I’ve been lifting weights for more than five years and I work as a fitness writer, so I often assume that I’ve tried every strength exercise out there.

Thankfully, that isn’t true, because I recently discovered a move that has transformed how I train my lower body and decreased pain in my knee.

The exercise is called a single-leg hamstring bridge and it was recommended to me by my physical therapist as part of ongoing treatment for a knee injury that’s been plaguing me for years.

The move primarily strengthens the hamstrings—the muscles down the back of the thigh and knee—but the benefits are more wide-ranging, including a more stable knee joint and improved core strength.

How to do a single-leg hamstring bridge

• Lie on your back and place your heels on a raised surface, such as a bench or plyo box if you’re at the gym, with your knees bent to 90°.
• Lift your left foot off the floor and hold it in midair.
• Engage your core and press into your right heel to lift your hips until your body is in a straight line from knees to shoulders. You should feel the back of your right leg working.
• Lower with control.
• Repeat five to 12 times on each side, depending on how challenging it feels, and complete three to five sets.

The benefits of single-leg hamstring bridges

The hamstrings might not be an area you’ve dedicated a lot of time to strengthening, but they probably should be, according to physiotherapist and founder of Complete Pilates Helen O'Leary.

“The backs of the legs are an area that is typically weaker for most people,” she tells Fit&Well.

“The quad muscles on the front of the thighs are bigger and stronger, and we use them as part of everyday life more, such as when we get up off a chair or the floor, or go up the stairs.

“Having a better balance between quads and hamstrings will give you extra power, and improve stability at the knee joint, helping to prevent injuries.”

My experience of single-leg hamstring bridges

When I added hamstring bridges to my workouts, I realised that my hamstrings were a lot weaker than I had though, despite doing lower-body exercises like squats and deadlifts regularly.

I can feel my hamstrings fire up during this move, but since doing it for three weeks, it has gotten slightly easier as my hamstrings have become stronger.

Hamstring bridges also activate my core and my glutes, and I’ve noticed that I'm experiencing less stiffness and achiness in my back since doing this move regularly, probably because I’m strengthening the muscles that support it.

I’m so impressed by how effective hamstring bridges are, I think more people should consider adding them to their workouts. I’ll certainly be keeping them in my routine.

I do a lot of Pilates, cycling and strength training but sitting down for long periods means I still experience tight hips. I am also hypermobile, which means I’m very flexible but my joints are also quite clicky so I’m always looking for ways to keep them strong and mobile.

I'd heard that butterfly pose, or Baddha Konasana, is a fantastic way of releasing tension, improving pelvic health and also easing stress. I don't often get the chance to be still and focus on my breath, so I decided to try holding butterfly pose for 10 minutes every day for a week, in the hope that it would ease hip tension and help me de-stress.

Here's everything that happened, along with an explainer of how to do the pose.

How to do butterfly pose

Texas-based yoga teacher Carrie Speed, from Joyful Rising, gave me step-by-step instructions on how to do the popular pose.

• Sit tall and bring the soles of your feet together, letting your knees fall gently outwards. Pull your heels closer to your body if you want to increase the intensity and hold your feet or ankles with your hands.
• Stay upright or, if comfortable, fold forward from the hips, keeping your spine as long as possible.
• You can gently bring your knees slightly up and down, like the flapping of butterfly wings to work your hips more. This pose can also be practiced lying down for a reclined butterfly pose.

Speed recommends using blocks under your knees or cushions for support if you have tight hips or any other issues with doing butterfly pose.

What I found

It improved my posture

In the first week, 10 minutes spent sitting upright felt like a long time as my back and shoulder muscles are weak. My lower back would ache after a few minutes but switching to a reclined butterfly pose helped.

In the second week, I was able to hold a seated butterfly pose for longer and felt more comfortable in an upright position.

It helped me unwind and sleep better

I’m good at sitting down to work or watch television but I’m not good at sitting for mindfulness. I get distracted easily and my mind and eyes start to wander.

However, after a few days of practicing this pose, I found it really relaxing. I usually did it after putting my kids to bed and I found it gave me time to unwind and reset after a long day

I would focus on inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, while trying to keep my mind as empty as possible. It really seemed to help with my sleep at night too.

I could strengthen my pelvic floor at the same time

Whenever I practiced this pose, I would do Kegels for the first two minutes and then spend the rest of the duration focusing on my breathing. I liked having something to do at the start to focus my mind.

It's hard to find time for pelvic floor exercises during the day so I welcomed the chance to sit still and give them some attention.

Note: If you have any back or hip problems seek advice from a qualified physician before doing this exercise as it may exacerbate your condition. Always stop if you’re feeling any pain or strain.

Abs workouts are grueling, but they’re necessary if you want to maintain your mobility as you age. While many people think that abs refers to the six-pack muscles, they also include deeper core muscles of the torso, such as the obliques, which run down your flanks.

I’ve added some new moves to my regular workout routine to make sure I’m targeting all of these muscles effectively. My new and improved workout now involves weighted crunches, legs-up weighted crunches, and weighted Russian twists.

After the first couple of sessions, my lower belly was sore for days, sometimes up to five—I needed to figure out a way to stretch the area thoroughly. I looked into some yoga poses that could help and discovered the cobra stretch, which I only knew as part of a Sun Salutation. I decided to learn how to do it properly and incorporate it into my cool-down routine.

How to do the cobra stretch

I asked Kait Ireland, a physical therapist and owner of Empowered Athletics Physical Therapy, to walk me through a cobra stretch (aka a prone press-up) and show me how to perform one correctly.

1. Lay flat on the floor (tummy side down) and press your trunk up using your arms.
2. Feel the stretch through the front line of the body and the rectus abdominis or six-pack muscles
3. Hold for three to five deep breaths

My results

Holding this pose and breathing deeply helped my recovery time and eased my sore muscles. I still felt the impact of the workout for a day or two after, but it wasn’t bugging me every time I tried to reach a high shelf up to five days later, as it had before.

I found that if I placed my arms further out from my body when doing the stretch, as demonstrated by Ireland, I really felt it in my lower belly. But I also found that if I brought my hands forward, to just in front of my hips, I could feel the stretch more in my upper abdominals (which the crunches had also targeted).

I now do the stretch immediately after my workout and then again for a day or two afterward to feel the full benefits. Every time I get back on the mat to do it, I find I can press deeper into the pose and give my muscles more of a stretch, loosening them and helping them relax. I even feel the stretch in my oblique muscles, although maybe not as effectively as a twisting stretch like a seated twist.

While some Pilates exercises feel like hard work, others feel more like fun. I find there's something about Pilates scissors—where you lie on your back and wave your legs in the air—that appeals to my sillier side, and yet it's a legitimate exercise that works your core, abs and legs.

"In scissors, your abdominals are working to hold the weight of your legs at the same time as holding your trunk in forward flexion," says Pilates instructor Millie Shiers, who teaches mat and reformer classes at Core LDN. "It strengthens both the upper and lower abs. The scissors move also improves hamstring flexibility."

I asked Shiers to explain how to do the Pilates scissors correctly, as well as talking me through the variations and modifications available.

How to do Pilates scissors

Video: Yuriy Kryvoshapka / Creatas Video+ / Getty Images Plus

• Lie on the mat with both legs extended straight up.
• Inhale and lift your head and chest, and bring your hands onto the back of your right calf.
• Keeping both legs straight throughout, exhale as you pull your right leg towards you while lowering your left leg.
• Return to the start under control, then inhale as you switch sides, placing your hands on your left calf.

Pilates scissors form tips

To get the most out of the scissors movement and properly connect to your muscles, make sure you are lifting with your abdominals and not your neck muscles. Think of sliding your ribs towards your hips. To make it harder, push your leg into your hands at the top of the move—that oppositional force will help switch your abdominals on, rather than just relying on your flexibility to bring your leg in.

Pilates scissors modifications

If the full scissors exercise is too hard and you're unable to maintain proper form, try this modified version. Begin in tabletop position with your knees bent, and lower one leg at a time to tap your toes on the floor, then return to the start.

Another modification is to interlace your fingers behind your neck instead of holding your calf. This will help to take the pressure off your neck.

Pilates scissors variations

To progress the movement and work your obliques (the core muscles that run along the sides of your torso), interlace your fingers behind your head and rotate your torso so your shoulder moves to meet the opposite leg.

Let's face it, most of us can't do a pull-up, but before explaining how to achieve your first pull-up, it's worth asking why would you want to be able to do a pull-up anyway. What's so impressive—or practical—about pulling your body skyward from a dead hang?

Well, if you can do a pull-up it means you have a strong grip, strong core, strong arms and, most importantly, strong upper-back muscles. And doing more pull-ups makes all of the above much, much stronger. In fact, it's one of the best ways to strengthen your back using just your bodyweight, and you can do it at home with a simple doorframe pull-up bar.

Pull-ups (palms facing away) and chin-ups (palms facing toward you) have also been proven to activate and strengthen your core muscles, making them a fantastic move with crossover benefits for activities like hiking, weightlifting, swimming, and even tennis or golf.

Finally, hanging from a bar is a great way to decompress your spine, easing pressure on your lower back that can build up from long hours at a desk. Got all that? Good—here's a five-exercise workout from an expert trainer that will help you build the strength to master your first pull-up.

Five exercises to help you achieve your first pull-up

In this video, Gede Foster, director of fitness and performance at digital fitness platform FIIT, demonstrates a flawless pull-up with hands just wider than shoulder-width apart, body in a straight line from shoulders to ankles, core engaged and chin well above the bar.

Want to do the same? Foster recommends practicing these five exercises to build the strength, coordination and technique required to execute your first pull-up.

1. Lat pulldown

Sets: 3 Reps: 8-12

This requires access to a gym. It's essential to bring the bar to your chest, not behind your head. No gym? Sub in a band-assisted pull-up using a long, thick resistance band hooked over the bar and looped under your feet or knees.

2. Inverted row

Sets: 3 Reps: 8-12

In the video, Foster uses a low bar, which makes this exercise tougher. If you’re starting to build strength, use a bar around chest or shoulder height. The further you place your feet away from the bar, the more challenging it is—so adjust your start position to suit your ability.

3. Retracted hang

Sets: 3 Time: max hold

It looks simple, but this will challenge the mid- and upper-back muscles required to initiate the pull-up. Hang from the bar, then retract your shoulder blades, as if puffing out your chest, and hold. This will engage your latissimus dorsi, infraspinatus, and teres major and minor muscles.

4. Hanging shrug

Sets: 3 Rep: 5-10

It's similar to the retracted hang, but not the same. Alternate between contracting and relaxing those same muscles, lifting and lowering your torso. Just avoid going completely limp when you relax to protect your spine.

5. Eccentric pull-up

Sets: 3 Reps: max

Allow gravity to do its thing. Step or jump up to the top of the pull-up position, then slowly lower yourself using your back and core muscles, before resetting for the next rep. Still too tough? Use a resistance band to assist you.

Workout tips

Foster suggests resting for around 60 seconds between each set.

With each exercise, she uses a slow eccentric tempo, which is another important ingredient to mastering your first pull-up. For example, with the lat pulldown and inverted row, she pulls the bar towards her quickly but returns to the starting position slowly, maximizing the amount of time her muscles are under tension for. The longer muscles are under tension during an exercise, the stronger they become.

Foster recommends following this five-move workout for at least four weeks, once or twice a week to build the strength needed to nail your first pull-up. It could take much longer—sometimes two or three months or more—but consistency is crucial and gradually increase the weight you're lifting, or the difficulty of the exercise, to encourage progression.

When you feel ready to attempt your first pull-up, Foster suggests going in relatively fresh, so after your body has recovered from the last workout. Warm up well by mobilizing your shoulders, chest and back (this upper-body warm-up is a great option), and perform a couple sets of retracted hangs and hanging shrugs to prime your body for action. Then give it your best shot. Good luck!

There are many reasons why people turn to yoga to keep their bodies feeling healthy. It's one of the best forms of exercise for improving mobility and supporting mental wellbeing. It can help you feel limber after a long day at the desk and reduce stress levels, too.

Laura Childs, a yoga instructor and founder of London-based Sāmya Studios recommends a traditional yoga flow that everyone should incorporate into their week.

"The first thing I recommend to anyone getting into yoga is learning a sun salutation," Childs says.

If you’re unfamiliar with sun salutation, it's a sequence of 12 traditional yoga poses (or asanas) performed as a flow and typically done in the morning. While common in yoga classes, each school or lineage of yoga may have its variations but all are designed to energize both the body and mind,

How to do a sun salutation

Below is some step-by-step guidance on how to do each pose in a sun salutation. If you need more of a visual guide, watch the video from certified yoga teacher Charlie Follows.

Mountain pose

• Begin standing with your feet together or hip-width apart, arms by your sides.
• Bring your hands together in front of your chest, palms touching.
• Ensure your weight is distributed evenly on both feet and shoulders down away from the ears.

Back bend

• Inhale deeply, raising your arms overhead as you lift your chest.
• Gaze at your hands with a gentle arch in your back. Palms can be facing up or together in prayer.

Forward fold

• Exhale, fold forward from your hips, bringing your hands towards the floor.
• Let your head hang, relaxing your neck and shoulders.
• Keep a bend in your knees to support your lower back if you need.

Halfway lift

• Inhale, lifting your torso so that your spine is straight and back parallel with the floor.
• Rest your hands on your thighs, shins or toes and look forward.

Plank pose

• Exhale, plant your hands on the floor and step one leg at a time back into a high plank position, with your wrists under your shoulders.
• Engage your core to form a straight line from your head to your heels.

Low plank

• Exhale, lower your knees to the floor (or keep them lifted if you're more advanced).
• Bend your elbows close to your sides to lower your chest to the mat.

Cobra or upward facing dog

• Inhale, press through your hands to lift your chest.
• To perform cobra, keep your elbows bent slightly and hands on the floor, so there's a gentle bend in your spine. Your belly should remain in contact with the mat.
• To perform upward dog, keep your arms straight so your chest and belly are pushed off the mat.

Downward-facing dog

• Exhale, press through your hands, lifting your hips upward, keeping your spine flat and long. Your body should now form an inverted 'V' shape.
• Keep your feet hip-width apart, heels pressing towards the ground and hold for one breath. For more tips on how to get comfortable with this pose, read our piece on how to do downward dog.

Halfway lift

• Inhale, step one leg at a time forward in between your hands.
• Lift your torso to straighten your spine again.
• Rest your hands on your thighs, shins or toes and look forward.

Forward fold

• Exhale, fold forward from your hips, bringing your hands towards the floor.
• Let your head hang, relaxing your neck and shoulders.
• Keep a bend in your knees to support your lower back if you need.

Backbend

• Inhale, sweeping your arms up overhead and standing, leaning back slightly for a gentle backbend.

Mountain pose

• Exhale, lower your arms to prayer position.
• Stand tall with weight distributed evenly on both feet.
• Take a breath in and out and repeat the sequence.

Spending hours sitting at a desk could wreak havoc on your mobility, flexibility and posture. Even with an after-work gym session, you still might be at risk of injury if you don’t include functional mobility in your routine to prepare your body for movement, improve your range of motion and strengthen vital muscle groups.

As a certified personal trainer, I’ve worked with a lot of clients who have desk jobs. One of my favorite exercises for them is the clamshell. This move activates and strengthens the glutes and hip abductors—muscles that can become weak, stiff and deconditioned with long periods of sitting.

Clamshells aren’t just beneficial for desk job workers. They can facilitate better squats, lunges, runs and even walks. While no equipment is required for a clamshell, you may want to use a yoga mat like the one below for support.

How to do the clamshell

Sets: 3 Reps: 12-15 on each side

• Lie on your side with your elbow aligned underneath your shoulder.
• With your legs together, bend your knees to a 45° angle a few inches in front of your body and align your heels with your tailbone.
• Keeping your feet connected, squeeze your glutes and slowly lift your top knee upwards without moving your pelvis or lower back.
• Pause at the end of your range then slowly lower your knee back to the starting position.
• Continue for the repetitions, then repeat on the other side.

Trainer tips

When rotating your knee upward, avoid your top hip shifting backward or your bottom hip lifting off the floor. This may limit your range a bit but that’s okay. Maintaining good form will ensure you’re working the correct muscle groups.

Once you’ve mastered the standard clamshell, you can progress the exercise by trying a side-plank clamshell, explained below.

How to do a side-plank clamshell

Sets: 3 Repetitions: 12-15

• Lie on your side with your elbow aligned underneath your shoulder.
• With your legs together, bend your knees to a 45° angle a few inches in front of your body and align your heels with your tailbone.
• Lift your hips off the mat, supporting your body weight on your elbow.
• Keeping your feet connected, squeeze your glutes and slowly rotate your top knee toward the ceiling.
• Pause at the end of your range, then slowly lower your knee back to its starting position.
• Continue for the repetitions, then repeat on the other side.

Trainer tips

Keep your shoulders, hips and knees in a diagonal alignment – don’t let your hips drop toward the floor.

What are the benefits of the clamshell?

Clamshells not only strengthen the glutes and hip abductor muscles, they can improve range of motion in the hip joint, leading to better balance, optimal movement and improved posture too.

The move can also be used to prevent or rehabilitate from certain injuries. It’s low-impact, appropriate for any fitness level and can be easily progressed—you can pair it with a side-plank as described below or add a loop resistance band.

Most fitness lovers are familiar with static stretching, but experts advise doing dynamic stretching to prepare your body for movement and performance.

Unlike static stretching—which is holding a stretch in a fixed position—dynamic stretching involves moving your muscles and joints through their full range of motion, mimicking the movements you’ll be doing in the activity you’re preparing yourself for. It's also a great to start your day if you want to feel mobile and energized.

Dr. Mallory Fox, owner of Foxy FIT and NASM master trainer, utilizes dynamic stretching as one way to help her clients improve their mobility, reduce pain, decrease stress and increase flexibility.

Here are some of her favorite stretches to ease your body into movement by releasing stiffness, increasing circulation and setting a positive tone for the day.

Standing leg swing

Sets: 1 Reps: 15 reps (or 30 seconds) on each side

• Stand on one leg.
• Begin swinging the other leg forward and back like a pendulum. Start with a bent knee and progress to getting it as straight as you can tolerate.
• Repeat with the other leg.

Benefits of this move
Leg swings are the go-to dynamic stretch for improving hip mobility, which impacts posture, alignment and stability. Fox advises that leg swings are especially beneficial for those who sit a lot during the day and for runners preparing for their morning workout.

Arm circle

Sets: 2 Reps: 15 (or 30 seconds) on each side

• While seated or standing, extend your arms out to the sides in a T position.
• Begin making small, slow circles with the arms.
• Gradually increase the size of the circle and speed.
• Reverse the circle motion.

Benefits of this move
Arm circles improve shoulder mobility and range of motion, which can help to better posture, alignment and prevent injury. Shoulder mobility is needed for everything from swimming to reaching for items on a high shelf.

Lunge with a twist

• Step forward and assume a lunge position. Both your front and back knees should be bent at right angles.
• Twist your torso towards your front leg.
• Return to starting position.
• To deepen the stretch, take a larger step or bend into the front knee.

Benefits of this move
This exercise serves as a dynamic duo—working on your lower body and core by stretching your hip flexors, engaging your leg muscles and firing up your abs. Fox notes that it’s a great way to get ready for any activity that requires agility and balance.

In need of a longer routine? Try adding on some of these stretching exercises, or read through our piece on how to do a warm-up properly

For many of us, the Pilates hundred is the most dreaded of all Pilates exercises. Holding a challenging position and pulsing my arms up and down for 100 breaths is not one of my favorite things to do. Maybe it’s because I lack the core strength to perform it properly, or maybe I’m doing it wrong.

To find out more, I asked Millie Shiers, Pilates instructor at Core LDN to explain the benefits of the Pilates hundred and why so many of us dread this exercise. "Most people lack the abdominal strength to hold themselves in flexion for the time required," says Shiers. "This means the neck muscles can take over, resulting in too much tension in the neck and shoulders."

To help, Shiers walked me through how to do the Pilates hundred correctly, as well as the variations and modifications you can try to suit your current ability. As you progress through the modifications and the exercise becomes easier it will bring a sense of accomplishment and you may even find yourself enjoying it.

What are the benefits of the Pilates hundred?

"The Pilates hundred builds on abdominal strength in two ways," says Shiers. "You’ve got to hold the weight of your legs off the floor while holding your upper body in forward flexion.

"Another benefit of the hundred is the focus on the breath. It teaches you Pilates breathing and this breathwork helps your abdominals to engage.

"Finally, the hundred builds heat in your body due to the fast pulses and that’s why it’s often used early on in a Pilates class to warm your body up."

How do you do the Pilates hundred?

• Lie on your back with your hips and knees bent at 90°, and your hands on the floor by your sides.
• Engage your abs by drawing your belly button towards your spine.
• Simultaneously lift your head, shoulders and arms and extend your legs. Your upper spine should curl off the mat so the base of your shoulder blades is just touching the mat. Your arms should be parallel with the floor. Your legs should be at 45°, although you can hold them higher if you find your lower back starts arching away from the floor.
• Hold this position for and pulse your arms, matching your breathing to the pulses. Breath in for five pulses and breath out for five pulses.
• Repeat until your have completed 100 pulses.

How do you modify the Pilates hundred?

"The hundred prep exercise teaches you how to build the skills and strength needed for the hundred," says Shiers. "In the hundred prep, keep your legs in the tabletop position and point your fingers up towards the ceiling, then practice lifting your head and chest and bringing your arms parallel to the floor, before lowering back down.

"You can also modify the hundred by keeping your legs in tabletop, therefore reducing the load on your abdominals, until you have the strength to keep the legs straight.

"Changing the angle of your straight legs during the hundred will also affect how easy or hard it feels—the closer to the floor your feet are the more challenging it will be for your abs.

"I like to teach the hundreds broken up into two sets of 50 counts until my clients can sustain the full 100 counts without any neck tension."

How do you progress the Pilates hundred?

"One progression option for the hundred is to bring your legs into the starting position from the floor, without starting in tabletop," says Shiers. "You need a lot of abdominal strength for this version!"

Looking to watch an Olympics rowing live stream? This extensive guide has got you covered, with details of Paris 2024 broadcasters in the US, UK, Australia and Canada – including options to watch for free. We also explain how you can use a VPN  to tune into the action from the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne if you’re away from home.

If you want to watch Olympics rowing 2024, then today is your last chance at the regatta winds up today with its blue riband events – the Men’s and Women’s Eights. 

Team GB will be hoping to Ace both, but there have been some incredibly close finishes across the course of this regatta which have been pushing the team into silver medal position, so they won’t be counting their chickens. 

That happened again yesterday when a massive push from the Croatian pair (brothers) gave them Gold over Britain in the Men’s Pair, but Team GB did win the last ever Olympic Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls. Ireland grabbed Gold for the Men’s version of the same event.

Read on to find out how to watch Olympics rowing live streams in 2024, wherever you are in the world.

Today’s Highlights Saturday August 3

All times local to Paris (CET)

08:30 Women’s Single Sculls Final C

08:42 Men’s Single Sculls Final C

08:54 Women’s Single Sculls Final B

09:06 Men’s Single Sculls Final B

09:18 Women’s Single Sculls FINAL

09:30 Men’s Single Sculls FINAL

09:50 Women’s Eight FINAL

10:10 Men Eight FINAL

Watch Olympics rowing 2024 live streams for free in Australia

It's a good time to be in Australia because Channel 9 and its 9Now streaming service host the most comprehensive free-to-air Paris 2024 coverage anywhere in the world. That means that almost every session from the Games is available live via Channel 9's various platforms.

