We all seem to be short of time these days and in my experience that is the most common excuse for not exercising. So why not condense your cardio workout into your weights one by eliminating rest. Start every session you do with a 10 minute row of gradually increasing intensity. Then go straight to your first weights station and complete your first set. Instead of just sitting there resting, don’t stay on the same exercise do the firstset of your second one. Then straight back to the first one until …

The 300 (as in the film about the 300 Spartans) circuit is one of if not the hardest circuit I have ever done, it was one they using when training for the film. It goes like this: 25 full pull ups with an overhand wide ish grip (i.e knuckles facing you rather than chin ups), all in one go if possible, otherwise with the minimum rest between sets, that goes for the the exercises. Straight into 50 dead-lifts with a bar (20kg) + 15 kg on each end. Again no rest, …

Old fashioned it may be, but boxers are super-fit and they do hours of skipping every day. Cheap and relatively easy you can skip almost anywhere, its a great way to exercise and have fun at the same time. There are many different techniques and ways to change your skipping style to keep it fresh and interesting. Standard two foot slow jumps, faster small jumps, alternate feet (jogging on the spot) jumps, high knee alternate feet jumps, high knee both feet power jumps, school girl running skipping, cross over your …

Of all the types of cardiovascular exercise I have tried with clients over the last dozen years or so the most effective for weight loss has been rowing. There are three vital components of this; intensity, duration and frequency. Rowing uses almost every muscle in the body during the course of one full stroke. To utilise fat as an energy source the body needs time to process it, hence suggestions that fat is burned more readily during exercise at medium to lower intensity. On the commonly used concept 2 rowing machine that would …

The wedding season is upon us and the call are coming in for personal training sessions to make sure both brides and grooms are fit for their weddings. Nothing is more motivational than weddings to get people fit and toned. Statements like ‘I’ve been measured for my wedding dress and can’t put on any weight now, help’, ‘I must remove my beer belly by the big day’ and ‘my arms must be toned because I’ve bought a sleeveless and strapless wedding dress’. These have all been mentioned in the past …