Category: Exercise

This plan is great to get you from the coach onto the road, whether you’re getting fit for the first time, recovering from an injury or being a new mom.

At the start of any fitness journey, it’s important to remember that it is a “journey” – with milestones in between – and nothing happens overnight. The key is to start training slowly and consistently. Walking – as an activity – is great for both physical and mental health.

Tips for success:

1. If you have the budget, get a fitness tracker. Being able to know how many steps you do daily and being able to track your heart rate is super helpful when it comes to exercise.
2. Find some favourite, go-to routes. Walking blocks around your neighbourhood is convenient, but for a change-of-scene, it’s a good idea to find a park, beach or safe hiking trail to keep you motivated.
3. Find someone to walk with – this will make the kilometres go by quickly! And walking in pairs or a group is often safer. If you have safe areas to walk alone, listen to an audio book or podcast while you walk to keep you entertained.
4. Invest in a good pair of walking shoes. A well-rounded pair of takkies (not sneakers) will help you enjoy walking more and prevent injuries.

 4-week walking plan guideline

This plan is time-based for those who might not have an accurate fitness tracker. It’s also beginner friendly, so it might not feel like you’re doing that much to start – but at the end of the four weeks, you will have improved your fitness and health. Also, depending on your daily routine and work, you can split the time up into two shorter walks (morning and evening).

Week 1:

Monday: 10-minute walk

Tuesday: 15-minute walk

Wednesday: 15-minute walk

Thursday: 10-minute walk

Friday:15-minute walk

Saturday: 30-minute walk

Sunday: 20-minute walk

Week 2:

Monday: 15-minute walk

Tuesday: 20-minute walk

Wednesday: 20-minute walk

Thursday: 10-minute walk

Friday: 20-minute walk

Saturday: 40-minute walk

Sunday: 20-minute walk

Week 3:

Monday: 20-minute walk with hills

Tuesday: 25-minute walk

Wednesday: 25-minute walk

Thursday: 10-minute walk

Friday: 25-minute walk with hills

Saturday: 45-minute walk

Sunday: 20-minute walk with hills

Week 4:

Monday: 25-minute walk with hills

Tuesday: 30-minute walk

Wednesday: 30-minute walk with hills

Thursday: 10-minute walk

Friday: 30-minute walk with hills

Saturday: 60-minute walk

Sunday: 20-minute walk

Ready to hop, skip and jump into the long weekends this month? These workouts are fun, family-friendly and will help burn off those chocolate calories.

This Easter family-friendly workout is best done on a large space of lawn. You will need to lay down some towels for the floor work. Embrace your inner and visualise all the hard work a stealthy rabbit would need to do, in order to hide eggs without being caught.

1. Skipping warm-up:
   Skip on the spot, lifting both feet at once, for one minute to warm the body up (you can do this with or without a skipping rope).
2. One-leg hop:
   Hop on one leg ten paces and back again and then switch legs and repeat on the other side. Do this three times.
3. Bunny ups:
   Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees slightly and put your hands on your thighs. Then, jump straight upwards, pushing your arms up into the air above your head and elongating your body. Land softly with bent knees, return to the start position. Do this 10 times.
4. Side-to-side jumps:

Start standing and bend your knees just before you start your jump. Keeping your feet together, push up through your heels and jump upwards and to the right. Land softly with your knees bent, and then jump up and to the left. Do this 10 times each side.

1. Drop the eggs:

A twist on touch-the-floor running drill, this workout move requires a bit of space and some markers (you can use bushes or trees in the garden too). Start from the centre of the garden and touch the floor, then run to a designated tree or bush and touch the floor and back to the centre, touching the floor again. Repeat, running and touching down at different points in the garden.

Movement is key to maintaining good physical and mental health, but we spend so much time sitting at our desks! These micro movements are great to do during the work day when you need a little reset. Add them to your weekly routine by doing them each day. Bonus: You can also do these during a long flight!

Try these right now, while you’re reading this at your desk. 

1/ Seated Core lifts:
Sit up tall in your seat. Contract your abs and lift one foot about 15cm off the ground. Hold for 10 seconds, then lower, relax your abs and repeat with the other foot. That’s one rep. Do these five times on each side.

2/ Seated Banded Abduction:
(You will need a mini-band for this one)
Wrap a mini-band below your knees. Sit up tall in your seat with your feet planted on the ground. 

Push your knees away from each other. Slowly bring your knees back together. This is 1 rep. Do as many as you can in a minute. 

3/ Armrest boosters:
You will need to use both armrests – and have a stable chair for this one. Sit tall with hands on the armrests and elbows bent and pointing back. Press into your hands to lift your butt off the seat. Return to start. That’s one rep. Do as many as you can in a minute.

4/ Seated Heel Raises: 

Sit up tall, feet flat. Lift your heels as far as you can without lifting your toes off the floor. Hold for a second and then flatten your feet again. That’s one rep. Do as many as you can in a minute. 

5/ Seated Toe Raises:

Sit tall, feet flat. Keeping your heels on the floor, lift your toes as high as you can. Hold for one second, then return to start. That’s one rep. Do as many as you can in a minute. 

