain a sensible diet. ‘In the first few weeks you’ll see a little bit of a reaction – after six you’ll see a positive change. It really needs to be an ongoing process to get into what we could call good levels of fitness.’ And with summer coming soon, there’s no time like the present to get started. We’ll always think you look great anyway, but it never hurts to take care of yourself…enjoy!
//The End//
Words: Lawrence Booth, etc.
LINKS:
BBC Health
Aussie rules football. Literally the maddest thing on Earth. Madder than a badger in a bun.
Runners’ World – all you need to get moving
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