Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Summer Workouts

I can't believe we are already half way through May, yikes.    Time to get out all those summer clothes, shorts, skorts.

At this time of year it's nice to take workouts outside into the fresh air, below are just a couple (I have quite a few, nice to have a good selection) of the workouts that I like to do .

Walking is always great, grab the dog.  Dogs need on average up to an hour's walk a day, so once you walk the dog everything else that follows is a bonus.   You can walk the dog using Poles, that way you get an added bonus of an upper body and core workout.  Great start to the day.   Of course, walking and poling are carried out using the Pilates principles which will ensure you get the most out of your walk/pole.

I really do have to mention Hula Hooping (check out www.hoopnotica.com).  Totally brilliant, 100 calories every ten minutes, it is a full body high cardio non-impact fat-burning workout that strengthens your core, and calms your mind.   From personal experience I find that it's a lot of fun, you completely loose track of time and feel wonderful afterwards, actually not like exercising at all.  Depending on my mood, I hoop to upbeat music, or, if I need to be more centred, no music just the rhythm of the hoop.  I tend to go from waist to thighs, but if you go to the  Hoopnotica's website they have lots of DVD's you can purchase so you can learn all the tricks, and there are lots.    Hooping can be done outside too, get the whole family involved, guys can do this as well, there are quite a few Male Hoopnotica Instructors out there.

Throw in a Pilates workout sometime during the day to compliment the above, and you are going to look and feel marvellous.

These are just a few ideas to get you moving, just find something that is fun to do and that you find enjoyable.