6/ Seated Glute Squeeze

Sit tall in your chair, with good posture.

Contract – squeeze – your glutes as hard as you can for 10 seconds, then relax. That’s one rep. Repeat 10 times.

Want to move from being a 5km runner to a 10km runner? Or stepping up the mileage to do your first half or full marathon? These tips will help you get there!

There is a reason we don’t suddenly go from crawling to running – we need time and practise to get the body used to levelling up. 

The 10% Rule

You may have heard of this, and while it might require a bit of mathematical work, it’s a safe way to gradually increase distance without injury. The rule states that you should never increase your weekly mileage by more than 10 percent over the previous week.

For example: If you run 5km three times a week, that’s 15km per week. Following the 10% Rule would look like something like this:

Week 1: 3 x 5km runs

Week 2: 3 x 5.5km runs

Week 3: 3 x 6km runs

Week 4: 4 x 5km runs

Add kilometres to your long runs

If you’re a more experienced runner and you’re already running 25 to 35km per week, start by increasing your long runs. Typically a running programme may look like: shorter runs in the week, including hills and tempo runs, with a longer run on the weekends. If you’re running say, 15km on a Saturday, increase this run gradually by 1.5 to 2.5km each week, while keeping your runs in the week of a similar length. 

Include Recovery weeks

It might feel counterintuitive to gradually build up mileage and then suddenly cut back down again, but the truth is that your body needs time to recover during the building phase. So for example, on every 4th or 5th week of training, create a “recovery” week. This doesn’t mean no exercise. Instead it means, slowing down and bit and cutting back some distance.

For example:

That long run on the weekend? Cut it back by about 50%. So if you’re running 20km on a Saturday, for the recovery week, simply run 10-12km, while keeping your mid-week runs about the same distance as usual, but decrease your intensity and speed. This will help to prevent burnout and injury. 

Try these running drills to help improve you’re running and to prevent injury.

Runners who regularly incorporate drills into their training are better able to recruit muscles needed for the task, leaving them less injury-prone. You can incorporate these drills as part of your warm-up or practise them a couple of times a week in a park or on a field to help improve your performance. 

Top 5 running drills to try

1. Skip/Run with High Knees
   Start by skipping with high knees (Drive your knee up forcefully lifting you off the ground and keep your feet flat – toes up towards your shin). Once you have repeated this movement for 2 to 3 minutes, run back and forth with high knees for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Bum Kicks
   Start by jogging and bringing each ankle towards the bum, alternating. Do this slowly at first and then after a couple minutes, do a few drills at a running pace.
3. Power Skips
   Think of how you skipped with high knees (above), but now, you are going for more height. Momentum is created by driving the knee up and also forcefully pushing off the ground. Do these for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Side-to-side Skip
   This helps build strength and coordination among stabilising muscles. Skip side to side by bringing your feet together and then shoulder width apart. Let your arms cross over each other in front of the body as you skip.  Do these for 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Carioca Exercise (sometimes called Grapevine)
   The carioca running drill involves shuffling sideways or performing a lateral shuffle with a high-knee crossover stepping motion. Cariocas improve coordination, agility, core strength, and cardiovascular fitness, among other benefits. Do these for 2 to 3 minutes running back and forth. 

Other than spending time in the pool working on your performance, stroke technique and swimming endurance, there are some strength training moves that you can do in the gym which will help you level up performance. 

Improve your swimming with these five workout moves:

1) Squat Jumps

These moves will work your quads, glutes and calf muscles, helping you to explode off the starting blocks and the walls in the pool. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing slightly outward. Bend your knees pressing your hips back as if you were going to sit back on a chair – this is the squat. Pushing through the heels, jump straight up. Land with your knees slightly bent and go back into the squat position. Repeat 10 times, three sets.

2) Triceps Extension

The tricep is an important arm muscle that is used in all strokes. Sit down and take a dumbbell in each hand and put your hands behind your head – your elbows should be in line with your back and pointing up. Extend the weight above your head, hold and bring back down to your starting position in a smooth and controlled motion. Repeat 10 times, three sets. 

3) Bird-Dog

This is actually a classic yoga move, but it’s great for swimmers too. Get into a Table Top Position on all fours – hands beneath shoulders and knees beneath hips. Now extend your right arm forward while extending your left leg back. Hold for 10 seconds and then place your hand and knee back down. Repeat with the opposite leg and arm. Repeat for a total of five times on each side. 

4) Flutter Kicks

Great for core and leg strength, imagine your legs kicking under water while doing these moves. Lying on your back, place your hands just underneath your hips. Lift both legs off the ground until they are at an approximate 45-degree angle. Then, using your core strength, lower each leg at a time, alternating for 30 seconds. Rest for 10 and then repeat. Do a total of three sets.

5) Alternating Arm and Leg Plank

Similar to the Bird-Dog position above, expect this time you’ll be working your core alot more! Holding a plank position, with your hand beneath your shoulders, extend your right arm forward and left leg backwards and hold for five seconds, before returning to plank position. Repeat with the opposite leg and arm. This exercise helps build mind muscle connection across the entire body and is especially helpful for freestyle and backstroke. Repeat for a total of five times on each side.