insideKENT Magazine Issue 54 - September 2016 | Page 92

HEALTH+WELLNESS

Thinking about
getting fit…

B Y P O L LY H U M P H R I S

Summer’s well and truly on the wane, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief and let go of the
guilt that looms over our quest to obtain the perfect bikini body like a black cloud that keeps
offering cake. Truth be told, that’s all a myth anyway. Ladies, here’s how to get a perfect bikini
body: appreciate the body you’ve got and put a bikini on it. Gents – you do the same; speedos,
trunks, your choice. The key to lasting health, happiness and, importantly, confidence when it
comes to clothing, is fitness, and whether you’ve already embarked on a regime and are getting
a bit bored of it, or haven’t yet had that push you need to start thinking about getting fit, there’s
never been a better time to find your fitness mojo than now. Here’s how you can do it.

Start small
It’s all too easy to over-motivate yourself when you get excited about a
new fitness goal and, even if you’ve been quite fit in the past but let it
slip, you’ve got to be cautious when starting again. The key to keeping
something up is consistency, so don’t go jumping into a 40-minute high
intensity interval training workout on day one; instead, go for something
that you know won’t make your muscles so sore that you can’t repeat it
the next day.

A great way to build your fitness confidence – and your capability
– slowly and safely is to train for a 5K run; the NHS’s ‘Couch to
5K’ plan is a really comprehensive online guide to achieving that
goal and you can view and download the training schedule at:
www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx. If you’re not a
runner, set a target to do a 30-minute exercise class two to three times a
week, either at the gym, or online – www.fitnessblender.com is brilliant.

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