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WOMEN’S FITNESS
30 minute
TOTAL BODY TONER Photography: Neil Francombe/Ultra-Fit Images
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WOMEN’S FITNESS
Step Ups
■ Stand in front of a step, feet hip width and parallel. ■ To advance, hold light dumbbells in front of you with
■ Step up with the right foot, and then step back to briefly palms facing inwards and elbows bent, and ‘punch’ forward
touch foot back to start position as you step up.
■ Repeat 10 – 15 on each leg. Do not lock the arm.
Plank
■ Kneel with your back to your step, hands under your
shoulders and shoulders away from your ears
■ Place one toe at a time up onto the step and draw your
abdominals in tight as you lift your knees up, so that your
body forms a straight line – like a plank! Your full
bodyweight is supported on your hands and toes.
■ Keep your spine in a neutral position, your belly button
drawn up and in and hold the position for 10 – 20 seconds.
■ To advance, lift one foot from the floor, maintaining neutral
and keeping the hips straight and level.
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WOMEN’S FITNESS
Step Lunge
■ Stand a stride’s length in front of your
step, with a single weight held in both
hands in front of you
■ Lunge forward placing right foot up onto
the box, as you bend both knees to lower
the hips. The front knee should be above
the ankle in its end position. Lift the
weight upwards as you lunge, ensuring
you keep neutral spine.
■ Repeat 10 – 15 on each leg
Side Steps
■ Stand on the left side of your step
on your right leg. Hold dumbbells by
your side for extra resistance.
■ Bend your right leg and tap your
left foot on the floor, and then
straighten right leg back up.
■ If your step is fairly low, you may be
able to perform for example 45
seconds of stepping on each side, and
if your step is higher, you could
perform 15 reps on each leg.
■ To increase the challenge, perform a
biceps curl with each step up.
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WOMEN’S FITNESS
Press Ups
■ With your hands up on the step and under your shoulders - body weight supported on hands and toes
■ Slowly bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the step, maintaining neutral spine and keeping your abdominals drawn in.
■ Exhale to push body back up to start position
■ Repeat 10 – 12 times
Reverse Lunge
■ Stand on your step facing away from the floor, feet
hip width and parallel
■ Take a big step back with the right leg, bending both
knees to lower hips towards the floor – front knee
should be above the ankle in its end position
■ Step the right foot back up to start position
■ To intensify, hold dumbbells by your sides, and as you
step back, lift the weights straight out in front of you to
shoulder height, ensuring you maintain neutral spine.
■ Repeat 10 – 12 times on each leg
To summarize –
this routine is designed to
be a short but challenging
routine and unless you add
in several CV intervals,
should take no longer than
30 minutes. Beginners
should take it slowly and
work without dumbbells to
begin with. Those fitter
individuals should use
weights, and add in some
high intensity CV work such
as skipping or running to
create further challenge, and
remember the principle of
overload – gradually
increase the demands you
place on the body to keep
seeing results.
REMEMBER TO ALWAYS WARM UP BEFORE, AND COOL DOWN AND STRETCH AFTER YOUR SESSION
Coming up next issue – a fab Pilates ab routine to flatten and strengthen your midriff…
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