It's not the only option to watch Olympics rowing in Australia, either, because subscription service Stan is also covering Paris 2024 ad-free, live and in 4K resolution. You can add Stan Sport to your Stan subscription for $15 per month. (Stan is also home to numerous other sports, including Champions League football and rugby union.)

Traveling abroad during the Paris Games? Sports lovers away from home can still watch an Olympics live stream as they would back home. All you need is a quality VPN, such as NordVPN, to watch your usual free stream when overseas. Keep reading to find out how.

Use a VPN to watch from anywhere

If you’re traveling abroad during the Olympics, chances are you won't be able to watch your usual streaming service as you would at home. That's because the broadcaster's geo-blocking restrictions will prevent you from tuning in.

That doesn't mean you have to miss out on the Olympics rowing. All you need to do to watch as if you were in your home country is get yourself a VPN (Virtual Private Network) – assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs.  A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are. As an added bonus, the info going back and forth is also entirely encrypted.

In a competitive field of VPNs, the experts at TechRadar put NordVPN at the top of the podium. 

Watch Olympics 2024 rowing live streams for free in Canada

Olympics fans in Canada get it nearly as good as those in Australia, with plenty of free Olympics coverage available on CBC and the CBC Gem streaming service. There's even an option to ditch the ads if you pay $5.99 per month for CBC's Premium service. (The first seven days are free if you want to try before you buy.)

Subscription services Sportsnet and TSN are also showing Olympics coverage.

Watch Olympics 2024 rowing live streams for free in the UK

As has become a long standing tradition, the BBC is broadcasting loads of free-to-air Olympics action throughout the duration of the Games. The BBC's terrestrial channels, the Red Button and the BBC iPlayer streaming service will all be part of the Beeb's offering, but remember that you will need a valid TV Licence to tune in.

Unfortunately, however, you won't be able to watch every moment of the games in the company of the BBC, as the broadcaster only has rights to air two live streams at any one time. That means you may have to go elsewhere to watch Olympics rowing live streams if the Beeb are covering something else.

The most comprehensive service in the UK is provided by subscription services Eurosport and Discovery Plus, where you can get a whopping 3,800 hours of live coverage across 55 streams.

A Discovery Plus Standard plan would usually set you back £6.99 a month but if you subscribe before August 11, a special Olympics offer means the fee is reduced to £3.99 a month. New subscribers will be able to take advantage of the discounted rate until the end of 2024.

Watch Olympics 2024 rowing live streams in the US

NBCUniversal has a massive Olympics offering for US viewers, with coverage spread across broadcast and cable channels (including NBC, CNBC, the USA Network and the Golf Channel), and the Peacock streaming service.

A Peacock Premium subscription costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year. If you want to lose the commercials, the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus will cost you $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year. 

Don't have cable? No problem. Sling is a smart TV service that allows people in the US to watch cable channels on their TV, laptop or tablet without actually having to subscribe to an annual cable TV package. USA Network and E! are available on Sling with the Sling Blue package, which costs $40 per month ($20 for the first month).

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Looking to watch Olympics live streams over the next fortnight? This extensive guide has got you covered, with details of Paris 2024 broadcasters in the US, UK, Australia and Canada – including several options to watch for free. We also explain how you can use a VPN to tune into the action if you’re away from home when the sporting magic happens.

From the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26 until the action concludes on the evening of Sunday, August 11, we'll be treated to two weeks of the finest sporting action on the planet – often in sports that don't get much time in the mainstream spotlight. By the time the Games wrap up we'll all be experts in athletics, cycling, rowing, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling and many other events on the packed schedule. There really is nothing on the calendar quite like the Olympics.

Luckily there are plenty of ways to tune in around the world, and this guide will help you watch Olympics 2024 live streams wherever you are. Let the Games commence!

Watch Olympics 2024 live streams for free in Australia

It's a good time to be in Australia because Channel 9 and its 9Now streaming service host the most comprehensive free-to-air Paris 2024 coverage anywhere in the world. That means that almost every session from the Games is available live via Channel 9's various platforms.

It's not the only viewing option in Australia, either, because subscription service Stan is also covering Paris 2024 ad-free, live and in 4K resolution. You can add Stan Sport to your Stan subscription for $15 per month. (Stan is also home to numerous other sports, including Champions League football and rugby union.)

Traveling abroad during the Paris Games? Sports lovers away from home can still watch an Olympics live stream as they would back home. All you need is a quality VPN, such as NordVPN, to watch your usual free stream when overseas. Keep reading to find out how.

Use a VPN to watch from anywhere

If you’re traveling abroad during the Olympics, chances are you won't be able to watch your usual streaming service as you would at home. That's because the broadcaster's geo-blocking restrictions will prevent you from tuning in.

That doesn't mean you have to miss out. All you need to do to watch as if you were in your home country is get yourself a VPN (Virtual Private Network) – assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, of course. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are. As an added bonus, the info going back and forth is also entirely encrypted.

In a competitive field of VPNs, the experts at TechRadar put NordVPN at the top of the podium. 

Watch Olympics 2024 live streams for free in Canada

Olympics fans in Canada get it nearly as good as those in Australia, with plenty of free Olympics coverage available on CBC and the CBC Gem streaming service. There's even an option to ditch the ads if you pay $5.99 per month for CBC's Premium service. (The first seven days are free if you want to try before you buy.)

Subscription services Sportsnet and TSN are also showing Olympics coverage.

Watch Olympics 2024 live streams for free in the UK

As has become a long standing tradition, the BBC is broadcasting loads of free-to-air Olympics action throughout the duration of the Games. The BBC's terrestrial channels, the Red Button and the BBC iPlayer streaming service will all be part of the Beeb's offering, but remember that you will need a valid TV Licence to tune in.

But you won't be able to watch every moment of the games in the company of the BBC, as the broadcaster only has rights to air two live streams at any time. The most comprehensive service in the UK is therefore provided by subscription services Eurosport and Discovery Plus, where you can get a whopping 3,800 hours of live coverage across 55 streams.

A Discovery Plus Standard plan would usually set you back £6.99 a month but if you subscribe before August 11, the fee is reduced to £3.99 a month – and new subscribers will be able to take advantage of the discounted rate until the end of 2024.

Watch Olympics 2024 live streams in the US

NBCUniversal has a massive Olympics offering for US viewers, with coverage spread across broadcast and cable channels (including NBC, CNBC, the USA Network and the Golf Channel), and the Peacock streaming service.

A Peacock Premium subscription costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year. If you want to lose the commercials, the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus will cost you $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year. 

Don't have cable? No problem. Sling is a smart TV service that allows people in the US to watch cable channels on their TV, laptop or tablet without actually having to subscribe to an annual cable TV package. USA Network and E! are available on Sling with the Sling Blue package, which costs $40 per month ($20 for the first month).

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

There are many benefits to strengthening your core. For a start, having a strong core can improve your posture and reduce lower-back pain. It will also improve how you move during everyday life and when working out.

Developing a strong core doesn't require you to perform hundreds of sit-ups. Stacy Orsborn, personal trainer and founder of the women's fitness franchise VICTRESS MVMT, says there's one type of movement that a lot of people should include in their core workouts but don't—anti-rotational exercises.

"Anti-rotational exercises use core stabilization muscles in a different way to common core exercises, such as planks, sit-ups and crunches," says Orsborn.

"Those exercises are contraction and extension movements. In anti-rotational exercises, we're getting into an isometric hold and the body is fighting against that rotation."

And there's a particular anti-rotation exercise Orsborn recommends—the Pallof press.

"The Pallof press is a great exercise to add to your routine. Particularly for women who might be postpartum, some core rehabilitation can be too challenging but the Pallof press is something everyone can do," says Orsborn.

How to do the Pallof press

All you need for this move is a resistance band. You can also do a weighted Pallof press using a cable machine at the gym.

• Attach a resistance band to a secure anchor point, such as a squat rack or banister.
• Stand side-on to the anchor point with your knees slightly bent, holding the band in both hands in front of your chest.
• Take a side step away from the anchor point until there is tension in the band and engage your core.
• Slowly extend your arms out in front of you, which will increase the tension in the resistance band. Resist the rotational pull.
• Slowly bring your hands back to your chest.

Strength training is one of the best things you can do to keep your body healthy, strong and mobile. If you spend a lot of time sitting down, strength workouts can support healthy muscles and joints, and help keep aches and pains away.

But even though we all know that this type of exercise is good for us, it can be difficult to find the time for it.

Whether you’re a regular gym-goer or not, your workouts should effectively target a wide range of muscles. So what exercises are really worth doing?

According to personal trainer and founder of fitness program Victress MVMT Stacy Osborn, there's one movement that you could incorporate into your workouts to develop full-body strength.

"The thruster is a great full-body movement for building strength and boosting your metabolic health," says Osborn.

If you've never done it before, the thruster is an exercise that involves squatting then pressing a weight overhead as you stand up. It's often used in CrossFit workouts, but you can scale it to your level and do it at home if you own weights.

How to do a thruster

Video: Zdyma4 / Creatas Video+ / Getty Images Plus

You can do a thruster using dumbbells, kettlebells or a barbell. You can also do it without equipment while you're getting used to it, or Osborn suggests even starting with soup cans.

Here, we describe how to do it with dumbbells.

• Hold dumbbells by your shoulders with your elbows pointing forward. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with your feet turned out.
• Keeping your elbows high, push your hips back and bend your knees to squat down until your hips are level with, or below, your knees.
• Push through your heels to stand back up explosively, using the momentum from your leg drive to extend your arms straight up, lifting the dumbbells overhead.
• Lower the dumbbells back to your shoulders and immediately transition into the next rep.

The thruster is a full-body movement: "It's not just a squat and then a press," says Osborn. "We're using the drive of the hips to push the weight overhead."

Think about pushing through your legs throughout to make the movement as smooth as possible, rather than stopping and starting.

It's also important to think about your form at the top position. "Once you've reached that full extension with your arms overhead, your arms should be even with your ears," says Osborn. "Don't hyperextend or arch your lower back when you reach that top position. Keep your ribcage and pelvis stacked."

The benefits of thrusters

The thruster recruits muscles in both the lower and upper body and it requires a lot of core engagement to stabilize your torso and back while you push the weight overhead, so you'll be developing strength all over by practicing this move.

It's also ideal for mobility. "You get that full range of motion and movement," says Osborn.

You can tailor the way you do this exercise depending on your goals. For example, if your focus is getting fitter and improving your metabolic health, opt for a lighter weight and more reps (around 12-20) a set.

But if your focus is on building strength, you can challenge yourself with slightly heavier weights for a lower rep range (around 8-12) a set.

It’s mentioned in every exercise guide worth its salt, and uttered by every fitness instructor you’ll ever meet, but how do you actually engage your core? Which muscles does it involve? Which exercises can it help with? When should you engage and when should you disengage? We asked three experienced personal trainers to unpack this standard advice to help you make the most of your next workout.

Why should you engage your core?

Quite simply, if you want to avoid injury when doing anything strenuous, and especially when exercising or playing sports, you need to learn how to engage—or brace—your core.

Learning this will create "a strong midline that is vital for stabilizing, controlling and protecting your spine when performing daily tasks at home, within a workplace, at the gym or out exploring the world," says Kelli Vossler, director of fitness at Spark Fitness and Tennis in Andover, Massachusetts.

It can also help improve your posture throughout the day, "especially for people who are mostly seated for work, helping reduce wear and tear on the spine and alleviate lower-back pain," says Adam Enaz, personal trainer and transformation specialist.

But engaging your core isn’t just for injury prevention or postural support. It can also help create a figurative forcefield around your spine, allowing you to transfer power from your lower to your upper body—and vice versa—whether performing a loaded squat or simply bearing the brunt of a heavy backpack.

"It's impossible to lift with intensity without engaging your core—but it's a skill you have to learn and even experienced exercisers can get it wrong," says Eddie Baruta, global head of gym floor personal training at Ultimate Performance.

Which muscles are involved in engaging your core?

When people hear core they often think abs. This, says Baruta, is a common mistake. Someone might simply tense their rectus abdominis, the six-pack muscles that run along the front of your abdomen, hoping that’ll do the trick. But perform any form of loaded squat, like a goblet squat or thruster, and that approach will soon be your undoing.

Instead, Baruta prefers to talk about bracing the "trunk" muscles. "Think of your core as a balloon," he elaborates. "The top part is dominated by the diaphragm, the bottom by the pelvic floor, and the sides by the obliques and deep-lying transverse abdominis"—also known as the cummerbund muscle of the abdomen.

When engaging your core, the objective is to recruit all these muscles in unison so your midline and spine are supported front and back, top and bottom.

How to engage your core

Now we’ve covered the why and the which, it’s time to focus on the how. How do you effectively engage your core? To execute this, you should start with your breath.

1. Don’t suck

When engaging your core you might assume you need to suck your belly in, but that's counterproductive. "Sucking your belly in or hollowing your tummy and pulling your belly button toward your spine creates dysfunction in your midsection," says Baruta. Instead, you need to breathe in while letting your belly rise.

2. Breathe deep

To achieve this belly expansion, you need to take a deep diaphragmatic breath into the pit of your stomach, rather than a shallow breath into your chest. Baruta says a quick exercise to ensure the correct technique is to place one hand on your chest and another on your stomach. Breathe in and observe which hand rises first, then correct your breathing if necessary so that your belly rises as you inhale.

3. Create 360˚ tension

Next, with this breath, push your belly and lower back out. This is key. A tactile cue Vossler recommends here is to stand tall and place your hands on your obliques (your sides) just below the rib cage and press in slightly with your fingers against the side of your belly and thumbs against your lower back

Next, with your hands acting as a makeshift weight belt, allow your abdomen to expand front and back. "This is the same reaction you’d have if bracing as if expecting to be punched in the belly," she adds. "In order for this to happen, the back and abdominals engage to create stability and protect the spine."

4. Stay in neutral

Effective core bracing should keep your spine in a neutral alignment, Baruta stresses. In other words, you should avoid overly arching or curving your back. Practice in a mirror to see if you can maintain this alignment when dropping into an unweighted squat.

5. Press down

With your abdomen pressed out and spine in neutral, bring your rib cage down slightly and push out further to create as much intra-abdominal pressure as you can. This will create a platform that will allow you to add load without getting bent out of shape.

Cues that'll help you engage your core

Now you have the technique down, remember these cues to ensure you’re safely engaging your core every time.

"Brace your trunk"

As Baruta has mentioned, bracing the core requires all the muscles of the trunk to "switch on", not just the muscles along the front of your stomach. Visualizing muscles on the front, back and sides of the torso tends to trigger his clients into engaging all the muscles around the spine.

"Tighten the corset"

Enaz uses this cue with clients just before they unrack a bar from the squat rack or bench press. "Imagine you’re wearing a corset that wraps around your entire midsection—front, back and sides," suggests Enaz. "Now tighten it. I find that this visualization cue helps my clients engage the entire core musculature, not just the front abs."

"Tuck your pelvis"

A cue Vossler likes to use with athletes is to "pull the rib cage down and slightly tuck the pelvis under". Also known as the "posterior tilt", she finds it especially handy for floor-based exercises to help athletes switch on their core muscles and realign the spine.

"Reset at the top"

If you’re relatively new to lifting, Baruta recommends only resetting your breath once you’ve returned to a safe position, such as the top of a squat. As you become more accustomed to the technique you can start to exhale forcefully as you drive to stand. With a push-up, however, "you can exhale slightly earlier, like letting out a balloon as you press the floor away," he says.

"Remember to breathe"

Breath in at the start of a rep and breath out at the end. If holding an isometric position, like with the plank exercise, Enaz recommends trying to breathe as normally as possible. "It can take practice to breathe naturally while bracing the core, but it’s vital to maintain proper oxygen flow during exercise," he says. Baruta prefers to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth each rep.

What to avoid when engaging your core?

Sucking in your stomach

"Simply sucking in your stomach without properly engaging your deep core muscles will not effectively stabilize your spine or pelvis," warns Enaz.

Over tightening

Engaging your core doesn’t mean tensing up as hard as you can. "Over-tightening can lead to other muscles compensating, which can throw off alignment and reduce the effectiveness of your engagement," says Enaz.

Holding your breath

Forgetting to breathe is a surprisingly common mistake when trying to engage your core—especially during isometric exercises like planks or wall sits. The risk is that it can "increase blood pressure and decrease performance," says Enaz. "Learn to breathe through the engagement."

With an exercise like a dumbbell-loaded squat or deadlift, you can hold your breath momentarily to maintain intra-abdominal pressure during the movement, but you should always take a new breath and reset your core engagement between reps.

How to engage your core in practice

Here’s how incorporating all of these dos and don'ts to engage your core works in practice, with a dumbbell squat as the example.

• Stand holding a pair of medium-heavy dumbbells by your sides.
• Breathe in through your nose, allowing the air to travel deep into the pit of your tummy. As you breathe in, press your abdomen out, front and back, to support your spine.
• Lift the dumbbells to shoulder height, with your palms facing and elbows pointing forward.
• You can begin the movement or reset with another breath. To reset, allow a short exhale through your lips while maintaining tension in your trunk.
• Breathe in through your nose, press your abdomen out and pull your rib cage down to create maximum intra-abdominal pressure while keeping your spine neutral.
• Bend your knees and push your hips back to lower under control. Push your knees our wide and keep your chest facing forward.
• While still holding your breath to maintain tension in your core, drive through your heels powerfully and press your hips forward to stand tall.
• If you’re fully confident that you can maintain a tight core, exhale through your mouth as if letting air out of a balloon as you drive up to stand. Otherwise, exhale once you’re safely at the top of the rep.
• Reset with another nasal breath inhalation to engage your core and repeat.

About our experts

There’s no single exercise that’s going to revolutionize your workouts—consistency and progressive training remain the best routes to success. But there are some fundamental moves you should practice regularly if you want to build a fit and functional body.

The lunge with rotation is one such exercise, and a favorite of National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) certified personal trainer Susane Pata.

"Especially if you’re newer to training. I think starting with a multiplanar [working multiple planes of motion at once] bodyweight movement like this one is the way to create longevity in the game," she says. "Make your training accessible, and make it long-lasting."

How to do the lunge with rotation

• Stand with your feet roughly hip-width apart.
• Keeping your torso upright and your feet hip-width apart, step forward with your right foot. Lower yourself into a lunge position, with your left knee just above the floor and both knees forming roughly a right angle.
• As you do this, reach your arms forward so they’re parallel with the ground, clasp your hands together, and rotate your torso 90° towards your lead leg.
• Reverse this motion to return to the starting position, then repeat on the other leg.

Benefits of the lunge with rotation

A lunge is a fundamental movement pattern that we do every day. By adding weight to this move, you’re strengthening the muscles and tissues involved, building robustness, functional strength and resilience against injury.

"Another benefit is that it’s a unilateral exercise," Pata says. This means that you’re working one side of your body at a time. "Unilateral exercises are so important, and if you haven’t been adding them to your regimen then you should."

There are many benefits of unilateral exercises, including helping you to identify and address muscular imbalances between the right and left sides of your body, developing your balance and coordination, and building transferable strength.

But why add the rotation? Because that’s what makes this a multiplanar move. The body works in three planes of motion; sagittal (up, down, forwards and backward), frontal (side-to-side) and transverse (rotational).

The lunge is predominantly a sagittal movement, but adding a simultaneous twist incorporates the often-overlooked transverse plane.

"Multiplanar training [can help you become] resilient and durable in everyday life," Pata says. "If you’re running for a bus, or you turn around really quickly to lock a door because you forgot—these are everyday activities which sometimes people are not prepared for."

By training with multiplanar movements, you’re teaching your body to move in a range of ways, developing the strength and stability necessary to do so safely. This translates to both everyday activities and sports too, like tennis and pickleball.

Pata suggests that you master the bodyweight version of the lunge with rotation before adding in a weight, but once you’ve got the move nailed you can try gripping a dumbbell to your chest during the exercise or straightening your arms and holding it out in front of you for an extra challenge.

Squats are a great compound move that strengthen your legs and back. But if you struggle to do them because of bad knees or limited mobility, I recommend this alternative.

The seated leg lift is a knee-friendly exercise that works your hip flexors, core and quads (thigh muscles), without putting strain on the joints.

I'm a personal trainer and find that many of my clients struggle with squats, so I recommend they do the seated leg lift instead. To increase the intensity, we add ankle weights or dumbbells for resistance.

How to do the seated leg lift

• Sit up straight on a mat with your legs out straight in front of you. Put your arms behind you for support.
• Brace your core as you slowly lift your left leg off the floor, then lower it again to the starting position.
• Repeat this move on your right leg. Aim for 8-10 reps on each leg, building up to 10-12.

You don’t need any equipment to do this exercise, but you can add some resistance if you want to progress it. Add ankle weights or gently press 3kg dumbbells on your thighs as you lift your legs.

How it works

This move primarily targets muscles in your hips, upper thighs and core.

It's particularly good for strengthening your hip flexors, located at the top of your thighs. The main function of these muscles is to pull your legs and knees towards your trunk, for example when you walk or run. They can become weakened by excess sitting but this move helps to rebuild them.

The exercise will also target the front-thigh quad muscles, which will have to contract to stay stable during the exercise. As you have to maintain a stable, upright posture throughout the move, it also challenges your core and helps to build abdominal strength.

Why are strong legs important?

Strong legs provide a solid foundation for everyday activities like walking, running, climbing and standing. When you build leg strength, it helps with balance and stability. By contrast, when you lose strength in your legs—which naturally happens with age—it can affect your ability to walk and stand, putting you at greater risk of falls and injury.

Squats are a leg workout staple, particularly if you’re exercising at home. But if you’ve been doing them for a while, there will inevitably come a point where they start to feel too easy.

So what do you do if you want to keep challenging your muscles? Increasing the weight you’re lifting is one option, but if you don’t have weights at home you could swap your next set of squats for a more difficult variation.

Top fitness coach and iFit trainer Hannah Eden recommends the gorilla squat—a sequence of a squat jump and a jumping lunge on each leg, designed to build power and endurance in your lower-body muscles.

Watch her video below to find out how to do it. Then try doing the exercise following a Tabata format, performing the move for 20 seconds and then resting for 10 seconds. Do this eight times to complete a full four-minute routine.

How to do the gorilla squat

The first gym Eden owned had minimal equipment, so she and her team became specialists at challenging their clients without weights. Many of the exercises they used were inspired by animal flow, which is a type of training that incorporates animalistic movements like the beast push-up. These work your joints through a wide range of motion and challenge you to move in new ways.

"It’s a great way of improving your bodyweight to strength ratio," Eden tells me.

Each repetition of Eden's gorilla squat consists of three movements; a squat jump and a jumping lunge on each leg. These are all multi-muscle compound exercises, recruiting the quadriceps on the front of your thigh, hamstrings on the back of your thigh, glutes or backside muscles, and the calves on the back of your lower leg.

Using these large muscle groups requires a lot of energy energy. As a result, this move will increase your heart rate and challenge your cardio fitness, while also elevating calorie burn and boosting your metabolism.

The exercise also incorporates a plyometric element by adding a jump at the top of each move. Plyometric exercises are those that challenge you to produce force, fast, and doing them can improve your speed and power—attributes that translate to any number of other sports. This type of training can help you maintain the mobility and agility you need to do basic things in later life, too, like standing up from a chair and climbing the stairs.

Need some sneakers to support your varied training routine? Our guide to the best cross training shoes can help

I'm a personal trainer and one of the most common questions I get asked by my clients is how do I improve my upper-body strength? I usually recommend this simple compound move: the Zottman curl. It's a hybrid of a traditional bicep curl and a reverse curl that can level up your arms workout.

