Our six-week summer fitness plan will help you get in the zone.
The fact that we are now only a couple of months from summer may excite some of you and scare the hell out of others. The question is: are you ready? If, like most of us, you have been in hibernation all winter, you'll need our six-week summer workout plan to get your metabolism moving.
Week 1 of our six-week summer fitness plan starts below - it will help you get in the zone.
Get ready to train:
Week 2: Work your lower-body
Week 3: Sexy stomach moves
Week 4: Arm yourself
Week 5: Score a rock-solid core
Week 6: Tone your back
Here are five metabolic boosters to get you body confident and beach ready.
Perform a deep squat, then place your hands on the ground in front of your feet. Jump or step your feet backwards and land with your body in a push-up position. Don't let your hips sag towards the ground. Do a push-up, on your knees or toes, then jump your feet back towards your hands. Stand up, jump up in the air and go straight into your next rep.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 8 to 15
These need as much power as possible. The secret to running up inclines is to stay on your forefoot and spend as little time on the ground as possible. You need to stay tall through your torso and drive your knees high on each stride. Pump your arms as well, with your hands finishing at nose height.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 3 to 8
Do a thorough warm-up first, ideally a three- to five-minute jog, five 50m runs that increase in pace and then some short drills, such as high knee running and buttock kicks, that take your joints through a full range of motion. Now set out markers about 30m to 60m apart. Sprint as fast as you can between the markers, rest for 30 seconds and then run back. Increase the sets and reps once your fitness and recovery improves.
Sets and reps: 15
Place your left foot on a bench or chair that is knee height or higher. Push down through your left heel and stand up on the bench. Without stopping, continue to move the right thigh forward until the knee is hip height and at a right angle (in a running style). Balance for a moment before slowly lowering your right foot to the ground, touching down lightly with only your toes, and spring back up for your next rep. Focus on maintaining your posture throughout and fix your gaze on the horizon in front of you. Do all the reps on one leg, then switch.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 15 to 30 each leg
Ensure you're thoroughly warmed up before doing these. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Perform a small squat and then jump up in the air. Land as softly as you can and immediately go back into another squat. Jump up again from this second squat. You can also do this exercise by jumping up onto a small platform or step. But it's important to step off, not jump, between reps. The higher you can safely jump, the better the toning and fat-burning effects will be.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 10 to 20
Amy Mckendrick, 33, from Sydney, does strength training and circuits four times a week.
Discover more fitness tips here.
Find out more about Damien Kelly.
Ready for the next week? Try week 2: Work your lower-body