Hands up who’s eaten all the mince pies and hasn’t seen their sports bra since sometime before Halloween? Guilty as charged. But shuffling off to the gym when it’s cold, dark and depressing is nearly impossible. Which is why this year, we’re coming with you! OK, so we’re not literally planning to knock on your door and drag you out of bed. But we are inviting you to join us and some of our celeb mates to take part in our #heatfit1000 campaign. The challenge is to clock up 1000 minutes of fitness by 31 January. That’s about half an hour a day (32 minutes and 20 seconds to be exact, maths fans). And we’re not expecting you to smash out 100 burpees every day either. You could go for a brisk walk, strap on your tap shoes or even dance around your bedroom with your pants on your head if that’s your thing. Just get moving.
Every week we’ll be bringing you advice and workouts from a host of fit famous people, you can follow some exclusive celeb workouts on our Youtube channel and join us on Instagram as we clock up the hours and give away some great goodies to help keep you going. Think of us as your perky friend – we’ll be right by your side doing jumping jacks, whispering motivational thoughts and wearing neon legwarmers. All you need to do to join in is pop on your lycra and use the hashtag #heatfit1000.
To kick you off, we’ve roped in our fave workout buddies Lucy Mecklenburgh and her fit AF PT Cecilia Harris. Five years ago these ab-tastic ladies launched Results With Lucy and now they’ve created a community of thousands of women who are all helping each other workout. So they kind of know a thing or two about motivation. Here's their tips to keep you on track. Are you ready to get pumped? Can we get a HELL YEAH?
Change one thing at a time
C: We don’t really like New Year's Resolutions as it puts a lot more pressure on you to change far too many things. If you don’t achieve those goals straight away then boom, you’re feeling down.
L: Yeah, you can end up feeling more negative than if you hadn’t set that bar so high for yourself. We always encourage people to change one thing at a time. Maybe in week one you start training, in week two you look at your diet and start eating a more healthy breakfast, then swap sugar in your tea for herbal tea and take everything gradually. Otherwise if you say you’re going to train six times a week and only drink green juice then it becomes too overwhelming. Start with little steps. Start by moving a bit more and then add these other little changes to your lifestyle.
Don't be scared about being the newbie
L: When we run our fitness retreats, near enough everyone who books then messages to say “I’ll have to train loads before I come along” or “I need to lose a stone before I’m booked in.” I think its an embarrassment thing. You don’t want to be the most unfit person in the class but there will always be someone else who is there for the first time and you’re only the newbie once. If you find it too hard then you can always speak to the instructor or try something different until you find what you enjoy. But don’t be scared of it.
Find an exercise you love
C: Take time to figure out what you enjoy – that’s so key in keeping you consistent. If you say you’re going to run a marathon next year but you absolutely hate running, what is the point of that? Find something which will challenge you a little bit without overwhelming you. Once you’ve achieved that challenge, the feeling is going to bring so much positivity into your mind.
Mix it up
L: We get bored too and if we did the same HIIT session every day we would dread it and you know what’s coming. You need to mix it up and try something different. We went to this rave class once with glow sticks. You need to try out different things to be able to discover that thing that you enjoy that’ll give you that adrenaline rush and keep you coming back.
Exercise your mind, not just your body
C: There is so much evidence that shows that exercise is a benefit to both your body and your mind. I got a DM after one of our live sessions last week from a lady who had been suffering quite badly with anxiety and it had started to take control of her. She said that after the class she felt that she had taken control back of herself and her mind.
Keep it consistent
L: Motivation isn’t something you’re born with. You create it yourself with your habits, consistency.
C: For me, exercise has become like brushing my teeth. If I don’t brush my teeth I get that horrible feeling in my mouth. Similarly for me I have to move – even if it's stretching for ten minutes. That only happened when I became consistent with it. Now that its become a habit I can’t live without it.
Grab a workout buddy
C: Support is the number one solution to motivation and keeping consistent. Having a good support group or even just a friend, it's been proven that will help you get results. Thankfully with Results With Lucy we created this RWLfitties with over 140,000 posts and they have become a family. We have girls that have only met each other through Instagram and now they’re best friends and they go on holiday together. Finding an individual or a community that will keep you accountable will really help to keep you motivated.
Remind yourself why you're doing it
L: We can give you all the tools but its down to you to make it happen. Remember why you’re doing it. Do you want to wake up feeling horrible or do you want to wake up feeling positive and good about yourself?
C: We both receive quite a lot of DMs from ladies in general really asking for help. Sometimes I read these messages and I cry because the words are so strong, “I hate the way I feel” or “I hate the way I look” and its all these really strong emotive language. My answer to them back is that these feelings are your big why. You can’t stay like this forever feeling this way about yourself.
Lucy and Cecilia's buddy workout
Step one - Grab a mate
Step two - Do 3 rounds of each set
Step three - Don't forget to clock your minutes using #HeatFit100
- Side lunge
Start with feet wide and hands clasped together. Lunge to your left making sure your knee is over your ankle and your right leg is straight. You should feel it in your inner thigh. Hold for a couple of seconds and return to the central position then repeat on the other side. Do 15 reps on each side.
- Bridge reach
Begin in the bridge position with your knees over your ankles and your hands underneath your shoulders. Lift your right arm up over your head and back over your head, keeping the top of your body flat and your glutes engaged. Then, if you can manage it, bring your arm across your body, twisting your obliques as you reach towards the floor. Keep it slow and controlled. Then return to the start position and repeat on the other side. Do 15 reps on each side.
- Plank press up
Start in a plank position resting on your toes with your shoulders over your hands, keeping your core engaged and your body as flat as possible. Slowly bend your arms and lower your body towards the floor until you are hovering a couple of inches off the ground. Hold for a couple of seconds and then return to the plank position. Do 20 reps.
- Twisting lunge
Start with feet shoulder width apart and hands by your side. Bring your right leg forward so you’re in a lunge position with both legs at a right angle and twist your body towards the left with your hands on your hips. Keep your core and glutes engaged while you hold for a couple of seconds then return to your starting position and repeat on the other side. Do 15 reps on each side.
- Jumping lunge
Start in a lunge position with both knees bend, right leg forward and arms by your side. Now thrust your arms up in the air as you jump up , straightening both legs and land in a lunge position with your left leg forward. Repeat to do 20 reps.
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