Getting in Shape for Summer

1. Start in plenty of time

This gives you a fighting chance of shedding bodyfat before Summer. Losing 1lb of fat a week between now and then is a sensible and achievable goal, as long as you plan your training, make time for it, and exercise hard.

2. Cut out the junk food and eat organic

Avoid junk food, processed food, alcohol, caffeine and sports drinks, and eat organic food which contains higher levels of beneficial minerals, essential amino acids, vitamins and cancer-fighting antioxidants than non-organic counterparts.

3. Drink half your bodyweight in water each day (see warning below!)

Water naturally suppresses appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat.

Drink at least half your bodyweight in ounces of water per day (bodyweight in KG x 0.033 = MINIMUM quantity of water to drink in litres per day). Add an extra litre to the amount if exercise regularly. (But don’t over do it because it could be dangerous! See the Healthy Life article Too much water may be bad for your health)

4. Get to bed on time to repair physically and mentally

To repair and recover from your daily exertions and maintain optimum health, you need around eight hours of quality sleep. Aim to be asleep before 10.30pm as often as possible. The majority of your physical repair goes on between 10pm and 2am, and your mental repair from 2am to 6am.

5. Do the right AMOUNT of exercise

Do too little exercise and you won’t get any benefit. Do too much and you’ll either injure yourself or OVERTRAIN and make yourself ill with a virus, which could stop you training for months.

6. Train with weights

This maintains and builds lean muscle tissue, maintains and increases your strength and metabolism and reduces your bodyfat. It also increases bone mineral density, improves glucose metabolism and blood fat levels and reduces low back pain and resting blood pressure.

7. Do the RIGHT kind of cardio training

Low-intensity, long duration cardio is good for absolute beginners. Anyone else should use high-intensity interval training to:

• Burn more body fat as a percentage of total calories used.
• Increase your metabolic rate both during and after training.
• Improve overall fitness levels and increase utilization of fat for energy both during training and at rest.
• Consume the most calories and burn fat more effectively.
  

8. Train the right abs for the right look

Target the lower abs (the transversus abdominis) if you want a flat stomach. They lie over the top of your belly and lower abdomen. Crunches target the upper abs (the rectus abdominis) and won’t help you lose the paunch.

9. REDUCE YOUR STRESS AND LEARN TO RELAX

To balance your training, find some daily “me” time to chill out, relax or meditate. A few examples of appropriate activities include 30-minutes of daytime walking in nature (or at least natural light), Tai chi, Qi Gong and Yoga or simple stretching.

Cristian Ramis
RAMIS Health & Fitness, Westcliff near Southend-on-Sea

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