Make Fitness Fun

In these uncertain times, it can be difficult to keep motivation levels up. So we’ve put together a list of five fun ways to keep fit. Why not try the lot?

Skip to it – Make like legendary boxers Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather by practicing some fancy footwork while jumping over a skipping rope. A full-body workout, skipping for an hour can burn 1,600 calories, it improves coordination and focus, tones hips, bum and tum and, let’s face it – it’s cheap as chips!

Step up – If you’ve got a fitness step, great, but a milk crate, front door step or the stairs could work too. Prepare to perspire as step aerobics is a high-intensity cardio workout that boosts cardiovascular health, helps build muscle and increase leg strength – all without putting undue stress on your joints.

Swing out – Get in the shed and dust off your swingball set – or if you’re too young to have one, order one online. The ultimate upper body workout, swingball can tone bingo wings, help develop core muscles – key to a flat tum – and get you breathless too. Play alone, hitting the ball in alternate directions, for the best workout.

Bounce patrol – Evict the littlies, and start leaping on that garden trampoline! Not only can you have a nosey at what your neighbours are up to as you bounce skyward, the G-force created from all that springing helps to burn fat and build muscle. Jump and rotate mid-air to tone your waist and wobbly bits.

Make space – You might want to practice this one in your back garden, away from prying eyes; invest in an adult spacehopper (yes, they do exist) and it’ll open up a world of exercise opps. Use it like a Swiss ball to perform planks, superman stances and ab crunches or just bounce hell-for-leather across the garden repeatedly to get your heart rate up and give the legs some conditioning.

Active Attire

Kit out the whole family in Matalan’s Souluxe range of sportswear. Fusing great fit, function and style, the collection for women, men and children, features supportive technical fabrics, accented with on-trend colours and lively prints (think smudge snake pattern, tropical palms and eye-popping glitch designs). We particularly like the gym vests emblazoned with uplifting slogans. We all need to hear those right now!

* Shop the range at matalan.co.uk

Short Stuff

June promises long days of blazing sunshine (or so we hope), so it’s time to swap those trusty leggings for a pair of summer shorts, ideal for cross-country runs, yoga sessions or virtual bootcamp classes.

We like the Goodmove activewear collection at M&S, ‘made for the modern mover’, featuring technical fabrics and fashion-forward designs. Check out these three pairs, ideal to work out those athletic pins in style. . .

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Goodmove printed layer running shorts, £19.50, at marksandspencer.com

Figleaves Ellesse Genoa shorts, £22, at figleaves.com

Black patterned shorts, £17.50, at marksandspencer.com

Figleaves Under Armour Play Up 2.0 shorts, £23, at figleaves.com

Flower Power

We are all about channelling positivity right now – and one way to try to keep the feel-good factor at optimum level is to add a few drops of Bach™ Original Flower Remedies’ flower essences to your water bottle. Available in 38 varieties, from Hornbean (for resolve) to Sweet Chestnut (for solace), the flower extracts can help balance emotions, boost confidence, and combat stress and worry.

* Available at amazon.co.uk, Boots and Holland & Barrett, rrp £7.49. Visit bachremedies.com for more information

Circle of Life

Don’t forget there are lots of amazing virtual classes out there to help bolster health and wellbeing. Satyam Yoga & Wellbeing Centre in Chesterton is running its Women’s Circle classes via Zoom, with Tiffany Bown taking the next session on June 19. These classes focus on a variety of nourishing women-centric self-care practices, including Yoga, Qigong, conscious dance, meditation, singing, laughter and relaxed chatting – designed to help women ‘fall back in love with our cycling female bodies and, thus, access our authentic feminine power’.

* Find out more at satyamyogacentre.co.uk

Bottle It

Sadly, the world cannot be our oyster right now, with the ongoing pandemic restrictions. But that doesn’t stop us dreaming about holidays to far-flung destinations. Get inspired while you are working out with this stainless steel water bottle, featuring a world map design. Happy (virtual) travels!

* Rex London bottle, £19.95, at rexlondon.com

Soak It Up

If you’ve been nailing those squat jumps, reverse lunges and endurance planks, your aching limbs may be in need of some attention. This fortifying bath potion by MOA (Magical Organic Apothecary) will work wonders relieving muscle knots and painful spots, as well as de-stressing the mind, with its invigorating blend of sweet birch, soothing yarrow extract, detoxifying fennel, relaxing fir needle and refreshing peppermint. It’s vegan too.

* Fortifying Bath Potion, £25, at moa.co.uk