The New Year is here. An opportunity to reinvent yourself. Become the person you’ve always wanted to be. For a lot of people, this means getting fitter and losing weight. Two factors will decide the success of your health revolution: diet & energy expenditure.
The first is determined mainly by the number of calories you consume, but there are other factors relating to diet, which may prevent you from reaching your goals, such as food intolerances. We’ll go into the importance of food intolerance testing at the end of this blog.
Energy expenditure is the number of calories burned by the physical activity you undertake. Increasing your energy expenditure is vital to achieving the weight loss goals you’re looking for. You do this by exercising. But where to start? A gym can be intimidating if you’re new to exercise, so we’ve put together a complete, at-home workout routine to get you started on your fitness journey.
Squat Jump
Start in a standing position with your feet planted firmly on the ground just outside of shoulder width. Maintaining a straight back and tensing your stomach, slowly lower your hips to the ground, getting as low as you feel comfortable with. Hold the squat position for a second. Then, pushing through your feet, explosively jump out of the squat position as high as you can before landing back in a standing position. Perform this exercise for three sets of 12. Once you become comfortable in this set and rep range, consider adding further sets.
Push Up
Beginning in a straight-armed plank position, slowly lower your chest towards the ground until the top of your arms become parallel with the ground. Hold this position for 2 seconds and then slowly push through your hands, returning to a straight-armed plank position. Repeat this movement for three sets to failure (where you can no longer safely perform the movement).
Row
Find something fairly heavy that you can grip and lift with both hands. Place the item in front of you and, from a standing position, bend over so that your back is at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Grip the weight in both hands and spread your back muscles. Using your back muscles, pull the weight up towards your midriff. Hold for a second before spreading your back muscles again to lower the weight back to the ground. Repeat this movement for three sets of 12 reps.
Bicep Curl
Grab a can of food. In a standing position, grip the can with your hand in a supinated (palms up) position. Using your bicep muscle, bring the weight up as high as you can until you reach the upper limit of your range of motion. Tense the bicep at the peak of the movement before slowly lowering the weight to return to the starting position. Perform this exercise for three sets of 12 reps.
Your Secret Weapon – Food Intolerance Testing
The key to success when it comes to weight loss is a sensible diet that includes foods you love. If you’re eating a diet that doesn’t suit your body, you won’t get the results you’re looking for. It is essential to know which foods may cause you symptoms such as bloating. Food intolerance testing is the best way to identify foods which mask the results of your hard work. We have a range of food intolerance testing kits suitable for all budgets.
