For many of us hard at work, lunch hour couldn’t come any sooner. However, instead of protesting that there’s never enough hours within the day to hit the gym or go for a jog after work, why not use your lunch break to complete some easy exercises. Sitting all day can be cause injury to your posture, leaving many of us aching or clicking our backs and necks every hour or two.

So we’ve come up with a solution, prepare a meal the night before so it’s ready to go after you’ve finished exercising. Luckily for us the sun is here so a quiet park or empty office room is the best place to set up your exercising spot, you never know it might even result in becoming the new cool area for all staff members to join in with the exercise too.

Star Jumps

Why star jumps?

It’s time to wake and shake yourself up! Star jumps will help boost your heart rate, allowing you plenty of energy to complete the day.

How to do it :

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart
2. Slightly bend your knees
3. Squat and jump vertically
4. Once you land, remember to be in a squat position
5. Repeat 4 sets of 10 reps.

Push Ups

Why push ups?

Push ups are an excellent exercise to help strengthen your core muscles, they don’t require any equipment or much space to practice.

How to do it :

1. Lay on your front
2. Arms shoulder width apart
3. Your arms should be straight in starting position
4. Squeeze in your glutes and tuck in your tummy
5. Begin by slowly lowering your arms until they reach a 90 degree angle or until your chest almost touches the ground.
6. Hold this position for 2 seconds then gently bring yourself back up to starting position.
7. Repeat 4 sets of 10 reps.

Calf raise

Why calf raise?

From all that sitting, you need to get your feet moving. This exercise will help build stronger and more toned calves. Calf raises don’t take up too much space and require no equipment to complete the exercise, unless of course you would like to hold light dumbbells in your hands.

How to do it :

1. Stand with your feet slightly apart
2. Toes pointing forward
3. Lift your heels off the ground
4. Hold the position once you’ve come up for a second or two
5. Slowly lower your heels back to the ground
6. Repeat the exercise, 4 sets of 10 reps

Jumping Lunges

Why jumping lunges?

Jumping lunges are a great way to finish your workout. No exercise equipment needed, it’s just you and your heart pumping one last time before you sit down for your already prepared meal.

How to do it :

1. Stand with one foot in front of the other (lunge position)
2. Lower into lunge position
3. Feet must be pointing straight forward
4. Use your arms to help you lift your body in the air
5. Whilst in the air switch your feet around
6. Repeat – 2 sets of 10 reps

The key ingredient to losing weight in any part of your body is to exercise, EXERCISE AND MORE EXERCISE! Burning calories whether it be in the gym or out in nature is the only way you’ll notice result and achieve slimmer legs and strengthen your glutes. But please don’t go out and over train, it is vital you do some sort of cardio 3 to 4 times a week but remember to have rest days in between to help your muscles grow.

The Squat Exercise

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart with your toes pointed slightly outward.
2. Bend your knees and push your butt and your hips out and down behind you as if you were sitting into a chair.
3. Come down until your thighs are below parallel to the ground, or as far down as you can get them.
4. Straighten your legs and squeeze your butt to come back up.

Half Hour Run

You can choose to run both indoors or outdoors, as long as you devote a half hour solid run (that doesn’t mean running down your road to the nearest takeaway). If running a sweat isn’t you’re thing, then consider an hours swimming session or even cycle.  Again this is an exercise you should be doing at least 3 times a week.

Lunges

Deadlifts

1. Your feet should be shoulder width apart
2. With the balls of your feet under the bar, and your toes pointing forward
3. Bend your knees while keeping your back straight
4. Keep your hips back but not down.
5. Have your hips at around 45 degrees to the ground.

When excess layers of fat accumulate along the hips, you may feel like nothing you do will be able to get rid of them. Not only do you need to do adequate cardio exercise to burn fat, you also need to do targeted strength-building exercises for the hips to tone and tighten the muscles and create a slimmer, more defined silhouette.

Moves That Allow You To Get Stronger Safely

Certainly a tough one to answer because the back and neck are complex areas, so a number of potential problems could exist. That’s why it’s always best to consult with a doctor before starting an exercise program, to ensure that you don’t injure yourself. Working with a professional trainer can help ensure that you can stay actively fit without doing more damage to your body.

First, a quick lesson in functional anatomy: While your core muscles allow you to bend forward, arch backward and twist, they actually spend most of their time resisting these motions so you can hold a stable, upright position and protect your spine. It’s why crunches are not the best way to work your abs. You may be wondering why? Well, think about it, when you crunch, you create movement. Sure, your abs work, but not as hard as they could and not in the way they were designed to either. When you perform exercises where your core stabilizes your body,  you actually work your abs harder.

You might already be performing planks, but to train around your pain, embrace the concept of resisting movement to challenge your core with the following exercises.

Half-Kneeling One-Arm Cable Press

On one knee with your trunk upright, face away from a cable column machine. Set the cable handle to approximately shoulder height. Keeping the rest of your body stable, press the cable forward. Return to the start position. Perform 12 to 20 reps for two to three sets.

Half-Kneeling One-Arm Cable Row

On one knee with your trunk upright, face a cable column machine. Set the cable handle to approximately shoulder height. Keeping the rest of your body stable, pull the cable toward you. Perform 12 to 20 reps for two to three sets.

Tall Kneeling Anti-Rotation Press

Kneel on both knees, your trunk upright and a cable column machine to your right. Set the cable handle to approximately shoulder height. Hold the cable at that level, arms extended, and resist the rotational pull of the cable for 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat for two to three sets on both sides.