It targets both heads of the biceps, as well as the forearms (brachioradialis) and the core. It is also phenomenal for improving grip strength—a useful indicator of overall health..

You need a pair of dumbbells to do it. I like this cheap adjustable spinlock set on Amazon, which costs less than $60 and lets you change the load to suit your fitness level.

How to do the Zottman Curl

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand, keeping arms close to your side.
• With palms facing up (supinated grip), curl the weights up like you would in a standard bicep curl.
• When you get to the top of the lift, rotate your arms so that your palms are facing away from you (pronated grip).
• Then slowly and with control lower the weights back down to start position.

Form tips

• Pin elbows close to your sides to avoid using momentum to swing the weights up.
• Lower slowly with control following a 3:1 tempo (lowering for the count of three and lifting for the count of one) and fully extend your elbows at the bottom.
• Some clients say their wrists hurt when the palms are pronated. If this is you, flip the wrists at the top to a neutral position (palms facing each other) and lower down as a hammer curl instead.

Why I like this move

Compound exercises engage several muscles at the same time, making them a time-efficient way to work out. They differ from isolation exercises, such as the traditional bicep curl, which works a single muscle group—the biceps. Compound moves mimic real-life movements, so they help prepare and strengthen your body for everyday actions.

This movement combines a supine and prone grip, maximizing the amount of muscles activated. Generally, a supinated (palms up) grip will emphasize the biceps-brachii, the large two-headed muscle in the front of the upper arm. While supinated curls are great, we don’t tend to do pronated curls (palms down) as often. But this type of grip specifically targets the brachioradialis (forearms) and brachialis, located deep in the upper arm behind the biceps brachii, responsible for elbow flexion.

By targeting these muscles you will improve grip strength, elbow stability and overall arm strength.

Probably the best-known yoga pose of all, downward-facing dog, also known as downward dog or down dog, has many benefits. It strengthens and stretches the body in equal measure. Managing to be both an active and a resting position, it’s a cornerstone of almost any yoga practice, so it’s worth getting it right.

I got the chance to speak to Nicole Wood, master trainer at YogaSix, so I asked how we can adjust how we approach the pose to get the most out of it. She also told me what mistake she sees people make the most often in downward-facing dog and how to correct this.

"My top tip would be to place blocks under your palms on the lowest setting to help improve your alignment in down dog," says Wood.

"Often I see students dumping their weight into their shoulders which creates a crunch in the neck and a curve through their upper back, instead of finding a long neutral spine," says Wood. "To help support the shoulder joints, students can also move their feet wider than their hips, which will then help with their alignment and pull the weight out of their shoulders."

"Driving through the heels of the palms and spreading the fingers wide will help you find better alignment in down dog," says Wood. It’s not a good idea to press your knuckles down into the mat though—that won’t help you. "If students send their weight into their knuckles their shoulders will shrug up into their ears and bring them out of alignment," says Wood.

There’s a common belief that the aim of downward dog is to get your heels down onto the mat, but that’s a myth. "It does not matter if your heels can touch the earth in down dog! Depending on the anatomy of a student's body, they may never get their heels to the earth," says Wood.

How to do downward-facing dog

Video credit: PeopleImages / Creatas Video+ / Getty Images Plus

• Begin on all fours, with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders and your knees directly under your hips.
• Tuck your toes under, exhale as you move your hips up and back so your body forms an inverted V-shape, keeping a slight bend in your knees.
• Press your shoulders away from your hands and ensure your spine is straight—bend your knees more if necessary, especially if you have tight hamstrings.
• Relax your head and neck, looking between your feet.
• Spread your fingers and press down through the heel of your palm.
• Pedal your feet, pressing one heel towards the floor, then the other—this is known as walking your dog.
• Completely straighten your legs and let your heels sink towards the mat if you can.
• Take five slow breaths here.
• Bring your knees back down to the mat to come out of the pose.

If holding the static pose doesn’t feel good, keep the legs moving, or like Wood suggests, try putting your hands on blocks to improve your alignment.

Benefits of downward-facing dog

When done correctly down dog eases tension in the neck and back, and has a stress-relieving capacity.

Downward dog stretches the back of the legs including the hamstrings, calves and Achilles tendons, which can feel great. And because it’s a weight-bearing pose, it strengthens the upper body including the arms and shoulders. It also requires some activation of the core.

Being an inverted pose, in which your heart is above your head, downward dog stimulates blood flow. It can also improve your posture by opening up the chest and shoulders, and lengthening the spine.

If you’ve ever done endless crunches in search of stronger six-pack muscles, you may have been missing a trick: Pilates abs workouts. This low-impact, accessible exercise is ideal for beginners, but still challenges your core muscles. 

Grab a yoga mat (and a small Pilates ball if you have one) and do this five-move routine from Louise Buttler, the founder of online Pilates platform Live Brave.

“Pilates is centered around having a strong core,” says Buttler. “It’s a form of exercise that targets all the abs muscles—obliques, transversus abdominis and rectus abdominis—which improves posture, lower-back strength and helps reduce the risk of injury.”

Do the following routine two to three times, depending on your fitness level. 

How to do Louise Buttler’s Pilates abs workout

1. (Supported) Russian Twists

Reps: 10 on each side

• Sit on your mat with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, in line with your sit bones.
• Keep your spine straight and lean backward so your back forms a 45° angle with the floor. Buttler says you’ll know you’ve found the right position if you feel your abs “quiver”. If you have a small Pilates ball, you can place this between the base of your spine and the floor for added support.
• Reach your arms out in front of you. Inhale, lift your right foot off the floor and reach over to the right with your hands, almost touching the floor.
• Exhale, then inhale again and bring your arms back to the center, slowly lowering your right foot back to the floor. That’s one repetition.
• Repeat this movement on the left side of your body, then continue alternating between the two until you reach 10 repetitions on both sides.

2. Chest lift with rotation

Reps: 5 on each side

• Start by sitting on your mat with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, in line with your sit bones.
• Lie back on your mat then interlace your hands behind your head, with your thumbs running down your neck, and spread your elbows wide.
• Take a deep breath then, as you exhale, pull your belly button inwards and imagine knitting your ribcage together. Slowly lift your right foot off the floor and reach your left armpit towards the top of your right thigh.
• Inhale and return to your starting position, then exhale and repeat on the other side, allowing the front of your ribcage to drop down. Repeat this movement five times on each side. Again, you can place a small Pilates ball under your back to support this movement.

3. Oblique crunches

Reps: 10 on each side

• Lie on your side with your top leg straight and your lower leg bent (as pictured above). Use your lower arm to support your head, then place your other hand on the ground in front of you for balance. If you want to use a small Pilates ball for this, place it under your ribcage.
• Take a deep breath then, as you exhale, lift your ribcage up and away from the floor before controlling it back down to the starting position. Repeat 10 times on each side.

4. Lower abs with straight legs

Reps: 10

• Lie flat on your back with your legs together and fully extended. Inhale then, as you exhale, think about pulling your belly button in towards your spine and lift your legs until they are perpendicular with the floor.
• Control them back to the floor, and repeat this 10 times. If you’re using a Pilates ball, place this under the base of your spine. This will add an extra stabilizing challenge for your muscles.

5. Scissors for lower abs

Reps: 10 on each side

• Lie flat on your back with your arms at your sides and your palms face down.
• Keeping your legs straight, lift them a couple of inches off the floor. Take a big breath then, as you exhale, raise your right leg so it’s perpendicular with the floor while keeping your left leg parallel with the ground.
• Take another breath, and on the exhale move both legs at the same time to swap their positions, so the left leg ends up perpendicular to the floor and the right leg is parallel with the ground. That’s one repetition. Perform 10 in total. If you want to use a small Pilates ball for an extra stability challenge, you can place it under the base of your spine.

Pilates abs workout: top tips for beginners

• Get the right equipment: All you need for this routine is one of the best yoga mats for support. If you enjoy Pilates, it might be worth also picking up a set of the best resistance bands too.
• Pay attention to your breath: Adjusting the way you breathe can help relax tense muscles and relieve mental tension. Inhale to engage your tummy muscles and exhale during the ‘effort’ part of the movement.
• Focus on your form: Allow your spine to round by scooping in your abs. It strengthens your deep abdominals and stretches your back muscles.

Is Pilates good for you?

Pilates is a great way to boost your daily activity levels, build a stronger body and fend off injuries, but according to Buttler this list barely scratches the surface of the benefits. 

“Pilates helps create mobility and strength in the body to counteract everything that happens when we sleep, sit for long periods or exercise major muscle groups in other sports,” she says.

There are hundreds of muscles in the body, but most get overlooked as people focus on the major muscle groups in the chest, back, arms, shoulders and legs during other exercise styles like strength-training and HIIT workouts. Pilates focuses on the smaller stabilizing muscles that play a pivotal role in a fit and functional body. 

“It works all of the smaller intrinsic muscles that are often overlooked in a gym session," says Buttler. “It will help people avoid injury and it builds a strong body and mind for life. It’s also a low-impact workout that gets results, in terms of muscle tone, without the need for high-impact exercises.”

This puts less pressure on your joints, making it a top option for those recovering from injuries or looking to exercise without aggravating pain in areas like the knees and hips. 

If you enjoyed this session and want to try more similar practices, why not give our Pilates for beginners plan a go?

Tight hips are a problem many runners suffer from. Running involves the shortening of the hip flexor, the muscle at the front of your hip joint that pulls your leg up as you take a stride. If your hip flexors rarely get stretched out, this can lead to them becoming chronically shortened and uncomfortably tight. This can be exacerbated by long periods of sitting.

So it's great to have a go-to stretch that can release some of that tension and improve mobility. I've been running for 20-odd years and the pigeon stretch is my all-time favorite remedy for tight hips. I was introduced to it in yoga and Pilates classes, and found it helped with my perennially tight hips from running.

Master trainer at The Gym Group, Jenni Tardiff, also recommends this stretch and for runners in particular. "Stretching the hip flexors out can release any tension stored within the muscles and increase the range of movement within the hips," says Tardiff.

The pigeon stretch can also release tightness in the glutes, which can improve your running form too. "If the glutes are tight this will also reduce the range of movement within the hips," says Tardiff, "and you won't be able to drive those knees up while running."

Doing this stretch three or four times a week should make a noticeable difference.

How to do the pigeon stretch

Video credit: LPETTET / Getty Images

• Start on your hands and knees on a mat.
• Bring your right knee towards your right hand, placing it on the floor near your right wrist.
• Bring your right foot towards your left hand, so your shin crosses the mat on a diagonal underneath your torso.
• Extend your left leg behind you, keeping the knee and top of the foot on the floor.
• Lower your hips, keeping them level.
• Aim to hold the stretch for 10-30 seconds at a time on each side, and repeat it three to four times.

Keep your chest lifted to feel more of a stretch in your hip flexor. Alternatively, you can lower onto your forearms or stretch your arms out on the floor to feel it more in your glutes and to stretch out your lower back. You can put a block or a blanket under your right hip to offer some support and help keep your hips level.

When to do the pigeon stretch

Although the stretch will help your running, you shouldn't do it just before a run. "The pigeon stretch should be performed after your run, keeping dynamic stretches for pre-run drills," says Tardiff. "Stretches like this can also be performed on separate session days as part of your other training sessions or prehab work."

Alternatives to the pigeon stretch

The pigeon is not the easiest position to get into and while it's supposed to feel quite intense, it may not work for everybody. You do need a degree of flexibility in the hips and glutes to perform this stretch, and you certainly shouldn't feel pain in your front knee.

"If the pigeon stretch hurts your knee, it could mean that the hips are too tight to allow the legs to move into the correct position," says Tardiff. "As an alternative, to open up your hips you can perform a figure four stretch either seated or lying down. Another option would be to perform a butterfly stretch or 90/90."

If you want to fight tight hips, a top sports therapist says hip-strengthening exercises should be your first port of call. 

"Stretching helps you feel good for a bit, but that feeling maxes out at about seven minutes," says Lincs Injury Clinic founder Emma Burgon-Kisby. "Working on your hip strength is the way forward if you're looking to sort out tight hips for good."

Below she shares four of her favorite hip-strengthening exercises for targeting the hip flexors—a collection of muscles on the front of the pelvis responsible for bringing the knees towards the chest—as well as supporting muscles in the core 

All you need is a short looped resistance band or kettlebell and a towel to give the moves a go.  

Hip-strengthening exercises

1. Deadbug

How to do it

• Lie on your back, making sure you can feel your lower back on the ground. Tuck your tailbone up towards the ceiling and clench your glutes (butt muscles). Lift your legs so your knees are above your hips and your knees are at roughly 90°. Extend your arms towards the ceiling. 
• Tense your abs and, as you breathe out, extend your right leg so it’s just above, but not resting on, the floor. At the same time, lower your left arm so it is also just above the floor above your head. 
• Bring both limbs back to the starting position, then repeat the movement using the opposite limbs. 

Benefits of deadbugs

Burgon-Kisby says this move is excellent for strengthening and lengthening the hip flexors, as well as the muscles in your deep core which play a major role in stabilizing the hips and lower back. 

2. Towel slides

• Lie on your back on a smooth floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Point your toes towards the ceiling and place a towel underneath your heels.
• Press your heels into the ground to raise your glutes off the floor, then use your feet to slide the towel towards you. 
• Push the towel back to the starting position with your feet, then repeat. 

Benefits of towel slides

Towel slides are a brilliant way to target the muscles responsible for straightening your leg at the knee and moving your leg behind you. This exercise will work these muscles through their full range of motion, helping you develop stability and control in these areas. 

"Towel slides can also have many progressions and regressions, making it a great exercise for everyone's ability—I even use it with the paralympic athlete I work with," adds Burgon-Kisby.

3. Knee tucks

• Sit on the edge of a bench or sturdy surface that’s roughly knee height with your legs straight and your heels resting on the ground (as in the second exercise demonstrated in the video above). Place a short looped resistance band around the middle of your feet.
• Place both hands over the edge of the surface, facing forwards, so they’re about shoulder-width apart, then straighten your arms so you’re supporting your weight between your hands and your heels. 
• Draw your right knee towards your chest until your thigh is perpendicular with your torso, pause for a second, then lower it back to the starting position. Alternate the knee you raise with each repetition.

Benefits of knee tucks 

Knee tucks allow us to work the hip joint and surrounding muscles through a large range of motion. Adding the resistance band will increase the load your muscles have to work against, making them stronger and priming them for functional daily movements.

"It’s also a movement that can improve posture and the walking gait [the pattern of how you walk]," says Burgon-Kisby. 

4. Knee lifts

• Stand on a box, step, or bench with your left foot along the right side and your right foot hovering over the edge. Hook the end of your right shoe through the handle of a light kettlebell. 
• Engage your core then, keeping your body straight and facing forward, raise your right knee as high as you can, then slowly lower it back to the starting position. Repeat for the prescribed repetitions, then do the same on your left leg. 

Benefits of knee lifts

This movement pattern may feel familiar—you lift your knee like this when running or climbing stairs. Adding resistance with a kettlebell (or a short resistance band looped around the middle of both feet) places more demand on your hip flexor muscles to strengthen them. And that’s not all. 

"Knee lifts are another one that can improve posture and the walking gait," Burgon-Kisby says. "This variation not only strengthens the muscles being used but also improves their endurance and resilience under load."

So, whether you’re exercising, playing sports, or simply going about your daily routine, the muscles will perform better and have a reduced risk of injury. 

Hip strength exercises vs. hip stretches

The muscles surrounding our hips can weaken if we don't use them enough, which happens if we spend most of our time sitting down. So Burgon-Kisby's suggestion to focus on strengthening, rather than stretching them, makes sense if you're trying to undo this damage and rebuild these muscles.

"Making sure you're moving your hip flexors through their full range is key to mobility for the long haul, and it can even help ease off back pain, hip pain, and knee pain and keep you steady during squats and lunges," she adds. 

Strengthening other areas of your lower body can also help fight the effects of sitting down all day. If that's your aim, have a look through our list of the best glute exercises, or try doing this squat workout.

I’m someone who feels constantly busy, with a whirring mind that’s exhausted at the end of the day. But I have to admit that most of my mental lifting is done from the comfort of sitting down. 

This is bad news for my health, as extended periods of sitting can slow the metabolism and weaken the lower-body muscles, like the hip flexors and glutes. 

A recent study published in the European Heart Journal found that any activity is actually better for your health than sitting—even taking a nap! With this in mind, I embarked on a seven-day challenge to increase my daily movement to see what benefits it would bring.  

The plan

I decided that during this challenge, increasing my daily movement didn't mean I wasn't allowed to sit. It simply meant getting creative with the tasks I’d usually spend sitting down and incorporating more activity into my day. 

One approach I decided to adopt was activity snacking with gentle, everyday movements.

"Taking the stairs is a simple yet effective way to incorporate more physical activity into your daily routine," says Reiss Mogilner, a NASM-qualified personal trainer and owner of F45 Mill Hill. "If your office has a lift, opting for the stairs as much as possible is a great way to get movement in without you even realizing."

What about at home? "Standing desks are a great way to add some movement," says Molinger. "You could try alternating between sitting and standing throughout the day, with the goal of  standing for half of your workday." 

He also suggested walking while conducting video meetings and phone conversations. Another simple yet effective idea. 

I decided to adopt these tips and see how it affected my mood, energy levels and output for the week. Here's what happened.

1. I had more energy

I thought that increasing my daily movement would make me feel more tired at the end of the day, but surprisingly, I found the opposite to be true. I spent the week alternating between my make-shift stand-up desk and sitting, and I found I was more productive and mentally energized. 

It also had a positive knock-on effect on my motivation to move. Often  if I’ve spent the morning sitting at my desk, I might feel too lethargic to move at lunchtime and opt for a sitting break. I soon discovered the more standing I did, the more likely I was to head out on an afternoon walk.

2. I was more creative

I’m sure I’m not alone in occasionally suffering from a 'creative block'. Some days the ideas simply don’t flow. However, I found that increasing my movement helped my creativity. When I took my meetings standing up, I felt more confident and engaged in the conversations, and was able to contribute more ideas.

3. It inspired healthier habits

As much as I’d love a magic health pill to transform my wellbeing, it’s usually these small, sustainable steps that make the biggest difference. Adding movement to my day seemed to positively influence other healthier habits; I opted for herbal teas over caffeine as I wasn’t feeling as tired and I did evening yoga instead of watching TV. 

Will I continue with the experiment?

I spend Fridays with my toddler, and I’m usually desperate to sit down by the end of the day. However, this week, after a day filled with swimming lessons and walking around a farm, I still had more left in the tank. So I met a friend that evening for an overdue catch-up, instead of crashing out in front of the latest Netflix drama. 

What this experiment has proved is that including activity snacks into my day, such as regular standing and walking, can benefit me beyond just for physical movement — it can even make room for healthier habits holistically, too.  

For more tips on how to increase your daily movement, have a look through these exercise snacking workouts, or try doing a five-minute yoga routine.

Need some footwear to support your new exercise regime? Have a look through our guide to the best shoes for walking and being on your feet all day.

A strong core is the foundation of a healthy body because it plays an important role in supporting the spine and enabling pain-free movement. 

Gianna Webbe, a gymnast and strength coach at The Project PT, says: "A strong core can better transfer forces to the lower limbs, which can enhance movement, strength and speed. By contrast, a weak core can be a contributor to back pain."

Sit-ups may be the exercise people think of when it comes to the core, but isometric training (which means a static hold, such as a plank) can actually be more effective, according to Webbe.

"Isometric training can minimize spinal load—which happens during dynamic core movements like sit ups—while still providing moderate levels of core activity. You can easily progress and regress this type of exercise, you don’t need equipment, and it’s easier to keep good form," says Webbe.

If you're only going to do one core-training move in your exercise session, Webbe says it should be the hollow hold. The force required to press the lower back into the mat means this exercise maximizes tension through a wide range of core muscles, making it very effective. Here's how to do it properly, according to the strength coach.

How to do the move

1. Start by lying on the floor, legs extended, arms by your sides. Engage your abdominal muscles by pulling your ribs down towards your hips, which will flatten your back lower into the ground. 
2. Keep your abs contracted as you raise your legs two to three inches above the floor.
3. If you are able to, raise your head and shoulders slightly off the floor (one to two inches) and extend your arms overhead and behind you. Focus on continuing to pull the ribcage down and the lower back into the floor. Ideally, complete three sets of 20 seconds.

Technique tips

If you’re a beginner and struggle to raise your legs, you can modify this move by keeping knees bent and raising the feet slightly off the floor. There should be no room between the lower back and the floor throughout this exercise.

It’s no surprise that the Russian twist continues to be a popular exercise. It can strengthen the core, obliques and back, as well as enhancing your balance and stability. 

To do it, you simply lift your feet off the floor and twist from side to side. Sounds simple, but it’s worth checking your technique if you want to get the best results. There are some common errors that can reduce the effectiveness of the move if you’re not careful. 

Take on board the tips below from certified personal trainer Chris Pruitt to help you activate the right muscles and protect you against injury. 

Five mistakes you might be making with your Russian twists

Speed over form: "Many believe faster twists yield better results," says Priutt. "However, focusing on speed can compromise form, leading to less core engagement. To correct this focus on slow, controlled movements for maximum muscle engagement."

Over-rotating: "Excessive rotation can strain the lower back," explains the trainer. "Rotating your torso just enough to feel your obliques engage without discomfort is best."

Improper breathing: "Holding your breath or irregular breathing patterns can decrease stability," says Pruitt. "I recommend you breathe out on twists and in when returning to the center, maintaining a steady rhythm."

Using only arms: Here’s one that can occur later in your reps as you tire. "Relying on arm movement rather than torso rotation reduces effectiveness," he says. "To correct this, initiate the twist from the torso, keeping arm movements minimal."

Hunching back: "This frequent error reduces core activation and strains the back. Keep your spine straight and chest up to engage the core correctly," says Pruitt.

How to do a Russian twist properly

Sit on the floor with your legs out straight in front of you. Lean back a little and raise your legs. If the move is too challenging like this then you can keep your heels in contact with the floor. Pruitt adds that you should "focus on a strong core engagement and maintain a straight back for effective and safe execution."

Actively focus on your balance, twist your torso and lightly touch the floor on either side of you whilst keeping your legs motionless. "Ensure controlled, smooth torso rotations and coordinate your breath with each twist for better stability," adds Pruitt. 

Once you’ve mastered this basic technique, you can add a weight into the move by holding a dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest, to increase the challenge.  

Ready to add some more weight to your exercise? Read through our guide to the best adjustable dumbbells and best kettlebells to find something that fits your workout

The dumbbell hip thrust is an excellent exercise for strengthening your glutes, which are the large muscles found in your backside. These muscles support your spine and stabilize your pelvis, so it's well worth giving them some attention. 

To do a hip thrust, you lean your shoulder blades against a chair, plant your feet on the ground, place a dumbbell across your pelvis then drive your hips to the sky. 

It’s easy to do it wrong, but luckily expert Sweat App trainer Britany Williams has shared her four top tips for nailing your technique. 

How to do a hip thrust properly

1. Ankles under knees

At the top of the movement, your ankles and feet should be directly under your knees. If your feet are too far forward, then you'll engage your hamstrings at the back of the thighs. If they're too far back, you'll target your front-thigh quads. Get your feet in the perfect position and you'll hit those gluteal muscles. 

2. Shoulder blades across a raised surface

When you place your back against the raised platform, Williams says your shoulder blades should rest across its edge. This ensures that you can hinge correctly. Using a platform that's too high or low could also place unnecessary strain on your back.

