If you’ve spent much of this year indoors and on the sofa, you’re not alone, and now’s the time to kick-start your fitness regime. We caught up with Jamie Bassi from Fit Squad DXB to talk us through his top tips.
Monitor and log your nutrition
Nutrition is one of the biggest things that should be tracked and logged to prevent weight being increased over a period of time. MyFitnessPal is a great food logging app that you can use. It’s free to help you keep in your calorie target, which the app does for you upon entering your details.
Track your steps
Invest into a step pedometer and set a target of steps to achieve on a daily basis, it’s about keeping active and moving more but on a regular basis. A target of 8,000 a day for beginners, 10,000 for intermediate and 12,000 for advanced is a good place to start.
Heart rate in a fat burning zone
Exercise through HIIT (high intensity interval training) to take your heart rate into a fat burning zone three to four times per week. HIIT is very effective and can be done in a short period of time. Try doing star jumps, high knees, plank and squat jumps – 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off over four rounds. This will take your heart rate into a powerful fat burning zone and can be done at home easily, so there’s no need to join a gym.
Water intake
Water intake is very important and needs to be at a minimum of two to three litres per day. The benefits of drinking lots of water include increased energy levels and relief of fatigue.
It also promotes weight loss and improves your skin.
Good Quality Sleep
This is the most important. Sleep in my opinion is free cardio. Sleep promotes weight loss and helps muscle build, depending on what you’re trying to achieve or even a maintenance level, helps reduce stress, strengthens your immune system which is even important now, and essentially puts you in a better mood.
