Short on time? The quick full-body workout to tighten and tone in just 4 weeks, from a celeb PT
WHEN time is short - and it certainly can be in the lead-up to Christmas - you need an efficient and quick workout.
With party season around the corner, there is still time to shape up before, and it only takes six key moves.
Sarah, who has trained Piers Morgan, Pixie Lott and Sheridan Smith, recommends a resistance workout that targets multiple muscle groups.
You don’t need to slave away in the gym for hours on end, either.
This circuit should take no more than half an hour.
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The extra resistance from using weight will help you to build muscle and burn fat; the key to looking toned.
For the below exercises, Sarah says it’s best to start with 13 to 15 each. Do three rounds, resting for 60 to 90 seconds between.
“This slightly higher rep range is great for conditioning and muscle endurance and also improving intramuscular coordination when learning new exercises,” says Sarah.
If you add more weight over time, you will see results after just four weeks.
To progress your lifting and ensure results, you have to keep challenging your muscles.
When 13 to 15 reps starts to feel easier, increase your weight if you can and reduce your reps to 10 to 12 reps per set.
Be honest with yourself about how hard you’re working! Only you know how hard those final few reps are.
“You should try to lift as much weight as you can for the given reps range- with good form of course,” adds Sarah.
Grab your weights and give these six exercises a try.
1. Chest press
Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders and triceps
Lie back on a bench with feet planted flat on the floor.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand over your chest, palms facing away from your face.
Bring the elbows down so the weights come to your chest. Press the dumbbells up, straightening out your arms back to the start position.
No bench? You can do this on the floor, ensuring your knees are bent and feet are flat on the ground.
2. Romanian deadlifts
Muscles worked: Posterior chain muscles; the lower back, glutes, hamstrings, and calves
Stand upright with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should hang down in front of your body with palms facing towards you.
Keep the dumbbells close to your legs as you push your bum/hips back and slowly lower your torso down keeping your back flat as you go and retracting your shoulders. Your knees should be soft.
When your dumbbells reach your shins, push through your heels and come back to standing by thrusting the hips forwards.
The more flexible you are in your hamstrings, the easier this move will be!
3. Standing shoulder press
Muscles worked: Shoulders, biceps and core
Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing away from you and elbows out either side.
Slowly press the dumbbells up overhead before lowering them back down to the start position.
Want to make it harder?
“A great way of increasing muscle stimulation is to slow the movement right down and increase the time under tension,” says Sarah.
Time under tension is a weightlifting technique that varies the tempo of your exercises.
On a chest press for example, you might want to lower the weights over three seconds and push them back up with power for one second. This would increase the 'time under tension'.
It works your muscles harder despite using the same weights.
Another way to do it would be to add a pause when under tension. For example, you could stay in the squat position for two to three seconds before driving back up.
4. Shoulder taps
Muscles worked: Shoulders, core, lower back, legs
Get into a high plank position with your toes on the ground and palms directly underneath your shoulders.
Keeping your body as still as possible, without twisting the hips, take your left hand and tap your right shoulder. Then, return to the start and take your right hand and tap your left shoulder.
Keep repeating this, moving slowly and keeping your gaze down. Make sure you complete the allotted number of reps per side.
5. Split squats forward lean
Muscles worked: Lower body, forearms
Stand with your left leg in front of your right, holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging down either side of your body.
Your legs should be wide apart as your bend both knees, lowering yourself closer to the ground, but whilst doing so, lean forward so your front leg takes most of the weight.
Your front knee should align with your front toe and your back knee should hover above the floor. Then, push up through your front heel to rise.
Make sure you complete the allotted number of reps per side.
6. Squats
Muscles worked: Glutes, quads
Stand upright holding one dumbbell in both hands, close to your chest. Your legs should be just wider than hip width apart and toes should point out slightly.
Push your hips back and bend your knees (as though you were going to sit down) as you lower down into a squat position, maintaining a flat back throughout.
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When your thighs are parallel to the ground, push up through your heels to return to standing.
Sarah says: “Everyone has abs but having visible abs purely comes down to how much body fat you have on your stomach.
“Cardio can help achieve a calorie deficit which can help you lose body fat but I don’t believe cardio alone is the best method of getting and staying leaner.”
Nutrition
Sarah says that nutrition plays a much larger role - 'abs are made in the kitchen’, as the saying goes.
When it comes to what you should be eating, Sarah says that no foods in particular are bad for abs.
“Focus on the quality of your food to optimise health, as a healthy well functioning body will achieve goals faster," she says.
It’s wise to eat enough so you can perform well at work and during your workouts; a balanced plate of wholesome carbs, proteins and fats is ideal.
Try Greek yoghurt with berries and oats for breakfast, a chicken salad with rice and greens for lunch, and fish, vegetables and potatoes or something similar for dinner.
Weight training
It’s also key to include weight training into your week as well as specific core training workouts, such as the one above.
Sarah says: “The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate which means you burn more calories at rest.
"This effectively means you can eat more (which means more nutrients) and not gain body fat.”
Plus, Sarah adds that the core is also hugely challenged in most weight training moves.
“For example I would argue that a back squat is as much of a core exercise for most people as it is a leg exercise," she says.
If you’re new to weight training, start by using just your bodyweight and work up from there.