3. Head looking forwards

It’s tempting to look to the sky during hip thrusts, particularly when your glutes start to burn. But Williams says you should lift your head and tuck your chin to look forwards throughout, to avoid straining your neck.

4. Drive with the hips

When you’re performing this exercise, think about driving your hips to the ceiling. This will make sure you're hinging correctly and recruiting the glute muscles to drive the movement. 

Need some new weights? Take a look at our guide to the best adjustable dumbbells.

Made a new year's resolution to lose weight? You might be tempted to jump into a punishing exercise regime and super low-calorie diet, but this approach is unlikely to be sustainable. Instead, it's better to focus on building healthy eating habits and finding ways to increase your daily energy expenditure.

Dietitians and trainers often recommend walking as a weight loss tool. It's an accessible, low-impact exercise that can help you increase your calorie burn. If you're new to exercise, it will also boost your cardio fitness, so that your body is better prepared for faster-paced exercise. 

To help you get started, sports scientist and founder of popular walking app WalkActive Joanna Hall has created this four-week plan. It has different recommendations for beginners and advanced walkers, so you can tailor it to your current fitness levels. 

Beginner

There's a lot of debate on how long you should be walking every day, but a 2016 study in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health suggested that adults who take 7,500 daily steps have a lower chance of being obese. Hall says this is a good number to start with.

“A typical week might include a daily step count of 7500 with four fast-paced walking sessions on top. These session can start at 10 minutes—the key is consistency and gradually increasing intensity.”

She suggests that beginners try the following regime:

Week 1: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 10 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Week 2: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 12 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Week 3: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 15 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Week 4: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 18 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Advanced

If you are a regular walker, you can still use walking to lose weight. Hall suggests focusing on your technique and increasing the amount of fast-paced sessions you do. 

Here's her advanced routine: 

Week 1: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 20 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Week 2: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 25 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Week 3: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 30 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Week 4: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 40 minutes walks at a brisk pace

Can you really lose weight by walking?

Weight loss comes down to maintaining a calorie deficit. Consume fewer calories than you burn throughout the day and the number on your scales will start to go down. 

Walking burns calories, so will help with overall weight loss. You'll need to team it with a good diet if you want to lose weight, according to Hall, but it can definitely play a part in a weight loss program.

You're more likely to stick with a new exercise regime if it feels easy and sustainable, which is why upping your daily step count might be better for some people than trying to do regular HIIT workouts for fat loss. 

A 2017 review in the journal Gastroenterology also suggested that weight loss is better maintained through behavioural change, so following a plan that encourages regular walking might help you stay at a healthy weight.

Need some new sneakers for your daily strolls? Have a look through our guide to the best walking shoes

Abs workouts don’t factor into my routine. The idea of finishing a set of dedicated core strengthening exercises, then having to go and do my real workout is a mental hurdle I can’t jump. 

Sometimes the workout I’m doing—such as a HIIT session or full-body dumbbell workout—incorporates core moves, but I rarely dedicate an entire strength training session to the area. 

That said, I would like to see more definition in my abs. I know that a good diet, along with regular exercise, plays a big part in achieving that definition—and finding an abs routine I can stick to could help me get there faster. 

Luckily, I didn’t have to look far to find a good option. The fitness influencer Zanna van Dijk created the below 15-minute dumbbell core workout to do as a standalone routine or post-workout finisher. 

Rather than challenging you to crank out as many sit-ups as possible, van Dijk encourages you to move slowly, with a focus on good form. 

How to

The exercises are weighted single-leg knee tucks, pulsing Russian twists, weighted straight-leg sit-ups, pulsing alternating leg drops and plank drags. I set a timer for 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest and repeated the workout for three rounds, as advised.

Van Dijk gives pointers throughout, such as lowering down as slowly as you can on the weighted straight-leg sit-ups and keeping your hips and core stable while doing the plank drags.

What I found

I usually get bored during an abs workout, but this session was different. 

The variation kept things interesting and the work periods seemed to go pretty quickly. You’re not exhausting yourself by becoming a sit-ups machine, but challenging yourself with slow-paced movements. 

Some of the exercises were a little complex and took me a few rounds to get to grips with, but by the third day I knew them by heart. The duration was just the right amount of time for me—and because the exercises targeted different parts of my core, I worked a variety of muscles alongside my abs. 

Need a new mat to support your abs routine? Have a look at our round-up of the best yoga mats

If you want to build core strength, you don’t need to spend hours doing sit-ups. You can strengthen your core in less than 20 minutes with just five moves and a dumbbell.

I'm a personal trainer but—like most people—I don't enjoy pumping out endless sit-ups. So I pulled together this quick list of alternative moves that you can do.

They are all compound exercises, which means you'll work multiple muscle groups and joints at the same time as strengthening your core. 

Watch Maddy Biddulph’s core strength workout

How to do the workout

• Slow mountain climbers - 3x40 seconds
• Z-shape front raise - 3x40 seconds
• Overhead twist - 3x40 seconds
• Weighted bicycle crunch - 3x40 seconds
• Round the world - 3x40 seconds

All you need for this workout is a mat, a single dumbbell—make sure it’s a challenging weight for you—and some water. Don’t forget to spend five minutes warming up and the same amount of time cooling down after the main workout.

Do each exercise for 40 seconds, with 20 seconds rest in between. Repeat three times for a full circuit that takes just over 19 minutes (not including a warm up or cool down). 

If you’re new to exercise you can reduce the exercise time to 30 seconds, and increase the rest time to 30 seconds, too. As you get stronger move to 40/20s rounds.

The exercises

1. Slow mountain climbers

• Start in a plank position. Your shoulders, hips and legs should all be in a straight line.
• Slowly, with control, bring one knee in towards your upper body, then return it to its original position. Repeat on the opposite leg.

Form tip: Stack your shoulders over wrists so that you’re not putting unnecessary strain on the wrists by having them too far forward or back.

2. Z-shape front raise

• Grab a dumbbell with both hands and assume a kneeling position. Lean back slightly, so that your body is at roughly a 45-degree angle from the floor.
• With straight arms, bring the dumbbell up and overhead, then bring it all the way down so it touches your legs. 

Form tip: Lean back only as far as feels comfortable and tuck your toes under your feet to avoid getting cramp. 

3. Overhead twists

• Grab your dumbbell and sit on the floor, with your legs out in front of you. Bend your knees and hover your feet off the floor so that you're balancing on your bum.
• Holding the the dumbbell close to your stomach, twist to the side and let the weight dip towards the floor.
• Return to the central position. Push the dumbbell up and overhead, then bring it back down to your stomach again. 
• Twist the dumbbell to the other side, then return to the central position and bring the weight up overhead again. 

Form tip: Brace the core and allow your gaze to follow the direction of the weight. If it gets too much for your core with your feet off the floor, put them down.

4. Weighted bicycle crunch

• Grab your dumbbell and lie on your back. Bring the dumbbell up towards the ceiling, lift your head slightly and hover your legs off the floor.
• Bring one leg in towards your chest, then return it to the original position and bring the other leg in towards your chest. Continue repeating this movement and holding the dumbbell steady.

Form tip: Having your head and shoulders off the floor can put a strain on your neck, so if it gets uncomfortable, or painful in any way, just drop your head down for a few seconds to reset. Then, bring it back up again. Imagine you have a tennis ball between your chest and chin so that you don’t strain your neck by looking towards your toes. Instead look up at the ceiling, and keep breathing.

5. Round the world

• Start in a kneeling position, with your dumbbell clasped in front of you. 
• Without allowing your torso to move, move the dumbbell around your mid-section; bring it behind you with one hand, pass it to the other, then briefly hold it in front of you again before reversing the movement. 

Form tip: Don’t hold your breath—and take your time doing the exercises with control and good form.

Why is core strength important?

This kind of workout is excellent because it works all of the core muscles, which are vital for postural control and stability. Whenever we do anything physical, the core muscles get fired up, bracing for support while telling the brain something is about to happen. A weak core means that other muscles take the strain of the movement or exercise, potentially causing lower-back pain or injury.

When you train the core, your lower body will get stronger, too. As well as toning the tummy area, it can help us do basic tasks like carrying groceries or walking up the stairs.

An upper body workout doesn’t have to use gym machines or heavy barbells to be effective. All you need is dumbbells and some tried-and-true exercises to hit all the muscle groups in your arms, chest and back. 

This straightforward, five-move upper body workout was designed by personal trainer Rebecca Stewart for Fit&Well. If you’re short on time, or new to strength-training, it's an ideal choice. Simply perform each movement for the suggested number of repetitions below, then repeat the whole routine once or twice more, depending on your fitness levels.

The workout

• Dumbbell dual row: 2-3 sets x 8-12 repetitions
• Dumbbell chest press: 2-3 sets x 8-12 repetitions
• Standing dumbbell shoulder press: 2-3 sets x 8-12 repetitions
• Hammer curl: 2-3 sets x 8-12 repetitions
• Standing dumbbell tricep extension: 2-3 sets x 8-12 repetitions

The exercises

1. Dumbbell dual row

Sets: 2-3 Reps: 8-12

• Hold one dumbbell in each hand in a neutral grip and start with feet hip width apart. Bend your upper body so that it's horizontal, maintaining a neutral spine.
• Pull your elbows back and exhale, bringing the dumbbells in towards the body. Engage your back muscles as you do this and pause at the top of the movement.
• Lower the dumbbells towards the floor and inhale.

What muscles are worked by a dumbbell row?

Dumbbell rows target your back muscles, especially the latissimus dorsi, which are large muscles on the sides of your back that help you perform upper-body movements, such as reaching, and they even support healthy breathing, too. The smaller upper-back muscles and backs of your shoulders (rear delts) are also targeted this way.

Form tips

"Keep your elbows close to your body like you’re trying to glide them alongside your ribcage and keep your neck in line with your back to maintain proper form," says Stewart.

Dumbbell chest press

Sets: 2-3 Reps: 8-12

• Sitting on the edge of a bench with dumbbells in a neutral grip, use your knees to lift the weights close to your chest and roll back to lie down. 
• Exhale and press the dumbbells upwards until you lock out your elbows. 
• Inhale and lower the dumbbells slowly and with control at a 45-degree angle until they’re just above your chest. That's one repetition.

What muscles are worked by a dumbbell chest press?

The dumbbell chest press is a compound exercise that helps build the chest muscles, arm muscles (primarily the biceps and triceps) and the front shoulder muscles, too. It also activates the serratus anterior, which is a muscle located in your ribcage. 

Form tips

Stewart says it’s essential to keep your feet flat on the floor and drive your legs into the ground to maintain tension in your body. "If the bench is too tall, you can put plates underneath your feet," she says. Engage the chest by squeezing the dumbbells with your hands.

You can also do this move on the floor, if you don't have access to a bench, but you won't get the same range of motion.

Standing dumbbell shoulder press

Sets: 2-3 Reps: 8-12

• Stand upright with your head in a neutral position, facing forward, and feet about hip width apart. Bring the dumbbells to shoulder height and hold at a 45-degree angle, palms facing forward.
• Press the dumbbells overhead until your elbows fully extend. 
• Slowly, and with control, lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

What muscles are worked by a dumbbell shoulder press?

The dumbbell shoulder press works the front and sides of your shoulders and activates your triceps on the way down. You can stand during this movement, which will build core stability as well, but you can also perform the movement seated. 

Form tips

"If you have existing lower-back concerns, do this exercise seated with your back against an upright flat bench," says Stewart. 

Stewart stresses it’s important to focus on perfecting the form for this exercise before adding extra weight to ensure that your shoulders get the most out of your efforts. Don’t forget to engage your core to ensure your back doesn’t sway when pressing overhead.

Hammer curl

Sets: 2-3 Reps: 8-12

• Stand upright with feet shoulder width apart and hold the dumbbells in a neutral grip at your sides. Create tension in the biceps by squeezing your elbows into your sides and bending the elbow slightly.
• Maintaining a neutral grip, curl the dumbbells upward towards your shoulders.
• Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to your sides. 

What muscles are worked by a hammer curl?

Hammer curls work your biceps, but they're a lot easier on the wrists than the classic bicep curl. Stewart says it’s crucial to maintain tension in the biceps through the entire motion. "Many people perform biceps exercises without proper muscle tension and miss out on potential strength and size gains," she says.

Form tips

"Don’t use momentum or rock your body backward to lift the dumbbell, and keep your elbows glued to your sides during the whole rep—don’t let them shift forward while you lift the weight."

Standing dumbbell tricep extension

Sets: 2-3 Reps: 8-12

• Standing upright with feet shoulder width apart, grab the dumbbell at the top and set it up on one shoulder, then interlock your hands around the weight and press it overhead. 
• Controlling the dumbbell, lower slowly behind your head until your forearms reach a 90-degree angle. Keep your head in a neutral position while lowering the weight. 
• Return the dumbbell overhead by pressing through your triceps. 

What muscles are worked by an overhead tricep extensions?

Overhead dumbbell triceps extensions are one of the most effective exercises for your triceps. 

Form tips

To perform the move correctly, Stewart advises keeping your elbows stacked over your shoulders and pointed towards the ceiling while lowering the dumbbell. 

"Make sure your head doesn’t round forward while you lower the weight, and engage your core and glutes to reduce rib flare and lumbar flexion," she says. 

If you have existing lower-back issues, Stewart recommends performing this exercise seated with your back against an upright bench.

Want more exercise guides and workout ideas? Have a look at our favorite full-body dumbbell workout or try this six-move beginners bodyweight workout, which doesn't require any equipment.

Need help choosing your weights? Our guide to the best adjustable dumbbells can help

The dead bug is an excellent exercise for improving your core stability and protecting you from back pain. But there's a chance you've been doing it wrong. 

People attempting the dead bug are often told to pull their belly button in and flatten their lower back against the ground during the movement, but physical therapist Aaron Horschig (of Squat University fame) says this advice doesn't apply to the vast majority of exercisers. 

Rather than following these form cues, he suggests you concentrate on maintaining a truly neutral spine with a "slight curvature in the lower back". This position allows you to properly brace your core. 

In his video below, he suggests some clever methods to help you achieve perfect form. I followed his advice to see if it would help me get a better core workout.

Squat University's dead bug tips

Horschig suggests you do two things to check your dead bug form. Firstly, put a hand underneath your lower back, to help you maintain a truly neutral spine. Secondly, do some diaphragmatic breathing (a type of deep breathing into the stomach) to make sure your muscles are properly braced. 

I tried doing a set of standard 10 dead bugs on each leg, then I implemented Horschig's technique tips to see if they made any difference. 

I slipped my left hand underneath my lower back, to check I was maintaining a very slight arch. And I pushed the fingers of my right hand into the side of my six-pack muscles (or rectus abdominis) to check that my "lateral" diaphragmatic breath was present.

These checks helped me correct my form slightly, adjusting my spine so that it was truly neutral and making sure all of my core muscles were properly engaged. I was then able to get a more comprehensive workout.

My rectus abdominis stirred into action after just a couple of repetitions, but they were quickly joined by lesser-known core muscles like the spine-supporting transverse abdominis, which wrap around your abdomen, and the obliques, which are found along the side of your stomach. 

Once you've mastered Horschig's technique and made sure your spine is neutral and your muscles switched on, you can try going back to standard dead bugs or have a go at some of the variations below.

Other dead bug variations to try

Standard dead bug

Lie on your back with your arms and knees pointing towards the sky, and your lower legs parallel with the ground. Extend one of your legs in front of you, and at the same time extend your opposite arm behind you so both limbs end up parallel to the ground. Return to the start position then repeat using the opposite limbs. 

Try three sets of 10 repetitions on each side.

Weighted dead bug 

To do this variation, extend your arms upwards and hold a kettlebell (or another weight) still while extending your right and left leg in turn. 

"Adding extra load makes it a little bit harder on the body to maintain the positioning," says Horschig.

Try three sets of 10 repetitions on each side.

Banded dead bug

You can also add a small looped resistance band around your feet while performing the dead bug.

"This way we're adding a little bit of resistance to the lower body, again enhancing the difficulty of the movement as a whole," says Horschig. 

Try three sets of 10 repetitions on each side.

If you want to make the dead bug more challenging, you can extend your arms towards the sky and hold a kettlebell in one or both of your hands. 

And if you don't have any weights at home, take a look at our roundup of the best kettlebells to find one that works for you. 

Doing 40 weighted goblet squats every day, for six months, is a grueling task. But having stuck with the program for half a year, I can confidently say that it's worth it if you want to get stronger.

I took on this challenge because I wanted my strength workouts to be more efficient, using my whole body instead of targeting specific areas. I turned to some of my favorite online trainers, and colleagues, who gave me the lowdown on what I should be doing to get the most out of my gym sessions.

Their advice was to focus on compound exercises, which recruit a broad range of muscles across the body. Enter the humble goblet squat, which fires up your quads (front thigh muscles), glutes (butt muscles) and core (your mid-body area). Here's how I fared during the six months. 

The process and my results

I progressed through weights fairly quickly. I started out with a light 8kg (17.6lb) kettlebell, but after a month I switched this out for a 10kg (22lb) option. After a couple more months, when I felt that I'd perfected my form and was ready for a challenge, I took on a 16kg (35lb) weight. 

I have to admit, when I first tried the higher weight I really struggled. I could feel the burn in my core when I was down at the bottom of the squat and by the end of my first set of 20 reps, I was shaking. The delayed-onset muscles soreness (DOMS) I felt in my butt, legs and lower belly was no joke, but I was still at it again the next day—two sets of 20 squats, sweat dripping down my face. 

Despite how challenging it felt to start with, the goblet squats got easier—much easier—very quickly. I started seeing more definition in my quads and obliques and I could feel that my glutes had grown stronger.

For fear of hitting a plateau, I started throwing in variations on a basic goblet squat, carrying out these exercises between my sets. The first variation was a goblet squat-press, which I did at 10kg (22lb) with two sets of 20 reps again. This involved bring the kettlebell up and over your head after the squat and I found that it strengthened my shoulders and arms. 

Encouraged by my results, I then started adding in a deep sumo squat to give my inner thighs a workout, too. 

How to do goblet squats

To make sure I maintained proper form, I spoke to Jodie McKnight, a personal trainer at F45 Mill Hill, and got her to take me through how to do a goblet squat. Here's her advice:

Start with your feet just wider than hip width apart, holding a kettlebell or dumbbell underneath your chin. Keep your elbows tucked in and your back and core engaged.

Next, bend your knees and sink your hips down towards the ground, bringing your thighs parallel to the floor. Keep your chest high, feel the weight of the move through your heels and make sure your knees are tracking over your toes. Return to standing by driving through your heels and ensure to squeeze your glutes at the top.

How to do goblet squat press

On top of my goblet squats, I also asked McKnight to explain how to do the press variation:

Start in the same starting position as before, holding on to the handle of the kettlebell, as shown in the image above. Squat down to the floor, then drive through the heels to standing. In one fluid movement, bring the kettlebell up and overhead while squeezing through the shoulders.

Make sure to keep the core engaged and don’t arch your back as you stand up. Return kettlebell to your chest at a slow tempo, and repeat

How to do sumo goblet squats

McKnight also offered some advice on how to do sumo goblet squats:

This uses exactly the same mechanics as a goblet squat, but you will have your feet wider apart and your toes pointing outward. Be careful that your knees remain tracking over your toes in this one, if in doubt take it at a slow speed on the way down.

What are the benefits of a goblet squat vs a regular squat?

Why did I choose the goblet squat over a regular barbell or back squat? The decision was made for me by my weak little wrists. 

As Eddie Baruta, the global head of gym floor execution at Ultimate Performance, says, “Performing a front squat with a barbell is a more difficult, challenging move to perfect and do right, and would be a significant progression from a goblet squat. This is because it requires the lifter to maintain a brace while elevating the shoulder girdle and elbows and bring back the hands to support the bar under the tips of the fingers. This requires significant amounts of motor control, skill and strength, meaning that it is only appropriate for either intermediate or advanced gym-goers who also have the shoulder and wrist mobility to perform the exercise safely. 

“While a goblet squat is still front-loaded, it requires holding the load with both hands at the chest. This gives the lifter more control and stability when performing the movement.  All forms of squat require good motor control, but the goblet squat is particularly suitable for most beginners, providing that the load and range of motion are appropriate—for example, maximizing the range of motion at the ankle, knee and hip, without lifting the heels or allowing the lower back to tuck under or flex.”

Yoga blocks, also known as yoga bricks or wedges, provide extra support during your practice and help you maintain proper alignment. They're useful if you don't have the flexibility to reach the ground during certain poses, as they can provide an elevated, stable platform that you can grip with your hands. 

“I love the fact that those who can’t get into correct alignment in certain yoga moves can use the blocks to understand the correct position and learn what they have to do to get into the pose and hold it correctly,” says Kristina Rihanoff, a professional dancer and founder of sooyoga.com. 

“They’re also great for those with injuries or issues, such as arthritis, and who can’t put so much pressure on their wrists. The blocks aid positions like downward-facing dog, among others, to release pressure on the wrists because they bring the floor that bit higher.”

With that in mind, here's an eight-move yoga block flow for you try. All you'll need to get started is a yoga mat (we've rounded up the best yoga mats here, if you're lacking this vital bit of kit) and a pair of blocks for balance.

1. Lotus pose

Time: Hold for six breaths 

Sit on the floor with your legs crossed and back up straight, and start by taking deep pranayama breaths by breathing in through the nostrils for six counts and then back out through the nostrils for six counts.

“The Lotus pose helps prepare your body and mind for your session,” says Rihanoff. “It also helps to warm up the body and lungs.” 

2. Thread the needle

Time: Hold for two to three breaths on each side

Start in a kneeling position, with yoga blocks in front of you, and elevate one of your arms on top of your block. Stretch the other arm to the side as you take a deep inhale and then on the exhale, twist the torso and thread the arm underneath the elevated side. Try to fully relax and breathe through the stretch.

“This move opens your shoulders, the front of the chest and neck area,” says Rihanoff. “The block will take pressure off the wrists and head to provide support until you develop the flexibility to lower your shoulder and head to the ground safely and comfortably.”

3. Puppy pose

Time: Hold for five breaths

From thread the needle progress into puppy pose by propping yourself up on the blocks on your elbows, one at a time. Bring your palms together in a prayer position and draw your palms behind your head, allowing them to rest toward the back of your neck. 

“This is an incredible pose to open your chest collarbones,” says Rihanoff. “The blocks also help deepen the stretch in your shoulders, biceps and triceps.” 

4. Assisted crescent lunge

Time: Hold for two to three breaths on each side

With a block placed on either side of your feet, step your left foot back so you are in a deep low lunge with your back leg straight out behind you and your hands resting on your blocks. Breathe deeply as you feel the stretch in your hip flexors. To deepen the stretch further, press firmly into your feet as you allow your hips to shift forward.

“This pose will help to open up your hip flexors and hamstrings. It is also helpful with glute and core strength,” says Rihanoff. “The block will help with your balance and flexibility until you are ready to progress and hold the move with your hands overhead.”

5. Plank

Time: Hold for three breaths

Move into a high plank position with both hands resting on a block positioned directly below your shoulders. Keep your body as still as possible as you maintain a straight line from the back of your head to the back of your heels. Hold still as you look ahead and keep your core tight.

“Performing a plank on your blocks is an amazing way to activate the muscles in your chest, core and glutes, as well as all the tiny stabilizing muscles in your wrists, shoulders and elbows. It also reduces load on your wrists, making it helpful for anyone with wrist sensitivity,” says Rihanoff.

