‘Stay at home’ training
Winter is now upon us, and with it comes one of the most testing dilemmas facing any fitness enthusiast – the prospect of getting out and training in the cold.
‘Stay at home’ training is the answer, an innovative fitness programme designed to keep you healthy and in shape once the chilly season hits.
The frosty mornings, declining hours of daylight and temptation to stay in the warm are all issues that need to be conquered if a fitness plan is to be maintained over the winter months. Even the thought of going outside and heading to the gym can be torturous.
The final three months of the year are also the most common times for cold, cough and flu symptons to strike, and winter training plans get constantly altered and toned down due to illness.
An estimated 6.938 million adults participated in sport three times a week for 30 minutes in the final quarter of 2009, with an estimated 13% of that number missing out on at least one session due to illness, with October, November and December historically being the most common time frame for illness in the UK. The average athlete suffers four colds a year, mostly but not exclusively in the winter, with the onset of the chilly season a potential problem for any sportsperson.
The key is to stay healthy and look at ways to alter your training and fitness programmes, with ‘stay at home’ training a prospect to consider.
Let’s get Pacey
Jenny Pacey USN Sponsored Athlete
USN ambassador Jenny Pacey has firm ideas on fitness techniques and winter training. An international athlete, fitness expert, personal trainer and motivational speaker, who is best known as TV Gladiator Enigma, Pacey insists that the cold nights and threat of illness can be conquered.
She said: “It’s true that the cold weather and lack of daylight put a lot of people off training and even going to the gym.
“Training at home is an option. There are all sorts of workouts that you can indulge in, in your living room or bedroom. There are all the basic exercises like press-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts, star jumps and aerobic exercises.
“A good idea is to create your own circuit training course in your home, where you do a different exercise in a different part of the house for so long, then move to another part and do the next thing, so that you are constantly changing the activity while constantly moving. You will be amazed at the sweat you work up. You’ll be moving all the time, while also completing a range of exercises.
“You can also get your friends, family or partner involved, and turn it into a game or competition.”
Fight off the flu
In terms of staying healthy during the sicky season, Pacey recommends USN’s MultiPlex as a nutritional supplement that helps keep an athlete healthy and at the top of their game.
A popular supplement that boosts immune systems and keeps unwanted ailments away, USN MultiPlex is a mega potency formula, and serves as a complete daily multi vitamin and mineral supplement for all active individuals.
Pacey adds: “With all the training I do, I have to make sure I take in enough vitamins and minerals to keep me healthy. This daily dose of extra nutrients helps my body perform at its fullest potential.”
So, staying at home during the chilly season is acceptable for fitness fanatics, if you consider ‘stay at home’ training. The key factors are creating an original and exciting home training programme, which can be changed and altered to keep things fresh, while maintaining your general health. This way, you can stay fit, healthy and warm, while keeping your fitness levels up…..and not having to worry about Jack Frost nipping at your nose.
USN’s top indoor circuit training tips
Cross train: Cross training means completing different types of exercises. To cross train, you should avoid repeating the same movements again and again. Because the body is very good at adapting to imposed demands, in order to force the body to change, the imposed demands need to continually change.
Interval train: You should switch between high, medium and low heart rate exercises throughout a routine. This type of interval training maximises the body’s ability to burn fat even after exercise is completed.
Limit your rest: Rest periods allow the heart rate to decelerate to a resting, or almost resting, rate. When the heart rate lowers to its resting stage, you are no longer working at a productive level. In order to keep the heart rate up, and to potentially lose weight, resistance training exercises need to be performed back to back.
Create a system: A good combination of resistance exercises could involve one to three sets of an exercise for one body part, followed by a short rest period, followed by one to three sets of an exercise for a different body part.
Make it fun: Create games and competitions with friends and family, by seeing who is the most productive.
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