Out & About Winter 2018

FITNESS - VICKI BROWN

H ow do you deal with the challenge of winter – often cold and wet, less daylight and bang-slap in the middle is the festive season. It can leave you feeling overwhelmed, time poor and exhausted. As a result health and fitness tend to take a backseat. To help you strike a balance and keep going, here is a fun fitness workout game that you can do all year round. VICKI BROWN encourages you to finish 2018 and start 2019 with a flourish to create momentum and keep it rolling

Roll The Dice Workout Game Equipment: You will need two dice and yourself.

6. Press ups: Start in the hands plank position. Keep your spine in neutral and core engaged. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees, push yourself back up to the starting position. Drop to your knees to make the movement easier. 7. Lunges: Keep upper body straight, shoulders back and relaxed, chin up, core engaged. Step forward with one leg, lowering hips until both knees are bent at about a 90-degree angle and reverse. 8. Mountain climbers: Begin in plank position with your right knee by your chest, left leg extended. Switch your bent leg and straight leg simultaneously as if you were running or walking, repeat.

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Instructions: Roll two dice, every number corresponds to an exercise. Carry out the exercise for 60 seconds, roll again and keep going. If you can’t manage the full 60 seconds at first start at 30 and try to build up each time you play the game.

1. Bear crawl: Start in a push-up position, hands shoulder-width apart, legs straight out behind, keeping the knees bent. Alternate the arm and leg movements forwards and back, while keeping the back straight and the hips and shoulders at the same height.

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9. Burpees: (jump or walk) Drop to floor into a plank position from standing. Thrust (or walk) your knees toward your chest into a low squat position. Jump as high as you can from the low squat position. Land in the standing position with your knees slightly bent.

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2. Plank: Lie face down, engage core, tighten glutes, lift your body off the ground forming a straight line from head to toe, resting on forearms and toes. Hold. If your lower back starts to ache, or you drop or raise your hips out of position either drop to your knees or rest.

11. Wall sit: Put your back against a wall and place feet hip width apart away from the wall, lower yourself to make a 90-degree angle at the hip and knee, hold. 12. Ab cycle: Lay flat with knees bent, feet up level with your knees (90-degree angle). Keeping your feet flat, core engaged, imitate the circular motion of cycling, the lower to the ground you extend the legs the harder it becomes.

3. High knees: (running or walking) Standing upright, raise and lower one knee at a time as if running in place. Bring the knees to the same height as the hips and keep your thighs parallel to the ground. Go as fast as you can. 4. Squats: Stand with feet slightly wider than your hips, toes out. Spine in neutral throughout. Breathe in, keep chest and shoulders up and look forward. Squat down until your hip joint is lower than your knees, parallel. Breathe out, drive through your heels, keep knees out and return to starting position. 5. Sit ups: Lay on your back, knees bent, feet on the floor. Engage core and use your abdominals to lift your shoulders and upper body off the floor to sit up and then control yourself back down to starting position.

10. Star jumps: Start with feet together and arms at your side. Open your legs and bring your arms up and out in one swift motion, then jump back to the start position and repeat.

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Visit www.LiveFitNow.co.uk to access the YouTube video with all of the exercises for the Dice Workout Game

Vicki Brown runs: LiveFitNow, Wash Common, Newbury. Telephone: 07879 447829. www.LiveFitNow.co.uk

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