6. Twisted dragon variation

Time: Hold for three to five breaths on each side

Relax down from the plank hold and move into tabletop position, on all fours. Step your right foot up between your hands and position your left leg behind you, so you're in a lunge position. Move your block to the outside of your right foot, place your hand on it for support and lift your torso up. Gently press your front foot into the floor as you twist your torso and place your left arm behind your back. Look over the left shoulder and hold. 

“This is great for stretching out the hip flexors while helping to release tension in the lower back,” says Rihanoff. “Use the block to help ease the stretch until you become more flexible in your lower body.” When you feel more flexible, you can bring that back knee down to the floor. 

7. Boat pose

Time: Hold for five to seven breaths

Sit with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Place your hands behind your knees, lift your chest and engage the back muscles as you inhale. Place your yoga block between your inner thighs then tip back on the back of your sit bones and lift your feet to knee height, bring your arms up so they are parallel to the floor and squeeze your block as hard as you can.

“The boat pose is all about working deep into the core muscles and spine,” says Rihanoff. “By squeezing your block you’ll engage even more muscles in your inner thighs and abs.” 

8. Reclining butterfly

Time: Hold for four to six breaths

Begin sitting on the floor, legs extended. Bring the soles of the feet together with the knees out to the side, making a diamond shape with the legs. Place one block between your shoulder blades and one block under your hips then slowly lie back so the blocks are supporting your body weight. Take a deep breath in as you place your hands on your belly or out to the sides.

"This restorative pose will help open up your shoulders, hips and chest," says Rihanoff. “The block behind your hips also helps deepen the stretch in your hips and groin.”

Sitting down too much, not stretching, and having muscle injuries elsewhere are common contributors to hip and lower back problems. However, you can help prevent these mobility difficulties with a short yoga for hips and lower back routine.

While some strength workouts require lots of equipment or a gym to get results, you only need one of the best yoga mats for some underfoot grip and a more comfortable experience during floor-based poses. 

Even if you don't have trouble with your mid-body, the hips and back are the foundation of a functional body that moves well, says expert yoga teacher, Jodie Roberts. 

“Sitting down a lot means we overuse some muscles and underuse others in our hips and low backs. This can lead to poor hip mobility, poor movement patterns, poor posture, inhibited muscles and injuries and pain, but yoga can be a great tool to help,” she says.

This is why we asked Roberts to design a short, 10-pose yoga for hips and lower back routine you can do at home or the gym, and when you're short on time, to stretch out the muscles and undo the effects of prolonged sitting. 

10-move yoga for hips and lower back routine

Like the top yoga stretches for beginners, the poses in Roberts' routine are accessible to all experience levels and suitable for at-home practice. It's designed as a complete flow session, although you can always do your favorite poses outside of your dedicated practice. 

1. Wide-legged child’s pose

Child’s pose is a great way to ease into yoga. It is physiologically soothing and offers a passive release for the back, decompression of the spine, and stretch for the hips, while gently compressing the hip flexors.

• Kneel on your mat with toes touching and knees apart. Lean your head forward towards the floor near your knees.
• You can put your head on cushions or place your hands under your forehead, and stay for a few breaths, allowing your hips to descend towards your feet.

2. Cat-cow and circles

The combination of cat and cow pose is a classic in yoga and for good reason: it’s a great way to mobilize the spine, plus it feels good. Add in hip circles to mobilize the hips, too.

• Come up to all fours, with wrists under shoulders and feet under knees. Inhale, tilt your hips and tailbone up as you look forward for cow pose.
• Exhale as you round the spine and push the floor away, looking down for cat pose. Do both poses a couple of times.
• Next, lean back as if you are entering child’s pose and circle your hips to the right side, then forward towards your right wrist, and circle back to the left. Repeat a couple of times in each direction.

3. Downward dog with wiggles

This active super-stretch decompresses the lower spine and releases your back body, including calves, hamstrings, glutes, and shoulders. It promotes good posture, stability, and balance.

• From all fours, tuck your toes and bring your bottom up towards the ceiling. Stretch your legs up and back, keeping a straight back and bend your knees if needed.
• Peddle your legs one at a time and turn your head from side to side. You can drop one knee at a time down to the floor, looking towards it for a gentle twist.
• Move intuitively and find any stretches or wiggles that work for you. When you are ready come to stillness for a few breaths.

4. Twisted lunge

A power pose for working your lower back and hips, this twisted lunge helps improve balance and stability, strengthens your legs, glutes, and core, and stretches the hip flexors and lumbar spine.

• Step your right foot forwards by your hands and straighten up to high lunge. Bend the back knee slightly to help stabilize the pelvis. If you prefer, keep your back knee on the ground for stability.
• Lift your arms overhead and then twist towards your bent knee bringing your left arm forwards and right arm backwards.
• Hold here for a few breaths, switch sides, and repeat.

5. Malasana

Squats are beneficial for the hips and lower back as they offer a chance to deeply decompress the spine and adductors. The inner hip flexors are compressed while the outer hips and groin muscles are stretched.

• Bring your feet mat wide, with toes at 45 degrees. Squat down with your elbows inside your knees. If the heels are off the floor place cushions or yoga blocks under them to find stability.
• Your hands can either rest on the floor for balance, or try bringing them to a prayer position in front of your chest with your elbows pushing into knees and knees pushing into the elbow. Try pushing your big toes into the floor to activate glutes.

6. Lizard

The lizard pose is a deep hip stretch to help increase mobility and flexibility. It stretches your hip flexors and quads, so its the perfect antidote to lots of sitting, 

• Place your hands on the ground and step your left foot back, with your right foot on the outside of your right hand. You can choose whether you have the back knee off or on the floor in this pose.
• Rest your elbows on blocks or cushions. Breathe in with a sense of lifting your body, and breathe out as you allow the body to move closer to the ground. Stay for a few rounds of breath, swap over and repeat on the other side.

7. Sphinx

The ultimate back stretch, use sphinx pose to gently compress the low back and achieve spinal extension.

• Lie on your belly and prop yourself up on elbows. Check the elbows are under shoulders and hands are in line with elbows.
• Untuck your toes and look up. Feel like you are gently pulling your front hip bones in towards your navel to activate deep abdominal muscles and help release the low back.

8. Reclined pigeon

Reclined pigeon is an external hip opener that decompresses the lower spine and stretches outer hips, piriformis, and hamstring attachments, and is a great pose to counter a day of sitting. 

• Roll onto your back and bend your left knee with your foot on the floor. Place your right ankle on your left thigh.
• Thread your right hand between your legs and clasp your hands together behind your right hamstring or shin, bringing your legs towards your belly. Stay for a few breaths and swap sides.

9. Bridge

The Bridge pose is designed to strengthen your back muscles, including glutes and hamstrings, and another good posture to relieve the effects of sitting for too long.

• Plant both feet on the floor hip-distance apart wide. Place your arms beside your body and make sure you can touch your feet with your fingers.
• Lift your hips up to the ceiling and keep your thighs and ribs in a line. Interlace your fingers under your back and shuffle onto shoulder blades squeezing them together. Stay here for five breaths.

10. Reclined twist

Twists help neutralize and realign the spine and can be useful for back pain. This pose stretches the outer hips and glutes and massages the back of the hips.

• Lie on your back with your legs straight. Pull your right knee into your chest and then allow it to roll over your body to the left.
• Try and stack your hips vertically — you might need to shuffle slightly to the right to achieve this.
• Open your arms to a T-position and, if it feels comfortable, look towards your right hand. Stay for 10 breaths and repeat on the other side.

Finish your sequence with a few minutes lying on your back in Savasana. You can place a bolster or blanket under your knees to reduce any tension in your lower back.

Yoga for hips and lower back routines like this are ideal for boosting your flexibility and increasing your mobility, which are both crucial for helping you stay active throughout your life. 

If you want to focus on your mobility a bit more, then it's worth taking on a dedicated hip mobility yoga flow routine. Fortunately, you only need a yoga mat for that routine too, so you can practice both sessions at home. 

These are both good options for targeting specific areas of your body. However, if you're looking more generally to get the benefits of yoga, then a short morning yoga routine is a great way to start your day off right. 

When you're in downward dog with your face near the ground, you realize how important it is to learn how to clean a yoga mat. Aside from the griminess, a clean mat also offers more grip and support, so it can affect your practice too. 

Keeping your best yoga mat clean may seem like an epic task when you find yourself sweating on it most days. You may feel like the only way to keep it as pristine as possible is to use harsh chemicals, but is this the right approach? 

To help you find the best way to take care of your mat and keep it in good shape for years to come, we spoke to several yoga teachers and the founder of a yoga mat company to explore how to clean a yoga mat properly. 

We've also looked at whether you should throw your mat in a washing machine, the top natural disinfectants to get rid of bacteria, and what to do with your yoga mat once it has reached its final days.

How to clean a yoga mat

"Yoga mats carry dirt and bacteria, however there are many natural ingredients you can use to clean them," says Holly O’Rourke, a qualified yoga teacher in Manchester, UK. 

“Lemons are a great natural antibacterial ingredient to try: dilute lemon juice in water, pop in a spray bottle, and wipe the surface with a microfiber cloth. Tea tree oil is another great option, which smells wonderful, too.

"Many people use vinegar; however, while this is just as effective, it doesn't smell too great. Instead consider using baking soda, another natural disinfectant that will remove bacteria from your yoga mat without an overpowering smell.

"Add one teaspoon of baking soda to one cup of water and stir thoroughly. Spray the mixture evenly across the mat and let it soak for five minutes. Wipe the baking soda solution off the mat with a wet towel and let the mat dry naturally," says O’Rourke.

This is an extremely cost-effective way to protect your yoga mat, as you can pick up 16oz of Great Value Baking Soda for under $1 at Walmart and a pack of two washable microfiber cloths for $1.30 at Walmart too. 

“I would always patch test your cleaning method on a corner of your mat beforehand to ensure you don't damage it, as acidic ingredients may cause staining on delicate materials."

Can you put a yoga mat in a washing machine?

This may seem like the simplest way to get a mat clean after your practice, but is this effective? Laura Pearce, a senior breathwork and yoga teacher, and the founder of Yoga Collective London, explains how to best care for your yoga mat. 

"Generally, rubber and microfibre mats are fine in a washing machine, but anything else, including mats with plastic elements, you will need to be careful with and check with the company you purchased it from," she says.

Yoga and dance teacher Maggie Paterson, the co-founder of Sunset Bay Retreats explains how she cares for her yoga mats so that she can focus on her form and get all of the benefits of yoga from her practice. 

"It’s better to hand wash it. If you want to pop it in the washing machine, don’t let it go through the spin cycle, remove and stretch back into shape immediately after washing, and use a delicate wash with a soft baby detergent," she says.

How do you clean a yoga mat naturally?

When completing your yoga practice the last thing you want is to be exposing yourself to harsh chemicals, so it’s important to find natural ways to keep your yoga mat clean.

“I like the classic mix of lemon juice, bicarbonate of soda, and water. It'll keep it fresh and get rid of most stains. You can also rinse a mat in the shower, but ensure you dry it out fully before rolling it up, as damp mats breed bacteria," says Pearce.

“Most mats are made from either PVC or many natural fabrics, both are meant to be cleaned regularly, but not using harsh detergents. A water spray bottle with a splash of vinegar, a few drops of essential oil, and water will do the trick," says Paterson. "Spray down, gently wipe the mat with a clean towel and allow it to dry."

Michelle Maslin-Taylor, a qualified yoga teacher and reiki practitioner, says that your approach should vary depending on the type of mat. "For example, if you have a grippy mat you’ll want to take extra care that you don’t strip it and leave it slip-and-slidey rather than grippy," she explains. 

When should I throw away my yoga mat?

"Using an old yoga mat can affect your practice and be bad for your health. It's time to change your mat when it no longer serves you, and that could be wear and tear or your personal yoga practice has changed," Paterson says. 

"Signs that you need a new mat are when it starts to shred and little bits are left on the floor once you roll it up. Another is the smell, alongside the padding, which begins to thin in places. If you use a sticky mat, it’s time to change when the mat becomes slippery."

O’Rourke notes that if you practice intensive styles of yoga, such as hot or core yoga, your mat may have a shorter lifespan. "Most yoga mats last around 6-12 months, depending on how often you practice and the intensity of your flows," she says. 

"If you practice hot yoga, you may notice your mat begins to smell stale due to a build up of sweat and grime. If this is the case, and you can't remove the odor through cleaning, it's time to get a new mat."

When you're starting to research your next mat, our guide to the best yoga mats can help. We've tested a range of options from Lululemon, Manduka, Sweaty Betty, and JadeYoga, so you should find one that perfectly suits your practice. 

What to do with your old yoga mat

Instead of throwing your old mat in the trash, there are some environmentally-friendly ways to reuse or recycle it instead. Pearce suggests that you could upcycle them into wall insulation, rug underlays, mouse mats, or as a setting underneath dog bowls to protect floors. 

“You might find a local homeless charity who will take them as a donation too; they help to insulate cold floors for rough sleepers,” she says, and adds that her UK-based yoga mat company Kin has donated mats to its local shelter for this purpose.

Likewise, "you could donate it to an animal shelter or a refugee scheme, where they can be sanitized and used for floor mats. In the UK, non-profit organizations such as Soul Sanctum will send you a mailer bag in the post," says O’Rourke.

Many yoga brands in the US, including Lululemon and Manduka, used to offer mat recycling programs, although these are no longer available. However, Jollie, an eco-friendly mat company, do offer mat recycling when you purchase one of their mats.

Pearce explains that although some mats are biodegradable in landfills, it's generally best to find a way to repurpose them instead. If you're at a loose end, it's worth listing them on Freecycle instead. 

Yoga can be a great way to move your body, increase your flexibility, and boost your mobility without lots of equipment. This makes it a convenient option when you're short on time or away from home. 

It's worth investing in one of the best yoga mats if you practice regularly, but it's also common that people use props like blocks or straps to deepen their practice and safely increase their range of motion during many yoga stretches. 

“You can loop the straps around the soles of your feet in a seated forward fold if you can’t quite reach your toes, which makes the pose feel more comfortable and allows you to feel the hamstring stretch in a deeper way,” says Clare Walters, a Mind & Body Master Trainer at Third Space. 

“Straps can also help us to focus on getting deeper into a pose without sacrificing alignment. Most yoga classes will provide props like yoga straps (also known as a yoga belt) because it makes posture practice safer, more accessible, and more effective regardless of your range of motion and ability,” says Walters. 

Eight-move yoga straps for stretching routine

Yoga straps are generally made of non-stretchy materials to add some resistance, but if you don't have one to hand, you could use a heavy resistance band instead. If you're not sure where to start, we asked Walters to design a short session using yoga straps for stretching to boost your mobility at home.

1. Seated forward fold (Paschimottanasana)

Forward bends can help regulate the digestive system, calm your mind and nerves, relieve headaches and menstrual cramps, and increase agility in your hips, legs, and lower back. “The strap is handy for those who find grasping their feet too difficult,” explains Walters.

Practice: Hold for 30 seconds 

Sets: 3

• Sit on the floor with your legs straight and your spine long and strong.
• Place your yoga strap around your feet and hold the sides with each hand then, while pressing your legs firmly down into the floor, pull on the strap as if drawing your arms back into your shoulder sockets and lift your chest as if you were trying to take your ribs above the level of your arms.
• Next, walk your hands down the strap closer to your feet maintaining a straight back and straight legs.

2. Reclining hand to big toe pose (Supta Padangusthasana)

“This yoga pose is great for stretching out the back of your legs while releasing stiffness in the lower back,” says Walters. “Use the strap to deepen the stretch gradually without putting pressure on your neck and pelvis.”

Practice: Hold for 20 seconds on each leg 

Sets: 2 on each side

• Begin by lying on your back. Place the strap on the arch of your right foot and slowly raise your right foot towards the sky, keeping the left leg and hip connected down towards the floor.
• Grip the strap with both hands and pull your toes towards you until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings. Flex the left foot and contract the thigh muscles to ensure your leg stays straight.

3. King pigeon (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)

“This exercise requires stability in your core muscle and mobility in your hip flexors and quads,” says Walters. “Using the strap during this pose will help you to get a deeper stretch in not only your quads but also open up your shoulders and chest.”

Practice: Hold for 20-30 seconds on each side 

Sets: 2 on each side

• From a kneeling position, step one foot forward so you are in a deep lunge position. Bend the front leg down and bend your back leg and place the loop of your strap around your left foot. Hold the end of the belt in your left hand.
• Press the top of your left foot into the strap and draw the foot in toward your head. Use your right hand for balance as you feel the stretch in your legs and shoulders. 

4. Cow face pose (Gomukhasana)

The cow face pose stretches the deep hip rotator muscles, the glutes and the inner thighs. “You’ll also feel a relieving stretch in the shoulders and triceps as you use the yoga strap to bring your hands closer together over time,” says Walters.

Practice: Hold for 30 seconds on each arm

Sets: 2

• Start by sitting on the floor and cross your legs so your right leg is crossed over your left.
• With a straight back and your yoga strap in your right hand bring your right arm forward and up overhead and bend the elbow, so that your palm touches your upper back, with your strap dangling towards the floor.
• Next, reach your left arm behind you and reach for the strap. Hold it tight and if you can, walk your hand up towards the shoulder blades to meet the right fingers, hand, or wrist.

5. Bound extended side angle (Baddha Utthita Parsvakonasana)

“This move is a great shoulder and chest stretch,” says Walters. “It will also stretch and strengthen the hips and inner thighs.

“This is an advanced move, so use the strap to help keep your body in alignment while keeping your hands comfortably placed behind your back. Over time, this will advance into you being able to walk your hands towards each other using the strap.”

Practice: Hold for 20-30 seconds on each side 

Sets: 2

• Start in Warrior II with your right knee over your right ankle and your foot pointing forwards.
• With your left leg out straight and your foot pointing straight ahead bring your right hand down to the inside of your right thigh and lift your left arm to the sky while holding your yoga strap.
• Bend your right arm to reach under your right leg, take the strap in your left hand and reach your left hand with your strap back and over. Reach for the other end of the strap with your right hand. Look up towards the sky and slowly walk the hands closer together if you feel like you can open your chest more.

6. Warrior III (Virabhadrasana III)

The Warrior III is a challenging pose as you are hinging forward at the hips, but also making sure you keep your chest high, and your body well balanced. 

“Using a yoga strap acts as support so you can focus on your alignment, and keeping your chest open. It also provides traction between your foot and your hands, so the body forms one line of energy," says Walters.

Practice: Hold for 20 seconds on each leg 

Sets: 2

• Start with your feet together and place your strap under your left foot, grabbing the strap with your hands behind your back.
• Shift your weight into your right leg, and begin to hinge forward until your body forms a 90-degree angle as you lift your left leg into the air.
• Pull on your strap with your hands as you flex through the toes to help you maintain balance and support proper alignment.

7. Chaturanga

“The chaturanga requires upper-body and core strength,” says Walters. “Placing the yoga strap around your upper arms will help you to get into proper alignment by keeping your arms tucked in towards your sides and not allowing the elbows to splay out.”

Practice: Hold for 20 -30 seconds 

Sets: 2

• Place your yoga strap above the elbows at shoulder width, making sure that the strap is taut to avoid your elbows collapsing out, then from a high plank position, shift forward before lowering down until your chest touches the strap.
• Place your yoga strap above the elbows at shoulder width making sure that the strap is taut to avoid your elbows collapsing out, then from a high plank position, shift forward before lowering down until your chest touches the strap.

8. Forward fold with shoulder opener (Uttanasana)

“This move provides a great stretch in the hamstrings and calves, as well as the neck and shoulders,” says Walters. 

“It can be difficult to practice without hunching your shoulders, especially if your neck and shoulders are tight, which is why we use the yoga strap. Holding it this way instead of clasping your hands will take any pressure off your shoulders and neck.”

Practice: Hold for 20 -30 seconds 

Sets: 2

• Start with your feet together and take your strap behind your back into your hands. Walk your hands as close together as is comfortable then fold forward, while keeping your strap in place and lifting your arms away from your body.

These yoga straps for stretching moves are designed to help ease you into the pose and deepen your stretch, to increase the effects. This way, you get the benefits of yoga while also boosting your mobility. 

If you're after another routine to increase your flexibility, this hip mobility yoga flow is a great place to start. You don't need any equipment either, so it's a good alternative if you don't have straps nearby. 

Yoga is a holistic practice that combines movement, breathwork, meditation and—if you choose—spiritual development.

While the bendy-looking poses and unfamiliar terms might seem overwhelming, they don’t have to be.

Yoga can be simple, accessible and totally beginner-friendly—no matter your experience or physical ability. So where do you begin? Right here on the mat.

Below we’ve pulled together 10 stretches for beginners that gently guide the body through essential movements, supporting strength, flexibility and mobility.

More importantly, they will help you tune into your body, breath and the present moment.

These stretches are really known as postures or asanas, and practicing them regularly will help you develop your presence and awareness of your body.

Yoga stretches for beginners to boost flexibility

You can follow the full-length video above to practice the stretches or scroll down to read step-by-step guides.

1. Cat-cow

Cat-cow is a gentle yoga stretch for beginners and helps develop an awareness of your breath, allowing you to tune in to how you feel, and offers a whole back stretch for improved spine mobility.

• Start on all fours in a tabletop position with wrists in line with shoulders, knees under hips, and knees hip-width apart. Feel your fingers spreading and pushing into the floor.
• For cat pose, inhale as you look forward, bringing your navel towards the floor, with sitting bones lifting.
• Exhale to cow pose, rounding the spine, bringing chin to chest, and sitting bones under as you press the floor with your hands.
• Repeat both poses five times, synchronizing movements with your breath.

2. Puppy pose

The puppy pose is an excellent warm-up pose for the well-known yoga stretch, downward dog. It helps lengthen your spine and opens your chest and shoulders.

• Start on all fours in a tabletop position with wrists in line with shoulders, knees under hips, and knees hip-width apart. Feel your fingers spreading and pushing into the floor.
• Keep your bottom in line with your knees as you take your hands a giant step forward. Your hands can be as wide as the mat, with fingers spread wide.
• Press the floor away from you, feeling like you are gently pressing your chest towards the mat.
• Stay in this position for five breaths.

3. Low lunge

Lunges are a classic workout move, and a fundamental part of several yoga poses, including the low lunge. This position helps stretch your hip flexors and quads, which is helpful if you've been sitting down for a while.

If you feel pressure on the back knee, roll your mat slightly to double up or use a cushion or blanket.

• From a tabletop position on all fours, step your right foot forward toward your right hand into a low lunge, keeping your left knee on the ground.
• Bring your arms above your head, keeping them wide apart to make space for the shoulders.
• Stay for a couple of breaths and swap sides.

4. Child's pose

The child's pose is a restorative resting pose that promotes spinal flexion and allows your back and shoulders to stretch. It's also an ideal exercise for the end of your regular workouts.

• Bring your bottom back towards your heels from the tabletop position on all fours. Legs can either be together or separated.
• Fold over your thighs and bring your forehead to the floor or a cushion.
• Bring your arms alongside your body with palms facing up.
• Rest here for a few breaths.

5. Downward dog

For a good reason, this is one of the most famous yoga stretches for beginners and experienced practitioners—downward dog benefits your whole body, strengthening your arms, lengthening your spine, and giving your hamstrings and calves a stretch.

• Come to all fours with your knees hip distance apart.
• Take your hands a big step forward, landing mat-width apart with your fingers spread.
• Tuck your toes under and lift your knees, then lift your bottom up towards the ceiling. Keep a good bend in the knees (it doesn't matter if your heels don't touch the floor) as you press the floor away with your hands. Make sure there is even weight distribution between hands and feet.
• Alternate bending one knee and then the other to stretch out the back of the legs.
• Hold the pose for five breaths.

6. Standing forward fold

This stretching exercise is relatively straightforward but helps stretch your legs, including your hamstrings and calf muscles, and offers a release along your spine.

• Stand upright with a straight back and arms by your sides, with a slight bend in your knees.
• Bring your hands to opposite elbows, hinge at the hips, and fold your torso forward over your thighs. Your weight should be evenly split between both feet and legs.
• You can rock back and forwards a little, alternating your weight between your toes and heels.
• Stay in this position for five breaths.

7. Warrior 2

As you'd expect for a pose with this name, Warrior 2 is a great strengthening yoga pose. It develops your legs and opens your hips and chest, and improving your shoulder's range of motion.

• Adopt a wide stance, facing the long side of the mat.
• Turn your right foot to face the short edge of the mat, then bend your right knee over your right foot, moving your shin vertically and coming into a lunge.
• Open your arms so they're horizontal and parallel to the long side of the mat. Look towards your right fingertips, and stay here for five breaths.
• Return to the starting position, bringing your right foot in.
• Turn your left leg to face the other short edge of the mat. Repeat on the other side.

8. Triangle pose

The triangle pose stretches your inner leg and hamstrings while opening the chest and improving the range of motion for the spine.

• Stand with your legs wide and turn your right toes to the short edge of your mat and turn your left toes in about 45 degrees.
• Straighten your right leg as you extend your arms wide and reach up and over, doing a cartwheel motion with your upper body. Your right hand should come to rest somewhere along your inner right leg.
• Turn your torso and left collarbone towards the ceiling and reach the left arm directly up, coming into a triangle shape.
• Stay in this position for five breaths, then bend the right knee to come out of the pose. Repeat on the other side.

9. Wide-legged forward fold

This soothing wide-legged forward fold is like the earlier standing forward fold but also helps stretch the back of your legs and offers a spine and neck release.

• Stand upright with a straight back and your arms by your sides. Your feet should be wide as you turn your toes to face the long edge of the mat.
• Bend your knees slightly and fold your torso towards the thighs, so the crown of your head releases towards the floor. Hands can come to your thighs, shins, feet, or the mat. Check the weight is evenly distributed through your feet.
• Stay for five breaths, then soften your knees and roll gently up.

10. Bridge pose

The bridge pose strengthens your legs, activates your glutes (the large muscles in your upper leg), lengthens your hip flexor and quads, opens your chest, and helps improve your spinal range of motion.

• Lie on the mat with knees bent and feet on the floor a little wider than your hips, with arms by your sides.
• Press into your feet and squeeze your glutes to press the hips towards the ceiling. Your feet should remain firmly on the floor as you lift your front body.
• Ensure your shoulders stay on the ground, and squeeze your shoulder blades together to broaden your chest.
• Hold this position for five breaths, then slowly lower to the floor.

According to Wood, after the sequence, you can stretch your legs out and spend a few moments lying on your back, focusing on your breathing. Resting here can also be the ideal time to learn how to meditate.

Yoga helps strengthen the connection between your mind and body physically, while meditation lets you focus on your breath so that you notice your thoughts but can let them pass by without getting distracted by them.

As a personal trainer, I use my recovery day workouts to improve my mobility, stability, and range of motion while correcting for any possible dysfunctions and allowing my muscles and body to relax. 

I do this because recovery is when the magic of your training really happens. It's when your body starts to heal from your exercise and repairs the tiny tears in your muscle fibers caused by working out.

Some people invest in one of the best foam rollers to massage their muscles, which is one way to recover from your training. However, I prefer to add some movement to my rest day post-workout recovery session. 

This helps keep your body moving, increasing blood flow to your tissues where healing can occur. If you want to add gentle movement to your rest days, too, I've shared my favorite seven-move recovery day workout to get you started. 

Seven-move active recovery day workout

This short routine is one of my top recovery day workouts. It helps improve everyday movements and can even combat the effects of sitting and intense training sessions. 

It's a form of active recovery, although you don't necessarily need to do a structured routine like this, as walking, light cycling, swimming, and yoga are also great options. 

1. Shin box

The shin box is a fun hip mobility exercise I first learned in jiu-jitsu training to help prepare the hips for a lot of movement and muscle activation while rolling.

But beyond that, the shin box is the perfect way to work on your hip mobility and loosen up tight hips from your workouts or from time spent sitting during the day.

The movement involves internal and external rotation of the hips, which is crucial to help you avoid rounding your lower back during exercises like squats. It also helps improve your range of motion, making your workouts more effective.

• Sit on the floor with one leg in front, bent at the knee.
• Your back leg will also be bent at the knee, facing backward, with your foot facing away from you. 
• Some prefer the foot to touch the knee, while others need an open stance. See which works for you.
• Swivel your hips, starting with your back knee and allowing your front knee to follow.
• Your knees will come off the ground and swivel across like a windshield wiper, grounding your heels and lifting your knees up, and rotating them across your body.
• At this point, you will be back into the starting position but on the opposite side with the opposite knee in front.
• Practice this swivel a few times.
• Next, try to lift your hips and glutes off the floor after a swivel, raising into a kneeling position at the top.
• Control your body weight to lower and swivel up onto the opposite side.
• Repeat for 10 repetitions on each side. 

2. Bird dog

Bird dogs are a practical exercise that moves several areas of your body, but getting the technique just right is essential. Done correctly, the bird dog will help you work on torso stability and core bracing, which are vital for improving your deadlift, squat, and other movements.

Doing this movement on your recovery days can help you avoid losing stability in your core and spine during lifting days. The result? Less pain, better performance, and way less likelihood of injury.

Moreover, bird dogs are renowned for boosting recovery from back pains and strains and are recommended in a paper by Dr. Stuart McGill, one of the world's top back and spine researchers. 

This exercise is one of his "Big Three" movements for the back and core, used by physiotherapists and pain-free performance specialists (like myself) for clients with lower back tightness.

It looks easy, but the goal is to make it feel challenging. To do this, you must tense your entire body and keep yourself steady. 

• Start on the floor on all fours, with your wrists stacked under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
• Stiffen your torso by contracting the muscles in your back, abs, glutes, shoulders, and hips.
• With your lower back stiffened, extend your right arm and left leg very slowly.
• Keep your foot about two to four inches off the floor, not raised super high behind you, so that you can keep your hips level without your back arching.
• Keep your lower back stiff, and make a fist with your extended arm.
• With a stiff body, hold this position for 10 seconds. 
• Slowly bring your leg back underneath you along with your fist, touching your knee to your fist if you can. Do not allow your back to relax; keep it stiff.
• Raise back up to the extended position.
• Try five reps of 10-second holds on each side. Gradually add reps as you improve.

3. T-Spine rotational lunge

Our bodies aren't designed to sit for long periods each day, so it can cause problems in your upper back and spine, often leading to muscular imbalances, weakness, and tightness across your body. 

Depending on your job and habits, your shoulders may feel tight and have a limited range of motion, with one side being worse than the other. To help reduce these impacts, you can try this rotational lunge. 

It incorporates the t-spine and helps stretch the lower back, hips, and hip flexors. You can hold a kettlebell in one arm for this movement or use body weight.

• Start on the floor kneeling, then place one leg in front in a lunge, foot flat on the floor, and knee bent 90 degrees.
• Hold a kettlebell in a racked position up by your shoulder, if using, in the same arm as your bent front knee. This will help improve shoulder stability. 
• Slowly twist toward your front knee, rotating your torso while keeping your back straight.
• Use your free hand to grasp the outside of your raised knee, gently pulling yourself to encourage a deeper rotational stretch.
• Hold for five seconds.
• Try performing this movement two or three times on each side.

4. Prone cobra

The cobra is a popular yoga pose that helps open your shoulders, but this prone cobra variation adds in an isometric hold, which means holding a contracted position for a certain amount of time.

Isometric holds help build muscle and strength by combining your body weight and time under tension (the amount of time you hold the move).

It's a corrective exercise that can help address poor posture and Upper Cross Syndrome, a common condition in people who sit for long periods. 

• Lay on the floor on your stomach with your arms by your sides.
• Lift your chest off the floor, keeping your chin down.
• Then, lift your arms off the floor and contract your core and back muscles to stay lifted.
• Try moving your palms to face away from you from here, pointing your thumbs upward if you can.
• Otherwise, you can keep your palms flat facing upward or turn them down if you don't have the mobility to rotate your shoulders this way.
• Try to get your thumbs pointing up over time to increase the openness of your shoulders.
• Hold for about 30 seconds, then rest on the floor for 30 seconds.
• Repeat for six rounds so that you will have held the contraction for three minutes by the end.

5. Resistance band pull-apart

Resistance bands are an excellent tool for recovery day workouts. They come in various resistance levels and provide tension that will help gently activate muscles without adding fatigue.

The banded pull-apart is excellent as a warm-up exercise for upper body training and as part of a recovery workout to combat Upper Cross Syndrome.

This exercise will help stretch and strengthen the upper back and shoulders. You can do it with palms facing up or down as both hit different areas of your back and shoulders in unique, beneficial ways.

• Hold a light resistance band with an underhand grip in both hands, spaced slightly wider than shoulder width. Just ensure you will have band tension at the end position of the exercise.
• Bring the band to chest height and separate your hands, pulling and stretching the band to increase resistance.
• Bring the band to touch your chest, separating your arms to your sides as far as possible. Don't allow your elbows to bend or your arms to rotate during the movement.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades back and together to feel the contraction. Hold for up to five seconds, then slowly reverse the motion.
• Repeat 15 to 20 times.

6. Plate shoulder mobility drill

Shoulders are notoriously troublesome and can become injury prone or dysfunctional relatively easily. This is because our shoulders have a great range of motion, but it can be challenging if you don't have stability. 

This shoulder mobility drill uses light 2.5lb weight plates to increase shoulder mobility and stability during your recovery day workout and combats the effects of sitting while strengthening your shoulders.

If you don't have a weight plate to hand, you can either do the move without weights or grab a couple of full water bottles or canned foods instead. 

• Lay on your stomach on the floor with a 2.5lb weight plate in each hand.
• Bend your elbows at shoulder height with the plates in your hands and elbows at 90 degrees.
• Slowly straighten and extend your arms to move the plates away from you, arms overhead.
• Don't allow the weight plates to touch the floor, and keep your arms hovering above the floor.
• Reverse the motion to return to the bent arm position.
• Repeat 10 times.

7. Hip flexor leg lift

Your hip flexors are a muscle group (iliacus, psoas, pectineus, rectus femoris, and sartorius) located at the front of your hips and thighs that assist with flexing your hip or raising your knee upward toward your body. 

They can become very tight due to sitting, leading to back pain and poor performance in movements such as squats. Strengthening your hip flexors combats the effects of sitting, improves mobility, and can help reduce your risk of injury. 

• Sit on the floor, legs extended in front of you, with a kettlebell or another obstacle several inches high beside your ankle. 
• Raise your arms out to the sides for balance and sit upright.
• Lift one leg up and over the kettlebell, then down to touch the floor on the other side.
• Reverse the motion by lifting back up and over.
• Repeat 15 to 20 times, then switch sides.

These seven recovery day workout exercises help keep your body moving and promote healing, but you can also boost your recovery by keeping your levels of protein topped up. 

Your body uses protein to repair muscle fiber tears, so it's worth using the best protein powders for weight loss to get the nutrients you need. And you can use these post-workout smoothie ideas for a more tasty after exercise drink. 

Biceps curls are one of the go-to exercises many beginners add to their workout routine. The movement is simple and intuitive, and consistently performing biceps curls can help you get more muscular and stronger arms, which is why it's often touted as one of the best biceps workouts you can do. 

With that said, it is still really important to learn how to do a biceps curl properly, and if you are a beginner, you might have questions about the correct technique and whether you should be using dumbbells, resistance bands, or some other form of weights when you are doing biceps curls.

To learn more about how to do biceps curls properly and why you should incorporate this exercise into your workout routine, we spoke with Jessica Maurer, an ACE-Certified Personal Trainer, Pre & Postnatal Exercise Specialist, and the Director of Operations & Product at FIT4MOM.

How to do a biceps curl

Maurer walked us through how to do a traditional biceps curl with dumbbells. Be sure to take time to focus on your technique before taking on a full set. It's also important to warm up first. 

• Start with your hands down by your sides, holding the weights with your palms facing forwards. 
• Inhale, rolling your shoulders down so that your chest is lifted and you are standing with good posture.
• Exhale, contracting your core as you bend your elbows to bring your palms up towards your shoulders.
• Inhale, slowly lowering the weights back down.

How to do a biceps curl for beginners

Maurer says it's critical to use your muscles to do the work of the exercise, not momentum. "In other words, do not swing the weights — use control as you curl your arms up and release back down.

"If you begin to swing the weights past your hips to gain momentum to curl, then the weight is too heavy, or you have reached fatigue," explains Maurer. 

"In this case, you should stop the exercise and take 2-3 minutes to rest before trying again. If you still have to swing the weights with each curl, you need to use a lighter set of weights or use a resistance band instead."

Maurer recommends that if you are a beginner using weights and unsure where to start, it might be worth investing in a set of adjustable dumbbells to start lighter and increase the weight as you get stronger. 

"It's better to start with light weights and increase them than start too heavy and risk injuring yourself," advises Maurer. "You can also start biceps curls using a resistance band."

She also explained how to do a biceps curl with a resistance band:

• Start by stepping on the resistance band with both feet, with one handle of your band in each hand.
• Inhale, rolling your shoulders down so that your chest is lifted and you are standing with good posture.
• Exhale, contracting your core as you bend your elbows to pull the band up your shoulders.
• Inhale, slowly lowering the band back down so that your arms are at your sides.

Which muscles do biceps curls work?

The primary muscle worked by biceps curls is the biceps brachii, the muscle in the front of your upper arm. "It was named 'biceps' because [it has] two heads, a long and a short. [So] biceps is both singular and plural. 

"In other words, a single head of the muscle is described as biceps, not bicep," Maurer says. "The two parts of your biceps work together in unison. You cannot separate the heads nor isolate one over the other."

The primary function of the biceps is to flex the elbow, which Maurer says translates to many everyday tasks in real life. "We are continuously picking and putting things down, movements that activate the biceps and require them.

"Biceps are needed to do things as simple as lifting a glass of water to drink, turning a doorknob, holding a child, carrying shopping bags, or bringing in boxes from your front porch," notes Maurer.

What are the benefits of biceps curls?

Knowing the benefits of any exercise can increase your motivation to perform the movement. The good news is that the benefits of biceps curls go beyond just giving you shapely arms that look great when you flex.

"Biceps curls will make your upper arms stronger while helping your shoulders and core muscles become better stabilizers. Stronger arms will make daily life tasks much easier while helping protect your joints for your future use," explains Maurer. 

"Healthy shoulders and core muscles will help you maintain better posture and decrease back pain." If you want to isolate this single move to see the results, try this 50 biceps curls a day challenge to build strength. 

Are biceps curls better with weights or resistance bands?

Many beginners aren't sure whether they should be doing biceps curls with resistance bands, dumbbells, barbells, or weight machines. Maurer says that each type of exercise equipment has its benefits, and there isn't necessarily a 'right' or 'wrong' kind of resistance to use

Instead, consider your goals, space, cost limitations, and what type of equipment you have available. Keeping things varied by performing biceps curls with different equipment will provide your muscles with a slightly different stimulus, which may help increase the effectiveness of your biceps exercises.

"Bands provide a level of resistance throughout the exercise, they are portable and lightweight, and they are easy to use. However, dumbbells and barbells allow you to pull more weight while increasing the strength of your muscles," contrasts Maurer. 

"The most important aspect of a biceps curl is that you do them consistently to see improvement and build strength."

How to modify your biceps curls

If you want to modify your biceps curls, you can adjust your grip position, how you hold the weights, and the move's timing, tempo, and coordination. "Biceps curls can be done with one arm only, alternating one arm at a time, or with both arms together," suggests Maurer. 

"You can do them in a multitude of ways, but the most common are: traditional grip (front-facing), narrow grip (sometimes called hammers), reverse grip (palms down), and wide (arms rotated outwards)." You can also play around with how slowly you lift and lower the weights. 

According to research published in the BioMed Research Internationaljournal, an exercise's eccentric, or lowering portion, is especially beneficial for building strength and muscle mass. Therefore, you can extend the duration of the lowering portion as much as possible.

Maurer adds that performing the exercise with one arm at a time also has benefits since it better replicates many everyday movements. "Life happens unilaterally, which means one-sided. 

"Think about how you carry your bags or suitcases, how you carry a baby, or even how you hold your phone — it's mainly on one side of your body," she notes. "So training your biceps in various ways helps you perform daily movements more safely." 

When you're ready to turn things up a notch, Maurer suggests performing lower-body exercises like squats or lunges simultaneously with biceps curls to turn the move into a multi-muscle compound exercise to build strength, raise your heart rate, and work your whole body. 

If you've ever wondered what mental strength means or how to increase mental strength, we've jumped in with two feet on the topic. Developing this skill could improve your overall wellbeing, reduce stress, and increase resilience. 

Let's face it — life throws a lot at us. You might feel like you're smashing it one day only to feel totally overwhelmed the next. And although this is normal, there's a crucial factor determining how well you cope with brushing off the ups and downs called mental strength. 

While there doesn't appear to be a clear definition of 'mental strength,' the term is typically interchangeable with mental resilience and emotional wellbeing, often developed through meditation or mindfulness techniques. 

Like you can train your muscles to improve their physical strength, you can also train your mental muscles. Unlike the gym, you don't need physical equipment to develop mental strength, just a few self care ideas and lifelong mindset tools to help. 

We'll guide you through how to increase your mental strength below and why it matters.  

What is mental strength?

According to Dr. Rami Hashish, injury specialist and founder of the National Biomechanics Institute, mental strength is "a set of intrinsic attributes that help someone navigate and persevere in difficult situations."

Those who have developed mental strength still experience negativity or barriers, but they've harnessed coping mechanisms or a skillset that help them navigate it while staying mentally 'strong.' 

Those less mentally resilient might find it harder to cope, negatively impacting factors like sleep quality, stress levels, and daily performance. Let's take physical strength as an example. 

A powerlifter pushing a barbell overhead still finds the weight tough to lift, but they've developed muscular strength to help achieve it. The same goes for mental fitness — you could build mental muscles to cope and respond to the emotional weight of life events. 

Can you improve your mental strength?

Yes, it's possible to increase mental strength. And by regularly practicing a set of mindset tools, you could develop resilience and improve mental wellbeing without sacrificing your health.

Research in Frontiers of Psychology found that mental toughness is linked to 'various positive psychological traits,' including efficient coping strategies and positive outcomes across education, sports performance, and more. 

That doesn't mean you won't experience down days, but mental toughness techniques could improve your response to them, and according to Dr. Hashish, there's more than one way to do it. 

"Mental strength could be improved through various means," he explains. Self care is an ongoing process, so anyone learning to increase mental strength should try various techniques and choose what works for them. 

According to the same research, up to half of mental toughness variation depends on genetic factors that suggest a 'mental toughness advantage.' In short, some people find it comes more naturally than others, but that doesn't mean you can't learn to increase yours. 

How to increase your metal strength

The benefits of increasing your mental strength include reduced anxiety and stress levels, improved motivation, mood, self-awareness, and adaptability, and it could even help you sleep better.

According to one review published in The Open Sports Sciences Journal, athletes scoring high on mental toughness experienced frequent 'flow' (immersed in their experiences), measuring greater self-esteem, goal orientation, and self-efficacy.

But if learning how to build mental strength doesn't come naturally to you, fear not. These techniques to increase mental strength could help.

1. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is an umbrella term for many self care techniques like mindful walking, for example. This study published in the journal Mindfulness sits alongside a substantial amount of research showing that mindful walking could boost your metabolism and mood and reduce stress.

If you want to learn how to meditate, these meditation tips for beginners will help you get started. Other ideas include a yoga and mindfulness practice centered around mind-body connection, breathing, and movement.

These techniques slow down the instinct to react so that you can assess decisions more methodically, and while you might not notice straight away, like building muscle, it develops over time. 

A regular mindfulness practice, however big or small, helps to take the body out of fight-or-flight (sympathetic nervous system) and into a calm, relaxed state (parasympathetic nervous system), allowing your body to repair and heal. 

This short breathing exercise is a great way to start, and it only takes 20 minutes to build mental strength. You don't need any equipment, just a quiet space where you can sit and focus on your breath for a short while. 

2. Try something new

"Psychological approaches to improving mental strength include properly assessing challenges, as well as slowly engaging in activities that you may otherwise avoid due to anxiety," Dr. Hashish tells us.

You could build mental strength by proactively seeking opportunities for personal growth and stepping outside your comfort zone. People who adopt a "growth mindset" — a willingness to grow, learn and adapt — tend to have a positive mindset and a greater sense of self. 

Research conducted by UW Medicine found that new experiences are great for your emotional health, providing you with a dopamine "happy" hit and leading to feelings of empowerment.

It might feel uncomfortable, but the anticipation is often worse than the event — a term discussed by Harvard Medical School as 'cognitive distortion,' which means your internal mental filters fuel anxiety based on previous experience.

3. Repeat, repeat, repeat

The European Journal of Social Psychology believes building a habit takes between three to nine weeks and nine months. Whether you practice daily journaling or connect with a loved one, build mental strength through repetition, and try not to judge yourself on a difficult day.

Instead, assess what happened, note any feelings, and build some safeguarding practices for next time. That happy hormone could help you push back when you feel stressed or anxious.

Can you build mental strength through exercise?

Dr. Hashish explains that research has shown a beneficial relationship between exercise and developing mental strength. "In other words, exercise has been shown to improve mental strength while mental conditioning could improve physical strength."

Take sports as an example. Athletes exhibit a great deal of mental and physical resilience, but which came first? According to Dr. Hashish, both play into each other. "When someone is anxious, depressed, or down, they have a greater tendency to 'give in' to a difficult situation," he says. 

"Whereas, if someone feels confident and void of anxiety and depression, they have a greater tendency to tackle challenges and brainstorm difficult situations. Considering exercise has been shown to improve self-esteem and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, the benefits of exercise on mental strength are evident."  

It's a view shared by three doctors in a letter published in the journal Primary Care Companion. So, if you're new to exercise, try gentle movement like this walking exercise routine and build up slowly.

If you hike, learning how to use hiking poles can be advantageous. The best trekking poles can take some weight off your knees, steady your steps and even up your walking speed.

In fact, a study published in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine showed hiking poles can decrease lower limb loading while increasing cardiovascular demand. They can also better your balance. 

Hiking poles don’t come in one simple size, shape and make, though. “Poles typically come in three styles: single-piece full-length poles (similar to most ski poles), telescoping poles, or folding poles,” says Wesley Trimble from the American Hiking Society.

“The telescoping and folding poles are great if you don't want to use them all the time so that you can stash them in your pack. Single-piece poles can be cumbersome to transport and store, but they tend to be both lighter and sturdier than adjustable poles.” Let’s take a look at why you might want to buy a hiking pole.

When to use hiking poles

Using hiking poles requires you to learn special techniques but, like with most pieces of exercise equipment, you’ll soon wonder how you ever lived without them. 

“Most commonly, hikers use poles in alternating pole and foot strikes so the left pole is planted simultaneously when the right foot strikes the ground,” Trimble says. 

“When ascending steeper terrain some folks prefer to use both poles simultaneously to provide more support and strength to lift their body with a steep step.”

What height should hiking poles be?

It’s important to choose an appropriately sized hiking pole. “A general rule of thumb is that, when a person is standing straight and holding the trekking pole grip, the elbow should make about a 90-degree angle, and the forearm should be parallel to the ground,” Trimble says.

Some hikers might prefer longer poles, though. “For example, a specific model of an adjustable pole might be 100 to 125 cm and 120 to 140 cm,” Trimble adds. “If someone is in the middle of the size ranges, then it's a good idea to size up.”

How do you use hiking poles uphill?

Trekking uphill requires a different hiking pole technique compared to when you're walking on level ground. For example, if you've gone from walking on a flat surface to tackling a steep incline, you might find that your hiking poles are now too long to use comfortably. 

So the first point to take into consideration when using hiking poles uphill? "With steep terrain, hikers may find it beneficial to shorten their poles a few centimeters or lower their hands on the grip," Trimble says. 

According to Trimble, this is a technique that will help to promote better posture going uphill. "Hikers tend to slouch forward while going up steep grades," he explains. "So trekking poles can help people stay more upright, which will also help keep their airways more open."

Hiking helps to build muscle — especially in your lower body and even more so when you're walking uphill. So when going up a steep incline, switch up your technique and use your arms and upper body to help propel yourself forward. 

"With steeper inclines, hikers can use their arms and upper body to assist fatigued legs by planting the poles about the same distance in front of the body as the ball of the foot when the front foot strikes the ground," Trimble says. 

"When the pace slows on very steep hills, some hikers will use both poles and plant them in unison with every forward step to allow both arms to help pull and lift up instead of using the right arm to support just the left foot and the left arm to support the right foot."

But remember: the farther the poles are in front of you/or out to the sides of the body, the less support and stability they will provide. "When the hiker's stride shortens, it's helpful to shorten the trekking placement and vice versa," Trimble adds. 

Is it better to hike with one pole or two?

Choosing to use one or two hiking poles is a personal preference, and, according to Trimble, there are a few trade-offs. "Using two poles requires a little more coordination, increasing the chance of getting tripped up by a pole, especially when moving quickly," he says. 

However, "Two poles provide four points of contact with the ground and more symmetrical support. When I first used poles, I used a single pole, but when I started using two, I realized two poles greatly reduced knee discomfort when descending steeper terrain."

"[This is] because my upper body was assisting in supporting my weight with each step instead of every other step with a single pole or staff."

What to look for when buying hiking poles

If you’re a hiking newbie, don't worry! You’ll be pleased to know that you don’t have to spend a fortune to reap the rewards these pieces of walking equipment can bring. 

“I've used numerous types of poles over the years, and in most cases, for most hikes, basic trekking poles are adequate,” Trimble tells us. But there are a few features to look out for.

“Many early versions of adjustable (and cheaper new) poles use a twist lock mechanism that often slips if more weight is applied to the pole, especially if the poles are cold and wet,” Trimble adds. “If I use an adjustable pole, I always use poles with a flip lock mechanism instead of the twist lock.”

Also consider: 

• The weight of the pole: heavier poles can be more durable, but they’ll also be heavier to move.
• The material they are made from: usually, most poles are crafted from aluminum, but you can get super-light carbon fiber options too. 
• Whether your pole can be adjusted: being able to lengthen your poles by around four inches can be handy when going downhill, as it means you can add some extra stability to your descent. 
• Whether it comes with a basket: positioned near the tip, the basket helps keep the pole from sinking into soft surfaces and holes.

Are hiking poles worth it?

As we’ve seen, there are many reasons why you might use a hiking pole. Research published in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine tells us that hiking poles can: 

• Protect your knees and lower limbs from the added pressure placed on them when walking over uneven terrain.
• Make walking up steep gradients easier, while acting as a sturdy base when descending. 
• Increase cardiovascular demand. In fact, another study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found trekking poles showed energy production increased during exercise without increased perceptions of effort.

“Additionally, trekking poles are particularly helpful for creek and river crossings by providing extra contact with the ground,” Trimble adds. “They can also help provide a sense of stability when crossing any unstable terrain, such as snow and loose talus. I use them when I'm on steep terrain or carrying more than a light daypack.”

Because of this stabilizing effect, hiking poles help you avoid injury. But it's also essential to read up on how to stay safe when hiking before heading out. Plus, it's a good idea to get wrapped up in hiking clothes to keep you warm and dry. 

If you want to lose weight from your face then we’ve got good and bad news. Let’s start with the bad: you can’t ‘spot target’ weight loss from specific areas of the body and that includes the face. The good news is, you can make your face appear slimmer by losing weight in general and also by tackling some other common health problems. 

Our facial shape can change because of things like an allergy, sun exposure, inflammation, thyroid problems and even water retention. It’s worth addressing these issues if you’re determined to get a slimmer profile, but the most effective way to lose weight from your face is by losing weight in general. 

We spoke with personal trainers, doctors and sports dietitians to find out the best ways to do the above. Here’s what they recommend. 

1. Cut back on salt

“Diets high in salt cause the body to retain water,” says Dr. Hana Patel, a  women’s health specialist. “Water retention causes swelling and puffiness in various parts of the body, including the face. This may give the illusion of excess facial fat.”

Dr Patel recommends that people who are sensitive to fluid retention avoid foods with high salt content, which includes things like processed meals and snacks. Aim to eat no more than 2,000 milligrams of sodium per day. 

2. Drink enough water 

When you’re not properly hydrated the body actually clings onto excess fluid to keep you from dehydrating. Some of this retained water can stay in the face, giving it a puffy appearance.

“Getting enough H2O is essential,” says dietitian Monique Richard. “Aim for 8-10 eight-ounce glasses a day, but the amount you need will vary depending on your activity, current health conditions, weight and goals.”

Some small studies have suggested that drinking water may also aid with general weight loss, but more high quality evidence is needed to prove this.  

3. Lower alcohol intake 

Alcohol is another culprit for the appearance of a bloated face and weight gain. “Excessive alcohol intake can cause dehydration, which can prompt the body to retain water,” says Dr. Patel. “In some cases, this may lead to water retention in the face, which can make the face appear bloated and puffy.”

In addition to this, alcohol can be fairly high in calories but it doesn’t come with any useful nutrients for our diet. The high calorie content can cause unwanted weight gain, so Patel advises that people looking to lose weight in general consider reducing their alcohol consumption.

4. Reduce stress levels 

When we’re stressed, the body thinks we are in danger and produces more of the hormone cortisol – this in turn stimulates your fat and carbohydrate metabolism, creating a rush of energy (in case we need it to escape the perceived threat). 

While this is a useful survival tactic, the process also increases the appetite and cravings for sweet, fatty and salty foods, a study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology found. Overeating and other unhealthy behaviors around stress can then lead to weight gain.

5. Get enough (good quality) sleep 

In a similar way to stress, a lack of sleep can cause weight gain. A systematic review in the journal Obesity showed that when people were sleep-deprived, they ate significantly more calories.

Dr. Patel told Fit&Well: “Lack of sleep affects the levels of certain hormones that promote feelings of hunger and fullness. Specifically, lack of sleep seems to increase levels of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, and lower levels of the hormone leptin, which tells the body that it is full. As a result, a person who has sleep loss may eat more, and they may turn to foods higher in calories.”

6. Count calories and ramp up the cardio 

If you have a rounder face due to being overweight, the easiest way to slim down your face is to lose fat from your entire body. You can do this by being in a calorie deficit – eating fewer kcals than you need, or burning more kcals than you use through exercise (or a combination of both). 

We have lots of weight loss information and advice you can read through, but registered dietitian Monique Richard offers this simple guidance: “Make sure you get enough protein, vitamin C and E, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates, which are all nutrients that can help mitigate bloating, manage weight and support the body's functions.”

Personal trainer Anthony Maritato advises that you stick to cardio if you’re looking for the best exercise machines to lose weight: “The more body parts and total body movements involved in using an exercise machine results in greater total calorie expenditure. An example may be choosing a cardio machine like the elliptical or cross trainer that has arm and leg movements and would result in more fat loss than using a recumbent bike for the same duration at the same intensity.”

FAQs

Ab workouts are always in high demand—they’re the subject of more than 1.8 million Google searches every month. These mid-body muscles are responsible for the famous six-pack shape and form part of your core; a group of muscles that link the upper and lower body, providing support and stability to your entire frame. 

To help you get the best abs workout possible and bust some myths around training this body part, we enlisted the expertise of New York-based fitness instructor Jennifer Simpson and ACE-certified personal trainer Melissa Kendter. 

Best ab exercises to strengthen your core

Simpson helped develop this eight-move routine to strengthen your abdominal muscles. You can do multiple rounds for an extended ab workout or add them to the end of your usual routine as a core-focused finisher. 

The aim is to do each move for 30 seconds, gradually increasing the time to a minute without breaks between exercises as you get used to the technique and get stronger. 

1. Plank

Learning how to do a plank can be very beneficial for your abs and core. "Planks are an isometric core exercise that targets all four abdominal muscles and has many benefits, including better balance, stronger posture, and reduced back pain," Simpson explains. 

"The fun thing about planks is that you can add many different movements to them to make your workout more interesting, challenging, and effective."

• Lie on your front, and rest on your forearms with your arms at 90 degrees. 
• Keep your body in a straight line from your head to heels, engage your core, and keep your back flat. 
• If you feel your lower back arch, straighten your back and engage your core/abs by clenching the muscles around your stomach. 
• Hold this position for 30 seconds. 

2. Side planks

Plank variations are a great way to work other muscles around your abs. According to Simpson, this right-side plank specifically targets external and internal oblique muscles. 

To strengthen the muscles on both sides of your abs, it's crucial to work your right and left body equally. So, repeat this move for the right and left sides, holding for 30 seconds on each. 

• Lie down on your mat on your side, with your legs and feet on top of each other and your forearm at 90 degrees on the floor. 
• Engage your core and lift your hips off the mat, holding your weight on your forearm and the side of your foot. 
• Hold this position for 30 seconds. 
• You can increase the challenge by lifting your top leg straight up or dipping your hips up and down toward the ground. 

3. Sit-ups

Sit-ups are one of the most effective ways to engage your abs, which is why they're a staple of most workout routines. But you shouldn't aim to pack in as many as you can in 30 seconds, says Simpson. 

"Sit-ups can be most effective when you focus and take your time," she explains. "You're squeezing your rectus abdominis to start pulling yourself up; then your transverse abdominis engages to help you come all the way up and gently lower back down."

• Lie down on your back with your legs bent at a 45-degree angle and your feet firmly on the ground.
• Place your hands on your temple and slowly lift your upper body so your chest raises to meet your knees.
• Slowly lower your upper body back down again. That's one repetition. Repeat for 30 seconds. 

4. V-sit holds

"V-Sit holds help target your rectus abdominis and external and internal oblique muscles," Simpson explains. "There are options for bent legs or straightening them all the way out for more of a challenge. This move is generally held for at least 30 seconds."

• Lie down flat on your back with your arms by your sides. 
• Engage your core as you raise your legs as high as possible while keeping them straight.
• At the same time, lift your torso upwards so you form a V-shape in the air. 
• You can keep your hands on the floor or bring them up to meet your feet, depending on what feels more comfortable.
• Hold for 30 seconds, then slowly bring your legs and torso back to the ground. 

5. Russian twists

The Russian twist is one of the best workouts for upper abs. Once mastered, this is a great exercise to start adding some weights like a dumbbell or kettlebell, as this promotes the gradual overload that stimulates muscle growth and strengthening.

• Adopt a sit-up position with knees slightly bent and heels on the ground.
• With a straight back and shoulders retracted, rotate the torso to the left until the fingertips touch the ground (or twist as far as you can if holding something heavy). 
• Ensure this twisting motion is undertaken with the abdominal muscles, rather merely rotating the shoulders (that’s cheating!).
• Rotate in the opposite direction and tap the floor to the right of your hips and continue this movement and repeat until the time period is over. 

6. Reverse crunches

Rather than bringing your body up from the floor to your legs as you would in a traditional crunch, the reverse crunch adds the weight of your lower body into the mix, making it a great option for training your upper abs.

• Lay flat on your back, arms out to the side and palms pressed into the floor for balance.
• Bring your knees together and raise your feet off the ground so your shins are parallel to the floor below.
• From here, breathe in and tense your abdominal muscle, tilting the pelvis so your knees travel towards your chest.
• Don’t allow momentum to ruin the move, so avoid swinging your legs towards your chest. This should simply be a controlled tensing of the abs to tilt the pelvis.
• Return the legs to the start position in a controlled manner and repeat, ensuring the move is slow and controlled throughout. 

7. Deadbugs

The Deadbug is a great move for exercise beginners, and although it looks simple, when done properly it's a great lower and upper ab workout. Plus it can help strengthen back muscles and boost posture, so long as your back stays pressed against the ground.

• Lie on the ground, back flat on the floor. Your arms should be right above you in the air, and legs should be up in the air with knees at a 90-degree angle.
• Slowly lower your left leg straight out in front of you, until it's just inches from the ground.As you do so, lower your right arm behind you towards the floor.
• Pause, and bring both your left leg and right arm back to their start position. Then do the same with your right leg and left arm.

8. Mountain climbers

Mountain climbers help work your obliques, the muscles that run either side of your core. Throughout the movement, keep your back flat and core tight, and ensure your shoulders are directly over your wrists/hands.

• Start in a plank position, with your shoulders above your wrists, body straight, and body balancing on your toes.
• Then, slowly, bring your left knee towards your right elbow. Pause, engage your core with your back flat, and return the left leg to the start.
• Next, do the same with your right knee, bringing it towards your left elbow. 
• Repeat this pattern for 30 seconds. 

FAQs

Wondering why it’s worthwhile learning how to do a dumbbell row properly? The classic muscle-building exercise plays a major role in the fitness routines of many gymgoers and it’s said to help increase back strength and posture. However, even the most experienced weightlifters can be prone to performing this exercise without proper form. So, if you’re looking for how to do a dumbbell row properly, you’ve come to the right place.

We spoke to Calum Sharma, personal trainer and Head of Exercise Science at The Body Lab in London for the lowdown on not only how to do the perfect dumbbell row but also what muscles this exercise works, common mistakes to avoid when doing it, and the best dumbbell row variations for when you want to mix up your routine a bit.

Planning to perform your dumbbell rows at home? Then be sure to have a gander at our best adjustable dumbbells guide and find the top equipment for the job. 

What muscles do dumbbell rows work?

The single-arm dumbbell row is a fantastic exercise to perform anatomically, according to Sharma, as it recruits a whole host of muscles that are crucial for great posture and shoulder health.

“The primary movers in this exercise are the lats, rear delts, mid-lower traps, and rhomboids alongside smaller muscles that help assist the movement, too,” says Sharma. 

“These include the biceps, infraspinatus, teres major and minor as well as numerous forearm muscles that stabilize the shoulder and help with the gripping of the actual dumbbell itself.”

Sharma adds that posture and shoulder health are two huge additional benefits you’ll get from performing this exercise as well as being able to grow a strong and functional posterior chain.

“This leads to a reduction of pain from sitting and working at a computer for prolonged hours as well as lowering the incidence of injury to our shoulders, neck, and spine, which are all supported by the muscles used during this exercise.”

How to do a dumbbell row

1) Before even attempting to lift a dumbbell, you must ensure you’ve set up right. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase ‘you can’t build a house on poor foundations, and this is exactly why your setup must be solid,” says Sharma. 

As you can see in the first image, he is using three points of contact to create a wide base of support for the dumbbell to be pulled from. 

“This completely takes balance out of the equation and puts us in a strong biomechanical position to execute our row. We want to follow the line-of-pull of our lats, therefore pulling diagonally is optimal when performing this exercise. 

2) “Creating space for the dumbbell to be pulled towards our hips is key, too, as often people pull vertically into the shoulder and this can create a whole host of problems that we’ll go into a little later.”

3) Sharma also has the dumbbell angled slightly to encourage a diagonal line-of-pull. This is because you want your shoulder to be protracted (when the scapula moves away from the spine and the shoulder moves forward) at the bottom of the movement. 

“This puts a great stretch on your lats so that they are initiating the movement and you are not overworking your biceps or upper traps,” he adds.

4) To perform the exercise, pull the dumbbell into your hip to the point that the shoulder does not internally rotate, and you can keep the spine in a neutral position (as shown in the second image). This is your concentric action.

5) Next comes the eccentric (or lowering) part, which is crucial for optimizing the efficiency of this movement.

“Often, people just drop the weight and lose all tension in the exercise, when in fact, this is where we will break down the muscle the most to elicit growth,” explains Sharma.

Follow the same diagonal motion as the concentric action but slow the movement down and control the dumbbell all the way to the floor. This concentric action should be for around one second and the eccentric action for at least two seconds.

“This tempo will create a good amount of time under tension (TUT) which is key when wanting to elicit hypertrophy (muscle growth).”

Tips and common mistakes to avoid

The single-arm dumbbell row is an exercise that people can easily get wrong. Here are some tips for best practice, and the common mistakes seen in the gym to help you avoid injury due to poor form.

As we mentioned earlier, poor form usually starts with the wrong setup, or more precisely, foot position. This is something you need to correct right away, explains Sharma:

“Having your foot close to the bench creates a narrow base of support and puts the hips above the shoulders. This makes balancing an issue especially if you’re planning to go heavy.

“If the hips are too high, the dumbbell will become more difficult to row diagonally and we will overuse muscles that will cause neck and shoulder pain.”

He advises going wide with your stance and keeping the hips and shoulders in line to start with. 

Another common mistake Sharma sees when people perform this exercise is pulling the dumbbell into the shoulder, vertically. 

“This encourages internal rotation (rounding) of the shoulder, and we are trying to eliminate this to allow the shoulder girdle to retract and protract in line with our lats.”

How heavy should I lift for a dumbbell row?

'What dumbbell weights should I use?' is a common question. As with any free-weight apparatus, you should always use a weight that you can safely and efficiently lift. 

“I often advise my clients to remove all the numbers from their weights so they can just feel what works for them,” says Sharma. “Often, we get caught up in how much the person next to us is lifting or what that influencer was moving for 10 reps, and this is all irrelevant. 

“Choose a weight that you can follow the description above with perfectly and once that becomes too easy, gradually move upwards.”

If you have specific goals involving strength, hypertrophy, or endurance then you’ll need to work to those rep ranges for which the weight will have to be adapted. These, according to Sharma, are as follows:

• For strength, perform anywhere between 2-6 reps for 3-5 sets 
• For hypertrophy, perform 6-12 reps for 3-4 sets 
• And for endurance, perform 12-20 reps for 2-3 sets 

For each category, you will want to use a weight that you can only just lift in the last two or so sets. 

“Perfect form should be executed for at least the first two sets and then you can up the weight to encourage muscle failure at the end of the final sets,” Sharma adds.

Dumbbell row variations

While there are a plethora of great ways to row a dumbbell, here are some of Sharma’s favorite variations:  

Chest-supported row 

This is a great exercise to help keep your spine neutral and “work on your row technique and line-of-pull”, says Sharma.

1) To perform it, grab a bench and set it at an incline so you’re in a position where the dumbbells aren’t touching anything when in a resting position.  

2) Pull the dumbbells diagonally towards you and make sure not to go past the bench, then return to the starting position. Use the same tempo as mentioned in the single-arm row exercise above. 

Incline single-arm row 

This exercise is “a fantastic way to work on your diagonal line-of-pull” while helping to boost your efficiency in the standard single-arm row exercise, Sharma says. 

1) To start, have your forearm at the top of an inclined bench with your knee at the other end and the foot out wide, creating a stable base. 

2) Row the dumbbell up into the hip, retracting the shoulder at the start of the movement and protracting at the end.  

Try to keep the torso as still as possible when performing this exercise,” Sharma adds.

“If you’re having to rotate or bounce your torso to move the weight, it’s too heavy. Rerack it along with your ego and pick up a lighter weight.”

Bent over row

This is perhaps the toughest dumbbell row exercise of the three due to your lower back being slightly exposed with no support, says Sharma. 

1) To perform it, drive your hip back far enough so your chest is almost parallel to the floor. 

2) Your lats should be stretched when starting the exercise, then pull towards the hips and return to the start position with control.

“If you feel it in your lower back drive your hips back more so there is tension on your hamstrings and glutes,” Sharma advises. “They will protect your lower back and reduce the risk of your picking up an injury.”

On the lookout for more ways to perform classic exercises? Check out our article on how to do a push up properly. Or find out the answer to can you lose weight by lifting weights? And whether body weight vs free weights matters.

Learning how to go walking with weights to build muscle is an attractive prospect, allowing you to skip the gym in favor of lacing up some of the best shoes for walking and heading out into the great outdoors. But is it possible?

Sadly, if hypertrophy is your goal, we have to say the gym wins hands down thanks to its wide selection of free weights and exercise machines custom-built to place stress on your muscles (a key component of muscle gain).

But that’s not to say that walking with weights doesn’t have a place in your fitness routine - it still offers plenty of health benefits. You’ll enjoy all the regular plus points of walking, such as improvements in mood, weight control, blood pressure levels, and more while increasing your overall effort and calorie burn by adding weights into the mix.

We’ve looked at the science and enlisted the help of exercise physiologist Bianca Grover to find out how to begin walking with weights, and explore the positive impacts it could have on your health. 

What are the benefits of walking with weights?

There are plenty of mental and physical health benefits to walking with weights - whether they’re held in the hand or wrapped around the ankle. But, before we dive into these, it’s important to provide a quick overview of the plethora of positive effects of regular walking.

One study published in the Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry states that brisk walking three days per week can bring about “improvements in weight control and reported increased fitness levels, exercise tolerance, reduced blood pressure levels, increased perceived energy levels, and increased upper body and hand grip strength levels”. 

The same study also found that regular exercise, such as walking, can improve sleep and mood, reduce tiredness, provide stress relief, and increase mental alertness. 

So, by extension, walking with weights will provide these same benefits. But adding a little extra resistance to your stroll can also take your workout further by increasing your overall effort.

Research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that “intensity of effort and energy cost per minute and per mile were increased when weight was added during walking and was increased more with hand weights compared with ankle weights regardless of speed”.

Or, in other words, you will burn more calories walking with weights than walking without them. As a result, participants in the study used a similar amount of energy per mile when walking with weights at 4mph than if they were to jog the same distance at a moderate pace. 

Can walking with weights build muscle?

Despite the many health benefits that are on offer, walking with weights won't help you build a considerable amount of muscle, exercise physiologist Bianca Grover says. It will engage your leg muscles, including your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves, as well as your spine and core. However, walking with weights is unlikely to generate sufficient mechanical tension and metabolic stress for muscle growth in most people (as per the teachings of this systematic review from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health). 

The exception to prove this rule is walking with heavier weights over shorter distances, with exercises like the farmer’s carry or suitcase carry involving carrying a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell over a distance of around 20m. 

Grover explains: “No, walking with weights cannot build muscle. True muscle growth is accomplished by putting muscles under load and stress, through a range of motion. 

"If you are performing exercises such as farmer’s carries - which is essentially walking a shorter distance with a heavy amount of weight in each hand - you can improve grip strength and core stability. However, even this does not focus on muscle growth.”

If muscle growth is your goal, we recommend focusing on resistance training at the gym, or at home with a pair of the best adjustable dumbbells.  

How to start walking with weights on ankles

Ankle weights are an obvious option for anyone looking to start walking with weights, but there are some things to consider before you get started. 

“When it comes to walking with ankle weights, you'll need to make sure you have shoes that provide plenty of support,” Grover says. Fortunately, our guide to the best shoes for walking should be able to help on this front. 

She also stresses that you should make sure you’re not using a weight that is so heavy it causes you to change the way you walk, or become uncomfortable. 

“One of the key considerations when walking a longer distance or time with added load is the added stress it puts on joints, ligaments, and muscles. You will also want to make sure you maintain a normal walking form. If you begin to feel your posture or your stride become abnormal, you may want to take a break or lighten the weight. Nothing good comes from bad form.”

How to start walking with weights in hands

If you want to reap the benefits of using handheld weights while walking, Grover advises placing added emphasis on moving your arms as you stride. By increasing the amount of movement completed under the additional load of a small dumbbell or other handheld weight, you will up the intensity of your workout and burn more calories. 

“Because you are holding weights, you may have the urge to hold them against your side, but this will not be as beneficial over the course of your routine,” Grover says Again, be conscious of any shoulder or elbow issues, as this extended period of stress can irritate them.” 

Before you journey into the wilderness, it's important to consider how to stay safe when hiking. Sudden weather changes, unexpected obstacles and tech failures could all pose a threat to your enjoyment of the great outdoors.

But as long as your plan your route carefully and to get the right kit, your trip should go smoothly. We'd recommend you gear up with some of the best shoes for walking , along with a sturdy backpack, first aid essentials and a robust waterproof jacket.

To get some more expert safety tips, we chatted with Jamie Pattison, a special operations and mountain rescue paramedic. Here's what he recommends.

Plan ahead

Start by breaking your preparation into the planning phase, journey phase and key points phase, advises Pattison. 

Planning phase

"The planning stage should include your objectives such as where you are going, as well as how long you expect it to take, the weather forecast, the people you are going with and the terrain."

You should also think about the altitude of your final destination. If you are climbing up high, it may be 65°F at the bottom but 37°F at the top. 

Before you set off, you should find out where the nearest search and rescue is. Plus, make sure someone knows where you are going and what time you will be back.

Journey phase

During the hike itself repeat the above process, explains Pattison. 

"Keep asking yourself the following questions: is the weather what you expected, have you got everything you need kit-wise, is everyone fit and well? Is the terrain what you expected – or have you strayed off the route? Has your end time changed?" 

Make sure everyone has the chance to voice concerns, so if the weather’s not looking good, there’s no problem with turning around. 

Key points phase

Have key points along the route where you can check on progress. Decide on places to stop which can enable you to check if you are going slower or faster than expected.

"It is also another opportunity to let people in the group raise any concerns," advises Pattison.

Pack these essentials

There is some basic kit that should be packed for every lengthy hike. One essential piece of equipment is some form of basic shelter to protect from the elements. This could be a bothy bag or a blizzard bag but an emergency blanket will also work. 

Whatever you choose, it needs to be a bright colour so you can be seen if a rescue team comes looking for you. It will provide shade if it’s hot, and shelter if it’s cold. 

"You can go three weeks with no food, three days without water, but hypothermia will kill you in a matter of hours," warns Pattison.

A first aid kit is another vital item and needs to include a trauma bandage to stop heavy bleeding, a pocket size resuscitation mask, bandaids, gauze, painkillers and a glow stick so you can be found in the dark.

Remember to take spare batteries

Take your phone and an extra battery pack to charge it. Keep the phone warm against your body so the battery doesn’t drain. 

And when it comes to navigation, apps like AllTrails are great, but also take a standard map and a compass, and know how to use them. You can practice as you go, use the map and check against the app on your phone. 

Finally a good torch — especially a rechargeable head torch — is invaluable and remember to bring the charger so you can connect it to your spare battery if need be.

Wear appropriate clothing

Never wear new boots before you have broken them in because you may get blisters. Wear comfortable boots suitable for the terrain. If you are walking in snow you need stiff winter boots not a soft summer boot and remember to include gloves.

"For clothing wear bright colours rather than camouflage and a useful tip is ‘be bold, start cold’. You may be tempted to wear all your layers at the start if it’s cold but once you get started you might overheat, even worse you may start sweating and then you’ll have damp clothes for the rest of the day," says Pattison. 

Take plenty of water

Most important is to take plenty of water (we've rounded up the best water bottles for hiking, if you need a new carrier.) 

We need two liters just when we’re sedentary so take more. Water purification tablets are also useful in case you run out. In the winter, take one liter of boiling water in a good flask.

"A hot drink is morale lifting. When it comes to food, always have a bar of chocolate or something that gees you up," adds Pattison.

There are a number of reasons you might want to lose weight — maybe you’ve been advised to by a doctor or you’re trying to improve your overall health. The most common weight loss method involves eating in a calorie deficit, which means you're burning more calories than you’re eating. But this can be time-consuming and mentally exhausting, so you might be wondering how to lose weight without counting calories.

“Counting calories can be really appealing because in a world of unknowns, it gives people a sense of control,” explains registered dietitian Laura Clark. But despite this, counting calories might not necessarily be the best way to improve your overall health and for a lot of people, it’s not a sustainable way to maintain weight loss. 

“On paper, we can put someone into a calorie deficit to help them lose weight, but the human system is complex and it’s sitting in a complex environment,” Clark continues. “The reality is, our drive to eat is out of our conscious control.”  Limiting your calorie intake might go against your natural appetite, which can be pretty difficult to control. 

Weight loss comes down to a whole range of factors, and while nutrition is a big one, exercise is also very important. The best exercise machines to lose weight can also help you to tailor your exercise routine.  

So why has counting calories become such a big focus? We asked Clark to share some alternatives to counting calories that will still help you lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Do you need to count calories to lose weight?

Eating in a calorie deficit, on a biological level, causes most people to lose weight, but counting calories can be mentally and physically challenging. Plus, counting calories isn’t particularly sustainable to maintaining good health in the long-term. Not only is it time-consuming to count calories every day, but it could lead to developing negative associations with food, which could put you at risk of an eating disorder. Plus, sometimes it’s just not feasible to ignore your body’s natural appetite. 

“Even if you are digging deep into that willpower muscle, it's very difficult to maintain significant deficits over very long periods of time because it goes against the body's instinct for fuel and survival,” Clark explains.

On top of that, just because you’re eating in a calorie deficit, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re eating healthy foods that nourish your body. In fact, the diet that made the calorie deficit so popular was known as the Twinkies Diet, in which a professor lost weight by surviving on nothing but junk food by eating in a calorie deficit. However, not only could this cause long term health problems like heart disease, it’s probably only going to be effective for a short period of time. A 2017 paper published in Perspectives on Psychological Science found that calorie counting is not an effective approach to long-term weight loss and good health, with researchers saying that it is, “overly optimistic to expect a simple solution to such a complex and multifaceted problem”.

Plus, our bodies are so individual that prescriptive numbers assigned to us based on our age, weight and general health might not be specific enough to help us lose weight. Rather, it’s better to take a look at your overall health, according to Clark, thinking about the macro and micro nutrients you’re eating, including fiber and protein, as well as considering your gut health and the amount of exercise you do. 

4 ways to lose weight without counting calories

You might be looking for an overnight fix when it comes to losing weight but ultimately, research has found that people who lose weight quickly in a short amount of time are likely to put weight back on in the future, usually because they have practiced a method of weight loss that isn’t sustainable in the long term. 

Clark therefore recommends avoiding following a diet that goes against your body’s natural wants and needs. Instead, think about making smaller changes that are likely to make you eat healthier and naturally lower your calorie intake, without you having to count calories or follow a meticulous diet.

Consider how much energy you’re getting from your food

“All calories are not created equally,” Clark explains. This is because some foods are not only more nutritionally dense than others, but they’re also better at satiating us for longer periods of time, making it easier to manage your appetite. For example, a 2014 study found that high protein diets are more satiating than diets that are high in carbs and fat, which can lead to weight loss.

Think about your gut health

More research is continuously being released on the crucial role our gut plays for our overall health and there are various studies to suggest it might be linked to weight loss. For a start, our gut microbiome might influence how easy or difficult it is for us to lose weight, according to a 2021 study. 

Clark therefore recommends eating a gut-healthy diet to help you lose weight, which involves eating lots of fruit and vegetables and probiotic and prebiotic rich foods too.

Avoid liquid calories

There are some simple ways to cut your calorie intake without actually counting calories — one is to think about the liquid calories you’re consuming on a regular basis. Whether it’s alcohol, sugary drinks or coffee with milk, sugar and sweeteners, you might not realize how much the drinks you consume contribute to your daily calorie intake. 

“The brain doesn’t register liquid calories in the same way it does with the calories that come from food,” Clark says, explaining that they won’t make you feel full in the same way solid food does and so you’re likely to consume more calories overall if you’re drinking high-calorie drinks.

Eat more fiber

Fiber not only improves digestion but it can make you feel fuller for longer, which means you’ll probably end up eating less overall. This is because soluble fiber in particular attracts water and forms a gel-like substance with food as it's digested, which slows down digestion and improves satiety. 

“Eating healthy foods that are high in fiber will automatically mean you’re eating less foods that aren’t good for you,” Clark says, explaining that it’s a simple process of replacing fatty and processed foods for healthy alternatives, rather than cutting out food with no alternatives. 

Try our high fiber diet plan to support digestion.

For more ways to eat well, check out these 11 healthy food swaps or our round-up of the best protein powder for weight loss.

Regularly practicing the best exercises for weight loss can help you build muscle, boost your metabolism, and burn fat to hit your fitness goals. These moves are varied, too, making it easier to do them regularly without getting bored. 

Whatever your weight loss goals, these exercises are an efficient way to work out, blending compound exercises with high-intensity movement to raise your heart rate and build full-body muscle. 

Once you've finished a session, it's also worth blending yourself a post-workout smoothie with one of the best protein powders for weight loss. This will boost your recovery and build muscle without adding extra fat and sugar to your diet. 

The best exercises for weight loss

These six moves are some of the best exercises for weight loss as they work muscles all over your body and raise your heart rate to help burn fat.

Start with 6-8 repetitions of each (unless aiming for a specific time) and gradually increase as you get stronger. This kind of repetition training is what research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise suggests to be best for weight loss.

Of course, what food you eat regularly will also influence your weight loss results. That's why it's good to eat nutrient-dense options over fast food and hit your protein levels, which you can top up with one of the best protein powders for weight loss.

1. Kettlebell swings

Not only will you strengthen large muscle groups, like the glutes, quads, abs, and shoulders, this multi-faceted move will also get the heart rate spiking, therefore goading the body to burn fat as an energy source.

Aim to perform as many swings as you can in a 30-60 second time period and repeat this for 3-4 sets for maximum fat burn.

• Place a kettlebell between your feet, which should be set at around hip-width apart. Bend at the hips as if you were performing a squat and grab the handle with both hands.
• Stand upright with core engaged, shoulders pinned back and down towards your butt with a nice, straight back. Now rock back slightly to create enough momentum to swing the kettlebell up and out in front of you, arms straight and fully extended. Squeeze the glutes, thrust your hips forward, and brace the core to assist in this movement and drive through the heels
• Now allow momentum to swing the kettlebell back through your legs, remembering to bend at the hips before repeating the movement.

2. Jump rope

There’s a reason why you see boxers and MMA fighters throwing shapes with a skipping rope during training: it’s an absolute monster for elevating the heart rate, promoting cardiovascular endurance, and building cat-like levels of coordination, as well as fast, agile feet.

It doesn’t matter your level of skipping ability, as any prolonged rope practice is great for burning fat and strengthening the upper body. Look to skip for around 45 seconds at first and slowly increase this time as the weeks progress or even give this twenty-minute jump rope workout a go.

• Grab both ends of a rope and flick the wrist so the rope travels in front of your body and jump over to complete the motion. 
• Over time, attempt to speed up the skipping, try single and double foot jumps, swap feet throughout, and even try some explosive double-unders, where the rope passes underneath you twice before the feet land.

3. Burpees

Learning how to do a burpee is an excellent (if much feared) way to incorporate this compound movement into your workout. It involves almost every muscle group and sends the heart rate soaring, which boosts your metabolism (the amount of energy you burn throughout the day). 

• From a standing position, drop down as if you were about to perform a press up. Explosively kick your legs backwards so your thighs are parallel with the floor and the chest, shoulders, and arms are braced to take your body weight.
• Don’t pause here, but instead draw your feet back under your chest before explosively leaping into the air, keeping your arms by your sides.
• Repeat this immediately, without pause, for as many times as you can muster in a 30-second period. Aim to increase the reps and session time as the weeks progress.

4. Dumbbell deadlift

This compound exercise targets the big-hitting muscles in the upper body, while the quads and hips offer support from the lower body. This combination of large muscle groups gets the heart pumping, while strengthening and the upper body. 

• Stand tall with feet just wider than shoulder-width apart with a dumbbell in front of each foot. 
• Use your core and glute muscles to hinge forward, moving your hips back as if sitting into a chair, with bent knees, straight spine, and raised chest. 
• Reach down to grip the dumbbells, with your palms facing shins and arms shoulder-width apart. 
• Begin to lift the weights in front of your shins and return to standing with your chest raised, hips and knees straight. 
• Reverse the movement to lower the weights back to the ground. That's one repetition. Aim for 5-12 reps. 

5. Step-ups

These single leg exercises force the glutes, quads, and calves to work hard to raise your body up onto the platform. Plus, the small stabilizing muscles engage to keep you stable as you step. If you want to increase the intensity, perform the exercise with a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand. 

• Find a solid platform, like a stable bench, box, or anything sturdy that’s around knee to hip-high.
• Place your right foot onto the platform and drive through the heel until both feet are together on the surface and you are standing upright. Step backward with the left leg and repeat on that side, swapping legs throughout.
• Continue alternating legs and aim for as many repetitions as you can in 45 seconds. 

6. Slam balls

Throwing a ball into the ground is quite satisfying anyway, but this exercise is a great workout for your upper and lower body, and raises your heart rate to burn energy and boost your metabolism. 

• Stand feet hip-width apart, knees and elbows slightly bent and slam ball held above your head in both hands.
• Engage your core muscles, squeeze your glutes, and explosively pull the ball down in front of you, slamming it into the ground.
• A medicine ball will bounce back up, allowing you to catch it and raise it back above your head, then drive through the heels and reach up onto your tiptoes to slam it back down. 
• Aim to perform as many slams as you can in 30-45 seconds. 

FAQs

If your health and fitness goals include a slimmer waist it’s important to know there is no secret exercise or fitness trick that can help you narrow your mid-body—the only way to get a smaller waist is via weight loss. 

Even if you do that, you can’t choose where you lose weight, and everyone has a different body type meaning some people are naturally disposed to a slimmer midsection than others.

Rather than spending hours on targeted ab or core exercises which won’t snatch your waist, focus on boosting your metabolism, reducing overall body fat and building strength to support healthy weight loss and improve overall health and fitness.

1. Try high-intensity workouts

If you're feeling uninspired by your current exercise regime, why not try high-intensity interval training (HIIT)? This form of interval training consists of short alternating periods of maximal-effort exercise with less intense recovery periods. 

According to a study published in the Sports Medicine journal, this time-efficient training style can help significantly reduce your total, abdominal, and visceral fat mass—the 'hidden' and stubborn-to-target fat that wraps around your organs, like the liver and intestines.

Meanwhile, a Journal of Exercise and Fitness study, which tasked 60 women to complete HIIT workouts three times a week for two months, resulted in an average waist circumference decrease of up to 0.6 inches/1.53 cm. 

A research paper in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal found that moderate to high-intensity exercise can increase energy expenditure for at least 22 hours following training. So try this HIIT workout for fat loss to help boost your metabolism, develop strength, and get a sweat on.  

2. Enjoy a well-balanced diet

Along with exercise, good nutrition is also a huge part of losing weight, so it could help you get a slimmer waist. Sticking to a sustainable diet can help you keep the weight off for good. 

Signe Svanfeldt, a lead nutritionist from health eating app Lifesum, says, "when wanting to lose weight, it's important to fill your diet with nutrient-dense foods in order to get all nutrients required while still being within your energy requirement."

Nutrient-dense foods include the likes of:

• Vegetables and fruits
• Wholegrains
• Legumes (beans and lentils)
• Protein (egg, fish, beans, lentils, poultry)
• Unsaturated fats (nuts, fatty fish, and seeds) which provide essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6. 

Svanfeldt adds: "If you want to lose weight, you should try to eat less ultra-processed foods, such as baked goods, sweets, ice cream and fast foods, as they contain high amounts of energy and are low in nutrients. It can then be challenging to stay within your energy requirements while still getting all the nutrients required."

3. Limit your alcohol intake

The relationship between abdominal obesity and alcohol has long been discussed. In one Epidemiology and Health study, researchers found that a high alcohol intake had a link to high waist circumference. While a second study, published in the Public Health Nutrition journal, came to the same conclusion. 

Researchers stated: "Our study showed that the amount of alcohol drinking per occasion influenced abdominal obesity in normal-weight, middle-aged individuals that may have impacted obesity-related health risks."

This is why fitness professional and nutrition expert Penny Weston says: "Too much alcohol can make you gain belly fat. Cutting back on it may reduce your waist size. I wouldn't say you need to give it up altogether, but limiting the amount you drink can definitely make a difference."

4. Stay hydrated

Does drinking water help you lose weight? While H2O itself is not the calorie-free solution to getting a slimmer waist—as highlighted in the journal Obesity — increasing your pre-meal water intake can help you feel fuller. 

"It's so easy to mistake dehydration for hunger and to consume calories your body doesn't need, when a glass of water might have done the trick," Weston explains. 

So how much water should you be drinking? "Aim for six to eight glasses a day—this has the added advantage of keeping all your bodily systems functioning well as well as keeping your skin looking great," Weston adds. 

5. Do some strength training

Strength training can help with weight loss as it builds muscle, which will in turn help your body burn more calories. 

"Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue," says Amanda Place, a personal trainer and nutrition coach. "By increasing your muscle mass through strength training, you can boost your basal metabolic rate which means you burn more calories even when you're not actively exercising."

On top of this, strength training creates an afterburn effect, pushing your body to use more calories when you’ve finished working out. It can also help you preserve your muscle mass, meaning you're more likely to lose fat rather than muscle during the weight loss process. 

Not sure where to get started? Try this beginner bodyweight workout, or read our round-up of the best strength training exercises for weight loss.

6. Get enough sleep

As the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends, adults should sleep seven or more hours per night regularly to promote optimal health. But what happens if you sleep for less than this?

One study published in the journal Nutrients found that disturbed sleeping patterns can lead to excessive snacking, mainly on foods high in fat and carbohydrates. 

The same study also highlighted that sleep plays a role in weight loss, specifically fat loss, during calorie restriction. The participants were tasked with 14 days of calorie restriction, and they lost less fat when they spent 5.5 hours a day in bed compared to 8.5 hours a day.

7. Eat enough protein

As one of the most essential nutrients for your body, the benefits of protein range through everything from muscles to skin and hair. But this hero nutrient can also help you lose weight, which might help slim down your waist circumference. 

Eleanor Thrupp, Resident Nutritionist at Innermost, explains: "Consuming a source of protein (meat, fish, eggs, legumes, tofu) with every meal can increase feelings of fullness, decrease hunger and reduce calorie intake — these are all factors that support weight loss."

Of course, it's always possible to swing too far in the other direction. If you're worried you are eating too much protein, this could cause some weight gain, alongside low mood and bad breath. 

If you’re wondering how to workout triceps with dumbbells, then you’ve come to the right place. A simple set of dumbbells is often all you need for a great muscle-building workout.

Our tricep muscles are located at the back of our upper arms. The reason for them being called ‘tri’ceps is because they essentially have three heads; a long head, a lateral head, and a middle head.

Using a pair of the best adjustable dumbbells is a good way to help tone, strengthen and build up the tricep muscles.

Research has found that the triceps - which also go by the full name of the triceps brachii - are essential for extending the elbow. When the triceps contract, the biceps - the muscles that run along the front of the upper arm - relax. In fact, the biceps and triceps work synergistically together.

Although a barbell, kettlebells, and/or other weighted equipment are useful tools when training the triceps muscles, a set of dumbbells allow for a number of different exercises. Here, David Wiener, Training and Nutrition Specialist at Freeletics shares his tips on how to work out triceps with dumbbells, for toned, strong upper arms, plus the benefits of using dumbbells for your tricep workout.

Can you train your triceps with dumbbells?

In short, the answer to whether you can train your triceps with dumbbells is yes! 

When comparing dumbbells, which are classed as free weights, to machines for training triceps, dumbbells require a little more stabilization. And there’s even a study that’s been done to back this up. 

Wiener says that dumbbells also allow for increased muscle activation which ‘stimulates more muscle fibers for enhanced results’. So if you want to grow your muscles, look no further than the trusty dumbbells!

Plus, dumbbells are a good way to work muscles unilaterally. When working out the tricep muscles, it’s clear which is weaker than the other, if each arm is holding a dumbbell. This means that work can be done to adjust this imbalance. 

Weiner adds: “One of the biggest plusses is that dumbbells allow users to perform unilateral loading exercises, working each side of the body together at one time. This form of training ensures users have more control and allows them to focus more intently on each movement.”

Dumbbells also allow you to increase the intensity as you can switch up the weights you’re using.

“Dumbbells do not get enough credit when it comes to strength training,” says Weiner.

“Using dumbbells offers a better range of motion and movement across different muscle planes when performing exercises, and this is one of the most effective ways to challenge and build muscle. When it comes to the triceps, training with dumbbells activates the muscles to their full potential and adds resistance stimulating muscle growth.”

5 exercises for triceps with dumbbells

“Triceps are often confused with biceps, but they are completely different muscles with completely different purposes,” says Weiner.

“The triceps are an essential muscle in helping stabilize your shoulders and arms, which in turn improves your flexibility and movement throughout the whole body. It’s extremely important not to neglect your triceps, especially as they take up almost 70% of your whole upper arm.”

Give Weiner’s five dumbbell moves a try to work out your triceps. Aim for 10 reps of each move, and complete the circuit five times.

Exercise 1: Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

• Start standing upright, with a dumbbell grasped in both hands. Always keep the core tight as you bring the dumbbell above your head with both arms fully extended.
  
• Bend your arms at the elbows to lower the dumbbell behind your head, keeping the upper arms still and close to your ears.
  
• Use the triceps to move the dumbbell back up to the start position. 

Exercise 2: Dumbbell Lateral Raises 

• Start standing upright, arms at your sides with a dumbbell in each hand. 
• Always keep your core tight and always keep your arms extended as you raise your arms out to the sides up to shoulder height. Then, slowly lower back down. 

Exercise 3: Dumbbell Push Presses Left and Right 

• Start standing upright, with a dumbbell in your left hand resting on your shoulder. Always keep your core tight. 
• Bend slightly at the knees and press the dumbbell first with your legs, then with your arm. 
• Fully straighten the arm holding the dumbbell, overhead.  
• Lower back down, then repeat with the other side. 

Exercise 4: Dumbbell Bench Presses 

• Lie back on a bench, feet flat on the floor. 
• Start with arms straight above the chest holding a dumbbell in each hand. Always keep shoulder blades squeezed together and always keep your head, shoulders, and glutes on the bench. 
• Keep your palms facing away as you lower the dumbbells with control to your chest.
• Engage the chest muscles to push up to the starting position.

Exercise 5: Double Dumbbell Shoulder Presses 

• Start with a dumbbell in each hand, resting on your shoulders.
• Press the dumbbells overhead using your shoulders and as you do so, keep your core tight.  
• Be sure to press from the upper body, not your legs. 
• Fully straighten arms overhead then lower them back down.